Hey there! I’m Cheryl. I’m so glad you’re here!
Are you sick and tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses? {Whoever THEY are}
Are you deep in debt and/or buried in clutter with no end in sight?
Do you loathe your day job and want to make a change?
Have you recently gone through a nasty breakup with your budget and would like to get back together?
{Or…maybe you’ve never even had a budget.}
Do you want to put an end to your out-of-control spending?
Do you want to save money by DIY’ing?
Would you like to start a money-making blog so you can earn money while the kids sleep, as a side hustle, or to one day replace your fulltime income?
Are you interested in cooking frugal/healthy food from home so you can stop going through the drive-thru every other day?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions…then, you are in the right place!
Psst…you may want to start with these popular posts.
My mission here at Uncluttered Simplicity is to ENCOURAGE, EMPOWER, and EQUIP busy/overstressed women with the inspiration they need to create their best version of a simplified life.
In short, I am here to make your life just a little bit easier.
A tall order, I know. Why? Because every woman’s best version of herself is different. Just like every woman’s definition of ‘simple’ is different. And that’s totally okay!
For example, one woman may struggle with clutter, but she can balance a budget like a boss.
Meanwhile…
Another woman may have a perfectly organized home, yet she has trouble getting her finances under control.
My hope is that both of these women will find (judgment-free) encouragement here. Because, let’s face it, at some point in time we’ve all been in one of these women’s shoes, haven’t we?
I am here to give you straightforward (often witty) advice to help you:
- Eliminate clutter
- Organize your home/schedule
- Get out of debt
- Create (and live on) a budget
- Save money
- Learn how to DIY (so you can save even more money)
- Make money blogging
- Cook easy to prepare/healthy/budget-friendly food
- Make positive changes to your finances/home/work-life balance
Who am I? And, more importantly, am I even qualified to help you?
Well, yes…and no.
Do I know what it’s like to be buried under mountains of clutter? ABSOLUTELY
Can I now fit everything I own inside a mid-sized duffel bag? YES
Have I experienced the crushing bondage of debt? YES
Have I subsequentially paid off that debt? YES-and on just one income (< $45,000 for a family of 5)
Did I wind up back in debt? YES
Am I currently working my way out of that debt? YES (and wait until you see how I am doing it!)
Do I currently make a ton of money making it loads easier to pay off my debt and purchase all of the latest and greatest home organizing solutions? NO-not even close. Our family of 5 has never lived on more than $50,000/yr.
Do I always prepare healthy, Pinterest-perfect meals for my family? NO
Do I regularly make an effort to feed my family (and myself) healthy/frugal food? YES
Can I count on one hand the number of times my husband and I have had to pay someone else to do something for us? YES
Do I currently earn a decent part-time income from a successful blog? YES-check it out for yourself here
Has my husband been able to quit his dangerous/stressful/low-paying/soul-sucking job and pursue something he’s actually interested in? NO-not yet, but we’re working on it
Here’s my story
I’m currently pushing 44, but my goal is to be completely debt/clutter-free by 43 (mostly because it rhymes). Which means absolutely NO DEBT/CLUTTER WHATSOEVER! No mortgage, car payments, credit card debt, school loans…nothing.
Why do I want to do this? One word. FREEDOM
I’m sick and tired of chasing my tail living paycheck to paycheck.
If I had any extra money to bet, I’d bet that you are too.
I’m fed up with the fact that my husband HAS to work at a job he loathes. And has had to do so for the past 20+ years.
I want to be able to travel & spend quality time with my husband and kids while I am still (relatively) young.
I don’t want to be a slave to ‘stuff’ or a mortgage, for that matter.
Throughout the years, my husband and I have accumulated debt, paid it off, accumulated more debt, filed bankruptcy (long story), and created budgets that looked really good on paper, but never actually lived within them (until recently).
We’ve always been frugal (because we’ve had to be). Yet, we’ve also always lived paycheck-to-paycheck. AND we frequently purchased stuff we didn’t need.
I’m ready to break this vicious cycle and if it means we need to do something drastic to do it, then so be it.
How we plan on becoming entirely debt/clutter free in our forties.
- Sell our perfectly good (affordable) home and everything in it
- Move 1,700 miles away (from Colorado to Florida) to a run-down mobile home on family property
- Live in a 5th wheel while we renovate our “new” (1974) mobile home
- Hustle our butts off either with traditional jobs, side jobs, and of course, blogging
- Budget ferociously
- Stop eating out frequently and replace with frugal homemade meals
- DIY our current home to prepare it for sale
- DIY our entire mobile home renovation (with a few exceptions)
- Stay accountable to like-minded friends (that’s you) and family members through our blog/social media
We are doing all of this so we can:
- Stop living paycheck-to-paycheck
- Sever our attachment to unnecessary/useless stuff
- Save up a comfortable emergency fund
- Build wealth
- Travel more
- Enjoy our family
- Reduce stress
- Eat healthier/lose weight
- Focus on what’s truly important in life
- Work at jobs that are fulfilling
- Live life on our own terms
If any of this resonates with you, I’d love for you to stick around! However…
If you are looking for $50,000 kitchen renovations, Pinterest-perfect recipes, and get rich quick schemes…
Move along, because you won’t find any of that here!
Join me on Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube so we can stay in touch!
If you’d like to know a little more about me, check out my post: 20 Random Things About Me.
Did you know, I am a minimalist? Read My Minimalist Journey: From Material Girl to Minimalist Mom to find out more.
- Recently, I was featured in my local newspaper, The Journal-Advocate for a presentation I did on decluttering/organizing/simple living.