Live simply: How much does a girl really need?

Almost 10 months into my Live Simply project, it might be time to evaluate and look at my goals:

- Be more conscious of my spending and save money
I spend less money on clothes, but without having the full overview, I might be spending more on things like good food and fresh flowers. None the less, I have money saved in the bank. With a wedding coming up, there is an even bigger incentive to keep up with this goal in 2014 as well. PS. I have bought tea only once.

- Deep cleaning
To some extent I have cleaned and purged, and I think I have gotten better at parting with things. For example, the other day I successfully threw out a whole bag of sewing/mending projects that honestly wouldn´t be worth the time it would take to get a mediocre result, and scraps of fabric too small to use for anything at all. This stuff have been taking up room for years, so it was time to let it go.

- Free time
All the cleaning and organizing has taken a lot of time actually, but it is nice to walk through the mall and not even consider stopping in a store!

- Contentment and use what I have

I have been realizing that for the most part, I have what I need. Even with a long and warm season behind us I didn´t use all my summer dresses. Still, when writing a wish list a little while ago, it is not entirely free from clothing.

Packing out all the heavy winter sweaters made for a sweet reunion, and I have been enjoying scarfs and hats and mittens the past weeks. Still, I bought myself a new, but used, wool sweater yesterday. This project would have been a lot harder if I hadn´t permitted second hand shopping, thats for sure! The thrill of the hunt and a good find is so much more rewarding than going into the chain stores where everything is new and shiny. It doesn´t hurt that the price at Skrot Tor (the amazing local thrift store) is a fraction of what new things cost.

Books have been a lot harder. In the beginning I managed to keep my "one in - one out" rule, but now I  tried tricking myself by rearranging my book shelf to make room for a couple of new books.  I took an inventory, and currently there are 16 unread books on my shelf, half of them bought this year. Lesson to be learned: read what I have before buying more books.

I think I am more grateful for gifts as well, and I feel like people have been very generous towards me!

- Avoid impulse shopping

This has been quite easy, apart from the incident with the missing suitcase (lost forever actually), also referred to as the Stop Shop crisis. Since I had to buy a lot in one day, a couple of the things I got didn´t fit well and weren´t thought through. On the other hand, when outfitting my balcony and getting new curtains, I looked around for a long time and knew that I really wanted what I got before buying it. More time = better buys.

To sum it all up, I think I am mostly staying on the right track. I am surprised at how little I have used my sewing machine, and my collection of yarn has actually grown! Continuing with the project in 2014 might be an option, with a few wedding exceptions. For that I am not ready to find everything used.

Is there anyone else doing this who have experiences to share?