How decluttering can improve your finances ~ by deanna ar USA With contributions from her husband Randy The last few years hubby and I have noticed an improvement in our finances because we were purchasing less, in order not to add items to our home, when we were in fact working to declutter it. It was easy to see that I had not  shopped Coldwater Creek (my favorite) in a couple of years. In fact I had not been compelled to shop anywhere because so many items were decluttered that we hadn't needed anyway, i.e. household items, hubby's hobby items, tools, etc. About the only place I was Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ You Don’t Have to Have One Too
Every time you see something fun, intriguing, clever, imaginative, or functional at a friend's house, are you tempted to buy one for yourself too? When your child loves a toy that he or she has played with at a friend's house, school, or the doctor's office, do you think he or she must surely want one for your house as well? This is a trap. Don't fall for it. In my experience, parents and grandparents are the first and worst to fall into this trap. If junior loves a toy elsewhere, he/she will surely love one at home too. Not necessarily. Instead, by buying a duplicate, you've removed the Continue reading
Clutter doubts and counter arguments
I really enjoyed Cecily's post from Tuesday. I very much agreed with her that we need to be honest with ourselves in order to convince ourselves to let go of the things that have really just become a burden to us. Some of the things I used to find hard to let go of earlier in my declutter journey were... Storage containers once they became empty of clutter. The inner dialogue that would creep in at the point of letting go was ~Â But they are so useful what if I find I need them later on. And my honest response was ~ I don't plan on cluttering up my house again so I will make sure I Continue reading
Baby Clutter
My post on Tuesday regarding clutter foisted on you from other well intentioned people inspired one readers to send me an email. I am so excited for this reader, even though she sees a potential problem looming I am thrilled for her. Not only because of her happy situation but because she has already discovered the joys of living with less before starting a family. What a great opportunity to for getting it right. My children were 18 & 20 went I embarked on my more minimalist lifestyle and although I am sure they will tell you I was a miser there were a lot of things I could have done Continue reading
Awkward clutter
People give things to friends and family members for all sorts of reasons and three of those reasons are 1. Gifts  2. Trying to be helpful and  3. Offloading things they no longer have a love of or need for. And each of these reason have their own sub-categories some of which crossover through all three titles. I will set out some examples below. Gifts They have one themselves and love it and wanted to share the joy. The intention is good but it may not contain the same joy for you. They know you have a collection of something and think you would be happy to receive another Continue reading