Posted in Frugality-Simplicity

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

I Can’t Live Simply Until…

Laundry, Laundry, Everywhere and Not a Thing to Wear

Recently, I was chatting with a mom I met at the library regarding simple living. I mentioned that I only own clothes that are solid tops and bottoms and she was amazed. Not amazed as in, “WOW! You are Super Woman!” Her reaction was more accurately, “Wow! I never thought of that?” What amazed her was that the idea is SO simple and easy, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it.

I have a 2 fold reason for solid tops and bottoms. The first reason is that I can pull any top and bottom out of my closet or dresser at any time on any day and know that I have a match. This really helps if I have gotten behind on laundry! Secondly, my shirts get stained so easily that I spend VERY little on them and often am in need of new ones, so I don’t have to think about it when purchasing. Any solid v-neck t-shirt at about $3 each is a WIN for me! I can easily replace these shirts without one moment of wasted time thinking about if the shirt will match anything I own.

I often find that mom’s purchase so many single items that they have TOO MANY clothes and never anything to wear. This can be so overwhelming, not to mention frustrating, on those oh so chaotic days. I recommend that you only keep 9-12 everyday shirts on hand at any given time. Each time you purchase a new shirt, one must be given away. If you use this system you will stop and think before you buy another shirt, because you may not have any you are ready to pass on. Think that is the only benefit, OH NO! It does not stop there! When you limit the number of items in your wardrobe, you will also have LESS LAUNDRY to keep wash regularly. You can only get so far behind before there is nothing left hanging in your closet, right? When this happens you will HAVE to do the laundry. If you have 20, 30, 40 tops to choose from, you could put your laundry off for quite some time. When that day comes, WOW will there be lots to do!

Just to clarify, I have more than 10 shirts. My shirt count usually runs around 10 v-neck t-shirts, 5-10 tank tops, 10 long sleeve tops, and 4-5 dress tops (varying in sleeve length).  Every top is solid colored and matches every bottom I own. I never have to think too much, I never have to spend too much, and I never have to worry about overloading of laundry. You can too can put this into practice, and you don’t have to wait until your whole life is simplified to do it!

So, what are you waiting for?

These are my thoughts.