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 like the second last paragraph of this comment from Dizzy. I also liked the expression Dizzy used in this comment ~ This blog really is brain changing!!

I enjoyed this comment from Judith about finding the right homes for some antique medical books. Well done Judith.

Loved this comment from Sanna, it is honest and enlightening as to the feeling some have about their stuff. Thank you for sharing Sanna. I also loved Idealistin’s suppostive response. But then this response from Cat’sMeow was the one I could relate to the most.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

I googled “minimise stuff” and came up with this article. It is really about reducing in a green way but there was so many good tips I just had to add it. And as you know I don’t mind drawing attention to improving everyone impact on the environment.

This article was my second choice from googling “minimise stuff”.

Next I googled “less stuff more life” and came up with this article.

Here is some more encouragement on book decluttering. I know I visit this topic often but that is because I think books are the single most difficult of all of the clutter varieties for many aspiring minimalists, and I use that term loosely, to part with.

Here is a link that Moni shared with us that I didn’t want you to miss. Thanks Moni for the link. What a sad story.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you didn’t use much. This item could represent guilt clutter or at best a waste of money.

Today’s Declutter Item

Cycling jersey sold on ebay. One of those things that just didn’t get well used.

Cycling Jersey

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

My daughter has been contemplating the idea of moving out on her own and it got me thinking what would she absolutely need if she moved into a place completely on her own without any existing amenities that come with an already shared dwelling. The only things that are a must that I could think of was a refrigerator, a bed, some basic linen and enough kitchen items to put a meal together, serve it and eat it.

So if that is all she needs to survive on her own how many things should you be worry ing about getting rid of and “needing” later down the track when they are gone.

If you are considering it to be clutter it probably is. Rip off that bandaid! Take the plunge get those items out of there and once they’re gone you will probably never think of them again. It is that initial step out of your comfort zone, the “I might need it someday” comfort zone that holds you back from having a beautifully decluttered home. Stop and ask yourself will I every really “need” it. Will you one day say, I wish I had that __insert item here___ , perhaps, but that is only a fleeting wish not a need.

After two years of this constant declutter journey I still find I have to throw myself into  decisions to get rid of some things. I still feel those small pangs of anxiety a the thought of “What if I want this later on.” And yes every now and again I might think perhaps I should have keep such and such but it is soon forgotten again since it wasn’t life threatening.  Therefore I have never felt the “need” great enough to replace anything I have let go off either.

What I have discovered is there is still an awful lot of stuff I DON’T NEED, which is why I am still at it. The decision process is getting easier and easier as I go along, simply because my desire to minimise is greater than my desire to keep most things.

So keep at it, make those hard decisions after all there is nothing much that can’t be replaced and the chances are you never will anyway.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you have been considering decluttering for a long time but just haven’t. Until now!

Today’s Declutter Item

Here is something that I have been contemplating decluttering since the very start of my mission. I figured we would use them all eventually but they seem to rotate around the house rather than diminish and I am sick of them wasting space. I took them to the thrift shop and most of them sold before I even finished my shift. There is one big empty box in the garage now where I need to do a come more reshuffling, for about the 10th time since my mission began. And that is probably a conservative estimate.

Photo Frames

Something I Am Grateful For Today

All my to-do list jobs outside the house today were in one area of town so that was a great saving on petrol/gas and quick to achieve.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Cindy

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Dirty Secret: A Daughter Comes Clean About Her Mother’s Compulsive Hoarding by Jessie Sholl

I’ll confess, it’s a bit difficult to say that I loved a book about someone’s painful life struggle, but I really did love this book. It’s beautifully written, easy to read, and the author cleverly interlaces story telling and factual information about hoarding.

The author, Jessie Sholl, lived with a mother who was initially a pack rat and who became a full-fledged hoarder after the death of her long-term boyfriend. But as Ms. Sholl makes clear, hoarding is just one symptom of a larger picture of poor mental health. Her mother isn’t just a hoarder and otherwise completely healthy and normal; not did she have great mental health prior to her boyfriend’s death. You only have to watch the show Hoarders one time to realize that the issue is way more than “For Heaven’s sake, clean up your junk.” Ms. Sholl’s mother is abusive, loving, capricious, unreliable, self-centered, indecisive, cruel, and generous, all at the same time.

At times, Ms. Sholl seems as stuck in her own efforts to break her mother from hoarding as her mother is stuck in continuing to hoard. Both repeatedly take their assigned role in this particular unproductive dance of push and push back. Unfortunately for her, Ms. Sholl tries repeatedly to clean and declutter her mother’s entire house in a major, exhausting effort, in the blind hope that once it’s clean, her mother will be able to maintain the house. Of course, just throwing away everything you can lay your hands on and scrubbing everything else with bleach does not solve any of the underlying issues.

Ms. Sholl final frees herself by 1) refusing to take her part in the dance any longer and 2) admitting to others that her mother is a hoarder and a woman with many mental health issues. In some ways, this very last section of the book is my favorite. I was a mental health counselor for many years, and one of my biggest beliefs if that you are never alone. No matter how crazy, how weird, how embarrassing your secret is, if you will let it out, you will quickly find that it is a secret shared by many, many of the people around you. In fact, Ms. Sholl eventually discovers that two of her friends have mothers who hoard. They could have been supporting each other all along, if they had been able to overcome their shame and let their secret out. I’m glad Ms. Sholl finally did let her secret out and shared with all of us, as well.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you have kept for sentimental reasons.

Today’s Declutter Item

I bought this bracelet for my mother some time ago at an antique store in Seattle of all places but due to a problem in her arm she can not wear it so she gave it back to me. I had no desire to keep it so I sold it on ebay. I hope the new owner will enjoy and appreciate it. Australian Stirling Coin Bracelet.

Australian Stirling Coin Bracelet

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Catching lots of green lights when I was out and about today.

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

A couple of Saturdays ago, you will remember, I asked for people to send in requests for blog posts for me to write about. Everyone who wrote in had wonderful ideas of which I have made a list and will most certainly address each and every one of them in the near future.

I received the following request from Nicole which I felt needed addressing sooner rather than later. Although I can’t comment on the intricacies of her specific area of residence, which is somewhere in France by the way, I can give you all some general ideas that would then have to be translated into actual possibilities in your specific areas. It is much easier for you to do the ground work and to investigate the local possibilities but perhaps my suggestions will give you a starting point.

Here is Nicole’s comment…
“As for me, decluttering is time consuming, so from time to time I just throw things away instead of selling or giving them. I am not well organised, and in France we are not used to garage sales, we have what we call “vide -greniers” for a whole village, so I may have to wait quite a while for it to take place. I’ve just moved and I do not know the local second-hand shops.
Any idea to hep me ?”

Firstly for those who don’t speak French vide-greniers = empty-attics. I kind of like the sound of that. Anyway back to the problem at hand. Below I have put together a list of ideas for ways to find responsible homes for your stuff. Basic ways that with a little imagination could be translated to an opportunity in just about any country in the Western World.

• Freecycle.org (there a 116 results for places in France alone)
• Put items out on the street. This is simple ~ make a sign with the word free on (in your own language of course) attach it to the item and put it out on the street. Be a responsible citizen and bring it back in in the evening, if it hasn’t already gone, so it doesn’t look like trash or get ruined by the weather. Put small items in a box.
• Instigate a Free Box for your apartment block or in the foyer of a public housing building. Same concept as the idea above only indoors. Communal give away if you like. If there is no notice board leave give away /sell signs near the apartment mail boxes.
• Thrift store and secondhand stores. This one is self explanatory and are usually found easily on the internet, your local phonebook or perhaps by asking local citizens.
• Sell through ebay or similar or advertise locally through newspapers, local notice boards in shopping malls or your apartment block, or other  internet outlet.
• Have a yard/garage sale ~ even if this isn’t normal for your area, it wasn’t normal anywhere once so why not start a trend. Just set up a table in front of your house or apartment block and see what happens. You may need to check local bylaws to make sure you aren’t breaking any rules. We wouldn’t want you to get arrested.
• Set up a giveaway, sell or swap facebook page between your friends, family and neighbours.
• Ask a long time local where there is an community charity nearby that could use your stuff.
• Ask other locals if their are charity bins in the area.
• Google or other search engine is a great way to find local opportunities to get rid of your stuff. Just Search for “donate (the item you are donating eg. books) and your town/city.
• Check out your local government web site, they usually have a section on donating, recycling and local flea markets.
• Also check out my Recycling /Donating Guide

I personally believe that no matter what I have if it is still in good condition there is someone out there that can use it. Throwing perfectly good things away is just not something I feel right about doing. I imagine I had a good time acquiring much of the things I an now decluttering, in many cases irresponsibly no doubt, so the least I can do is spend the time to find a new home for it once I am done with it. In fact I enjoy the challenge for the most part and feel quite a degree of achievement when I find homes for particularly difficult items. So use your imagination and do what you can to rehouse your stuff.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you keep because it seems so useful yet you don’t really have a use for it.

Today’s Declutter Item

Here is an example of something it took me a while to find a home for. When my immersion blender died of old age I agonised for months over which one to replace it with and finally settled on a Kenwood. Unfortunately clever marketing made it so in order to get the accessories I wanted I was forced to buy the model that had far more accessories than I needed.  I advertised these extra accessories on ebay three times making the starting bid lower and lower every time until I finally hooked someone. I could have Freecycled them but that would have only guaranteed that they would be taken but not necessarily by someone who had a genuine use for them. I figured if they had to be paid for they would more likely find the right home.

Kenwood Mixer Accessories

Something I Am Grateful For Today

The many outlets I have discovered over the last two years that make passing my useful stuff on easily.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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.

There is no theme behind the mini missions this week just some random ideas I am throwing out there. Enjoy the search.

Monday – Declutter a container of any sort. For example I am decluttering a basket today.

Tuesday – Declutter something you keep because it seems so useful yet you don’t really have a use for it.

Wednesday – Declutter something you have kept for sentimental reasons.

Thursday – Declutter something you have been considering decluttering for a long time but just haven’t. Until now!

Friday – Declutter something you didn’t use much. This item could represent guilt clutter or at best a waste of money.

Saturday – Declutter a totally personal item

Sunday – Suggest an item for someone else in your household to let go of. I am sure you can identify such an unused item. You may not succeed in convincing them to let go but the interaction is good practice.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

This basket was given to me when I was first married if I remember correctly. I believe my daughter used it for Easter Bunny to put her first easter eggs in. I’ve carried it places and used it to store things in but nevertheless I have no real need for it now. Perhaps someone else will. It sure is sturdy.

A basket I have owned for 25 years

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Items that stand the test of time.

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