Recreational shopping, I wish it was an oxymoron like – unbiased opinion or seriously funny- but unfortunately it’s not. As the title suggests, people do approach shopping as a form of recreation. Sadly, having disposable income isn’t always considered a necessity in the pursuit of such entertainment. Hence the abysmal levels of credit card debt in the Western world. Although I can’t claim to be innocent of taking part in the past, I can honestly say that I did not contribute to the credit card debt statistics. Never the less, it is something I am not proud of and I am glad I learnt to be a more responsible shopper.

Shopping is one of those temporary feel good activities, like  over eating or drug use, whose high does not last long enough to outweigh the cost. The subsequent problems only perpetuate more grief.  The habit of over shopping, whether you just like new stuff or to self medicate against life’s other disappointment, is a fool’s game. Why…

1. No sooner do you have that new item than the novelty wears off and you just want more.
2. Credit card debt is only going to add to your problems if you don’t have the cash to pay for these highs.
3. Even if you can afford this habit, no amount of possessions will ever replace emotional deficiencies in your life.
4. If you start to rely on shopping as your main form of recreation then there is a good chance you are ignoring other much healthier and worthwhile pursuits.
5. Whether you are happy to ignore the environment or not, everything you  buy is placing a strain on the planet’s natural resources.
6. Even if the natural resources were infinite, the pollution involved in producing these products is not good for you or the environment.

If you think you have fallen victim of this insidious modern day scourge please consider replacing it with a more productive activity. I would suggest a regular exercise routine or sport, a hobby or volunteering your time to help others. All of these activities are a much more valuable use of your time.

P.S. Thank you Bobbi for suggesting this post topic.

ITEM 290 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Another of my husband’s computer games to be donated. He decided that this item wasn’t just wasting space but also his precious time.

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. Spending the day with my parents yesterday.
2. Comments from my readers – I haven’t had the time to read yet but I am looking forward to doing so tomorrow.
3. No weekend work shift for the first time in three years.
4. A $7.90 train ticket that used to cost 2o something dollars – Score one for encouraging people to use public transport.
5. Everything I have learnt in the last ten months about pointless shopping.

With fear that lately I have started to sound like some of the nuns I remember from my school days, preaching hell and damnation day in day out, I thought I might write something a little more upbeat today.

I’d like to point out the joy that can be found in decluttering your home. This joy can be appreciated from day one, not just at the end of the journey. See if you can identify with the joy of…..

• A Fresh Start – It is never too late to begin a new phase in your life. Cut yourself some slack and don’t dwell on the past. Acknowledge the things you got right and learn the lesson of your follies but either way do not dwell on the regrets, just enjoy the fresh start you are making.

• More Space – It really does feel good as the clutter starts to disappear and you begin to feel the freedom of the empty space growing around you. This feeling can be appreciated from the very first item and increases over time. Take a moment to focus on that freedom with every little piece of clutter you choose to remove and the process will be one filled with joy rather than dread.
• Less Maintenance – It stands to reason that the fewer items cluttering up your home, the easier it is to keep your surroundings clean and tidy. Every item you remove is one less thing you need to maintain in any way whether dusting, cleaning or storing. Also house cleaning will be simpler if there are fewer items to be moved in order to access the surface under them such as benches and floors. And ya gotta love that!

• Guilt Relief – We generally carry a burden of guilt for every item associated with the waste of money involved with its acquisition and lack of use. For every one of these items that leaves our home there is a relief from that guilt so long as we have learned the lesson of needless waste.

• Giving Back – Whether we sell items to grateful buyers on eBay, donate items to charity, give items away to friends and family or find a way to recycle them there is an good feeling that accompanies that action. Focus on these good feelings and it will spur you on in your quest.

• Appreciation – You will find that you have a higher appreciation for the items you choose to keep and their role in your household.

• Being Environmentally Responsible – For every unnecessary item you don’t purchase and for every item that you liberate to someone who might need it, you are doing a small deed to save the environment. For every item that is manufactured there is a cost whether in natural resources or carbon emissions, so the less you contribute to the supply and demand of these products the better hope there is for our planet’s survival.

• Simplifying -There is more to this topic than the title implies. I will elaborate in a separate post tomorrow but rest assured there is plenty of joy to be found by simplifying.

ITEM 284 OF 365 LESS THINGS

A few more odds and ends for the donation box

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. Sick pay – I couldn’t work yesterday as it is a bit hard to sell furniture without a voice.
2. Freedom of choice – This is something we take for granted in Western society.
3. Roast dinner – They are so easy to make and so yummy to eat.
4. Art – This is something everyone in my family enjoys and can share the interest.
5. Kisses – They really are the cure for everything.

Decluttering Kid Birthday Parties

A guest post by Cindy Bogard

Last week on Day 252 I covered family birthday parties without clutter, but what about the crazy excess that comes from a big bash with a bunch of kids? There are so many gifts and so much waste generated by the average party. Most seem to end with a big Santa sack of gifts and an equally big one of trash.

The quickest way to cut down on waste is by restricting the number of kids. In my experience, though, the kids want to invite everyone in their class until second or third grade. (My parents restricted me to one guest per year of age, but I have not continued with this rule in my own parenting.)

My next idea requires buy-in from your kids, but I know it can be done because it’s common in my younger daughter’s class. Gifts are gathered at the birthday party for a charity, not for the birthday child. The animal shelter has been popular, but we’ve also collected gifts for the women’s and children’s shelters.

You could also have a wishing well where a gift of cash is put by each child and the money could be donated to the charity of their choice or kept to put in the child’s college fund. I have been to weddings where they have wishing wells and it is very convenient for both the giver and the receiver.

And what about those (often) junky, plastic-filled goodie bags that somehow have become a requirement at all parties? If your party involves a craft, decorate paper bags too, and let the craft go into the bag and be the party favor. Otherwise, I encourage you to either give something functional (we’ve given marker sets and pool noodles and have received socks) or skip this step completely. I honestly don’t think the kids will notice, and I think the parents will be grateful you haven’t added to their junk load.

As for the party trash itself, in many cities, gift wrap and tissue can be recycled. Gift bags, cute decorations and bows can always be saved for another go around.

I encourage the use of non-disposables at the party. I have two dozen glass plates I bought at thrift stores and another two dozen reusable plastic plates. I use my real silverware, and if I need more, I use the plasticware that will be washed and reused. I serve the kids’ beverages out of a large container and do not use bottled water or juice boxes. I use my own glasses, and if I need more, I use the sturdy plastic ones that restaurants give out with their kids’ meals. I put a piece of tape on the cup and write the child’s name with Sharpie. When I have to use paper plates or cups, I write the kids’ names on both the plate and cup.

Even if you’re having your party at a park or special venue, bringing your own reusable party wear and taking it away afterwards are not hard. An extra box or picnic basket will help you tote the load.

The first time my Mom saw me setting up a party like this she asked, “Is this what your friends do?” I replied, “I don’t have to follow my friends, Mom. I can lead them.”

From Colleen

One the subject of Children’s parties I have a little Aussie treat that has always been popular at kids parties in Australia since way back when. This treat is called Fairy Bread and all it is is pieces of bread butters with sprinkles on top. (the sprinkles you would put on a cake) so simple but always well received. Give it a try.

ITEM 257 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Just one more odd item that never finds it’s way to the top of the utensil drawer

Recluttering

A Guest Post by Cindy Bogard

It’s bound to happen sometime; you’re going to have to break down and buy something. Before you do, consider these factors:

1. Do I need it?
2. Do I want it?
3. Did I come into the store looking for this item, or did it just catch my eye?
4. Would I be criticized if my spouse or family members knew that I had purchased this?
5. Can I afford it? If I cannot pay for it now, should I buy it?
6. Can I wait a week and see if I still believe I need to buy this?
7. I am buying it “just to try it”? If I am, is there some other way that I could try it first?
8. Can I borrow it or rent it instead?
9. Can I buy it used?
10. Can I share the purchase of this item with someone else? (Lawn tools, exercise equipment, a bicycle, or magazine subscriptions all fall into this category.)
11. Have I researched this purchase? Is this item durable and does it do the things I want?
12. Will this item be easy use, maintain, and keep organized? Does this item perform more than one function?
13. Do I have something at home that will perform the same function? Will it replace one or more other things that I already have? Am I willing to move those other things along? Do I truly need to replace those things?
14. Do I have a place to store this item? Do I know that it fits?
15. Is it in a color or style that I will continue to enjoy? Does it fit with my décor or the other things in my wardrobe?
16. What is it made of? Where was it made? Are the components healthy for me and the environment? Is it labeled for recycling? Is it made of recycled parts?
17. Can I sell it when I no longer want it?

ITEM 244 OF 365 LESS THINGS

These are almost too cute to part with

Everyone seems to have at least one clutter weakness. Mine was paper crafting supplies and magazines. Even when I was at the height of my paper crafting days I think I was more addicted to shopping for supplies than I was to using them. I did do quite a bit of the craft but I bought a whole lot more than I was ever going to need even if I had continued at the crafting pace I was at.

I am not sure what really turned me off my addiction but I think it may have been photo clutter. The beauty of digital photography is also its downfall. You can take as many photos as you can fit on you DS card, Compact Flash or your computer hard drive for that matter. Add in an external hard drive and all of a sudden you are drowning in photos. I think I just got tired of sorting through them to find the “best ones” for the a album I wanted to make. Photo burnout was inevitable.

For some people their addiction is books. I always used to think this was where they would read a book and not want to part with it but I have read recently on more than one blog that people buy books and don’t even get around to reading them. Much the same as my craft supply clutter I suppose.

I would like to challenge my readers to admit to what their clutter addiction is today, google for some advice as to how to overcome it and do something to start working on the problem this week. Meanwhile I will make the effort to get some of my craft supplies up for sale in eBay.

I feel like I should be saying…”my name is Colleen and I am a paper craft supplies addict” but I am not any more. I am just Colleen who needs to do something about ridding myself of the substance of my old addiction. There is no better time like the present so I am going jump over to eBay now and start listing.

ITEM 223 OF 365 LESS THINGS

This batch of scrapbook magazines are today’s offering and I have listed 3 other paper crafting items on eBay. Wish me luck!

Last Monday, Day 214, my post was about supply and demand. I promised to keep track of my efforts to avoid being wasteful all week and let you know how I went. The idea is to lower the demand for items therefore lessen the necessity to supply them.

Well here is the result…

• I avoided using throw away utensils and containers when eating out. Luckily at most cafes here in Australia coffee comes in china cups unless you order it to go and they have metal utensils so this wasn’t difficult to achieve.
• As usual I didn’t bag up my fruit and vegetable when at the supermarket so no plastic bags wasted here.
• I also took my own carry bags to the supermarket so once again no plastic bags wasted.
• I walked to work on Thursday and car pooled on Monday saving some gas.
• I mended two items of clothing so they could be worn again instead of being replaced.
• I returned some wire coat hangers to the drycleaners so they could be reused.
• I used Tupperware containers to store some individual chicken breast fillets  in the freezer rather than putting them in plastic freezer bags like I normally would. I will be doing this all the time in future.
• I ate porridge for breakfast all week to use up some oats that were getting a little old in the cupboard. I would have bought a new packet of cereal otherwise.
• We have been eating “end of day” bread all week that was given to my son by a friend who works at a bread shop. This bread would have ended up in a dumpster otherwise and I would have bought fresh bread.
• I oiled and seasoned the vegetables before roasting in a bowl rather than in a plastic bag like I usually would. Once again I will be doing this all the time in future.
• I have been buying my meat at the butcher where even though they still put the cuts in a plastic bag they don’t use Styrofoam trays. Another new habit I will stick with. Actually I might take my own container in future eliminating the plastic bags altogether.
• Aside from groceries and a new lid for my skillet I bought nothing else all week. This has become the norm for me though.

My husband spent the last three weeks in Hawaii and as instructed bought me back no gifts. He does want to buy me a new iPad to replace this laptop that I write my blogs on but this old faithful is going to have to falter more than it already is before I will let him replace it. I am getting used to its little quirks anyway and maybe some times I have to wait a while for it to load things but that is not to bad.

I know all this may not seem like much in the big scheme of things but if everyone made a little more effort to cut back the world would be better for it. I am quite happy with my efforts and I pledge to continue to find more ways to improve.

ITEM 221 OF 365 LESS THINGS

I don’t know how many year it is since my husband used this dart set.

There is an election going on at the moment here in Australia. The politicians often jump on the environmental bandwagon to win votes. The issues they promise they are going to address when they win are just a drop in the bucket to what really needs doing.

In fact they aren’t prepared to do much at all when it comes to the manufacturing of pointless garbage like…

• the free toys in kids meals and other promotional products
• wasteful single use gadgets
• shoddy appliances that don’t last and can’t be repaired
• Disposable cutlery & plates
• Cheap souvenirs
• The sheer quantity of seasonal decorations
• Gas guzzling cars
• And the over-packaging of most of the above

just to name a few.

Generating manufacturing creates economic wealth and employment regardless of how unnecessary the end resulting items are.  So no politician is going to put a stop to any of that. So we will just keep on causing massive pollution until the supply and demand of these products are eliminated. The only thing that is going to have an effect on this is you the consumer.

Supply and demand is just that. If we stop demanding (buying) it they will stop supplying it. It is really that simple. No manufacturer is going to make something that no one is buying. Supply will always be limited to demand and even if that just reduces the quantities supplied it would be a great improvement for the environment.

Think twice about what you are doing with your money and your actions.

• Don’t accept free useless stuff just because it is free
• Avoid using plastic utensils when you are eating out.
• Take a carry bag with you when you go shopping so you don’t have to accept plastic bags
• When buying a new car buy what you need not some gas guzzling monstrosity just because it looks cool
• Use the same decorations year in year out. It is possible to celebrate an occasion without polluting the planet.
• You can julienne vegetables, crush garlic, chop an onion, dice an apple, slice potatoes… with just one gadget, a knife. Sure it might take longer but unless you are running a restaurant kitchen will the time saved really make that much difference.

See what you can do this week to reduce supply and demand. I will keep a track of my efforts and let you know next Sunday how I went.

ITEM 214 OF 365 LESS THINGS

You can sell just about anything on ebay. This item made a nice $14.00.

I happened upon a conversation at my work this week where one of the ladies was talking about getting money from petty cash to buy a new kettle for the lunch room. The old kettle still works quite well but due to who knows what in the water the inside of the kettle goes quite black over time.

This new kettle buying has gone on in the past in fact I rescued the last kettle from it’s certain demise with the simple hint that I am about to share with you. Clearly word had not got around that I knew the secret of cleaning the kettle. I find this very odd because as you might have guessed by now, I am quite opinionated, hate waste and am not adverse to notifying everyone of any small piece of brilliance I possess.

So here was my opportunity to shine once again! I informed the person involved that I have the power to solve this problem. I am sure she thought I was quite “full of it” and didn’t believe me for one minute but was prepared to be amazed. And amaze her I did.

As luck would have it I had brought a lemon into work that very day to give to her (but that is a whole other story which I won’t bore you with)  so I cut off a slice threw it in the kettle, filled it up with water and put it on to boil. At first I thought it wasn’t going to work and I was going to look like a prize idiot but I don’t give up that easy. I left it there to soak and came back a while later and sure enough a gleaming white kettle was what greeted my eye.

Of course I gloated well over my brilliance to everyone prepared to listen so hopefully the next time the kettle gets to this state everyone will know how to fix it and won’t rush out to replace it.

I may have embellished this story to my detriment but that was just a bit of fun. Really I am very pleased to have saved that kettle from the trash and avoided one more notch in the belt of unnecessary supply and demand.

ITEM 213 OF 365 LESS THINGS

These game used baseball bats fetched $90 on eBay

Yesterday  was my son’s 19th birthday and what did I buy him? NOTHING. Yes that is right nothing at least not material things that linger around for years to come. Being a young person he is not rolling in cash so he received the one thing he needed, money.

You may be thinking “what kind of unthoughtful mother is she not even making an effort for her own son’s birthday”. Well I didn’t say I didn’t make an effort. Before I went to work I baked him a lovely chocolate cake with yummy chocolate ganache frosting. I don’t keep candles and that sort of stuff any more but I made a cute happy birthday sign out of some card stock and a rubber stamp and attached it with toothpicks. We also had take-out for dinner from his favourite Mexican restaurant.

The night before his birthday was officially the start of his “birthday week” which means  two things…

1. I do all his chores for the week. So far I have taken out the trash and recycling and put the bins on the street and brought them back in, emptied the dishwasher and  picked up after him a few times. Quite frankly it is easier work than nagging him to do it which is the usual routine.
2. He also gets to make a few “reasonable requests” throughout the week which I can either choose to comply with or not. For instance today he asked for some money to go out and buy lunch. No biggy, so I gave him a few dollars and he was a happy young man. I am sure he will milk this for all it is worth before the week is up but that is OK, I did say “if I choose to comply”.

So it is possible to be non-materialistic for someone’s birthday even a nineteen year old boy. There is no pressure to find just the right gift and everyone is happy.

ITEM 209 OF 365 LESS THINGS

This donation if off to it’s third owner. I got it second hand and now I am passing it on to someone else. It may have had more owners than that even, because who know how many hands it went through before it got to me.

Below I have listed some alternatives to clutter gifts. By clutter gifts I mean anything that is not consumable or an act of service that will remain in your home after it is has been used.

Edible Treats

• Chocolate/Candy
• Cake (provide a cake for someones happy occasion)
• Fruit basket (what could be more colorful or healthy than that)
• Bottle of wine / 6 pack of Boutique Beer…
• A home cooked meal is always a treat for a special occasion
• A cookie basket
• Take them out to dinner/lunch/ breakfast etc

Gift Certificate

• Dining Out
• Hardware
• Groceries
• Spa Treatments
• Travel Vouchers
• Personal promise to do some household chores

Donations

• Give a donation to your favourite charity in the name of the gift recipient
• Donate your time to help out a charity on their behalf

Time

• Spend quality time together
• Do a favour that will save someone precious time
• Take care to someones children so they can have quality time with their significant other
• Recharge a prepaid cell phone for more communication time

Garden

• Plants/cuttings/seedlings/flowers
• Doing some gardening for them
• Mowing their lawn
• Prune bushes

Friends

• Arrange a get together with a group of friends
• Bring two old friend together

Entertainment

• Buy tickets to a show/event
• Take them out to a show/event
• Ipod downloads

If you have some ideas, and I am sure there are many I haved listed here, please leave a comment and I will add your suggestions to the Uncluttered Gifts Page I have created so that we can all refer back to easily in the future.

ITEM 199 OF 365 LESS THINGS

If you do take someone to an event as a gift please discourage this souvenir clutter