I received the following comment from LCM in response to Wednesday's post. It had gone into moderation, because it had links in it, so it wasn't published before most of the readers and moved on. So I have decided to share it here today so everyone has a chance to read it.  So without further adieu here it is. Hi everyone! I encourage all of you to visit TerraCycle.com. For the past year, I have been involved with a group of volunteers who collect, sort, and ship “trash†to TerraCycle. We are then awarded points which are converted into cash rebates which are donated to our designated … [Read more...]
Experiment with going without
Sometimes, when it comes to the stuff around our homes, we continue to own things just because we always have. To have them has literally become a habit. Fortunately any habit that has been created can also be broken. There are two ways that you can experiment with breaking the ownership habit. The first, which we have spoken of in the past, is to have a trial separation from a selection of your stuff. Choose things that you are on the fence about decluttering, then put them away somewhere out of sight for a selected period of time. If you haven't had the need for these objects during the … [Read more...]
March to the beat of your own decluttering drum ~ By: Nicole V
I came across a hyperlink to an article last year about hiding clutter in the home in “secret†spots. Intrigued and curious (why would the writer ask readers to hide their clutter, instead of getting rid of it, I wondered?), I went on to read the article. It turned out to be about hidden storage for items at home (think: platform beds with storage drawers and hidden cabinetry), rather than squirrelling away or stashing your clutter out of sight, which was my first impression upon reading the title. This led me to wonder whether anyone would have followed the tips given if the write-up had … [Read more...]
Don’t agonise over getting rid of clutter
I had a reader back in the early days of my blog who seemed to have trouble letting go of her clutter. It wasn't that she wanted to keep the stuff, or found it difficult to make the choices as to what to let go however she balked at getting on with the task. To me it was obvious that her problem was that she didn't like seeing anything go to waste. You see she was very eco friendly, to the point where it was a mission to throw nothing in the trash. And I think this noble goal interfered with her goal to rid her home of clutter. As you all know I am not a lover of waste myself and do what … [Read more...]
Gift Cards ~ by Moni Gilbert
Gift giving and receiving can be a touchy subject for 365'ers and their relatives. The best compromise to date, is the gift card or vouchers. However, reports show that $1 billion dollars worth in 2013 weren't redeemed and $2 billion dollars worth in 2014. No wonder retailers love gift cards! Money for nothing! This made me consider the gift cards that were floating around my kitchen drawer and decided to use these as part of my decluttering mini-missions. It turns out I had three - one for $25 to a supermarket, one for $20 at the shopping mall and one for $100 dinner at a local … [Read more...]
Magazines ~ Aspirational Clutter
My friend Wendy sent me a photo the other day of a box of magazines she was decluttering. Wendy is very practiced at decluttering, having been reading 365 Less Things for many years. It is how we met in fact. So I was a little surprised at how many magazines she had to declutter. She has been renovating for some time, which is now about finished, and these were home decor magazines for inspiration.  As it turned out she didn't reference then at all for the reno so out they went while she was decluttering her bookcase. I am glad she sent me the photo because it inspired me to write this post … [Read more...]
Some things to think about
Just for the fun of it today I am just going to write a long list of some of the things that you could probably find to declutter. Things that I am sure you no longer want and, in some cases, never even wanted or needed in the first place. So without further adieu here it is ~ use it or lose it. Anything you received free that you never needed ~ pens, coffee mugs, samples, badges, shopping bags, toys... , unwanted gifts, clothes that don't fit, gadgets that aren't useful, excess of anything, old make-up, books you'll never read again, dust collectors, poor quality photos, old magazines (any … [Read more...]
Freeing up space
I talk a lot about freeing up space in cupboards, closets, shelves and floors. No one ever seems to have questioned me as to what all this space is being freed up for. What is the point in having empty spaces on shelves or floor space that could hold furniture to store or organise all your stuff. Given that you don't need to declutter anything if you don't want to then I could understand why this would come into question. However you wouldn't even be entertaining the thought of decluttering if being cluttered was working for you. One thing for sure, that I have mentioned before, is that … [Read more...]
Decluttering & discovering your true self ~ by Andréia
Not so long ago, Colleen wrote an excellent post about discovering who we really are when decluttering. The post was “Who are youâ€. I thought that post was great. It encouraged me to think about whom I had been before decluttering and who I am now. It made me think about what I want out of life, work and my home environment. Throughout my decluttering journey many times I have struggled with stuff related to who I was a long time ago as opposed to whom I am now. One example of that were my cassette tapes which I got rid of. While they were all important to my teenage self and listened … [Read more...]
Habits ~ A guest post by Wendy F
I was fortunate to meet up and become friends with Colleen after starting reading her blog. Â Â She has 'enlightened ' me greatly and we laugh a lot. I will try and keep it simple, this is just my take on a bit of my declutter journey. HABITS The Habits I have changed over the last few years and the new ones I have embraced in my declutter journey. No Junk Mail. A simple sign that attached to my mailbox avoids my house being filled with free newspapers and catalogues from every store in town. Result ~ massive clutter saver and removes any temptation to go and purchase items in … [Read more...]