Little things add up to a lot. Overlooking them when decluttering, because they are insignificant, won’t allow you to declutter to the fullest extent. You would be surprised how much space in your home is taken up with lots and lots of small objects. During my declutter mission it has always been exciting to declutter the big things like furniture or storage systems.  However, I have also taken joy from decluttering the smallest things because without that the big things would not been emptied and able to go.

Likewise, bringing small items into your home, because their diminutive size makes them seem harmless enough, will undermine your decluttering efforts.

Also, small inexpensive objects are often not treated with respect and cared for appropriately because they are just that, small and inexpensive. But the cost of these little things also adds up when we lose, break or waste them just because individually they seem financially insignificant. No doubt landfill sites contain many of these objects.

The photo above shows a very small selection of the little items that were decluttered from my home last year. There were many more in 2011 and 2010 and also more this year. Seeing this small selection gives you a visual on how they begin to add up. Remember this the next time you consider something small and lean towards the idea that it won’t make any difference to keep it.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a, not too, sentimental item.

Eco Tip for the Day

Reuse cereal bags to ~ wrap lunches, coat chicken with seasonings, bag carrots to keep them fresh, store cut onions…

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 you really have to put your thinking caps on when trying to come up with an item to match my mini missions. This week however I am keeping it simple for you. Hopefully you will easily be able to find an object to declutter that matches each category.

Monday – Declutter something made of glass, china or similar breakable substance.

Tuesday – Declutter a, not too, sentimental item.

Wednesday – Declutter something made from paper.

Thursday – Declutter something you are keeping “just in case”.

Friday – Declutter something made from fabric.

Saturday – Declutter something you have more than enough of.

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

April Habit Changing Challenge

Endeavour to keep the entrance of your home tidy, clean and clear of clutter, inside and out. Outside ~sweep the porch and shake out the mat regularly, and keep it clean or clutter such as shoes, umbrellas, garden items etc. Inside ~ keep the area tidy and clear of clutter and think about rearranging the area so things are still handy but not out in the open if possible.

Eco Tip for the Day

Encourage children to take care of there school supplies and equipment so they last and can be used for longer.

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

Place a vote for 365 Less Things for People’s Choice Award ~ The Australian Writers’ Centre Best Australian Blogs 2013 Competition

Colleen

Hi readers, today I am doing a little self promoting, well a lot actually. Voting begins today in the People’s Choice Award of the Australian Writers’ Centre Best Australian Blogs 2013 Competition. Although I have no illusions that I will win in any of the main categories of these blog awards I would hate to look like a complete loser in the peoples’ choice section. Once again I don’t expect to win but I would really like the Australian blogging community  to notice what a great community we have here at 365 Less Things. So if you could take five minutes to place a vote for 365 Less Things I would much appreciate it.

If you are reading this message at the blog all you need do is click on the big blue Vote For Me button on the right hand side of the page just below the Join Our Community box.

or

If you are reading this via email then click on this link ~ Vote for Me button ~ an follow the voting process. 

Thank you in advance to anyone who places a vote.

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!

Jen sums up the problem with being owned by your stuff in this comment.

Melissa gives us an update on her decluttering efforts with the ten casserole dishes.

Jenny knows her weakness when it comes to finicky little chores and has put strategies in place to avoid avoidance. Read about it here.

Fruitcake gives us her take on deprivation in this comment.

This comment from Deb J is short but so true.

A couple of weeks back Cindy was chasing a link which Jo. H ended up finding for her. Her comment had a couple of other links she wanted to share with you. Thanks Jo.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

Here are two short articles from the guys at The Minimalists that I enjoyed this week ~  It’s Complicated  &  Never Happier.

And here is a post about escaping materialism from Tony over at We Only Do This Once.

Tohami from Midway Simplicity brings us the latest edition of the Midway Decluttering Show this week, featuring  Lorilee Lippincott of Loving Simple Living.

Cindy sent me this link she found with some great ideas on using up leftover vegetables from www.vegetariantimes.com

This last article has got me stumped and I almost didn’t include it here because I thought the message may not be congruent with what I advocate here at my blog. It was sent to me by Clare with whom I have discussed it with via email. I can’t make up my mind whether the author and I agree on nothing or whether we agree on more than I think but he is coming from a different stance than I. In the end I have decided to share it with you all for no other reason than for your opinion.

Today’s Mini Mission

We all have clutter we would be happier to give to a family member or friend rather then sell or donate. Do this with such an item today.

Eco Tip For The Day

Clean the filters in your home air-conditioning system regularly so it runs efficiently, saving energy and cost and possibly reducing allergy problems.

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

Deb J

One of the rules of engagement we have learned from Colleen is to constantly be weeding out the things we no longer need. That’s what we are doing when we “declutter one thing a day.” With her Monday Mini-Missions she has been good to give us items to consider decluttering so that we don’t even have to really think about it if we follow them. Our work is already planned for us.

I began to think about this when a friend from church asked me to help her with decluttering. Her husband was just placed in an Alzheimer’s group home and she is well aware that many of the items in her home will no longer be used. The house is cluttered due to taking care of her husband and trying to deal with his disease. She may move to a smaller house and closer to her husband’s group home. She wants to begin the weeding process. She especially wants to be rid of the clutter that accumulated while having the day to day care of her husband. I tried to come up with a list of mini-missions that would help her without overwhelming her.

After explaining to her the idea of decluttering one item a day and looking for things that are broken, soiled, the wrong size, no longer used, or seldom used, this is what I came up with. Oh, I also explained the idea of having boxes where she could accumulate things to toss, sell, repair, or give away. I explained these could be dealt with along the way as time permitted.

1. Start with storage areas first. It took me a great amount of thought to decide to have her tackle this first. But I realized that all the clutter on all of the surfaces in the various rooms had to go somewhere and if it needed to be kept it couldn’t go into a storage area if it was already full. I know that Mom & I used to be guilty of the habit of just stuffing something in a storage area when people were coming to visit or the mess got too overwhelming. How many times have you cleaned up the house by putting it all in one room and closing the door? Her first week’s worth of mini-missions was to go through her garage storage cupboards one cupboard a day. The second week’s missions were to go through her pantry, the guest closet, the huge linen closet, the guest room closet, and the large set of storage cupboards in her laundry room. Like most of us, when we open a drawer or cupboard we tend to declutter whatever is there not just one item. I told her that was fine but it really was okay to do one item a day. She was to repeat these mini-missions until she felt the storage areas were ready and she could move on. This would give her some working area where she could store her decluttering boxes until it was time to move them out.
2. Next she was to go through each room, one room a day, and start putting the clutter in the room where it belonged. She didn’t have to put it away yet. She just needed to have it in the right room. Again I thought about this long and hard. I realized that getting the clutter to the room where it belonged helped me to know if I had too much of that item and helped me to know how to put things away in that room when the time came. I again told her to do this until all the clutter was properly distributed.
3. By this time the clutter would have been transferred to the proper room. The storage areas should be decluttered of everything that needed to go and she should be ready to start doing the nitty gritty item at a time decision making. Her first room to declutter completely was the living room. For her it would be the easiest, would give her a good handle on how to go about the process of really decluttering and would give her a public room in good shape. I told her that for each room she tackled there was a formula to follow. Again I told her to do this as many weeks as it took to get things decluttered.

1. Day 1 – declutter the surfaces of furniture (magazines, books, nicknacks, etc.)
2. Day 2 – declutter the floor (rugs, storage items, piles)
3. Day 3 – declutter the storage areas (drawers, shelves, closets, etc.)
4. Day 4 – declutter the walls
5. Day 5 – declutter the furniture (do you really need it all?)
6. Day 6 – declutter anything else that might be specific to that room

4. By this time the house should be in pretty good shape for the time being. She should be able to go through each day and find one thing more to get rid of but the house would be in visiting condition and she would not feel the weight of the mess on her shoulders.

I am hoping that this will give my friend an easy way to declutter without being overwhelming and yet with results she can see. She is being slow and careful about making any decisions about moving so she doesn’t have to go too fast until she decided whether she will move or not.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that has been sitting in a storage area for quite sometime but still isn’t being used.

Eco Tip for the Day

Choose water based latex paints over solvent based paints when painting your home. Never use lead-based paints. (Tip curtesy of Greenpeace USA)

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’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

Let’s see a show of hands: Who has a box (or more) of clothes saved for the day when you lose 10, 20, or 50 pounds? Or, perhaps worse, who is clogging their closet with these reminders of days gone by?

Let’s get serious here, people.

• Do you have a plan that you are implementing to lose weight?
• When was the last time you wore this size (these sizes)?
• Do you know what’s in this box (these boxes)? Can you actually name even 3 or 4 of the items?

Here’s my challenge for you.

First of all, what are you doing to lose weight? If the answer is nothing, or something vague like “trying to cut back on alcohol,” think realistically about whether that’s going to be the lifestyle change that you need to reduce.

Next, if the clothes are hanging in your closet, the same closet that you use for your clothes that actually fit you, it’s time to move them out. Pull them all out and box them up, but before you do, think seriously: Do I really love this outfit? Did it ever fit me well? Did I wear it frequently? Am I realistically going to want to wear it again in the future? If the answer is “no” to any of these questions, don’t box it away, take it directly to the thrift store.

If the clothes are in the attic, hiding under the bed, or tucked away elsewhere, now’s the time to pay them a visit. What sizes are there? When did you last wear that size? Do you like what you’re looking at? Would you wear it again? Do you even recognize this item? Sort through and only keep the clothes that you genuinely would like to wear again. The rest need to go to the thrift store, pronto.

Before you put your now sorted – but still unwearable – clothes back into storage, ask yourself again: What am I doing to lose weight so that I can wear these clothes again in the future? If you’re still determined to hang onto them, mark your boxes with today’s date and these words “This box was last opened on XX/XX/XXXX.” Now you can put your “to be stored until later” clothes back into their long-term storage location. When you revisit them next, you’ll now how long they’ve been put away and think again about whether they deserve the space you’re devoting to them.

Today’s Mini Mission

Scan your home for an item that has become so much a part of the scenery that you haven’t even realised it isn’t useful to you anymore.

Eco Tip for the Day

Do not throw out your toxic household wastes, such as paint, paint thinner and car fluids, in the garbage or down the drain. Check with your local facilities for proper disposal and avoid these products in the future. (Tip curtesy of Greenpeace USA)

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

I received an email from Jane  a couple of weeks ago requesting me to write a post about getting ones act together and fixing things rather than have them sitting around as useless clutter. Both Cindy and I have written posts about similar topics not all that long ago. Cindy’s post was about addressing old but easy tasks on your to-do list . Mine about fixing something that had annoyed me for much longer than it took to fix ~ much much longer. I also wrote a post way back called Learn To Sew which also is worth a read. However  Jane’s email gave a very good example of this so have quoted it below.

“…for the last 6+ months the hood on my coat has been missing the fur edging because two of the buttons, which it was attached with, had come off (I actually can’t remember when they WERE attached anymore!). So I pulled the fur edging out of my drawer (which incidentally, frequently gets jammed due to all the rubbish in there) and decided to stitch the buttons back on…I then realised I’d decluttered all my buttons a while back, but decided to proceed anyway, and just stitched the fur edging to the hood where the buttons would have been. The coat only has to last me a few more weeks until it’s warm enough to wear lighter clothing, so I didn’t want to waste money buying expensive buttons (or put the job off for even longer by having to wait until I made a trip to the craft store, and then never end up doing it!). Voila – no piece of fur lying in my draw anymore and one fixed, and hopefully, warmer coat!

We keep these little items for months, claiming we’ll fix them when we get time…but soon the weeks disappear and they’re still lying there unfixed, cluttering up our home. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has heaps of things which are broken or need sewing but lie around unused for months or even years.” ~ Jane

Google is a great tool for finding tutorials on fixing all sorts of things. So before throwing things away see if you can figure out how to repair them. Do this sooner rather than later because there are fewer things more annoying than a long to-do list of easy chores left undone causing more irritation than necessary. Should you decide you don’t have the skill to fix things, Freecycle is a great way to declutter these items. There are plenty of other people out there who do have the expertise you might be lacking. Advertise the item as-is describing its stare of disrepair and I am sure you will still find someone out there willing to take it off your hands. I have done this a couple of times myself with great success.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an item that you only keep because it was once useful to you. If it isn’t useful to you anymore it is just clutter.

Eco Tip for the Day

Save on heating and cooling by fixing air leaks in your home (around windows and under doors)  with weather-stripping and/or caulking.

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.

Monday – Repair something that has become clutter because it is broken or declutter it to someone who has the skills to fix it.

Tuesday – Declutter an item that you only keep because it was once useful to you. If it isn’t useful to you anymore it is just clutter.

Wednesday – Scan your home for an item that has become so much a part of the scenery that you haven’t even realised it isn’t useful to you anymore.

Thursday – Declutter something that has been sitting in a storage area for quite sometime but still isn’t being used.

Friday – We all have clutter we would be happier to give to a family member or friend rather then sell or donate. Do this with such an item today.

Saturday -Declutter something that you have more of than you really need for the sake of convenience rather than necessity.

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

Avoid anything battery operated or use rechargables or solar rechargables if batteries are unavoidable. Tip curtesy of Greenpeace USA

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!

Andréia’s comment

Cat’sMeow’s comment

Jane comment

Calico ginger comment-

Moni comment

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

News.com - Downsizing your life sell everything and move on

Found via Becoming Minimalist ~ Mark’s Daily Apple - How simplifying your life can help you refocus on whats important

Raptitude - How to make hard things easy

Cindy sent this link through~ Small Notebook – Resisting the desire to acquire

Jo H. found the link Cindy referred to last week and her it is ~ Small Notebook- Loosen the grip of more stuff

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a piece of excess furniture such as bedside cabinet or a dressing table in a spare room. Guests don’t bring that much stuff that they require whole pieces of furniture to store it in. It is just something else you have to dust and vacuum around.

Eco Tip For The Day

 Investigate if things can be repaired before throwing them away.

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

How much clutter do you have in your home that’s purpose is convenience. There is no doubt that much of the clutter that enters our homes does so under the guise of adding convenience to our daily lives. Items that supposedly save us time, and in some cases actually do, but end up taking up a lot of space and possibly just making us a little lazy.

Here are a list of things that I came up with. Some of which I happily live without, others I soon will and others I won’t be parting with.

• Laundry trolley:~ I don’t have one of these. I decluttered mine in preference for the extra exercise of lifting and bending. Also I chose a folding bag to take my clothes to the clothes line because a plastic basket was too bulky in my small laundry.
• A Clothes Dryer:~ Some folks couldn’t do without one of these because of climactic conditions or housing style. While for many people, who live in the sort of climate I live in, these really are just a convenience. Either to save them hanging out the washing or for when wet weather does set in. In times of extended wet weather a quick trip to a laundromat occasionally would suffice. Neither my mother, mother-in-law or sister have one. I have a washer dryer combo machine so I have the best of both worlds ~ a dryer when I need it and no wasted space.
• Stepping stool:~ I have two of these from when I lived in America. One was for upstairs and one down. Now I keep one inside and one in the garage. Handy for getting into, not too, high places. I have offered one to my son, which I will remind him to take the next time he is at my house. Having just one will mean I get a little extra exercise taking it from one place to the other.
• Dishes:~ I have enough dishes so that I can have plenty to fill the dishwasher but have leftovers to use while it is operating. Right now the dishwasher is on the fritz and I am finding I require fewer dishes because the dirty ones end up back in the cupboard sooner. Standing at the sink doing the dishes by hand is once again a little more movement in my day. However I am still pretty keen for the dishwasher to be repaired.
• Dishwasher:~ Despite my last statement this is definitely a convenience item. Out of 26 years of marriage I have had a dishwasher for twelve. I managed quite well without it in those other years. And needed less dishes.
• Vehicles:~ My husband and I have two vehicles. One motorbike that he rides to work most days (big fuel saving there) and one small car which generally doesn’t get driven much except on the weekends. Do we need both vehicles, no, not really. However it would make the most sense to keep the car because the motorbike is not a good choice for my husband to commute 30kms to work on the rainy days. The reality is that having both isn’t just a convenience but also saves fuel and therefore money. Even taking into account the extra insurance and licensing. With one less vehicle I would have to walk just a little more and or take the bus occasionally.
• Extra Supplies:~ It used to seem convenient for me to have spares of some things waiting in the wings for the moment they were needed. Shampoo, conditioner, other toiletries, pantry items, craft items, paper towel… It occurred to me at one point that all of this was unnecessary. The shops are close enough and running out of any of them was not going to cause life as we know it to come to an end. So I stopped stocking them and allowed the stores to do it for me.
• Tools:~ I used to have in indoor tool kit so I didn’t need to go out to the garage to collect tools to do quick little jobs around the house. When my son moved out recently I gave him the indoor set to take with him. And you guessed it, the extra exercise to go out to the garage is good for me.
• Trash cans in all rooms:~ One again how hard is it to take trash from a bedroom and into a nearby bathroom or the kitchen. Not hard at all.
• Stuff on benches:~ If your cupboards and drawers aren’t full of spares and excess there will be room in them to store your everyday things within easy reach. Make-up, toiletries, hair brushes, kitchen gadgets, stationery items… This will clear the horizontal surfaces of clutter making them much sweeter on the eyes. A tiny bit of extra effort opening a door and maybe bending a little won’t do you any harm.

These are just a few examples of convenience clutter that I could come up with on a quick walk around my house and a little memory searching. With so much already gone from my home I dare say I have missed mentioning many “convenience” items that were once cluttering up my home. If you are concerned with all the extra exercise I mentioned against many of the examples above then consider this ~ A little extra exercise can only be good for you, but may be equaled or even surpassed by the reduction in effort required to clean your home with all that clutter out of the way.

Give this concept some thought the next time you are deciding should something stay or should it go. Can you think of anything in your home that might be convenience clutter that you could happy live without.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you only keep in your home for those rare visitors that drop by maybe once or twice a year. They can always bring their own or do without. ~ Hair dryer, spare toothbrush, a variety of soap, talcum powder, more linen and towels than necessary…

Eco Tip for the Day

Spend a week only driving your car when necessary. Plan your trips to cover more than one task. See how much fuel you save. You might be surprised how often you go out in your car for quick trips that you really shouldn’t need to. Perhaps this will be inspiration to continue with this was of driving.

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