Putting a price on a good neighbor misses the point. Someone who is there and who helps without asking is the way the world should work. I’m talking about a neighbor who is heading to the dump, offers to take my stuff too, and then loads it themselves. My neighbors were nice enough to load up a bunch of fallen fences and leftover wood from various projects and drive it dozens of miles to the dump. I’m in the midst of, as I posted recently;

Clean. Donate. Discard. Repeat.
Also equals tired and less cluttered.
Also uncovering mysteries hidden for 17 years.

Someone proclaimed me Mr. Frugal, an honor. That also means that when part of my fence fell down, I only threw away the broken boards. My neighborhood is windy enough that it doesn’t make much sense to put the fence back up until the winter winds are gone. Oh, but other projects got in the way, so years go by with literal stop-gap solutions while the wood weathers and waits.

I’ve also found that maintaining an emergency preparedness kit alleviates some anxieties. While some aim for the three-days, or three-weeks, or three-months of food goals, I include enough lumber and plastic sheeting to patch up holes in my house, just in case.

For a number of reasons that will become more apparent this year (for events that I can’t predict), much of my time has been spent with the mantra I mentioned above; “Clean. Donate. Discard. Repeat.”

Frugality can amplify creativity and resourcefulness.

Frugality can also lead into the trap of clutter and enter the realm of packrats.

I’m getting new neighbors on the other side of my gap-toothed fence. Any new fence, or even repairs to the old fence probably won’t default to the original style. Out goes the fallen fence material. As I plowed through that pile, it became obvious that supply of fresh wood wasn’t as fresh anymore. Out it goes, too.

Call the local companies who haul stuff to the dump, get quotes of hundreds of dollars, and be glad for neighbors who saw the pile and asked if I wanted it taken to the dump. Sure!

That became part of collecting old, partly-busted plant pots, a never-used handmade shelving system, yard waste from an invasive species, and a bunch of stuff from a bunch of categories that added to yet another load. Look around the yard and be glad it looks so much nicer.

Similar things are happening indoors, too.

Life and living is not static. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat. Accumulate. Store. And, after a few seasons or years, use, donate, or discard. I failed to do that until recently.

I found: a few bicycle tires, a three-foot wide mirror with another mirror hiding behind it, rolls of carpet backing in the attic of this hardwood-floored house, cans and bottles with best-by dates that expired a decade ago,… A local thrift store took some. Habitat for Humanity took the big stuff. The recycle and dump stations get almost all of the rest.

Now, the inside looks nicer, too. (This is also an excuse to swap out an old, but functional, fragile lamp for something more efficient, like an LED floor lamp.)

Having too much of a good thing isn’t necessarily a better thing. Duh. Sometimes, that accumulation is a good thing. Having the right materials at hand without having to sprint to the store is a great thing if the project is a surprise, during a wind storm, at night, on a Sunday, when the roads are bad. But preparing for every eventuality can create an infinite burden that is impossible to manage.

An image comes to mind from my martial arts training. There’s a stereotype of the always strong, always flexed, always primed and ready expert. One thing that hour-long sparing sessions teach is tight/no-tight. Walking around all tightened up is slow, tiring, and also looks silly. Be tight when necessary, but necessary may only last a second. Relax so things have a chance to flow, and may succeed with less effort.

Being ready for every emergency is being continually tight, especially in times like these. To get through, relax and breathe. And maybe toss out some old stuff that served its purpose or may never be needed. Watch for nails. And know that, what you think you needed then may need to be replaced with what you need now.