Our month-long shopping hiatus ended last week, and today we’re sharing what happened. What was the hardest part? How did it change our habits? What did we rush to buy first? And — most importantly — how did it affect our bank account? We cover all of that here, plus alternatives if a full shopping ban feels too extreme. We also tackled a part of the house we’d been embarrassed to show, fixed it without spending money, added simple organization at the beach house, and dealt with recurring water meter problems.
You can download the episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify — or listen to it below. Use this page to find the links, notes, and photos we mention. Note: if you’re reading in a feed reader, you may need to click through to the post to see the player.
What’s New
- The photo above shows the “before” of our garage. Over a few months it became chaotic enough that we stopped putting things back. Getting one item often meant moving four or five more.
- We followed the process discussed in the episode: emptied everything out, donated or sold items we no longer use, and returned things to their proper places (for example, all tools went to the shed). It’s far from glamorous, but we reclaimed a lot of floor space.
- Another before shot, taken from the door to the house — things would literally tip over and we wouldn’t bother to stand them back up.
- Here’s the same view after we sorted and organized (this one was taken with the good camera).
- I also added a small corner of nails and screws on the wall to hang items. I used scrap boards to create slots between studs for poles and long tools. Not fancy, but it cost zero dollars and made a big difference.
- This isn’t the first time our garage got out of hand — we made a time-lapse when clearing our first garage back in 2009.
- Our basement workshop in the last house got similarly messy; I documented that cleanup on video and later shared posts about organizing outdoor gear and sorting DIY supplies like tools and paint. I miss that workshop and its charming low ceilings.
- If you didn’t catch the “Monica’s Closet” reference in the episode, that might explain some of our closet-inspired jokes.
- We also covered our first round of water meter drama in Cape Charles in Episode #59 — Sherry insists it could be a movie.
Shopping Ban Results
- If you missed earlier discussions about the shopping ban: our talks about The Year of Less appeared in Episode #89, we announced the month-long ban in Episode #93, gave an initial update in Episode #94, and last week spoke with Cait Flanders (author of The Year of Less) in Episode #96.
- With the ban over, I allowed myself a broom purchase — yes, shopping can still be satisfying when done intentionally.
We’re Digging
- Previously you saw the mudroom cabinet at the beach house with brooms leaning like pickup sticks. I secured items to the side of an Ikea cabinet using inexpensive solutions like 3M Command hooks and broom grippers to keep everything tidy and accessible.
- I forgot to photograph a black metal hook after hanging it, but you can see it in the pile below.
- Sherry’s recent read was Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. If you have other “decor thrillers” to recommend, we’d love to hear them.
If you want to revisit topics we’ve “dug” through past episodes but can’t remember which show notes to open, we compiled a master list of everything we’ve covered in that series of segments.
Finally, thanks to Agility Bed for sponsoring this episode. They ran a Memorial Day promotion offering $200 off with code MEMORIAL; after that the code YHL150 will still give $150 off for the rest of the year.
Thanks for listening, everyone!
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