I received an email from Clare last week asking me is ebaying was worth the effort? I considered this question for a minute and came up with this thought "I guess if it wasn't I would stop." There must be enough of a pay off for me  to think it worth my while or I wouldn't bother. Yes it is time consuming doing the listing, estimating the postage, finding packaging materials and then having to package up and post the items, but I have the time. Time that could be spent in far less productive ways such as watching reruns or reality shows on television. Sure I am disappointed at times when Continue reading
Just In Case ~ A guest post by Moni Gilbert
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Due to a system error yesterday that didn't allow comments on this post I have chosen to repost it today in an attempt to fix the error and to give Moni the joy of responding to your thoughts on the subject. We’ve all said it. “I’ll keep it just in case I need it againâ€. That moment of hesitation where our de-cluttering confidence wanes and doubt creeps in and prevents us from parting with something that serves no functional purpose. Recently fellow 365'er Dizzy pushed me in the direction of a book called “Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui†by Karen Kingston, I bought it as an Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ A Book Review
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom A Book Review of The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg 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 Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ When the Worst Happens
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom First of all, this story has a happy ending, although it sure didn't look like it would when it all began. A few months ago, a dear friend of mine was in a very dark place and disappeared. Literally gone. You can image what my husband and I feared. My friend has no close relatives and no spouse; I am the executor of his estate. I felt a lot of emotions during this time, and one of them was outrage: "How DARE you go off and leave me with all this sh*t to take care of! How dare you not clean up your own mess before you dumped it in my lap!" You see, my friend is a bit Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ A Book Review
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Dirty Secret: A Daughter Comes Clean About Her Mother's Compulsive Hoarding by Jessie Sholl I'll confess, it's a bit difficult to say that I loved a book about someone's painful life struggle, but I really did love this book. It's beautifully written, easy to read, and the author cleverly interlaces story telling and factual information about hoarding. The author, Jessie Sholl, lived with a mother who was initially a pack rat and who became a full-fledged hoarder after the death of her long-term boyfriend. But as Ms. Sholl makes clear, hoarding is just one symptom of Continue reading
Change your focus
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First read this comment by Jane from last week in response to Cindy's Weekly Wisdom ~ Mental Clutter It is interesting how one simple transfer of focus can make such a big difference to someone's life. Think about it for a minute ~ Jane has transferred her focus from avoiding unpleasant tasks to finding a reason to cross something off her to do list. She naturally got no joy from knowing there were unpleasant tasks awaiting to be done but she gets a great deal of pleasure eliminating things from her to do list. The pleasure can not be achieved without the task being done. Nothing has become Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Decluttering Shame
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom A book, and its identical twin sister, have been both a clutter and a shame over the past half decade. When I purchased the pair, probably for a premium, since they came from a pricey, wooden-and-organic on-line toy store,  I thought they were pure genius, and I was a genius too. "Pocketful of Memories Book": oversized pocket folders, one for each school year kindergarten through eighth, with room to fill in fun information such as "my autograph," "my pets," "my favorite places to visit." How fun! How Simple! How never really used! It seemed like a no-fail system. Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Mental Clutter
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom I was surveying a newly installed fence and gate - my own - and I suddenly thought of Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project. Unfortunately for us, I don't own her book, so I can't mine it for an appropriate quote, but one of the keys to happiness that she extols is getting things done and off your to-do list. Make a mammogram appointment, write a thank you letter, update your resume, get your fence fixed. Taking something off your to-do list automatically makes you feel happier. I know it did me. The sad saga of the fence goes like this: In September 2009, Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Breakin’ Up Is Hard to Do
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Are you hanging on to old boyfriend /old  girlfriend / ex-wife / ex-husband clutter? Breakin' up is hard to do, and breaking' up with the ex's stuff can be even harder. Some of the things you may have that remind you of him or her: fancy underclothes photos greeting cards and letters jewelry vacation souvenirs music (what do they call mix-tapes in the days of CDs and iTunes?) toiletries food that he/she preferred debt from outings or vacation that you took together or from his/her bad spending habits. a phone or texting bill that went way over Continue reading
