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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to pare down your inventory. Designating a

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Speaker 1: time or giving yourself a challenge and some incentives to

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Speaker 1: use things up can be satisfying and maybe free up

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Speaker 1: some cash too. After experiencing the shortages of the last

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Speaker 1: few years, a lot of people have ended up with

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Speaker 1: excessive amounts of canned goods, toilet paper and the like.

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Speaker 1: With more of us shopping online, we also wind up

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Speaker 1: with various consumables that may not be exactly what we

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Speaker 1: imagined we were getting. It's not a bad thing to

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Speaker 1: have a well stocked pantry at home, but you want

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Speaker 1: to be sure you are using what you have, not

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Speaker 1: just storing it. And it can be seed to wind

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Speaker 1: up just storing anything that isn't truly a favorite. The

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Speaker 1: stationary that looked nice online but turns out to be

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Speaker 1: a very loud shade of blue, the pretty bottle of

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Speaker 1: lotion that doesn't smell quite as nice as the advertising implied.

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Speaker 1: All those garbonzo beans you bought in a panic and

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Speaker 1: now are facing moving from home to home. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: you can add to this list of stuff you own

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Speaker 1: but aren't really using. So what do we do with this? Well,

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Speaker 1: how about creating a challenge for yourself to pare down

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Speaker 1: your inventory. Pick a time where this makes sense, and

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Speaker 1: then create a plan use the freed up cash or

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Speaker 1: space for something fun or meaningful. One great option is

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Speaker 1: to use the week before you go on vacation to

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Speaker 1: eat down your food stash. If you normally go to

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Speaker 1: the grocery store on Sunday, but you are leaving on Friday,

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Speaker 1: try not going to the store. Instead, challenge yourself to

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Speaker 1: eat what is there. Take the time you would have

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Speaker 1: spent in the store, googling meals that include that jar

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Speaker 1: of chutney you got as a hostess gift, or slow

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Speaker 1: cooker recipes that can use up those kidney beans and

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Speaker 1: canned tomatoes. If you've got a lot of flour, you

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Speaker 1: could bake bread, make a dessert from that cake mix

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Speaker 1: you've been saving in case I don't know, someone has

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Speaker 1: an emergency birthday. Now, you might still decide that you

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Speaker 1: need some produce, though, if you're like me, your freezer

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Speaker 1: has enough frozen corn to take you through the apocalypse.

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Speaker 1: But even if you do wind up going to the store,

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Speaker 1: make sure it's a quick trip in and out for

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Speaker 1: the milk in the bodanas. You can finally be one

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Speaker 1: of those people using the express lane. Take the money

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Speaker 1: you save and go out to eat somewhere nice on

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Speaker 1: your trip, or put it in savings. Either way you'll

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Speaker 1: free up show of space and space in the budget too.

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Speaker 1: As for other items, you could create other incentives. For instance,

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Speaker 1: we are in the Christian season of lent right now

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Speaker 1: as this episode is first airing. Many people give something

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Speaker 1: up for lent, but it feels more satisfying to give

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Speaker 1: that sacrifice a purpose. Use up items you are not using,

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Speaker 1: like that extra shampoo, and donate the equivalent cost of

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Speaker 1: a new item to a charity. You might challenge yourself

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Speaker 1: to spend very little out of pocket over the next

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Speaker 1: month or so until Easter, with the goal of making

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Speaker 1: a more substantial donation to your local food bank or

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Speaker 1: a homeless shelter and making a serious dent and your stockpiles.

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Speaker 1: In general, you can pare down your inventory by letting

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Speaker 1: what you have guide what you do. If someone gave

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Speaker 1: you a gift card to a story you don't normally

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Speaker 1: shop at, but you need to buy someone else a

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Speaker 1: gift soon, perhaps you could find something at that store.

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Speaker 1: If you've got a gift card to a restaurant, go

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Speaker 1: there for a night out. Even if it's not your

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Speaker 1: favorite cuisine. You'll probably find something interesting, or at least

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Speaker 1: it will be an experience. You can even pare down

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Speaker 1: things like books. If you keep meaning to read that

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Speaker 1: book on your shelf, make this part of your pair

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Speaker 1: down challenge. If you still find yourself resisting after a

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Speaker 1: few pages, it's not the right book for you. Give

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Speaker 1: it away. Same with clothes you are having a hard

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Speaker 1: time figuring out, challenge yourself to wear it in say,

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Speaker 1: the next month. If it doesn't happen and there's not

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Speaker 1: a really good seasonal reason it's not going to happen,

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Speaker 1: donate it and at least enjoy that it will find

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Speaker 1: another home. You'll have more shelf space, and paradoxically enough

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Speaker 1: that empty space can make you feel like everything is

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Speaker 1: more abundant in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our times. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. At Before Breakfast pod

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Speaker 1: that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I

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Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

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Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my

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Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcast,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yeah