I felt the need to write this post because I am continually confronted with examples of what I am about to write here. And that is homes crammed with abundance while suffering from neglect. It saddens me that such situations can cause so much stress to those involved. And, even more sadly, the cure people turn to alleviate this stress is to treat themselves to yet more stuff.

Sometimes the neglect comes in the form of money being spend indulging in some sort of abundance, often causing clutter,  while other more important regular financial necessities are barely if at all budgeted for. Things like the power and water bills, health insurance, vehicle maintenance etc.

Another example is a home full of abundance while the house’s physical maintenance is being neglected and is slowly crumbling around the occupants and their stuff. And, as any home owner knows, one seemingly small maintenance issue can turn into a major expense when neglected causing collateral damage.

And of course there is the time spent acquiring abundance while the housework is neglected. Any sort of shopping requires time to achieve, whether that be time spend searching and buying the best deal one can find on-line, or time spend scouring the stores for the same. This could be time better spent taking care of ones home.

Of course clutter can just be an accumulation of stuff over many years and does not reflect the true financial expenditures at any given time, however I am not referring to those situations here. So if you can identify yourself in any of these situations stop and think about what you are doing. Buying stuff will never give you peace of mind, the novelty wears off almost as fact as the act of acquiring.

Instead,  cut back on the acquiring and put some money aside for a time when you might need it. Or use the money to fix something that has been waiting to be repaired. And instead of wasting time shopping take some time to sell off some of the excess you have and put that money away for a rainy day or use it now on home maintenance.

Clutter isn’t about the stuff it is about our desire for stuff, often at the neglect of other more important things. Decluttering your home should then be about questioning your desire for stuff and breaking the bond it has on you. Especially if, as mentioned above, your home and peace of mind is suffering due to such a poor relationship.

Today’s Mini Mission

Work on using up all the leftover food of the holiday season. Condiments, spices, frozen leftovers etc. Oh and of course wine and beer. 

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

Eco Tip for the Day

Instead of buying stuff you don’t need, that adds to the stresses on nature, put the money aside for a rainy day.

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.

Well the “Silly Season” is over again but the aftereffects may still linger. I am glad to say that my Christmas wish of few gifts was adhered too so there is little evidence in my home that it ever happened, except of course the warm and fuzzy feeling of having spend time with those I love. I did cheat a little by not being home so all the celebrations happened elsewhere. So how is your home shaping up? Here are some mini missions to help get it back into shape.

Monday – Declutter any Christmas decorations you don’t like so much as you pack them away.

Tuesday – Work on using up all the leftover food of the holiday season. Condiments, spices, frozen leftovers etc. Oh and of course wine and beer. 😉

Wednesday –  Declutter an item that you may have received a replacement for as a gift.

Thursday – If you received some nice new toiletries as a gift start using up the already started items before beginning on the new gifted items.

Friday – Declutter something else in the area where you store your holiday season decorations.

Saturday – Declutter kitschy Christmas items like hand towels, oven mitts, socks etc. This mission is simply for my own amusement. I used to have all of these things and haven’t missed any of them.

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

Take your own shopping bag when doing any shopping. I must have saved hundreds of bags grocery shopping alone over the last seven years. And then there is a much smaller number saved by using my own bags for any other shopping I do.  To get myself into the habit of taking my own bag I forced myself to carry my shopping to the car without a bag when I forgot to bring my own. That little juggling act soon cured my forgetfulness.

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

Well it is that time of year again and like many people I will be focusing on family and friends at this time. Therefore 365 Less Things will be on a break until just after the new year. So to all those out there celebrating one holiday or another I wish you all the best of the season in hope that you stay safe, healthy and happy. Any may you all have a very happy New Year celebration.

Cheers Colleen

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 never a better time than now to declutter a few things around your home. No matter how much you have the gift giving and receiving under control there is still likely to be something coming it. So why not make room for it before it arrives. All the holdiay season is the best time to declutter excess decorations since you have them out anyway. So lets get to some holiday season decluttering.

Monday – Decluttering something you received as a gift last holiday season that you don’t care for.

Tuesday – Declutter those less loved decorations.

Wednesday – Declutter some bits and pieces from the guest room in your home.

Thursday – Declutter any old baking spices from you pantry that have been there prior to last Christmas. They must be less than their best by now.

Friday – Declutter any lingering food stuffs from your fridge as you will need the space in there at this time of year.

Saturday - Get the kids to choose a few old toys they could donate to children in need. This is a good practice to involve them in, especially at this time of year.

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

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

I have always had a funny relationship with money: I never have it! (just kidding! A little light humour there!) Money is the centre of our society these days. All we do and have revolve around how much money we make and how much work we put towards having that money, so we can buy and have more stuff and do more things.

But what is it really we need to buy and do? As a mother of 2 children I have seen enough to tell you some of the things we don’t need to do.

Back when my older child was born I was concerned because someone told me I should put him in music class as soon as he was 8 months old. There were also the swimming lessons. And if or how soon should he begin soccer training? And martial arts? Foreign languages course? I had to think about all that because I could be depriving my kid of precious opportunities by not having a full curriculum. And of course, all the toys and travels and everything that had to be done to culturally enhance a child’s life.

Boy, I was exhausted just hearing about all that, let alone putting my child through it. As I work from home, don’t have a full time nanny because I have no money for it and our budget was tight to the point of suffocating, I let all those ideas go. I recognised that my kids would just have to be those who would not do all those activities. Still, they like to draw. Always have. So I provided pencils and papers and they draw a lot (loads of created “gifts” in my desk drawers!). One loves planets, so we watch universe related things on the internet. The other likes to sing and dance, so I put videos on the internet for him. They likes dinosaurs, so we bought a nice inexpensive book, in English, about dinosaurs. I set playdates. I encourage them to play with their huge amount of toys (it seems grandparents, aunts and godparents don’t suffer the same tight budget as we do). We planted a garden at our house. We encourage them to have activities we can afford and they can enjoy. Without a schedule fuller than a full grown adult and my bank account suffering for something I could ill afford.

So what does any of it have to do with decluttering? Well people work so very hard to have their hard earned cash, we forget that we spend a lot of time working  towards acquiring stuff when we could be enjoying ourselves and living life. We have to work, no question in that, because, no work, no money, no food, no house. But we spend far more hours than we should be working just to get extra cash that we don’t necessarily need. Just to buy more stuff. Just to put our kids in more payed activities. Buy them more toys and so on. We waste something we can never get back and that is time with our loved ones.

So, the next time you have to do extra hours at your job, ask yourself if you are doing it because you need to, or because you want more money to buy something that you want. Your time is very precious, dole it out carefully and don’t waste it on stuff.

Todav’s Mini Mission

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

Eco Tip for the Day

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

How many times have you decluttered in the past but then a year or so, or maybe more, later you find yourself back at square one. This is often the outcome when the task of decluttering is the focus and not the cause. In fact many times in the past I have decluttered only with the intention of making room for new stuff. Stuff I didn’t even realise would be my future clutter.

The thing that was different this time for me was that my focus was mainly on my intent to remain decluttered in the future. With that intent in mind it is helpful to analyse the clutter as you let it go and recognise the possible mistakes made in the past the got you into this mess in the first place.

There are numerous reasons why newly acquired stuff soon loses its appeal and becomes clutter. Making poor choices to acquire it in the first place would top the list of those reasons. However when scrutinising each piece of clutter while you declutter it slowly and deliberately you soon start to realise your purchasing errors. This is key to not making the same mistakes in the future.

Now that my home is nicely decluttered and even downsized due to my decluttering I don’t ever ~ in fact I can’t ~ allow it to become cluttered again. There isn’t much room for that. But even if there was I have discovered a little trick to staying focused on the goal of remaining decluttered and that is to save at least one decluttering task until the last that will keep you mindful of where you once were and how far you have come. For me there are two such tasks. One is the seemingly endless task of reducing my crafting supplies and the other is the goal to finally declutter and organise our photo collection.

If you have been reading here for a long time you will know that photos are one thing I have been going to get to right from the start of my decluttering mission. My husband and I have both taken small chunks out of the task in the past but there is still the bulk of it to be done.

So constantly working on reducing the craft supplies by creating and selling my the results of my labour of love and by knowing those photos are still there to be worked on when I am not so busy keeps my mind continually on decluttering to a certain extent. And while that is still my focus it is natural that I remain fully aware of keeping a check on what purchases I make, being sure to scrutinise each possible purchase and making a decision to buy or not to buy based on the likelihood of whether the item may just end up as future clutter. Of course, allow my catalogue of experience of past mistakes to be my guide.

So to cut a long story short…

• Analyse you clutter in order to recognise purchase mistakes
• Save one long fiddly task to string out at the end of the bulk of your decluttering to keep your mind focused your new uncluttered lifestyle.
• Scrutinise possible purchases to save you from making bad choices that would help put you back to square one.

Today’s Mini Mission

 Declutter a hobby related item.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t be tempted to bring home those hotel toiletries, the ratio of plastic to product is a poor eco choice.

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.

The focus of this weeks missions is activities. Much of our clutter is about activities after all ~ stuff we buy to do things with. Sometimes we over cater to a new activity, sometimes we purchase items to simplify a task and some stuff is purely for entertainment. Either way it builds up over time. So lets see you what can find among the following activity related clutter that you no longer use.

Monday – Declutter something that you bought to read and are unlikely to ever read again.

Tuesday – Declutter a utensil/tool you brought but haven’t found that useful.

Wednesday – Declutter a hobby related item.

Thursday – Declutter a sports related item.

Friday – Declutter something you acquired for entertainment.

Saturday – Declutter something related to sleep.

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

Use less of things, like toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, cleaning products. You might be surprised to find that less does just as good a job but is also less expensive and less harm to the environment.

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

This post is all about breaking down, into steps, the task of decluttering a large cluttered area of your home without causing undue disruption. I am going to use the kitchen as my example area, however these steps can be easily adapted to any space. I chose the kitchen simply because, in Western Society, this space usually has lots of divisions of space with lots of individual items in them. So without further adieu let us begin.

Step One ~ Setting up

If you don’t already have a space set up to store the decluttered items prior to complete removal from your home ~ I call this the transition point ~ now is the time take care of this step. Designate an area to move the items to that you wish to declutter. This is where you store them until you are able to get out to deliver them to the thrift shop, donation bin, sell them or pass them on to a friend or relative. You may want to set up individual tubs in order to keep these items separate depending on there intended final destination.

Step Two ~ Division of space

Choose one small space in your area to work on at a time.  Make it a small enough space ~ One drawer, one shelf, one area of the bench top… ~ that can be dealt with quickly and easily.

Step Three ~ Empty and choose

Remove everything from this small space, choosing which items to declutter as you handle each one. Move the decluttered items to your transition point. At this time you may also want to return misplaced items to their appropriate areas. However don’t be tempted to fine tune the space as that is much easier to achieve once the decluttering of the entire area has taken place

Step Four ~ Prep

If necessary, do any cleaning or maintenance necessary to prepare this space for the return of the keeper items. Also clean any keeper items that require it.

Set Five ~ Replace

Replace the keeper items to the space in the most sensible order to suit your needs. Now the greater area is tidy again.

Set Six ~ Repeat

If you have time at this juncture you can move on to the next small section of your area ~ starting at step two and follow through to step five. However if you have other things to do with your day you can walk away comforted by the fact that the area is tidy and you can return to the task when time permits.

Clearly the strategy is to break the large area into small sections that can be completed in a short period of time. Do one section at a time leaving no mess behind you as you move on. Continue section by section at your own pace.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you have knowingly passed over during previous decluttering mission that you still haven’t utilised. I decluttered some cardboard boxes that I saved for mailing but haven’t been used.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

Eco Tip for the Day

Only turn a light on when absolutely necessary.

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 our mini mission reflect what I personally decluttered last week. You may wonder how I continue to find things to declutter but I do. I have felt particularly in a decluttering mood since returning from vacation and stuff is either being used up or sent out the door everyday lately. Lets see if you can find some stuff too, inspired by this weeks mini missions.

Monday – Declutter I item of clothing you don’t love or maybe don’t even feel comfortable in. I decluttered a pair of jeans that although fit my bottom are too wide at the waste. A belt is a solution but I don’t want to have to wear one so out they go. I might buy another secondhand pair to replace them but not until next winter.

Tuesday – Declutter something you have knowingly passed over during previous decluttering mission that you still haven’t utilised. I decluttered some cardboard boxes that I saved for mailing but haven’t been used.

Wednesday – Declutter something that exists in multiples that you have noticed are starting to mount up again. Pens, rubber bands, paperclips, twist ties. I decluttered some rubber bands that come wrapped around asparagus. I rarely have use for rubber band so I took them to the thrift shop where we find them much more useful for bundling up sales items.

Thursday – Declutter and outdoor item. Perhaps an old potted plant that has seen better days. I have one that, although repotted and fertilised hasn’t sprouted a single leaf in the last twelve months. In fact is hasn’t shown any sign of growth in years. I might plant it in the garden downstairs and reuse the pot to up plant one of my other more thriving plants.

Friday – Declutter something from the passing season that wasn’t used or is past its usefulness. I decluttered a microfibre feather throw rug. Seeing the sun shine through it while it was drying on my balcony illuminated that fact that there wasn’t much feather left in it.

Saturday – Declutter something you have been procrastinating about. I have kept some black wooden beads among my craft supplies for quite a while now. I eye them off occasionally but hold on to them. Well I am over them wasting space in my craft drawers so this time they are out of here. Alternately I have been having a fun time using the mizuhiki paper cord that I bought while in Japan recently. See photo below. The white cardstock, envelopes and patterned paper was also bought while on vacation. And the gold stripes are a bit of a use-it-up paper effort that has been hanging around for years.

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

Don’t accept free items just because they are free. I happened upon a charity run today while taking my morning walk. Everyone on the run had a printed t-shirt with the sponsoring companies names on. I also noticed runners, who had completed the race, holding goody bags. No doubt with some edible items in but probably also some plastic promotional nicknack rubbish.  That equals hundreds of items that I dare say would end up in the trash, at the thrift shop in a month or two, or cluttering up someones home for the next few years, used once or twice but then discarded. Such a waste of resources.

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

I received the following comment/request from Shirley via email last week.

I would like to comment on your trip and carry on luggage only. Do you think you could tell us just how you managed this especially for six weeks and I presume different climates?

Surely you had a jacket and jumper which are very bulky and how many pairs of shoes which also take up a lot of space. I have never commented be fore but do enjoy reading your messages and they do help me, so thank you. Regards Shirley…

Of course packing for travel will vary depending on when, where and how one travels. My husband and I usually travel to other modernised countries which makes packing easy. For two reasons, because we don’t have to sleep rough and there is nearly always a laundry service of some sort nearby. This means we don’t have to carry sleeping gear and we only need to pack enough to get us by for about five days. Of course that will vary due to the seasons.

The bonus is that if the weather is cold one can get more days out of the same clothes, where as if it is hot one needs to change more often due to sweating. Therefore in the winter month, even though the clothes are bulkier you potentially need fewer of them.

If we travel in warm climate I take something like this…

• about 5 short sleeve tops (combo of t-shirts and lightweight travel blouses)
• usually capri pants x 2 maybe 3
• maybe also a pair of shorts
• and wear 1 long, lightweight, comfortable pair of travel pants for the flights
• 1 light jacket
• 1 light summer dress
• my Keen shoes that are a Mary-Jane style (open enough to be cool while closed enough to be practical in all situations). Yes that is the only shoes I take, or should I say wear
• 7 pair of underpants
• 2 bras
• 1 set of pyjamas
• 2 pair of light socks
• Perhaps my swimmers
• For toiletries we share deodorant (solid), *shampoo, toothpaste, *sunscreen and a brush. I take a little make-up (very little) and a very small perfume atomiser. We also take any prescription medications, pain meds and a very small first aid kit. We also pack cotton buds (Qtips) and a very small sewing kit. All of this fits into one toiletries bag that hangs from a hook.
• *means we acquire them on arrival. We do not carry them on the long haul flight.

For cooler/combination weather…

• 2 t-shirts, 3 long sleeve t-shirts
• 1 pair of capris, 2 long pants and a pair of tights. Maybe also a pair of track pants if expecting enough cold weather)
• 1 light jacket and one lightweight quilted jacket (the puffy type that is very warm but packs down to nothing and weighs very little).
• 1 lightweight fleece sweater.
• I wear ankle high lightweight and very comfortable boots and may bring sandals in my carry on if we are likely to encounter warmer weather.
• 7 pair of underpants
• 2 bras
• Maybe a scarf. (I took a cotton scarf on my last trip and used it as a sarong skirt in Hawaii and never actually worn it as a scarf in Seattle as I intended.
• 1 set of pyjamas
• 3 pair of thicker socks
• The same toiletries as mentioned above.

We have only been on one trip that required extra cold weather clothing (London at Christmas). Packing wasn’t that different to the combo weather. We took warmer coats but worn them on to the plane so they weren’t included in the baggage allowance. In the winter months clothes can easily be layered for extra warmth.

You will have noticed the word lightweight used a lot when it comes my list of clothing. These clothes are often a little more expensive to buy but well worth the cost. We generally get these at sale prices because we are usually coming out of the season we are traveling to so they are end of season sell-offs. One of the best features about these clothes is that they wash out easily, and once rung out by rolling them up in a towel, they dry very quickly. They usually have very handy pockets as well. And in case you are wondering ~ yes we use them even when not travelling.

We also always take a lightweight bag for carrying the laundry to the laundromat. A microfibre cloth for various reasons that usually lives in the day bag. And a lightweight fold up shopping bag that also resides in the lightweight day bag. I carry the day bag and my husband carries the camera bag.

You may be wondering about technology. When we travel together my husband takes his iPad but I just use my smart phone. On shorter trips, say to visit family, I will take by laptop.

Forgive me if I have forgotten anything on these lists, I did my best to keep them as accurate as memory would allow. If when all the essentials are packed there is still room and weight allowance for some extra stuff I may add a thing or two for convenience. However it is never convenient to carry a heavy backpack so I am very selective.

The photos below are from a trip in the last couple of years. I am not sure where to but it was obviously a short trip with warm to cool combo weather (Perhaps Spring or Autumn in Melbourne). I can tell because of the small amount and variety of clothing. Picture no.1 is of my travel outfit. 2 & 3 are my lightweight jacket that folds into its own pocket. 4 is my pile of clothes. 5 is my clothes with the backpack that has travelled with me on every trip for the last, at least, 12 years. 6 are the packing cubes that keep everything organised in my backpack. 7 is my day bag. 8 is what were our laundry vacuum bags,  a microfibre cloth and small ziplock bag. And last but not least are my Keen Mary-Jane shoes that have traipsed many a mile with me.

Today’s Mini Mission

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

Eco Tip for the Day

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