Colleen
How 365 Less Things came about
The year 2010 started out as usual with me having no intention to commit myself to some ridiculous promise of self improvement in the way of a New Years resolution. Even though the television media shove it in our faces every year with their predictable suggestions on weight loss, quit smoking and career change. Then it occurred to me on about the 3rd of January that I could turn a project I had already begun, which was to get rid of some unutilised items in my house, into a 365 day resolution to declutter every wardrobe, bench, shelf, under bed, pantry and garage space in my home by giving away, throwing away or selling one item everyday for the next twelve months. I already had a few items in the garage that were to be picked up by a local charity and I just went from there. I have discovered this can be quite a learning experience in psychology at times which I will explain as we go along so please join me on this journey and start a little purging of your own.
A little about me. My name is Colleen, I currently reside in Newcastle Australia. I am a forty something year old mother of two grown children and in my third decade of being wife to my darling hubby. I love traveling, art and craft, spending time with friends and family and volunteering my time to help others. My parents taught me well to make, mend, mingle and manage so being frugal, friendly and fun loving would describe me fairly well. I can also be opinionated, outspoken and defensive at times but hey no one is perfect. I look forward to getting to know you as well so join our friendly community here at 365 Less Things where we, that is Cindy, the readers and myself, share opinions, advice and lots of friendly encouragement.
Cindy
Cindy of Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom
My name is Cindy, and I live in the United States. I took the challenge to declutter a thing a day on June 1, 2010, the day after I first found this site. We had recently remodeled our house, and I didn’t want junk on every surface, which is how we were living before and during our remodel. I’ve gone from never having a fully clean to being company ready in about an hour. In my enthusiasm, I was writing to Colleen regularly, which morphed into a weekly writing “job” for me.
When Colleen began her decluttering journey, her house was very tidy and organized but full of unneeded stuff; my house had stuff on every surface and in overflowing baskets on the floor, so no matter where you’re at in your decluttering journey, we can help.
365 Less Things in the News
Colleen discusses her philosophy and 365 Less Things on ABC Radio’s Future Tense (MP3 and transcript available here) and Night Life with Tony Delroy (Listen here).
The Newcastle Herald featured Colleen in this article, and you can listen here for her thoughts on decluttering.