It can be very helpful to read about other peoples experiences with de-cluttering their homes. There are so many helpful tips out there on the big Wide World Web and I will explore more of them and add some more links on my page as I find time.

I have noticed while reading a few over the last couple of days that the biggest mistake for most people is setting to0 high goals. I believe, one day at a time, one room at a time, one drawer at a time are often goals easier reached and less daunting to consider.

Do what works for you and if something looks too much to handle move to another area that you feel more comfortable with. Some days you will be keener than others tackle the big jobs then.

Today while writing my blog I scanned my craft area knowing that there must be something there that could go. I found an old binder  with school photos in. I have three perfectly good photo archive boxes that these photos could easily fit in, so I moved the photos to there and have put the binder in the donation box. Now I have a nice space where I can put the birthday card file that has been crammed somewhere else untidily for months.

We have all seen advertisements for product that enticed us into believing that “I just can’t do without that!” and “I must have one!”  We have fallen in love with the idea that the advertisement is selling. I say idea because even though the idea is great that doesn’t mean that the product is going to live up to the expectation that you have drawn up in your head.

The tip today to save you money and wasted space is to get on your computer and look for product reviews for these “must have” items before you rush out to buy them. Granted you can’t always believe the reviews either but if there is any doubt that the item won’t live up to your expectations and is probably just going to become a dust collector in you home, then you need to think twice about buying it.

I need a new mixer at the moment but the one that seems to suit my need the best doesn’t have good reviews so I am taking my time looking for alternatives that may work better for me. Lets face it if it is something you don’t need immediately you can take a bit of time to shop sensibly.

My item for today is an old pair of reading glass I have kept “just in case” but the nose rest are broken off and that causes irritation to my skin. It is time to go.

On January 15th my give-away for the day was wedding invitations that I made for a friend’s daughter’s wedding. My husband said that was a cop out and not really purging anything yet I thought this was one of my best donations yet. You see I have a lot of papercrafting items such as tools, cardstock , paper, adhesive, embelishments…. but I really haven’t been doing a lot of papercrafting lately.

I have previously made the invitations for the engagement party and when I was asked to do the wedding invitations I thought what a great oportunity to contribute to their special event and purge some of the supplies I had sitting useless in cupboards and drawers.

This generous offer of time, effort and supplies made me feel good not only because of the purge but because I have saved the couple quite a few dollars as well and enjoyed the creative outlet.

Don’t forget the object of this exercise of 365 less things. The contribution doesn’t have to be big it just has to be everyday to make a difference.

Today’s object was another item we sold on eBay.

A couple of days ago I added my bicycle to the things that are to go to charity. I have owned a bike since I was about nine years old. I rode a bike to school almost every day from that age. I bought my first new bike when I was about sixteen and when I started working for my parents’ business at the age of nineteen I used the bike to deliver the monthly accounts.

The use of the bicycle got less and less once I was married and had children but it has been one of those thing that I have always owned and relied on during a long period of my life. I have never not owned one since the age of nine. The one I am giving away has been ridden so few times in the ten years I have owned it that the little rubber spiky bits haven’t worn off the tyres.

It took a long time to decide I really wasn’t going to get the use out of it that I hoped. I would have like to ride it to work but then I would have needed to shower once I got there and there is no shower facility at my work. I took it out for one last test ride just to be sure and decided I really didn’t enjoy it and it was time to let go.

My point is the just because you have always owned a particular thing doesn’t mean you have to have one for the rest of your life. The age old rule applies if you haven’t used it in the last twleve months then you probably aren’t ever going to. Give it to someone who will.

Today’s item is a bench grinder that also hasn’t been used in years. It sold on eBay for $20.00, a good deal for the buyer.

Another place that I have found lots of the same thing tends to accumulate over time is in the bathroom cabinet. Bottles of moisturiser in particular have this tendency. Someone gives you one as a gift, you pick up a couple at a motel you stayed at or a friend has a Body Shop party and you feel obliged to buy something and so on until there are five slightly used bottles/tubes you use on a rotational basis taking up a lot of space. My solution is to chose one today use it and only it until it is empty then move on to the next one until you are down to one and only buy another when that one is about to run out. This is only one little de-clutter but every little thing helps in the quest to getting organised and making space.

Goodbye to another sports item that hasn’t been used for years

Rule number one of de-cluttering…

Just because you have something that was given to you as a gift doesn’t mean you can’t get rid of it.

A quick story to emphasise this point. When moving house once when I was a teenager we were packing up a clock that had hung on the kitchen wall for as long as I could remember and for just as long it had been 10 minutes fast. One of us said to Mum “Isn’t is time we got rid of that stupid clock it has never kept time properly” and my Mum’s response was “I can’t get rid of it, it was a wedding present”.

While carrying the box  the clock was sitting in up the stairs to the new house, it fell out of the box and smashed to a hundred pieces all over the stairs. My mother laughed and said “well that’s the end of that”, swept it up and seemed quite happy to see  the last of it. She clearly didn’t care for the clock and had kept it all that time just because someone had given it to her.

Lets face it, people don’t scope your house for the gifts they have given you when the come to visit, and if they do well that’s just a little weird. Maybe they will learn to stop buying you stuff that is not appreciated and is only likely to make it to the next garage sale.

This goes both ways so next time there is an occasion where gift giving is appropriate, donate something to a charity on their behalf or buy them something consumable like chocolate,  fresh flowers or a fruit basket.

Todays item is a bike that has rarely been ridden in the ten years since I bought it. I am donating it to “The Bike Guy” in Newcastle who collects bikes from all over and passes them back on to anyone who drops by who wants one.

How many of you have all the following cleaning products cluttering up that space in the laundry cupboard,  under the kitchen sink or in the garage.

Microfibre Cloth & Water
• Window Cleaner
• Car Wash
• Floor Cleaner

Toilet Cleaner
• Drain Cleaner
• Mould Spray
• Bleach

Cream Cleanser
• Metal Cleaner
• Stove Top Cleaner

All Purpose Spray
• Shower Cleaner

Carpet Spot Cleaner
• Pre-Wash Spray

In my experience you only need the four products hi-lighted to do most of the cleaning jobs around the home. Toilet cleaner with bleach will do the job of all of the products in the same group.  Carpet spot cleaner will double as a pre-wash spray when doing the laundry and in my experience will do it better. Water will do the job of window cleaner, car wash and floor cleaner when used with the right micro-fibre cleaning cloth/mitt. All of the products in the cream cleaser group with do much the same job as one another and the multi-purpose spray will cover most of the other jobs that need doing around the home. Micro fibre really is the key to a clean home not chemicals. So cut down on the chemical, it not only save space it save money as well.

Today’s item is another pair of shoes that haven’t been worn in the last three years.

Lets face it, we all have clothes in our closet we haven’t worn for some time that for one reason or another we are reluctant to part with. Well, today I have a plan to help you sort out your closet and at the same time take away the difficult part of that task, choosing. Pick a friend someone you have known for a least a couple of years  who you trust and value their opinion. Ask them to help you go through your closet and decide for you the items that they feel need to go. Since they have known you for a reasonable amount of time they will know what clothes they have never or rarely seen you in and because you value their opinion they should feel free to tell you which items are out-dated or just wrong for you. You never know you might both have a bit of fun in the process.

Today’s item – A pair of Doc Martins although good, rarely worn.

The idea behind 365 less things is not only to rid our home of clutter but also not to replace that clutter with new clutter. I like to refer to it as “dematerialise”, that is to stop being a victim to the constant materialistic urge to keep up with the Jones or use “retail therapy” to put joy into my life.

I am now getting lots of joy sending things out to other homes that might need it more than I do and saving my hard earned cash to use where I feel I get more satisfaction, like travelling or going out for a nice meal somewhere special or paying off the mortgage quickly. These things may not appeal to you but maybe your old car isn’t going to last much longer and you keep thinking you can’t afford to replace it but at the same time you just spent $100 on that new blouse at Country Road and picked up the latest Bryce Courtney Novel you had been meaning to read. There goes $135 you won’t get back and you most likely couldn’t fit another item of clothing in your overstuffed closet and you could have borrowed the book from the library for free.

Think before you spend “Need, want, need, want” which is it and make the smart choice.

Today two pair of sneakers found their way to the garbage bin. Soon we won’t have to stack shoes on top of each other in the shoe cupboard.