A Walk Through Our Minimalism Journey

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The quotes below are from my Facebook posts during some of my decluttering process. These pictures and captions were just the tip of the iceberg in my family’s Minimalism journey. With the inspiration of Allie Casazza, we started decluttering in 2015, and haven’t looked back since. We sold our 3,000 sq. ft. house and moved our family-of-5 into a 750 sq. ft. rent house in order to become debt free and live a simpler life.

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March 29, 2016
”This week's purged items! 
It's hard to tell from the picture, but there's a life size Barbie, kid's desk, shelf, THREE baby doll strollers, Barbies, baby dolls...and lots of other stuff! I'm so proud of my five year old, she's loving having less mess and more room to play. She purged most of this on her own! 
This week we will tackle the kid's clothes!

We're preparing to list our home and down size by about 1,000 square feet later this year. We're absolutely loving living with less!”

 
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April 19, 2016
“I posted a picture a few weeks ago of my purged pile and I wanted to give an update. 
Yesterday we hauled a HUGE load of purged stuff off to be sold at a consignment auction. We rented a 14 foot Uhaul truck...and it wasn't big enough! We'll have to take a couple more loads with our pickup truck. We also had THREE pickup truck loads of trash yesterday! (Pictured is our 14 foot uhaul truck a little bit into unloading and the start of our sale pile at the consignment auction site.)
This is not even counting that since January we've sold THREE 5x8 trailer loads of junk, a pool table, an extra swing set, almost $500 worth of clothes at a garage sale, and donated FIVE garbage bags of clothes....PLUS countless bags of trash! 
I'm going to be honest...yesterday was so hard! There were several times I had to make my husband toss things in the trash pile. I also cried a few times! It's so physically and emotionally exhausting! Plus...I was so embarrassed and disgusted with the amount of stuff. Once I realized that a 14 foot truck wasn't going to be big enough, my stomach was in knots and I wanted to honestly just give up, but thankfully my husband stayed strong!

God is so great ladies! If you ask him for the strength, He will give it to you! Keep your end goal in mind, and like Allie says...just conquer!

*Edited to add: Most embarrassing purged items....63 board games and puzzles! The really sad part...I kept about 20! Who has almost 90 board games in their house!?! Ugh!”

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May 2, 2016
“It's like they know to gravitate to the train tracks and Lincoln logs as soon as everything is purged. 
She built a little town for her mini My Little Ponies and she's giving them a train ride.”

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June 4, 2016
“Anyone who has been practicing Minimalism for awhile will tell you that purging is an ongoing process, something you have to continue to do gradually. I agree with that in every way! I started purging almost 8 months ago, we're in a 3,000 sq ft house (selling soon), and it's a constant battle to keep the "stuff" in check. The past few days I've felt the overwhelm creeping back in, so I took control of the situation, looked at where my frustration was coming from...ALWAYS the kids' stuff...and did something about it! I did a HUGE purge on our books (2nd purge of the year)...we're homeschoolers so that's hard! I did a HUGE purge on the toys (5th purge of the year)! And I gathered up a bag full of random clothes and things from the kids' rooms. 
Ladies, YOU are in control of your life! Take an hour or two this weekend and tackle something that's been making you feel like crap! I sacrificed a couple hours of sleep last night, but I feel so fantastic this morning and ready to tackle the upcoming week!”

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Control Your Crazy works on identifying where you’re treading water in life and gives you the skills and resources to get out of survival mode. After all, a life is meant to be lived - not merely survived!

This course is broken down into
5 easy-to-follow sections:

  • Control Your Day with Time Management

  • Control Your Dreams with Goal Setting

  • Control Your Money with Budgeting

  • Control Your Mindset with Positive Thinking

  • Control Your Home with Minimalism

Each of these topics are included with
YOUR sanity in mind!

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June 6, 2016
“When you decide that you can let your family home go, a home that your father built before he passed away, a home where your babies learned to walk at, a home that has over 12 years worth of family memories at....when you decide you can let all of that go...you can let anything go! Furniture and clothing just doesn't seem near as important. 
Ladies, I feel like I'm making the ultimate purge of my possessions...our home is officially for sale! Very bitter sweet...could use some prayers for some peace in my heart and a quick and painless sale.”

 
 
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June 20, 2016
”Did some 5 minute purging when I went in my closet to get dressed this morning. Starting this week off on the right foot!”

 
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September 20, 2016
”We did a maintenance purge the other day + all of the books are from a previous purge, I finally found a school to donate them too! 
It feels good to finally get to a point where I feel like I can donate instead of trying to sell everything!”

 
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January 17, 2017
“Timed it, and it just took me and my 5-year-old 40 minutes exactly to clean our house well enough for company to come over! That might seem impressive...but it gets better....we haven't cleaned AT ALL, not even the dishes since Sunday! ...yeah, it's already been that kind of week! We literally ate lunch on paper towels! 😂
...my point is....minimalism is life! 😍 #thisisabundantlife

Check out some of my related resources…

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Declutter before and afters | minimalism | purge pictures | family down size | tiny living | family of 5 | how to declutter the toys | allie casazza | purge your entire home | tips | how to | beginner | sami womack | a sunny side up life
 
Declutter before and afters | minimalism | purge pictures | family down size | tiny living | family of 5 | how to declutter the toys | allie casazza | purge your entire home | tips | how to | beginner | sami womack | a sunny side up life
 

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HEY I'M SAMI WOMACK

I'm the wife to my high school sweetheart, Daniel, + homeschooling momma to our 3 girls. I'm the Budgeting Coach + Motivational Speaker behind 
A Sunny Side Up Life
.

My family used to be in $490k of debt + living paycheck-to-paycheck, but after we hit rock bottom everything changed for us!

Now that my family has become debt free + gained financial freedom, I want to help your family do the same! My passion is inspiring women to live abundant lives through budgeting, intentional living, and positive thinking.

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