Sometimes we can end up with multiples of certain things hiding in several places around the house. The Allen Keys that are today’s discard are a perfect example. They seem to have bred like rabbits throughout our house, some in the garage, some in the office desk, some in the kitchen drawer and some in that useful tool kit we keep in the laundry. This causes a two part problem, firstly- that there are just too many of them and secondly- that when you do need one you may forget some of the places they are hiding and end up having to buy another because you can’t find the size you need.

This problem is in part due to buying flat pack furniture as there are tools provided with every piece you buy. The idea is to use them and throw them away. In our case though we move around a lot due to my husband’s job and this kind of furniture survives a removal better if it is disassembled. What we should have been doing is comparing the new tools supplied with the ones we already have and toss them away if it they are duplicate of others. Also we are too lazy to walk the extra few metres to the garage where it makes the most sense to store tools of this nature instead we like to keep them handy “just in Case” hence why they accumulate in every corner of the house.

My point is that a little bit of sensible organisation can help cut down on the clutter and save a few dollars simply by knowing where something is when you need it, putting it back there when you are done using it and discarding it if you don’t need it.

The idea behind 365 less things is not only to rid our home of clutter but also not to replace that clutter with new clutter. I like to refer to it as “dematerialise”, that is to stop being a victim to the constant materialistic urge to keep up with the Jones or use “retail therapy” to put joy into my life.

I am now getting lots of joy sending things out to other homes that might need it more than I do and saving my hard earned cash to use where I feel I get more satisfaction, like travelling or going out for a nice meal somewhere special or paying off the mortgage quickly. These things may not appeal to you but maybe your old car isn’t going to last much longer and you keep thinking you can’t afford to replace it but at the same time you just spent $100 on that new blouse at Country Road and picked up the latest Bryce Courtney Novel you had been meaning to read. There goes $135 you won’t get back and you most likely couldn’t fit another item of clothing in your overstuffed closet and you could have borrowed the book from the library for free.

Think before you spend “Need, want, need, want” which is it and make the smart choice.

Today two pair of sneakers found their way to the garbage bin. Soon we won’t have to stack shoes on top of each other in the shoe cupboard.

Today was a simple choice. When we first moved into our current home there was no dishwasher so I bought a dish rack to drain the dishes on after the laborious effort of washing them by hand. The sink area of this house was so badly designed that we soon decided that  we really had to have a dishwasher even though it may not be the most environmentally friendly choice. So now we no longer need the dish rack, it doesn’t fit in any of the kitchen cupboards and it will only rust if left lying around unused to out it goes.

One thing that is ever-changing these days is technology. I couldn’t count how many times we have upgraded our computers from when we first bought one in 1991. As you get more and more computer savvy and able to do things like build them yourself it is inevitable that certain components are going to get set aside for “one day” when you decide to do this or that with them. Somehow, “one day” never comes and every time you look at that ever-growing pile of “junk” you feel guilty or inadequate that you haven’t built that incredible “whatever” with it.

Give yourself a break, sell them on eBay or toss them in the garbage they are probably outdated now anyway  and only capable of making you feel like crap. This theory applies to numerous past obsessions that no longer really float our boat, like that old sewing machine that never gets used anymore, cupboard shelves full of unstarted aeroplane models  or scrapbook supplies that sit there reminding us how much was spent collecting them and now you never use them. There is a lot of psychology involved in “stuff” that we could happily do without so move on and don’t look back there is someone out there who  still has the passion for the things you once loved so set them free.

A change of living location can render some items in your home useless due to variation in things like climate, living space, geography etc . For example, a snow shovel becomes redundant when you move from snowy New York to sunny Florida, a lawn mower may be of no use if you move from a house with a yard to an apartment building and those goggles and flippers won’t come in too useful if you move 300 miles inland. I know that in a couple of years time you might have a complete change around but trust me things can deteriorate from lack of use and might just become useless anyway so pass them on now while they are still in good order  and buy new ones or someone else’s cast offs if you return to your old lifestyle.  We moved from Seattle in the USA to the east coast of Australia making our snow gear just one of those things taking up valuable space in the garage so we sold it on eBay and I am sure it’s new owner will get more use out of it than we will and lets face it we bought it secondhand ourselves so the re-cycle goes on.

The item for today is a pair of Tupperware Deli Keepers which you might be forgiven for thinking that I would just donate to charity as I have done with the majority of the stuff I have already offloaded. I have discovered though that it is a good idea to investigate how certain items perform on eBay before deciding what is to become of them. As you can see from my list of sold items that I have managed to auction off all the accessories of my Kenwood mixer in order to raise the cash to replace the mixer that died on me some time ago. eBay can be a very useful tool to utilise on this purging mission so long as you use it correctly. Do your homework first and check out how similar items are performing at auction before deciding if this is a good option or you might end up just wasting money on insertion fees.

At some point early in this exercise, my husband suggested that I photo document the items we rid ourselves of with the intention that I should get this blog up and running. I have since discovered two other good reasons for this archive of visual reminders of what was. The first being that we can look back on our achievement as we go along and remind ourselves how much clutter we expelled from the ever expanding space we live in. It inspires us everyday to come up with an idea for tomorrows contribution. The second reason is that, if there is the odd thing that we had a hard time parting with, we still have a place where we can go to reflect on those good times without it taking up valuable space except for a few megapixels on our hard drive.

Today’s item is a batch of old motorcycle magazines that my husband kept for nearly 20 years. The photos only shows a small sample of them.

Today, three pair of holey Nike Skate shoes that languished in the shoe cupboard for nearly three years head to the garbage bin. We can sometimes make personal attachments to the strangest things. I suppose this is so because they remind us of a happier time in a place we would much rather still be, a common mistake we fall into that causes a lot of clutter in our lives. Purging ourselves of these useless items will not make us forget the good times, the places we’ve been or the people we’ve met along the way so don’t be afraid to let go. It is just “stuff” after all, the memories remain. The beauty of this plan is that if you don’t feel you can let something go today maybe you will feel better about it on day 100 or day 213-so what-after all there are 365 days in this resolution, just pick something else for today.

Today I belatedly begin my blog on the 64th day of my 365 day resolution to rid my home of those under utilised items cluttering up every nook and cranny. That is probably a little unfair to myself because I am not a hoarder by any means and after years of moving around the country and even overseas due to my husbands job I have kept things fairly under control but kids grow up, hobbies change and our focus shifts making some items quite redundant yet often still quite useful to someone else. Here is the list of the 64 items already being “loved again” or filling up a landfill somewhere.

The funds raised by the items on the sold list are to be spent replacing the mixer that died with a smaller more versatile model.