I uncomplicated this decluttering effort

One more empty box

Keeping in mind that I have been fitfully decluttering craft supplies for the last two years  today I did something a little outrageous. Well outrageous for me anyway. I threw some perfectly good mat board in the recycling bin. Yes you heard me I threw something perfectly usable in the recycling bin.

The thing is they were also perfectly recyclable but it was a case of faff around with them forever or make an instant decision to get them out of here. I chose the later. You see I have a hard time wasting anything that is even remotely creatively useful and the mat board has been shuffled around in the continuous craft room reshuffle for two years for just that reason and I was over it. In my defence they were small pieces that had limited use but use none the less.

Two entries on Facebook over the last couple of days lead to me make this decision. One was in relation to decluttering unfinished craft projects and the comment or rather question which almost sounded like a plea was this ~ “But what should I do with it?” The second was a status from Mr Green @ My Zero Waste ~ “Morning all; really trying to find energy / motivation to declutter (sans landfill of course!) any tips to ease the butt glue I’m experiencing?”

The former (although possibly about something far more valuable than my mat board) got me thinking that sometimes it just complicates the issue of letting go if you make the letting go too difficult in relation to the objects worth. And the latter says to me that you can’t keep paying for the sins of your past wastefulness by continuing to allow things to be closetfill in a vain attempt to save them from landfill.

Yes I could have put it up for grabs on Freecycle or even cut it into small mats, bundled them up and sold them on ebay. Maybe a craft group or the school up the street could have found a use for them but, chances are, making this effort would probably have resulted in cluttering up someone else space who also can’t let a useful bargain pass them by. After all that is how I acquired them in the first place.

So I did myself a favour for once and saved myself the bother. The time it would have taken to find a new home for them just wouldn’t have been worth the effort. And it’s not as thought they went to land fill. They will be recycled into some other useful paper based product.

Like I said before, I have a hard time parting with stuff that I find to be creatively useful and I probably would have keep passing over these for some time but I had a better use for both the box they were in and the space they were taking up. So I took the bandaid approach to decluttering and ripped those suckers off real fast and out to the recycling bin before I changed my mind. Don’t worry this isn’t something I am going to make a habit of.

Today’s Declutter Item and the subject of today’s post

Mat Board

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I was a little off colour on the weekend but am grateful I am feeling much better today. I am weary after a busy day but I feel well and that is good.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

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My Linen Supplies

Read this comment from Sue D as it was the catalyst for today’s post.

I find it interesting that linen is Sue D’s nemesis when it comes to decluttering yet I am not surprised. The thing with items such as linen is that eventually you are going to need some of them and that makes them hard to part with. Although I have decluttered my linen storage spaces on more than one occasion over the last two years, and am satisfied with its current state, there are still more things in there than are really necessary.

I have…

  • 5 sets of queen bed sheets for two queen beds in the house. Three sets should be enough considering one bed is the guest bed that doesn’t even have sheets on most of the time. One set is still in the package I bought them in. I won’t be decluttering any of these for now.
  • 6 sets of bath towels (12 total) with matching hand towels for only two adults and the occasional guests. I stocked up when living in America because they were so much cheaper to buy there. But really towels last a very long time and 4 sets would be more than enough.
  • 4 beach towels. I have to admit these are rarely ever all required at once. Even though we have beautiful beaches here in Newcastle I am not a sun worshiper and usually only go to the beach for the view not for swimming or playing in the sand. Liam uses the these towels occasionally though.
  • There are a couple of ratty old towels as well for spills or messy jobs I wouldn’t like to use my good towels for.
  • 1 spare queen duvet cover. Not necessary as both queen beds have a cover and the spare is a dark aubergine colour which makes our now smaller bedroom feel even smaller and dark. And managing without a cover isn’t a problem should one not make it off the clothes line  in time.
  • 2 sets of double bed sheet for my son’s bed. This is fine. But I just realised there are also two extra double bed fitted sheets so they can go.
  • Another 8 towels in the downstairs bathroom. These were purchased when I  had a teenage girl at home so 8 really wasn’t too many then. They don’t take up much space so I will declutter these as they become shabby and or send some of them off with my son if/when he leaves home. There are also 4 hand towels and 6 face washers.
  • 1 table cloth which has only rarely ever been used and on reflection is a bit silly keeping it because it is a huge oblong and we now have a small round table. Perhaps I could cut it down to fit. I don’t even like table clothes really so why bother. We don’t stand on ceremony when it comes to dining, in our house it is all very casual and that’s the way I like it. So I think the thrift shop will be receiving a nice maroon table cloth this week.
  • There are a few spare pillow slips but some of them can go as the spares from the extra sheet sets will suffice should we suddenly end up with lots of guests. And even that is unlikely.
  • In the camphor wood chest there is a spare queen and a spare single duvet (doona) also in case we get extra guests. Those guest would have to be young people who don’t care where they sleep because we only have the three beds.

You will be able to see from the photos below that although the list above seems long and more than adequate the items themselves don’t take up all that much space. Granted one set of queen bed sheets are on the spare bed while my daughter is staying and she is using two towels out of the cupboard under the bathroom basin. But even if those items are put back the space taken up is still minimal. So I  think that most of the stuff will be staying except the items I pointed out which are now out of the closet and photographed as my declutter item for the day.

Up Stairs Linen Closet

The Down Stairs Linen Supplies

To some it up, when it comes to linen one needs to carry spares but there is not need to have excess beyond the spares. Does it make sense to declutter perfectly good items that will one day become necessary due to natural progression? That depends on whether you are prepared to house them and for how long. Some up your space situation, your tastes and preferences and the actual necessity for items that are rarely used and make your decisions based on that information.

Even as I end this post I am thinking do I care if I end up at the beach one day with a bath towel and the answer is no. So I suppose two of those beach towels could probably go after all.

Today’s Declutter Item

The linen that didn't make the cut. 1 Duvet cover, 1 large table cloth, 2 double bed fitted sheets and 2 pillow slips.

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I had fun with the kids. B and I hired a bike each while Liam used his and we rode down the Fernleigh Track to Whitebridge and back again.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

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Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – Too Good to Use

Cindy

Do you own anything that’s “too good to use”? I bet you do. I started this post by asking my mother. The first thing she said was, “Yes, and do you know what a mistake that was?” What I think is really interesting about this story is that it took my Mom less than a second to think of an answer and that the item in question was given to her as a wedding gift 49 years ago. You’ll be surprised what it was. Here’s what she said:

“Yes, and you know what a mistake that was? When we were first married, we were given a twin blanket that was ‘too good to use.’ We were sharing a twin bed then and could have used it from day one, but we didn’t. Then we got a queen bed, and since the blanket was a twin, it didn’t fit and was still ‘too good to use.’ I think about 10 years ago, it was the junk blanket that Ken (my father) used in the back of the truck.”

Wow! From “too good to use” to junky blanket in the back of a truck. What a waste of a perfectly “too good” blanket.

One of us grandkids gave my grandmother a sort of wine goblet with a half dozen rose-shaped soaps in it. The whole thing was wrapped in plastic. Those rose-shaped soaps never got used, and when my Grandmother died, the soaps were still sitting there, wrapped in now-dusty plastic. Why? I know she wanted to enjoy looking at them, but it would have made more sense to enjoy looking at them for a year and then enjoy using them for another year. Why were rose-shaped soaps ‘too good to use’?

Perhaps you have a beautiful necklace that you think is ‘too good to use’ except on very special occasions. If you really love it, and if it’s not so special that the guards from the insurance company are following you around when it’s on your neck, then why not wear it to work or church? Are you really going to enjoy it more if you only wear it once a year versus once a month? Or even everyday? I have a beautiful and expensive necklace, and it’s rare that I don’t wear it. It amazes me that after five years of almost daily wearing, I still get regular compliments on it.

When you have something that you treasure and you don’t use it, you’re not honoring that item, nor are you honoring yourself. It’s not too good to be used; that’s why it was made, and you certainly deserve to use something “too good.” What do you own that’s creating clutter by being “too good to use”?

Today’s Declutter Item

Still on a roll when it comes to decluttering with my daughter. Today we have some 3rd birthday cards who we can’t identify the giver of (gone to recycling), an old jazz ballet costume (thrift shop), 2 baseball sun visors (surprised she was willing to part with the Yankees one),  these will go to a baseball fan helper at the thrift shop, her baby music toy which has perished and broken from old age and one crazy looking rag doll she made some time ago (both binned).

More of my Daughter's Stuff

Something I Am Grateful For Today

 Having a nice dinner with a friend and to make it even better my daughter cooked for us. A great little girls night in. Hubby is out of town and Liam was out with friends.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Comments (63)

Organizing Your Recipes for a Clutter Free Life

I’m sure that some of you have all your recipes on-line and (could it be?) don’t have a cookbook of any sort in your house. Most of you, I know, have from some to many cookbooks plus a personal recipe file or binder. As I wrote last week, I have a couple of cookbooks, and I have a rather large recipe binder, which I use almost exclusively.

My binder is not a thing of beauty; however, it suits me perfectly. I made it from a 4″ binder, plastic sleeves, dividers, and colored paper, all of which I had in our office supply cupboard. My divisions are

  1. Poultry

    My Recipe File

  2. Beef
  3. Pork
  4. Vegetarian Entrees
  5. Fish
  6. Soup
  7. Pizza, Tacos, Sandwiches
  8. Hot Pasta
  9. Cold Pasta, Salads
  10. Veggie Sides, Grains, Beans
  11. Breakfast
  12. Cookies
  13. Other Desserts
  14. Appetizers, Sauces, Beverages

The recipes I have tried and want to make again are at the front of each section. Recipes I hope to make are stored behind these. I try to be brutal in deciding if a recipe is worthy of being added to the book. I hope to make any recipe that I clip from a magazine or newspaper within the next month, preferably within the next week; otherwise, it’s in danger of becoming aspirational clutter. In addition, I try to be honest about what I really will make. I am a successful and functional family cook. I am not a gourmand (or as we like to call them in the United States, I am not a “foodie.”)  While Chicken with Garbonzo Beans and Fennel may sound delightful, the truth is that in the last 48 years, I have never to my knowledge eaten fennel, and I am not likely to start now. To store the recipe would be to add aspirational clutter to my cookbook.

I use the on-line source allrecipes.com for the majority of my explorations into new recipes. I occasionally see a recipe on-line that I’d like to make and store it in the “recipe box” that All Recipes provides, but most of the time I make the recipe by reading it right off the computer. If I like it, it gets printed and stored in the binder. If not, I just shut down the computer.

It’s easy to pull recipes out of the newspaper and magazines, especially if you have a subscription to a cooking magazine such as Vegetarian Times or Cooking Light. Try to be realistic. Clipping more recipes that you can or will ever make adds clutter to your life and makes it harder, not easier, to make decisions about what to have for dinner. Most of us only make a handful of recipes over and over again. That’s okay. And if the occasion ever arises where you really are going to make Lobster Nurenberg or Châteaubriand, there are plenty of on-line guides, as well as the library, to help you get that special meal just right.

In addition, to my recipe binder, I have a separate list of a few meals that I can pull together very quickly, and I keep all the ingredients for these dishes on hand at all times. Being prepared in this way prevents a mad rush to the store or the take-away place when my afternoon doesn’t seem to allow for cooking (or when I just can’t get off my hind end). These foods are:

  1.  I have a package of cooked chicken that has been diced or shredded in the freezer, as well as meal-size packages of ham. I also have a wide variety of frozen vegetables.
  2.  Six can soup. I use frozen chicken, rather than canned, and add cumin and oregano to this basic recipe.
  3. Tortillas with canned beans, cheese, and the frozen chicken.
  4. Red beans and rice mix from the pantry cooked with sausage links from the freezer.
  5. Canned chili accompanied by cornbread from a mix
  6. Spaghetti Carbonara
  7. Chicken a la King

Paper clutter is one that really bogs people down, and dealing with a bunch of unnecessary paper clutter at the same time that you’re trying to make a meal is just unnecessary. I challenge you to go to your recipe box right now and recycle 10 recipes that you know you’re never going to make. It’s okay. Let them go. There are millions and millions of delicious foods in this world. Ten recipes fewer aren’t going to keep you from a delicious life, but they could keep you from finding that recipe that you really do want.

Today’s Declutter Item

One of these cables belongs to something we don’t even own any more and the other has a US plug. So neither are of much use to us. These two will go in the trash as I think they will be of very limited demand or use here in Australia.

Unnecessary Power Cables

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Correct postage calculations on ebay sales. I love to go to the post office to mail off completed ebay actions and find the postage is exactly what I am expecting. Couple that with the fact that more stuff has left my house and I am a very happy lady.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

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Tiny Stuff Decluttering

Household Tiny Stuff

I received the following comment from Coonie on Tuesday and since this is the theme for this week’s mini missions I thought I should slip in a post about it before the week is up.

Coonie’s Comment

Hello! “Tiny stuff de-cluttering” is just what I needed. I am very organized and reduce clutter all the time, but “tiny” things elude me! All my tiny things are labeled and in containers (lol) I would love it if you could focus on this a while…name all the tiny things and what do you ask/tell yourself to reduce “the stash.” Help me know how many is too many and why not keep and store them if I have the space? I think my view definitely comes from raised in scarcity—but things aren’t scarce now. Thanks for your blog.

Firstly Coonie, well done containerising and labelling your tiny things. Working in the thrift store we often receive donations of kids games many of which have all parts missing. These toys are next to useless to us in this condition. My kids toys never had parts missing because all the small pieces were kept in ziplock bags or plastic containers and the kids were taught to take care of them.

As for “why not keep and store them if I have the space?” I would suggest that if your tiny stuff is of no consequence to you clutter wise then leave it well enough alone. Personally though I find every inch of ground gamed from something that isn’t being used or is overstocked in my home is a small victory in the war on clutter. Back on May 21st last year I wrote a Simple Saturday post about my stationery drawer declutter which just goes to prove how little things can add up to a lot of wasted space. When writing that post I was attempting to reduce yet again the amount of stuff cluttering up my craft space. And now after several more sessions of removing tiny items, small items and some bigger stuff from that area I have managed to declutter two sets of plastic drawers which took up about five square feet of space.

Tiny stuff tends to come in four categories. 1. Stuff that your actually use but is a little overstocked and can be used up in a reasonable amount of time if you put your mind to it. For example travel size shampoo, motel soaps etc. 2. Stuff that is rarely used but so numerous that it would take years to use up. Like the hundred or more paperclips, thumb tacks and rubber bands I decluttered last year. 3. Items that grown in number due to replacing them because you couldn’t find them when you needed them, such as Allen keys, and nail clippers. And 4. Items that you just keep buying more of because you want to. Like little trinkets, jewellery, fashion accessories etc

My guide when it comes to tiny stuff is if you aren’t using it it’s clutter. For example if you have a box of 100 paperclips and you use about six in a year then keep about a dozen (and that is probably too many) and get rid of the rest. The same goes for most of the little things you will find on the list below. Observe for a while how often you use these things and adjust how many you have in proportion to how many you will use over perhaps one year. As for the small items that accumulate due to being misplaced the best method to keep track of them is to always put them back in the same place. I know that rule sounds fundamental but it isn’t a rule always observed. Once you have this down pat you can safely declutter the excess. As for the “I just want them” things, declutter the ones you no long want or are useless due to damage on a regular basis. If you still want them they aren’t clutter.

Don’t buy tiny items in bulk just because it appears to make economic sense unless you share the cost and the quantity with a friend or family member. Such as make-up sponges, Post-it note pads, boxes of staples, pens etc. If the shared quantity is still too many give the rest away to other loved ones. It is so tempting to buy 1000 of something when it only cost one and a half times as much as 100 but then you are stuck with them for what seems like an eternity and they take up four times as much space as the smaller quantity would have. Keep in mind some items perish and become useless if left unused for an extended period of time.

Tiny Things

  • Jewellery ~ Necklaces, earrings, brooches, pins, tie pins, cufflinks, bracelets, bangles, watches…
  • Stationery ~ pens, pencils, markers, paperclips, rubber bands, post-it notes pads, bookmarks…
  • Toileties ~ Samples, travel size, make-up items, nail clippers, nail files, cotton balls, make-up sponges…
  • Hardware ~ Nails, screws, nuts, bolts, rivets, washers, picture hooks, Allen keys…
  • Kitchenware ~ corn holders, skewers, muffin/cupcake papers, cutlery, twist ties…
  • Sewing equipment ~ Pins, needles, buttons, clips, cotton reals, machine bobbins, safety pins…
  • Household items other ~ Keys, key rings, zip ties, …
  • Craft ~ Beads, findings, embellishments, stamps, buttons, tacks, picture clippings, off cuts of wood and paper…

Ways to dispose of

  • Jewellery ~ Give to friends or loved ones, donate or sell, Freecycle.
  • Stationary ~ Donate to a local school, thrift shop or take into your work place to be used up.
  • Toiletries ~ Most of these can be used up and not repurchased. Make-up should be thrown away if out of date. I would not advise giving it to someone else. Excess clippers, files and applicators could be shared among friends, preferably unused.
  • Hardware ~ Donate, offer to a neighbour, friend or family member, give to your handman the next time he calls to repair something, Freecycle in batches.
  • Kitchenware ~ Donate, offer to friends or family, freecycle, sell on ebay if worth the effort.
  • Sewing equipment ~ Put together in a kit and donate to the thrift store or to your local highschool or a local craft group.
  • Household items ~ In the case of old keys they can probably be recycled. Another useful stuff could be donated or Freecycled.
  • Craft Items ~ Schools, craft groups, thrift store, local craft shop who runs classes, sell on ebay.

Today’s Declutter Item

Here is an example of decluttering little things. It may not look like much but just because it isn’t being used by us doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be useful to someone else. For every little thing hiding away in your home unused someone else is having to buy new. Send them out there where they can be useful. And all the little things add up to a much bigger waste of space in your home than you would think.

Decluttering Little Things

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Getting rid of a batch if things to the thrift store and the craft store up the street. It is one thing to decide and divide but the clutter disappearing act is the best part. “Hey Presto!”

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Comments (48)

At first you think “I will never declutter that” but then…

When I first took on the challenge to declutter an item a day for an entire year I had my doubts whether we would even have enough items to last a year of decluttering. Two years later I am still at it.

Now don’t think for one minute that I am frustated with the idea that I am still decluttering after such a long time, far from it. Back at the start of 2010 there were many items I would not have even considered decluttering that are now long gone form my home. Items that someone in the home was not ready to part with for one reason or another whether that be sentimental or otherwise. The longer we keep at this the more ruthless we become, the more we are willing to part with and the less we own. The desire to own less has far overtaken the desire to acquire stuff.

Some items that seemed so useful at one point have proved to be more space wasters than anything else. Things that we thought were time savers by design turned out not to save enough time to warrant the space they take up. Other items worth selling were sitting idle so they were sold on ebay. Some items especially furniture items were no longer necessary once all the clutter that they contained was gone. Many items, once believed to be personal treasures, never saw the light of day. We soon realised the items weren’t necessary in order for the memories to stay in tact so out they went.

And here we are two years down the track and approximately 630 items less and I still keep finding things to declutter. So if you look at something today and think “I’ll never declutter that” don’t forget to take another look at it in a couple of months because your attitude may have changed towards it as you hone your minimalist tendencies. Pay close attention to everything in your home so you can make informed choices as to whether the things you think you use and can’t live without really are as essential as you first thought. Chances are the less you have the less you find you “need” or want.

Today’s Declutter Item

This coffee table was one of those items that wasn’t even in within the scope of our declutter radar when we first started decluttering. But it became redundant as the number of items requiring storage in our living room diminished. I wasn’t going to list it here because we had actually replaced it with a storage ottoman more in keeping with our needs and the size of the room. Unfortunately the ottoman arrived damaged and or not well made so it was returned for a refund. It really annoys me when I have taken the time to make a well considered purchase and I end up with a product that has added to the supply chain but turns out not being of the same quality as the display item in the store. For now I have no plans to replace the faulty piece of furniture we will just use the small ottoman we already own.

Coffee Table

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I have been slacking over the holiday season and although my home has been tidy its cleanliness has left a lot to be desired. Today I gave a good once over and it feels good to know it is spick-n-span again. 

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

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Reassess what need is

It was a comment for Sabine that inspired this post. She had no desire to do the writing that she usually enjoys because of  all the stuff she “needs” cluttering up her desk. “Maybe it is time to reassess what ‘need’ is.” she said. Then in Tuesday’s post I mentioned how little we really do need as opposed to what we “think” we need. I know I stated in that post that we really only need food, water, shelter and love, it is a little more complicated than that but not as complicated as we tend to make it for ourselves.

You only have to look at the photos all the things I have decluttered from my home to see how much stuff we had that we thought we needed or wanted, only to find that sooner or later we discovered we didn’t need it after all. Somethings took longer to get rid of than others and that was often due to not being quite ready to part with them because we though maybe we still need them. Here are some examples…

  • Some we haven’t used for sometime but maybe one day we just might.
  • Some had been in use until recently but even though they were useful we really weren’t going to need them.
  • At least one was something I thought would be so useful when I acquired it and I used it once in about seven years.
  • One just didn’t really fit in the house anywhere anymore.
  • One got used once a year to cut leg ham at Christmas.
  • Two never did perform the job well that they were designed for.
  • Changes of diet, climate and dwelling had a hand in some of them not being used anymore.

They all look useful enough right? It could be very easy to hang on to all of these things with the idea that our circumstances might change and we will “need” them again. Circumstances such as lifestyle, living arrangements, interests, returning to old habits and the like. But please take another look at all of that stuff. What among it is necessary to survival. None, thats how much. And there is still plenty more where that lot came from like the crutches in the garage cupboard that have come in handy three times in five years, the spice chest that only half the drawers hold items that could easily be stored elsewhere, the wine glasses we really have too many of, lots of craft supplies etc etc.

How many items such as this do you hold on to because you think you might “need” them some day. As Lena said in a comment yesterday “Everyone chooses their own games.” The beauty is you can change the game rules if you want to or even the game itself if you like. Take a chance and play the declutter game instead of the clinging to things of limited use

Today’s Declutter Item

This was one too many bicycle pumps and two locks that I couldn’t remember the combinations for.

 

Bicycle pump & locks

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

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Donna Smallin of Unclutter.com on The Law of Attraction

Donna Smallin of Unclutter.com

I have been subscribed to the monthly newsletter from unclutter.com (not to be confused with unclutterer.com) since back in 2010 before I even began to blog about decluttering myself. I always find Donna Smallin’s advice very useful and inspiring. I found an article from her latest newsletter particularly thought provoking and wanted to share it with you all. I emailed Donna for permission to use the article on my blog and her response was so friendly and welcoming and of course she said yes. So without further adieu, here it is…

“Many of us have a tendency to hold on to things long after their usefulness has expired. Have you ever wondered why we do that?

One reason is because of something called “the poverty mindset.” We subconsciously believe that if we let go of something, we will need it later and won’t be able to get it.

I have found the opposite to be true. The more I give, the more I get.

Have you heard of the “Law of Attraction?” Basically, it states that the energy you send out is what you get back. Energy is sent through thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds. Deeds include giving your time, money or things.

When you hold on to “stuff” you don’t need or want anymore, you are holding on to negative energy. You are also likely acting, whether you realize it or not, from a belief that you don’t have enough.

The problem with this type of thinking is that our experiences in life are driven by our beliefs. If you believe deep down that you don’t have enough, you will never have enough.

On the other hand, when you clean out your closet, garage or basement and donate unneeded items, you send positive energy into the world.

Act as if you already have everything you need and your life will be filled with abundance in more ways than you ever imagined. This is my wish for you.”

*******

When you hold on to “stuff” you don’t need or want anymore, you are holding on to negative energy.” How true is that statement. The negative energy behind “guilt clutter” and “aspirational clutter” is monumental on its own without the negative energy of the cluttered space and the desperation behind feeling you need the items to ensure your own security. The silly part is that most of the stuff is not even vital to your survival in the first place. “I might need it some day” is really a case of you never needed it in the first place but have convinced yourself that it is useful so therefore you should keep it. So what if I got rid of it this week and then two years down the track I finally find a use for it. For two years already it has just been one thing among a huge group of clutter crowding your space, making you feel hemmed in, tied down and trapped and for what? That one time in two years you will finally have a use for it.

Do as Donna suggests send those unused items out into the world and reap some positive energy. The positive energy from giving, the positive energy of letting go and the positive energy of not being trapped by stuff. After all, all we really need to survive is food, water, shelter and love. Everything else is a luxury that you can live without.

Today’s Declutter Item

With less clutter to store I no longer have need for this container. Yes I could keep it just in case I find a use for it later on which is unlikely considering I only intend to declutter more. Or I could let it go out into the world to be used now by someone else now who actually has a use for it. Not only does this action create that positive energy Donna was talking about but it gives me more encouragement to remain uncluttered and have no need ever for this container.

One more empty box

Something I Am Grateful For Today

It was rush rush rush today with a little Christmas celebrating in between and I feel satisfied with the result. I even have my to-do list ready for tomorrow and it’s not that long, yet. I hope your pre-Christmas week is going smoothly too.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

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Gadgets ~ Timesavers or space wasters

Three totally unnecessary kitchen gadgets

Every week I receive the latest Aldi sales catalogue in my email inbox. Aldi is an European based grocery chain that operates in Australia and many other countries in the world including the US. In the United States, Aldi Nord is the parent company of the Trader Joe’s niche food stores. Oh, how I wish they would open stores like Trader Joe’s here in Australia. I would go out of my way to shop there.

But I degress. I am not sure why I continue to receive their online catalogue because I rarely shop there and even more rarely go there to buy something that I saw advertised in the catalogue. My mum however shops there all the time and swears that she saves hundreds of dollars by doing so rather than shopping at major grocery chains. And that could possibly be the case but for me their store location and hours are inconvenient. This week the catalogue arrived and the above picture depicts some of the items on sale.

I wanted to point out to you that not one of these items is a necessity in the kitchen. Everyone of these functions can be easily performed using a simple kitchen knife. Stop now and think about the amount of space these three item require for storing. Then think about the amount of space one paring knife takes up.

If you were running a restaurant in which you cored and slice apples all day, pealed and sliced avocado adnausium and chopped up boiled eggs by the hundreds I could understand the need for such gadgets. As it is, I am sure none of my readers are doing that in their kitchens.

But look at these items don’t they just scream “TIMESAVER”! And that is the trick the sellers of these product are constantly trying to pulling on people. Making them believe that their lives will be so much easier with a kitchen full of “timesaving” gadgets. When actually they are selling you a kitchen full of SPACE WASTING gadgets.

Don’t be fooled. Stop and think before ever buying an item such as this and do the math on rationality. How much time saved verses how much space wasted. And don’t forget to take into consideration the money wasted as well on buying a gadget that does a job that something you already own can do. Remember <=> (that is less equals more).

Now stop and think how many of these gadgets do you already have taking up space all over your home. Maybe it is time you assessed the usefulness of these items in your life. Perhaps you can free up some valuable space in your kitchen right now. Take a look and see what you find.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when deciding the usefulness of these items…

  • How often do I/will I use it.
  • Do I own something else that can perform the same task.
  • How hard is it to clean. Do I waste as much time cleaning it as I save using it.
  • Can I afford the space it takes up.
  • Will it just add to the clutter making it harder to find the items I do use regularly.
  • Does it/will it actually save me enough time to warrant its existence.
  • Could you borrow one should the rare occasion arise where you had a use for it.

Go now and check out your kitchen drawers and see what you can come up with. Just remember these items aren’t always small. Salad spinner for example.

Today’s Declutter Item

In keeping with today’s post subject I would have put a kitchen gadget as today’s item except I took a look and am fairly confident that I have already decluttered any items that aren’t in constant use. So instead I am getting rid of this roll of black contact. It has been around for years and is in danger of the adhesive becoming ineffective if not used soon. I donated it to the thrift store.

A roll of black contact

Something I Am Grateful For Today

While answering a comment from Lena today I remembered something to be grateful for. Sometimes when you attempt to do the right thing, in this case for the environment you get a little added bonus. On the weekend I went out the add some vegetable peelings to my compost heap and found a Blue Tongue lizard hiding among the scraps. I hope he had a good feed.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

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Try before you unbuy

Strange title I know but it probably caught your eye and made you wonder what I am going to be on about today. The thing that triggered this post was a post my Jenny at Ex-consumer called Early To Rise about trying a new routine of getting up earlier in order to see if it relieved the stress of not having enough hours in the day to get things done. Let’s face it there is nothing to be lost in giving something a try you can always go back to your old ways if the new situation doesn’t work for you.

With that thought in mind, why not try it with decluttering if you are unsure how you feel about getting rid of things. This is not a new concept but it bares rehashing every so often.

Lets say you think you might like to declutter your kitchen, pare it down to the more essential items that you know you use on a regular basis but you are afraid you may find after the fact that you have gone too far. Why not have a practice declutter that you can reverse if necessary. Sounds feasible and here is the plan.

  • Get one or two packing boxes. The kind a removal company might use or anything else you can get your hands on.
  • Allocate a space in your garage or basement where you can store these boxes for three months.
  • Select the items from your kitchen that you think you don’t want to keep and/or rarely use.
  • Carefully pack all the items into the boxes.
  • Mark the boxes with their contents just in case you get desperate to retrieve something.
  • Store the boxes in your chosen place for three months.
  • Continue using your kitchen as usual.

When/if you ever get a pang that you would like something back don’t immediately try to find it among the items in the boxes. Use a little ingenuity and find a way to substitute that item with something else in the range of things you still have. Try not to resort to entering the boxes until the three month period is up. In fact I wouldn’t even make of a note of the things you thought you want back out of the boxes as the time goes along.

After the three months is up you can do what works best for you.

  • Donate the entire box of goodies to the charity of your choice if you didn’t encounter any regrets.
  • Have a garage sale and sell the boxes of stuff.
  • Open the boxes and retrive the things you did miss and donate or sell the rest.
  • Get a couple more boxes and repeat in another area of the house.
  • Or put all the clutter back into your kitchen and stop reading my blog. 😆

This concept is the opposite of trying before you buy. You are trying life without an item before you get rid of it altogether. Give it a try and see what you can live without.

Today’s Declutter Item

I sold this item a couple of months back on ebay. In order to encourage a sale I offered to store it until it could be collected by an out of town winning bidder. It took some time to finalise the sales due to this arrangement but we got there in the end. I was just happy to sell it and my daughter was happy to get the money.

My daughter's old keyboard

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I am grateful for stumbling upon the post draft above that I published today. I think I am coming down with something or I just have bad hay fever. Either way I wasn’t feeling great so it was nice to have a post up my sleeve so I didn’t have to try to focus on writing.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

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