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!
Kim tells us how she is finding it hard to walk past her favourite shops and asks her fellow 365ers for their advice in this comment.
Deb J had some great comments this week. This first one gives her take on those somedays that never come, while the second lets us in on a little update about decluttering with her mom.
This comment from Jo H says, in nine words, what my whole post didn’t quite convey. Well said Jo H.
Wendy B likes to want things, actually getting them would spoil the fun. Read about it in this comment.
Michelle tells us how she isn’t settling for second best or forever wanting stuff in this comment.
Judging by this comment Jen has cured herself of someday clutter collecting.Â
Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!
If you feel like exploring some new to you blog on the subject of clutter reduction you might find a couple that take your fancy among this link  www.housekeeping.org/blog/25-blogs-guaranteed-to-help-you-reduce-clutter-in-your-home
Here is a good eco tip link sent in by Wendy F ~Â www.providentliving.org.nz ~ Bottle Drip Irrigation
Here is a nice little post about how clutter kills freedom by Dana Byers
I am not sure if I have posted this link form The Happiness Project here before but just in case I am posting it again. It has nothing to do with decluttering just a lot to do with seeing things from another person’s perspective and possibly questioning our own. I thought it worth sharing.
Here is a blog post from the lovely Shaloo Walia at Spiritual Boosters. It has links to some good minimalist/simplicity posts.
Today’s Mini Mission
Get rid of a craft project you keep promising yourself you are going to finish someday. Donate it to a thrift shop as-is or find a local craft group who might be happy to take it off your hands. Learn what your habits are in the respect of finishing projects. If you have a habit of not finishing large project stick to smaller ones in the future. And also commit to not buying craft supplies that you only plan on using someday.
Eco Tip For The Day
Purchase and use reusable diapers/nappies for babies rather than disposable ones.
It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow
In regard to the clutter kills freedom link . . . “Worrying about money so much, you’ve lost the desire to be generous.” I have two comments. I’ve mentioned that I enjoy going to antique stores and something that has been cropping up in my mind more often is that I’d rather donate the $25 (or whatever) to the local animal shelter than haul one more thing into the house. Those critters can use the money more than I need anymore clutter. I want to be generous. I want to help.
Second comment, my husband and I are late bloomers on retirement savings and our financial planner is really getting on us about making contributions as opposed to spending so much money. I also listen to Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey – not that I do everything they all say, I take what applies to my life and disregard the rest. The question is, is buying this little item more important than saving for retirement? Answer, no. Of course, I treat myself sometimes – we are not retirement saving fiends, but just using a little common sense. If I spend willy-nilly, I will lose out on a bunch of years of compounding interest/dividends and that would not be smart.
Michelle, One important thing to consider on the retirement front, which people often do not take into account, is lifestyle. You will most likely be living on reduced income in retirement and for people who don’t plan ahead that means a reduced standard of living and resentment, depression or desperation. By scaling back on your life ahead of time, the money you save now will be money you have to spend later. More importantly, though, you will be able to continue to live much the same as before as you will have developed the right habits before retirement. We lived on about half our income before retirement so the only thing we miss about work is….work (“miss” as in “refrain from showing up”)
Michelle, I think you are getting a new lifestyle–give not get. Wendy B is sure right. I found out the hard way how far down my standard of living could go down. I have come to be content here but it was a real shock to begin with.
Wendy – we are looking forward to the day we can “miss” work, too! LOL Also working on getting rid of a small amount of debt and increase savings as we know that the money coming in now will not be here forever. Deb J, my folks went through a shock period some years ago and oh my goodness, I want to be prepared.
I am so thankful that we did not listen to realtors/mortgage brokers who told us we could afford “x” when we bought our house in 2000. I looked at our finances and we decided that about half of “x” was more appropriate. We’ve had ups and downs, money-wise, through the years and honestly, we could not have afforded the original figure. We also refinanced into a lower interest, 15-yr. mortgage and it hardly increased our payment, so if we stay here, we will have a paid off house in 12 (or less) years. Not a fantastic house, but much better than a cardboard box.
Michelle, We have friends who have a gorgeous mountainside home – vaulted ceilings, floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, walk-in closet big enough to use as a guest room. They are in their early seventies and still have a mortgage! Our place is half theirs in size, simple in design and PAID FOR. ANY modest home that you own is better than a mansion that the bank owns. Stick with sensible money management and you will be able to travel now AND when you retire.
Wendy B – you are inspiring in your smart financial planning! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with me!
Hi Michelle, retirement saving is quite different from country to country but one thing is for sure if you don’t have enough of it you may do it tough when the time arrives. That being said retirement is another someday don’t keep putting off your life until then either. There are no guarantees on how long your life will last. However putting the money aside that you would otherwise waste of silly stuff you don’t need would be very very wise. What I suppose I am saying is be frugal but don’t be boring.
Who me? Be boring? Perish the thought! 🙂 Hubby counters my boringness. Our biggest downfall, just when I think we have a great handle on savings/spending/retirement planning is travel! My folks live two states away and it is a lovely 14+ hour, two-day drive. With the price of fuel and hotel rooms, yikes! And then there are so many wonderful things to do and see and yep, sometimes buy. Flying would be less expensive, but there is a lot that you cannot bring back on flights and that you cannot ship (local wineries that we always go to) and I practically need to be drugged to fly anyway. We went to see tmy parents in November and just now are getting the credit card paid. This, I know, is not a proper way to fund travel. I can’t be Frugal Frannie all the time. My inner Miscreant Michelle comes shining through!!
This has been a great week for some really good conversations in the comments. The web links are really good too. But you know what, I’m perfectly happy with your blog Colleen because I think you cover it all in a number of ways and with your great group of commenters nothing gets left out. That’s pretty wonderful.
Thank you Deb J. I am pretty happy with the way most posts turn out and what I miss saying the readers make up for in the comments. And then of course there is always another day to attempt to do a better job of getting the message across. I have found over the years that everybody responds to different key words or sentences in posts. I can write about the same aspect of decluttering over and over but then someone I know who has been reading for a long time will suddenly have an ah ha moment. This is simply because the wording is different or I have used an example that matches with their lives and bingo they are cured of that particular hang up. And sometimes it is something that one of the readers writes in the comments that has the same effect. Either way it produces another success story and we all love that.
I think this week has been fanstastic for your posts and all the comments. I really enjoy reading about everyone. I sent a co-worker the link to the Happiness Project post because she and I have been grumbling about some work issues this week. The comments after that article were really amazing. I think that is one that I will go back and read several times. All the posters seem to try very hard to help each other out.
Hi Colleen. I agree with Deb J that you are able to present so many different aspects of decluttering and the enormous benefits it brings to both people and the planet by raising awareness of our actions. Expressing your ideas with different words or examples in various posts does indeed mean that even long time readers can have another “aha” moment – I’ve had many! Even though you have a wonderful group of commenters and have inspired some great war cries – e.g Michelle’s “No more someday” and Jo H’s mantra ” The peace of not wanting makes my heart sing” – you are our guiding light 🙂
IT has been a great week checking out all of your posts and stories. Thanks for these as well, and thanks for the inspiration always!
Kim – I’m going to continue our discussion on delaying purchasing over on this page.
Kim – I have a friend who is quite ‘Zen’ and she knows I am a naturally impatient and somewhat impulsive creature (I’m working on it 🙂 ) I assume it is an opposites attract friendship LOL Anyway, when I told her how I was changing my ways etc, and what if exactly what I wanted didn’t show up? Well her answer was: how will the Universe give you what you want unless you ask and unless you give it a chance to put it in your path?
OK, so I practiced patience in a very impatient way (picture “Are we there yet?” type person) but I’m getting the hang of it.
Another friend is a therapist (how do I find these people? And I hope they’re not actually doing further study and I’m their case study!) and she threw into the ring: Once you tell your mind what you are looking for, your subconscious will actively seek it and will continue until you find it.
And my take on it: well, whether it is the universe or my subconscious in charge, I don’t know, but I’ve also realised that marketing is designed to make me want something that doesn’t actually meet my requirements, so better that I’m satisfied with the purchase than being a sucker statistic in some store’s marketing department.
Moni….I am trying to adopt the attiude of your Zen friend. And my husband. He can wait forever to buy an item if he thinks something is: 1. overpriced or 2. can be found used at a thrift store or a yard sale. He puts his wants out there to the Universe and he seems to get it, quicker than you would imagine. We just spoke about his wish for a job change within his company last week. Today, out of the blue, his boss called offering almost the exact position he dreamt up! We both could not believe it! I am truly seeing the rewards of being patient. 🙂 Can I take this time to truly thank you those of you who commented on my call for help. I have never been this active on a blog before, but Colleen, you have made such a welcoming place for readers to share their lives. I feel like I am talking to old friends and can’t wait to get to the computer each day to see what topic you have chosen and what everyone has to say about it! 🙂
Thank you for those kind words Kim and for being one of our wonderful community here at 365.
Your husband has the right idea. Wish for things you really want and wait patiently. Don’t try to settle for a pour substitute in the meantime. That is a recipe for disaster or when it comes to stuff, clutter.
And as per yesterday – can anyone tell me what we did before we had zip-lock bags? I’m sure it was my generation that embraced them, but I can’t seem to recall BZ (Before Ziplock)
Hey Moni, here’s a funny. A gal-pal wants to make “living Easter baskets” for her grandkids and asked if I have any grass seed, which I do. This morning, I looked high and low for a plastic bowl with lid that she had given me something in and I could not find it! So frustrating. I looked at the ziplocs and thought, darn it, I don’t want to waste a ziploc when I know there is a perfectly good container to return to her. ARGH. I’m gonna find that dish no matter what! I could find the lid, but not the bowl. 🙁
Michelle – what is a living Easter basket?
I have just had to order from Tupperware a replacement lid for a container that I’m giving away to a particular friend. Oh the irony. My “I don’t want to waste money” side battled with my “I don’t want to throw out a plastic container” side. Never mind. I know she’ll use it lots and I’ll just chalk it up to a cheap gift.
Well, she didn’t explain it to me but I suspect she is going to start some seed in short plastic containers that when the grass grows she can place them in the bottom of an Easter basket? Just guessing here. She’s been checking out a site called Pinterest a lot lately and then making projects she has seen there.
Hi Moni, I can recall when I was a kid that my mother was given some plastic bags by the bakery next door to our house. Even that was a novelty back then. I dare say we used our tupperware containers to put leftovers in. With a family of seven we had very few leftovers so not many tupperware containers were necessary either.
I’d say reusable containers and paper (oiled paper, too, I found the term “sandwich paper” in the dictionary), sometimes foil.
I’m pretty much down to that, too. We use up a roll of little plastic freezer bags for ages (I only use them for freezing and seldom enough, as I even freeze preferably in reusable containers.
For leftovers in the fridge I even take the normal ceramic eating bowls and “close” them with a plate. Just like granny did pre-tupperware.
For seeds and stuff, I’d never even think of ziploc, for me that’s something I’d store in paper envelopes.
Thanks for another week of great comments and terrific links. It has been a busy time around here lately, but I am excited to finish getting my donation bag full. I hope to do that tomorrow and send it off to the donation center this weekend. I am not sure what I am going to do with myself once I am in maintenance phase of decluttering :).
Just sit back and enjoy your efforts Jen, would be my suggestion. Perhaps too, you might decide to minimise even more. I find the less I have the less I want.
I have to say that letting go gets so much easier over time and I can see myself minimizing even more.
Hi Collen! I was reading Kim’s comment and all the comments that followed talking about shopping and I remembered something that happened to me last week. I went mattress hunting. I have to buy a new mattress and I want a bigger one (queen size) and it will not fit my current bed. So I am going to buy a trunk bed to put under it. I have been researching prices and mattress and quality since October. I had not found anything that satisfied me completely. So last week I went to 3 different stores in the mall that sold mattress and trunk beds. One of them would not write his prices down on a piece of paper so I could have a estimate of costs. He said he could not do it. The other one started the “buy now routine or lose it”. I asked for a mattress. He had 2 types I wanted because of weight. He them proceeded to give me a ridiculously high price for the mattress and the bed trunk. Then, he says he can cut those prices down on 50%, but just until the end of the afternoon (it was already past 3pm). If I did not give him an answer, I would lose that “bargain”. I looked at him and said “sure, let me think about it”, got out of the store and did not buy that day. You see, 3 months ago I went to that store and another salesman came with the same set of prices and the same “buy now routine or lose it”. So, no, don’t give in to urge of buying instantly. They don’t care if you are buying good stuff or bad stuff. If you need to buy it or not. They just want to sell it. The guy confessed that he only did not to try and sell me some other mattress because my husband’s weight would ruin it too soon and I would have a new mattress given, because of our law. So, research, it is the best way to buy what you need and a better quality product.
Andreia….Doesn’t it just make your blood boil to see the games that salesmen play just to “get the sale”? When I get the run around like that, I get stubborn and won’t give anyone my business! You’re right, research and patience is the way to go, you have all made a believer out of me!
Hi Kim! He made me uninterested with his talk. He could see he was “losing” me 😉 . I have decided where I want to buy my mattress, its in a third store that gave me all the information I wanted. I am glad to have made a believer out of you, and I assure you I was not always this patient… :D. The moment to buy my perfect mattress will come and I hope the universe listens to what I am asking!
Thanks Colleen for the mention in your post…it means a lot 🙂
Fantastic collection of links this week!
Wow, that first link is a nice collection of articles. Not something to read in one go, but a good source of different approaches (though similar of course) and different voices on the subject. That might come in handy when making the next start at trying to get my cluttered parents to purge, simplify and organize. I tried before a little over a year ago but after a good and guided start they soon were back to square one. Now my sister offered to approach them again and I’ll stay more in the background – because unfortunately a certain hostility comes up from their side when it comes to the subject of clutter though I try to make it as clear as possible that we are not discussing frugality, a certain style or fixed numbers or that they can’t have collections and stuff and things they love. It must be about learning to draw the line, see the ridiculous (junk mail that “needs to be seen through” and therefore piles up until all the offers (on stuff they just! don’t!! need!!!) have expired anyway) and about adjusting their life and their home to their growing need of more rest and less strain. I hope they can at least take my sister serious even if they can’t give me credit on not being nuts :-(. Funny though, that she is much less cluttered than I am and has the ability of ruthlessly chucking things out while I often procrastinate and have to go through a longwinding process to let go of something …