For those of you who haven’t read my earlier posts or have forgotten, natural progression decluttering is where instead of reducing the number of certain items by giving them away you use them until they outlive their usefulness. Once gone do not replace them. There are several ways this can happen depending on the kind […]

For those of you who haven’t read my earlier posts or have forgotten, natural progression decluttering is where instead of reducing the number of certain items by giving them away you use them until they outlive their usefulness. Once gone do not replace them. There are several ways this can happen depending on the kind of clutter.

• Wearing out – Things like an over-abundance of  socks, underwear, shoes, towels etc are prime targets for this type of decluttering. The key to making this work is to move the items that you are wanting to declutter to the front position in their storage space and use these most in order for them to wear out first.
• Use up – Toiletries, cleaners, stationary items, craft supplies etc would fall into this category. Use your imagination with some of these items in order to use them up faster than you would normally.
  • Shampoo and bubble bath  can be used as hand wash or detergent for cleaning items that won’t be used to eat off.
  • Toilet cleaners with bleach can be used as grout and tile cleaner.
  • Glass cleaner can be used as an all purpose spray cleaner if you aren’t happy with the way it cleans glass.
  • With pens and stationary stick to the one pen or one packet of staples or one notebook etc and use that one all the time until its used up or runs out. (be mindful of pens if you have far too many as they can dry up and become useless to anyone. Best to give them away before this happens if you are unlikely to use them quick enough.)
• Breakage – crockery and  glassware are the first things that come to mind when I think of breakages. When you have tiled floors in your home like I do this can happen at a more rapid pace than you would like.

I see no point in decluttering items that I use daily just because I would rather have fewer of them. By deploying the above strategies these items will wear out, be used up of break soon enough by naturally progression. It would be a waste to throw them out  and a waste of money to give them away if they are going to need replacing too soon after decluttering.

Natural progression decluttering is different to keeping items “in case I might need them some day”. The first group are items that are in regular use that are likely to diminish soon enough to an acceptable level while the latter are items that are rarely if ever used and will be wasting useful space in your home for years to come.

At the moment I am using bubble bath as hand cleaner. Using the same bottle of perfume everyday it is actually my last but I don’t love it but I will not replace it until it is all gone. Using the same few pens although I may have to donate some before they die of old age. Wearing several pair of socks that are getting close to wearing out and using this strategy with underwear and T-shirts as well. I am also using the same two sets of crockery that I have used for years even though there is not a full set of either left. I will use these until there are too few and then start on my good set. I have almost completed a declutter on a bottle of face wash, a tube of moisturiser and  . Oh and lets not forget my mountain of craft items, I plan on creating and opening an etsy shop so I will get have fun using them and hopefully redeem some of the money I spent on them over the years.

So set things in place for some natural decluttering today.

Today’s Declutter Item

This group of baseball paraphernalia was picked up by a very happy Freecycler on the weekend

Things I am grateful for today

• Seeing nature at play – the sulphur crested cockatoos in our neighbourhood have a liking for hanging upside-down on the electric wires and antenna tethers. The first time I saw this I thought the bird was snared but then it flew off and came back to do it again. Silly birds.
• Catching up with friends.
• Freecycle – One item gone five more to list.
• Friends who take my stuff – I got rid of two more things this way today.
• The kind people who found Liam’s lost wallet yesterday and took the time to come to our home to return it – the world is a better place because of these sort of people.
  

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow.

Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some […]

Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering.

I love to throw in a good old clutter category set of  missions on a regular basis to get you thinking about what sort of clutter you have. So this week we will declutter something from each of the clutter categories I refer to on a regular basis. Declutter at least one item per category.

Monday – A Sentimental item. This is self explanatory really it is an item you feel personally attached to or at least once did.

Tuesday – A Guilt item. Something you feel guilty about acquiring in the first place.

Wednesday – An Aspirational item. Something you have aspired to getting around to using or trying one day but never have.

Thursday – An Obligation item ~ Something you only keep because you feel you should. Often something someone else gave you.

Friday – A Lazy clutter item ~ No attachment you just haven’t got around to getting rid of it.

Saturday – A Natural Progression item ~ Something that no longer fits, physically or intellectually or has simply been used up or worn out.

Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.

Good luck and happy decluttering

How decluttering can improve your finances ~ by deanna ar USA With contributions from her husband Randy The last few years hubby and I have noticed an improvement in our finances because we were purchasing less, in order not to add items to our home, when we were in fact working to declutter it. It […]

How decluttering can improve your finances ~ by deanna ar USA

With contributions from her husband Randy

The last few years hubby and I have noticed an improvement in our finances because we were purchasing less, in order not to add items to our home, when we were in fact working to declutter it. It was easy to see that I had not  shopped Coldwater Creek (my favorite) in a couple of years. In fact I had not been compelled to shop anywhere because so many items were decluttered that we hadn’t needed anyway, i.e. household items, hubby’s hobby items, tools, etc. About the only place I was shopping was thrift shops and, of course, grocery stores. I’m still learning what clutter is.

We didn’t set out to actually focus our decluttering skills on finances, but we were aware that we wanted to reduce expenses. We had talked about it often but didn’t really take enough action. I do think that having been actively decluttering for awhile and learning to release things, it was easier to release some things in our financial world too…like DirecTV (subscribing to Netflix and Hulu instead)…over $100 savings monthly. We’re now hoping  to reduce homeowners and auto insurance. We’re going back to a mail order pharmacy, it’s much cheaper. Our prescriptions are all generic now. We’ve also reduced the number of times we eat out each week. And we generally drink wine only at home now, except for special occasions. We’re in the midst of these changes now, so we’re eager to see how much this is going to affect us monthly. Last month was great! But we are finding that, like most decluttering, this too is a process.

I was not raised to declutter. My mother saved everything. Even though I did it in spurts, I never considered that it was ok to let some things go. However, I’ve been decluttering clothes (mine and hubby’s) for several years. But we traveled halftime for hubby’s work so, not being home much, I just couldn’t get started on decluttering the house. It helped that I had been reading several minimalist blogs regularly. I already knew that if I wanted to clean out my closet, then I could read my favorite style blog to get motivated. When I found Colleen’s blog and started reading it, it quickly became my favorite. I was so taken with her style and how active many of the readers were. So I started reading her archives and learned a lot of things I’d never considered before and became so very motivated to get rid of stuff I wasn’t using or didn’t love (even when it involved finances and entertainment).

These are a few of the things that have helped along the way:

1. Natural progression…the more you declutter, the more you want to declutter.

2. It’s ok to destroy pictures (or pass them along to relatives), especially duplicates, unflattering pictures, people you don’t know…

3. I thought some things were off limits. But what about those who lose everything in floods, tornadoes, etc…instant decluttering!

4. I thought I knew myself well, but after reading about fantasy selves, I’m now questioning what part is fantasy and what part is the real me.

5. Decluttering is addictive, so is shopping.

6. Reducing finances is also decluttering. What an “aha” moment that was.

7. It’s ok to return a gift(s) that you no longer use, need or want. And it can sometimes be done without hurting anyone’s feelings, especially if you’re forthright about it. Or…you can regift.

8. I have decluttered things recently that I would never have considered before…like my baton, my mandolin, some favorite clothes that I no longer wore, and on and on.

9. The less “stuff” you have, the fewer decisions you have to make. I love that. When I’m decluttering, one criteria I use is, “Do I really want to have to make this decision again at a later date?”

10. The more careful I am with my criteria, the more hubby is willing to trust me…that I will not declutter his stuff without asking. And he’s been decluttering more on his own. Hurray!

#9 is my favorite. It’s amazing how excited and happy decluttering can make you, giving you that sense of freedom from stuff.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

I received the following question from Nicole V in Monday’s comments… Hi, Colleen. I have not read Marie Kondo’s book but have seen the ‘sparking joy’ catchphrase all over the place. What does she say about mundane items that might not necessarily ‘spark joy’, but are needed in a home? Does she ‘re-Kondonize’ them under a […]

Today’s Mini Mission

Have a quick look at the contents of your bookcase. I am sure you could find at least three books that don’t spark enough joy to warrant the space they take up.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

Way way back on Day 258 of my decluttering journey I wrote this post on five items I won’t declutter. Today I am writing an update on that post. Pictured below are the five items in question. So which of these items do I still own that I would never part with. The Flour Sifter […]

Way way back on Day 258 of my decluttering journey I wrote this post on five items I won’t declutter. Today I am writing an update on that post. Pictured below are the five items in question.

So which of these items do I still own that I would never part with.

The Flour Sifter ~ As I have mentioned previously was decluttered. It left on the 19th Oct, 2012. As I mentioned in this post I decided I no longer needed it, either for practical or sentimental reasons.

The Can Opener ~  This I still have. It serves me well and I have no need to replace it with some new fancy modern equivalent. This old fashioned type is good enough for me.

The Peg Bag ~ Natural progression finally took hold of this item. It got very old and even rattier than it looks in the photo. I used it to make a pattern to sew a similar one for my daughter but I chose not to replace mine. Instead I began using a plastic basket I already owned. This substitution started out as a trial separation, knowing that I could make another if I wished, but I have not as yet bothered to do so. A part of it still remains, the coat hanger within it was used in my daughters new version. Hers is made from a luscious rich red corded velour fabric remnant that I got cheap at a craft shop.

The Laptop ~ This was replaced long ago. It was over six years old and not cooperating well. So in essence it wasn’t decluttered just substituted. It was sold on eBay and hopefully some tech savvy person managed to revamp it and it is still in use somewhere today.

The Grill Pan ~ This is another of those old, well seasoned items that is still in my possession. It is great for cooking pancakes and many other foods on. It was secondhand when my mother-in-law gave it to me and I know that if I decided I didn’t want it my daughter would be happy to take it off my hands.

All these items were of great service to me. They were, and in some cases still are, used and used and used. This is the kind of stuff that I find most valuable in my home. No fancy china, not mementoes of past achievements, not an extensive wardrobe or status symbols. Just good old fashioned useful stuff.

Here is what my daughter wrote in the comments of that original post back on day 258:-

I almost fell over when I saw the photo that was next to this post when it came up on Facebook. It was the one of the skillet from grandma and I thought you’d gotten rid of it. It’s honestly the greatest skillet known to man..and the rest of those items are all some of my favorites. A little bit because they’re just really useful and good items to have around the house but also because through all the moving that we’ve done over the years, they’ve always been with us to make each new house feel like home.

Decluttering isn’t all about getting rid of stuff it is more about sorting out and only keeping the good stuff that is truly important to you for whatever reason.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some […]

Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering.

I love to throw in a good old clutter category set of  missions on a regular basis to get you thinking about what sort of clutter you have. So this week we will declutter something from each of the clutter categories I refer to on a regular. Declutter at least one item per category.

Monday – A Sentimental item. This is self explanatory really it is an item you feel personally attached to or at least once did.

Tuesday – A Guilt item. Something you feel guilty about acquiring in the first place.

Wednesday – An Aspirational item. Something you aspire to getting around to using or trying one day.

Thursday – An Obligation item ~ Something you only keep because you feel you should. Often something someone else gave you.

Friday – A Lazy clutter item ~ No attachment you just haven’t got around to getting rid of it.

Saturday – A Natural Progression item ~ Something that no longer fits, physically or intelectually or has simply been used up or worn out.

Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.

Good luck and happy decluttering

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some […]

Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering.

I love to throw in a good old clutter category set of  missions every now an again to get you thinking about what sort of clutter you have. So this week we will declutter something from each of the clutter categories I refer to on a regular. Declutter at least one item per category.

Monday – A Sentimental item. This is self explanatory really it is an item you feel personally attached to or at least once did.

Tuesday – A Guilt item. Something you feel guilty about acquiring in the first place.

Wednesday – An Aspirational item. Something you aspire to getting around to using or trying one day.

Thursday – An Obligation item ~ Something you only keep because you feel you should. Often something someone else gave you.

Friday – A Lazy clutter item ~ No attachment you just haven’t got around to getting rid of it.

Saturday – A Natural Progression item ~ Something that no longer fits, physically or intelectually or has simply been used up or worn out.

Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Eco Tip for the Day

 On rainy days park your car outside and let nature wash it for you.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

After reading the title of today’s post you are probably eagerly awaiting an explanation. I am going to attempt to keep it brief because I have a somewhat related topic I would like your opinion on before I sign off today. What Redundancy or Destruction relates to is this:- The less we own ~ be […]

After reading the title of today’s post you are probably eagerly awaiting an explanation. I am going to attempt to keep it brief because I have a somewhat related topic I would like your opinion on before I sign off today.

What Redundancy or Destruction relates to is this:-

The less we own ~ be that reducing what we already have or minimising what comes in ~ the more likely it is that we will wear things out (Destruction) rather than them becoming useless to us (Redundant).

This is especially so for items of clothing, both for adults and for children. Recently Lena commented that she has so few clothes these days that things are wearing out faster. That could sound like the clothes aren’t well made but what Lena clearly meant was that the clothes are being worn far more often because there are so few in circulation, that they are naturally wearing out sooner.

The beauty of this method is that you get to replace items with something new and exciting, guilt free, because they simply need replacing. This satisfies the need to buy something new and pretty occasionally, keeping your wardrobe fresh and up to date, so to speak. One of the other advantages is that should you gain or lose a little weight over time your wardrobe will be replaced by natural progression over that period without you ending up with two sets of clothes. Ones that fit and ones that don’t.

The situation is slightly different for children, because they require a bit more in their rotation since they tend to be somewhat messier. However it makes possibly even more sense to apply this logic to their wardrobes being as outgrowing their clothes is inevitable, not simply due to poor food choices.

This same inevitability applies to all sorts of items that we can stand to have a few less of in rotation. Items that might perish rather than wear out or run out such as, pens, food, toiletries… This doesn’t only make economical sense it is also the environmentally friendly approach.

* * * * * * *

The somewhat related topic I mentioned earlier:-

I have had a post sitting idle as a draft which I have been advised not to publish. It is not finished but the theme is sensitive. However this same theme just keeps popping up all over the place for me lately and I am seriously considering taking the chance that I won’t offend too many people and just let the post out there. The topic in question is the connection between clutter and being overweight.

Having never been overweight myself, writing such a post could be construed two ways. One ~ “What do you (meaning me) know about being overweight if you never have been”. Two ~ “You (meaning me) ought to have something helpful to say on this topic because you must be doing something right as you have never been overweight.”

I have been offered a blog post from one of our readers on this subject. I am currently reading Peter Walsh’s book ~ Does this clutter make my but look fat. Also I have very recently stumbled upon two other blogs that have suggested this is an area of our lives that could do with habit changing.

So I put it too you here and now to let me know if you think this is a subject that you would like me to at least touch on once. Or do you think I should just leave this alone and allow my readers to deal with their household clutter first. I have noticed that many people who get their clutter under control also begin to form better habits in this area also.

Please give me your honest opinion as to whether you think this is something I should write about. I am happy either way so please don’t just say what you think I want to hear. 

Today’s Mini Mission

Go through your children’s clothing and assess what is worn out, no longer fits, is not useful to hand down to another of your children or be kept for another child should you be planning of having another one soon. Declutter what you will not need.

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t be a princess. Clothes can be worn twice, towels don’t need to be laundered everyday, misshapen fruit tastes the same as the pretty stuff, as does the food in dented tins and crinkled boxes. You might be surprised how much power, water and perfectly good food is wasted by being so picky.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

On September 26th I began helping my friend, S, declutter her home. Her first goal was to get everything out of the room she wanted to turn into her craft room. When we started the room was so full of bags and boxes and drawers of STUFF that you couldn’t get into the room and […]

Deb J

On September 26^th I began helping my friend, S, declutter her home. Her first goal was to get everything out of the room she wanted to turn into her craft room. When we started the room was so full of bags and boxes and drawers of STUFF that you couldn’t get into the room and she had no idea what it contained. The first picture below shows the room after half of the mess had been cleaned out. The second picture is of the bed before it was uncovered. I didn’t even know there was a bed in there until we began to unload.

The Spare Room

As we began to carry out the bags and boxes we uncovered 6000 books, 40 bags of scrapbook supplies bought over the last 4 years and never taken out of the bags, Christmas decorations she forgot she had, 125 items of clothing, 20 throw pillows, 3 bedspreads/quilts, 4 old lamps (2 broken), a puffed valance, 2 pair of drapes, 3 baskets, 2 wreaths, and hoards of other items too numerous to count and describe. There were 7 plastic, wheeled storage units and over 100 containers collected over time to use to store scrapbook supplies in. There were also about 10,000 photos and 15 years worth of memorabilia all in grocery bags. Not included in this room was all of the paper and other scrapbook items that filled her dining room.

The first thing we did was move everything but the bed and dresser out of the new craft room. All scrapbook/craft supplies and storage containers were taken out into the family room to be sorted and placed into storage. Everything else was divided up into the two guest rooms. All the books went into one and all the other items into the other. Gradually S is going through all of these items in the two guest rooms to get them prepared for taking to the Women’s Shelter thrift store or Goodwill.

A picture of the dining room before we cleaned it up and the family room with all of the containers.

It took many days of working on all of this to be able to get it to where it all looks good and is organized and decluttered. We have taken 300 items of clothing, 2000 books, and numerous decorative items to the shelter thrift store and Goodwill. She gave 54 boxes to a friend who was moving. We put 200 bags in the recycle bin along with 25 plastic containers. What containers she has kept are for her to possibly use as we continue to declutter and organize the house.

Here are pictures of the new craft room—1. Shelving unit with albums and tools, 2. Closet with storage units, (18 of the “drawers” contain stickers) 3. Memorabilia in plastic envelope bags, 4. Some of the photos in photo boxes by year.

I will tell you that we are not completely done. Once we have been able to declutter more of the house there will be things that will be moved out of the closet and a few things reorganized to make finding items easier. There will be 3 shelves built to reduce piling some items.

While it has been a challenge, we are both pleased with what we have accomplished. We will move on to other areas of the house after the first of the year.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some items of clothing that no longer suit the climate you live in or just don’t fit anymore.

Today’s Declutter Item

There was a case of some natural progression decluttering that went on in my house this week. When I was about to take one of queen bed fitted sheets of the clothesline I discovered a big hole in it. Being as I already have one set too many I decided to use the damaged sheet as a weed mat in my garden and sent the remainder of the set to the thrift store. I could have keep these for spares but I had enough spares already.

1 Sheet & 2 Pillowcases

Eco Tip for the Day

When cooking on your stove top match your saucepan size to your hob size. A small saucepan on a large hob will waste gas or electricity.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

On Fridays at 365 Less Things I share with you my favourite comments from my wonderful readers and my favourite web finds of the week. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did. Favourite Comments. Enjoy! In this comment Rachel W. tells us about some unintentional decluttering she has done at times. Funny how […]

On Fridays at 365 Less Things I share with you my favourite comments from my wonderful readers and my favourite web finds of the week. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.

Favourite Comments. Enjoy!

In this comment Rachel W. tells us about some unintentional decluttering she has done at times. Funny how it all seems so tragic to us when this happens but later we realise the stuff didn’t really matter at all.

This comment from Jen has examples of problems turned into opportunity to me.

Here is a great tip from Dagmara on allowing “Natural Progression decluttering” to take care of the constant influx of kids art projects.

Dagmara also left this comment telling us how she get her husband on board with the decluttering. How clever is she?

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

It is nice to finally see an article out there that takes on the subject of the prospect of a green economy in out future. Not too distant future I hope. http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/10/green-economy-future/

This link, kindly sent through to me by Nana, tackles the subject of how we are coerced into parting with our hard earned cash in the stores. Fortunately it comes with tips on how to avoid the con.   http://www.savings.com/blog/post/Why-We-Buy-The-Science-of-Shopping.html

What kind of clutterer are you? Read this post which outlines five types of clutterer according to Peter Walsh (Aussie Clutter Guru) Shared with us by Andréia.  http://www.oprah.com/home/Whats-Your-Clutter-Style-Peter-Walsh-Declutter-Tips/1

In an attempt to locate an article whose link was not working I found this article about compulsive hoarding.

Today’s Mini Mission

If, like me, you are decluttering your craft supplies now is the time to make your holiday/Christmas cards if you haven’t done so already.

Today’s Declutter Item

Oil Painting

Eco Tip for the Day

Use the stairs rather than the elevator. This of course has the added bonus of a little impromptu exercise.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow