“I have appreciated my decluttering efforts when having a party, as I wrote before, but never thought I would be finding myself appreciating them in illness. Recently I had health problems that forced me to do some bed rest. I have two young children, so it was only a “kind of” bed rest. However I did not have much energy and the little energy I had was devoted to the children, in the time I had to care for them alone, and not the house.

As you may all imagine, the house was left “to its own devices”. After one week of me doing nothing (my husband washed the dishes everyday) I decided to do something. Surprisingly enough, I only had three loads of laundry to wash (including sheets) and not so many things out of place. Did the house clean itself up? No. As I don’t have as much stuff as I used to have maintenance got easier. Make the beds, wash dishes, sweep the floor, put clothes in the washing machine and the house seems fairly clean. It seems a lot, but as I was a person used to 3 days of mad cleaning to get the house in reasonable order, that really is something else. It also gave me peace to rest. My house was a little messy, but it was not unbearable. It was not cluttered and out of control. I can say that being ill made me want to declutter even more. It made me see that, if I have even less, I can calmly manage a house even if I am ill and depend on others for a while. They will have no trouble keeping my house in order because there is little to keep in order.

As I have chronic conditions now (not life threatening, but that require care), I have to be prepared for bouts of extreme pain that may keep me from most day to day house chores and that will be harder to deal with if I have a cluttered house I have to keep on top of. As I get older I know my body will be more fragile and I don’t want to waste precious energy and possibly putting stress on my body that I can’t take, because of clutter.

As I had time on my hands (arm was hurt and I could not move the mouse, so no computer or internet for me) I started to think about all that I was still keeping that I did not need to keep. I thought about all the stuff that could be decluttered and make my life even simpler. I calmly evaluated room by room in my house and discarded in my mind what was not needed.

So what can you declutter in your house that would help to keep it manageable if you are sick?”

Today’s Mini Mission

Absorb ~ Read a book that has been sitting on your shelf for a while and then declutter it.

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

I have been executing evil cunning plan recently, with me in the guise of a benefactor, ultimately for my own benefit. Wah ha ha ha! As you all know, my children have both moved out of home this year. When I say both moved out of home I include my daughter, that although for a short stint in the Summer, had actually been living away for five years. She has her own home now and took all her stuff that had been stored here. Moving out isn’t moving out until you take your stuff in my opinion.

My son moved into an established home so didn’t need much. However he has taken his bedroom furniture, a bookcase and a couple of other little bits and pieces along with all his personal effects. My daughter however moved into a four bedroom house and had near to nothing to take along with her. Luckily some of the stuff that was left behind were home making items, but just the basics. I had also put aside a few things for her that I would otherwise have decluttered. She has also now taken her bedroom furniture, a small dining table and an office chair.

Now back to my cunning plan. Both kids drop in on a regular basis and more often than not I have something here to offer them in the way of things I no longer need. Being that I am nearing the end of my decluttering mission, these are things that I have felt worthy enough to hold on to for this long. The cunning part of my plan is that I am palming them off to the kids with the thought that, should I need them in the future, I can always borrow them back.

I have to say this makes it easier to let go of things that I might otherwise keep. I get the joy of helping them out with something useful, that they might otherwise feel the need to purchase, while the item remains accessible to me. I’m sure they are on to me, but that is OK.

The moral of this story is~ If you have something that you would rather see gone, but just as much prefer to keep, explore the idea of offering it to someone near to you from whom you can borrow it back. Perhaps someone who has borrowed it from you before or admired it in the past. Giving doesn’t always have to be selfless. 😉

Today’s Mini Mission

Absorb ~ Read a book that has been sitting on your shelf for a while and then declutter it.

Eco Tip for the Day

Borrowing books from the library or reading them on a digital device saves on paper and print. This also is a good clutter avoidance oportunity.

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

My surname is Madsen, that’s M A D S E N. It is simple, two syllables, no extra letters that have no purpose, easy to read. So why do you think that most people, when confronted with this name, whether in plain print or spoken to them, automatically complicate it. Nine times out of ten people will pronounce it Marsden, Maddison or even Mathison.

I think I know why. Because these three other names are more common in Australia. So people revert to the norm rather than repeat what is said to them or written in front of them. That is the problem with “The Norm”, it is the usual way of things, acted upon by the bulk of the population whether it makes sense or not.

The Norm is…

1. Buying stuff whether we need it or not.
2. Replacing that stuff with new stuff when we tire of it or something “better” comes along.
3. Keeping the old stuff when the new stuff comes along requiring progressively more space to store it all in.
4. Hiring off-site storage when your dwelling becomes too small to store all the stuff.
5. Needing two incomes and working 50+ hour weeks to pay for all this stuff and the mortgage.

What is meant to be the simple life (like my simple name) becomes more and more complicated the more “normal” we behave.

You know what is more fun than normal, being different. I love being different. I love the stunned looks on peoples faces…

1. When I talk about how I have been decluttering my belongings for three years.
2. How I don’t buy things unless I really have a need for them.
3. That I prefer not to receive gifts.
4. That I prefer to live in a smaller home.
5. That I only have one handbag.

The beauty of going against the norm is that the clutter stops flowing in. My money isn’t wasted on stuff I don’t need. And I don’t have to work my butt off to afford a lifestyle that is different but quite wonderful. Granted my husband is still working full time but at the ripe old age of fifty even he can considering semi-retirement.

Dare to be different.

Today’s Mini Mission

Complete a project ~ Finish a project you started some time ago but haven’t added the finishing touches to. You can then either use it, gift it or donate it. Just this weekend I restrung some beads my mother had sent home with me about two years ago. She is coming to visit me this week for a couple of days and I can finally give the revamped necklace back to her. That frees up a little space and removes the guilt of it sitting there unfinished. 

Eco Tip for the Day

Keep a jug in your kitchen sink to save the water that would otherwise go to waste when waiting for the hot water to come through. This water can be used as drinking water, to fill the kettle, rinse dishes, water plants, rinse the sink etc.

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

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.

Some clutter isn’t just solid tangible objects that you are either using or you aren’t. Some it it comes in the form of things that can be used up, ingested, absorbed, altered, or repaired to become of more use. Sometimes these things hang around far too long out of  lack of interest, dissatisfaction or lack of enthusiasm or time constraints. This week our mini missions are set to help you identify such items in your home and take action to transform them.

Monday – Repair ~ Repair an item so you can begin using it again or so that it is in a condition to donate.

Tuesday – Complete a project ~ Finish a project you started some time ago but haven’t added the finishing touches to. You can then either use it, gift it or donate it. Just this weekend I restrung some beads my mother had sent home with me about two years ago. She is coming to visit me this week for a couple of days and I can finally give the revamped necklace back to her. That frees up a little space and removes the guilt of it sitting there unfinished. 

Wednesday – Ingest ~ Find an ingredient that has lingered in your pantry, fridge or freezer and use it up. Perhaps in a way you hadn’t considered before. Use a recipe site like taste.com type in the ingredient you have and see what recipes come up.

Thursday – Absorb ~ Read a book that has been sitting on your shelf for a while and then declutter it.

Friday – Alter ~ Alter an item that isn’t quite right so that you will be more inclined to use it. (Change the fit of a clothing item, cut up large note books to make small jotters, change a piece of furniture, maybe just give something a fresh coat of paint.) I used graffiti paint to freshen up some old coasters recently. I cut a body pillow down to two standard bed pillows. And I pulled the last few pages out of two old note books and cut them down to make note paper for my grocery list etc. 

Saturday – Use Up ~  Turn a product you don’t like so much into something else in order to use it up. (Bubble bath or shampoo into liquid hand soap. Make tinted moisturiser out of that foundation you don’t like so much. I used some old craft felt that I thought I had no use for to line my buffet drawers. 

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

When all else is equal between one product or another choose the one with the most eco friendly packaging.

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!

Saskia has run into the dreaded unwanted collection issue. Give her some advice if you have any.

June realised that she is a bit of a vase junkie. But never fear she has come up with a solution to the problem that will get her on the road to recovery in no time. 😉

Melissa is a dab hand at Use-It-Up decluttering. Read about her efforts here. Also Moni’s response to Melissa’s comment had a good method of using up toiletry products.

Now you are all going to think it odd that I appreciated this comment form Morgen. I have however felt in a bit of a blogging slump lately and admit that I may actually be coming across as a somewhat negative. I would be happy for anyone else to make suggestions where I could improve because I am certainly open to them. By all means don’t feel it necessary to come to my defence as I think the criticism was probably well deserved.

And finally, thank you to everyones condolences and well wishes regarding missing out on the apartment we were so exciting to be buying. I am inclined to agree with all those who suggested that something better is waiting just around the corner.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

In case you missed it here is a link sent in by Angel with some great natural cleaner recipes. Thanks Angel, I have found them very helpful and have bookmarked each sheet for future reference.

I like this concept of minimalism that I found at Pinterest.

This post from Tiny Buddha is about letting go of pain, but with a little imagination I think you can use the same principles to help let go of clutter. After all clutter, like pain, often holds us in the past, while letting go of it frees us up to live in the moment and opens our minds to the possibilities of the future.

This article from Real Simple has some good and sometimes humorous suggestion on why to let go of stuff.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a book.

Eco Tip For The Day

Find some time to spend in the sun. This is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than buying bottles of vitamin D tablets.

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

Our apartment deal fell through. Although the owner had accepted our offer and we were about to sign the initial contract, he received a last minute higher bid and reneged on our deal. So for now we are staying put. I prefer to be philosophical and say that perhaps it wasn’t meant to be and something better is around the corner. But really we are very disappointed and for the moment will just lick our wounds, chalk it up to experience and look forward to our seven week vacation. So I guess life isn’t so bad.

The premature excitement did however spur me on to getting rid of and swapping out  a few more items around the house. Some old towels from the second bathroom are off to the thrift shop. A framed caricature of my daughter is now at her house. My husband bought a “new” secondhand office chair which is better for his posture but also more streamline than the old one. The old one found a new home at my daughters house. We also downsized my husbands desk to an old recycled sewing machine table. Our daughter once again benefitted from this exchange and now has herself a very nice American poplar table for folding her laundry on. I have also set aside my electric trains to find a new home for, and some old broken silver jewellery that I will give to anyone who wants it at the lapidary club in my neighbourhood. I also donated some of my handmade jewellery to the thrift shop.

I remain optimistic that we will eventually find our new home but for now I will keep slowly reducing what we have so that we are bound to be ready when the moment arrives.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a piece of jewellery.

Eco Tip for the Day

When entertaining, rather than resort to disposable crockery and cutlery, use all the non-disposable items you have on hand, if necessary borrow more from family, neighbours or friends or get the guests to bring their own. I put on the occasional neighbourhood get together and all guests are instructed to bring their own cups, plates, and cutlery. They never turn down the invitations so I guess they don’t mind.

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

Cindy

I’ve been thinking a lot about cleaning supplies recently – how many I should have, where I should store them, etc. and I have come to a somewhat shocking conclusion: I’m going about it all wrong.

I don’t use a lot of cleaning products, and they are stored in a couple of places. I have a caddy of supplies in the laundry room, a huge container of vinegar under the kitchen sink, a toilet brush by one toilet but the toilet bowl cleaner is in the laundry room, and a vacuum in the upstairs closet.

What got me on this train of thought was a problem with the vacuum. I’ve had my vacuum for many years, and it’s been repaired a couple of time. Literally, one of the wheels has fallen off and won’t stay on for more than a minute at a time. (Ironically, this doesn’t seem to impede the action of the vacuum or scratch the floors – makes me wonder what the wheels are for!) I only have one 10 x 12 rug in the whole house. I thought when the vacuum finished dying, I would chuck it, sell the rug, and just work with a broom and dust mop. Then Colleen and my mother persuaded me that I would have a lot less dog hair on my floors if I vacuumed more, rather than less.

What happened next is the opposite of what I preach: I bought a second of something while the first was still functional. Yes, I bought another vacuum cleaner, an upright. I planned to sell my old canister-style vacuum cheaply on Craigslist. But the more I used the upright vacuum, the less I liked it. Instead, I tried to sell it on Craigslist, with no success. The upright was good on the rug, but less great on the hard floors. I had a brain storm, and even though I felt completely indulgent doing it, I brought the old vacuum downstairs and left the new one upstairs. My floors, upstairs and down, were cleaner. Because I didn’t have to lug the vacuum up the stairs, I was vacuuming more often. My floors really were less hairy. Yes, I became a person with two vacuums.

This revelation of convenience got me started thinking about my other cleaning supplies. For example, what the heck is my cleaning caddy doing in the laundry room? I never clean in there (except clothes, of course). Why do I only have one toilet brush with the cleaning fluid stored elsewhere? I started noticing that I would think, “If I had a sponge (or toilet brush or glass cleaner) nearby, I’d take care of that real quick.” But “real quick” did not involve going to another room, getting the proper supplies, and bringing them back. That was not “real quick.”

I started small: I got a toilet brush for beside every toilet, and I added toilet bowl cleaner to the grocery list – one bottle for every toilet. I’m adding a scratchy sponge and a container of baking soda beneath every sink. I have two vacuum cleaners. What I discovered is that, for me, more cleaning supplies, not fewer, more duplicate items, not less was the secret to housekeeping success.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a fashion accessory.

Eco Tip For The Day

Share and borrow between friends and family rather than everyone owning/buying everything.

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

After waking this morning to my husband’s goodbye kiss, I lay in my warm cosy bed trying to decide if a cup of tea was worth getting out into the cold for. My mind began to wander to the question of what will I have for breakfast. Deliberately, my pantry provides ingredients for a limited choice, rolled oat porridge or toast. Granted the accompaniments to these basic choices vary, so it isn’t as boring as it sounds. This morning, however, I felt like something different. So I got to thinking about what else I could throw together from my fridge, freezer or pantry. This lead me to the train of thought ~ What is there that I want to use up. Once again an intentional limited choice. It came to me in that moment that I had a packet of parathas in the freezer. At that point I stepped outside the box and began thinking how could these be used as a breakfast dish.

So, for breakfast this morning I cooked up my paratha, folded it around a generous portion of banana slices, switched off the burner and allowed the residual heat to warm it through. Once plated up, I added a generous slurp of maple syrup, a dob of cream and a sprinkling of slithered almonds. I have to say it was delicious.

The moral of this story is that all manner of things can be used up in ways not necessarily intended. And sometimes in ways actually intended that you just haven’t thought of. You see I have had banana roti (similar to parathas) on a visit to Malaysia once, so this wasn’t really an original idea, simply a convenient recollection.

Just yesterday I retrieved a piece of black felt from my garage. Thinking that I would probably never use it for a craft project, it was waiting there to be donated to the thrift shop. While putting something away in my buffet drawer it occurred to me that I could use that felt to line its drawers with. I attended to this task immediately rather than just putting the felt back in my craft room for another day.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not trying to send a message here that it is a good idea to keep things because they may actually come in useful one day. What I am suggesting is that if you are considering decluttering something potentially useful, figure out that use now and utilise the item. If you can’t come up with a use then simply let it go. Similarly, if you feel wasteful of your hard earned cash by decluttering such items, do the same. Figure out a way to use them up, outside the box, so you don’t feel bad about it. If you can’t do that, then let them go.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a souvenir.

Eco Tip for the Day

Food takes a lot of resources to produce so never let it go to waste. Have a few recipes handy that are great for using up left over bits and pieces, like curry, quiche or bubble & squeak.

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

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’s mini missions are all about getting rid of things that were acquired out of choice not necessity. Items that, if you are trying to reduce your belongings to just the things you really like or need, should be quite easy to part with. Unless of course you love all the items in these categories that is. If that is the case then these items aren’t clutter, right? 😉

Monday РDeclutter a d̩cor item.

Tuesday – Declutter a souvenir.

Wednesday – Declutter a fashion accessory.

Thursday – Declutter a piece of jewellery.

Friday – Declutter a book.

Saturday – Declutter a rarely used kitchen gadget.

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

Be very selective about what you buy so that you are so satisfied with the product that you will use it until it wears out and not trade it in for something else soon after.

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!

Lucinda gives us her take on slow and steady decluttering in this comment.

Jane tells us about how she is prepared to be flexible with her self imposed decluttering deadline in this comment.

Kimberley give us two more reasons to let go of stuff in this comment.

Moni‘s daughter set her an interesting declutter challenge this week. Wise beyond her years that one. Read about it here.

Here is a great example fro June on how one tends to take care of items better when they are the one and only.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

Here is a little eco tip from Daily Lime

Here is a good link on decluttering.

Here is an oldie but a goody from Zen Habits.

I didn’t have much time for reading this week folks so I am sorry but that is all I have to share today. Have a great weekend.

Today’s Mini Mission

This one is mentioned often here at 365 Less Things. Declutter something you keep out of obligation. Most people have more than one of these ~ unwanted gifts, family heirlooms, stuff their kids left behind etc. . I figure if I keep harping on about it you will eventually, perhaps slowly as you become more comfortable with the idea, let them all go.

Eco Tip For The Day

If you use aluminium foil when cooking be aware that it is one of the easiest household items to recycle. So if it is possible to rinse it off and put it in the recycling bin please do so.

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