When I began helping my friend, S, declutter, there were decades of paper archives: phone bills, utility bills, bank statements, medical papers, taxes papers, magazine clippings, newspaper clippings, catalogs, travel memorabilia, recipes, greeting cards, letters, and hundreds of photos (organized by year). Much of this was stacked in boxes in the garage or office with various other locations for smaller boxes or bags. It was a nightmare of unorganized, mostly unneeded paper.

Looking over the mess, it was apparent that this was going to be a huge undertaking. How did this happen? Why would someone let things get this bad? It all comes down to priorities, understanding and dreams. Too many times we feel we don’t have time to deal with something at a specific point in time. Once we put it off, things tend to pile up and become something we really don’t have time for. Other times we may not know what we need to keep and what is no longer important. We often cut out an article or copy down a recipe with thoughts of using it soon only to find that months or years later it is still in a pile of to-do’s. Referencing saved articles, magazines, newspapers, and recipes seldom happens.

The first step in decluttering my friends mountain of paper was to open all the boxes just to see what was in them. It turned out that in this case most of the boxes were all a jumble with no organization whatsoever. Ugh! This represented more hard work. What needed to be done was to deal with one box at a time and sort all of the paper into piles of like topics. All of those piles then needed to be sorted to decide what to keep for tax or other official purposes. Once all this was done the shredding started. Hour after hour of shredding at intervals produced over 14 big trash bags.

When it came to the photos, while sorted into years, nothing else had been done to them. Tossing all the photos that were blurred, too dark, too light, duplicates or with poor composition was the first task followed by sorting according to event. Since S is a scrapbooker, she now has her photos ready to be placed in layouts.

S has no children that would have inherited this mess but here would still be someone who had to deal with it all. Paper is now one thing that will cause fewer issues for the person who is left with the job. Having been through the death of my father and dealing with all that entails, I am glad I was able to guide S to declutter the paper.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some wall art or empty picture frames you have never use. Another thing my son let go of last week.

We have all seen the magazine articles, books and TV programs on organizing.  They tell us that if  we buy these particular products or use these particular items we will go from a cluttered mess to everything organized in a snap.  The problem is that out of sight doesn’t mean it’s out of mind or make clutter any less clutter.  Making it pretty doesn’t make it go away.

Over and over many of us have bought and used multiple storage solutions trying to make things look like those magazine pictures.  Unfortunately, these solutions are only as good as how good everyone is at putting things back where they belong.  They are only good as long as you can find/remember what you have and where you put it.  I know that for myself.  I have spent hundreds of dollars over the years trying to keep a handle on all the stuff.  I even bought into the idea of a “craft room” with hundreds of “organised” craft supplies is ok so I’d have exactly what I needed when I needed it. But what I ended up having was a lot of stuff I didn’t need and never used.

There is nothing wrong with storage solutions as long as we really need them. When they hold only what we need and aren’t so numerous that we can remember what we have and where it all is.  Storage is not always a solution.  In many cases, it is a mask, a way to not have to deal with the work of making choices and counting the cost of what we have.

I came one day to the point where I realized I needed to stop using storage as that mask for my clutter.  I needed to not only declutter the storage solutions but I needed to declutter the things going in them.  When it came to my creativity why did I need all those excess stickers, stamps, embellishments, tools, etc?  What made me think I needed all of that paper?  Scrapbooking is an industry, with blogs, magazines, and other forms of media to keep crafter informed about all of the products out there and all of the ways “scrapbook artists” can store these supplies.  I came to the realisation that if I do not scrapbook as a career, I do not need to have so many supplies. Supplies that in my case would last for years.  I don’t need to have hundreds of dollars sunk into supplies for my hobby.   

There are numerous reasons we buy storage solutions for our homes. Yours may be quite different to mine. But do you need storage or less stuff. As Colleen always says “Get rid of the clutter and the organising will take care of itself.”  Which means, when the excess is gone what is left will have a logical, easy to access position in your home. Simply because what is left ought to be constantly useful to you so close at hand. No stored away in sealed boxes in hard to reach places. I hope this will help you to count the cost before your next purchase or stuff or storage to keep it in. 

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter old school papers of either the adults or children in the house.

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

Gift giving and receiving can be a touchy subject for 365’ers and their relatives. The best compromise to date, is the gift card or vouchers. However, reports show that $1 billion dollars worth in 2013 weren’t redeemed and $2 billion dollars worth in 2014. No wonder retailers love gift cards! Money for nothing!

This made me consider the gift cards that were floating around my kitchen drawer and decided to use these as part of my decluttering mini-missions. It turns out I had three – one for $25 to a supermarket, one for $20 at the shopping mall and one for $100 dinner at a local restaurant.

The restaurant one (received Jan 2014) was due to expire later this week so we made a booking. As for the supermarket gift card (May 2014) – it isn’t my usual supermarket, which is why I didn’t have an arrangement in place to redeem it and the shopping mall one is fairly recent (Nov 2014) but I didn’t have anything in mind for it.

Why do so many gift cards expire?   Why did what amounted to cash sit in the drawer?   Dollar notes wouldn’t lie around for 6-12 months.   Colleen noted that once upon a time such things would have been a gift from heaven for the average family, especially the grocery card.

Colleen brought to my attention an interesting angle.  Why do we keep so many ‘just in case’ items in our house, if we struggle to use up virtual money, surely this proves we don’t need to keep stuff we don’t use.

So how do we avoid expiring gift cards?

Keep gift cards in your wallet, not the kitchen drawer and try to plan purchasing around them.   My usual supermarket sends loyalty vouchers twice a year and I wrap it around my loyalty card so it gets used at first opportunity.  If it isn’t a store that you frequent, note the expiry date and load a reminder into your phone.   There are also sites such as Cardpool.com, Swapagift.comand GiftCardRescue.com to sell or trade, but as I live in New Zealand I checked on Trademe (like eBay) and people are selling their cards there too.

Another idea I feel deserves mention, for small residual amounts left on a card, instead of letting that money expire, use it to make a donation.Websites such as…

Charity Choice ~ www.charitygiftcertificates.org/GCE/default.aspx

and Gift Card Giver ~  http://plywoodpeople.com/projects/gift-card-giver/

…stockpile cards and combine them into higher-value gift cards that are donated to the needy and worthy charities.

Is there something as a gift card giver that I can do to make it easier for the receiver to redeem?   Low end cards got the thumbs up in my research.  A $25 Wendy’s gift card is more ‘do-able’ than a $25 gift card to an expensive fashion store which will require the receivee to spend more than they were gifted to buy anything. Cards that required the receivee to travel out of their way to redeem were listed as the next most likely to expire and ‘unlikely candidate’ also got a mention ie if Grandma isn’t an iPad aficionado, don’t give her an iTunes app card..

So what did I do with my remaining two gift cards?   I don’t actually need anything at the moment but my daughter is off to Tech this year and needed to set up an iCloud account which required her own Apple ID which in turn required some sort of credit card to attach to the account.   As she doesn’t have a Visa card, she was unable to complete the setup.   I had a moment of inspiration, what if I used the two gift cards to purchase iTune gift cards to load against her AppleID? I purchased two $20 cards and a chocolate bar, both of which were gratefully received.

I’m not sure what to call this….re-gifting-gift-cards? Re-purposed-gift-cards? Re-redemption-cards? The gift-card-that-kept-on-giving?

I wasn’t keen on the swapping this bit of plastic for a new bit of plastic, but on the other hand I didn’t receive gifts that I didn’t need and I am grateful as I was able to use them to create a solution and saved me parting with cash.

 As for the restaurant voucher, I’m looking forward to dinner on a balcony overlooking the white sand of our local beach, and even better to express her appreciation my daughter has offered to drive us to and from the restaurant, as long as we don’t mind travelling in her ancient two door small Nissan Pulsar with no air-con and listening to her music. Eminem is a small price to pay compared to a taxi in the holiday season in a beach town and it means my husband and I can both enjoy a bottle of wine that was also a gift.

So 365’ers, what gift cards and vouchers do you have lurking in your home that you could set a goal to use up over the next week or two?   Do you have any clever suggestions for gift cards whether as the giver or the receivee?

Today’s Mini Mission

Wednesday – Declutter and item of clothing. I decluttered a dress, not because I wanted to it simply worn out. Split down the back worn out and not worth repairing because the fabric had worn so thin.

I was reading through the posts from my friends on Facebook and came across one where the poster said, “I think I can truthfully say that I kept every award, essay, art project, homemade book, concert/performance program, birthday/graduation card, sheet music, script, report card, club photo, and every other piece of information regarding my K-12 experience.  So…I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it.”  She also commented that it all only took up one big storage tub. 

My first thought was, “Why is she keeping all of that stuff?”  Why would she even want to?  There seems to be three types of people, those who are sentimental about everything, those who want to keep some items but not all and those who see no need to hold onto things like this.  After some thought I commented back that I thought she should go through it all and figure out exactly what was really important to her. Once that was done, she should take pictures of those things and, since she is a scrapbooker, create some layouts for those pictures. 

All of this started me thinking about people with children and what they need to do with all of the “keepsakes” that come into the home on a daily basis.  Say you have a toddler who frequently draws/colors a masterpiece.  What do you do?  Maybe you have a school age child who comes home often with essays, returned test/quiz papers, award certificates, and numerous other paper based “keepsakes.”  What do you do? 

I decided to see if I could discover some solutions that would preserve these without taking up space somewhere in the home.  Here are some of the solutions I came up with.

Create a website with a page devoted to each child’s life.  You could make this a private website that only a select few could see.  On it you could post pictures of their artwork, etc.  Not only is it a permanent record of your child’s life but it can be shared with anyone you choose. 

After displaying a child’s work in a prominent place for a week or so take pictures of the best of the work and at the end of the year create a few pages of their life that year for a scrapbook about them. 

Set up an account on a site like Flickr where you can display pictures.  Again, you can secure this so only those you select can see what has been placed in your folders. 

Declutter all but the most significant awards, etc.  What is left place in page protectors and then into a binder. 

While many years ago I let go of my numerous childhood keepsakes, I found that I still have some things that I really have no need to keep.  It is interesting how easy it is to let things like this build up because I have the room for it.  I plan to scan some things before decluttering it all.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter, by recycling old plastic plant pots. I recycled a few of these last week.

My friend Wendy sent me a photo the other day of a box of magazines she was decluttering. Wendy is very practiced at decluttering, having been reading 365 Less Things for many years. It is how we met in fact. So I was a little surprised at how many magazines she had to declutter. She has been renovating for some time, which is now about finished, and these were home decor magazines for inspiration.  As it turned out she didn’t reference then at all for the reno so out they went while she was decluttering her bookcase.

I am glad she sent me the photo because it inspired me to write this post on my opinion of magazines in general and why I  feel they are such an insidious form of clutter.

My first thought on this subject, judging from past experience, is that magazines are expensive to purchase and usually contain more advertising than actual interesting articles. Once you also eliminate the articles you aren’t interested in, all you are left with is about one third of a magazine that you paid good money for. And then I doubt there is anything in that one third that you couldn’t have sourced free on the internet. And that advertising I mentioned is there to tempt you to acquire stuff that is likely to later end up on your declutter list

Then there is the futile exercise of saving magazines for those few articles that you might want to refer back to later on. Or cutting them out and filing then in plastic sleeves in a folder somewhere. My experience of this is, without proper, time consuming indexing, it is difficult to find those articles again when, or if, you ever do want to reference them. This is another form or aspirational clutter. And once again it is so much easier to find this information on the internet, with a few key words typed into your computers search bar.

I am speaking from experience here. I once used to save every issue of several paper crafting magazines and save clippings from catalogues etc. Now I find all the inspiration or information I need with the tap of a few keys. No, heavy lifting, no allergy issues from the dust when dragged out after long periods, no having to dust them in between times, no big bulky bookcase to store them in, no wasted money, no wasted trees, no frustrating advertising, no agonising over if and when to declutter them, and no constant aspiration of actually doing something with the information in those articles I once thought I couldn’t live without.

So tell me why is it that you buy and save magazines, though I doubt you will tempt me to return to my old habit.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter, by recycling, some old plastic containers you kept aside for storage but find they are building up over time and you now have too many. This used to be a mission I carried out on a regular basis but I don’t seem to buy as much takeout anymore so the containers get used until the wear out.

“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

Think twice about buying paper products. Natural old growth forest is better for the environment than cutting them down to make way for fast growing trees for paper pulp. Even the recycling of paper is a water and power intensive process.  Mind you this tip is a bit hypocritical of me being as I am a paper crafter.

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

I have experienced examples lately on how clutter can lead to disorganisation which in turn causes more clutter. Actually, in the cases I am thinking of, the clutter is useful and used stuff but in such abundance that it ends up scattered making items hard to find. This can then lead to acquiring more of the same because of the mistaken idea that things have run out.

Of course this isn’t something new to me, I have written about it more than once already. However it is worth a repeat mention on a regular basis. My own craft supplies can get like this at times. Usually due to the fact that I like to use up every square inch of paper or cardstock that I have, so I punch shapes from the little leftovers which build up if I don’t make a concerted effort to incorporate them into a card design. Also sharing supplies between friends can lead to the organisation of lots of little bits of this and that getting out of control. I am making that concerted effort to use up or consolidate such items at them moment.

But enough about my own example as I have encountered far worse in my travels. When it comes to supplies of any kind I have found it best to allocate a space for such things and be determined to confine my supplies to always fit within that space. As soon as there is an overflow, storage of like items become scattered. When required the first place to look is the usual location, and then it gets tricky, because you then have to remember where else you stashed the stuff. Inevitably the conclusion is arrived at that you are indeed out of a supply and a replacement is acquired. Then as sure as snow is white, the others shows up when searching for something else soon after.

In the case of large pantries things get lost behind other stuff. I find this is especially so if you are inclined to stock up on sale items of frequently used food stuffs. Inevitably these items end up at the forefront while less used items get shuffled back. Then on the rare occasion when the less used stuff is required it is so hard to find that a replacement is acquired. Thus cluttering up the pantry even more with things going out of date before ever getting used up. This is especially so if more than just grocery items are stored in a large pantry. Add paper towel, food wraps, medications, appliances, utensils, shopping bags etc and things can get really out of control. Being disorganised has its own cost on your time and sanity, so weigh up the pros and cons of whether cost savings are really worth it.

Then there is wardrobe overflow. Too many clothes equals not enough space in your closet, then items get stored in whatever spare space is available. When there is an abundance of clothing one can also get rather blasé about the necessity of regular laundering. Then when an item is needed, especially a work related item, it isn’t unusual for it not to be in immediate wearable condition. This is bad enough when the item needs ironing when you need to be out the door in ten minutes, but imagine the panic that sets in when an item is soiled beyond use in this situation. My experience is that a limited, organised assortment of clothing forces more attention on to the care of them, which generally results in keeping better control of their rotation through your wardrobe.

So think twice about overstocking. It really can add complication to your life that you may not even notice until you feel the relief when it is gone. If you don’t believe me try reducing in a small area ~perhaps your stationery supplies or your bathroom cabinet ~ and just see how much easier it is to keep the area tidy, find what you need and not waste time choosing when less variety is available.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an item from a bedroom of your home.

“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

Save on waste by not allow perishable supplies to go out of date in your home. The best way to achieve this is by not stocking an overabundance.

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

For more than 8 months I have been struggling with my office and my desk. It has been a mess and it has been impossible to solve. It seemed that no matter what kind of organizing system I used, nothing seemed to work on my desk or inside my home office. I asked Colleen for advice time and time again, but it appeared that no matter her suggestion, I could not make it work.

So what was wrong in my home office? Firstly I had a mild depression. I did not recognize it back them but I was depressed. My job is a very emotional one I deal with people’s emotions and their private lives. It can be gruesome and very tiresome. As I also depressed I got deep bone tired of my line of work. All that led me to avoid my office. Instead of solving the problems on my desk I chose to ignore them because I did not have the energy or the will to tackle them. However my working problems or my health problems did not go away because I ignored them. They just got bigger.

I was so tired and depressed that instead of solving the problem I considered just abandoning a profession I love. I did know that I had to take a different approach, not get so involved with the emotional problems of my clients, and be more detached and professional. But I was not doing that.

As I did not know what was wrong, I still could not solve my office’s problem. It was only when I was medicated, a few months ago that I finally understood my whole problem. And now I am tackling my desk one thing at a time.

So, as I discovered, sometimes clutter has a different source than keeping, buying or getting more stuff. Sometimes we are sick, sometimes we are just tired. I had to look really hard for the real source of my problem. So whenever we are struggling with a declutter problem we have to look hard for the real source of that.

Today’s Mini Mission

Return something that you have borrowed from someone else that you should possibly have returned some time ago.

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

I’ll be the first to admit that I am no fashion expert. So I am not going to give you any advice on what clothes to shop for. However, what I am going to share with you today are tips that I think will help you to avoid a wardrobe cluttered with clothes that you don’t wear. So without further adieu I will give you my opinions on ways to avoid adding clothing clutter.

1. Don’t insist on keeping up with the trends. Trends are all about changing whats “in fashion” in a  ploy to keep you buying whether you need new clothes or not. So don’t be a sucker to consumerism and only buy clothes when you need them. Sure indulge in a few in trend items when needed but keep with the classics for 80% of your wardrobe because they never go out of fashion.
2. Don’t buy clothes just because you like the look of them on the rack, in advertising or on famous people. Do buy clothes that suit your body type and complexion.
3. Keeping with the suggestions in 1. and 2. also try on the clothes prior to purchase and only buy the ones that you look and feel great in.
4. Buy clothing items that or well designed, cut and constructed. That doesn’t necessarily mean the high price equals high quality because it often doesn’t.
5. Don’t overstock on wardrobe staples. A good laundering routine should make certain that you have clean items when needed. I have witnesses more than one in recent times how laziness and poor routine contribute to the necessity of an overstocked wardrobe.
6. When you do buy an item, to replace one that has gotten shabby, make sure you declutter the old one as soon as the new one enters the home. My experience is that if you don’t you will end up with the one new model that you now wear and several just-in-case versions of the same item. Then even if the new one isn’t available you will avoid the others because, lets face it, they haven’t gotten any less shabby over time.
7. Don’t window shop or browse. Temptation is easier to resist when it isn’t with in reach. Don’t be looking on-line either because an e-shop is only a click away. And to make that worse you could buy without trying only to find the items isn’t right for you in more ways than one. And we all know how slack we can be at returning items and before you know it the return period has lapsed and you are stuck with the item with no hope of a refund or exchange.

I am sure this post will generate some interesting comments where we will learn even more tips and suggestions. So please don’t hold back your input can be very helpful.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that you keep as a backup for something else but isn’t expensive to replace.

“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

Keeping up with trends generally leads to waste. Waste environmentally, waste of our hard earned money and often leads to waste of space in our homes.

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

Life is, at the very least, punctuated with stressful periods. For some there are no end of stressors almost 24/7 365 days of the year. Mostly this is caused by the complications of life. Past history, current hassles, work obligations, financial issues, family, illness… Boy, this is making me feel depressed just writing about it and my life is quite sweet for the most part.

The one thing I have learned from my decluttering experience is that simplification is the key. The more you own the more you have to take care of. The more work the is required from you. And all that acquiring means less savings in the bank when needed. Add that to all the other stressors and things can get really ugly.

What could be worse than a sudden health issue just when your rent has gone up and you have to take unpaid time off work. I’ll tell you what could be worse, and that is being surrounded by a messy, cluttered home when you are in the thick of it. During times of stress it is a wonderful thing to have a welcoming haven to return to at the end of the day. A welcoming place to cocoon yourself in to recuperate.

Sometimes when life is going well for you it can go to hell for someone close to you and you need to step in to help. Once again it is nice to feel free to be able to do that because things are simplified in your life.

Either way it is best to live by the Boy Scout motto of be prepared. I have found myself in both situations in recent years on several occasions and I have been able to step up to the plate at the drop of a hat. When my son had his accident, when I was having health issues, when my father went into hospital, when my daughter came home at short notice, in the last couple of weeks when I dashed off to help my friend with her move.

So don’t leave it until life happens to realise that you should get your own nest into shape. Get started now so that when things hit the fan you at least can be sure of is a place or peace and serenity to recharge in.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an item that brings you unnecessary feelings of sadness whenever you lay eyes on it.

“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 accept free promotional products that you have no use for. Accepting these just encourages the continuation of this practice while the environment would be healthier without the manufacture of cheap throwaway or needless items like these usually are.

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

Are you one of those people who has a shelf full of cookbooks with the good intention of being experimental in the kitchen but tend to stick to the same tried and true recipes? Or perhaps you are someone who steps that up just a notch by trying a new recipe only once in a while. Then this post is for you.

In fact even if you are adventurous in the kitchen then this post may also be for you. Especially if you’d rather spread out your cooks gear than waste space on cookbooks that you don’t really need.

Or perhaps you are a want-to-be cook who buys foodie magazines and clips recipes that you never get around to using. And when you do remember a clipping, that you want to try, you can’t find it among the masses.

The solution is simple for those of you who own either a laptop computer, a tablet such as an iPad or a smart phone. Instead of hoarding shelves full of cookbooks that house only a few recipes that you like, try using the internet as your endless supply of recipes at the touch of a few buttons. Whatever you want you can just Google search either by recipe or by ingredients on hand. You can create a board on Pinterest of those recipes you want to try, bookmark them, or only look up a recipe when you need it and then only save it if it turns our well for you.

When you are ready to use a recipe all you have to do is place your mobile device on the countertop and have at it.

Now lets say you only have a dest top computer. This is a little harder to manage, however you can still save yourself all that shelf room by only printing the recipes you are going to use. Of course you can save paper and ink by only printing the ingredients and instructions on the back of already used paper. I suggest this because paper and ink cost money but then so do cookbooks and magazines. You can them limit your amount of wasted space by only keeping the printed recipes that you are likely to use again.

I decluttered all but my home printed family recipe file a long time ago and I have never regretted it. Sometime I print and add another often used recipe to it. I could even declutter this file and access the recipes via my laptop if I so wished.

So give it some thought. Could you make better use of that kitchen shelf to spread out your other kitchen items, making them easier to access.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter the messiest most cluttered drawer in your home. if you have one that is. If not perhaps you have some other small, messy, cluttered space you could attend to.

“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 print out document that are absolutely necessary thus saving paper and ink.

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