I have written about this before but it is an important skill when it comes to living with less stuff. But don't be deterred by the word improvise. Even though some people may have more skills at this than others, when it comes to everyday improvising I am sure everyone can do it without much thought. The reason I even bring up the subject is that much of the tools, or gadget if you like, that we have around out homes perform the same tasks as one another. So at least half of them aren't even necessary to the smooth running of our homes. A simple knife for example can, with a little … [Read more...]
Silly Season Series ~ Christmas Shopping and the power of planning
A guest post by Andréia So, there is Christmas just around the corner and the dreaded shopping season is on its way again. Some will start shopping now and not stop until Christmas day. Some will not shop at all. Some will spend way more than they can and have a January and other months filled with angst at unpaid debts and regrets at impulse shopping. One way to celebrate Christmas, for those of us who celebrate it, is to not buy gifts at all. But we want to celebrate the season and gifting one another seems a very warm way to do it. But the gifting has to have meaning and be useful. … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday – Whistle while you declutter
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. These mini missions are brought to you by the ever amusing ~ Nicole V. “Once upon a time, a beautiful queen had a baby girl. The baby’s skin was as white as snow, and she had beautiful black hair.†From the title and opening lines, you must have guessed that the fairy tale of “Snow … [Read more...]
Silly Season Series ~ Christmas shopping for kids by Andréia
It is that time of the year again. Christmas is approaching and with it comes the shopping season. But I am not getting too deep into that in this post. I want to talk about children and their gifts. I have three young children and a host of well-intentioned extended family. That being said, it means that my children get tons of toys, every single year. I can´t seem to put a hold on my relatives, but I have developed strategies not to be sunk deep in new toys. Mind you, I might seem ungrateful, but one child can have enough toys. And sometimes a interesting and or fun experience, or … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday ~ Silly season stuff
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. The holiday season is a great time for decluttering. It always seems to be the time of year where all the weird stuff comes to the surface or at least comes to mind. And now is a great time to send it on its way. So here are some items to be on the lookout for. Monday - Declutter something … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday ~ Shapes – By Nicole V
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. This weeks Mini Missions are brought to you by Nicole V. Do you remember playing with those shape-sorter toys as a child? Apart from being fun, they were great for developing hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills. We’ll be shape-searching this week and you’ll need to find … [Read more...]
Ringing Out the Old and Welcoming the New ~ By Deb J
How many of you come to the end of the year with a bundle of paper you need to keep to prepare your taxes or because you have to be reimbursed for medical expenses or for who knows what reason? How many of you just find that at the end of the year you have piles of Stuff you can’t remember having a reason to keep? How many start the year with plans to do better and then it all falls apart? Every year I find myself going through a large personal safe of paperwork. I’ve been good about filing it away but I still have way more than I want or need. I also find myself starting a new … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday ~ Guest Prep
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. So it is that time of year again where family and friends come together to celebrate one occasion or another and sometimes a little of each. So now is a good time to eliminate some stuff messing up our homes that we wouldn't want others to see. So lets see if there is some little tweaking we can … [Read more...]
Silly Season Series Part 2 ~ Christmas/Hanukkah Gift Wrapping
This post was contributed to 365 Less Things by Deb J Gift wrapping is one of the big “chores†of the Christmas/Hanukkah season. A later post in this series will talk about alternative gifts for adults but for those who take part in gift giving among family and friends decluttering wrapping supplies can make a big difference. Every year as you walk through the stores you see a big assortment of wrapping papers, bows, bags, gift tags and gift boxes. I remember a time when we had a huge storage tub of wrapping supplies we would buy in the after Christmas sales and hold over for the … [Read more...]
The problem is acquiring
Clutter is very much about being keener to acquire than to let go. We acquire things we need or want but once their usefulness to us has expired we hang on to them. I feel that there are three main reasons for that and they are laziness, fear and indifference. Laziness of course refers to having the stuff there, being aware that it is a problem but refusing to deal with it because you just don't want to make the effort. Fear is all about thinking you might need it some day and keeping it just in case. And indifference is being aware that you have clutter but don't mind, don't care or even … [Read more...]