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. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1241#comment-7658

Deb J reflected on honesty and decided that she would change the way she manages her scrapbook materials. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1241#comment-7672

In response to He’s At It Again, Loretta praised Liam’s decluttering and told of a clever trade her husband made, exchanging what he did not value for things that he did. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1288#comment-7675

Favorite five blog post or  web sites I found this week : Many of you probably know that I don’t follow any blogs but this one, so Friday’s Favorite Five is an adventure on the Internet for me.

My first lucky winner is from Tanja at The Minimalist Packrat, who has written a lengthy and deeply honest history of her pack rat lifestyle, her motivation for reducing her belongings, and the painful process of letting go.

Next, I went to The Happiness Project to see what Gretchen Rubin had to say about decluttering myths. (Tip number 1: purchasing containers is not the first step to decluttering.)

I found this primer on Zen Habits. I think it’s particularly valuable for beginning declutterers or those who are stalled.

This guest post from Becoming Minimalist inspired me to think about the larger rewards of decluttering and simplifying. What will you do with your money, your free time? Author Richard Dahlstrom won me over when he suggested getting to know your neighbors better. I can name everyone on my (long) block except the renters, and I regularly host neighborhood pot lucks at my house: Neighborhood food for the soul.

The book Your Money or Your Life was important to me, and I am glad to see that it’s still in print and was interested that two commenters mentioned it this week after I had selected it to be a Friday Favorite. I love it when ideas converge. The books talks about trading your life for money and suggests how you can reduce your expenses based on your own values in order to increase your life satisfaction.

Today’s Declutter Item

I was keeping these in a futile attempt to use them up but I am making little headway so I am donating them to the school down the street instead. I dare say they will use them up much faster than I will.

My Gratitude List

• Something that makes me laugh ~ Watching a little of piglets squabbling for the best feeding position.
• Something Awesome ~ Fresh baked crusty bread still warm out of the oven.
• Something to be grateful for ~ Aeroplanes ~ I would happily never drive a car again in order to save the fuel for flight if I had to. Every other country is a long boat ride from Australia.
• Something that makes me happy ~ See how much my children love each other. It is obvious.
• Something I find fascinating ~ I watched a children’s educational program once abouts who seeds are spread. Some explode out of their pods, some act like helicopters, some attach them selves to animals, some are eaten by animals and them pooped somewhere else… Now if that isn’t fascinating I don’t know what is.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow