How Much Stuff is Enough?

I’m 36 weeks pregnant and nesting instinct has well and truly kicked in.  Over the Christmas break we have brought all the baby stuff (from our first daughter) down from the loft and I’ve been getting the nursery ready.  It’s really made me realise how much unnecessary stuff we acquired first time around.  And it’s also made me rethink my ideas about what is ‘enough’, both in terms of baby stuff and in general.

For my first daughter, one of my friends had had a daughter 6 months previously and she very kindly lent us lots of baby clothes as her little girl grew out of them.  We also bought some clothes for our baby ourselves, of course, and we were given some as presents too.  We have since returned all the clothes that we borrowed, and yet we still have more than enough baby clothes left, without needing to buy a single thing!

I also found that we have lost a bag of baby sheets and blankets somewhere in the mists of time loft.  My first urge was to rush out and buy some more, but I can’t do that because I have challenged myself to buy nothing new this year.  And under my self-imposed rules, even buying second hand is the last resort.  So I have looked again at what we have.  We did manage to find some bedding, and we have been lent some more.  And I’ve realised that actually, we probably do have just about enough already, it’s just not in matching sets.  So I’m going to let go of my perfectionism and make do with what we’ve got.

It’s a baby step in the right direction I think, but I need to apply it to all areas of my life and home.  I have a terrible habit of buying things ‘just in case’ and hoarding things I don’t really need because they might come in handy one day.  This applies to food, clothes, craft materials, stationery, all sorts.  I have been decluttering the past few months but I’ve still got a long way to go.  I’ve got rid of a lot of the pre-baby clutter (abandoned craft projects and materials, clothes and shoes I no longer wear, hundreds of books and CDs, etc), but slowly and surely our house is filling up again with new, kid-related clutter, mainly toys, toys and more toys.

There are some people who manage to live with just 100 (or less) personal possessions, like Leo Baubuta and A Guy Named Dave.  I was going to say this is unachievable when you have young kids but then I discovered Single Mom Enough.  Wow.  So inspiring, and makes me realise that I’m just a beginner when it come to simplicity and being content with what you have.

What is ‘enough’ for you?  Do you/could you live with just 100 things?