Cindy

There is such potential for waste in the kitchen! I am certainly not perfect, but I really try to keep it to a minimum. Here are some of my tricks and tips:

Don’t buy in bulk except for items that you know, for sure, you and your family make good use of it. Toilet paper I buy in bulk. Paper towels (which, per Colleen’s suggestion below, I almost completely eliminated years ago), I buy one roll at a time, and I always buy the “select a size” towels, so I can pull of just a small amount.

Use substitutions in the kitchen. For reasons I won’t go into, I ended up with a cheap jar of “meat flavored” spaghetti sauce in my pantry. The likelihood of every serving this plain on pasta was almost nil. However, one day I was making my good spaghetti sauce recipe, which calls for lots of jars of tomatoes. I used the meat-flavored sauce as one of my jars, and it was perfect mixed with so many other ingredients.

Use a recipe website to find uses for lost and forgotten things in your pantry. I had hominy, used in Mexican cooking, in my pantry. I’m sure I was inspired when I purchased it last year. I went to my favorite recipe site, typed in hominy as my ingredient, and made a great soup with it. As a bonus, the recipe happened to use another orphan from my pantry – a double success!

I put badly damaged fruit or veggies in the back yard to feed the wild animals that visit. Trust me, they’re coming to my yard anyway – we call our back fence the animal highway; feeding them isn’t an invitation, but it does help me get rid of watermelon rinds and the three bites of apple that my daughter didn’t eat in her lunch.

Make stock. At all times in my freezer I have a gallon freezer bag in which I put onion peels, ends of carrots or other veggies, garlic peel and tiny cloves, apple and pear cores, and the skin and bones of a chicken. When my bag is full, I dump the frozen scraps into my biggest pot, add water, and let it simmer for an hour or two. When it’s finished, then the bones and trimmings go into the trash (not the compost pile because of the meat). I run the stock through a cheese cloth, cool it in the refrigerator so that I can skim the fat, and then it’s ready to freeze.

Don’t buy too many fresh fruits and veggies. Yes, we all want to eat more of these, but having a fresh, every-changing selection of produce is more appealing and less likely to go bad, than just buying produce once a week.

Snack foods. Yes, my house has snack foods it in, but I typically just buy one or maybe two of these treat foods a week. We don’t always have chips and other chips and three kinds of crackers and packaged cookies and chocolate-covered nuts. Just one or two is enough. Eat those and then get something different. That way, it’s truly a treat and not a pantry staple. Same with cereal. Unless you’re like my cousin who truly loves cereal and enjoys mixing several different kinds together on a daily basis, two or maybe three boxes is all you need.

Eat your leftovers! I once worked with a woman who cooked fresh every night and threw everything that was left at the end of the meal away. She and her husband refused to eat leftovers. I’m still shocked by this. When we are cleaning up after dinner, we immediately package up lunches for Dan or I to take to work. (Today – leftover grilled chicken, leftover salad, and a small handful of whole grain pretzel sticks that the kids turned their noses up at. [They are pretty twig-like.]) If needed, we have a leftover lunch on Sundays. I just pull everything out, and anybody can help themselves to anything.

What system do you have to reduce waste in your kitchen?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter disposable items from your home and your shopping list. For example ~ Cling film, aluminium foil, paper napkins, paper towel, dryer sheets, wet wipes. Utilise other items in your home that can easily take their place. The environment and your bank account will be all the healthier for it. I haven’t eliminated all of these things from my home but I use so little of the ones I do still keep (paper towel and aluminium foil) that I buy them in small quantities and only replace them when they totally run out. And before anyone tells me that these things are cheaper in large quantities, think for a minute about how easy it is to be wasteful with stuff when there is plenty on hand.

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

…you feel obliged to respond in kind.

Have you ever been excited to receive an email and enthusiastically respond. Then in return the original sender follows through with another email and you are happy to carry on the conversation. In response you receive a reply and you feel obligated to reply in turn. Once you hit the send button you wonder could this banter carry on indefinitely, will the person at the receiving end feel obliged to respond yet again whether they want to or not.

To me this situation sounds a lot like gift giving. A new friend initiates the birthday gift giving process then the receiver thinks that when that person’s birthday comes around that it would be the done thing to return in kind. Next thing they know they both have another person on their Christmas list as well.

There are two ways to avoid this madness. One ~ Don’t tell people when you are celebrating a birthday. Two ~ Make it perfectly clear that you do not wish to celebrate occasions with the exchanging of gifts. There are plenty of ways to enjoy an occasion without lavishing gifts on people. One is quality time.

It is also possible to stop the madness once it has begun. Simply let people know that you are in the process of decluttering your home with the intent to keep it permanently that way, and would prefer not to exchange gifts in the future. This is not and unreasonable request. I have never lost a friend over making such a request and I dare say neither will you.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter any saucepans or frying pans you simply don’t use. These are bulky items that waste a lot of space if they are kept for those just-in-case moments. They are also items that can easily be borrowed from a friend, relative or neighbour in the rare case they are necessary.

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 I have tried to put together six missions involving items that you may not of thought to declutter as yet. They, like last week are items that I don’t mention very often or perhaps, in some cases, not at all. As usual, if you have already decluttered these items or never had them in the first place, perhaps they will jog ideas of similar items you haven’t dealt with yet.

Monday – Declutter any too large suitcases you avoid using because of their bulk. Firstly there is rarely a need to pack so much stuff. Want maybe, but need, not so likely. Secondly, once these cases are packed they are too heavy to manoeuvre.

Tuesday – Declutter any saucepans or frying pans you simply don’t use. These are bulky items that waste a lot of space if they are kept for those just-in-case moments. They are also items that can easily be borrowed from a friend, relative or neighbour in the rare case they are necessary.

Wednesday – Declutter disposable items from your home and your shopping list. For example ~ Cling film, aluminium foil, paper napkins, paper towel, dryer sheets, wet wipes. Utilise other items in your home that can easily take their place. The environment and your bank account will be all the healthier for it. I haven’t eliminated all of these things from my home but I use so little of the ones I do still keep (paper towel and aluminium foil) that I buy them in small quantities and only replace them when they totally run out. And before anyone tells me that these things are cheaper in large quantities, think for a minute about how easy it is to be wasteful with stuff when there is plenty on hand.

Thursday – Declutter parts of sets that aren’t being utilised. It isn’t compulsory to keep sets together. In the past I have sold or donated attachments to kitchen gadgets, a strainer from a pasta pot, saucers from a dinner set…

Friday – Declutter items adorning benches that just make cleaning more of a chore. Kitchen benches and bathroom cabinets are  areas prone to this nuisance clutter. In bathrooms particularly there is not need to keep everything you use, once or at best twice a day, sitting on the bench top. It takes a fraction of a second to open a door or a drawer.

Saturday – Declutter an item that you keep as a backup for something similar. One reader last week said she had a backup electric kettle. If she disliked it so much there is a good chance she isn’t going to revert back to it should the better one stop working. Cell phones are another item that people tend to have several of. One is fine, more than that is just excessive. These are both cases of buying something when the current one was perfectly fine. We are all guilty of this I am sure.

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

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

Living with less frees me up to explore the world.

For quite some time now I have been putting together the Friday’s Favourite post. However it is one of the most time consuming posts of the week as it require surfing the web for other good posts relating to the subject of decluttering and minimalism. And although there are lots of great blogs out there on this subject I don’t always have time to search for and read them. I also love all the comments I receive here at 365 and have never been comfortable with the idea of singling out favourites. It suggests that the others are less important when they most certainly are not. For that reason, as of today, Friday’s Favourites will be no more. For now what I intend to do instead is to write a post on Friday that is inspired by a comment that a reader has posted. Over the Christmas break I will reassess the weekly format and make decisions on what the new plan will be for 2014.

Likewise, if I am inspired to write a post due to something I have read on the web I will be sure to link to it in the body of the post. So feel free to send me links to web reads that you have enjoyed or found inspiring. I can always do with a little inspiration.

Also I know that my readers love a good before and after post. So if, at any time, you feel inspired to photograph and write a short blurb on a particular decluttering project you are working on, we would love you to share it here at 365 Less Things. If you create such a post just let me know via my contact page and I will send you the email details to send it to.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a few excess picnic items that you keep for those rare occasions when you actually do eat outdoors. Or ones that are completely unnecessary even if you do picnic often.

Eco Tip for the Day

If you find the need to use aluminium foil when cooking, give it a clean up and put it in your recycling bin rather than throwing it in the trash.

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

…but then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption. I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway. And more, much more than this, I did it my way.” ~ Frank Sinatra*

People often ask me if I have any regrets about things I have decluttered. The answer is a few, but none that I would lose any sleep over.

There has been the odd thing that later I realised I could have saved for one of my children. But one can never predict at what point ones children will leave home and I was not about to hoard those things for ever. So I am glad I got rid of them. Besides, I have managed to acquire the things they need, either bought secondhand or acquired secondhand for free via Freecycle.

I also decluttered all the cheap reading glasses I had prior to my beginning to wear prescription glasses. I should have saved one pair for long haul flights, as the in-flight entertainment screens are hard to look at through progressive lenses. But since my eyesight gets poorer over time, the ones I owned would probably not be suitable anymore anyway.

So, as you can see from those two examples, my regrets are easily brushed aside. Right now I can’t think of anything else I have regretted decluttering, although I am sure there are a few I have long ago overcome and forgotten about.

However, what I do have more regrets over, and larger regret at that, is having acquired certain items in the first place. Sometimes this can’t be helped because the decision and choice seemed right at the time but in hindsight were not so good. Circumstances and options change and with that needs change and an item can become unsuitable.  At other times the decision was just wrong from go to woe. I have plenty of these regrets that I could rattle off here but I won’t for my own sanity.

When I decided to write this post I was trying to come up with a title when the song lyrics of “I did it my way” came to mind. “Regrets, I’ve have a few, but then again, too few to mention…” matched very nicely with what I had on my mind. But then I realised how appropriate the line “…I did it my way” also was to my decluttering journey. I did do it my way, I kept what was useful, beautiful and important to me. Often going against convention, but in my opinion convention can be quite flawed so I had few qualms about that. Anyhow, I like to be different. 😉

So just remember, declutter fearlessly and individually.

• Don’t be overly concerned about the possibility of future regret.
• Forgive yourself those unwise purchases of the past and just promise yourself to be more discerning in the future.
• And declutter to suit yourself, not what other people think is the done thing.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter excess cushions and throw rugs. The ones you sit or drape on furniture as a decor item. They are a pain when you want to sit down and are just in your way. Perhaps a few of those six cushions/pillows on your bed that you pull off and put back on every night and morning.

Eco Tip for the Day

Rather than opting for the easy choice of wrapping cling film over food, utilise that overabundance of empty plastic containers in your kitchen cupboard.

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

There are all sorts of things that I don’t want to do or don’t like to do. For example, I like a clean house, but I do not like to clean house. You may want to be decluttered, but get overwhelmed at the process of decluttering.

Today, I want to talk about some tricks that can help you get yourself to cooperate. These are ones that I have used, and I am very curious to hear your strategies and tricks, as well.

1. When working at my desk, don’t sit down. Once I sit down, my rear end seems to develop a lead weight in it and nothing else gets done for at least an hour. When I stand, I do the one thing I came to my desk to do, and then I move onto the next thing.

2. The five (or 10) minute clean up. This is one for the whole family. I set a timer for a predetermined number of minutes, and everyone cleans as fast as they can for that amount of time. No going over; no extending the time. When the buzzer rings, everyone is done.

3. The five item clean up. Everyone finds five items in the house that are not where they belong and puts them away. This takes our family less than 5 minutes, and 20 objects are back where they belong. A variation of this involves finding 5 items to put away, 1 of which must be something that can be decluttered.

4. Use your declutter money for a specific purpose. Longtime readers will know that I put all the money that I’ve made from Ebay, Craiglist, and Amazon toward my mortgage, which has whittled away $2000 of that debt. Good motivation, and if I hadn’t done this, the money probably would have slipped away, largely unnoticed.

5. The mortgage connection. This is a new trickery device I’m trying. As I said before, I don’t like to clean house. (I do like to declutter, though, so I don’t need any extra motivation in that department.) I would love to hire a housekeeper, but that’s a luxury I don’t feel able to afford. I have decided to pay myself for cleaning the house. For every hour I spend on housecleaning chores, I will immediately go to the computer and transfer $20 from our checking account to our mortgage account. True, $20 isn’t a lot, but it’s $20 more than nothing, and it gets me just that much closer to my goal.

So, those are some of the tricks I have used to motivate myself and gain my own cooperation toward my goals. What are some tricks you have invented for yourself?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a music related item. Old records, cassettes or CD’s you no longer listen to. When I occasionally feel like listening to something that isn’t among my usual selection I just go to YouTube. There is no need to keep once-in-a-while music on hand these days.

Eco Tip For The Day

Challenge yourself not to use paper towel for a month. By the end of that time you may have come up with viable reusable alternatives that you are happy to utilise  on a permanent basis.

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

Ok folks, it is your turn to help me declutter, or not.

Just over three years ago, as many of you will remember, I almost lost my son in a terrible bicycle accident. I am certain that he would not be here today had he been one of those foolhardy young people too stubborn to wear a helmet. I see them all the time, some riding along with the helmet hanging over the handlebars when it should be on their heads. Or worse still, perched on their heads with the strap undone ~ I really, really can’t understand the mentality of that decision. Please keep in mind the we have helmet laws here in Australia deeming it compulsory to wear a helmet when riding on public roads.

But I digress. The shattered helmet (photographed above) that saved my son’s life, or at least saved him from a fate worse than death, is still sitting on a shelf in my garage. My husband and I have, so far, avoided  making a decision as to whether we will declutter it. I have consulted both my son and his sister as to whether either of them want the helmet but both have declined. My son has kept the buckled bike frame for now with intentions of possibly using it in an art project. It is at his house so is not an issue for me.

Logic tells me that…

• …it is just one more thing to fit in to our small apartment when we move in.
• …I still have my son so I don’t need to keep this thing as some kind of macabre souvenir.
• …that it is of no use to anyone.

My heart tells me that…

• …this thing saved my son’s life.
• …I could put it on display to remind us how lucky we were.
• …THIS THING SAVED MY SON’S LIFE!!!

Keep in mind that there is hardly a sentimental item in our home that I wouldn’t happily get rid of should my husband give the nod. I think he thinks I am a little heavy handed with the decluttering of my life’s mementos at times. But this item, I am not too sure whether I am ready to let go. On the other hand I don’t want it cluttering up the limited space in our new apartment. And there isn’t much point in storing it in a cage in the basement. Today’s mini mission was a coincident but perhaps it is trying to tell me something.

Tell me what you think.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a sports related item. No longer used equipment, uniforms, souvenirs or even trophies.

Eco Tip for the Day

Where possible use less of things. You might be surprised how regularly you use more of some things than you need. Here are some products you could probably stand to use less of ~ less shampoo, less conditioner, less laundry detergent, less dishwashing liquid, less toothpaste, hand cleanser, car wash… Quite often advertisements and manufacturers instructions suggest we use more than what we really need. So using even more than that is a fools game, wasting product and your hard earned cash and increasing supply due to demand.

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 for our mini mission I tried to come up with suggestions that I don’t cover very often. Some things like kitchen, linen, stationery and beauty items, knick knacks and clothes appear here often so I thought I would steer away from them this week. I hope you can find an item appropriate to each day’s mission but if you can’t just come up with your own idea. Good luck!

Monday – Declutter some printed photos. Poor quality images, duplicates and images of stuff you care little or nothing about.

Tuesday – Declutter a sports related item. No longer used equipment, uniforms, souvenirs or even trophies.

Wednesday – Declutter a music related item. Old records, cassettes or CD’s you no longer listen to. When I occasionally feel like listening to something that isn’t among my usual selection I just go to YouTube. There is no need to keep once-in-a-while music on hand these days.

Thursday – Declutter excess cushions and throw rugs. The ones you sit or drape on furniture as a decor item. They are a pain when you want to sit down and are just in your way. Perhaps a few of those six cushions/pillows on your bed that you pull off and put back on every night and morning.

Friday – Declutter a few excess picnic items that you keep for those rare occasions when you actually do eat outdoors. Or ones that are completely unnecessary even if you do picnic often.

Saturday – Declutter one or two storage containers that you have eliminated the need for through you decluttering efforts. Having these items hanging around gives you permission to fall off the decluttering wagon. You don’t want to do that now do you?

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

 

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 is a lovely story from Tam who made a lot of people happy with her donation of craft supplies. 

Jane  had an opinion on gifts inspired by Deb’s post on Thursday

Juhli also had something to say on the subject of gift giving/receiving. http://www.365lessthings.com/thursdays-with-deb-j-gifts-of-cheer/#comment-58260

Andréia gives the facts on how few gadgets one needs in the kitchen.

Also received and email from one of the lovely ladies on was on tour with in Ireland. Here is what she said…

Have been thinking a lot about you lately and wanted to say “thank-you”.  I checked out your 365 Less Things Blog and you reminded me of things I used to do decades ago when the kids were little. I’ve been following your de-clutter suggestions and WOW do I feel better!!!  I’ve even gotten my husband* into the act.  If we’re sitting watching a football game or whatever, we’re going through old files, the piles, etc. and cleaning out.  Mucho thanks.  (*Husbands name removed for privacy reasons)

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

Here is an article from Courtney Carver to think about as we approach the silly season

I am sure you will all be able to relate this next article from Mike Burns to your decluttering efforts.

Here is a link to a survey on disorganisation. It is for US or Canadian citizens, take it if you like.

Oh good gracious me, yet another ridiculous unitasker from Unclutterer.com

Here is a great article form Unclutterer.com if you feel that you are a bit organising deficient in the paper filing department. 

And here is an article I enjoyed from The Minimalists. I agree with his philosophy but when I can find exactly what I need I do a little more investigating to see if I can get it at a discount.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter any stationery items that are overstocked in your home. Especially if they were purchased for their novelty factor. Cute pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, thumb tacks, paperclips etc. ~ You may think this is an odd thing to suggest but you might be surprised at how often inexpensive items such as these are purchased when they aren’t needed.

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