Beauty

[just bee]

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@Brisky wrote:
just bee, My advice is don't deny yourself the things you truly love because that's a downer. Buy what you LOVE. If you love one of the graces, get it!

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@Brisky 

It's weird.  The fire changed everything.  A big change and now smaller changes.  Part of me wants to give up fragrance completely.  I don't want to start collecting again.

I could easily pick up a few items from the BOGO sale and see how it goes.  But why?

Goes back to: Is this something I need?

[just bee]

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@Shanus wrote:

@aprilskies   I’ve been decluttering for years...closets, bookshelves, kitchen cabinets and makeup/skincare. We have a large house. The issue for me is remembering not to replace items with new ones I like. I read that if you have to purchase storage bins and organizers to store your stuff, you have too much stuff. That’s what put the fire under me to get started. 

When my Mom passed away at the end of March, her large apartment needed to be cleared out in 30 days. She had kept everything through the years. We all went down on the weekends bubble wrapping & boxing things in piles to donate, toss, or keep for ourselves or relatives. I went down a few days during the week, too and worked on emptying it out. We barely made the deadline.

I promised my son and daughter to begin going through the rest of my unwanted and not needed things so they wouldn’t have such a tiring job. 

It does feel great to open a linen closet and only have the sheets, towels and blankets we actually use...no “just in case” items. 

My best advice for those having difficulty feeling they’re wasting money by weeding out seldom used items? The money’s already been spent and wasted. Get rid of the clutter.

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@Shanus 

Couldn't have said it better myself.

It took me a month to go through all my sooty items after the fire.  And what you said about buying organizers and bins is so true.  Once something goes into a storage container it's as good as forgotten so why keep it?

Let it go.

[just bee]

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@geezerette wrote:

My microwave died this past week.  Normally that’s not a big deal to replace.  However, mine is part of an oven/microwave combo installed in my kitchen cabinetry.  And the oven works fine.  A huge expense just for a new microwave.

That means to replace it I have to replace the whole unit, oven included.  If I can even find a unit that would fit in that space.  Then how to get the old unit out and the new installed without damaging the cabinetry.  Ugh.  Another, “Oh, what to do?” situation.  

For now, I’m using the microwave in the cat room.  Walmart has small units for $50 now for the back to college crowd.  I probably will just get one of those to put on the counter for now.  I think I’ll just procrastinate for a while on the other.

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@geezerette 

We keep replacing microwaves because the plastic over the buttons keeps wearing out.  It's one of those built-in failures that makes you replace an item even though the item still works.  Purely cosmetic.  Right now our microwave is still in bubble wrap and sitting in the garage.  We're using the one in the rental that's above the stove but doesn't match.

Your story worries me.  I've been watching those renovation shows and appliances don't always fit with the cabinetry.  I'm worried we'll run into that issue when the house is rebuilt.

Right now it's pouring and our refrigerator -- with all the food we had before the fire still inside it -- is sitting on our patio in the rain.  We won't be saving it.

Went to the house the other day and saw one of our ceiling fans in the dumpster.

The new washer?  Have to replace that, too.

And this is another reason not to invest in more fragrance.

ETA:

This is why our dishwasher sat for so many years, deader than four o'clock.  Didn't think we could even pull it out and replace it because we had a giant island in the middle of the kitchen.  The island made it impossible to have any fridge other than a side-by-side.  Now you can't even buy a side-by-side without the water in the door -- I feature I do not want.

Shoulda rented.

[just bee]

@geezerette 

You're right.  Something is amiss.  My konjac sponge has a bad case of the weirds.  I noticed a chunk is missing,  How is that possible?

And the thing never dries.  This is the high desert.  Things dry out almost instantly.

I plan to continue using a sponge but now I have to search for one that isn't like this.  Weird.

[geezerette]

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@Shanus wrote:

@aprilskies   I’ve been decluttering for years...closets, bookshelves, kitchen cabinets and makeup/skincare. We have a large house. The issue for me is remembering not to replace items with new ones I like. I read that if you have to purchase storage bins and organizers to store your stuff, you have too much stuff. That’s what put the fire under me to get started. 

When my Mom passed away at the end of March, her large apartment needed to be cleared out in 30 days. She had kept everything through the years. We all went down on the weekends bubble wrapping & boxing things in piles to donate, toss, or keep for ourselves or relatives. I went down a few days during the week, too and worked on emptying it out. We barely made the deadline.

I promised my son and daughter to begin going through the rest of my unwanted and not needed things so they wouldn’t have such a tiring job. 

It does feel great to open a linen closet and only have the sheets, towels and blankets we actually use...no “just in case” items. 

My best advice for those having difficulty feeling they’re wasting money by weeding out seldom used items? The money’s already been spent and wasted. Get rid of the clutter.

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@Shanus 

So very true!  And storage also applies to putting extras away in closets.  I put several extra pairs of pants into a spare bedroom closet so my main closet would be less cluttered.  Of course the obvious happened—I forgot about them and bought new pants.  

That’s always how I feel when I toss or donate something:  why did I waste my money on that thing?

[geezerette]

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@just bee wrote:

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@Brisky wrote:
just bee, My advice is don't deny yourself the things you truly love because that's a downer. Buy what you LOVE. If you love one of the graces, get it!

---

@Brisky 

It's weird.  The fire changed everything.  A big change and now smaller changes.  Part of me wants to give up fragrance completely.  I don't want to start collecting again.

I could easily pick up a few items from the BOGO sale and see how it goes.  But why?

Goes back to: Is this something I need?

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@just bee 

I finally figured out how to save the most money of all from a sale:  don’t buy anything!!💸💸💸

[geezerette]

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I@just bee wrote:

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@geezerette wrote:

My microwave died this past week.  Normally that’s not a big deal to replace.  However, mine is part of an oven/microwave combo installed in my kitchen cabinetry.  And the oven works fine.  A huge expense just for a new microwave.

That means to replace it I have to replace the whole unit, oven included.  If I can even find a unit that would fit in that space.  Then how to get the old unit out and the new installed without damaging the cabinetry.  Ugh.  Another, “Oh, what to do?” situation.  

For now, I’m using the microwave in the cat room.  Walmart has small units for $50 now for the back to college crowd.  I probably will just get one of those to put on the counter for now.  I think I’ll just procrastinate for a while on the other.

---

@geezerette 

We keep replacing microwaves because the plastic over the buttons keeps wearing out.  It's one of those built-in failures that makes you replace an item even though the item still works.  Purely cosmetic.  Right now our microwave is still in bubble wrap and sitting in the garage.  We're using the one in the rental that's above the stove but doesn't match.

Your story worries me.  I've been watching those renovation shows and appliances don't always fit with the cabinetry.  I'm worried we'll run into that issue when the house is rebuilt.

Right now it's pouring and our refrigerator -- with all the food we had before the fire still inside it -- is sitting on our patio in the rain.  We won't be saving it.

Went to the house the other day and saw one of our ceiling fans in the dumpster.

The new washer?  Have to replace that, too.

And this is another reason not to invest in more fragrance.

ETA:

This is why our dishwasher sat for so many years, deader than four o'clock.  Didn't think we could even pull it out and replace it because we had a giant island in the middle of the kitchen.  The island made it impossible to have any fridge other than a side-by-side.  Now you can't even buy a side-by-side without the water in the door -- I feature I do not want.

Shoulda rented.

---

@just bee 

I don’t know for sure that the microwave can’t be fixed or the unit replaced.  I haven’t had my contractor friend look at it yet because he’s busy and its not an emergency.  I hate relying on people any more than necessary.

I’m assuming there will be problems because a few years ago the oven quit and the OG said it would be a hassle to replace.  We did manage to get it fixed (between OG and the repairman), but that in itself was a hassle trying to get the part.  Replacing the old part with the new was a breeze, but because the unit was built in 2005, its pretty much obsolete and owned by another company now too.

Anyway, during my microwave debacle I was thinking of you.  When I noticed it wasn’t working the first thing I did was flip the circuit breaker.  No luck.  But what happened next freaked me out: a few minutes later it turned back on...while the breaker was flipped off!  Then I smelled burning with nothing in the microwave.  Yikes!  That’s when I thought about you.  All I could picture in my mind at that minute was that my house was about to burn down because I didn’t know how to turn the darn microwave off!  (This winter it was the furnace that wouldnt turn off, now the microwave was burning without electricity!)  After a minute or two it must have burned itself out because it turned itself off again.  (Later I figured out the original electrician must have mislabeled that circuit and I had never actually turned the electricity off to the microwave.)

End result is that everything about the microwave works—except the heating element.  I don’t know if that can be replaced easily or not, so I’ll wait until I can get it checked out.  And I really don’t really want to spend the $50 for a new one and possibly end up with another appliance I don’t need in the end. 

Meantime, I’m walking through the garage to the cat room every time I want to heat something.  At least I’m getting more exercise.  

As for dishwashers, I stopped using mine.  Well, mostly.  I still use it about once a week.  It’s getting up there in age and I figured it would probably break down soon too, since everything else seems to be doing so.  And with just me, I don’t really have a whole lot of things to wash.  So, I’ve been doing them by hand again.  It was a bit of a pain at first, but now it’s not so bad.  And I’ve found that I save a good $10-15 on my water bill each month, which is good motivation.  That’s from using it only once a day, too.  I never realized those things used that much water.  Even the newer ones. 💦

[geezerette]

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@just bee wrote:

@geezerette 

You're right.  Something is amiss.  My konjac sponge has a bad case of the weirds.  I noticed a chunk is missing,  How is that possible?

And the thing never dries.  This is the high desert.  Things dry out almost instantly.

I plan to continue using a sponge but now I have to search for one that isn't like this.  Weird.

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@just bee 

Definitely.  I have problems with two different brands.  Makes me mad because I like using the sponges, but I don’t want to have to break out a new one after 2-3 weeks.  And I don’t want to go on another buying spree to find ones that I like and hold up.

This is what makes me mad.  I finally decide to simplify and I get products that I’m happy with.  Then those nice, simple, cheap products crumble in my hands.  🤬

[rnmom]

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@just bee wrote:

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@Brisky wrote:
just bee, My advice is don't deny yourself the things you truly love because that's a downer. Buy what you LOVE. If you love one of the graces, get it!

---

@Brisky 

It's weird.  The fire changed everything.  A big change and now smaller changes.  Part of me wants to give up fragrance completely.  I don't want to start collecting again.

I could easily pick up a few items from the BOGO sale and see how it goes.  But why?

Goes back to: Is this something I need?

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@just bee - I have to agree with @Brisky .  Of course spray fragrance is not a need, a necessity of life. But, it's not something that I would want to live without. I enjoy using some sort of scent almost every day, whether it be lotion or spray. Only you know if it's worth it to buy more or not. But if it's something that you truly enjoyed I wouldn't give it up just because it's not a need. We still have to have some enjoyment in life. 

[geezerette]

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@rnmom wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

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@Brisky wrote:
just bee, My advice is don't deny yourself the things you truly love because that's a downer. Buy what you LOVE. If you love one of the graces, get it!

---

@Brisky 

It's weird.  The fire changed everything.  A big change and now smaller changes.  Part of me wants to give up fragrance completely.  I don't want to start collecting again.

I could easily pick up a few items from the BOGO sale and see how it goes.  But why?

Goes back to: Is this something I need?

---

@just bee - I have to agree with @Brisky .  Of course spray fragrance is not a need, a necessity of life. But, it's not something that I would want to live without. I enjoy using some sort of scent almost every day, whether it be lotion or spray. Only you know if it's worth it to buy more or not. But if it's something that you truly enjoyed I wouldn't give it up just because it's not a need. We still have to have some enjoyment in life. 

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@just bee 

@rnmom said pretty much what I was thinking.  

I think right now you're shell shocked from all the major decisions you’re making and going to be making.  This one will not seriously affect your life going forward whether you buy another fragrance or don’t.  You know—logically—that if you make one purchase it does not commit you to lifelong use of the product, nor are you going to have to join Hoarders Anonymous if you buy and don’t use it.  

On the other hand, if you’re not sure you want it right now, wait.  You can always buy later if you feel like it.  Sales are always happening, and the holiday sales will be coming soon.  And, something we rarely consider: you can always buy one full price if you want. 🙀

You might just be too involved with other aspects of life right now for a decision like this.  If you’ve been missing a fragrance, buy.  If not, don’t, and wait to see if you change your mind in the future.  This just might be one small thing that is overwhelming due to the circumstances right now that otherwise wouldn’t be a concern.

I do know that my tastes and desires have changed as I’ve gotten older and things that I used to enjoy are no longer enjoyable.  It’s okay to not go back to how you were before the fire.🙂