Why We Still Love The KonMari Method + You Should Too!

worked in two thousand nineteen and it still works now. Amen. And it is the KonMari Method. I will say when we first recorded this, I did not know much about the Kmari method that will come out in this recording. I have since learned more and this episode helped me in that regard. And Yeah, I've picked up and carried

on a lot of things from that movement. That method, I will say, it's it is talking just about minimalism, so even finding the freedom to figure out how it works for you and sticking with it, so it's always worth revisiting. Yeah, and I can proudly say I am still doing the kun Marei method of folding. That's how I still fold my clothes and I really love it and still use kind of the spark joy in really all areas of my life, so not just clothes, I think.

Actually I use it less in physical stuff and more in just like regular life, like things that I spend my time on. Yeah, I like that reframe. That's great. Yeah, I've really practiced it there more. So don't just take it for face value. This can really be something that impacts every area of your life. So we're really excited to re share this episode, one of our most popular episodes from our early days. But first our sponsors. So this episode is brought to you by Meal Planning Services.

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slash cs and just get some meal planning help. This week done also brought to you by Timeless, those items that never go out of style and supersede the trends. Somehow, bell bottoms and belly shirts seem to be falling into this category, but we say frugality and minimalism are the real champs Timeless. When you don't need to look at the clock to know if something's great. Yes, absolutely, it's like thank you Timeless Minimalism. Yes. So if this is a topic that you are into, then I'm going to

recommend some other episodes for you as well. So episode twenty two is our interview with Kate Flanders. She is the author of the Year of Less. Yeah, it was the Year of Less, right, I think. So I just got confused because episode thirty two is our interview with Joshua Becker and he's the author of the More of Less,

so a lot of minimalist things. And then also episode fifty nine we had an interview with court Decarver, who is the author of Project three thirty three, and we talked about that on our episode and that was even before she wrote the book. So and then recently episode one Creative Ways to Declutter. You can definitely use the KonMari method in conjunction with the Creative Ways to Declutter. So lots of stuff for you if minimalism is something it's on your list. Lots to check out after you

tune into this episode. So without further ado, enjoy. I mean, who knows who's listening to us. There's no way for sharing, there is, I mean, we have stats on our post. Yeah, okay, well anyway, our our first our first article is from Get Rich Slowly and this is a really well known personal finance blog from j d Roth and uh it's called My Experience with the Conmari Method and the Life

Changing Magic of Tidying Up. What do you think about it, Jill, Yeah, I thought that they did a really good job of highlighting the book, which is perfect for me because full disclosure, on my end, I have not read the book. I've heard a lot about it and I read articles like this, So for me, this is helpful to just get a snapshot of what the book, what the book is, and what Marie Kondo recommends that you do in your decluttering goals in process. Yeah, I think you don't have to

read the full book to get the idea. I think reading it is definitely beneficial if you want to do it, but you definitely don't have to read it. And J. D. Roth actually also read the Life Changing Manga of Tidying Up, which is the like comic version manga version of the book. So if you're not super into novels or words, um, you can pick up the Life Changing Manga of Tidying Up. Yes, get the same info. But yeah, he goes through it just like the book, and uh, I think I think

we should just start from the top. Yeah, let's go through it. So one of the things that and again he's highlighting for us what the Comori method is what it does. So one of the tips is to start by visualizing your ideal lifestyle. So this is referring to think about before you even start, what do you want your home to look like? What kind of life do you want to lead there, and what would that home look like in order to be conducive for that life.

And they said, it's a similar question to think about what your purpose in life is. I think it's worth asking what what are your thoughts on that? Jen start by visualizing your ideal lifestyle. Well, yeah, because we do the same thing when we're talking about personal financer for gality. You you start with your why, and I think this is just it mirrors that perfectly. Start with your why. Like my why is I want to have people over,

I want to clean less. I want to you know, do certain things in my house and and not be inhibited by piles of things. Um, so that's my why. From there, I can visualize what does the house look like? That meets my why And that's essentially what she's saying. So if you spend any time paying off debt or or saving money, this should not be a problem for you.

Then you should have that insight, because that will be what you keep coming back to as you run into barriers or struggles or challenges, to remind yourself, this is why I'm doing this. That's a good way of reframing it. Jen. Yeah. The next two points that j D talks about are kind of on the same wavelength. It's she advocates for um tidying in one large push rather than a little at a time, and to discard all at once, intensely and completely. So this is where I waver just slightly

because I'm definitely an all or nothing person. So it does it does help me to do it in a large push, But she talks about in her book doing it in one day, and for most people that's not feasible, especially if you're not paying an expert to come over

and help you go through these processes quickly. I like the idea of going through as much as possible in in maybe a three day weekend, or starting Friday night and going through Saturday and Sunday, or making it like a month long challenge, like trying to keep it within a month um so you don't lose steam. And so it's still a large push, but it's not as rigid as Marie does not to mention that can be so daunting and if something seems impossible, then we're not going

to do it at all. So Okay, there may be some people out there who could do that all in one fell swoop, but most people are not going to be able to fit that into their work parenting lifestyles. So that's this is one hole that I'm like poking

at a bit. And if we compare this, you know, we did talk with Joshua Becker in our episode with him, and he chatted with us a bit about his take on this, and I think, well, he didn't speak to this specifically, but to contrast this, of his recommendation is always to to start small because people can be overwhelmed and they always go to the biggest challenge first. Well,

what about my I don't know whatever. Your biggest thing is my bedroom, that's going to be so difficult to go through the things there are my kitchen, Well, don't do that. Go through your junk drawer first, or your basement or something that is gonna be basement is not good good example first of people, it's not a good example. So I do think that some of this is what is going to work best for you. I know that there are the people out there who are just like

I just need to do it. I just need to get it done, and and fell swoop where I'm not going to and others are like, oh my gosh, that's too much, I will never do it. So this really is a what fits your lifestyle, what makes sense to you, what works best for you. Yes, I totally agree with that. So then the other the other thing. So this is I think this is the biggest key point that people know about the Kumari method. Even if you live under a rock, you've probably heard this. That's probably also the

biggest hole. We're gonna poke. Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna start poking at this thing hard and then like and then pulling apart the area that we poked. Okay, so keeping a bad visual, let's move away from that, keeping only the things that spark joy. So this idea in the Kommari method is that you will basically in any room or any category that you are going through things, you you pour it out onto the ground and then you just start to go through and you lift it

up in front of your face. And if it's sparks joy, you keep it, and if it doesn't spark joy, you discard it. And you are going solely based off of what your emotions are telling you in the moment of whether or not it's sparking joy. That's how you declutter. Yeah, which implies that things can spark joy, which we don't completely agree with, and we'll talk more about that in our next article. I get what she's saying, and I can track with her, but I think that she views

things differently than we do. Possibly, Yeah, and it can be a good filter or framework, but there's got to be a bit more around it than just that, And so yes, we'll talk about that more. But that is part of this Canmari method and probably the biggest foundational thing. Does it spark joy? I mean she also talks to her clothing and strokes it, and so I definitely think she views things differently than we do. But we'll get

we'll get into that further down. The next thing is something I really agree with um and I can really get on board with. Is too tidy by category, not by location. And if you are tidying by location, it's very easy to miss things that might be duplicates that are stored in different rooms. But if you're bringing categories together, there's no way that you can miss duplicates. And that is something especially for miscellany, uh is very important, and

for clothes as well. That's important tip. And I think that that is how I d clutter. I never want to put words to it, but yeah, it makes sense to just do clothes, don't just do your whole bedroom. Focus on the clothes, then move on to the other category of things that are in your bedroom. Yeah, and even within the category, you can break it up by I'm only doing shirts right now, or I'm only doing

pants or bottoms right now. Like you can break it down further because even the category of clothes, doing all the clothes at the same time can be overwhelming. So I really like she will break it down per peace. Okay. So then another part of this method is regarding discarding

and storing. So she's saying only after you've finished discarding your things, and that can mean anything donating them, giving them away, selling them, or literally trashing them if they are just trash, like the thrift store doesn't want your trash, and neither do nonprofits. There's a little plug. Only then is it okay to to store your items and finding a good place too to put them. Mum, is there any more to say about that? No? I mean so I I give a little grace for this one because

I don't know. I always have time to take stuff down to goodwill or sell it, like before. I need things to be back in their place. So once you have finished discarding and maybe put it in a section of your house like by the door or put I'll usually put stuff in my trunk um then I will put things back. So that's kind of how I do it. Yeah, And then the final thing of this article, essentially she says, after you discard, make it easy to maintain, so there

is no need for pricey storage systems. To use what you have for storage and organization. I love how frugal she is in her thoughts towards storage and organization because she use empty boxes or she'll just fold things in a way where they don't need storage bins or separators. So she's so frugal in that She says the important thing is not to have a great organization system. The point is to make it easy to put things away, so to have everything has a place so you don't

need to think about where things go. So when you're just day to day tidying up, you can literally just put things where they go without thinking. Because the less you have to think, the easier it is to maintain, and the longer you will maintain it, and the more you have to think about the important things, brain space for the important things. I wanted to poke a hole in this at first, but after I thought about it,

I started to agree. She says to focus more on, uh, the ease of putting things away versus the ease of getting them out, And I was like, isn't that kind of the same thing? But then as I thought practically for myself, I've realized it's not quite the same thing. That it is usually more complicated for me to put something away than it is to get it out. And this is what she's saying that you if you want something, you're going to go get it from wherever it is.

Usually where the problem comes in is if it's hard to put it away, then you're not going to You want to be able to put your coat easily away into the closet, don't worry so much about the accessibility and getting it out, but will you put it away quickly and sometimes it will work both ways really well, but focusing more on will you be able to put it away rather than will you be able to get

it back out? Yeah. And the purpose of decluttering is to make things easier to put in and out, and that means more things get more use and you're not re buying things you already have or because you don't know where they are in your closet or whatever, and

therefore you're saving money because you're buying fewer things. So that is one of the reasons that we're so passionate about decluttering and minimalism is because of the direct hie in that it has with spending less, Yeah, and the freedom to not have to get tons of expensive organizational bins. I think that's exactly pitfall to this conversation is like, now I have to make it look so instagram pretty, Like no, no, you don't, you just want to go shopping.

I mean you can look at j D's blog posts that will will have linked in the show notes, and I mean he does the Conmari method and it's it's great, it works. It's definitely not Instagram buble, but he's got pictures up and you know it's me. He's using the method right, so you can if you want to check out his story. Definitely had to get rich Slowly dot Org for that. And but I think we're ready to move on to our our next one. Let's do it. So this one is five life changing lessons the Canmari

decluttering method taught me. And this is from happier dot com. Yeah. The first one is that joy is simple but powerful. So she's definitely on board with this whole does it spark joy? She thought that it was a very good filter for deciding should I keep this should I not? It was very clear to her immediately when she held things up whether or not it's sparked joy. And I think a good key in this one is using that method to also get rid of guilt that we might

feel in throwing things away. So I did understand this point of Okay, you might hold up address and be like, oh gosh, I never wore this. I feel guilty about getting rid of this because I thought that I was going to wear it to all these things, okay, And so then the Camari method would argue, well, at one point it brought you joy, and so be grateful, thank it stroke it for the joy that it brought you at that one time in the store and get rid of it. So there's a freedom that it can bring.

But there's a big hole there in my mind. Yeah. Yeah, I wanted to find something that talked about that agreed with her method, just to put it into perspective. But I think I could translate joy too value as well. When I look at my clothes and I'm deciding what to keep, I can say, do I value this right now? I feel like that would be an appropriate phrase for

me to use. Maybe not for everyone. I think we can all find our own spark joy phrase, but I personally don't want to attack much joy or feelings with

any of my inanimate objects. That Yeah, there's so many layers here, because first of all, if that is the filter and we are just saying joy, then that can if we apply this blindly across everything, then that can give license to just accumulate things just saying well, it did bring me joy at one point, and I'll just get rid of it when it no longer brings me joy, and can kind of create this throwaway society which we

were already that we're already there. So I think part of this is is not accumulating just to throw it away, because that's that's not sustainable. But I also think I wonder and I haven't fully fleshed this out, and this is speaking to what you're saying to here, Jen of attach. I think emotions are so attached to so much of what we do. We talk about emotional eating, not we, but our society is talking about emotional eating and attaching

ourselves from that emotional buying, shopping, emotional keeping. So I struggle with this, even this entire concept of looking at our emotions, because our emotions can shift every single day, Like am I doing this while I'm p M saying well, then yeah, certainly like my things and my husband's things are getting thrown out? Or am I doing this when I am in a super happy mood, Well, then most things are going to be kept because everything is so

enamoring to me. So to be led by emotions in that way, to me, it's not it's not a good filter on a true a lot of levels. But then also, like you said, to attach that to inanimate objects like the things that bring me joy and joy is so it's such an intense word to We're not just talking happiness like joy is a much deeper thing. And to say that an inanimate object is bringing me this like deep joy in my soul, I'm a little bit scared of that, of that happening. I don't want to be

that attached to my things. I want to be able to let go of, Yeah, anything that's cluttering my life, whether or not it brings me that joy. I'm concerned about the emotional attachments and why I might keep things versus get rid of things. So yeah, and we're looking at joy from a Japanese translation to an American one, So she could mean something less intense, but I think for us, that's just the way that we view joy. It's kind of like on a higher level level than happiness,

and so that's our interpretation. So I think we have to find our own sparks joy phrase to translate it appropriately. Yeah, I mean for me, and it's not too far off from this, I do. My filter is does it bring

beauty or function for me? So that's yeah. So there there's some flavors of the Kunmari method probably in that, maybe in the beauty, but then also the function, because like one of these articles pointed out, like of course, your toothbrush most likely is not sparking joy for you, but you need that, Like, don't throw that out, You're gonna clean teeth, spark joy. Yeah, you gotta go down a long rabbit trail for that one. But it's it's something,

and it sounds like it's working for some people. But I'm just not sure I want to encourage emotional attachments to my things. Yeah, I did like the perspective that Marie put. You mentioned the one thing with the clothing that you know, you have a a very unworn piece of clothing that maybe you were at one point and

it didn't bring you joy. And then you have another piece of clothing but maybe you never wore, but you bought it because you wanted to be this person and you got at home and you realized you were not that person. But you can't get rid of it because you've never worn't you have that some cost bias? And she says, to thank the piece of clothing for teaching you who you are and who you are not. And

I did. I did like that. I don't personally thank my clothing, but it did help me get rid of some stuff having that perspective, and it reveals a lot of behavioral economics principles. Uh yeah, so it's it's all that kind of emotion tide spending is behind the theory of behavioral economics. So yeah, and you know me, I'm all about freedom. So yes, if this method is going to help people have the freedom to minimize and declutter,

then fantastic. But then, and maybe this is the difference that we're talking about decluttering versus acquiring, because I think in decluttering, okay, doesn't spark joy, get rid of everything that doesn't spark joy, but that I don't think that question can be applied when you are purchasing things, because then that that is how you can in that rut of collecting. Well, yeah, it sparked joy in the store.

Well isn't that everybody's problem? It looked great in the dressing room, and you get home, it's like, what the heck happened? Because this is not the dressing room anymore, and this color looks awful on me. Yeah, so it takes away a lot of guilt from previous purchases made. So I think that's a good thing. But you kind of you just look at it on your own and decide for yourself. These are just what we think. Yeah, no,

no shaming. If you do love the Camari method, I mean yeah, I love a lot of the principles of it. So and that's why we're talking about it. Speaking of emotions, one of the life changes that she talked about is we don't hang on to things. We hang onto emotions attached to those things. And that is a really powerful

mantra when you are decluttering. Yeah, and that is I think ties back to maybe the clothing thing that both clothing things that Jill and I were talking about, like buying something because you want to be this person and maybe that person is not the right person for you to be, and sometimes that realization can be emotional. It's

a lot of other things too. I think we think about it more in sentimental items, but it can be in books that you want to read that to make yourself the type of person that you don't necessarily need to be, and just all kinds of stuff. Yeah, And this is where it kind of goes both ways of keeping things for an emotion that they evoke, but then also getting rid of things regardless of the emotion they evoke.

Is that kind of is that your understanding jen. Yeah, I think she's she really wants to convey that that memories and emotions live inside us, and that we don't necessarily need a physical, tangible thing whose only use is to help us remember that thing. And uh and yeah, so it goes. I think it can go into every room in the house, every category can hold this kind of emotional bond in one way or another. Like I have this kitchen aid. What is it like? It shops

things got so little, I don't even know what. It's called a food processor, and I got it. I registered for it for my wedding because I wanted to be the person who used a food processor. And it turns out I am not the person who uses a food processor, but I am emotionally attached to it because I still

want to be that person. And we did. We talked about that in the Joshua Becker episode two, which is funny to put interesting to put these two up against each other and look at the similarities and the differences and kind of There are commendations and tips that they both give, and there's there's good things that we can pull out of all of it. But I think, just like anything, we don't have to listen to one voice in this conversation, we can pull on all the wisdom

and find what works for us. So anyhow, and this next one that this article talks about is having fewer things you love is better than having a lot of things that you kind of like. And I can't get on board with this. This is probably baseline minimalism, the

not theology philosophy. I agree. So this is and and there is freedom in this to not be cluttered and have things all around us that are like, yeah, that's kind of cool, but I don't like this about it, and this is kind of neat, but whatever, rather than okay, this these few things that I have really sort of a purpose or they have beauty or they spark joy

if you want to use that that lingo. The lifestyle that that leads to is better than just being surrounded by things that, like you, you could give or take. They're they're they're okay. Yeah. I think this philosophy is is essential to our frugality too, because once you declutter and you have this you know, this capsule wardrobe or this capsule kitchen, you know, like I like the word capsule. It's very trendy right now, Um, Once you have this, then you don't feel the need to buy new stuff.

You don't feel the need to take advantage of sales just because they're there, and you can be content. You can learn contentment because you're surrounded by things you love, and then you can tell the difference between love and kind of like in your home and your relationships. Yeah, and that is something that she said that once she declutter and kept things that she loved, then she realized she didn't need more genes because she really she really

enjoyed the ones that she had. It wasn't like, I have ten pairs that I kind of like, but none of them quite suit my needs, so I'll just get another pair, versus no, I have two really great pairs at home, so I don't need anymore exactly, and that can help sustain the lifestyle. I do like that. And when you do need a new pair of jeans, you're not going to feel guilty for getting the really quality pair because you didn't buy the ten they were just on sale. Oh yes, Yeah, So another another perk and

the last one on this list. I don't know if you were accounting, but we counted the first two is one because you're both about joy. But so number five is it's not about what others think. So I didn't really think about this. Yeah, I didn't even think of out this when I was decluttering. I guess because I already don't care what others think. Most of aging it

comes with the territory. Although I've already given we've hit it a little too early, so I'm a little afraid for what we're going to be like when we're gen But yeah, you'll get to hear it on the podcast. So she said this story that I really resonated with um, and it's while she was decluttering. She had a black sweater and she was trying to decide whether to keep it or get rid of it. So she put it on for her daughter and husband and they both said it looked good. They gave the thumbs up, and so

the sweater went back in her closet. But it kept nagging at her, like she didn't really like it, and and usually we care about what others thinking a negative aspect, but this was a reversal, like they really liked it, and she was like, I just don't know, but since they like it, I'll keep it. And eventually she was like, does this really bring me joy? Or it could have

also been like do I personally really like this? And then it was like no, I don't, So she got rid of it, and yeah, that is something that I will take with me into this year's declutter, because there's there's things. Drives and I have different opinions on what I should be wearing. Um, but you're a strong, independent woman. You make up your own mind, right. Yeah, so he wants me to wear like closet fit and I just want to wear like bags. So so I'm gonna have

to go with my heart and wear the bags. Yeah, okay. Whatever whatever sparked joy, then I can relate to that though in a lot of areas of life, particularly though with my own things. Trying on a pair of shoes or what do you think about it? And oh yeah, I really like it. But it's like for me, I

know the intricates ease of it. You know, he may say, yes, I like those pair of shoes on you, but then I can know, yeah, but they kind of dig in on my left side and I'll only wear it with this outfit and I've only worn that outfit a few times. And he doesn't know that whole inner dialogue, and it doesn't really matter to him that much whether or not I get rid of it, So why don't I just

make my own decisions for myself? There there's a novel concept now, but but one of the Kanmari method things is to do this on your own, don't take into consideration what others think. And I think at first I was like, what that's so isolating, it's so individualistic. Other people matter, community, rah Ra, You're still going to get in trouble for throwing away your husband and children's Yeah, exactly.

So I think that that this this point really did help me to kind of understand what that's talking about in the Kumari method is that no one's going to know the inner dialogue of your personal things. You make the decision. But I do think this is the whole I'm going to poke in it that yes, when it's shared items, when it or when it is somebody else's things, No, you don't get to do that alone. I'm just gonna trump that one and say you don't get to do

that alone. But I agree, make the decision for your own clothing and yeah, what you know fits and what looks good on you or whatever doesn't just have to be clothing. But I will say, if you live with a hoarder, then you can go through and maybe pick out some things, like just help him out, but don't get rid of them, hide them and then when he asks where they are, then you say, oh, it's it's here, um. And then in like if it's been several months and

he has not asked, then they go. This sounds very specific. This arder is a male and you live with him, and it's just a theory, you know that you want if you want to test it out. I mean, it depends on what your definition of hoarding is. I don't know. Tread lightly, tread lightly on other people's things, Yeah, but you know what, we don't have to tread lightly on. Oh the best time of the week. Yeah, it's time for the bill. That's right, it's time for the best

minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's built buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill of the week. Hi running is Tyler, and my favorite bill is my mortgage that is really weird, I know, but because I am a first time homeowner and I just bought my house in September, it is still my favorite bill as of right now. Because I'm

making changes to my house. It's something that i can call my own and it's something that I'm extremely proud of. So I would have to say, all right, they awesome, Tyler, Yes, this is a perfect bill for today. I thought they said luggage at first, and I was like, Okay, this is interesting, let's talk about that. And then I realized it was mortgage, and that doesn't make sense. That there's something to be said about the pride in home ownership

and responsibility and even being able to pay that bill. Yes, there's so much wrapped up in their congratulations. I love my mortgage. I love being able to put extra money towards the principle of my mortgage. I know josh Onan Becker and I geeked out about this when he was here, But that is an empowering feeling knowing how much money you are saving, or like Tyler, who's doing renovations on our house right now, like how much your value of your home is going up just because of the things

you're doing. It's so empowering. So Tyler, thank you so much for that bill. If you've got a bill that you'd like to tell us about, please visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill and leave us one. We love hearing all of your bills. We do. Yes, it's our favorite part of the week, like we said, always always, and we did actually get some We got our first robo call on the hotline this week, um, asking us about like back braces or something. I don't know, but yeah,

So if you're not calling, somebody else is. But we can't use those bills because they're clearly not about bills, so we need you to provide step up up. Yes, all right, So we've talked all about this can Marie method and we really want to a do it ourselves, well me more than Jill because I actually have square feet to declutter um and then and also give you guys the chance to join in with us. And we're not going to do it all in a day because nobody,

yeah I ain't, nobody had time for that. But we're gonna we're gonna try it out over thirty one days. Yeah, So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna be using Marie Kondo's method for decluttering, but like Jen said, more toned down thirty one day challenge. I have made a list of everything that Marie includes in her book for d cluttering and listed it out over thirty one days.

And so we know it's January four and you're already a little behind, but the first few are super easy and you can catch up really easily this weekend, or you can go four days into February. No one is going to it doesn't have to just be January whenever you're listening in So what these are there mini d clutters and they should not take you more than an hour to tackle. They can, but don't let them. Just put put your put your efforts towards it for an hour.

It's a real world kick start that Marie would not approve of, but she's not here. Yeah, And so we are going to have the link to the calendar on our show notes for this episode, and you can sign up to get the calendar emailed to you and the it's coming from the Modern Frugality Shop back to our spawn, sir, which is actually me, thank you so um. And we also if you don't want to do a month long but you would rather do maybe a weekend. Um. The shop also has a free weekend starter challenge and you

can get that for free. It's called the Weekend can Mary Challenge Guide. So we are going to do the thirty one day here. There's also a two and a half day challenge, so whatever you want, you can find it there. And uh and yeah, so we hope you will join in with us and d clutter your life this year and then join us on the Frugal Friends Facebook community group. Post pictures, tell us how it's going for you. We we love group challenges, group participation, community input.

It's what spurs us on. And yeah, I'm so excited, Jill, are you? Is there anything in particular that you were excited to declutter? My clothing Since moving out of a motor home and in with my grandmother, which is still not a lot of space, but I have been a little bit lax on collecting things. I really haven't spent any money on clothing, but people will give me clothing that they're getting rid of and I'll go through it and if there's something that I like, then I'll keep it.

And I've gotten a little bit like, Yeah, because I've had space, I have filled that with clothing. It's my downfall, it's my achilles heel, and I gotta go through it because now I've just got drawers full of things that I hardly wear or I don't really like that much. So I'm but I'm excited. I am looking forward to getting rid of clothes and getting back on track with

a more pared down wardrobe. Yeah, how about you SAME's clothes? Well, so literally everything because we we are expecting our first child. Let's talk about things that sparked joy a little bundle. Yeah, so we are literally expecting to spark joy in May. And uh so there are things that go into having a baby, um that involve accumulation, and so we I really am committed to getting rid of a lot of stuff from our bedroom, our kitchen, my office is going

to become a nursery soon. So there's just so many things, and uh so I'm very motivated to pare down to just the essential started now before you get huge. That's what I'm saying. I have to because I'm already growing and if I if I don't do it in January, I fear it won't get done, especially as the warmer months start coming in, Holy smokes, you're gonna be big and sweaty. Thank you. So excited for you. I'm always always happy to hear your encouragement for my life. I'm

so excited. I'm excited for you, and I'm also excited for me and what that I get to watch this happen. And then also for our podcast, because I think this is good press for us, you know, to have a baby on the way. I think it's going to be fantastic for our ratings. Yeah, that's why I didn't. I thought, if we need a little something to shake things out, and then when our ratings you start to go down again, I'll get pregnant and we'll just go back and forth

and back and forth until we're famous. Yes, because of our babies, a lot of kids. We're gonna have a lot of kids that, Rachel, I don't know if you want to commit to that. We hope that you enjoyed that rewind into the archives, because good things shouldn't be forgotten, they should be brought back a time and time again. We hope that you found it as timeless as we uh. And so thank you for listening, and thank you for

your kind reviews. Seriously, if there's a way you're looking to support the show, reviews are it, literally, just take out your phone and tap all those stars if that's what you think we deserve and we hope we have earned that from you, and just say a few nice words and submit. That's it, kind of like de great Hayes did. They said five stars, amazing show to listen. Just did a quick binge of all the episodes over the last couple of weeks and was greatly surprised by content.

It ties with other financial podcasts with a different perspective. Great up in the great episodes. Wow, great up, great up, great up, the great up. We will I love that this says, just did a quick binge. I was waiting for you to complete that sentence, like quick binge of what literally all the episodes? Well, one of our listeners in our Frugal Friends community on spotify it told her one day she listened to like eleven hours of the

podcast in one day. I was like, okay, cool. We just couldn't find the pause buttons, so they just kept rolling into the Yeah, okay, cool, thank you, right. A quick binge of all one hundred forty seven episodes. We don't know when this was written, maybe true, maybe one. Well, anyhow, we also want to thank our friends who share these episodes, not just u us. So when you share us on Facebook or Instagram, we add you to our monthly drawing.

For every five tags and reviews we get each month, we're giving away a copy of the Frugal Friends workbook. So keep leaving us those reviews on iTunes and Stitcher. Send the screenshot to Frugal Friends podcast at gmail dot com, and don't forget to tag us on social See you next Week by Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Syrian Minimalism Jen. I have to tell you that whenever I get stressed, one of my stress responses is wanting to

get rid of as much as I can. Absolutely, I am with you, it doesn't feel the healthiest in the moment because I just get so frustrated, like why do we why do we have so many shoes when really

we don't. It just feels like and really it can be aimed at Eric just like, well you need to and I'll pull out minimalism terms like you need to edit ed, you need to edit your flip flops just so frustrated how many blankets we have, but we have a lot of gas, so I cannot get rid of all these blankets and pillows like we do use them. It just is in a fit of stress, I want

to get rid of everything. The worst is when I'm pissed and then I trip over something like a toy or shoe because those are always on the ground, and I'm like, what the heck, and then I just go into a fit of rage cleaning. Do you edit your language like that? There's no I don't use the word edit. I think that's I don't know from you edit your language your own there's no expletives expletives at home so much to the chagrin of Travis. But the term edit

off of like blogs and stuff. I think we've even talked about it, like how to maintain minimalism, you have to start editing. So I watched the Home Edit show on Netflix and I hated it. I thought it was very pretentious an elitist. I also watched it. It definitely wasn't minimalist. It was organization. Yeah, I know, And so maybe I wanted them to purge because I did want to see them pea. I wanted their styles right, and

so I didn't like that. I was like, you have too much stuff, that's why your house is insane, get rid of it. And that wold have been me, and that's why I don't have a million followers on Instagram. But yeah, it's just so my goal this year. Can I let's be candid, UM and anybody listening to this that can help me with this, I'm all on board. Contact me. The Minimalists have a new book coming out in July, and I want to get them on the show.

So I've already tracked down their publisher and the publicity assistant at the publisher and another person on the PR team UM to try and reach out, and I tracked down their email addresses from LinkedIn. I mean, we've already had all the other Minimalist on the podcasts, so it's only fair, right, So mark my words, I'm going to reach out and it is my goal to get the Minimalists on this show. Thanks for being candid and for sharing your goals, because even if they feel just out

of reach, yeah, they're doing organization shouldn't write. Even though I didn't like Lesses Now, it wasn't a great little mini documentary but I can forgive them for that because they have a book coming out this year, so they want to be on the radar again. I get it, it's it's marketing. But I forgive them for that, and I still want them on the show. Okay, I'm here for it. Thank you.