Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering.
As you can guess from the heading of today’s post we will be concentrating this week on things  households often have too many of. I will name the item of the day and you can check to see if you have too many on them and decide on which needs decluttering or what needs using up.
Monday – Glassware ~ Donate to the thrift store or set aside for a garage sale/flea-market stall.
Tuesday – Toiletries ~ Choose your least favourite and use it up. Remember you can use these up outside the box. Shampoo can be used as hand soap, mouthwash as drain cleaner or toothbrush soaker etc. Just google alternate use for _______ and see what you can learn.
Wednesday – Tools particularly multiples of the same one, 3 similar hammers, 2 of each size screw drivers and allen keys in every drawer in the house.
Thursday – Coffee or tea cups ~ Donate to the thrift store or set aside for a garage sale/flea-market stall.
Friday – Towels ~ Donate to the thrift store or a local pet shelter.
Saturday – Shoes ~ Sell, donate or toss depending on condition.
Sunday – Pens ~ Donate to local school or take to your place of work.
Good luck and happy decluttering
Today’s Declutter Item
As you all know I have too many craft supplies. So I filled this jar with my excess and donated it to the thrift store. It was sold very quickly.
Something I Am Grateful For Today
Lightening & thunder. I love a good noisy storm. So long as I am not caught out in it of course.
Candi @ min hus says
I’ve been trying to use up my stock of toiletries for months. It’s amazing how long some of these things last! Using items in alternate ways has been a big help. I use conditioner and shampoo that I’m not crazy about as shaving cream as well. It’s way better than tossing it.
Colleen Madsen says
When you concentrate on using toiletries up you realise how long that takes and it really makes you wonder why you stocked up with multiples of them in the first place. I use body moisturiser to shave my legs it does two jobs at once and cuts out a step at the end. And I can do it outside of the shower without making a mess.
Becky says
I’ve mopped my floors with shampoo before. (Smells nice!)
When I’m washing out the cat litter box, I squirt in a tiny bit of shampoo to clean it. (Again, smells nice.)
Colleen Madsen says
Good way to use things up or just to make products dual purpose Becky. The house I live in gets smelly drains for some reason so I pour mouthwash down them. I really don’t like the idea of using harsh chemicals like Draino so I prefer just to use something the might gently neutralise odours.
Deb J says
I’m still trying to pare down my scrapbook stuff. I have to do it slowly and carefully so Mom doesn’t pitch a fit. Grin. I’m determined to get to where I have only the essentials. I’m trying to get eveything up-to-date so that I have no backlog of pictures to scrap or events to memorialize. Almost there. Yippee!! Mom went through her drawers again this week both in her bedroom and in her sewing/craft area. Little by little. YES!!
Cindy says
Your Mom did some decluttering?? That’s fantastic Deb J!
Colleen Madsen says
Hi Deb J, I just got a message from my sister-in-law saying my niece has made be a birthday card so then I had the brilliant idea to put together a little package of card making supplies for her. It gets rid a some more stuff out of my stash and will give her a thrill I bet.
Your mom is becoming a regular little declutterer. I think you are onto a winner there, your good influence has definitely worn off onto her.
Jane says
I’ve long since stopped buying shaving cream – especially once I realized that shaving cream aimed at women costs waaaay more than “men’s” shaving cream. Anyways I get super inexpensive shaving cream for the husband, but for my legs & armpits I use super cheap hair conditioner (like something that costs 80 cents for a huge container). A tiny amount can go a long way especially if you don’t slather it 3 mm’s thick on your legs – a thin layer is more than enough. I also inherit my husband’s face razor when he deems it too dull for his face. I can make it work for my legs & armpits for quite awhile. His face is much less tolerant to nicks than my legs will ever be!
The moral of all this is that we consume less expensive products; use less products; make the few products we do use last longer & keep a little more change in our wallets because of it. I also buy the same hair shampoo & conditioner without fail. I’ve long since gotten past having to try a new hair shampoo in hopes it will turn my mane into that of a hair goddess. I use the same brand (which is good for colored hair) & thus don’t end up with oodles of half-used hair products that didn’t live up to their claims. Less clutter & less over-hyped expectations that will never happen.
Sticking to tried & true products that passes my muster & not buying into every new prodcut that shows up like the daily paper sure has lessened the amount of clutter that comes into my home & has made it easier to navigate/clean my bathroom too!
Colleen Madsen says
I think we can safely say Jane that you are both thrifty and realistic. I too use the same hair produces all the time because like you I have long since realised that all the advertising hype about how the latest product is going to make my hair behave itself is just flat out lies. In fact sometimes those adds boarder on blatant false advertising and I’ll almost bet the only thing they have done to the product is change the packaging. And always the latest product only does what they promised us the last one would do. I’m over it.
Jane says
I got the idea of using the husbands old razor from one of the comments on your website – brilliantly easy & economical to boot!
Otherwise, my previous hairdresser spent one of my hair appointments really trying hard to sell me on a particular hair product collection (Pureology) that her salon sold. She was really going overboard with trying to get me to buy these products & I kept saying thanks but no.
She went so far as to bring the bottles over to me & have me hold them while she finished up my cut all-the-while telling me how this brand was as good as it gets & I’d be foolish not to buy it. Sheesh. Anyways, I stuck to my guns & did not purchase any of those products, but I left the salon feeling both exhausted & exasperated. like I had survived being in captivity against my will.
Crazy me, I went back to see her again in 6 weeks & she immediately starting gushing over my hair & how wonderfully luxurious the texture was & how well the color held, etc. I had a obvious confused look on my face because I was obviously confused (& for the record, my hair will never be confused for luxurious LOL). She then asked me how I was loving the products she sold me at my last visit & wasn’t I just so very pleased with the results?
Uhhhhhhhh. Ummmm. Uuuhhh. blink. blink.
I think I said something very unclever & non-original like “uhhh, yeah it’s good”.
I ended up finding another hairdresser at another salon after that.
Colleen Madsen says
Oh Jane, how absolutely annoying the hard sell was. I am not surprised you found a new hairdresser. I am so glad my hairdresser doesn’t sell product at all so I never get pestered to buy it. I find the hard sell on anything infuriatingly annoying. When we lived in America we stopped shopping at Express clothing stores because they wouldn’t leave us alone when we went in there to see what was new.
I can’t use my husbands old razors because these days he only uses an electric razor.
Marilyn says
I love typos, I certainly make enough even though I try to proofread carefully! How much were you sold for, especially so quickly?
Colleen Madsen says
Thanks Marilyn, found and corrected. That one was pretty tame compared to some of them, panty and pantry I have discovered make for an amusing switch in a sentence. My mistakes are all too frequent too but you will get used to that. I have long since decided that my typos are of regular amusement to my readers and far be it from me to deprive them of that.
By the way, welcome to 365 Less Things. Please feel free to let my know about my bloopers anytime so I can correct them and also please join in the conversation sometime.
Regards Colleen
Ann says
Never mind Colleen, at least YOU didn’t type into a person’s last will and testament “I request that my body be BURNED” instead of “BURIED” – just one little letter different!
Colleen Madsen says
Hi Ann,
I hope you aren’t talking from experience here. I actually prefer cremation so that would be fine with me.
Lena says
I think I went through all of those things over the last weeks, (but I might go through the tool box again just in case) the hardest part for me is to use up all those things in the bathroom. if I dont like the smell and the effect it has on my skin, I somehow cant force myself to use it. so I decided to give it away…
Colleen Madsen says
Oh I agree Lena, don’t be using anything up that has had a bad effect on your skin. By all means give them away.
Jo says
It must be a wonderful “fringe benefit” of working at a thrift store to be able to take a few things at a time to be donated, as they are set aside. That’s one of the harder things for me, to actually schlep all the stuff to the thrift store. Now I am opting instead for a charity pick-up that comes right to my doorstep. But if I worked at a thrift store, I’d be doing what you do!
Colleen Madsen says
Hi Jo, if I had had those collect at your door on a regular basis charity pick-ups like I did when we lived in the US I would take advantage of them to. But since we didn’t I found this store and starting dropping off there long before I ever started the 365 less things challenge. I figured in the end it was time to see how it worked from the inside. I get great satisfaction from doing my bit there and I love the friendly staff and customers. With the added bonus of seeing my stuff get sold and make some money for a worthwhile charity. A couple of my neighbours have dropped stuff off too and a couple drop stuff off to me and I take it in for them. It’s no trouble for me but is a help to them and the store benefits so win win.
The Other Lynn says
I’m ahead of you this week… I just took a box of vintage glassware to a friend to sell or use as she wants. I’ve had them 10+ years, from my great-grandmother. Never used, so it’s going. And no more clutter in my cupboard!
The Other Lynn says
Ugh, and towels coming out my ears. I am trying to dispense of my father-in-law’s things since his death, and the number of towels we have around here are astounding! How many towels did a single man who had laundry done weekly really need?! Anyway, that’s what I was working on yesterday! I’m making a dent!
The Other Lynn says
oooh… and six pairs of shoes out the door. Sadly, all mine. But all well-used in the last 10 years (three pairs falling apart). I promise I won’t post anymore today. : )
Colleen Madsen says
Post as many times as you like Lynn especially if it is because you are finding more and more things to declutter.
Colleen Madsen says
It seems towels are an item that a lot of people have too many of. I have learned my lesson on stocking up on these just because they were available on sale.
Colleen Madsen says
Good for you Lynn, I am glad that you realise that you don’t have to keep things just because they belonged to your great-grandmother. I have one of my great-grandmothers wedding rings which I will keep for its history and because it is really small so it isn’t too much to keep for the sake of it. I never new this woman whereas I did know her daughter, my grandmother and my memories of her are strong enough that I don’t feel it necessary to keep all the things I used to own of hers either. I have declutter most of them but I am lucky enough to have both her engagement and eternity rings so once again a very small memento to keep.
The Other Lynn says
I have – and use- my great-grandmother’s china and her portrait, so I didn’t feel the need to keep something we didn’t use!
Colleen Madsen says
Exactly Lynn, good for you.
Rebecca B. A. R. says
Another place that likes to get gently used towels is the homeless shelter. BTW, I always shave dry, right out of the shower, that’s the only way I don’t get razor burn. I also use my husband’s old blades that are too hard on his face, so I can’t even remember the last time I bought blades for myself. With soaps, lotions, and makeup, I’ve gone to only using items that are homemade (like my soap, laundry detergent, shampoo bar, etc.) where I know what is in them, or things that are rated as low risk on the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database online. This has actually saved me a ton of money, b/c in the USA there are so many products that loaded with nasty chemicals. I’ve found that things that are labeled “sensitive” are usually the best, b/c it is the fragrance in a lot of things that are the high risk culprits.
Colleen Madsen says
Thank you for that information Rebecca. I haven’t got to the point where I have started making my own toiletries and I don’t imagine I ever will. Aside from shampoo, conditioner and soap I really don’t use much of anything else. I don’t know where I would find the time to make my own, something else would have to give in order to do this. Never say never though.
Sabrina from Italy says
I have soooooo many of those little bottles of shampoos, conditioners, bath foam, moisturizers, soap bars etc that I brought back from hotels I stayed!! Up to now I had kept them because we travel a lot for leisure too, and usually we go to cheap places where we have to bring our own cleaning stuff. But recently I realized that we’re not going to finish everything up even in 10 years of travels, so I have started using them also at home. It takes forever!!!
Colleen Madsen says
Hi Sabrina, You could probably also donate those to homeless shelters. Every saving these facilities can make helps them continue to run.
Anita says
At your suggestion, we tackled our tool box and eliminated the duplicates. How many screwdrivers does one household need!? Anyway, we now have a box of tools on its way to Habitat for Humanity. They will also take excess paint, carpeting, tile, etc.
Colleen Madsen says
What a great organisation to send your tools to. They will no doubt be well used there. Well done Anita.