Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

My in-laws have recently visited us, and like a light bulb coming on over my head, I realized that my in-laws are living like minimalists.

I’ve talked about my in-laws here before from a different perspective – as owners of several storage units. While they live in California, the majority of their stuff lives in storage, in Texas. Each time they visit my family, they also make a couple trips to the storage units.  Over time, they have reduced what is being stored there, and last year, they arranged a Salvation Army to truck take away a large amount of stuff, including furniture. Nonetheless, they still have an entire storage unit here, and my mother-in-law has told me firmly “That’s what we want to keep.” Truly, I have no idea what’s there except for their china, and I only know this because she and I have the same china pattern, and she’s given me a few of her pieces.

In addition, they have a storage unit in California near where they live. This unit contains the furniture, electronics, and household items that they were using in their most recent home.

Two storage units? How can they be living like minimalists, you might ask? Well, while their stuff is living in storage, they’re living with a bare minimum of possessions.

They sold their house, which they primarily purchased as a fixer upper / flip and are happily living in a Residence Inn, a long-stay hotel. Because they like to buy and sell houses, travel, and not plan very far in advance, the Residence Inn fits their lifestyle beautifully, and they are happy there.

The two of them live in a one bedroom apartment. Breakfast is provided every day, I believe, and dinner is provided four days of the week. They have a two burner cooktop, a microwave, and a refrigerator. None of the furnishings, linens, etc. belong to them.

When they want to travel, which they do frequently, they pack up all their personal items, load them into their (one) car, and check out of the Residence Inn. They drive the car to a storage unit that they have in California and park it inside, with their stuff still in the trunk. From there, they take a taxi to the airport, and they’re on their way. If it’s a driving trip, they unload the car and drive off.  Literally, they are able to pack everything they live with into a vehicle, make a single trip, and be finished. When they return back to California, they reverse the process.

It’s the perfect solution for a couple who wants to be footloose and fancy free and can live without being surrounded by their own stuff. Could you live like my in-laws?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something because it is an eyesore in your home, or perhaps always was. Maybe some sort of junk in the back yard, an ugly décor item that someone else gave you but you never liked or a fixture in the home that has become ratty or faded.

Eco Tip for the Day

Instigate a weekly old fashioned board game night for the family. Turn of the televisions, the computers, the DS, the PSP, the XBox and the PS3, get everyone in the same room, turn out all the other lights and save a little power for a couple of hours a week.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a large item you might have in the garage, attic or basement that you have kept handy in case you will have a use for it someday. Perhaps and item of furniture, a sporting item you used to use, a restoration project…

Eco Tip for the Day

If you don’t have a dual flush toilet you can adjust the height of the float so less water is released with each flush.

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

Cindy

My in-laws are visiting, and I was thinking about my father-in-law. He really likes to do home improvement projects, to work on his own vehicle, and he’s done some truly outstanding woodworking projects.

My husband is not really like his father. No one else I know works on their own car, my husband can only do the simplest of woodworking, and although he does home improvement projects, he doesn’t love it. Yet at least some of his clutter reflects who he thinks he should be (see his Dad, above) and not who he really is.

The fancy name for this is “aspirational clutter,” but I’m going to call it “should” clutter because it defines who you think you should be.

You may have a bookshelf full of classic books, when really all you enjoy reading is popular fiction. However, you think you should be a person who owns, collects, reads, discusses, and enjoys classic books.

You may have a sewing machine – maybe even a sewing cabinet – and not even know how to thread the machine. But you think you should be the sort of person who is either so crafty or so frugal that you have need for a machine and all its accoutrements.

You have tools for home maintenance or automobile repair, but no interest, aptitude, or knowledge for doing these things, but you think that a “good” person should do their own home and car repairs.

You have craft or hobby supplies – probably a lot of them – for crafts that you’re sure you should try. The fact that you’ve owned them for more than a dozen years and haven’t tried the craft yet is only making you feel worse for not being what you should.

Stop “shoulding” on yourself. It’s nonsense. There is nothing you should be, just what you are. You are under no obligation to continue owning a bunch of items that simply remind you how insufficient you are in becoming what you (or maybe someone else) thought you should be. Move on! Sell it, give it away, return it to its owner, and free up your physical and emotional space for becoming what you are.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter any item you haven’t used in six months. This could be a tool, dishes, some other not very useful to you item or  even an ingredient. You could do a use it up declutter on that ingredient. These items are usually found underneath useful things in drawers and in the mirky depths behind everything else in the cupboards.

Eco Tip for the Day

 Natural way to clean silver ~ http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/natural-way-clean-silver-3121.html. Warning:- It always pays to test any cleaning product or suggestion on an inexpensive, easily replaced item first.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

Several people have recently asked me how to begin decluttering, and someone confessed last week that she thought all of us were running to the thrift store every single day as we decluttered, so I decided that it was time for another review.

Where Colleen and I started from

For those of you who are newer readers, you may not know that Colleen and I started our decluttering journeys from very different places. (And we didn’t know each other then, either.) Colleen’s house was well organized and very tidy, but she realized that she simply had way too much stuff. Her children were in their late teens when she began.

I moved into our current house with a two year old, and I was pregnant with my second child. The house never got fully organized. In addition, we did a lot of work on the house, so some area was always disrupted. When we finished all the work, the house looked fantastic, and I didn’t want the junk that was everywhere to make my beautiful house look ugly and cluttered. The inside of most cabinets were organized, but every surface was covered and there were laundry baskets of miscellaneous all over the house. By this time, I had one child in elementary school and one child in middle school.

What are your decluttering goals?

Different people declutter with a different goal in mind. Colleen thought she had too much stuff. I wanted my house to look nice, to be able to use my furniture and surfaces as intended, and I wanted to not be embarrassed to have guests.

Categories of clutter

Different people will have different sorts of clutter. I’m sure we all have a few toiletries we need to use up, some medicines that have expired, too many gadgets in the kitchen, some clothes we never wear. I think our trouble areas, however, are more specific to our interests, our psychology, and our personalities. Here are the main categories of clutter for all the members of my family:

Me – All sorts of household miscellanies, things I kept putting off making decisions about, craft supplies, office supplies, toys and games, books.

My husband – Books and papers leftover from college, books in his field (computers) that are now hopelessly outdated, hundreds of career-related magazines, electronic this-and-that, accumulated garage items.

The girls – Clothes and toys that they outgrew, art supplies, all sorts of tiny things that girls like to collect, unwanted birthday and Christmas gifts, art.

Some things you might have – Clothes, impulse purchases, decorative collectibles, books, magazines, newspapers, items you inherited, gadgets, excess food in your pantry or freezer, hobby items, crafts supplies, furniture, gardening tools and planters, stationery, incomplete projects, things that might be useful “someday”, love letters and photos that hurt you, souvenirs, things you have identified to declutter but haven’t actually gotten rid of.

How to begin

Beginning is usually easy once you decide to do it. You probably have an area that’s been bothering you. Take one thing from that area, put it in your discard box. Do not get it back out. Hurrah! You’re on your way.

Over time, you’ll find things that you would like to sell or need to give back to a friend, items that are harder for you to discard or need more thought. In the beginning, skip those and go for the low hanging fruit. You’ll make more progress and feel better about your accomplishments that way.

You’re on your way!

Today’s Mini Mission

Do you really need an alarm clock when your cell phone can carry out this task. Consider decluttering it.

Eco Tip for the Day

When packing items you have sold on eBay use recycled packaging materials when possible. I get used product boxes from my local hardware store.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

There are two boxes that I need to keep me organized and decluttered. Just two boxes. It’s a simple system, and it might help keep you on the right path too.

Box #1, which lives in the bottom of our least-used closet, is not actually one box, but an ever changing parade of boxes and paper bags, and is the Thrift Store Bag. Anything not needed, not wanted, etc. goes into this bag. I never make a sweep of the house looking for things to take to the thrift store; they just accumulate day after day, week after week. When the bag / box is full, I take it to my van. The next time I pass by the thrift store, I make a quick stop.

Box #2 lives in the back of my van. I know that a lot of us struggle to find place to stash items that need to be returned to the store or given back to a friend or dropped off at an out-of-the-way recycling place. This box is my solution. Instead of storing this sort of thing like a runway by my front door, or worse, cluttering my desk further,  I immediately take items that need to be go elsewhere to the box in the van. I look in the box often enough that I have a mental picture of what’s in there and where it ultimately belongs. The wonderfulness of this system is how easy it makes returning things to their rightful homes. What I need is always with me. I never pull into the parking lot of a store and then slap my forehead because I forgot an item I need to return; it’s always with me.

Two cardboard boxes make my life so much smoother. Do you have a simple technique for keeping yourself organized?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some items from a closet that is over full, making it difficult to keep organised.

Eco Tip for the Day

Consider ways use to your car less, such as planning ahead, forgoing unnecessary trips, walking more and ride sharing. My car is in the shop for repairs this week and I am managing just fine without it.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

Advertising or a trip to The Container Store may convince you that there is a perfect, purchasable  solution for every one of your problems, needs, and desires. But before you rush out and make a purchase, stretch your brain to think: do I already have something that will serve my purpose? The following are some things in my house that we have made do with very satisfactorily, no special purchase necessary.

Stuff

A cardboard box with a few large and small holes cut out of it for the cats to play in. They love their cardboard box, and it certainly works as well as they $25 cardboard “cat castle” that I recently saw at Petco.

Cardboard boxes are also fine for storing Christmas ornaments and the like. There is little reason to purchase plastic storage containers, especially extremely specific containers like the ones that are supposed to hold wrapping paper or your seasonal wreath.

For years I have used the compartmentalized side of egg cartons to hold my earrings. Each carton holds a dozen earrings and several of them fit neatly in my drawer.

I repurposed several excess leftover containers to hold my various chargers and iPod accessories. A label on the lid makes this storage system even more efficient.

Some other extra leftover containers migrated to the bathroom where they now hold cotton balls and Qtips.

When my pillows started to get too flat, I cut them open and redistributed the fluff. Instead of 6 flat pillows, everyone in the house got a new, fluffy pillow. (And, in case you’re wondering, I discovered that the fluff was almost exactly the same in every one of the pillows. What was different was the fabric and style of construction on the pillow case.)

Food

My husband and I package our dinner leftovers immediately after eating. (And sometimes before we are done, if we think that we’ll needlessly eat too much.). Depending on what’s left, we may make up a lunch that’s ready to grab and go or just put away like with like.

We don’t leave the leftovers in pots, as that would be inconvenient when I cooked again. In fact, it might make me think I needed to buy more pots! In addition, having pots in the refrigerator makes it harder to maneuver.

In addition, every container is marked with a piece of masking tape on which we write the date and what’s inside. This simple step really cuts down on food waste.

Lastly, every Saturday lunch is a leftovers meal. I pull out everything that’s in the refrigerator  and everyone helps themselves to whatever they want. Usually this takes care of anything that’s still hanging around at the end of the week.

What clever solutions have you come up with to make do with what you have?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter old sporting equipment for sports you no longer play. I have done this with our snorkelling gear, my son’s little league gear and  most of my softball gear as I have no intention of ever playing again. I kept my mitt as a keepsake because it is special to me and has lots of signatures from the Seattle Mariners on it.

Eco Tip for the Day

I don’t think we need an eco tip today as I think Cindy has it pretty well covered.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

Any fan of Star Trek or American pop culture has heard the phrase “Resistance is futile.” It was popularized on the TV show Star Trek when the Borg (human-machine hybrids) were about to assimilate (i.e., suck in, take over, and destroy) a new race of beings.

This phrase popped into my mind yesterday when I was perusing the sales flier for the big box discount store Costco.

Costco and its competitor Sam’s sell items in bulk – big bulk – in a warehouse setting and at discounted prices, often significantly discounted. Not only can you buy food in bulk, more than half the store is dedicated to non-disposable items such as kitchen appliances, electronics, mattresses, furniture, office supplies, and a huge variety of “storage solutions.” (Clever of them!)

It is not possible to keep / achieve a decluttered house without resisting the temptation to purchase more. Everything that you bring into the house indiscriminately is what later turns into stuff that needs to be decluttered.

Let’s walk through the sales flier together, and I’ll tell you what I’m thinking as we go along:

• First page, TVs and electronics – “Don’t need any of these, keep going.”
• Norton Anti-Virus, limit 10. “I wonder who would buy ten? Why buy the software at all? You can pay for it on your computer and download it directly, no software, box etc. needed.”
• 4 pounds of jelly beans and 48 Pop Tarts. “No one needs that many Pop Tarts or jelly beans. No one.”
• Izze sparkling juice, Kashi Go Lean cereal, Splenda. “Still have plenty of all of those. They’ll be on sale again. No need to buy today.”
• Bottled water with and without vitamins. “Probably the number one source of plastic waste after plastic bags. Why do people buy it?”
• Sonicare toothbrush. “I bought one of these for Audra for Christmas, because she’s such a tooth brushing fanatic. Wish I’d realized that the replacement heads are almost $10 each, though. What a rip off!”
• Vitamins. “Have what I need right now. They’re always on sale.”
• Various medications. “Don’t need, don’t need, don’t need.”
• Charmin toilet paper. “Don’t need any right now. I hope they get the recycled kind back in stock.”
• Paper towels. “I hardly ever use these, and only buy one roll at a time. I certainly don’t need a dozen.”
• Ziploc baggies. “I definitely don’t need these! Still have some that I purchased 2 years ago. I wish I’d known how long it would take me to use them.” (I try not to use baggies, and when I do, I always wash and reuse until they fall apart or until I put meat in them.)
• Venus razors. “Clara uses a Venus, but she just needs replacement blades. This has three handles, too. What in the world?”
• Quicken. “Same with Norton Anti-Virus. Most software can be downloaded.”
• Beds, furniture, giant playset. “No, no, no.”

So I’ve done it. I’ve looked through the sale flier of one of the stores that I frequent most often and found nothing new, special, or discounted that I cannot live without, at least until my current supply runs down.

How do I approach shopping in the store?

I start with a list. We keep a running list of things that are finished / running low on the refrigerator. Everyone in the family knows to add to this list. Things that are purchased at Costco are marked with a big C.

When I enter Costco,

• I walk past all the electronics, furniture, appliances, etc. that line the left side of the store and head directly to the back where the refrigerated cases, bread, and liquor is. I pick up what is on my list, usually bread, Parmesan cheese, beer, and hummus.
• I often buy apples (although the plastic boxes that the apples are packaged in bother me greatly) and a sack of oranges. It doesn’t matter that other fruit or vegetables are so cheap that a box here is the same cost as 2 or 3 pieces at the regular grocery; I only need 2 or 3 pieces, and the rest would be wasted.
• I swing to the back of the store if I need toilet paper, dog food, cat food, or outdoor bird seed.
• Then I hit the freezer cases (again, only buying what it on my list), and quickly make my way through the grocery area, avoiding any aisle that doesn’t contain items that are on my list. 
• Occasionally I make a pass through the pharmacy section.
• Last I hit the snack area and pick up a few things there. Then I check out. 

You’ll notice that I skipped the entire middle section of the store, where all the books, DVDs, seasonal items, clothes, and linens are stocked. Those are not on my list; I do not need to venture in there.

How do I deal with the ladies passing out yummy samples? I hardly ever refuse them, but I don’t buy the item on impulse. It wasn’t on my list; it will be there next time; waiting keeps me from bringing home two dozen servings of something that no one may want to eat after trying the first one or two.

To reiterate:

• No shopping for non-consumables that aren’t my list. No looking even.
• Buy only what is on the list.
• Remember that even if I like a product, I may not like a 4 pound package of it.
• Don’t shop in aisles that don’t contain goods on the list.
• Don’t wander. In any store, the more you wander, the more likely you are to buy what you didn’t intend to purchase.
• No impulse purchases from samples.

Resistance is NOT futile, and if you do it right, you feel like an efficient and smart shopper, not like someone who is about to be assimilated by the Borg of consumerism.

Today’s Mini Mission

CDs and DVDs are another thing that we can tire of over time. Flick through your music and movie collections and decide whether they are all loved enough to keep. Sell or donate the excess.

Eco Tip for the Day

Save petrol by making do with what is in the fridge and cupboard rather than taking an unnecessary trip to the store.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

Last week, I wrote a post praising the wonderful feeling of getting old to-dos done. As I suspected, I was not alone in 1) having pletny of old to-dos that needed to be done and 2) in being overjoyed at how quickly many of them could be accomplished. That made me wonder: How long does (fill in the blank unpleasant chore) really take to do. Here are some of my results:

1. 1 second – Time to put keys in the same place every time I enter the house.
2. 7 seconds – Time to put shoes into shoe cubby and close closet door.
3. 17 seconds – Time to hang sweater on hanger, with one button fastened so it won’t fall off, and close the closet door.
4. 30 seconds to 2 minutes – Time to process the mail upon retrieving it from the post box. I immediately recycle the junk, shred the private, and put any bills or to-dos on the top of my in-box.
5. 1 minute – Time to make the bed, poorly OR 1 min, 40 seconds – time to make the bed well.
6. 1 minute – Time it takes to get more hangers from the bedroom, rather than stacking the laundry neatly on the side of the basket to be hung later.
7. 2 minutes – The time it took me to get the broom and dustpan, quickly sweep the kitchen, and return the tools to the laundry room. ALSO the time it takes for a cup of tea to heat.
8. 5 minutes – The time it took my daughter to floss and brush her teeth and me to clean one shelf in the medicine cabinet. Times 3 nights and the whole cabinet was cleaned and organized.
9. 11 minutes – Time to fold a mixed load of laundry: half folded, half hanging.
10. 17 minutes – Time to fold a basket of laundry that was mostly small things: socks, panties, and napkins.

I challenge you to do something that you’ve been putting off and see how long it really takes for your “boring” / “nasty” / “overwhelming” to-do to get done.

Today’s Mini Mission

This one is a no-brainer really. Even less perishable food has some sort of used by date. So if you have something in the pantry or freezer that hasn’t been used in a long time find a recipe to use it up on. You never know you might just stumble upon a recipe that will end up in your regular rotation this way.

Eco Tip for the Day

Secondhand clothes aren’t just for those who can’t afford new. Daily Lime reminded their readers yesterday that it is a good idea to source secondhand school uniforms. Kids often grow out of their clothes before they wear them out so why not circulate them. Consider organising a uniform swap at your school at the beginning of the school year.

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

 

Cindy

Recently I did something that made me so happy – I took care of two really, really old things that were on my to-do list. These things were so small that it’s almost embarrassing to tell you what they were, but doing them made me so happy that I will. The first thing was taking the dogs’ beds to the laundromat and washing them. I wash the covers at home regularly, but I can’t put the whole bed into my washer, and they needed it. The other thing was taking two scented candles (same scent) that had burned down so far that neither would light any more, melting the wax, and pouring them together to make another, usable candle. I did this because I loved the scent of these candles so much, and it’s not available any more.

What does this have to do with clutter? Mental clutter! Aspirational clutter! I had these two ideas in my mind for months and taking care of them would randomly pop up and bother me. Including driving to the laundromat, washing and drying the dogs beds took and hour and 15 minutes. There’s a school with a great playground extremely close laundromat, and the girls and dogs went there and frolicked while the beds washed then dried. Melting the candles took virtually no time, because I was working in the kitchen anyway, and I already had the wick. (I’d purchased a package of wicks ages ago as aspirational clutter for the day I finally combined these candles; something else that weighed on my mind when I would open the cabinet where the wicks were stored and think, “Will I ever get around to doing that?”

Neither of these was a big project, neither took much time, but the happiness and satisfaction that I got from getting them off my to do list was amazing. Do you have any small, lingering to dos that will eliminate some mental  (or some other) clutter?

Today’s Mini Mission

Assess your cutlery drawer. Did you have more than enough knifes, folks, spoons etc to cope with a houseful of people. If so let some go. I had set aside a four person set of cutlery prior to Christmas to see if I really needed to keep them. We did run out of forks a couple of times but I could have easily washed some by hand so I think this spare set can go in a box for my daughter to take when she moves into her own place.

Eco Tip for the Day

Encourage family, friends and anyone who will listen to refuse, reuse, recycle and reduce.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

My girlfriend R stopped by my house two days before Christmas, looking mighty cross. She started spewing about how aggravated she was to be buying gifts for her many family members “just to be buying them something.” Her family is Jewish, and they celebrate Hanukkah as well. She’d tried to tell her brother that they shouldn’t exchange gifts, but his response was “Too late. I’ve already bought you something.” In addition, they don’t drawn names or limit giving to children, so everyone is giving a gift to everyone! R was definitely not feeling the holiday spirit. Here is the advice I gave to her:

First of all, you have to do what you’ve always done this year. Hanukkah is already over, and Christmas is in two days. You can’t change the rules now.

Beginning in January, though, you need to talk to your family about how you want to change your traditions. Maybe you should only do Christmas or only do Hanukkah. You could include Jews in Christmas or gentiles in Hanukkah – celebrate the holiday that works best, religiously and culturally, for your family.

Next you need to decide who you want to give to. R already gives charitable gifts to her parents. A donation to Heifer International for her dad and the elephant sanctuary in Tennessee for her mother. Maybe all her gifts should be charity; maybe she doesn’t want to continue with charitable gifts every year. In addition, she needs to think about the extended family that’s accustom to getting gifts from her: her brother, sister-in-law, their children, as well as her husband’s siblings, spouses, and their children, plus others who might be on “Santa’s” list. Does she want to eliminate all giving to adults? Draw names? Only donate to charity? Eliminate giving to everyone?

However, I also cautioned R that she can only control herself, her giving, her pocket book. She cannot force her siblings or in-laws to comply with her wishes. She can think through how she would like the gift-giving traditions in her families to evolve and make proposals. She can state firmly and clearly what she’s willing to do, but she can’t force others to bend to her will.

Today’s the day to begin this conversation: The holidays are fresh on everyone’s minds, and other people might be feeling the fiscal, temporal or environmental stress of having overbought, as well. Starting the conversation  well in advance, so no one is surprised by a sudden change in tradition, is the kindest gift of all.

Paper Free Grocery List

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that you have way too many of than you really need. This could be cutlery, crockery, glassware, craft supplies, stationery items, tool, jewellery pieces, shoes etc.

Eco Tip for the Day

Here’s one way to save paper. Write your grocery list on the fridge with a whiteboard marker and then photograph it with your cell phone and take that with you when you go shopping.

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