Media Mommy–I am a plugged in Mom. I love my kids, social media–and a good deal!

Today my husband and I took another look at the house we’re planning to rent for the next 2+ years. It’s $200 more than what we pay right now. I’m definitely worried about that. But it’s an amazing home. A place like this in Denver, Colorado Springs or even Tucson would certainly be much more.

While we walked around, I thought about the furniture we currently own. It won’t even begin to fill the place. When we left Arizona nearly two years ago, we got rid of so much. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done that. It was all paid for and in truth I really loved some of it, even though I told myself I was “sick of” the style choices.

Oh well.. it’s just stuff anyway.

What I did find in this home was room for more stuff. More than I ever want to have. The homeowners haven’t moved all the way out yet. But they’ve been living in their new place for about six months. My guess is they don’t need even 1% of what they’ve left behind.

I worry about doing the same thing. Filling the house up, just because I can.

Part of living a more frugal life is not having a bunch of “stuff” around.  I told the homeowners they could leave what they don’t want, we’ll use what we’d like and pass on the rest. I wonder how much they’ll leave behind? I kid you not there were 12 baking pans in the basement.

I’ll keep you posted on this one. In the meantime, it’s time for me to start packing up the current home. I wonder how much I’ll leave behind? Well, I won’t actually leave any of it–I’ll be Freecycling it and donating it, but you get what I mean.

What do you think about the amount of stuff in your home?

Hope yours was wonderful.

Mine was–my kids were blessed with tons of toys. So now it’s my challenge to organize it all. I’ll be using Freecycle for sure to give away some of the old stuff. In the coming weeks I will let you know how my organizing is going!

What was the best gift you GAVE? Mine was the Wii for the kids. When we gave it to them my son screamed “We got a Wii” over and over!

Back when I was in high school (way back!) I was a recycler and into shopping at thrift stores for my clothes. Over the years, I got away from it and became an all-out consumer (like just about everyone else). Now, with the economy the way it is, I am turning back to my old ways—and loving it.

I joined my local Freecycle group here in Pueblo a few weeks ago and I gotta say I love it. Here’s why:

The kids and their new doll house

This Barbie Dream house came to us from a fellow “Freecycler.” I had asked via email if anyone had a play kitchen for my girls–because we sold ours when we left Arizona. A wonderful woman replied that she didn’t have one, but she did have a doll house.

We arranged to pick it up on a Saturday morning and it turned out to be the exact dream house I had as a child! It came with tons of 80′s Barbie furniture, too. Since I had gotten rid of mine so many years ago, I was floored.

My kids love it–and since it was from Freecycle–it was FREE. That’s the whole idea behind the group–giving away stuff you don’t need and taking other people’s stuff they don’t need.

Freecycle started in Tucson many years ago, and I sure do wish I had tried it out sooner. What a great way to save the earth—reusing and giving away your stuff for others to love and appreciate. And we sure do appreciate our Doll house. To find out more about Freecycle in your area click here.