Three years of decluttering and all of a sudden I have a deadline. I have a little under four weeks to do my best to ensure that what we own will indeed fit into a much smaller dwelling. Going from a two car lock-up garage to a single car space with no storage cage means we can only keep from the garage what we are willing to fit into the apartment. Aside from that there are a few things we will offload from the inside of our house and that should be all that needs doing to make the move. We may get even more ruthless once we are in, because we don’t want to go from a decluttered house to an over stuffed apartment.

At this point in time I am so glad I started this mission to minimise our belongings well ahead of time with no real deadline. Decluttering with a deadline can potentially be a very stressful responsibility. One never knows in life when such a situation might occur. So there is no time like the present to start this process.

Having executed my mission over a long period of time has given me the freedom to let go when I am ready, take my time to sell what I want to sell and find good homes for all of the wonderful stuff that I knew would not fit my intended lifestyle. Performing the same task quickly has the potential of being not only stressful but also fraught with quick decision making that could prove costly. Either by not having the time for selling or by letting go of things that may need to be replaced.

I have no doubt that slow and steady decluttering is a far more relaxed approach to decluttering. What do you think?

Today’s Mini Mission

Choose an item that you don’t want in your home that isn’t yours and then ask the owner if they are willing to declutter it. Perhaps they don’t care about it either.

Eco Tip for the Day

Save electricity by not turning on electrical appliances, like irons, hair straighteners etc, too long before you use them and by not leaving them on while you decide to take a break during the task.

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.

There are so many reasons why we keep stuff we don’t need, use or particularly enjoy. This weeks mini missions are devised to help you identify some items in your home that have stayed beyond their welcome. I will give you six reasons why things may have remained for so long and it is your task to see if you can identify items to match that reason. Good luck!

Monday – Get rid of an item you have kept just-in-case you might need or finally find a use for it someday.

Tuesday – Choose an item that you don’t want in your home that isn’t yours and then ask the owner if they are willing to declutter it. Perhaps they don’t care about it either.

Wednesday – Identify and declutter an item that has remained in your home out of habit. Something that has so far escaped your notice just because it has been around for so long and has literally just become a piece of the furniture.

Thursday – There are certain items that nearly everyone owns, if you don’t have a use for such an item, why keep it. Declutter it now. In Australia most homes have a BBQ, a laundry basket and trolley, a deep fryer and a second television, we weren’t using ours so we saw no point in keeping them.

Friday – 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.

Saturday – Let go of a sentimental item that belongs in a category that you have numerous of. Yours or your kids old school papers, souvenirs, greeting cards, items that once belonged to someone who has past, etc. . One is enough to keep the memories alive.

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

Challenge yourself to put every piece of recyclable material in the recycling bin no matter how small.. It is easy to be blasé about small pieces of paper or plastic but so long as they can be recycled they are best kept out of landfill.

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!

June has a way to help her realise just how much clutter she has removed. Read about it here.

Sassy has an example of family members learning from one another no to burden those left behind with their clutter in this comment.

Melissa now realises how the little things do add up.

From experience Jen has learned that the best way to organise is to declutter.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

Here is another collaborative consumption option ~ www.spinlister.com/ 

Wendy F sent in this link to give us something to think about when buying clothes. ~ www.theage.com.au/comment/what-we-wear-is-really-to-die-for

And here is a link my husband suggested ~ markmanson.net/minimalism

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something your kids have grown out of, physically or intellectually. If you don’t have children declutter and old souvenir or home décor item.

Eco Tip For The Day

Using electricity off-peak doesn’t save electricity but it can lessen the strain at peak times which can result in a reduced necessity to  increase infrastructure.

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

Deb J

So you are ready to declutter but you have some issues. There are problems with decluttering some things in your home. What would you do in the following cases?

You have over one hundred rolls or pieces of ribbon. They are black, white, reds, yellow, greens, blues, pinks, purples, gold and silver. They are of various types but all are for sewing or crafts. They hang on the wall in a well made, wood cassette tape holder with room for 100 tapes. You haven’t used any of this ribbon in almost a year. Much of it has never been opened. You want to get rid of it. Someone in the family doesn’t want you to.

Someone in your family at one time collected stamps from all over the world. Now you have a package of about 1000 and no one has done anything with them but collect them. They aren’t in an album. They aren’t properly mounted. You don’t know if they are worth anything. The collector no longer wants them.

Your father collected coins. Not the kind that came all nicely packaged but just circulated coins received in change at the store. Do you spend them, try to sell them or pass them to someone in the family?

Your grandparent died 20 years ago and left you a beautiful antique dresser with a marble inset. You have kept this dresser and carried it with you through several moves. It doesn’t go with your “style” so it is always kept back in a room where it seldom is seen. What do you do with it?

All of these scenarios are real. All of them have potential problems attached to them. Give us some input on how you would handle one to all of them.

Today’s Mini Mission

 Declutter a clothing or footwear item.

Eco Tip for the Day

As adults it is our job to teach our children to conserve power and water. If you raise your children with good habits now conservation will come naturally to them when they become the adults themselves.

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

Here is a little example of how my decluttering strategies are helping me in the task of compiling my household inventory.

As you know I have been working away slowly and steadily on this household inventory for a while. Before I began my husband transferred the inventory from our last move, back to Australia from America, into a new program. This inventory did not include the items that had been left behind in storage while we were in America, or items we have purchased since. And of course this old inventory contained many many items that I have long since decluttered. And some items had changed location within the house.

It really was a toss up as to whether to start afresh, with a new inventory, and input everything or delete items from the old one and continue on from there. It was a close decision but we decided that it would be easier in the long run to take the second option. And I didn’t mention that as a result of all of this deleting, moving and probably poor original labelling, there is quite a bit of faffing about to get it right. Also our deadline may be looming sooner than we thought, so a girl can get in a bit of a panic. You know, the sort of panic some people feel when they first begin decluttering when they step back, view the big picture and think ~ This is all too hard.

That feeling started to creep up on me this morning while working on the inventory of our living room items. However I stopped my mild panic in its tracks by shaking myself off and taking a moment to regain order in the face of chaos. All I needed to do was focus on one area at a time. Just like I always suggest here at 365 Less Things when it comes to decluttering.

So I stopped took a look at the walls of the room, compared that to my inventory and added anything that was missing. I then looked around at the furniture in the room and checked that off. That left me with the furniture pieces that held stuff. I then went meticulously through one piece of furniture at a time checking off and adding. I left post-it note markers on each shelf as I completed the count. Once done I moved onto the next shelf and then the next piece of furniture.

As I went along I encountered the odd thing that belonged to my husband that I wasn’t sure of the value of or how he wanted to list them ~ as a job lot or individually. I made a list of these items and will ask him about them this evening.

I was cruising along so smoothly with this strategy that the room was complete in no time and I happily moved on to another area of the house.

As you can see, this is the same approach I advocate when it comes to decluttering…

• Just focus on one thing or one area at a time.
• Make a plan ahead of time on how you are going to work systematically through an area, if that is likely to help things go smoothly.
• Make a list of items that you encounter, that aren’t yours to decide on, then later ask other family members about them. You can easily go back and declutter these items if the choice is to let them go.
• Don’t be in a rush. You know the old saying ~ The more haste the less speed. ~ well it is often the case.

So today I practiced what I preached and all went well.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter one thing that you know hasn’t been used in a very long time that really isn’t necessary.

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t ignore dripping taps. Replace the washers as soon as possible.

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

Today I am going to suggest five scenarios, that you can imagine you are a part of, that would likely force you to be more ruthless with your decluttering. You find an area in the house that you feel could do with some decluttering, and I will set the scene for a situation that would, if it were reality, make you let go of some items you might otherwise keep just because you have the space.

Scenario One: Your kids have left home and you have just had an offer, out of the blue, from someone who would like to buy your house. It is a very generous offer and you have been thinking of downsizing for some time. You have viewed a very attractive two bedroom apartment recently that you could imagine yourself living it. You look at your stuff and think what would I have to get rid of if I were to move into something smaller. What among this stuff could I find quite easy to live without should it not be likely to fit in?

Scenario Two: You have just brought a new puppy home and it is an indoor dog. You need a space to be able to leave it at home alone, at times, without it chewing up stuff. One room needs to be quite clear of items it can get at. So everything that is at danger either has to go or fit into another room in the house. What items would you give up to make this work?

Scenario Three: You are fifty-five years old and are already on the waiting list for a hip replacement. The reality is you aren’t getting any younger and your body isn’t as young and agile as it used to be. But joyfully it also isn’t old and decrepit either. This hip replacement is however a warning signal that there are certain tasks that aren’t going to get any easier as you get older. So now is the time to start getting your affairs in order. Not ten or fifteen years down the track when mobility could possibly become a real issue. What can you do now to make life easier for you in the future? What items can you start eliminating so it makes cleaning, organising and access easier?

Scenario Four: There is a new baby in the household. Whether that be your household or the baby is a grandchild that will be visiting. Soon enough the little darling will be mobile and able to get their sweet little hands on anything at their level. As wonderful as the idea sounds ~ “They just have to learn not to touch things.” ~ do you really want to have to be ever vigilant during that learning period. Or would it be easier for everyone if you just declutter items that you don’t need or care much for, to make it easy to move everything breakable out of hands way? What can you declutter from your higher and lower shelves so that what is important can be neatly displayed out of reach?

Scenario Five: You have just lost a loved one in your family and you have been helping in the process of sorting out the estate. Clearing out the home of this much loved relative has been a real eye opener. Oh, the things you have had to sort through. Items you aren’t sure are valuable or not. Personal items that would have been best left personal. Old correspondence that you just don’t have the time to read through and decide what is worth saving for family history reasons. Wardrobes full of clothes that clearly haven’t been used in years. A shed full of stuff that hasn’t seen the light of day since this loved one lost their male spouse ten years earlier. And just the usual household items that seem far too abundant for someone who had so few to cater to on a daily basis. Do you want to leave the same mammoth task for someone to clear away should something happen to you. You think not, so what do you have in your home that no longer suits your lifestyle and probably never will again?

Use one or more of these scenarios to help see your stuff in a different light and use that to guide you in letting go.

Today’s Mini Mission

 Declutter a small section of a cupboard anywhere in your home.

Eco Tip for the Day

When you are out and about and there is no provision to recycle bring your items home if possible and not ridiculously inconvenient

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.

Sometimes my mini mission get a bit bigger than little. Sometimes they sound easier in print than they are in reality. So this week I am going to keep them simple to understand and simple to carry out. No thinking and not much effort involved.

Monday – Declutter a drawer anywhere in your house.

Tuesday – Declutter a small section of a cupboard anywhere in your home.

Wednesday – Declutter one thing that you know hasn’t been used in a very long time that really isn’t necessary.

Thursday – Declutter a clothing or footwear item.

Friday – Declutter something your kids have grown out of, physically or intellectually. If you don’t have children declutter and old souvenir or home décor item.

Saturday – Declutter one of a category that you know you have too many off. Kitchen items, toiletries, books, magazines, handbags, DVDs or CDs, fashion accessories, jewellery pieces…

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

If you make coffee or tea after a meal boil a little extra water to soak the baked on food from the bottoms of pans. This saves having to run the hot water until it is warm enough for soaking. Adding a little bicarb soda will also make clean up easier.

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!

Marianne explains the benefits of slow and steady decluttering in this comment.

Lucinda has had some insight recently as to what living with much less is like. Read about how it has inspired her here.

This comment is also from Lucinda. I love that even though she feels her home is still quite cluttered she doesn’t sound negative about it.

Sanna tells us in this comment how having less stuff is working out for her.

I like Michelle’s method of making sure her indoor tools and her garage tools don’t end up in the wrong place.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

http://mnmlist.com/have/

“Here is a link to a recycling site in the UK which recycles not only old video cassette cases but also the tape.  They also do audio cassettes and CDs. You have to pay postage, but it makes me feel less guilty about throwing them away!  Maybe there are similar sites elsewhere too? http://www.ems-europe.co.uk/services/domestic-tape-disc/ ” ~ Jane

Moni sent this link. I have to admit I did get sidetracked into looking at some wonderful cleverly designed home ideas for about half an hour. Please do read the article though and try not to get too excited about the pretty stuff. 😉

http://midwaysimplicity.com/how-to-have-a-life-full-of-experiences/ This was a good post from Tohami at Midway Simplicity. I have read his latest eBook ~ The P.A.S. Technique ebook ~ and am suitably impressed. I will write a Saturday post on that soon.

I loved this link sent to me by Cindy. If I ever find a Fixer’s Collective like this in my area I am in.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some pantry or refrigerator items that you used once for a recipe but have not found a use for since. I think the ingredients, that tonight I will pass on to my daughter when she comes for dinner, may actually have been bought by her while she was living here recently. Of course I enjoyed her cooking for me, but she is more experimental with her cooking than I could be bothered with, so she is more likely to use these items than I.

Eco Tip For The Day

Save water and electricity ~ Think twice about how often you really need to wash your clothes and linens. Underpants and perhaps socks are the only clothing item the really need to be washed after one use. Most other clothing items are usually clean and fresh enough to wear twice unless badly soiled the first time round or if the weather is extremely warm and/or humid. Sheets need only be washed once a week at most while towels can last up to a week provided they are air dried between use.

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

One thing is for sure, as my home has become more and more decluttered, taking care of it has become easier and easier. Having a place for everything and everything in its place is a cinch. Here are the basic rules I follow to keep my stuff, neat, convenient and under control.

Keep things in the most logical location for your needs.

Store items near to where they are going to be used so they are handy when you need them. Baking pans near the oven, cups and mugs near the kettle,printer paper near the printer, your keys by the door you usually enter and leave from, with your wallet or handbag close by etc.. And remember I did say your needs, you don’t have to follow convention, you do what works best for you.

Allocate the prime position in a location to those items that are used most frequently.

It is natural instinct to follow this strategy. If something is being used often you will want to get at it quickly and easily, so store it in the easiest to reach place. When I say this I of course mean ~ away neatly unless you are actually using it. For example ~ If your kitchen cupboards are deep put the most used stuff to the front of the shelf (on leave it on the bench).

Centralise the storage of items that are used in multiple locations.

To make it easy to know when you need to purchase certain supplies,that are used in more than one location in your home, store the bulk of them in one location and meter them out as needed. For example, keep the bulk of your toilet rolls in the most logical location while only have two or three rolls in each toilet area. Keep the bulk of spare toiletries in one bathroom and share them out as necessary. Keep the bulk of office supplies in the office while only having the minimum basic items in their most used areas in the house.

Don’t overbuy.

Following on from the previous suggestions, don’t over stock items. It is my experience that the more of something that there is in the home the less care and frugality is lavished upon them. For Example, if items like office supplies appear to be in reasonably low quantities (one stapler, one whole punch, a half dozen spare pens, two erasers… for example) they are more likely to be returned to their rightful place when finished being used. And they are more likely to be used less generously or cherished, for want of a better word, making them less likely to be wasted or swallowed up somewhere in the house, car, school bags, messy desk, breakfast bar etc. . I use this tactic when it comes to hair elastics. The less of them I own the more careful I am not to lose them.

Not to mention the fact that the less spares of things you have the smaller the storage space they will take up. Of course what is a reasonable supply of anything will vary from one family to another.

Declutter unnecessary items on a regular basis.

It is always easier to get at what you need, store everything neatly and keep things tidy, if you don’t have a home full of stuff that is nothing more than just in the way. This is especially so for those items that keep coming in, such as paperwork and anything child related. Weed out the out dated and out grown as the new stuff comes in, as well as doing a regular declutter in these areas.

Put things back when you are finished with them.

All the storage planning in the world is not going to help you if you don’t put things back where they belong when you are done using them. One only needs logic to plan storage but it takes effort to stay organised. Many people who think they have no organisational skills may simply be neglecting this important part of the cycle of organisation.

So if you wish to be organised start by making space to manoeuvre your stuff. Then, once there is room, rearrange your stuff to what is most convenient to you. Make a habit of returning items to their place once done with. Maintain or continue with your decluttering and tweak the arrangement as desired. Following this regime you will soon realise that you are an organiser after all, and that it doesn’t take some special talent.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that came free with something else but you have never used it. My son’s current motorbike came with a touring bag which he has never used nor expressed any desire to use. My daughters partner however has a need for one of these, so it seems logical and practical to pass it on to him since he will get good use out of it.

Eco Tip for the Day

Take care of the things you do own so that they may last and last and not have to be replaced prematurely.

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

Today’s post is geared toward the advanced decluttered. If you’re a beginner, don’t try this at home…or anywhere else…it can lead to discouragement, a big mess in the hallway, and a complete lack of improvement in your situation. But if you’ve passed the beginning stages of decluttering, if your friends call you The Decluttering Queen (that’s what mine call me, at least), or if you’ve been at it for more than a year, then today’s post might be for you.

Sometimes, you’ve just got to start all the way over.

Yes, all the way over.

That’s what I did last week. My pantry is decluttered. There is no food that no one eats nor out-of-date cans, and like food was stored with like food, but it wasn’t working for me. I have a pretty great pantry that is wide but fairly shallow. I don’t want to have to reach around and knock things over, and I want to be able to see everything at once. The very top shelf had food stacked on top of food, and the snacks, cereal, and other dry goods seemed to be sorted wrongly.

I was sure that I was going to need to take the whole shelf of baking goods (flour, sugar, baking soda, etc.) and find another place for it; there was no way everything was going to fit the way I wanted. But I was wrong.

First, I took everything off the first two shelves, which are pantry staples – canned goods, pasta, dried beans, etc. Having everything out allowed me to sort it a little bit smarter, and I got it back into the same space it had been in before but without being double stacked.

I just straightened up the next shelf. It’s the one I use the most, and the stock there is always rotating.

The next two shelves are snacks, nuts, and cereal. Again, I removed everything. Because my eldest daughter is diabetic, she eats a lot of nuts, which do not raise her blood sugar. I literally have an entire shelf devoted to nuts. Snacks of various kinds were organized on the next shelf. Since it’s summer and since my eldest and all her friends are teens, the amount of snacks that can be consumed is fairly amazing. I try to keep a large variety of healthy choices. Dry cereal, granola bars, oatmeal and grits were clustered on the shelf below that.

The next shelf is the baking shelf. Amazingly enough, with the re-organization and sorting that went on above the baking supplies, I didn’t have to move them any where.

Last, I got out my label maker and labeled the shelves that I thought would most easily fall into disarray – the ones that are used by the most people. One shelf is labeled NUTS, another CHOCOLATE, CHIPS/PRETZELS, DRIED FRUIT, CRACKERS,  and the last one is DRY CEREAL, OATMEAL, GRITS, BARS (that is, granola bars).

I was surprised that after years of use, there was a way to fine-tune the pantry, to make it that much more functional. And, as is so often the case, I had all the room I needed; I just needed to use it more efficiently.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a dust collector that someone gave you. I have a little elephant pie funnel that was given to me by a very dear friend who has now passed away. I remember her often enough without needing to keep this item as a reminder. Also I have seen this exact item sell for in excess of $100 on eBay and wouldn’t mind a piece of that action. 

Eco Tip For The Day

Stop using fabric softener, some experts say that it is a waste of money and not that good for your clothes. Try using white vinegar instead. Not only will it remove chemical residue in your fabrics but will also help control mould and mildew in your washing machine. If you like to add a nice scent to your wash load add a few drops of essential oil.

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