Recently, we have undertaken a major purge of our stuff.  It has been ongoing since we moved into our house last November.  

The goal: get rid of half of our stuff.  Half of every box we unpack.  There are still boxes we haven’t unpacked, because deciding what stays and what goes takes time.  Judge me if you must.  I judge me for that one too.

We have purged quite a few items from our kitchen. I got rid of 3 of 4 identical mixing bowls.  I have donated/discarded storage containers that no longer have their matching lids.  I purged my 3 identical glass measuring glasses.  I got rid of 30 mugs. 3 small frying pans exited my kitchen.  Dollar store champagne glasses are now a thing of the past.

Had I been more organized, I would have saved it all for a yard sale.  But that requires keeping it somewhere in my house a little longer.  Which I just couldn’t stand.  So to Goodwill it went.

The clear cupboard space has been truly been a relief.  I am no longer shoving things into cabinets where they don’t fit.  Each item has its place.  It makes cooking a bit faster.

I have drawers and cupboards that currently have NOTHING in them.  As in EMPTY.  Nada.  It is a strange and wonderful thing.

That does*not* mean my kitchen is clean.  Let’s be real here.  It just means that with better habits, it could be clean 😉 

Lest you think I’m really good at homemaking, here is my sink at this very moment as I am blogging instead of cleaning:

If you can look past the dishes, you will notice what a pretty new sink and faucet we recently installed.

Don’t you feel special seeing my nasty sink full of dishes I was too in a hurry to properly rinse?

Abe and I work full time, so we find ourselves eating out or eating take out for convenience.  During cherry season, it is not uncommon for Abe to work 16 hour days, 7 days/week.

We both recognize eating take out for convenience is not a good thing for our budget or our waistline, but when we get done with a long work day, frankly neither of those things are on our minds. 

We are just tired, hungry, and want to spend some quality time with the kids.  And maybe have time to admire the wildflowers and goodness growing our property.

Anybody know that kind of flower this is?  It grows along our back fence in white and purple.  They are so dainty and lovely.

Maybe if I was a more organized person with better stamina the semi-frequent take out wouldn’t happen.  I’m positive there are plenty of families with two working parents who avoid this.

But I don’t like to spend time wishing I’m somebody I’m not.

But since the subject has come up, could I just grow a few more inches in height, lose a couple inches off my post-partum waist line, and wake up with fiery, red hair? No?  Dag nabit.

So how do I change the cycle knowing full well that I’m not magically going to be more organized tomorrow?

Well, I have had some time on maternity leave to really take a hard look at our budget and I came to an interesting conclusion:

I should spend my convenience money a single time on nice, family-size appliances that stream line cooking.  I don’t own a lot of big appliances at the moment.  No stand mixer, no blender (not even a small one), no large food processor, nothing that does chopping for me etc.

Why don’t I own those things?

Reason #1: Because the price tag on those bad boys hurts my cheapskate soul.

But then I did the math.  If those appliances cut down on the sometimes daunting task of cooking and save us from getting a few rounds of take out, they will pay for themselves and save us money in the long run.

Reason #2: I assumed I didn’t take that much more time making things without having these appliances.

But when I really stopped to think about it, the assumption didn’t hold up for long…

For example, I currently have a 3 cup food processor.  That means to make a nice size batch of pico de gallo or my slow cooker blueberry butter, I have to empty and run that processor at least 3 times.  When I make butternut squash soup, it takes at least 10 rounds.

If I owned a larger food processor, I could dump it in all at once, run it, and pop it in the dishwasher.  Bam.  Done.  In 1/3 the time.

I already cut the blending step of the cooking process for butternut squash soup down by about 30 minutes by simply buying an immersion blender (okay… my husband bought it for me, because I am cheap and me making a stock pot of soup and then blending it 2 cups at a time in a food processor was getting laughable).

Reason #3 Because, up until recently, I didn’t have the space in my cupboards for such conveniences

Thanks to the kitchen purge, I have space for it.  I could buy this one from Amazon for $80.  It can occupy the space formerly inhabited by 30 extra mugs.  If it saves me from eating out twice it has paid for itself.

Over the next few months, I am going to try to eat out less and take that money to buy nicer appliances.

If you see my facebook posts about my lovely new appliances, don’t think: that girl must have some serious extra moolah to burn.  Because I don’t.  This is just my attempt to save money in the long run and not have a nervous breakdown.

Once my kitchen is stocked, I can take the savings and put it where it should go… into investments, paying down those pesky student loans, and building up other income streams.

Wish me luck!