As a child I was quietly confident that if there was actually a bogey man, he definitely couldn’t live under my bed or in my wardrobe. My mum liked a tidy house, but any storage space that could be kept from eyesight was fair game. So my wardrobe had boxes stacked from the floor up until the hems of my clothes hit them, and up each side of the wardrobe and in the storage area above the hanging rack. Under my bed was tightly packed with yet more boxes containing goodness knew what but it wasn’t anything that belonged to me personally. I even have memories of boxes being jammed so tightly that my dad had to physically lift the bed on one occasion to get something out. When I consider that houses were smaller then and that storage generally wasn’t built into houses, there was probably some logic to this arrangement, but my parents were raised by parents who’d lived thru the Depression and World War 2 and hanging on to things was almost the 11th Commandment, so I imagine most of it wasn’t necessary.

In recent times Colleen added some links to her daily post and one took me to a site by Sue Rasmussen and I have to admit I was feeling a little smug reading thru her recommendations for the bedroom, as my hubby and I had prior to this eliminated the TV, knick knacks and both chests of drawers from our bedroom leaving only our bed and a small bedside table each. We had de-cluttered our clothes to the point where all our clothes fit easily in our walk in wardrobe and we are very pleased with this arrangement. So here I was feeling clever that I had all of Sue Rasmussen’s recommendations sewn up in advance, when I tripped at the finish line. She said to “Remove everything from under the bed; from a Feng Shui perspective, things stored under the bed restrict the flow of energy and abundance in your life”.

 Obviously my childhood had instilled an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ philosophy to under bed storage as I had not included these areas in my War Against Clutter. A quick reconnaissance of the household discovered that underneath bed areas ranged from not too bad to oh my goodness. The War Against Clutter had obviously overlooked a whole cluster of insurgents. Or maybe it was The Lost Tribes of Jumble huddled beneath the slats. However I describe it, I obviously still have work to do. One daughter had so much stuff neatly packed and stacked with no space to spare, it was like looking under my childhood bed again. I have had to promise the kids I wouldn’t supply a full inventory to 365 but one daughter agreed to share that she had kept all her retired ballet pointe shoes in a box under the bed as she didn’t know what else to do with them, when in reality the preferred option would have been to bin them and my other daughter had a box of clothes she didn’t like but had forgotten about, so are going directly to goodwill, without the parental complaints of wastefulness that she had been expecting.

 So I am glad I read an article that I thought I didn’t need – it may have generated me an unscheduled project – but it will be nice to know that space is clear, and how much easier under bed vacuuming will now be.

And if clearing out under the bed provides us with better energy and abundance – though hopefully not the possessions type abundance – then that will be even better!

So what’s under your bed that needs de-cluttering?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that you are keeping “just in case” it fits you again some day.

Today’s Declutter Item

No these ropes weren’t hiding under by bed but they were hiding unused in the garage for quite a while.

Rope

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Today my daughter, her boyfriend, my husband and I were all grateful the the pilot in the fighter jet made it down safely after hearing over the two way radio at the Fighter World museum that he was having a problem with his landing gear.

“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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

A Book Review of The Power of Habit

by Charles Duhigg 

Cindy

What a fantastic book: so well researched, so easy to understand, so very interesting. Duhigg shows over and over again that most of what we do is habitual and that habits can be changed and manipulated – by ourselves and by others.

My mother should be happy. This book validates her often-said phrase “When you do things outside the norm, that’s when they go wrong.” My Mom’s not a pessimist or a stick in the mud; what she’s saying is that when you lock your keys in the car, forget your purse, leave the burner turned on, or drive to the store without your grocery list, it’s probably because you approached these routine events outside of the format of your usual routine. Without your habits in place to guide you, you actually have to think about actions you usually don’t think about, and they can go terribly wrong. My Mom and Duhigg are in agreement! In fact, Duhigg claims that 40% of what we do daily is habitual.

One of the chapters that I found most enlightening - and disturbing – reported research using brain scanning to test the lingering power of habits. What researchers found was that even if you have overcome a bad habit (say cluttering the coffee table when you arrive home from work or overeating), the neural pathways for cluttering that table never go away. They are always present in the brain, and that’s why it’s so easy – with the right (wrong!) cues – to fall away from our good habits back to our bad. However, I consoled myself that the opposite must also be true:  Somewhere inside my brain there’s still a neural pathway for running 3 or 4 times a week. I just haven’t seen that pathway in a decade or so!

The first part of the book, the section on personal habit development, is the most relevant to our decluttering efforts. What Duhigg explains repeatedly is that habits consist of three parts: The cue (time of day, arrival into the house, presence of certain people, etc.), the routine (which is the habit), and the reward. Duhigg says the reward the most important part of the cycle because habits form when we like the reward. Habits can only be changed, he says, by changing one of these three inputs – usually the routine. I highly recommend that you watch his video here. It’s only about 3 minutes long and explains how he analyzed and changed his habit of eating a cookies every afternoon and lost a dozen pounds as a result of his success.

The other two portions of the book talk about the habits of organizations and the habits of society. There’s some very interesting stuff here, and if you don’t start using cash at Target after reading about their focused marketing, I’ll be mighty surprised. Target knows that during life disruptions (birth of a child, divorce or marriage, move), people change their shopping habits, often without realizing it, and Target does their very best to know – as soon as you do – if any of these life changes are taking place in your household.

Changing from a lifestyle where you continually buy too much, where you never purge, or where you leave things out all over the place are all habits. They’re habits that need changing, and especially if you’re having trouble making changes, this book and some experimentation might really benefit you.

Highly recommended reading.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter objects accumulating in the third drawer down in any room ~ kitchen, office desk, bathroom cabinet… It is a strange phenomenon that the third drawer is often the receptacle for clutter.

Today’s Declutter Item

These little plastic lidded cups and storage box used to contain beads in my craft area. They gravitated to the third drawer down when I reduced my stocks and were no longer needed. During the great craft room declutter of June 2012 they were relegated to the donation box. They have since been sold at the thrift store.

Ex Craft Storage Items

Something to be grateful for today

Soaking up the sun on my back patio while being visited by the neighbours cat.

“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

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.

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom last week mentioned those dreaded “clutter black holes” that most houses have. These phenomena suck in all sorts of stuff that you mean to do something with or haven’t got a real home for. They lurk in numerous places, most people have at least one but some have many. For this weeks mini missions I will name seven common black hole locations and you can check them all to make sure you don’t have any. Even if you don’t you may find an item or two of clutter has gravitated to these places anyway, so declutter them or find them a home. For those of you who do find the odd black hole use Cindy’s advice to try to eliminate them for good.

Monday – On the kitchen bench or breakfast bar.

Tuesday – In or on any furniture or large appliance near your entry ways.

Wednesday – The third drawer down in any room ~ kitchen, office desk, bathroom cabinet… It is a strange phenomenon that the third drawer is often the receptacle for clutter.

Thursday – By the telephone.

Friday – The bedside table.

Saturday – A desk top.

Sunday – The coffee table.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

I no longer have any black holes but I do still have a backlog of craft item photos that I saved to post for while I am convalescing.  Here is an 8 x 8 Scrapbook that was too good of a clearance bargain to resist as 75% off. That was at least five years ago. The 25% I did pay was clearly a waste of money because I never used the scrapbook. The lesson here ~ A bargain isn’t a bargain unless you actually have a use for it.

Scrapbook

Something I Am Grateful For Today

The two lovely vases of flowers I have received from friends in the last week. Not only are they pretty and brighten up the living space but the arrangement I made with one has lead me to the perfect solution for what is the right balance for a decoration on my dining table. I may well get rid of that artificial plant yet.

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

Early last year, I wrote a post about The Black Hole. You probably have one in your house. It’s the place where all clutter tends to accumulate . . . and never leave. Like the black hole in astronomy, it has such a strong gravitational force that even light cannot escape it.

I confess, I too have a Black Hole in my house: my gigantic kitchen island.

7′ of kitchen island and not a bit of junk in sight

It doesn’t look like a Black Hole, you may be thinking. You’re right. It doesn’t anymore. Anymore being the key word here. The half in the foreground seemed to always have a stray napkin, maybe a glass or two, and a book or purse (or both) from my eldest daughter. The far half had, well . . . everything that A Black Hole of the Flat Surfaces accumulates: random school papers, lone art projects, hair do-dads, some pens and pencils, the cord to the laptop (and maybe the laptop) – all sorts of random junk.

I tried to enforce the rule that the island had to be completely cleared off twice a week, but I wasn’t a very good enforcer. Besides, half the stuff was probably mine. Then I struck upon a completely different approach: We went cold turkey.

For those of you not familiar with this term, Wikipedia defines cold turkey as  “the actions of a person who abruptly gives up a habit or addiction rather than gradually easing the process through gradual reduction.” It is often used to described abruptly giving up drugs, alcohol or cigarettes.  But in my case, it meant abruptly giving up cluttering a spot that had always been a favorite clutter attractor.

We cleared everything off the island, even the useful and island-appropriate things such as the fruit bowl and the salt and pepper. It was kept completely bare, except when being used, for weeks. Seeing it completely clean, day after day, began to be the right mental picture. After a couple of weeks, we put the fruit, salt and pepper, and butter dish back on the table. I was a little nervous that this might be an invitation for these items, like crazy teenagers, to have a big party and invite all their friends over, but it wasn’t. (Probably because unlike the party in my mind, Mom was supervising.)

The island has stayed clean now for a month. When someone does leave miscellaneous this-and-that on it, it’s obvious who it belongs to, and it doesn’t stay there for long.

Do you have an area in your house that needs to go cold turkey?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a book or two.

Today’s Declutter Item

This magazine is the closest thing to a book that I have to declutter at the moment.

Rolling Stone Magazine

“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

I received an email from Di last week which contained this passage…

I’ve got to the deeper layers – it’s not just about clothes… and it’s quite hard. Jewellery (gifted and pretty – just too much – have managed to donate quite a bit), photos (out of 6 albums and a box and now ready to go and be scanned but have discovered loads of digital ones on a hard drive), digital clutter (hard cos it’s not so tangible and takes ages – currently doing a ‘folder’ a day), my christening shawl (beautiful and knitted by my gran but now going to a friend’s daughter who is having a baby), unwanted ‘inherited stuff’ that ‘should’ be worth money (all off to the auction house) and you’ll laugh at this one – concert tickets from the late 80s early 90’s – hard to part with simply cos I’d kept them in the first place and keeping them became a habit, doh!

…which is what inspired this weeks set of mini missions. It got me thinking about things I still have or do out of habit, habits passed down through the generations and habits followed just because they are the norm. Some of these habits are quite futile when you start to dissect them.

Have you noticed that keeping things becomes a habit, like Di and her concert tickets. Once started, collecting habits can be hard to break, even though you might have lost the interest to continue you feel you should. Then when you do, so much history and sentiment is attached to these items yet, not so deep down, you really want to be rid of them and still you just can’t bring yourself to do it. At that point they have become clutter and you have two choices keep them or liberate the space and purge them. It is that simple, and that difficult, and the only person who can make the choice is you. The question is ~ what do you want more?

Then there are habits of the generations. In my parents, grandparents, great grandparents… eras it was the norm to pass down items like crystal, the good china, furniture and other items from one generation to the next. It is still happening to this day but what I have noticed among my readers here is that many of our generation don’t want these items that are usually “kept for good”. This creates a problem in itself ~ you feel obliged to accept these items because it is the custom (habit) to accept what is handed down. Well guess what you once again have choices, you can either conform either wilfully or against your will, you can accept and  use the items anytime not “just for good” or you can just say no, politely of course. Trust me, it is possible, I have done it.

Then there are the habits we have developed through childhood to adulthood simply from the world around us. Habits we don’t think twice about following until such I time comes that we begin for one reason or another to change the way we do things. Take today’s mini mission for example. My entire adult life I have always stocked white sugar, caster (baker’s) sugar, brown sugar and icing sugar in my pantry as did my mother before me. As one gets older too much of a good thing can end up on your waste line so for some time now I have been using low GI sugar in my tea, I also don’t bake sweets much any more, and recently I have started using maple syrup on my porridge (natural sugars, although still naughty, are better for you). It occurred to me last week that I have had the same canisters of white sugar and caster sugar in the pantry for a long time. The last time I bought it was purely out of habit. I have decided to free up a little space in the pantry by using up the white sugar and not restocking it. If a visitor wants white sugar they can use the caster sugar. Perhaps you keep stocking something out of habit that you really could live without.

One of the other things we do out of habit is own certain things simply because everyone else does. The idea of owning few or none of these things just seem weird somehow. Televisions are one of them, even having only one television in a household these days is unusual. As an Australian it is almost unheard of not to own a barbeque. And I know people think I am odd because my dining suite  seats fewer than six people.The fact that I only own one handbag disturbs many of my female friend, and Heaven forbid that it may not match the shoes or belt I am wearing. I think you understand by now what I am trying to say here. Society is broken so why bother trying to keep up with it anyway. Do the environment a favour and march to your own drum.

These are just a few of the things we do out of habit that clutter up space in our homes. Why not spend your week questioning some of your habits, perhaps there is a better way of doing things. It is never too late to change especially when it is for the better.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a consumable item that you don’t use much where an alternate product you also keep will suffice.  Good places to find these items is in your pantry, among your cleaning supplies or your bathroom cabinet.

Today’s Declutter Item

Here is a consumable product I had too much of and the silly things is I don’t usually get lazy and do hemming the cheats way anyway. I either sew them by machine or use good old needle and thread. So why did I have so much of this, because it was cheap and I could. That simple and that foolish.

Hemming Tape

Something I Am Grateful For Today

It was another of those days today when I was grateful for my mother and the things she taught me.

“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

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.

I suppose you are wondering what I mean by habit clutter and of course I am going to tell you. Habit clutter is any clutter that you either keep out of habit, you collected out of habit in the first place, items relating to former bad habits, or a habit of not putting things away causing mess or causing you to have trouble finding them. So lets see if you can find something to declutter from each of the following scenarios.

Monday – A collection of something you lost interest long ago but keep out of habit.

Tuesday – Do you keep stocking a certain item in your pantry because you always have even though you find it rarely gets use these day. Like I have white sugar and caster (bakers) sugar even though I use low GI or raw sugar in my tea these days therefore I don’t need to keep two kinds of white sugar.

Wednesday – Storing enough towels or sheets or blankets or whatever to accommodate a family of six even though there are only the two of you living there these days.

Thursday – Same goes for pots, pans, trays, baking dishes etc that were necessary for that family of six mentioned above that have long since flown the coop.

Friday – What about the remnants of a unhealthy habit you once had like smoking ~ you have kept a couple of ashtrays just in case a smoker comes to visit. Why not make you home a smoke free zone it is your right to after all.

Saturday – How about decluttering an existing bad habit like eating too much sugary food. Get the last of it out of there (preferably not by eating it) so that you can start a fresh without the temptation sitting right under your nose.

Sunday – Do you have a habit of not putting things away after you use them. This can lead to a mess and/or an inability to find the things when you need them. Work on changing that bad habit into a good one. It might be putting your car keys on a hook whenever you walk in the door so you know where they are the next time you are rushing out the doore. Or perhaps putting your cell phone in a certain pocket in you handbag when you are out so when it rings you can find it before the call cuts out.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

Here are a collection of old badges that my husband was keeping out of habit. He kept passing over them while decluttering the keepsake box. I think he finally realised he didn’t need them to remind him of his early travels.

Collection of badges

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Two friends joining me for my usual Sunday roast dinner. I wouldn’t have bothered were I left to cook it just for myself (Liam doesn’t like roast dinner). Instead I had some wonderful company.

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

Yesterday’s mini mission got me thinking that it has been a while since I wrote a post on the subject of freebies and it’s about time I did.

Who can’t resist a freebie? It isn’t everyday that someone offers you something for nothing and it’s like getting a gift right? Well unfortunately like many gifts the freebie is often something you don’t really need and it soon becomes clutter. One advantage a freebie has over a gift though is that it isn’t usually given to you by a loved one so refusing it isn’t going to hurt anyones feelings. That being so, I would suggest doing just that, politely refuse the offer unless it is something you have a use for or is something you can sell on immediately for a profit. Of course if it is instantly consumable like chocolate or a latte or it is a pampering freebie like a massage or manicure, go for it.

Here are some examples of freebies that normally ought to be refused if you don’t need them or already have of enough of them.

• Those reusable shopping bags. If you already have enough of them you don’t need excess.
• A free razor handle with new replacement cartridges. Those handles rarely if ever wear out so you don’t need more.
• Toiletries bags on long-haul flights. Bring you own minimal amount of toiletries in your hand luggage. Wth any luck the airline will reuse the untouched samples. I hope so anyway because the amount of waste involved in those freebies does my head in.
• Sample bags from trade conferences. Usually 90% of what is in those bags are useless to you ~ pamphlets you can access on-line, stress balls, keychains etc. Perhaps these companies will respond to supply and demand ~ that is if people keep refusing them they will adjust how many to supply in response, saving the planet from all that waste.
• Plastic shopping bags are usually free when you purchase something but those bags are just pollution. Their manufacturing causes pollution and the bag itself becomes pollution once its purpose is achieved ~ usually the minute you get it home. Take your own bag it really isn’t that hard or inconvenient. I don’t know many women who don’t take a handbag when they go shopping. A little reusable fold up shopping bag will fit easily into most handbags.
• Those little bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body lotion and small soaps that are supplied at motels. I have no qualms about using the soap because a cake of soap is messy and bulky to carry. But the other items are more pollution than they are product and usually not good product. By all means use them if you find them suitable but don’t be tempted to bring the unused ones home, once again adding to supply and demand and cluttering up your bathroom cabinet.
• Free newspaper or magazine subscriptions. If you don’t already read these publications it is unlikely you are going to find them any more interesting just because they are free. Not to mention the fact that many of these offers don’t automatically cancel and if you forget to cancel them before the free offer expires you will then find yourself paying for them.
• The freebie box at garage sales. If the stuff in this box was worth selling it would have a price on it so the chances are it is just clutter about to happen.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you received as a gift but have never used.

Today’s Declutter Item

These handkerchiefs are pretty and the lady who gave them to me is a beautiful soul but the fact is I don’t use handkerchiefs so there isn’t any point in keeping them. Although it is better for the environment to use these rather than tissues I find fabric to be harsh on my skin.

Pretty Handkerchiefs

Something I Am Grateful For Today

“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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Offices seem to be the center of the vortex of flotsam in a house, particularly paperwork. If you work outside the home, your office probably still has files that were set up by the previous holder of your job – files you haven’t looked at the entire time you’ve had the job. My desk and filing cabinet had “current” files that were five years old and notes that said “to file” on documents dating back to when the law firm was started.

Why do we do this? Do the phrases “paper trail” or “for our records” ring any bells with you?

Try to think how far back you really need to keep things. Ask the company auditor or attorney, if you have one and need guidance. In my office, the habit had been to scan everything and keep a hard copy. Why? One or the other, please. In addition, there are scans of documents without the attorney’s signature and a scan of the same document after the attorney has signed it. Just because it’s electronic, doesn’t mean it’s not clutter. If that document is needed again, sorting through two copies of everything (signed and unsigned) is not going to make finding it faster. When the final copy is scanned, the previous copies should be deleted.

I know some people want to keep all the scans to “show their work.” Again – think this through. Is it really necessary? Is it necessary for the first month and then no longer necessary? Necessary until you have your annual review and then no longer necessary? Make a note about when certain items can be eliminated. Cleaning up your work after yourself is a legitimate use of time. After all, if everyone saved everything, eventually your office would need a bigger server or additional file cabinet just to managed all that clutter.

In addition, sometimes keeping records can work against you instead of with you. I was once hired to purge a large business of all of its employment records that were more than 10 years old. Their legal department had decided that 10 years was how much was needed; however, some of the records were 20 years old. An former employee had sued, and because the records were there, in the cabinet, they were admissible in court. If the records had been destroyed in a timely fashion, the lawsuit could not have gone forward. It took me a month to pick through all those records!

There is the same temptation to keep everything in the home office. I shredded 13 pounds of documents that Dan had kept, including many years of pay stubs, utility bills for a house he hasn’t owned in 15 years, and credit card statements. Why did he keep these? “In case he needed them some day.” “For what?” I ask.

What’s needed is a regular system of purging. Maybe you do need to keep some records for a time. But, eventually, that time will pass. By then, it’s “out of sight, out of mind,” also known as clutter. How can you keep your paper trail from trailing back to the 1970s? Start at the front of the files and start purging, one folder at a time. It might be slow work, but one folder at a time, it will get done. I’m sure you’ll find entire files devoted to things unnecessary: a vehicle you no longer own, a project you decided not to start, a pet who has died. Next you’re going to need to revisit the files on an annual or semi-annual basis. Or, every time you put in a new piece of paper, you can take the last one out and discard it.

The second part of the process, of course, is to resist the temptation to file all these extra papers in the first place. Your credit card and utility statements are on-line, as are many of your investments and other business transactions. Maybe you don’t need a hard copy of these at all. Don’t keep records that you simple don’t need. There can be such a temptation to hold on “just in case.”

Think before you file, and you’ll only have to declutter once.

Today’s Mini Mission

Spy and declutter something electric.

Today’s Declutter Item

I didn’t have anything electric to declutter (surprisingly enough) so I instead I thought I would throw something in that is quite different. Years back (in our USA days) we accumulated a collection of naked back art pieces and since our bedroom is now less the half the size it used to be some have to go. These didn’t make the cut so they went off to the thrift store.

Original Art Works

Something to be grateful for today

A day without a long to-do list. Just tidying up a few loose ends and making some yummy onion soup.

“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

On Saturday Jane requested for me to write a post based on “Clothing. Buying (and only keeping) clothing for the person /lifestyle I aspire to be verses the person/lifestyle I really am/have.

I am intrigued with this suggestion, especially since she used the word aspire in it. I would always advise clothes shopping to stay within the guidelines of a style the person is comfortable with unless they are ready for a change. And even then I think I would ease myself into that change an outfit at a time. I would think it is a risk to step outside of ones comfort zone too hastily or you could end up with a closet full of clothes you are unlikely to wear. AKA aspirational clutter.

As I have been giving a lot of thought to clothes lately this post is going to be a little self-indulgent because I would like your views on the subject. I am just about to embark on a vacation to the USA where I intend to replenish my worn, tired wardrobe. From experience I know that variety and pricing is usually more appealing over there.

I am hopeful that I will not be forced to choose between outfits that would have me looking like mutton dressed up as lamb, a forty seven year old grandma trying to hide those extra pounds or having to pay through the teeth for something in between those two styles. Which is what I feel are my only choices here and now. I am too old for mini skirts and two young and trim to cover myself up with billowy blouses and high wasted elasticised pants and I detest the latest money grabbing fashion that would have me purchasing five layers of thin knit fabric pieces in order to build one outfit. I have a word for that fashion ~ CLUTTER ~ and clutter is bad enough when it is weighing your house down, I certainly don’t want it weight me down physically or financially. Not to mention the muscles I would probably pull with the contortion act required to get it all those layers on on top of each other.

Now with that off my chest I am going to run by you what I think sounds sensible when it comes to fitting out or culling a wardrobe.

Know and shop for what suits your lifestyle ~ I spend a lot of my time at home, blogging, cooking, cleaning, gardening and the like. I go out for casual coffee dates and sometimes dinner with my girlfriends. I grocery shop and sometime need things at the mall. My husband and I eat out on Saturdays and fine dining is also enjoyed on occasion. We go for rides on our motorbike on weekends and we take long walks as exercise. This is about all I need to cater to when it comes to my wardrobe aside from the odd function for hubby’s work or birthday celebration, wedding etc.

Get the ratio of clothing to activity balanced ~ Since I spend most of my time at home it stands to reason I would have a lot of comfortable casual clothes. For me that isn’t track pants and shapeless T’s. I prefer jeans, capris and a variety of tops. These outfits also cover grocery shopping, my volunteer job at the thrift store and even the walks with my hubby (Hence why mine are so worn and tired). My next most common activity is casual dining with hubby and friends. My nicer jeans and capris cross over into this activity with the better of my tops, plus I have a couple of skirts, three summer dresses and some leggings and two tunics dresses. The last thing to cover is fine dining, weddings, parties etc. I have one little black dress, one, maxi dress, one gorgeous evening gown some good long pants and a couple of dressier tops. Your needs would likely be quite different to mine and if you don’t know what they are it is time you figured it out. Take some time to think about what you do and what you feel comfortable in doing these activities and you will soon come up with a good clothing inventory right for you.

Chose styles and colours that suit your figure and complexion ~ Sometimes is pays to have an honest friend with good taste around to help with this. No matter what size you are you can’t change your shape. I am flat chested, I know this so I don’t wear low plunging necklines as there is nowhere to plunge to. That would look ridiculous on me. I also have red hair so no shade of orange will ever adorn this body. I also have spider vanes on my leg and I am 47 so mini skirts are also out. It pays to know that tight leg pants only accentuate a large bottom. Midriff tops don’t look good when you have belly rolls no matter how young you are.  Basically, just because something is the latest fashion or it looks good on someone else or the mannequin in the store  doesn’t mean it suits all figures, sizes or age groups for that matter.

It is best if you can mix and match ~ I usually keep the bottoms to my outfits neutral in colour, black, beige, white, grey, brown or denim as these colours go with just about any shade and colour of tops. My jackets and cardigans are also mostly neutral so they can be worn with most everything I own. The more that things can mix and match the less items you need. And if certain items are in the dirty clothes basket what’s left in the closet can still go together.

You can’t go wrong with classic cuts ~ It might sound boring but pants and jackets in classic cuts will stand the test of time and stay in fashion for just about ever. Put the emphasis on the petty top/blouse or accessory that goes with it. The little black dress is also a winner. You can dress it up with a splash of colour for fun. I have a red wrap and red strappy shoes for just such occasions.

Shoes need not be numerous ~ I just went and counted my shoes knowing full well I would be embarrassed by the total. I have twenty pairs of shoes.

• 1 pair motorbike boots (essential)
• 2 pair black dress boots (one suede one polished leather, both well used favourites)
• 1 pair outdoor winter boots (these could go haven’t been used in 5 years)
• 1 pair runners (Rarely worn probably could go)
• 2 pair of Keens Mary Jane style multi purpose shoes (love, love, love these but they both need replacing as they are pretty shabby and I have almost worn through the bottoms. The will be replace on my US trip)
• 2 pair casual shoes (well worn but not so loved)
• 1 pair rubber flip flop (thongs to the Aussies reading)(only worn to fetch the mail on wet days)
• 1 pair black casual sandals (love, love, love these too. So comfortable would like a brown pair as well)
• 1 pair of slippers (used extensively in winter)
• 4 pair of favourite sensible high heals (black, tan, brown and red)
• 4 assorted pairs of other high heals that I could live without. (Mostly uncomfortable therefore passed over for others. Probably time I let these go)

As you can see from this list I could easily manage with half these shoes and pretty much do because half of them are rarely used. Mostly mistakes of the past when I was willing to sacrifice style of comfort. Of my shoes I use the comfortable, versatile, basic styles the most. Most of which are black, brown or tan. I find these colours go with just about everything. The red pair are my indulgent splash of colour and will stay.

My advice is stick to your comfort zone when it comes to shoes because they are the ones that will get used the most. Take into account the clothes you have to wear them with and stay as neutral in colour as possible. Why not lash out on that one crazy pair just to keep it interesting.

Splurge a little on impractical items ~ 90% practicality with 10% indulgence sound sensible ~ keeping in mind that practicality doesn’t have to be drab and boring.

Having written all that I have confirmed my clothing shopping list. I need…

• A few new tops/blouses that make me feel good. Preferably not of T-shirt fabric.
• 2 new pair of Keen shoes
• 2 basic white T’s (not shapeless ones) to wear when riding the motorbike.
• 2 new pair of jeans as my everyday pairs are 9 years old and seen better days.
• Maybe one or two sweaters as I actually have none.
• And I may indulge in that pair of brown sandals if and only if I find a pair comparable to the black pair I own.
• Maybe one more evening dress as my husband must be getting tired of the one black dress I have worn for the last six years.

I have been watching out for most of the clothing items listed about in both the thrift store and the shops for the last year with no joy so hopefully I will have some success in the US. If not I will settle with what I have for now as I am not settling for second best unless I get really desperate.

What do you think? Am I on the right track? And Jane if I still didn’t manage to answer your question please elaborate more in the comment here and we will see if I or the other readers can help.

Today’s Declutter Item

Here are one of those pairs of uncomfortable shoes mentioned above. In keeping with this post and today’s mini mission they will be the first of many to go I am sure. I hope to be more discerning in the future. I prefer to wear out my shoes rather than waste money on bad choice.

One pair of uncomfortable shoes gone

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Dark chocolate and orange Maggie Bear icecream. I am now going to have a bowl to reward myself for finally finishing this blog post. Then I had better come back and proof read it with a clearer mind.

“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

Clutter is often the result of buying now rather than wisely. This can apply to all sorts of products for various reasons. Here are two common reasons for purchasing this way. The first being that the item has bargain price you’d would be mad to pass it up. And second, the item may not be available later so you would be mad not to grab it now while you have the chance, avoiding future regret. Sound familiar?

Here are some examples…

Scenario ~ Sally was at the thrift store and saw a microwave oven plate that exactly matched the one for her oven and it was only $2. She had recently broken her plate and it had cost $25 to replace. She would be mad not to buy this one now at such a bargain price just in case the same misfortune reoccured.

Argument ~ Sally is thinking only of the pain of having just spend $25 on the replacement she bought while this plate is only $2. She is not taking into account that this is the first time she has broken a plate in 25 years of owning and using a microwave oven. Don’t buy it Sally or it could be cluttering up your kitchen for the next 10 years and that would be mad.

Scenario ~ When my family was leaving America to return to Australia our daughter was to be going off to college in another city soon after our return. Because we assumed household items were less expensive in the US we bought a selection of items for her to take when she moved out. We would have been mad to pay Australian prices right?

Argument ~ She moved to another city alright but lived with her grandparents because it made economical sense. She is still with her grandparents almost five years later. Meanwhile I am still storing two large plastic containers of household items in my garage. I am sure I could buy the same items at much the same prices now right here is Australia and not have wasted space in my garage for years.

Scenario ~ I used to do a lot of papercraft and I worked in a large craft store. It was so easy to stay up to date with all the latest trends and I got to see all the new stock as it arrived at the store. Paper in particular was hard to resist as the patterns changed all the time and it would have been crazy not to purchase the ones I liked while they were available, right?

Argument ~ Wrong! I was mad to stock up so much on supplies when I had no idea how life would change down the line and leave me with less time and less enthusiasm for the craft. Especially since I have a track record of switching from one interest to another. Not to mention all the storage systems I had to purchase to organise it all that I am now also decluttering.

Scenario ~ At the end of the season you would be mad not to stock up on clothing the next size up for your child for the coming year. At 50 – 75% off it is a bargain too good to refuse.

Argument ~ What if ~ 1. Your child has an unusual growth spurt and is too big for the clothes when next year comes around. 2. Your child’s growth pattern slows and is too small for the clothes when next year comes around and then too big the year after. That’s two years of storing these clothes for nothing. 3. Fashion trends change and the clothes would have your child looking and feeling out of place. 4. The child develops their own style and refuses to where the clothes you chose. 5. Next year you could have had an unexpected move to a different climate zone and then the clothes may not fit when needed. I will leave it at that although there are many more reasons why this could be a bad idea.

The potential for future clutter also exists when you purchase something on sale you only think you might enjoy or get use out of. I have photographic proof of endless garage sale bargains, over enthusiastic craft purchases, use it up decluttering missions on toiletry items, must have half price gadgets and regretful purchases of substitute items that were almost right but a lot cheaper than the items I really needed…for all to see here on my blog. So trust me, I speak from experience. Luckily I have also learned from the experience

The one thing I have discovered over the years is there is always another bargain around the corner so if you don’t need the item now it will probably be on sale again by the time you actually need to make the purchase. So stop cluttering up your cupboards with backups, regrets and wasted money and only purchase what is necessary when it is necessary. Thats not to say you can’t enjoy a frivolous purchase every now and again just not every time you see something you think you would be mad not to snap up.

Today’s Declutter Item

Here is a perfect example of buying in advance because they were a bargain too good to refuse. Of course I thought at the time “I will use them one day” and at 75% off what did I have to lose? I’ll tell you, about $6 and space in my craft room for five years. I am giving them away to an artist friend of my son.

Spiral Scrapbooks

Something I Am Grateful For Today

No less than six of the items I donated to the thrift store yesterday were sold before my shift there was done. I love that I have decluttered, the store has made money and the customer is happy. Although I do wonder if they have just fallen for one of the scenarios I have mentioned above.

“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