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5 Areas to Reduce, So you have More to Give!

Updated January 2020

I have been watching and reading all the posts in December and January that shared what various peoples “Word” for 2019 would be. I have never had a word of the year but thought this year I will.  Generally, for most people it seems to be a word that they keep top of mind, focus on regularly, and it guides their decision making. After a lot of thought, I decided that my word for 2019 will be Reduce. I want to reduce Clutter, Debt, Weight, Health Challenges, and Stress. All these things steal my joy and overall effectiveness as a person. With that said, here are 5 Things to Reduce in 2019 so that you have the Freedom to Give!

5 Areas to Reduce, so You Have More to Give

Reduce Clutter

Out of all the things to reduce, I think that Clutter is the easiest. When we truly step back and look, we know what does not bring peace and joy into our homes. And, we know what stands in the way of our having an easy cleaning routine. Plus, we know what causes constant distraction from the normal ease of life. Basically, things that block our productivity, recreation, and rest.

When decluttering, I choose to go room to room and complete one area at a time. For instance, a closet, a dresser, a bookcase, or an area of the floor if there are items on the floor. I prepare myself by bringing in a box for donation, a box for items that belong somewhere else, and a bag for throwaway items. I learned this method years ago from Flylady and it has always worked well for me. You then go through the section and put items in the proper box. I have also heard that a lot of people are enjoying watching Mari Kondo’s series on tidying the home on Netflix.

Any items staying in the area get dusted as I go so that when I leave the area it is sparkling clean and it will lead me to be inspired to declutter the rest. I do this at least once if not twice a year. Because of that, I can move through areas quickly. If you have not decluttered in a while, it will take longer, but don’t lose heart. It is still worth your time and will get you moving in the right direction. Then at the end of the session, whether 15 minutes or 5 hours, take the donate box to the trunk, throw out the garbage, and then carry the last box from room to room putting away the items.

When I am decluttering and get a little frustrated, I remind myself of how much easier it will be to clean once items are gone, and how much more orderly my home will be. This always spurs me on to keep tossing and donating. Some of my family members are not as interested in decluttering sometimes and get a little overwhelmed at letting go. For them, we go through a grouping of items at a time. It is easier to see what is most important when it is all lined up together. If you have a cheap trinket that has no meaning, and a family heirloom with years of good memories, that latter will, of course, win out as the keeper.

5 Areas to Reduce, so You Have More to Give

If you need more inspiration, please check out my posts- 5 Areas to Spring Clean Now and Cleaning Out My Closet.

Update 2020d:

I spent a few months decluttering as I had planned. And, I was able to remove about half of what I had in my home and garage. I made quite a bit of money on Poshmark and Ebay, as well as having a few really good yard sales. The rest I donated to charity thrift stores or gave away. It has now been a year since I started, and guess what? Even with getting rid of half of everything…I still have more than I need. It is so much easier to clean and keep the house orderly, but just in the general ebb and flow of the year, more things came into our home. So, I have started another major decluttering for 2020. Funny thing is, I am so much more willing to let go of things, now that I see how much better my life is without them.

For instance, last year, we let go of two full sets of dishes. Because we have so much more room, I have been able to bring the china into a much easier to access cupboard, and we have used it several times. It really makes sense to let go of things that are not that important, to be able to truly use and love the things that have value to you.

Reduce Debt and Expenses

Debt is another area to reduce that will bring peace into your life. Sadly, it is not as easy as decluttering items, or you would throw it all into the garbage bag and be done with it! LOL. But, the first and most important step to reduce debt is to know what debt we have. So, collect all your mail, sit down with a cup of coffee and a good show on Netflix, and start going through the mail. Throw out duplicates, and then put your bills in order.

Once you have gotten started on facing debt and expenses you will need to focus on a budget. You can check out my post 5 Tips for Creating a Budget…So You Have More Money to Give Here.

I am focusing on cutting costs so that I can reduce debt and increase savings. Already this year, I have reduced my monthly expenses by $175.00. I am one of those people who plans the next five to ten years out. I have quite a few travel plans and need to refurbish a few areas of my home, so I know I need to be debt free, and have quite a bit in savings. So, a little saving now will make the next projects so much easier. If you are deeply in debt, I highly recommend reading more from Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze. I have put links to their books on Amazon below.

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Update:

Here is the good  and bad. I did not incur any additional debt in 2019, and paid off quite a bit, but did not make the progress that I had hoped for. I did further reduce my monthly expenses by cutting our food budget in half! Yes, in half! We had been spending about $1200 a month for groceries and eating out, and by using grocery store pick up cut the budget down to $600! I make up the menu for the month, and then each week input the grocery order into the WalMart website, and pick the groceries up the next day. I believe that the savings comes in three areas. 1st, Walmart groceries are less expensive. 2nd, we have no impulse buying in the store. And finally, we have a well planned menu, and so we have very little food waste.

The reduced grocery cost, as well as the declutter items that were sold enabled me to pay down some of my debts, and have a much better year. I am still working on this goal in 2020, and become more excited with each payment!

How to Reduce Weight

The number one way to reduce weight is to track your progress. For years successful weight loss companies and apps have had us write down everything we are taking into our bodies, how we are caring for ourselves, and tracking our weight on a weekly basis.

With any habit though, which overeating is a habit, you must replace it with a different habit. I have found that when I am most successful at losing weight, is when I have a plan in place, am tracking my progress each time I eat, and then watching my success grow. When I stop tracking, I stop being successful. So, instead of focusing on overeating, snacking, or poor food choices, I focus my habit on tracking the making of healthy choices and celebrating the small victories.

5 Areas to Reduce, so that you have more to give

Update:

I was able to keep track of my eating for most of the year, and lost 15 pounds overall. My goal for this year is to continue to track my eating, and lose another 15 pounds! Slow and steady wins the race, right? 🙂

How to Reduce Health Challenges

In my last career, we often talked about how measurement always leads to change. We had dashboards set up for almost every task or number that we wanted to grow, reduce, or change. We monitored all the numbers all the time. Because of this, we drove successful teams and achieved a measure of success. I believe the same system works with overall health. It is easy to let things slide when they are not being monitored.

To reduce my Health Challenges this year I am writing out a few pages in my Bullet Journal and focusing on Health. For instance, my blood pressure often runs high. But I know that when I stretch in the morning and evening, my blood pressure improves. So, I will journal my goals of stretching every day. You might have a goal of reducing your cholesterol or weight. Or reducing some other health-related aspect of your life. Don’t be overly ambitious, I am choosing only 3 health-related challenges to reduce this year. And then journal your progress, and watch your success grow!

David Allen Quote

Update:

With this goal I was able to successfully reduce my Blood Pressure to a manageable level. I will need to continue to work on this forever, but I was able to find, and utilize methods that worked well for me. I hope that you too were able to make headway on your health goals. One important step if you are looking to improve your health, is to find an awesome physician! After years with the same Doctor, I finally changed, and have made vast improvements in multiple areas of my health. A Doctor should be a partner in your health journey, and I found a Doctor that is!

How to Reduce Stress

Stress can be a mighty beast to tame and is the cause of many health and anxiety challenges in the US today. This year I am working to continue to reduce things in my life that cause stress. I think this is all a little intertwined because the area that causes me the most stress is clutter. Although I have seriously reduced my personal clutter, there is still what I would consider yard and home clutter. I know that reducing clutter reduces my stress so I am writing out goals to achieve a clutter-free home and yard.

I also realized last year that watching the news causes me stress. This made me a little sad because I loved watching the news. But I am a very optimistic person, and the news is often fairly negative. So, I will find out my news via online sources, and stop watching the news completely. Huge stress reduction. These are just a few examples, but it is important to make a list of what is stressing you out, and then pick a few of the items that you have control over, and step away from situations, reduce challenges, or re-imagine how to deal with things that bring you stress. There will always be stress, but reducing it is a great goal.

Update:

I still don’t watch the news! I check online for headlines of major events so that I am educated, but in general, never watch the news! It has been life changing. I know enough to be aware, and prepared, and hold a conversation. But I don’t allow the negative headlines, and general overwhelming level of information bog me down.

So, I have talked about Reducing 5 areas in my life. What will I do with all of this freedom?

5 Areas to Reduce, so You Have More to Give

What’s Next?

What will I do once I have decluttered? First, I love giving items to the Thrift Store. The Thrift Store I most often donate to funds missions overseas. I think it is a great cause, and I know they have helped many local homeless people, and families facing challenges as well.

And, I love having people over, and sharing my home, but not when it is filled with clutter. It makes it too difficult to have people over. So, with my newly decluttered space, I will have people over more often! You can read more about my thoughts on having people over in my post on Easy Hospitality Ideas here.

Give more to charity

The reason I want to reduce my overall debt and expenses is so that I have more to give to charity. I am a firm believer in tithing because I see the difference it makes in my finances as well as the church. I also love giving to charities.  Getting rid of lingering debt and large expenses will allow me to spend more time achieving my travel goals and giving more to charities. Here is a post I shared on one of my favorite charities NO Kid Hungry. 

Use the extra money or food to donate to charity

I have been focused on my diet for a month now, and am so surprised at how much additional food we have at our home. Because of that, we have more to donate to charity. Reducing the amount of food, we eat, will allow us to give more to those in need. Plus, when cooking a meal, we will have more to share. You can read some of my ideas on starting a meal train or making a spare to share here.

Mentor someone else in their journey to health

Use your new-found emotional health to help carry someone else in a difficult time. I often find that when I am very stressed, I have much less to give emotionally to others. But by taking the time to de-stress, and to take care of myself, I will be adding in so much more energy to take care of those around me which is something that I love doing very, very much.

These are lofty goals. I agree. But, I truly love giving time, money, and talent to bless those around me. If I truly want to do that, I must focus on making positive changes that will result in my having more to give. So, Reduce is my word for the year, and I am excited with the progress I am already making, good progress. So, what is your word for the year, and what goals are you working on? Share in the comments below.

Update:

So, how was I able to use these positive areas of decluttering to better the world around me? I donated loads of items to charity thrift stores to help them with their goals. I was able to do more thanks to my better health and used that time to bless my family with hospitality and play dates at the park. And, I was able to use my new reduced stress surroundings, to welcome others in to a reduced stress environment. I hope that you found success in 2019, and that you are preparing to find success in 2020 as well! Please share in the comments areas that you have been able to improve in your life, and how you did it! We can all learn from each other. Finally, Happy New Year!

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