Cindy's Weekly Wisdom I hate to be a cynic, but I think I might be becoming one when it come to this oxymoron* ~ Useful gifts. More specifically, useful generic gifts. My mother gave me a drip irrigation system for Christmas. Let me tell you, that's a useful gift, and I am so appreciative. (Thanks Mom!) But what about these "useful"Â gifts that have recently come into my home: water bottles and bandannas from a child's birthday party. water bottles as a "finisher's prize" for a book reading contest water bottles given to the kids when they went to camp for a day bandannas as a … [Read more...]
Is Buying Hobby Clutter Your Hobby?
Cindy's Weekly Words of Wisdom Like last week, a comment by Ideealistin’s is the inspiration for this week's blog. In reponse to Eliminate Clutter Without Even Trying, she spurred me to think of another category of clutter that should be eliminated – excess project purchases. I know this is a pitfall of a lot of 365 Less things readers. Hobby and craft shops like Michael's and Hobby Lobby would probably see their receipts decrease by half if it weren't for Aspirational Clutter. That's largely what hobby shops sell! The dream of how beautifully this yarn, that fabric, these beads, or … [Read more...]
Friday’s Favourite Five ~ 13MAY2011
This week's favorite five have been chosen by Cindy because Colleen is away on vacation Favorite Five comments From Cat's Meow in response to Do You Shop to Fill a Void? She shares the control she'd taken over her money and her spending. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1208#comment-7633 Also from the same post, Delores talks about feeling out of synch with friends who still want to shop, shop, shop. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1208#comment-7624 Ornela loved my post on honesty, and encouraged me to let the girls go wild on my remaining scrapbook supplies. … [Read more...]
The Importance of Honesty
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom On April 13, Ideealistin wrote: You asked for the readers’ ways of decluttering without even trying. Mine is … honesty! Once I managed to admit to myself that I am not the fancy sort of cook, guess what happened: The kitchen almost decluttered itself. I am sure this will work in other areas of my home as well – as soon, as I am ready to let go of some more misconceptions about myself … This got me to thinking, as well: if I were more honest, what could I release? Well scrapbook materials, that’s for sure. Even at the height of my involvement with … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday – Under Cindy’s Bathroom Sink
These photos are the result of a 10 minute clean up under my bathroom sink. It took me longer to actually get all the items to their new homes, but the decluttering itself was a breeze and look at the difference. I removed and found new homes for: 12 bottles of nail polish (neighbor) a foot scrub brush (this was broken apart - some recycled, some trashed) 2 Aveda Be Curly hair products (neighbor) Color Me Beautiful color guide (Anyone else remember Color Me Beautiful? trash) a large box of latex gloves (moved to the paint supplies, which is where they're more useful) 4 … [Read more...]
Thoughts on the Use It Up Challenge
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Colleen has issued a Use It Up Challenge several times. The most recent one I can find is in September. I've been thinking a lot about this challenge recently because we are finally coming to the end of it here at the Bogard household. Along the way, I consumed all the multiday vitamins and calcium I had in the cabinet, and we used all the various extra bottles shampoos and conditioners along with several toothpaste tubes that the girls had not squeezed down tho their last drops. Those items were quickly finished in comparison to the soap challenge. I had no idea we … [Read more...]
Hiring a Professional
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom ...with help from Amy Brady, Owner, The Clutter Consultants Sometimes you feel that you'll never get finished if you just declutter one item a day, or you feel so desperate about your situation that you need a radical change, and you need it now. You might be overwhelmed and emotionally bogged down by your clutter, but a professional organizer is not. Getting an outsider to help you form a plan of action, motivate and lead you through the steps of the organizing process is an essential launching point for many people. Back on day 206, Deb J wrote a post about her … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday – Cindy’s Shed
Even a major clean up can be fairly easily managed if you don't try to bite off too much at once. In this case, it was time (way past time) to clean our shed, which had not been attended to in the nine years we've lived in our house and which, in fact, contained items left behind by the previous owner. I spent a month working on it, once or twice a week, and never for more than an hour, except for the extremely pleasant afternoon I spent decluttering five bags of mulch and compost and some ground covers on a flower bed I enlarged. Here's how I approached this task. Unfortunately, we are in a … [Read more...]
One Minute Rule
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom As I mentioned back in January, I recently read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It’s full of rules, suggestions, tips, and research on making yourself, and by extension everyone around you, happier. In the very first month of her year-long undertaking, Ms. Rubin cleans and declutters, and she keeps it up throughout the year – helping out friends when she gets desperate for a tidying fix. One tip I got from her was the One Minute Rule. I doubt this is something she made up; it sounds like something nearly everyone’s parent said to them as they were growing … [Read more...]
Eliminate Clutter Without Even Trying
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom How can you eliminate clutter without even trying? Sound almost too good to be true, but it's not. Here are some things I eliminated from my life: Paper towels - Paper towels were a real source of irritation to me, as well as being an unnecessary product in general. My husband tended to reach for a paper towel even when a rag would have been a better choice, and he often left them wadded here and there, rather than throwing them away. I have lots of rags - kitchen towels that got too ratty to hang on the towel bar, decade-old baby washcloths, and cut up old shirts. … [Read more...]