Imagine my surprise today when I went to put some clean laundry away in my son's room and discovered he had decluttered one of his drawers. There was a big wad of shoe laces and other items in his trash can. I retrieved it of course and sorted it into donate and throw away piles but WOW! If that isn't amazing enough you will be surprised to know he had done this once before. I had just mentioned it today in a reply to a comment Loretta left on my Half way there post. At the end of high school last year he decluttered all the old school papers he no longer needed. There was no prompting from … [Read more...]
Day 170 Leaving it behind
I really only touched on this subject with my post Decluttering Pessimism but it seems to have evoked some interesting responses from people who have been subjected to the unfortunate position of dealing with a lost loved one's clutter. And nobody wants to be forced into the very awkward position of having to broach the subject with an elderly relative that they need to consider paring down their possessions in order to avoid this very situation. I remember when I was a child rummaging through drawers, cupboards and sheds at my grandmothers house and being intrigued with the interesting … [Read more...]
Day 166 Childhood Keepsakes
I received a comment from Loretta yesterday and here is what she wrote... I’ve got a question for you: since your children are now grown, what advice do you have for those of us with younger kids with regard to keepsakes and clutter? Is there anything you regret not keeping for your kids, or did you (and they) keep ‘too much’ childhood stuff? I recently went through a big box full of cards my mother kept for me from the time I was born: birthday, Christmas, invitations. I had 40 years worth! Tossed most of them, but realised I was doing the same thing for my kids. It is quite … [Read more...]
Day147 No use whining someone had to do it!
When we first returned to Australia after living overseas for some years there were a few household appliances that need replacing. As luck would have there was a Homemakers Expo on in our new location soon after we arrived so we attended hoping to get educated on what were the best appliances to suit our needs. To cut a long story short the only thing we came out of it with was a membership to the Wine Selectors Club. As a result every three months a dozen bottles of wine, six red and six white, would appear on our doorstep. this isn't a large quantity to keep up with but we don't drink … [Read more...]
Day 119 Manuals and Warranties
Here is another area in your home that needs to be gone through on a regular basis to avoid the clutter of unnecessary paperwork that has become irrelevant over time. Firstly all warranties and manuals should be stored together in a safe place where they can be easily located should a situation arise where it becomes necessary to refer to them. We keep ours in a hanging file box in the bottom of our linen closet with other documents such as lease/phone contracts, vehicle registration info etc. Over time these documents become redundant, warranty periods expire and you no longer own … [Read more...]
Day 72 Accumulation + Laziness = Loss of Space & Dollars
Sometimes we can end up with multiples of certain things hiding in several places around the house. The Allen Keys that are today's discard are a perfect example. They seem to have bred like rabbits throughout our house, some in the garage, some in the office desk, some in the kitchen drawer and some in that useful tool kit we keep in the laundry. This causes a two part problem, firstly- that there are just too many of them and secondly- that when you do need one you may forget some of the places they are hiding and end up having to buy another because you can't find the size you need. This … [Read more...]