Cindy's Weekly Wisdom I received this email from my dear friend Natalie: So here is a decluttering task that I am tackling. Computer clutter.  I went through my saved emails -- deleted lots of obsolete ones - including whole folders (eg. Arkansas trip), made new folders for some. Last night I rearranged my task bar -- I took out all of automatic tabs I don't use (most of them) and added in my own -- the elementary school, middle school, middle school band, etc. Next up I'm tackling my bookmark list. Guess my desktop will be next -- making sure my files are organized (I don't … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – Disaster Preparedness
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about decluttering your pantry, and one of the things I discussed was keeping food for emergencies. I commented that I live in an area that is not affected by many sudden disaster such as being snowed in, flood water, hurricanes, or tornadoes. Well God and nature decided to prove me wrong in short order. Here's one I had not considered and has suddenly been the only topic of conversation in our town: wildfires. Texas had its hottest summer ever and, in fact, was the hottest state in the United States this year. It also hasn't rained more … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – Pockets of Clutter
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom As if for the first time, last week I noticed that there is a large bulletin board partially tucked between the wall and my dresser. What's it doing there? Well, I think it's been for for two years, since we remodeled and it needed a new "temporary" home. That made me wonder what other pockets of cluttered I had squirrel away. For your edification and mine, I grabbed my camera and wandered the house. I found two more areas, and what makes these pockets special is that I had no idea they were there until I went looking for them. The first pocket, as I said, was my … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – What’s Intimidating You?
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Except for the garage, my home is mostly decluttered. Well, except for the garage and those few scary areas too intimidating to attack. One of these areas consists of several boxes of photographs and memorabilia. Another is the picnic basket I brought back from my Grandparents' house after my Grandfather's death. It is filled with photos and mementos that I had to have but have conveniently stored on the floor of my closet for the past seven years. Last, I have a deep drawer full of art, most of it framed, and some of it quite expensive. It was taken off the wall for the … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – Second Favorites
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom We all have our favorites - favorite laundry soap, favorite hand lotion, favorite beverage, favorite brand of tool. We also all have our second favorites - second favorite lipstick, second favorite pair of black pants, second favorite brand of tea, second favorite bath soap. How did we accumulate so many seconds? Perhaps the second favorite used to be the favorite, before it was replaced. Or maybe we shopped at a different store than usual, and our favorite item wasn't available. Or perhaps you just thought that you should branch out some - not just stick to the same … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – Decluttering the Pantry
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Last week, I discussed methods for cleaning and decluttering your refrigerator and freezer; this week we're onto what is usually a larger repository of items that should have moved along long ago, the pantry. Because things in the pantry don't usually spoil, they can sometimes hang around long enough to become honorary members of your household. It will probably be helpful to have a pen and paper with you when you start excavating your pantry, especially if you know it's... let's politely call it "a goldmine of uneaten potential." What do you have, how many do you … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Decluttering the Refrigerator and Freezer
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Pantries, refrigerators, and freezers can be chocked full of clutter. I know, I know, it's food, so how can it be clutter? Well, if we define clutter as things we don't need, don't want, don't value, and won't use, then I bet your food storage areas are harboring at least a few bits of clutter. Let's Start with the Refrigerator My top shelf holds condiment, sauces, and jellies. Talk about a potential treasure trove of clutter! The next three shelves are food we're eating, left overs, and ingredients for use this week. Next is the cheese drawer, then produce, and the … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ The New Messy
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Dan and I were sitting in the living room recently. He looked around with great satisfaction and said, “This is the new messy.†I wasn’t sure what he meant. I looked around too. There were a couple of things on the coffee table that didn’t belong, a stray pair of shoes, the dog beds were sort of tossed to the side, and a project of mine that I had basically abandoned but not put away was sitting on the floor. I said, “It is kind of messy in here. What do you mean?†He replied, “I mean, if we have company, we could have this room completely together in an … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Open Houses
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Recently I spent Sunday looking at open houses. All of the houses were clean and nicely presented, and all of the garages were full of stuff. In some houses, the stuff in the garage was unpacked; in others, it was already in boxes. Boy, oh boy, did all these folks have a lot of stuff. I asked each of the real estate agents why the owners were selling. There was a divorce, a job loss, an unexpected opportunity to buy a nicer house in the same neighborhood, and a new business starting in a different part of the country. For the most part, the need to move took these … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ How to do a Big Declutter
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom While we advocate slow and steady decluttering at 365lessthings, sometimes that’s just not what happens. Sometimes the Big Power Cleaning is in order. You have the help of your husband, friend, child, or you're just sick and tired of being sick and tired. It is time to get it done! But how to best proceed? DO NOT BUY ANY CONTAINERS BEFORE YOU BEGIN. You do not start a decluttering process by bringing anything extra into your home. Get several large boxes or trash bags and label them: Trash, recycling, thrift store, sell (maybe), other (these will be things you … [Read more...]