Thursday, November 29, 2007

It's all about the bribery


I have told the children that if we can get rid of 75% of the stuff in our entire house, I will buy them a Wii. This is not a small undertaking. In the past 2 years, we have done little more than get rid of clothes which are obviously too small. On occasion, a bunch of toys have gone to DI.

So, we work 20-30 minutes per day and we all work together. Everything to be donated goes in the living room. I am hoping to fill it.

Once the house is decluttered and a little better organized, we will have a new goal. The goal for 2008 is to not buy anything that is not 100% necessary. No clearance rack shirts, unless there is a specific need. No new shoes just because they're cute. No new plates, towels, electronics, etc. We're trying to simplify to a huge degree. We are also hoping to break our consumerism cycle. AND as a bonus, maybe the house will stay marginally decluttered.

Wish us luck!

4 comments:

Naomi said...

Good luck with that . . . I have heard that the Wii is a hard gift to lay your hands on this year.

Oh, and thanks for the blessing your decluttering has been to our family! :) Liv loved the stuff you brought over!

frizzlefry said...

Don't worry- I plan to continue "regifting" to you. Let me know when the decluttering needs to occur at your place as a result!!

(There's no way they will earn the Wii in time for Christmas, so I am not worried!)

Cloves said...

We used the procuring of a Wii for bribery as well. And continue to tie the use of it to behaviour. Works pretty well at our house.

Good luck with the purging. We will have a massive pre-move purge this spring as well. Moving really encourages that in us.

The Katzbox said...

OH, good luck with that...I am jealous...I don't know how to declutter...tell me how it's done please...I have no incentive...I just don't know how to do it...I'm totally clueless...totally...