Today’s Decluttered Item
Some poster size photos that we have no wall space for.
On our daily walks by the beach my husband and I pass by a little rock pool area. As we walked by the other day I wondered something of Steve that not one minute later he put into words ~ “Do you sometimes regret decluttering the snorkelling gear?” After laughing and telling him I had just wondering if he though that, my unreserved response was no.
You see we had had that snorkelling gear for at least twenty years when I finally decluttered it. It hadn’t been used for about nineteen of those twenty years. The fact is that if I hadn’t began this declutter mission, and let go of all the things we didn’t use, then we would likely never have fitted into our lovely little apartment near the ocean.
Peoples’ lifestyles continually change and if we kept everything because we thought that life would go full circle and we might need things again and again then we would be so bogged down in stuff that life would likely become stagnant. Now that is something I would regret.
Today’s Mini Mission
Start a trial separation of costume jewellery items.
Eco Tip for the Day
Clothes don’t usually need to go in the wash after just one use. Wearing them at least twice will save on laundry detergent, electricity and your time and energy. (This does not apply to underpants. 😉 )
For a full list of my eco tips so far click here
It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow
Well said Colleen! Our new house does not have a built in microwave and I used to have a free standing microwave but decluttered it years ago because I didn’t need it at our condo or even my past 2 residences since the microwave was built in. Now that I will be purchasing a microwave soon my mother tried to rub my nose in it that I had one and gotten rid of it. But I gently pointed out that the old one was very small and not like what I want for my purposes now and it would have been sitting in a hot garage for the past 10 years or so. The technology has advanced since the days of my old microwave so if I had kept it because I ‘might need it’ I’d be stuck with something that didn’t really suit my new needs. Not to mention I probably would have also kept a ton of other junk that I don’t want or need.
Melissa, you are so right about how hanging on to that microwave would have meant being stuck with one that was old technology and probably would not have look right in your new place. We have had several items like this that Mom would have kept if I hadn’t pointed this out. Plus the cost of moving and storing them.
Exactly Melissa. I have just given my daughter the clothes dryer that was in this apartment because we have a washer dryer combo. Should we move out sometime in the distant future I will not be lamenting having to replace the dryer (it is part of the apartment). I will be happy that I could help my daughter out that is just starting out in life away from home.
Colleen, “if we kept everything because we thought that life would go full circle and we might need things again and again then we would be so bogged down in stuff that life would likely become stagnant. Now that is something I would regret.” This says it all. I’m so very glad we got rid of many things over the years.
Hi Deb J, I was pretty pleased with that statement myself. Who would want to play that game? It would be like getting married and spending your whole married life regretting letting go of your single life. How much would that taint your relationship? Live for now.
And given how little we used that snorkelling gear it was obviously one of those impulse buys that maybe we should have given more thought to. But I am not going to regret that either because we had a good time with them at the time.
Colleen, my mother is a regreter. Half the time she regrets buying something because it cost money and then after we have used it for 10 years and then let it set for who knows how many she regrets selling or giving it away because we spent money for it. Maybe I am weird but to me it is easy come easy go. There is very little that we actually NEED. Most of it is convenient or fun but not needful.
At this point, I cannot think of anything that I regret getting rid of. Colleen knows I struggled with donating my old snowboard, but I did it and that’s fine. If I do take up snowboarding again, I’ll buy a new board. Times have changed and technology has improved, so why would I want the old?
A little twinge of regret is, why have I hauled this junk around for so many years?? Be gone old stuff! 🙂
Good point Michelle. When I think about how much money the Australian Defence Department must waste on transporting its members clutter from location to location it boggles my mind.
Hello Colleen,
Yes, transportation costs and also a couple of times in my life, I had to store my things while job searching or home searching, I kept a lot of unnecessary/non-useful/bad memory/old technology things, so I was actually PAYING to keep garbage! That is messed up. You have helped so much. I don’t spend near the amount of money on cleaning products, storage system products, gifts, etc., collectible doodads, etc. I feel more calm and pleased with our home, spend less money, spend less time cleaning, and have more time for good stuff. As folks from the eastern seaboard may say, “You are one wicked-smart lady.”
Hi Colleen –
I am a brand new follower. I found you 10 short days ago when doing a Pinerest search for inspiration for organizing. It’s been 10 days of finding at least one thing to throw out. (I’m so early in the process, the things I am getting rid of are truly trash.)
I LOVE today’s post. The thought of fitting into a dream home is such a tangible vision for me. This will definitely help me as I strive to let things go.
Thank you for sharing your journey.
Claire.
HI Claire and welcome to 365 Less Things. I wish you success with your one a day mission and hope that it changes your life as mine did. I look forward to you joining us in the comments on a regular basis. Cheers Colleen
Colleen and other: Thanks so much for your inspiration.
The never ending saga of decluttering has become my full time job. Yesterday, a friend of ours
who is in construction stopped by to do some small jobs for us. I asked if he could use a staple gun that I purchased a number of years ago and used once and happily his reply was yes. I also gave him a power screw driver. Nice idea, but who wants to wait for the thing to charge when you only need to screw in a few nails. Now I’m looking on the shelves of our very dusty computer desk. (I clean the top and monitor…but hardly ever stoop down to do that type of detail cleaning. I’m going to ask my husbands blessings tonight to discard some 30 plus floppy discs that we have not even looked at in a very long, long time. Wish me luck! I also packed up some colored copier paper to donate.
Hi Anna, it sounds like you are coming along nicely with your decluttering. Well done palming of the staple gun and power screw driver. I hope your husband approves of the decluttering of the floppy discs. I am sure they are way past useful. I wish you luck.
I have one item that I regret getting rid of. A dance item that hadn’t been used for several items that I sold for $15 and then the teacher announced we needed it for the concert so I had to buy another one for $50. However, I have sold thousands of dollars worth of stuff over the past three years and so I feel that negates the $35 difference.
That aside, I really have no other regrets and if I have to replace something in the future, well I’d want one that suits our requirements at the time, not one that suited us in the past.
Must admit that I occasionally get a twinge of regret that I decluttered various books, but not quite enough to purchase them again! Often I just borrow them from the library and after I’ve reread them I never want to see them again:-)
One of my best money saving/eco tips for things like shampoo/detergents/even food items like sugar, is to write the date I opened it in a Sharpie pen. I make note of how long the item lasts, then when it’s time to buy say a new bottle of shampoo I try and make it last longer than the last bottle. Obsessive? Maybe, but it’s a fun game for me.
Oh, and I’ve been meaning to tell you: we were going to get the kids a trampoline for Christmas, but because my husband likes to live dangerously and leave things to the last minute, buy the time he got around to getting one they were all sold out. (Mind you, the kids didn’t even miss not getting one as it was going to be a surprise). We were going to wait till they were back in stock later this month, but just yesterday he was chatting to our next door neighbours who are moving, and was offered their old trampoline – which is in good condition – for free! Not sure what the moral of the story is here: maybe it’s if you postpone big purchases, they might fall into your lap anyhow?!;
Hello Colleen, I am checking in! This weekend I am helping my daughter declutter and organize for her cross country move– yay!
I’m thinking that the snorkeling equipment wouldn’t be in good enough condition to use if it had been in storage and unused for 19 years.