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.
Once again this week I have chosen mission that reflect things I am decluttering and the reasons they are being decluttered. So follow along with me and see what you have lurking in your home that match the description. It will be interesting to see how different your things are to mine.
Monday – Declutter something that was a freebie that you didn’t really need.
Tuesday – Declutter something you received as a gift but have never used.
Wednesday – Declutter something your children no longer want saved for them.
Thursday – Declutter a storage container that you not longer need because you never plan to reclutter.
Friday – Declutter something that you just have too many off.
Saturday – Declutter something that used to fit with your previous lifestyle but no longer does.
Sunday – Declutter an unused craft, hobby or sports item.
Good luck and happy decluttering
Today’s Declutter Item
Freebies can be a curse, they can be hard to say no to because they are free and then get kept because they could come in useful. These items have all entered our household that way but have never been used. We have learned our lesson about freebies and aren’t so quick to accept anymore.
Toiletries Bag & Bit & Bobs
Something I Am Grateful For Today
Internal plumbing. I can’t imagine a time where people couldn’t have a hot shower on a cool day. I am grateful I didn’t live in those times. Although I am sure they had other advantages back then that many of us yearn for in this day and age.
I love love love love love this.
I am in declutter mode since I’m about to have a baby and nesting is intense. My sewing stuff is one thing I haven’t decluttered yet (literally, like the ONE thing) and since it’s Sunday I’m going in there right now to clear out some of the things I won’t use.
Hi Diana and welcome to 365 Less Things. Congratulation on the big upcoming event I hope all goes well for you and bub.
It is so good to be able to sew when there are kids around. Making and repairing clothing can be very beneficial financially. Although I have decluttered most fabric and old patterns I will never declutter my machine or all the little essential items required for making and repairing. Just this week I have sewn on two buttons, hemmed two pair of track pants (about time I have already been wearing them (too long) for about three years) and my new thrift shop pair of jeans and hemmed an apron for a friend (the alterations shop were going to charge her $22. Highway robbery).
I look forward to getting my housework out of the way today so I can spend some time checking out your blog.
Haha,
today I did not accept a freebie offered to me. Does that count? (I am not home for a couple of days, so all I can do is preventive decluttering but I’ll be back to normal soon enough)
Well done Ideealistin, that surely does count. Avoiding clutter is as important and getting rid of it.
Ohhhh I like this one! I didn’t work on the garage on the weekend as it was just too darn cold out there and I know there are some items that will fit nicely into this one! I’m going out of town today but when I get back I’ll be straight into it.
Enjoy your time out of town and I look forward to hearing about your version of the mini missions when you get back.
Well – we have just had a massive decluttering weekend focusing on the back garden and my husband’s shed and basically everything in the back yard .This all came about because two massive trees needed to be chopped down and there was a bit of damage done and a lot of mess.We needed to rethink the entire garden and decided the theme of our garden should be “minimalist mediterranean” .Out with the roses and in with the yuckas ! (but we have a nice cleared area behind the shed where husband intends growing vegetables in raised beds) Everything came out of the shed and then I left my husband to decide how much went back and in what order .He did a great job and although we had ordered a skip (we also had a lot of cuttings and prunings ) we also put some things on the kerbside .Its always fun to see things go and it never takes long .My contribution was a hairdressers trolley on wheels with pull out drawers which I bought once at a garage sale and which I was going to use for dog grooming supplies next to my outside grooming table- but somehow it never quite worked becaused things like clippers and scissors really need to be kept inside and I had a simple portable two shelf trolley on the other side to rest things on anyway. So out it went and by sunset was gone having been out there for only an hour or two . My husband also put a big leaf blowing thingie out there with a sign to say it was in working order and we were both happy to see that go too.We put numerous pots out too (the yuckas in pots are now in the ground) and they went quickly too. It was a huge task and one we would probably wouldn’t have tackled if it hadn’t been for the mess left behind by the tree removal. And from past experience I know that two people can make a really huge task much easier than just one person tackling it alone.
Well done Jez. I bet you have gone out there at least half a dozen times this morning just to survey your handy work. And how nice, you and your hubby working along side each other and feeling good together in your achievement.
You are so right, it is fun to see things go. I love my day volunteering at the thrift store but I also enjoy that nearly every time I go I take a tub of donations of what used to be my clutter. I sure is fun to see that go.
You are right Colleen – We have been out there admiring our handiwork -and laughing because we are not sure that we have achieved “minimalist mediterranean ” – more like ‘
“minimalist Western”(as in cowboys and cactus)! we may have overdone the Yuckas! Never mind – at least we got the” minimalist” bit right and we are both happy with that.
Good for you Jez. I have a yucka in my back yard too. It became very minimalist when I lopped it off with the saw a couple of weeks ago. I left one sucker to shoot back up but the space is a little bare compared to how it looked prior to my gardening effort. It looks fine though and it was definitely needed. I was in danger of poking my eye out with one of its fronds while hanging out the washing had I left it the way it was.
Wow you had on heck of a busy weekend! Sometimes it takes some other force (in this case sounds like it was the the 2 tree’s) to force our hands at getting something accomplished. Good job Jez!!
This week is bulk pick up for us so alot will be put out curbside. A drying rack(we have two), baby bath, and just bags of stuff-it feels good. 🙂
Hi Lisa and welcome to 365 Less Things. I love bulk pick up and I especially like seeing the stuff disappear before the truck comes to take it all away. Our local government has changed the way they do bulk pickup and I don’t know what that entails yet because I don’t have need for it any more and that does feel good.
We are just up the road from you Colleen and Maitland council give each resident one free tip pass so they don’t have bulk pick up. I have see people just put stuff out with free signs. I hate the idea of all that stuff going to the dump instead of people finding a use for it.
Hi Debra F,
I just went over to the Newcastle City Council site to see how our new system works. Like you we can get a voucher to drop of the bulk waste at the tip or we can book a pick up. It doesn’t say if they are going to charge for the pick up. Then I noticed the big hitch for me and other renters ~Bulk waste collection booking – MUST be made by property owner or managing agent (eg real estate agent) ~ how very inconvenient. My guess is that that means there is a charge with is billed to the home owner. Boy am I glad I have no more bulk rubbish that I need to get rid off.
Monday – Declutter something that was a freebie that you didn’t really need. –> Earplugs from Festival, I keep one but the other pair can go.
Tuesday – Declutter something you received as a gift but have never used. –> glitter eyeliner from a friend. got two, I rarely use it, and if then the red one. so the green glitter leaves.
Wednesday – Declutter something your children no longer want saved for them. –> well yeah. free wednesday for me.
Thursday – Declutter a storage container that you not longer need because you never plan to reclutter. –> selling a rucksack that needs to get a big carton, so a big paper box is out. I used it for thesis material before but thats soon gone too!
Friday – Declutter something that you just have too many off. –> I am on the tupperware project. I am super excited to see after one week that I am using some on a daily basis. two boxes will be gone by the end of the week I guess.
Saturday – Declutter something that used to fit with your previous lifestyle but no longer does. –> the only stuff that fits in there is my camping gear. But I wont give that up, I have plans 😉
Sunday – Declutter an unused craft, hobby or sports item. –> I am sending out two more postcards to friends who just moved. you know the advert? a postcard? 70 cent. a stamp? 45 cent. Making someone happy by sending a “congrats to your new home” card? Priceless.
really really really nice ideas colleen! thanks for that!
Hrmmmm. Thus far I can only find things related to Saturdays mission – things that fit my previous lifestyle. So I’ll cull all the remaining pairs of scrub uniforms from my old job & make this a lazy daisy week!
Decluttering is like weeds in the garden. If you ignore it for a while, it multiplies! I have been out of town for two weeks, and the weeds in the backyard have multiplied as well as some things in the house. The family did pretty well while I was gone, but I think you are really appreciated when you are gone and they see how much you do that doesn’t show unless you don’t do it. It will take a few days to get things under control and then we are going to focus on the teenagers rooms, 15 minute segments at a time to save my sanity and theirs and our relationship!
Last week was a great declutter week. I bagged up a medium sized box full of scrapbook embellishments. Have already sold a few. Will sell more when the craft girls come Friday for crafts. This week I plan to tackle the scrapbook paper and more of the small scrapbooks. I have paged through most of the smaller scrapbooks and turned half of them into layouts I put in the bigger albums. I hope to have all of the small scrapbook done this way by the end of the week. Most of them were made for classes I took long ago when i was learning all about scrapbooking. Now I realize that I don’t like all of those little things hanging around. Too messy.
I haven’t been replying much, but I love to read here, and I’m feeling another boost of decluttering energy. Last week we cleared out a lot from toys and books and got rid of most of our excess blankets, sheets and pillows–something you’ve mentioned recently. That was hard for me for a long time because I like to be ready for guests, but I realized having supplies for 2 guests is enough. We do often host more than that, but we can use the extra blankets we would normally use in winter, and if it is winter, we’ll just have to figure it out!
Well done Angela, I came to the same conclusion. We really only have room for two guests and that bed is pretty much made up all the time. If we get a couple of kids along with those two guests then there is a couple of spare blankets for them and that is enough at all times. Like you say if the time comes where we end up with more than that ~ though I can’t imagine that it would ~ we will figure it out.
P.S. We have one room actually almost 2 that are completely decluttered and serene. Our family room is especially sparse with almost no nick nacks, and when I asked a family member if it’s too cold since I’ve gotten it down to the bare essentials, we agreed it is a “sanity room”…if everywhere else is messy, there is peace there! It’s no surprise that and our bedroom are our favorite rooms in the house. On to the rest!
What a good idea clearing a couple of rooms so you have somewhere to go for some serenity. And the bedroom is a good room to start with that’s for sure. Good luck with the rest, I am sure your whole house will be serene before you know it.