Deb J

In the year 2000 I created my first scrapbook project ever. I had no supplies so I went to the store and bought a few sheets of paper and some embellishments in order to create a small, soft bound encouragement album for my boss who was going through chemo. I made the pages, decorated two as the intro and my page and then passed it among our co-workers so they could decorate a page according to their tastes. When it was done I had nothing left of the supplies. That was good.

Not long after that I was invited to a scrapbook supply selling party. It was fun. I enjoyed what we made. My boss showed me some of her scrapbook pages she had made and I was given the gift of a scrapbook magazine. Suddenly this became a new hobby. Looking back I realize that the shopping for and buying of supplies was more the hobby than making the pages. I was hooked. I took lots of classes online, subscribed to four magazines, and bought hundreds of dollars worth of supplies. They piled up and piled up. I bought things to organize them in and furniture to put the organizing containers in. Even when money was tight I was easily swayed by the sight of new products. It had become an obsession.

I did make a number of albums and many, many cards. I gave away scrapbooked style items to friends and enjoyed it all. Yet I still had this plethora of supplies. Stickers for every occasion. Brads, eyelets, buttons, punches, embossing plates, stamps and ink pads, special scissors, and on and on. Some things I never used. Some things that came in packages saw a few things used and then the rest stored for the duration. I didn’t want the things I did to become too much the same. I liked variety. But I didn’t have that much variety in my life, was single with no children, and came from a small family.

One day, thanks to 365 Less Things, I realized that I had way more than I needed. In fact, I realized that I was actually OVER scrapbooking. So began the decluttering of hundreds of scrapbooking supplies. I sold some but soon came to realize that I just wanted rid of them. I gave them away—to a new mother who didn’t have the money to buy a lot but wanted to scrapbook her baby son’s life. To a friend who scrapbooks what has happened in the life of her huge extended family. To the friend who makes greeting cards and sells them for spending money. Now the supplies are gone and so is much of the furniture needed to store them. Do you have a hobby/craft that is out of control and you need to re-examine?

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

Cindy

I messed up my posting this week. Sorry! So I’m trying again on Saturday / Sunday as a surprise.

As you know, I just got back from a 2 week family vacation in Colorado, and I’ve been thinking about souvenirs, possibly the most unnecessary yet expensive part of many people’s vacations, both in terms of money and the time spent seeking the objects. What motivates us to spend hours combing often tacky, crowded gift stores looking at mass produced and likely Made in China shot glasses, key chains, and t-shirts for something to take home, either for ourselves or as a gift for someone who did not make the trip with us?

According to Wikipedia, “A souvenir (from French, for a remembrance or memory), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. The term souvenir brings to mind the mass-produced kitsch that is the main commodity of souvenir and gift shops in many tourist attractions around the world. But a souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler. The object itself has no real significance other than the psychological connection the possessor has with the object as a symbol of past experience. Without the owner’s input, the object’s meaning is invisible and cannot be articulated.”

I love the elegance of this definition about objects that I consider to typically be the opposite of elegant. I think the last sentence especially explains why I at least so undervalue, even resent, when someone gives me a souvenir from a trip (which hasn’t happened for years, by the way). The object has no meaning to me, and therefore I see it exactly at face value – it’s a cheap t-shirt or a unwanted bit of kitsch.

Photographs are the most common souvenir, and I do enjoy taking photos, but I try not to go overboard. One at the top of Pike’s Peak is plenty. I don’t need 45 shots, like the lady standing next to me. I also like postcards, but I buy them and send them. I don’t hang onto them as a memento.

So in honesty, what did we return from our trip toting that we did not leave with?

3 t-shirts (me, Clara, and Audra). My t-shirt was an intentional replacement for a college t-shirt that I’ve had for years and need to make into a rag. I picked it carefully, and I like it. In fact, I’m wearing it right now. Both girls have also worn their shirts again. Clara’s references Colorado, but Audra’s is a graphic of horses.

copper ring – Audra

small matted photograph – Clara

3 bars of chocolate purchased at the Celestial Seasonings gift shop (a really fun tour if you happen to pass through Boulder, Colorado) – These were given to Clara’s boyfriend, and I’m sure they are not collecting dust on his shelf!

4 boxes of tea, also purchased at Celestial Seasonings. These are being consumed.

postcards – I believe that all we purchased were mailed while we were gone. (A travel tip – buy postcard stamps before you leave and take them with you. While it’s easy to buy postcards; it’s a lot harder to find a post office while you’re traveling.)

Are you a sucker for souvenirs? A person whose heart beats faster when you learn that the tour ends with a mandatory trip through the gift shop? Do you spontaneously buy things while traveling because they’re “cute” or “fun” or “a must have”? Do you have mouse ears from Disney, a t-shirt from the Grand Canyon, drilled playing cards from Vegas, and a snow globe with the Eiffel Tower inside. Do you need these things? Do you want them? Do you feel obligated to keep them now that they’re in your house? (“But it came all the way from (far away location) Cindy!”)

Prevention is the best cure, so I challenge you to not only move along a souvenir in your home, but also to resist next time you’re vacationing, and especially to teach your children that purchasing is not an obligatory part of every vacation, trip to the zoo, or visit to Grandma’s house.

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

I got to the end of the day yesterday and realised at 10:15pm that I had forgotten to put a post together for today. Luckily for me Andréia had sent me another post she had whipped up this week. She has obviously been thinking a lot about clutter lately and likes to share her experience with us. She has titled this post “How to Equip a New Home” but she could just as easily have called it “How to Declutter Your Home to Suit You”.  Thanks Andréia. So without further adieu here is her post.

How To Equip A New Home ~ by Andría

I have been decluttering for a while and this question has always been on my mind:  What if I had known exactly what I needed when I was moving to my new home when I was just married? What would I have brought and what would I never ever had brought into my home?

These are very interesting questions. I have concluded that my house would be entirely different if I was setting it up now. It would put far less stuff in it than I did back then, 10 years ago. If I could go back I would be far more selective about what I would bring in so that my home would be less cluttered and easier to maintain.

I am not trying to tell anyone how to assemble their house, but these are the tips I would have given myself.

1)      Don’t buy loads of furniture. Work with the basics. You really don’t have to fill the house. No, really, just buy what you need. As time goes by you can make adjustment to suit your tastes but don’t waste money on things that just clutter up your space. For instance I had a big four door wardrobe, so did I really need to buy another 5 door wardrobe, or did I need less clothes? (I don’t think my old self would listen, but hey, I could always tell myself I told you so later… :D)

2)      How many kitchen gadgets does one really need? Looking back I would have advised myself to put to use all those nice gifts I got at my wedding instead of saving them for good. Many things I bought turned out to be redundant and had to be decluttered. I bought loads of stuff because I thought I needed them and because someone else had them and, in the end, I did not need them at all. They spent years in my kitchen drawers unused and wasting space. Again, work with the things you have, and buy only the necessary/everyday use items. So, as much as that bread pan looks great in the store, if you don’t like baking, don’t buy it.

3)      Return the wedding gifts you don’t want. Or exchange them for things you really need (that is especially useful if you got a whole lot of china as I did that ended up being decluttered years later without never being used). And don’t put in the registry stuff you are not going to use and is buying for someone else’s benefit (like the coffeepot I put in my wedding registry that got used like 5 times in 10 years, until I finally got fed up and gave it away to a relative who makes coffee every day). I love to drink coffee, but I never make it. Ever.

4)      Finally, I know we all have houses we look upon before having our own house, like our parents’ house, our grandparents’, but remember, this is your house and it has to look like you, to feel  like you, and not be a copy of someone else’s. I looked at other peoples’ houses and thought that a nice house had to have all the things I had seen somewhere else. Turns out I was wrong. Even if your Mom’s house is great, your friend’s house is cool, this house will be your home and it has to make you feel comfortable and look like you. If you like books, your house has to have a place for them (like mine should and doesn’t) and as I am not a really great cook, I should have a practical kitchen, for everyday stuff and not loads of different pots and pans I will never really use.

So, I think if I had followed these tips I would have a far less cluttered house than I have now. However I learned from my mistakes and I am working on having a dream house or a house that reflects who I am.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter two excess items from your choice of professional clothing.

Eco Tip for the Day

Decide what you need from the refrigerator before opening the door. Standing there with the door open while you think about what you want to eat just lets the cold air out. Then the fridge has to work harder and waste electricity to regain its optimal temperature level.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

My surname is Madsen, that’s M A D S E N. It is simple, two syllables, no extra letters that have no purpose, easy to read. So why do you think that most people, when confronted with this name, whether in plain print or spoken to them, automatically complicate it. Nine times out of ten people will pronounce it Marsden, Maddison or even Mathison.

I think I know why. Because these three other names are more common in Australia. So people revert to the norm rather than repeat what is said to them or written in front of them. That is the problem with “The Norm”, it is the usual way of things, acted upon by the bulk of the population whether it makes sense or not.

The Norm is…

1. Buying stuff whether we need it or not.
2. Replacing that stuff with new stuff when we tire of it or something “better” comes along.
3. Keeping the old stuff when the new stuff comes along requiring progressively more space to store it all in.
4. Hiring off-site storage when your dwelling becomes too small to store all the stuff.
5. Needing two incomes and working 50+ hour weeks to pay for all this stuff and the mortgage.

What is meant to be the simple life (like my simple name) becomes more and more complicated the more “normal” we behave.

You know what is more fun than normal, being different. I love being different. I love the stunned looks on peoples faces…

1. When I talk about how I have been decluttering my belongings for three years.
2. How I don’t buy things unless I really have a need for them.
3. That I prefer not to receive gifts.
4. That I prefer to live in a smaller home.
5. That I only have one handbag.

The beauty of going against the norm is that the clutter stops flowing in. My money isn’t wasted on stuff I don’t need. And I don’t have to work my butt off to afford a lifestyle that is different but quite wonderful. Granted my husband is still working full time but at the ripe old age of fifty even he can considering semi-retirement.

Dare to be different.

Today’s Mini Mission

Complete a project ~ Finish a project you started some time ago but haven’t added the finishing touches to. You can then either use it, gift it or donate it. Just this weekend I restrung some beads my mother had sent home with me about two years ago. She is coming to visit me this week for a couple of days and I can finally give the revamped necklace back to her. That frees up a little space and removes the guilt of it sitting there unfinished. 

Eco Tip for the Day

Keep a jug in your kitchen sink to save the water that would otherwise go to waste when waiting for the hot water to come through. This water can be used as drinking water, to fill the kettle, rinse dishes, water plants, rinse the sink etc.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

Have you ever had a craft/hobby that got completely out of control. Not so much the making of items but the accumulation of crafting supplies. I most certainly have. Through that experience I have learned a few things and here is my advice on avoiding this problem.

Always supply your craft hobby as though you are a beginner.

Any wise person who starts a new hobby generally begins with the minimum of supplies in order to try it out to see if they are really going to enjoy it. They buy or better still borrow the basic equipment or perhaps even take a class where the equipment is provided. Then they buy only the materials that they need for the project and give it a try.

Sometimes this hobby goes nowhere because they discover they didn’t enjoy it or didn’t have the aptitude necessary. Nothing lost here because they only bought the minimum of supplies. On the other hand sometimes the person finds they really enjoy the hobby and delve in enthusiastically. Hobbies can be so satisfying and are a wonderful way to reduce stress and fill your time doing something better than just sitting around watching TV in your spare time.

Where we then go wrong is to become overenthusiastic about buying up materials for our hobbies. Seeking out and buying materials in advance of even having a project in mine. This is so easy to do when you see that cute piece of fabric, that gorgeous piece of paper, that lusciously grained piece of timber… . You must have it now because you may never see anything like it again. Sound familiar? It certainly does to me. Then of course there are tempting sales and hobby show that also draw you in. Temptation is everywhere.

So I repeat again ~ Always supply your hobby as though you are a beginner. Only buy materials for the project you are doing this moment. Only buy the tools that you a sure you will use over and over again and always finish one project before you begin the next. This comment sense approach will ensure your hobby supplies don’t get out of hand and you end up giving away hundreds of dollars worth of supplies should the time come that you tire of it.

Today’s Mini Mission

Choose a few items to declutter prior to tomorrows mission that is delivering your donations to the thrift store.

Eco Tip for the Day

Share and borrow between friends and family rather than everyone owning/buying everything.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

I know the old saying is waste not want not, which basically means ~ Do not waste anything and you will always have enough. Unfortunately that can also mean ~ Save every little scrap so that you can use it in the future. This is how we end up with a house full of “I might be able to use that one day” kind of clutter.

What I am suggesting instead is don’t want for anything you don’t really need and you won’t be wasting your hard earned money which would be better spent on something else. That something else could be the mortgage that Cindy was talking about yesterday. When I think of some of the things I wasted my money on, that I later sold on ebay, I am reminded that instead of paying that little bit of money off the mortgage I could have paid the larger amount that I wasted on the item in the first place.

This may not seem necessary if you can easily meet your mortgage repayments but I can attest to the fact that not wanting for stuff is the best side effect I have discovered as a result of my decluttering mission. And why pay more interest on your mortgage than you really need to. That is just throwing money away.

You might be amazed at how much money you can save on a mortgage just buy paying half your monthly repayment every two weeks rather than paying monthly. In effect you end up paying one extra monthly payment a year which makes a big difference over the thirty year loan. Now imagine if instead of leaving enough in the coffers for buying stuff you don’t really need you set those bimonthly payment to be even slightly larger still.

Mortgages aside, I just want to say again that it really is possible to wean yourself off from the want of stuff. That isn’t to say you will never encounter again the desire to buy things or that you won’t buy the odd thing that you want but it is entirely possible to loose the desire for recreational shopping. It is also possible to strengthen your ability to make better decisions on the things you do consider purchasing.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some eWaste. I have a compact fluorescent light globe, some used batteries ~ including some AAs, a D, a motorcycle battery and one from a laptop computer ~ and a DVD player that no longer works. I looked up my local government web site to find where to drop all these items off. They have very detailed information as to where all sorts of waste can be recycled that should not go to landfill. I will be taking care of that this week.

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t leave tasks linger for so long that you have to redo them such as drying the washing or folding it. This can cause you to have to waste more electricity rewashing and ironing. Need I also mention your wasted time and wear and tear on your appliances.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

I was digging in the archives of 365 yesterday looking for another post when I came upon this little gem. I decided to share it with you again because this strategy has proven useful, at times, in convincing my loved ones to declutter some things. I hope it will work for you.

Recently I was let in on a strategy on how to state a case or perhaps even get another person to come around to your way of thinking without their sensibilities being offended. The idea is to get people to think rationally about a subject without them realising that you are leading them in a direction they may not have considered.

The trick is to broach the topic in the form of a question that you quite likely have the same opinion on. Once you are in agreement you steer the conversation, maybe even in the form of another question, in the direction in which you want it to go. Successfully bypassing any undesirable emotional response while leading them hopefully to conforms to your way of thinking.

Making a request to grandparents that they don’t overindulge your children with excessive gifts of toys at Christmas and birthdays is a good example of how this ploy might work. Please see below for the scenario I have created to demonstrate this strategy.

While enjoying a normal conversation you bring up your topic by asking ~ “Did you have many toys to play with when you were growing up?”Hopefully they will say “Oh no!…” And they will regale you with some stories of the toys they do remember and how excited they were to receive them at the time.

Then comes the next question ~ “Did you feel deprived because you didn’t receive many or did you have fun regardless?” In this case you will hope the answer is “No we made our own fun. Children these days have no imagination…”

Then comes the $100 question “Do you think children these days have far too many toys?” I have never encountered an adult of my generation or above who ever answered no to this. They all think the current generation is spoiled rotten.

At this point you go in for the kill or should I say you come to the point of your conversation, while you have the upper hand, by saying “I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Don’t you think it would be a good idea if perhaps instead of giving lots of things to the children we all limit ourselves to giving one material gift and perhaps put some money in a bank account for them….”

What has occurred here is that the parent has extracted a true and logical opinion from the grandparent about how overindulged children are these days. Once they have showed their hand you then play your trump card by suggesting your idea of reducing this overindulgence for your own children (their grandchildren). By this point how could they not think that this is a good idea. And even if they do realise that they have been lead to this point, what can they do without losing face but agree your idea is sound.

I have to say I have been at the receiving end of this strategy more than once. Lead there by a certain person in particular who shall remain nameless. I nearly always twig as to what he is up to, but by then he has me caught hook line and sinker. I have to tell you that I am usually glad to be caught. Why, you might ask. Because I have a tendency to allow my emotions to rule my head far too much and his logic is much easier to swallow. With his clever manoeuvring I can then justify what for me may otherwise be a difficult emotional decision. I know my weakness well enough to be grateful to him for steering me away from that frightening abyss.

The beauty of this approach is that if the answers to the questions you are posing are not the ones that cement your case you can abort the mission at any time. No one ever need be the wiser that you were attempting to achieve an objective in the first place.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you have been procrastinating about getting rid of for a while.

Eco Tip of the Day

Turn off lights when leaving the room no matter how long you are gone for. It really doesn’t take much effort but in the long term all the energy savings do add up.

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

Succeeding at living with less isn’t always just about getting rid of things. Sometimes it is about sharing, borrowing and repurposing. I shall give you an example from recent events in my life.

I found out six days prior that my parents would be arriving for a short visit this Saturday just gone. As you know my children have both recently left home so space certainly wasn’t an issue. The issue was that both children had taken the duvets (doonas) and pillows from their beds when, or shortly after, they left. I didn’t mind because they are young and not so financially established as their parents and if they weren’t returned I am better able to afford to replace them. Which I hadn’t done for various reasons which I will explain.

We intend to give our daughter her queen size bed, as her spare, and my son is undecided as to whether or not he and his partner wish to swap his newish double bed, with scrumptiously comfortable mattress at our house, for the queen one she owned prior to his moving in. This means that some bedding doesn’t need replacing while at the same time I don’t know what size bedding I will need for the spare bed we end up with. So back to the story…

My parents were coming for a week and along with them and old family friend would also be staying for the night and I didn’t have enough warm blankets, pillows and bed covers to accommodate them. But never fear, being the frugal and environmentally friendly person I am, I decided not to rush out and buy stuff in a big panic, possibly ending up with items that might later become excess to my needs or not what I really need. Instead I improvised.

First off I took a look in my camphor wood chest to see what bedding items I had left after all my ruthless decluttering. I had a single bed duvet and several spare throw rugs. As there was only one person sleeping in the double bed this was enough to make up that bed and have some throw rugs spare for sitting about chatting or watching TV.

Then I asked my daughter, now that she is fully unpacked and settled into her new home, if she had enough blankets etc. that I could briefly borrow back the ones she took from me. She had a duvet and a blanket spare to loan me.  This was enough to kit out the second bed minus a couple of pillows.

Since pillows need replacing on a reasonably regular basis my first instinct was, since the kids had taken the pick of the bunch, that I would by two new ones. Then possibly donate the oldest ones to an animal shelter when the guests had gone. However, in my travels throughout the house preparing the beds I spied something that had somehow, so far, escaped my decluttering efforts. I am not sure how, because this thing was taking up an enormous amount of space in one of the spare room closets. It was a body pillow. Same width as a regular pillow but twice as long. In an instant a clever idea popped into my head. I would cut this pillow in half and make two regular pillows and solve the pillow shortage crisis. Which I did. Bedding problem solved.

So not only did I manage to save my children from wasting money initially by sharing my stuff, I then was able to borrow stuff back from one to save me buying new. While at the same time I used a little ingenuity to repurpose something, effectively decluttering it buy changing it into something more useful to me.

When I know what my long term needs on the bedding front are, I will then address that problem but for now my extended family and I can work as a team.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that you have too many spares of.

Eco Tip for the Day

Challenge yourself to put every piece of recyclable material in the recycling bin no matter how small.. It is easy to be blasé about small pieces of paper or plastic but so long as they can be recycled they are best kept out of landfill.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

I implore of each and everyone of you that if you buy something, which for one reason or another, does not meet expectation and is eligible for return, please do just that. RETURN IT! As soon as possible after purchase or when it becomes apparent that there is a problem.

There a several legitimate reasons why you might return goods to a store and I will attempt to list them below. However not only are you entitled to return them, whether for store credit or a full refund, in some cases you are doing the rest of the world a favour in doing so. Some products are just a sheer waste of resources. They aren’t made well and they don’t live up to their promise of functionality.

There a several reasons that you might return goods due to your own fault. However depending on how lenient retailers are in your area they do have a right to refuse refunds on items returned for these reasons.  From experience, I know that the rules in the USA are much more lenient for the buyer than they are here in Australia. There are time limits imposed on all returns, but usually, when the customer is a fault, that limit is its shortest. It is an expectation of the retailer that the items return through your fault should be unused at the time of return. Some of the reasons for returning under these circumstances would be…

• Bought the wrong size.
• Want to swap the item for a different colour.
• Bought too many of an item and want to return excess.
• Simply changed your mind and don’t want the item.
• Your circumstance changed and you didn’t need the item after all.

There are also several reasons, through no fault of your own, why you might and should return goods. It is expected that these items will have been used first before returning. How would you know if they were faulty or did not live up to expectation if you hadn’t.

• The item is faulty in some way ~ whether at the moment of unpacking or breaks soon after when used as directed.
• When, within a reasonable period after purchasing, clothing items shrink, fade, fall out of shape or come apart when washed correctly using manufacturers guidelines.
• When an item does not live up to the functionality promised in its advertising or by the sales person.
• You asked a sales person for assistance when purchasing but the item does not do what you specifically asked for.
• If you order an item but when it is delivered it does not match the sample or demo in store.

So often I hear of people who just don’t want to deal with the returns process, don’t like confrontation or just don’t get around to returning goods until it is too late. This is such a shame because there are potentially numerous circumstances that can arise from this lack of action.

• The most obvious is that if the item doesn’t get used it will become clutter in your home and have been a waste of your money. 
• That waste of money can give you feelings of guilt every time you encounter the item.
• If you force yourself to “make do” with the item, every time you use it that nasty feeling of dissatisfaction arises which makes you unhappy and resentful.
• A recall by the manufacturing will not be enforced if not enough people come forward to make it obvious the product has a genuine fault.
• Misleading advertising will not be ceased if enough people do not complain.
• Misleading sales people will continue to get away with ripping people off.

So in future do yourself, your fellow consumers and the environment a favour by making the effort to return unsatisfactory items before it is too late.

Tip: Keep all receipts for items that are eligible to be return until you are sure you are satisfied or until the warranty expires. I keep random receipts for items such as clothes and other smaller goods together in one place. While the receipts and other relevant paperwork for more expensive items that carry a warranty are filed with other important papers.

Have you ever been sorry you didn’t return something, sorry you bought something in the first place or sorry that the guilt of wasted money has held you back from decluttering something?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some paperwork that is no longer relevant to your current circumstances ~ old tax papers, irrelevant manuals and warranties, settled insurance claims…

Eco Tip for the Day

Don’t hesitate to return goods that don’t live up to expectation or don’t last as they should. World resources are wasted in the manufacturing of these items.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

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

As you all know by now I like to encourage people to buy secondhand rather than new. This is better for the environment. Of course I encourage you not to buy at all wherever possible because most of what people do buy is absolutely unnecessary.

Now let me combine those two ideas. What are the potential outcomes of recreational secondhand shopping? Yesterday’s eco tip gave you the answer to this question.

1. When you buy something secondhand that you don’t need you are potentially forcing someone else, who has a need for the item, to buy new.  Also that someone may not have a lot of cash to throw around and may have to go without because they can’t afford to pay new prices.
2. While the item you buy secondhand that you don’t really need will become just another potential clutter item in your home. You may not think this while you are enjoying the moment of acquiring but think about it now. What feelings run through you while seeking, finding and purchasing? Are they feelings of need – as in actual need, or feelings of need – as in I NEED to have that. How often people get confused between need and want.

I know a couple who spend most of their time scouring the thrift shops in search of potential bargains. They regale me with their stories of what beautiful things they buy and what bargain prices they get them at. I often ask them ~ “So are you going to sell it on and make a good profit?” The answer is always no we will keep it in the house with the rest of our stuff. They rent two homes and both are packed to the rafters with only enough space to move around.

This is all very well and good for them if they are happy to be hoarders, which they are. However it drives me spare when I think of all the lovely furniture and useful items just hidden away being of no use to anyone. The only purpose these items serve is that the owners are delighted with their bargain and know it is buried somewhere among the clutter.

So if you have things cluttering up your home, hidden away in closets, attics, sheds and basements, think about releasing them to someone who will really appreciate them. Lets just hope that the new owners aren’t someone like the couple I mentioned above. I also hope that if you are visiting the thrift store you are only there for something you really need or are dropping stuff off.

Today’s Mini Mission

Start using up greeting cards and wrapping paper rather than buying something new for every occasion. I have noticed that many people have a stockpile of these sorts of items but still buy new more often than not. Time to reduce the stockpile and leave only enough in case of emergency. It is the thought that counts and what you write in the card that matters most anyway.

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