Habits ~ A guest post by Wendy F
I was fortunate to meet up and become friends with Colleen after starting reading her blog. Â Â She has ‘enlightened ‘ me greatly and we laugh a lot. I will try and keep it simple, this is just my take on a bit of my declutter journey.
HABITS
The Habits I have changed over the last few years and the new ones I have embraced in my declutter journey.
No Junk Mail.
A simple sign that attached to my mailbox avoids my house being filled with free newspapers and catalogues from every store in town.
Result ~ massive clutter saver and removes any temptation to go and purchase items in catalogue.
I have extended this to my electronic mail box. Un subscribing from so many things like Cruise Lines, Ikea, Political blogs, Airlines, Blogs of any description and store newsletters. It takes a minute to check my email and I save on downloading potential time wasting junk mail and using up data that I pay for.
Not hitting the Like or Subscribe Button
Result ~ less reading of emails or posts.
Reducing the Number of Bath Towels
With five adults (plus their friends)in the house, the amount of towels to be washed exploded. The towel cupboard was always empty and the pile to be washed was huge. So I reduced the number of towels down to 15, I removed the extra large towels and only have similar size and thickness towels to make washing and drying easy. Giving everyone their own color or pattern towels works well.
Result ~ No large pile of towels to wash. Everyone is now aware that there is a limited supply of towels and they are responsible to wash their own.
Making my bed when I get up of a morning
Result ~ room looks tidy immediately.
Setting the trip meter on the carÂ
I can usually tell how many miles/kilometres I get on a tank of fuel. I Always fill the car up and reset the meter. I do this because I have a iffy fuel gauge and have been caught running out of fuel. I always fill the car up which saves time. Putting $60 of fuel in once a fortnight is simpler than $20 every few days ( or so it seems)
Result ~Â I no longer have to carry a fuel can in car in case I run out of fuel.
Setting an alarm on my phone at the same each month or week helps remind me to do odd jobs around the house. I have terrible memory and usually think of doing things at the wrong time.
Putting things on a hooks
Never underestimate the usefulness of hooks. Behind the door in the bedroom for the clothes that don’t need washing but not going back in the wardrobe.
Behind the door in the bathroom for clothes.
In the kitchen for your bag and keys.
Hooks for the house/car keys. One placed in a convenient place in the kitchen saves time for you and anyone else that needs to use the key. Â I have a cousin who refuses to use the hook set I gifted her and she still spends forever searching for her car keys.
Using a lanyard
I keep my house and car keys on a lanyard. I especially like this when I go grocery shopping. The car key is hanging around my neck and is easily used to unlock the car. A lanyard makes it easier to place keys on the hook as well.
Reducing my use of Loyalty Cards
I once had a wallet full of cards for collecting loyalty points. I used a hole punch and put a hole in the corner of them and had them on my car keys for easy access. Then I ended up discarding the rarely used ones and now I only use an actual discount card which is in my wallet. Loyalty statements and emails from these companies are just junk mail for me. Investigate wether the points you earn traveling can be combined with other family members or other cards.
When a credit card is paid off , close it. They have annual fees and are a temptation. I closed a store card five years ago , just before Christmas last year, they sent me a statement ??? showing I had credit on my card. Obviously to induce me to contact them and reinstate my account.
In summary the things that make my habits workable -Hooks, reminders on my phone, less towels, less junk/email/mail, no loyalty cards, a lanyard for my keys and setting the trip meter in my car.
What habits have you embraced?
Cheers.
Today’s Mini Mission
Declutter a spare thing-a-me-jig that you have been keeping just in case.
“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?†— Unknown
Eco Tip for the Day
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