I'm 55 and Mexican. 12 Things I Removed From My Home After 50 (Americans Still Keep Them)

#declutter #over50 #oldmexicanway 📖 Get The Old Mexican Way, every old way written down: https://oldmexicanway.com I am 55. The year I turned 50, I stood in my bedroom doorway and counted nine pillows on one bed, for one woman. My mother raised six children in Guadalajara in a house with almost nothing in it. So I started taking things out. In five years, twelve things have left my house, and here is each one, what my mother had instead, and why my house is easier now. THE TWELVE 1️⃣ The pillows on the bed. My mother: one pillow for every head. 2️⃣ The second freezer in the garage. My mother: no freezer, the mandado twice a week, and a bowl by the sink. 3️⃣ The bed skirt, and what was hiding under it. My mother: one box under the bed, marked "invierno." 4️⃣ The big dining table. My mother: one kitchen table, cleared by six because supper was coming. 5️⃣ The fake flowers. My mother: "If it lives in this house, it has to be alive." 6️⃣ The entertainment center. My mother: one radio on the kitchen shelf. 7️⃣ The linen closet. My mother: blankets on the beds and one towel per hook. 8️⃣ The second dresser. My mother: one ropero, the blouses in order of how faded they were. 9️⃣ The storage unit. My mother: my father's rosary and hat by the door, and everything else to people who would use it. 🔟 The holiday bins. My mother: one box, the nacimiento. 1️⃣1️⃣ The basket beside the couch. My mother: everything had to answer where it lived. 1️⃣2️⃣ My pride, the pride of doing everything alone. Now: everything I use within reach, a long-handled grabber instead of the step stool, and the heavy things wait for a second person. The honest word: twelve things took me five years, not a weekend. Grief is not a reason to keep everything, and it is not a reason to rush. The point is not an empty house. The point is a house I can still keep myself. My little method: one paper bag by the front door. Anything I have not touched in a year goes in. When the month turns, the bag goes out. Who profits: the decorative pillows with a new color every season, the bins and the bigger bins, the second freezer and its electric bill, and the storage unit on the first of every month. Nobody makes a dollar from a woman with one pillow per head, a bowl by the sink, and a bag by the door. Tonight, do one: count the pillows on your bed, and take off every one that has no head to sleep on it. How many pillows are on your bed right now? Tell me, and your county. I read every one. CHAPTERS 0:00 Nine pillows on one bed 2:17 1. The pillows on the bed 3:19 2. The second freezer in the garage 5:31 3. The bed skirt 7:00 4. The big dining table 8:16 5. The fake flowers 9:26 6. The entertainment center 10:34 7. The linen closet 11:38 8. The second dresser 12:29 9. The storage unit 14:24 10. The holiday bins 15:22 11. The basket beside the couch 16:26 12. Not a thing at all 18:02 The honest word, and who profits ⚠️ Chapter times are ESTIMATED at 150 words a minute from the script (about 21 min). Re-time them against the final render. #declutteringtips #minimalism #simpleliving