Comments aren’t as plentiful as they used to be but there are still some great ones among them and here are five of those that we received this week.

Wendy B has left two great comments that I didn’t want you to miss. She shared a couple of good donating tips with us last Thursday in this comment and gives some good advice about moving on in this comment. Great advice Wendy B, thank you.

This comment from a new contributor jbc puts a whole new slant on how to disassociate from hidden clutter. I hadn’t even considered this possibility before. Thanks jbc and welcome to 365 Less Things.

It is clear from this comment that Sharron grasps the concept of Cost v Value and she has learned the error of her ways.

The thing I liked about this comment from NatalieinCA is that she is happy to go against convention to do the right thing by the environment. I only wish I had the same range of opportunity here where I live.

There are an endless supply of informative posts in all corners of the internet and here are the five I wish to bring to your attention this week.

Lovefoodhatewaste.com Thanks to Ideealistin for pointing this website out to us in a comment she left a week or so ago.

You may think this post from How to be Amazing.com has nothing to do with clutter but it has more to do with it than you can imagine. Clutter often builds up due to insecurity and unhappiness and this post ~ How to be happy 7 tips increase joy ~ could well be the key to avoiding clutter in the future and letting go of the stuff you already have.

I stumbled upon this link while looking for something else and I really enjoyed it. I hope you do too. Paul Graham ~ Stuff

Simply Being Mum ~ No-waste-tastes-great-5-august-2011

This next link was a gem found by Cindy. Motherhood Your Way ~ How-to-have-a-simple-organized-school-year

Today’s Declutter Item

I am not sure whether to chalk this up as aspiration clutter or I might need it one day clutter but either way it is out of here. I am sure a thrift store customer will think they have hit the jackpot when they find this on the shelf.

Aida Cloth for Cross-stitch

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I enjoyed the chance to catch up with a friend that I see far too infrequently even though we live quite close. I love these encounters with old friends because it is always as though we have never been appart. Except that we have so much to say that the conversation runs all over the place and that isn’t a bad thing.

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

I have just finished reading this book and I have to say it was full of interesting insights and great tips on not only decluttering your life but how to clean up your finances as well.

The world financial crisis has caused many families to rethink the way they spend and what they consider to be important in their lives. Many have realised that living a life with less is a far better option than living up to their eyeballs in debt. Some of the letters quoted in the books show that many people have considered the wfc as a blessing in disguise that has made them realise the errors of their ways. People who have re-adjusted to a more rewarding existence that doesn’t include the endless and equally mindless pursuit of more stuff.

Peter gives his readers guidelines and exercises to help them take stock of how they measure happiness, how to rein in spending and facing up to the emotional side to our stuff. It can be a little confronting at times but that is often what it takes to help us see a way through the mess we have gotten ourselves into.

I highly recommend reading this book whether you need the financial guidance or just a little help letting go of the stuff cluttering up not only your house but your life.

For more information about the contents of this book click here.

Today’s Declutter Item

The items just keep on coming and every little thing helps, even something as small as this hole punch. Just another thing excess to our needs. This one went to the thrift shop. They kept it to add to their own stationary supplies. 

Hole Punch

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I love taking time to visit new places, I love having alone time with my husband and I love escaping from the everyday grind but I also am grateful to have a happy, comfortable, uncluttered home to come back to when my vacation is done.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Last week, I discussed methods for cleaning and decluttering your refrigerator and freezer; this week we’re onto what is usually a larger repository of items that should have moved along long ago, the pantry. Because things in the pantry don’t usually spoil, they can sometimes hang around long enough to become honorary members of your household.

It will probably be helpful to have a pen and paper with you when you start excavating your pantry, especially if you know it’s… let’s politely call it “a goldmine of uneaten potential.”

What do you have, how many do you have, how long has it been in there? Check dates. Put like with like. Anything you have duplicates of may be excessive. I have a dozen little cans of olives, and I use them once a week, so a dozen is a reasonable supply, not an excess. But two cans of garbanzo beans (chick peas) is definitely an excess for me; frankly, one can probably is. Either make a list of what you have that needs to be used up, or put all the extras and duplicates on one shelf, and start using things without replacing them. Alternatively, you can choose to give the extras to the food pantry, rather than consume them yourself.

Some people buy a lot of groceries because they feel uncomfortable about the possibility of running out of food. But remember, it doesn’t all have to be stored at your house; allow the shops to store it for you. Then you can visit your “pantry” whenever you need for whatever you need.

If you live in an area where you might be cut off without access to shopping, for example, in an area that floods or where you get snowed in, I’m sure you need an emergency pantry. I don’t live in that environment, but I would think that having it completely separate from your regular food pantry, or in a specific area of your pantry, and rotating it once a year would be a safe policy. Mark the rotation date on your calendar so you don’t forget. Think carefully and logically about what you really need it in. Just having a bunch of extra canned goods on hand without true consideration to what they are isn’t going to be as helpful as a thought-out plan.

I think cleaning the pantry is a good time to think about healthy eating. Long ago, I talked about decluttering the pantry after my daughter was diagnosed with diabetes. We changed our family’s eating habits literally overnight. Everything that wasn’t part of her healthy, low-carbohydrate diet went directly out the door. I sometimes hear, “Oh I could never do what you do, that must be so hard.” I always say, “It is hard, and you would do it to give someone you love the healthiest and longest life-span possible.”

Don’t we love ourselves? Aren’t we responsible for making sure that we are living the healthiest and longest life-span possible? Then why do you have unhealthy food in your pantry? Get rid of it and don’t buy more. Unhealthy food is just another kind of clutter that you can live without.

How does unhealthy food enter your house? Probably in a grocery sack carried by your own hands. The purchasing of food needs to be a conscious decision like everything else you buy. Shop with a list; don’t vary from it; only buy what furthers your goal of a healthy lifestyle. If you feel you “must” have a treat, buy the smallest container possible (even though that’s likely to be less economical) and don’t buy more until your next shopping trip … or even later than that. Do you spend too much money on alcohol? Again, buy less and don’t buy more until your next shopping trip. For me, beer in the house turns into a beer a day then two beers a day and a couple of pounds a month. It works better for me to only have the occasional beer at a party, not keeping it on hand, is a better choice.

A decluttered pantry will let you have easier access to the foods that you want and will use, without it being cluttered by past mistake purchases, bad-for-you choices, and so much volume that things get lost in a sea of cans and jars.

Next week’s post “Your Second Favorite” addresses using up things that don’t really like … at least not that much.

Today’s Declutter Item

This jar of beads were another craft decluttering effort. The beauty is that I donated them to the thrift store and was there on the day to sell them to a lady for $5. She was happy with her purchase and I was happy to see the charity making money out of my donation.

A jar of beads

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I know that volunteering your time usually evoke gratitude from the organisation that you are giving up your time and energy for. But I am grateful for the opportunity to do my part for the community in which I live. There are a lot of people out there worse off than me and I feel good about helping to provide support for them.

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

Have you ever considered the cost of the things you buy and own in comparison to the value they actually realise for you. Which example below represents good value for money to you?

1. You bought a new dress to go to an event and it cost you $100. Yes, you had plenty of other dresses you could wear but you wanted a new one. The dress has now been sitting in your closet for six months and you have only worn it on that one occasion.
2. You bought a secondhand bicycle in order to cut down on using the car for short trips. You only paid $50 for it but use it all the time and the added bonus is your fitness levels have improved incredibly.

It is plain to see that the value, to you, of the $50 bicycle far out weighs to more expensive dress that is rarely used.

The above examples raise yet more cost v value issues as there is more to cost and value than meets the eye. The monetary cost of the dress was $100 but the value so far in return has been very little. The dress is actually costing you more than just the money you spent on it. Knowing you should not have wasted your money on it in the first place is costing you emotionally. Guilt is causing you to keep the item in the hope that you will get more value out of it and that is costing you wasted space in your closet.

Do you see where I am going with this.

Now how about the bicycle. It cost you $50 and over time it will pay itself off in fuel savings which means it is of more value in dollars than it actually cost. But not only that, you are getting fit riding it so it has an added health value. Plus all of these things make you feel good about yourself which raises your self-esteem adding more value to the bike. Yes, it also takes up space in your garage but it is worth every inch it occupies.

Here is one more example for you. Say you own two beautiful dinner sets. You display one set because you love it visually and you use it whenever you have company over for dinner. The other one you aren’t so enamoured with and it is taking up valuable space in the back of a cupboard where you never look at it or use it for that matter. Even though they both cost much the same to buy one is obviously of more value to you than the other. Perhaps if you are keen to declutter you should keep your favourite and sell or give away the other.

As you can see the cost of an object means nothing if it is of no value to you. While at the same time something of relatively little cost may be of infinite value if it is useful to you in some way. The more useful and/or the more enjoyed the item is the more value it is to you.

This is a good way to evaluate your clutter. It is also a good way to look at items before you decide to purchase them. If you can be honest with yourself about how much value you are likely get out of an item before buying it you could save yourself a whole lot of money. You can also avoid a whole lot of grief, effort and waste of space in the long term.

Today’s Declutter Item

These rubber stamps are of no value to me. They probably cost me very little but I never use them so now they are just wasting valuable space in my already cluttered craft area. 

Rubber Stamps

Something I Am Grateful For Today

In keeping with today’s theme I must say I am grateful for my laptop. I bought a new one earlier this year because my old one really wasn’t keeping up with technology. Although it was an expensive outlay it realises it’s worth everyday when I write my posts and answer all my readers comments. My old one also served me well and was worth every cent I spent on it some six or more years ago. 

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 quick decluttering.

This week for our mini missions we are going to do a little aspiration decluttering. You know the things I am talking about. Those items you aspire to using one day but that day never comes. Why not be realistic and ease the pressure on yourself. Maybe by eliminating seven of those items it will free your mind to actually rekindle an old interest or take up something new you really will enjoy.

Choose something to eliminate each day from my suggestions below or come up with your own ideas.

Monday – A craft or hobby supply item.

Tuesday – A project that you started long ago but have never completed.

Wednesday – A gadget you bought to perform a function that rarely or never gets used.

Thursday – An item of clothing that you promise yourself is going to fit you again some day.

Friday – A piece of sporting equipment that, if you are really honest with yourself, you are not likely to use again.

Saturday – A recipe book that you haven’t made anything out of in years.

Sunday – Perhaps you have some pet supplies in the garage or shed that you no longer have the pets for. You keep telling yourself you will get another pet one day but in reality you like the freedom of not having to take care of them and of being able to up and go whenever you like and not have to find a carer while you are away.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

My declutter item of the day and the What am I quiz answer from Saturday is a three inch tall figure of Blossom from the Powerpuff Girls animated television series. She was given to me by some friends I worked with in the USA because she has the same hair as me. Or maybe they thought, like her, I was capable of amazing feats. Sounds right either way. 😆 She has been standing on a storage system in my craft room for years but I rarely look at her. I do however often think of my old friends so clearly I don’t need her to remind me of them. Out you go little redheaded wonder child.

Powerpuff Girl (Blossom) Toy Figure

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Blossom reminds me of how grateful I am that no matter where I have gone in my life I have always made wonderful friends. Friends that I will remember forever. Each place I have lived there has been at least two very special people that have graced my life. Although we usually lose touch over time if we ever run across each other again it is like we have never been appart. I am very fortunate!

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

You all had so much fun with the last What am I that I thought I would entertain you with another one. This time there won’t for any clues to be found in my responses to your guesses because I am going to keep quiet until Monday. It is quite an odd little thing again so good luck trying to work it out. There will degrees of correct on this one I think. The answer will be revealed as the Declutter Item of the Day on Monday’s post.

Here are my favourite five comments of the week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Becky left this comment on the weekend about the advantages of the New Messy at her home.

This Comment from Cat’sMeow expresses how glad she is that the word is continuing to get out about the advantages for living with less.

Carolyn dropped in to leave her first ever comment and tells us about her “blessing in disguise” declutter experience.

Sharron shares how she changed the way she stores food in this comment in response to Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom this week.

Sue tells us about her unique plan to declutter in this comment, but make sure you also read Rachel’s response to Sue’s comment because she has a unique plan of her own.

Five posts from around the blogosphere I really wanted to share with you this week

Be More With Less ~ 10 ways you can have enough money and stuff ~ No more explanation necessary the title of this blog post by Courtney Carver speaks for itself.

Life should be the cats meow ~ Minimalist-approach-to-exercise ~ I love this post from one of our readers, Cat’sMeow, mainly because I use the same approach to exercise. If you feel like you are unfit just move more and see where that takes you. Putting too many expectations on your exercise routine can lead to inertia.

Here is a good blog post if you have been loosing your drive to keep working at your decluttering. Minimalist at home.com ~ When your passion fire fades to a flicker

This blogger, who also reads my posts, has been linking to my blog a bit lately so I thought I would return the favour. Breathe Releaser Repeat ~ oh-thank-you-obligation-clutter

Here is an excellent example how living with less can make a big difference in your life or to your debt at least. Jenny at Exconsumer shares her success in this post ~ Happy Birthday To Me I’m Consumer Debt Free

Today’s Declutter Item

Yet another science calculator sold on eBay for a mere $10 but better that than having it lingering in a drawer somewhere unused.

Another Scientific Calculator

Something I Am Grateful For Today

The opportunity to travel and explore places I haven’t been to before. We are off to Tasmania soon and I am really looking forward to it. There is a new art Gallery there that should be quite interesting from all accounts.

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

The intention for this post is to help you choose the best way to dispose of the objects you are decluttering. Some objects will be just trash but for others you will be endeavouring to find new homes either by donating to a charity, giving them to someone else or selling them.

There are often emotions involved when it comes to clutter. Finding the right home for your things can make the decision to let go a lot easier. For example it feels easier to let go if you…

• Know that the procedes of donating your items to charity will help someone in need.
• Get a little money back by selling your items.
• Know your items will be appreciated when giving them to family or friends who have admired them.
• Doing the right thing for the environment by finding a way to recycle items you thought were good for nothing.

Donating to charity is simple. In some places it is as simple as making a phone call and the charity will come to you to collect your items. In some cases you just amass the objects until you have a car load and then drop them off to a charity near you.  I won’t go into specific details as to what charity to use because that will be different depending where you are in the world. I am sure everyone is aware of a charity in their area that you can either drop off or phone for a pickup.

Be mindful of what you send to charity. They will not accept certain item because of safety and/or hygiene reasons. They may or may not accept mattresses or sofas that are stained. Some won’t accept mattresses at all. They usually will not accept underpants, for obvious reasons, unless they are new with tags on. Also, please make sure any items that you send to a charity are clean and in useable condition (working order). Soiled and broken items will be rejected and the charities end up having to pay huge fees to send loads of these uncharitable donations to landfill. If in doubt about what the charity will accept just phone them and ask.

Selling is a great way to eleviate the guilt of having spent money on an object that you didn’t get good value out of. It is also a good way to redeem a little cash to help pay off credit card debt that you probably shouldn’t have racked up in the first place.

I mostly sell on eBay but there are also other world wide sites like Craiglist. These are not the only options though. My husband’s work place has a on-line community board where employees can post For Sale ads, maybe you have such a resource. Australia has Trading Post and Gun Tree and others I am sure. Most places will have newspapers that also have on-line classified. My daughter once sold some old clothes using Facebook as her advertising medium. Just use your imagination or google something like “Selling Online” and see what comes up.

It is important however when advertising items to give a detailed description of exactly what the item is you are selling and what that includes. Just as important is to be honest about the condition the item is in. Just because something doesn’t work or isn’t complete doesn’t mean someone won’t want it. Parts can be just is valuable to people as the whole. If you think an item is worth selling why not give it a go.

Giving to family and friends is can be a very satisfying way to pass things on. Particularly things that you have held dear for some time. Perhaps things that have been handed down to you from other family members. If someone you know admires something you have decided to declutter they would be a good candidate to offer this item too. Always make certain that the person you offer it to only takes it if they truly want it. Make sure you explain that there is no obligation and you won’t be upset if they turn down your offer.

Giving to family and friends isn’t always about precious objects it can also be about useful objects. My father recently gave my brother his ride-on mower because my father no longer lives on a large property but my brother has a vacant block of land to mow.

Other ways to give stuff away.

• Freecycle is a great resource for giving things away. Especially those odd things that aren’t suitable for charity or for selling.
• Putting stuff out on the footpath with a free sign on it has also worked well for me in the past.
• One of our readers occasionally leaves a box in the foyer of their apartment building with free items in. You could possibly do this at your place of work or at a community group that you visit like a children’s playgroup.
• When I lived in the US there was a homeless man that was often begging at my freeway exit who I used to give things to every now and again. One day I even brought him a hot meal, he was very happy about that.
• Rachel, one of our readers is having a give away morning on the 20th of August to reduce her stuff before moving into a smaller dwelling. Hows that for ingenuity.

The options are endless. Once again just use your imagination. Today I googled “Give stuff away” and came up with some sites I didn’t know about like ozrecycle.com, scoodi.com and altruists.org. I didn’t check to see how good they were but I did find those and many more.

Recycling is an important aspect to decluttering. Anything that can be recycled should be disposed of responsibly. There are several way I go about this….

1. I put any items, that are suitable, into my recycling bin. Your local government department in charge of the collection of these bins will most likely have a web site giving clear instruction as to what type of items are suitable to go in them.
2. Larger items that may have some potential for recycling get saved until our local council has a curbside pick-up day. This is where you put the bigger items that won’t go in the trash or recycling out on the street for pick-up. Old mattresses, furniture, televisions, building materials and many other items are suitable for this type of collection. Many of these items will have components for recycling. I find that, in my area, the piles of stuff awaiting pick-up are well picked over and deminished in volume by the time the actual collection day happens. What is collected is sorted into trash and recyclables and treated accordingly.
3. There are often designated drop off areas or special drop of days for the recycling of certain items. Batteries, paint, electrical goods, chemicals etc are often disposed of in this way. Once again you can utilise your search engine by typing something like “recycle batteries (name of your city)” and helpful information will likely pop up.
4. Once again Freecycle is also a good way to recycle or repurpose items that are no longer in working order. I have given away pieces of furniture  and electrical items on Freecycle. There are often folks out there who are happy to fix of use the parts for these items.

I hope this post has helped you find some ways to responsibly rehouse or recycle your unwanted items. You will have peace of mind knowing your once precious things are going to good homes. And I can not stress enough how important it is to do the right thing by the environment, by keeping perfectly good stuff out of landfill and by decreasing the demand for the production of new products.

Here is a link to a guide I am slowing adding to that gives you ideas and web sites that will help you find appropriate places to donate and recycle.

Today’s Declutter Item

Some more t-shirts off to the thrift store today when I go to do my volunteer work. 

My husbancs T-shirts

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I love how fast my donations leave the house now that I am volunteering at the thrift store where I drop them off. Last week I even dropped something off for my neighbour. I am grateful the the lovely people at the thrift store have made me feel so at home there already. I look forward to going each time. It is wonderful to see the stuff walking out the door to be reused by someone else.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Pantries, refrigerators, and freezers can be chocked full of clutter. I know, I know, it’s food, so how can it be clutter? Well, if we define clutter as things we don’t need, don’t want, don’t value, and won’t use, then I bet your food storage areas are harboring at least a few bits of clutter.

Let’s Start with the Refrigerator

My top shelf holds condiment, sauces, and jellies. Talk about a potential treasure trove of clutter! The next three shelves are food we’re eating, left overs, and ingredients for use this week. Next is the cheese drawer, then produce, and the bottom of the refrigerator is used for storing large items – trays, my big stock pot, etc. (I removed my bottom drawer, so common in refrigerators, and put it in the garage. I find this area is much more useful not being a drawer.)

Where’s the clutter? Let’s start at the top by taking all the condiments out. Three BBQ sauces that are all still good? Combine them. Some oddball ingredient that you know deep in your heart you’ll never use again? Either toss it or pass it to a friend with different culinary tastes. Maybe you have a little dab of something that would be with another condiment, but you don’t want to combine them (say hoisin sauce and bottled ginger). I sometimes rubber band them together, so I can’t forget to use up when next time I use the other.

Remember to wipe the shelf before you reload. A hot washcloth makes cleaning sticky refrigerator spills easier.

Move down to the next shelf. Are your leftovers and unused ingredients still good? If not, eliminate them. They won’t get yummier sitting in your fridge! If your refrigerator is full of tidbits that you haven’t eaten but feel you should save, think about another system for them. Perhaps you should pack your lunch, or once a week you should have a leftover meal: nothing really goes together, but it all gets eaten. In my house, if there’s enough leftover to feed all four of us, I usually put it away still in the container in which I cooked it. If there’s less than that, I put it away directly into single-serving containers, so Dan or I can grab one when we’re packing up our lunches; if there are leftover sides, too, I’ll package everything and put it directly into a lunch sack before putting it into the refrigerator. The next person who needs a lunch can just grab the prepared sack and head out the door.

Move to the crisper section and the cheese and meat. Get rid of what’s of dubious quality and make a plan – written if necessary – to use what remains before it spoils.

Do you see any trends in your refrigerator? Maybe four or five cheeses you “had to” try that are now moldy, or yogurt that’s been neglected for way too long. Maybe you should admit that you think you like fancy cheese more than you do, or that yogurt may be good for you, but you really don’t like it. Adjust your shopping accordingly. I had to learn the hard way that even though we eat a lot of vegetables, the size that they sell at Costco is way too much for us. Some people think it’s OK to waste food that wasn’t very expensive, but that doesn’t sit right with me; I don’t want the guilt of throwing away what was once perfectly good. I’d rather buy the right size, rather than the cheapest-but-will-be-wasted size.  After all, it would be easier to throw your money straight into the trash can than it is to go to the store, select, buy, and store food that you’re not going to eat.

Now onto the freezer

I’ve discussed freezer organization before. (You can read the specific organization technique I use here.) The most important thing is to make sure you know what’s in there and how to find it. My parents keep a list on the outside of their freezer, defining everything that’s inside. I’m not that organized, but by keeping like with like, I can always see and find what I need.

While you’re doing a clean up, now is the time to unearth those UFOs (unidentified frozen objects). What are they? If you really can’t figure it out, defrost them one at a time with a commitment to use or get rid of each items as it defrosts.

Sometimes in the freezer you’ll find something that you felt you should keep, but in truth, you really don’t like. Now’s the time to be honest with yourself. If you get it out and defrost it, will you eat it this week? If not, shouldn’t you let it go?

Get into the habit of labeling everything you put into the freezer with the name and date. In order for this to be more convenient for you, perhaps you need to put tape and a marker near or on top of the freezer, so you can find it easily when you need it. And don’t bother freezing food that you made but didn’t like. It won’t be better tasting in three months.

Again, evaluate any trends you see: Are you overpurchasing frozen vegetables or single-serving lunches? If you have a free-standing freezer, it is really being utilized? Perhaps you could store everything in the house freezer compartment instead. Afraid to try? Well, you can shift everything over to the house unit and unplug the extra freezer. Live with it for a month and reevaluate whether the extra freezer is worth it. And if you have an extra refrigerator in your garage, what’s it keeping cold? Just drinks? Is this really the best use of electricity? I strongly encourage anyone who doesn’t have at least five family members to eliminate their second refrigerator.

Next week: Tackling the Pantry

Today’s Declutter Item

This was another of those not-so-successful eBay auctions. I decided I would experiment with selling a few handmade craft items on eBay using their fee free 99c starting price option. I figured I had nothing to loose as these cards are one of those aspiration items that I am sick of having cluttering up my craft area. I keep telling myself I am going to open an etsy shop but it never happens. Needless to say each set only sold for the 99c that they started at. The materials probably didn’t actually cost me that much so I suppose I broke even. This result hasn’t deterred me as I am going to put some earrings on there next week and see what happens. In for a penny in for a pound as they say.

Handmade Cards

Something I Am Grateful For Today

For making the most of my time when hubby is away. I had a friend over for a pizza dinner, a bottle of wine and chocolate. I am not so sure my waist is grateful but I had a good time.

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

When we talk about decluttering our goal is to end up with less stuff cluttering up our homes and lives. But after living for so long having and always wanting more the word less sounds like something negative, not a good thing. It exudes a vibe of going without, lack and life being not so pleasurable. But in reality the opposite is true. So instead of dwelling on the idea that less is a negative thing why not focus on the positive. How does less equal more.

• Less stuff to take care of = More time to spend doing the things you enjoy. More time to spend with the people you love.
• Less stuff cluttering up your home = More space for comfort and it makes your home seem bigger.
• Less money spent acquiring stuff = More financial security for the things you really need like food, shelter, health care etc.
• Less Money worries = More piece of mind.
• Less happiness tied to material “wealth” = More focus on what really matters in life ~ Friends, family, activities that help others not just yourself etc.
• Less desire for material items = More freedom from the strain of having to work so hard to earn the money to pay for the things to quench that desire.
• The Less products you consume = The better it is for the environment and the supply of natural resources.
• Less things you own that tie you down = More freedom to escape to do the things you enjoy like travel.

This list could go on and on. Think about the material things you desire then think about how much you need them verses the impact they have on your life, your family and the environment. Think also of the way your money could be better spent.

Today’s Declutter Item

One less item of aspirational clutter. This necklace is something from among my craft supplies the was given to me by my mother. I have decided that it is time to reduce my beading supplies and this necklace (or the beads I had planned to deconstruct it for) are excess to my needs. I will be making more visits to my beading supplies over the next couple of weeks. The more I decluttering in this area the better I feel.

Too much of a good thing

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I love the days when I spend half the day cleaning the house and then still somehow find enough giddy-up to vacuum out the car as well. Not to mention churn out a blog post, find my declutter item, chat with my boy, have a coffee with a friend, answer comments…

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