Purging

One of the great things about moving is the opportunity it gives you to get rid of stuff. I did so when we moved in June, and I did it again when we moved to Denver. This time, I even got W to part with some of his things. It's funny, he's such a simple guy - wears the same 2 fleeces and jeans every day - but he doesn't like getting rid of stuff.

This year I'm trying to get into the practice of owning a few simple, quality items that I love and will get a lot of use:

Clothing: I've come to the realization that for me it's all about comfort. I'm trying to limit my closet to things I will wear regularly, and not buy the occasional use clothes.

Kitchen: I'm refraining from buying ingredients (oils, spices, sauces, canned goods, etc...) that I will not use regularly. If a recipe calls for something I don't have, I try to use a substitute. I want to cook simply but start with fresh ingredients. What we use regularly is: soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, mirin, salt, fresh ground pepper, olive oil and peanut oil. Right now our refrigerator is filled with mostly produce and I want to keep it that way.

Books: I haven't bought books for personal use in a few years. Most of the books on the shelf belong to W. I love borrowing books from the library, and recently began downloading them onto my phone for free from the library. I rarely read books twice so this works for me.

Above is a photo of one of my favorite kitchen items, a pour over ceramic coffee dripper - we use it almost every day. I love its simple design, and it makes the best coffee.

New home

So we finally moved!  It's been almost 2 weeks since we've been here.  Some info about our new place:

1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
10 miles from W's work and my school
9 miles from my work
No washer/dryer
No microwave
We rented 2 covered parking spots (necessary for winter)
Our rent with the parking is $807/month.

We cut our commutes in half, so it takes me 15 minutes to drive to school or work.  We live behind a Walmart, to give you a sense of the neighborhood.  It's also geographically in between the two places I shared about in a previous post.

To be honest, at first it was a difficult adjustment, downsizing from a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car attached garage, with washer and dryer.  We used to live in a newer single standing home, and now we live in an apartment unit.  Things like the noise of neighbors, a smaller space, and the lack of amenities is taking some getting used to.

BUT, there are some things I'm really enjoying.  Mainly, simplifying our lives.  In terms of furniture, the only new thing we had acquired was a $75 desk from IKEA, so all of our furniture came to the new place.  But I got rid of a bunch of kitchen stuff, clothes, books, and random stuff because we don't have space for things we don't use on a daily basis.  It's amazing how much we had accumulated in the last year.  We got rid of 9 large shopping bags of stuff.

Also, we don't have a washer/dryer in the unit (or in the building), and we don't have a microwave.  And you already know we haven't had a TV in 2.5 years.  We contemplated renting a w/d for $35/month, but decided against it.  And I didn't think we could survive without a microwave but so far we've been able to (we'll see what happens in the winter).

It has been very freeing to simplify life, save on rent & utilities, drive less and even live in a smaller space.