The Gem I Found Inside My Own Home

If you are a long time reader of One Frugal Girl you know that I am a bit of a neat fanatic and extremely opposed to clutter. I try to limit the number of things in our house and purge unwanted items on a regular basis to ensure things stay neat and orderly.

Now that the nesting instinct is beginning to kick in I find myself itching to clean out each and every nook and cranny in our home. While reorganizing today I came across a truly unexpected gem.

When I shop for food and groceries I typically carry reusable bags with me, but when I go shopping for clothes I never seem to remember to bring bags along for the ride. If a store provides me with a solid shopping bag, (you know the solid paper ones with handles from places like Victoria’s Secret and Macy’s), I typically store them in a drawer to use for future occasions.

What future occasions you ask? Well I often use these bags when I donate unwanted items to the local shelters. They can hold a lot, have flat bottoms that allow them to stand up straight and typically have handles that make them easier to carry. I don’t like to throw all of my unwanted belongings in a plastic garbage bag. Instead I typically fold my shirts, pants and sweaters and stack them on top of one another and place them neatly inside the bags. I also find that the size and handles make them more manageable.

I also use them at Christmas time to carry presents up to my parents and in-laws homes and to carry home whatever gifts we may have received along the way. I guess it’s odd to keep a small stack of bags in the house, but I only have a handful and they are piled in one neat and tidy drawer.

This afternoon I reached into the drawer to find a bag that I could use to ferry unwanted books to our local library. When I opened the bag I was surprised to find a couple of receipts laying in the bottom. I typically deposit receipts in a binder after I get home from the store, (it helps me keep track of them in case I need to return an item), so I was surprised to find them there.

I was even more surprised to find a brand new pair of earrings laying underneath the receipts. What’s even more shocking is how long this particular bag and it’s contents had been laying around my house. The receipt was dated October 2009!

I remember purchasing the earrings. I bought them during one of those Buy-One-Get-One free sales at New York and Company. I didn’t intend to purchase two pairs of earrings that day, but since one pair was free I couldn’t resist the bargain. Maybe I didn’t notice they were missing when I came home, because I hadn’t explicitly gone to the store to purchase them. Honestly, I’m not too sure of the reason, but I can’t believe they had been sitting in a bag, that had been sitting in a drawer for nearly two years!

I’m thrilled that I found them and find it funny that I didn’t even realize they were missing! It just goes to show that even when you clean and organize on a regular basis it’s hard to keep track of all of the items in your home. I wonder if I’ll find anything else while I’m nesting.

2 thoughts on “The Gem I Found Inside My Own Home”

  1. Don't you love when stuff like that happens? I used to find money in my coat pockets all the time, but now I'm more anal-retentive about cleaning out my pockets/bag when I get home, and that never really happens anymore. I kind of miss it!

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  2. It is amazing how much belongings people accumulate in a lifetime without realising what they truly own. More importantly those things that are not used could be exchanged for cash or something else you may use. Lucky you found some earrings.

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