Friday’s Favourites ~ 5July2013

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!

Barbara

Gillie

Creative Me

EcoCatLady

Melissa

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

lovingsimpleliving.com  ~ Cant-afford-minimalist-lifestyle

www.collaborativeconsumption.com ~ google-the-latest-collaborative-consumption-startup

unclutterer.com ~ A-too-small-house

www.aslobcomesclean.com ~ methodical-vs-maniacal

The latest episode of the Midway Decluttering Show

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter electric entertainment devices that aren’t that useful to you. Suggestions ~ Outdated games consoles, old stereo equipment, superseded iPods, old computer equipment, electronic photo frames, slide projector, video player, second, third or forth TV… .We now own one TV, an iPod dock, computers that are all in use ( a laptop, a desktop and an iPad) 

Eco Tip For The Day

Most people have digital cameras these days but some still think “old school” when it comes to printing and insist on hardcopies of everything. Why not save paper and ink and only get the photos printed that you intend to display. Even sending copies to family and friends can be done digitally. No need for waste there either.

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

Comments (18)

Friday’s Favourites ~ 28June2013

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 these comments from…

Wendy F 

Janetta

Tammy R

EcoCatLady

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

www.huffingtonpost.com/gretchen-rubin/myths-about-clutter

Here is a Facebook page you may be interested in ~ Daily Possession Purge Challenge

www.oprah.com/home/Clean-Sweep-Peter-Walsh-Wants-To-De-Clutter-Your-Life

Mark Adam Douglass ~ Box-Bottle-Bag Index . Mark has also recently relieced and eBook ~ The Original Minimalists Consumed.

Angel suggested this post from The Minimalist Mom on Decision Fatigue. And in case you missed it while reading the article here is the New York Times article she referred to in her post. This was also suggested by Sanna.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some motor vehicle related stuff. There is a wide range of stuff that accumulates relating to motor vehicles ~ accessories, oils, jerry cans, parts … and simply the stuff that accumulates in them. Last week I decluttered some motorcycle oils and brake fluid to my friend Wendy F. My husband no longer owns a bike that needs these fluids topped up, while the men in Wendy’s family service their own motorbikes.

Eco Tip For The Day

Don’t leave the TV on during the day just for company. You may laugh but I have known of plenty of cases of people doing this.

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

Comments (41)

Friday’s Favourites ~ 21June2013

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!

I haven’t had much time to be involved in the conversations going on at 365 this week as I have been giving my undivided attention to my parents while they were visiting. So I haven’t been able to choose my favourite comments. Thank you everyone for all of your comments, they are always appreciated whether I have the time to read them or not.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

The links this week are a little random because I also haven’t had much time for reading. Two I haven’t actually read but were recommended by others so I am sure they are good. The Inside Hook link was bought to my attention by my husband who knew I would be appalled. And I did read The Change Blog post and enjoyed it although it isn’t really about clutter. However getting rid of clutter sometimes requires strength of character which is what the post is all about.

http://www.hoombah.com/knowing-when-to-pop-the-bubbly/

http://www.raptitude.com/2013/06/what-do-you-do-now/

Here is a fine example on how enterprising people can make money out of encouraging you store your clutter. How much money are you prepared to allow your clutter to cost you? Don’t be a sucker!~  http://www.insidehook.com/san-francisco/boxbee/

http://www.thechangeblog.com/changes-you-refuse-to-accept/

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an item that you are sorry you ever bought but have held on to in the hope that it might finally realise its cost.

Eco Tip For The Day

Don’t throw away that old electric kettle or use harsh cleaners on it because it is all stained inside. Fill it with cold water, add a lemon wedge and bring to the boil, that stain will miraculously disappear.

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

Comments (16)

Friday’s Favourites ~ 14June2013

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 Melissa tells us about how just the right gift from her mother helped her declutter lots of related clutter.

And this comment also from Melissa proves that happy decluttering requires good communication.

I loved this declutter story from Megan S. Sometimes leaving things lying around can actually reduced clutter rather than add to it. Read about it here.

In this comment from Christine, she tells us about how a couple of homes away from home confirmed for her what she wants for the place she actually does call home.

CJ tells us about one small clutter vice he has and has committed to find a better way for the sake of his partner. Good luck CJ.

Ideealistin’s wise thoughts on declutter regrets.

I especially like the last sentence in this comment from Andréia.

Mel has recently discovered 365 Less Things and in this comment tells us about two methods she uses to help her reduce her belongings and why.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

YouTube Video sent by Wendy F ~  www.youtube.com ~ The Good Consumer

I always love a good blog post about cleaning without chemicals, so here is one from onegoodthingbyjillee.com ~ The-countless-uses-for-baking-soda-besides-baking.

I think we have featured this article before but given Thursday’s blog topic it is worth a second look. Thank you Wendy F for reminding me of it.

Today’s Mini Mission

Empty, sort and clean out your cutlery drawer. In the last two houses I have lived in, the cutlery drawer has been right below the bread board. As a result crumbs get into the drawer. My children also had a tendency to go to this drawer for a pair of scissors to snip off the end of food packaging and then, as kids do, leave the snipped off piece in the drawer. Also twist ties and rubber bands tend to accumulate here. Being as we no longer eat much bread and the kids have left home I no longer have most of these problems. However this drawer still needs a good clean out every now and again.

Eco Tip For The Day

Don’t accept free promotional products that you have no use for. Accepting these just encourages the continuation of this practice while the environment would be healthier without the manufacture of cheap throwaway or needless items like these usually are.

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

Comments (42)

Friday’s Favourites ~ 7June2013

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!

Here are one wise and one amusing comments left by dizzy this week.

And the Change post this week resulted in some great comments from… Melissa ~ Lucinda & Loretta

This comment is from a readers who had not commented before. Shelley welcome to 365 Less Things and thank you for sharing your story.

 

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

Here is a post for LucindaSans that tells about some decluttering inspire by Andréia, one of your fellow 365ers.

Here are two good links from Tony at We Do THis Only Once. Read them here and here

This post from The Change Blog ~ Facing Your Biggest Fears may be based on a situation much different to letting go of stuff but the principles can apply to both and many other scary situations.

Moni sent through this link to a great online resource for those readers in the USA looking for a place to donate your gently used unwanted stuff.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter excess plastic kitchen storage items. I have discovered that there is often just as many of these items waiting to be used as there are ones in use. This means to me that, for the most part, I have more than I really need or else the majority of them would be in service most of the time. I think it is time I gave a few more to my daughter.

Eco Tip For The Day

Plan ahead and get all the ingredients you need, for a recipe you are following, from the fridge at once, rather than opening and shutting it several times letting the cold air escape.

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

Comments (15)

Friday’s Favourites ~ 31May2013

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!

Becky

Jez

Creative Me

Marianne

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

Sanna brought my attention to this web site and I think you will enjoy it ~ thesimpleyear.com ~ The-great-library-book-hunt-of-2013

I love this song by Peter Doran, brought to our attention this week by the guys at The Minimalists 

Here is a link sent to me by Wendy F. ~ www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/sunday-review/should-america-bag-the-plastic-bag. It seems the USA is ahead of Australia with this move. No states have instigated a ban the bag here.

www.time.com ~ Don’t own, share

Today’s Mini Mission

Last week I was determined to do a little more reshuffling in my craft area. As a result I decided to part with some items that hadn’t been used in quite a long while, or at all in the case of some. I figured if I haven’t found a use for them yet then I probably never will.  Do you have craft or hobby items that you haven’t used in a long time. Perhaps they just don’t appeal to you anymore so let them go.

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

Comments (31)

Friday’s Favourites ~ 24May2013

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!

Lucinda shares her experience with collecting packaging in this comment.

Calico Ginger shares her take on Feng Shui, or at least positive energy, when it comes to her home in this comment.

In this comment Wendy B also gives us an example of the negative energy she once felt in her kitchen and how she solved that.

Dizzy gives us an update on how she is feeling about her stuff at this point in time.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

This link is a guest post by Tony, author of the We Do This Only Once blog which was published at the blog Great Jolly Hoombah ~ How-to-bring-others-on-board-with-change/ . It is good advice to keep in mind when trying to convert people you know to a more minimalist lifestyle.

Here is a short little post from the Minimalists which gives a quick insight as to how decluttering continues even when you think you are done. I know I’m not done yet.

I liked the idea of Task Bankruptcy in this link from David at Raptitude. We can do the equivalent with our possessions. When we realise we just aren’t going to use them we could just get rid of them. Both Wendy F and Edna recommended this article. I just hope no-one interprets it as dropping any of their decluttering tasks. 😉

“It’s a paradox that the more we let go, the more control we gain.” This quote alone makes this next post worth the read but it has a lot of other useful advice. www.houzz.com ~ 4-Obstacles-to-Decluttering—–and-How-to-Beat-Them

And last but not least here is a little post from one of your fellow 365ers Lucinda at her blog Lucinda Sans. Her post was inspired by a post by a guest post by Andréia. Well done Andréia for inspiring others in their decluttering mission.

Today’s Mini Mission

I used to own more mending items than were ever going to be used in a reasonable amount of time. As a result many elastic items perished, many reals of cotton sat unused, fabric remnants awaited their call up to patch items, and those unique spare buttons that come with new garments were stored in the sewing kit long after the garment has worn out or been passed on. Granted, back in the days when the children were young, I used to sew more but now I don’t. Now I buy just what I need when I need it, I have reduced the cottons and buttons to more generic colours and styles, and the fabric remnants have long been decluttered. If your mending kits has more stocked than need be, give it a good declutter keeping only what really will come in handy in an emergency. Any other repairs can wait.

Eco Tip For The Day

Watch less television. Find something to do for amusement that doesn’t require electricity in place of at least one session of your weekly television viewing. This of course will only work if the television gets turned off and not watched by someone else in the family. Perhaps you could instigate an old fashioned games night.

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

Comments (23)

Friday’s Favourites ~ 17May2013

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 Wendy B demonstrates that all kinds of circumstances initiate decluttering. Well done Ian and Wendy.

Wise words form Ideealistin in regards to buying to resell. I have encountered more than one person in my life who bought to resell then stopped reselling. There homes ended up full of clutter. The buying became like any other addiction.

Yesterday we had four previously silent readers come forward to make their first comments. I felt inclined to share them with you. Enjoy! I appreciate every reader contribution to the blog and encourage you all to join the conversation. So welcome to Katy, Nanette, Leah and Purplej. I hope I haven’t missed anyone.

In this comment Marianne gives her advice on how to enjoy books and magazines without the clutter.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

This link for Becoming Minimalist gives good advice on why fewer toys are better for your kids.

I enjoyed this link also from Becoming Minimalist. It matches so well with the theme of my mini missions this week.

Andréia sent me this link to an article about decluttering books After reading it I was a bit reluctant to share it here as the writer still had a vast collection. As it turned out she was a book reviewer. However I found the first few paragraphs too interesting to keep them to myself. And here is another one about making a household inventory.

Here is another great article about including kids in the chores and decluttering from The Other Side Of Complexity.

Today’s Mini Mission

Having too many items of clothing to choose from can lead to baskets of unwashed and/or unfolded washing laying around. This can also cause wasted time making choices on what to wear. Declutter some excess clothing. Think about whether the number of clothing items you own represents the amount you really need or how often you can be bothered washing and ironing them. I DO NOT mean for you to consider washing small loads more frequently (that would be bad for the environment). What I am saying is do you still have several weeks worth of this seasons clothes in your wardrobe at the time you are doing a full load of laundry. If that is the case perhaps you are overstocked.

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

Comments (29)

Friday’s Favourites ~ 10May2013

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!

Michelle has been converted to using microfibre for cleaning. Read why in this comment.

Melissa tells us about some quick clothing decluttering she did this week in this comment.

This comment  from Dizzy had my head spinning. What a mammoth effort.

Whoever Anon is I thank them for this comment. What a wonderful example of why stuff is not the answer to a happy life. And more so, what a great example that with the right help one can overcome depression and keep it in check.

Kim and her husband have instigated some great ways to avoid clutter and do the right thing by the environment in this comment. Good for you Kim and Hubby.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

Here is something to think about when choosing which brands you think have the right ethics to suit your sensibilities.

One a week where I post a mini mission about reducing your gift wrapping supplies Lena stubbles upon this article to share with us. I am only posting it for your amusement, please no one tell me you have a wrapping room or I am going to give up blogging. 😆

Here is the latest episode of The Midway Decluttering Show from Midway Simplicity.

I liked this article from The Minimalists because I was never on the minimalist path either. My path had the same purpose described in this article. One the suited the way I wanted to live. Little did I know how wonderful that feeling of freedom from stuff and the desire to acquire would be.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that has no real value to you, either of use or sentiment. I am sure if you go searching with this criteria in mind it shouldn’t be too hard to find something. You may have pangs of “I might need it someday” but I am sure you can determine that most things are never really needed in the first place never mind someday down the track.

Eco Tip For The Day

I have been skipping the Eco Tips here and there lately because I can’t always come up with something new to add. My question is would you rather I skipped it or would you prefer if I just reposted a previous tip. I like the idea of reposting because we can always do with a reminder.

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

Comments (37)

Friday’s Favourites ~ Not my usual serving.

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.

Being home has not guaranteed me the time I need to keep up with comments this week. I apologies to those who are accustomed to my usual enthusiastic interactions and for sharing my favourites here today.

After catching up with friends on Tuesday I then spent most of Wednesday volunteering at the thrift shop. I sent what was left of Wednesday and all of Thursday helping my daughter and her partner unpack and organise their new home. Although they seem to have way too many clothes they certainly aren’t inundated with stuff. Their huge four bedroom home is all but bare and will likely stay that way until they can afford to get some more furniture for it.

They have the right idea though. If they don’t badly need it then they don’t need to rush out and buy it. They would rather go without until they can afford to buy what they want rather than settle for second best and then rebuy sooner rather than later. They have two sofas to chill out on and a bed to sleep in and all the rooms have built in wardrobes so they are fine for now and we gave them a coffee table. The only thing they really need is a dining suite so they can sit down for a meal together (and to have her parents over for dinner too 😉 ).

Because they had a quite rushed and unorthodox departure from their previous address, resulting in most of their belonging quickly having to go into storage for six months, they are now doing a little decluttering as they unpack. It is always better to do this the other way around but better late than never. Clothes have been the subject of this declutter. Some were ready for the trash while others have been given to me to take to the thrift store.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

Thanks to a little help from friends and husband I do have a couple of links to share with you. I won’t add much preamble due to the fact that I am chock full of a cold to go along with my weariness and am keen to sit back and relax for the evening. Thank you all in advance for forgiving me for slacking off. I will try to do better next week.

http://www.theminimalists.com/desire/

http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/50-reusable-goods-vs-disposable-goods/  I do not particularly endorse any of these products I just thought the concept of reusing rather than using throw away items is always a good idea.

http://weonlydothisonce.com/1293/how-to-change-a-material-mindset/

Is everyone as equally appalled by this ridiculous extravagance as I am ~ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2257209/Wealthy-Indian-Datta-Phuge-spends-14-000-shirt-GOLD-impress-ladies.html

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that was given to you by someone else. If you no longer want or need it offer it back to the person who gave it to you, sell or donate it. You don’t have to keep things just because they came from someone else. I might seem a little repetitive on this advice but that is because people get very stuck on keeping this kind of stuff.

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

Comments (29)