ITEM 120 OF 365 LESS THINGS This grooming set is a prime example of where communication is important when it comes to not cluttering up your home. I assumed that this was a gift to my husband from perhaps his grandmother and therefore had sentimental value as well as being functional. This week on a whim I took them out of the laundry cupboard and asked my husband if he still wanted them. His response was "No I don't, I thought you used them". So they have been sitting in cupboards moving from one house to another for heaven knows who many years and nobody has used them in all that … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2010
Day 119 Manuals and Warranties
Here is another area in your home that needs to be gone through on a regular basis to avoid the clutter of unnecessary paperwork that has become irrelevant over time. Firstly all warranties and manuals should be stored together in a safe place where they can be easily located should a situation arise where it becomes necessary to refer to them. We keep ours in a hanging file box in the bottom of our linen closet with other documents such as lease/phone contracts, vehicle registration info etc. Over time these documents become redundant, warranty periods expire and you no longer own … [Read more...]
Day 118 Luggage clutter
Just thought I would share a little story about some cheap luggage we once owned and how we off-loaded it. My mum bought us a set of luggage and the first time it did the cycle through the airport wheels fell off and things broke. We only used them one more time and that was as excess baggage when we moved to America. They then got stuck in a cupboard until the first unsuspecting visitors came over to stay with us. Since America is a great place to shop the visitors had a lot more stuff to take home than their suitcases could carry so we gave them one of our dodgy ones to take their … [Read more...]
Day 117 Snow Gear
I finally got all the snow clothing out of the cupboard on the weekend (one of those jobs I have been avoiding) and put it all on eBay. All that is except the pair of men's pants that had a hole in the leg and a ripped lining - I don't know why I hadn't already tossed them out- and 2 pair of goggles that the foam fining had perished while stuck in the cupboard unused. The auctions are going well 5 out of 10 things already have bids on and anything that doesn't sell will be going to the thrift shop. While writing this I realised that I forgot to put the other pairs of goggles on eBay so … [Read more...]
Day 116 Cheap solution to shower clutter
Today's item is this rusty shower caddy. How many of these items have passed through our home over the last 23 years I couldn't say but it has been quite a few. I am yet to find one that didn't go rusty after about 2 years. There must be one out there in the market that is made of a substance that doesn't perish with such monotonous regularity. I know they only cost about $20-$30 but I'm stingy and I expect more for my 30 bucks. So I have come up with a cheap alternative to this design. I have purchased 4 plastic coated hooks with screws on the end at a grand total of $2 and I have … [Read more...]
Day 115 Supersize Vehicles
My posts from day 110 and yesterday got me thinking about a combination of the basis of those two subjects., oversized homes and unnecessary cars. What about unnecessarily large cars. How many people own cars far greater in size than their everyday needs. When we lived in America we owned a V8 Mustang and a seven seater van. We loved both these cars, the Mustang because, well it was a V8 Mustang convertable, who wouldn't and the Van because whenever we had visitors from Australia this vehicle had enough room to fit everyone in and it was roomy and comfortable and handy to have when we … [Read more...]
Day 114 Decluttering the garage
Last year we decluttered the garage by one whole car. Now I know you thought this post was going to be about cleaning out the garage and in a way it is because we made a whole lot more space by getting rid of one of our cars. Granted this car was only bought because my husband had to work 500km away from home for almost a whole year and only came home every other weekend but never the less we could have kept the car for the convenience when he came back but we didn't. The money we have saved not paying for insurance, licensing (rego to you Aussies) and maintenance alone never mind … [Read more...]
Day 113 Too much pressure
I read forums and posts on other blogs and I can't help but think that people put themselves under too much pressure when it comes to decluttering. Below are a few suggestions I have to help release that pressure... The clutter didn't appear overnight so don't expect it to disappear overnight. Don't look at the big picture it's too scary sometimes. Pace yourself, there is no hurry. Don't set a deadline. Save the hard to decide items until last. I find the further I get into this the more ruthless I become. Be rational, way up the pros and cons when it comes to what stays and what … [Read more...]
Day 112 Outside the box
Following on from yesterday's post there are always those gadgets in our homes that were made for one use but when you explore the possibilities there are so many other fuctions they can perform. For Example, we own a coffee grinder, nothing unusual about that except that when I bought this item I sellected one that had a detatchable grinding bowl. The idea behind this function is to make it easy to clean but the reason I wanted this feature was so I could purchase a spare grinding bowl that I could use it to grind spices to make my own spice blends for cooking curries etc. I thought it was … [Read more...]
Day 111 Single function gadgets
The word gadget alone conjures up images of items with more of a novelty factor than any real practical use and for the purpose of this post it is meant to do so. How many things on your "really don't need or use" list come under the Single Function Gadget title. For example, my contribution for today to my 365 things are a set of plastic ice cubes. I am sure they were bought for their novelty factor but after using them both to keep liquids cool and in an icepack I really didn't feel that they radiated the cold as well as the real thing. I could find no science to back up my claim here but … [Read more...]