The word gadget alone conjures up images of items with more of a novelty factor than any real practical use and for the purpose of this post it is meant to do so.

How many things on your “really don’t need or use” list come under the Single Function Gadget title. For example, my contribution for today to my 365 things are a set of plastic ice cubes. I am sure they were bought for their novelty factor but after using them both to keep liquids cool and in an icepack I really didn’t feel that they radiated the cold as well as the real thing.  I could find no science to back up my claim here but never-the-less I don’t find them useful and they are out of here.

Another thing I found quite useless are those silicon cup cake baking cups. What a pain they are to get clean. I soon went back to using the disposable paper cups.

If anyone out there has a product that they have found to be next to useless please contact me and I will make of page of  Single Function Gadgets as a warning to other innocent consumers.

ITEM 111 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Sometimes when going through the home uncluttering we forget the pantry and the refrigerator which is one place that we should visit on a regular basis to make sure there aren’t foodstuffs that are past their used by date.

Now I do tend to do this fairly often because I have one of those not so well designed pantries that are so deep you can lose things in the back reaches that won’t be seen until it’s too late if I am not vigilant. But because I thought this was a good topic to write about I had a look anyway and found the items in my photo below that were in some cases waaaay out of date.

The puff pastry was overdue for eating in 2008 which is pretty outrageous but I kept thinking that I would eventually use it for something and since it was frozen it should keep. Now on reflection I am sure that the used by date on something that is meant to be stored in the freezer was probably designed to meet those conditions so 2008 meant 2008.

The desiccated coconut was more of an open and sniff test as I had put it in the Tupperware container without transferring the used by date so that I would know when it expired. I knew it had been there for some time though so I had a reasonable idea that it was time to go as coconut contains oils that can go rancid over time.

The apricots were a no-brainer as I only had to look at the colour of them through the bag to know they were well and truly past it.

As for the canneloni shells, pasta tends to last for just about ever without spoiling and there wasn’t a used by date on the box but I just knew I hadn’t used them in a long time so I decided they could go too.

There are two lessons I have learned while doing this little food purge…..

1. When putting ingredients into Tupperware containers make sure you transfer the used by date by either tearing it off the box/bag and putting it in or taping it to the outside of the container or make your own label and stick it on the container.
2. Don’t be temped to buy in bulk if you aren’t absolutely sure you will use enough of the ingredient to make it economical. The coconut was one of those items that was lets say $2.50 for 150g or $3.00 for 300g so it makes economical sense to buy the 300g unless you only end up using 100g before it is past it’s used by date in which case you have wasted 50c and 200g of coconut.

ITEM 107 OF 365 LESS THINGS

You are probably wondering what Photo Deterrent means. It is a idea that just popped into my head yesterday while commenting to Anna at www.whoopsadaisy-anna.blogspot.com/ about her lovely shoes. I am sure this probably isn’t an original plan but I thought I was clever anyway.

Here is the plan…

• Choose an item you have that torments you because you never use it even though you spent quite a bit of your hard earned cash in it.
• It would be best if the item is one you are having a difficult time parting with because it is addictively appealing to you on some level but you know you probably won’t ever use.
• Now take a photo of it
• Print the photo in a wallet size format
• Put it in your purse/wallet in a very prominent position where you can see it every time you go to pay for things (even if you have to cover the photo of your sweetheart/children/husband etc).

At this point I think you clearly understand what Photo Deterrent means. Every time you go to make an ill advised purchase you will see that picture and at least think twice about what you are doing and hopefully put the item back and walk away.

If you find this photo is just causing you a lot of unneeded stress try this approach instead…

• Take a photo depicting a goal you intend saving for. Maybe an overseas trip, starting your own business, paying off your home loan.
• Put that in your wallet in a prominent position
• Hopefully that will inspire you to stop spending and  start saving.

The possibilities are endless. You could use a photo of the last “bargain” you bought that you still haven’t used yet or of  something you have multiples of that are completely un-necessary…

Any one of  these strategies could potentially deter you from acquiring any more un-necessary clutter. If however it is having the opposite effect for goodness sakes get rid of the photo.

Since I can’t for the life of me think of anything to get rid of today that has any relevance to the subject at hand I shall make today’s item this scary looking knife that my husband sold on eBay

Colleen’s Helpful Hint of the Day

To easily clean your microwave oven place a damp microfibre cloth on the plate, heat in microwave on high for about 30 seconds. When timer goes wait a couple of minutes for the steam that is generated from the heated cloth to soften any soiling on the inside of the oven then just wipe away.

Although my toiletries are one of those things I have well and truly under control, sometimes certain items do seem to multiply and then reach their expiry date while I’m not looking.

Sunscreen is one of those items that tends to do this due to a number of reasons like…

• An unplanned trip to the beach where a “pink pelt” like me has to lather on the sunscreen or that pink soon turns to blistered red so you duck to the nearest convenience store to buy a bottle.
• A planned trip to the beach where you forget the sunscreen and rather than go all the home you are forced to buy another bottle.
• A family picnic to the park where you forget the sunscreen and you borrow someone Else’s bottle, forget to give it back and can’t remember which family member owed it.

Needless to say now you have four bottles of sunscreen, two of which have passed their used by dates, taking up space in the bathroom cabinet.

This is only one small item but the same story applies to lots of different things. For example…

• The extra suitcase you bought while on holidays in America to bring home all the stuff you bought because things are so cheap over there
• The extra esky (Cooler) you bought last Christmas because you had a big family BBQ at your house and didn’t have enough room in the fridge
• The snow chains you had to buy because of unseasonal weather when visiting the mountains last April.

Need I go on.

The next thing you know you think you have outgrown the house you live in and start looking for another “dump site” with a bigger garage. It used to amuse me when I lived in the USA how many cars in our neighbourhood were parked on the street or in the driveway because the garage was full of other “stuff”.

Check around your house today and find one of these things and relegate it to the “get rid of” pile. Just remember you always have the option of borrowing things when in need, then you just give them back when you are done.

Two bottles of sunscreen past their used by date

Colleen’s Helpful Hint for the Day

A slightly damp microfibre cloth is great for removing deoderant stains, dust and other accidental marks from your clothes. I keep one handy in my bathroom cabinet just for this purpose.

While cruising the Internet looking for inspiration on the topic of decluttering I found a few interesting articles that take downsizing and minimalism to greater extremes. I am not prepared to go to that extent, not at this point anyway, but they were inspiring and made me feel that what I am attempting seems like a walk in the park.

When I say “a walk in the park” I don’t mean it demeans my efforts in any way, it just helps me see the bigger picture and I now feel very comfortable that the small sacrifices I am making are not such a big deal.

Some of the topics to google when looking for such articles and websites are:

• Simpler Lifestyle
• Downshifting
• Minimalist Lifestyle
• Voluntary Simplicity

Have a look at some of the links I have attached to these topics and you will see what I mean. Giving away a DVD is chicken feed compared to giving away the DVD player or the electricity for that matter. It puts things into a whole new perspective.

Today’s giveaway is a water flask that I haven’t used since I stopped playing softball in 1999.

Colleen’s Helpful Hint for the Day
Use an over-the-door multi hook hanger to organise long necklaces. It will keep them from tangling and you will easily be able to see and choose which to wear.

How many of you have things lingering in your home that were bargains too good to pass on.
You know…

• that pair of shoes that really are a size to big but they were only $10 (you wore them once and they gave you such terrible blisters that you will never wear them again)

• the set of cutlery “they were just about giving away” that will come in handy when you have a dinner party for 12 even though your dining suite won’t accommodate more than 8.

• the tent that was half price at the camp shop (when you actually went there to buy a travel jacket) that you had to have for when you go camping one weekend soon (that was 4 years ago)

• that DVD you got for $5 on the clearance heap that you barely managed to tolerate the first ten minutes of which has been relegated to the deepest depths of the DVD drawer

Need I go on? There are no end of stories like these that I have heard or fallen prey to. There is a lesson to be learned here.

A bargain isn’t a bargain if you get little or no use out of it.

These things become like a house guest that won’t leave who’s just taking up space and not paying rent. You know they are there but you can’t bring yourself to tell them to leave but you feel guilty about letting them stay every time you come across them.

A couple of ways to avoid this trap are:-

• Don’t read the special catalogues
• Don’t check out the clearance bins in the shops
• Only go to the shop if there is something specific you are shopping for and stick to the plan.
• Never stop at garage sales
• Avoid seasonal sales

Sorry to all you shopaholics out their but admitting you have a problem is half the cure.

This is the DVD I mentioned above. Sorry Adam I really am a fan but not of this one. I love Mr Deeds though.

I have discovered that uncluttering is the cure for resorting to retail therapy.

How often do we use retail therapy to make up for times when we feel down, disappointed, bored and other conditions of the mind. What does this kind of therapy do to improve the situation? Usually it just adds more problems like credit card debt, guilt and regret.

It has amazed me how quickly I formed a dislike to shopping once I committed myself to my 365 day resolution to de-clutter my home.

Now when I get spare time I don’t get bored, I use that time to find the next thing I am going to get rid of or try to come up with a subject for my next Post. This leads to a satisfaction that I am using my time constructively and am less likely to feel down. I generally feel better about myself and my bank account is looking healthier too. Not to mention the satisfaction that I am helping others by donating items to charity.

Another item that has not been used for so long I can’t even remember why we bought it in the first place

While looking in the linen closet to determine whether there were any old towels I could throw away my attention was drawn to some rolls of gift wrap and a box of gift bags. Which got me thinking about the chest full of other gift wrap paraphernalia in the closet down stairs

Now you may think what I am about to suggest is strange but I will explain my thinking as we go along.

I rarely buy gifts (This is strange to most people). I live a long way from most of my family, postage costs are ridiculous and they all can pretty much afford to buy anything they would want anyway, as can I.

Not to mention the fact that I am embarking on this lifestyle change of de-materialising and not bowing to the continual bombardment of the retail industry insisting my life would be so much richer with this product or that.

So I pulled the chest out of the closet and started to sort out the gift bows that have already been recycled several time during past Christmases and threw away all the ones that looked like they had been recycled too many time already. This reduced the number enough so that I could empty the chest into a small  drawer in the guest bedroom.

As we have been selling a number of items on eBay lately and have run out of brown paper to wrap boxes in for mailing I have decided  I will turn the gift wrap inside-out and use the white side for wrapping boxes  the next time I need to mail something. I have plenty of new and used gift bags I can use for any occasion when I might need them in the future.

I transferred my children’s keepsakes into the lovely chest I had emptied therefore eliminating one more box out of the shoe cupboard.

As a result of this exercise I have de-cluttered, recycled, re-designated (I love to live outside the box) and reshuffled creating a little more space.

I would just like you to know that my family and friends understand that gift buying  is not necessary to a loving relationship. My family would prefer I spent my money on the travel to come and visit them and my friends would rather enjoy a day together going to the movies,  having a meal together or something of that nature. I am not a complete scrouge.

Oh! By the way, I am going to a wedding this weekend and the couple, who have been living together for a few years, have the good sense to have a “Wishing Well” so people give money as the gift and they don’t end up with a house full of unneeded clutter.

These are the bows that found their way to the garbage today.

We have all seen advertisements for product that enticed us into believing that “I just can’t do without that!” and “I must have one!”  We have fallen in love with the idea that the advertisement is selling. I say idea because even though the idea is great that doesn’t mean that the product is going to live up to the expectation that you have drawn up in your head.

The tip today to save you money and wasted space is to get on your computer and look for product reviews for these “must have” items before you rush out to buy them. Granted you can’t always believe the reviews either but if there is any doubt that the item won’t live up to your expectations and is probably just going to become a dust collector in you home, then you need to think twice about buying it.

I need a new mixer at the moment but the one that seems to suit my need the best doesn’t have good reviews so I am taking my time looking for alternatives that may work better for me. Lets face it if it is something you don’t need immediately you can take a bit of time to shop sensibly.

My item for today is an old pair of reading glass I have kept “just in case” but the nose rest are broken off and that causes irritation to my skin. It is time to go.