365 Less Things

Reducing our stuff one day at a time.

Simple Saturday ~ Book Review – The Overspent American

by

The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer by Juliet B. Schor was published in 1998, but the information seems as relevant today as it did more than a decade ago. The book is geared toward middle and upper-income families, who seem to be caught up in a never-ending cycle of keeping up with the Joneses, no matter who the Joneses are. "The Joneses" are our first error, according to Dr. Schor. In the past, our Joneses (or reference group) would be our neighbors, who all lived in houses about like ours, drove cars similar to ours, and likely had two adults and only one … [Read more...]

Simple Saturday – Say NO to Freebies

by

The Rule of Reciprocity by Maria Lin, Real Simple, Dec. 2011 issue About 40 years ago, Disabled American Veterans, a Kentucky-based nonprofit, had a bright idea: The charity decided to send potential donors free personalized address labels. After the labels arrived in mailboxes across the nation, contributors to the group nearly doubled - jumping from 18 percent to 35 percent of those solicited. Why was this marketing gimmick so successful (and copied by countless others)? Because of a phenomenon called the rule of reciprocity. The concept is simple enough: When people are given something … [Read more...]

Simple Saturday – Corinna’s Color Coordinated Bookshelves

by

I wrote about bookshelf organization for Cindy's Weekly Wisdom this week, and I showed my friend Corinna's living room book shelf. Here are photos of her ninth grade daughter Audrey's color coordinated shelves, along with the letter Corinna emailed me explaining the hows and whys of the color coordinated books. Audrey's colour coordinated bookcase. The color book order is only about looks.  We’ve just retrained our brains to visualize what a book looks like, and therefore what color it is, when we want to find a book.  That’s actually easier than it sounds.  It also reacquainted me … [Read more...]

Simple Saturday ~ A little creativity & all jokes aside a little stark reality

by

Today for Simple Saturday I want to share two things with you. Firstly I have been creative and come up with my new Christmas tree design. I thought I would run it past you to see what you think. It is minimal, inexpensive (I picked it up off the side of the road) and fits better in my home than the the big 6½ ft fake pine tree. If I decide I will continue with this tree tradition I will throw away the branches at the end of the season and pick up some new ones the next year. That way I don't have to store it and each year it will be that little bit different to the last. I could put this … [Read more...]

Simple Saturday ~ Another funny declutter story

by

My husband had a hair brush when we were first married, he used no other. Around about the 12th year of our marriage the brush started to fall apart with age. I was searching for a brush to replace it that had the same characteristics without success. Somehow a friend and I got talking about hair and the story of this brush came up in the conversation. I described the brush to her and she said she thought she might have the exact same brush at her home that wasn't being used. She checked and amazingly she was correct it was the exact same brush in almost new condition and she generously gave … [Read more...]

Simple Saturday ~ Buy nothing new October update

by

Hi folks, for Simple Saturday this week Cindy suggested that we give you an up date on how we are going with our pledges to Buy Nothing New in October. i believe even Alice Cooper is on board with this initiative Cindy's Update Besides groceries, household consumables such as laundry soap, and medicines, I have purchased two new books for the children that were preordered in August but not published until this month, as well as two other new books for myself. My daughters have been to the fabric store with their grandmother and purchased fabric for their Halloween costumes. I do not … [Read more...]

Simple Saturday ~ One man’s trash is another man’s treasure

by

Here is proof of the old saying that one man's trash is another man's treasure. This port crock was decluttered from our home some time back. I actually can't find evidence of it on my blog so I can only assume that I filed the photo in the wrong file and it has never featured as a daily declutter item. Which only makes this story even more of a funny coincidence. I am also therefore not sure whether we donated it to the thrift store or sold it on eBay. The photo was taken in February of this year. However the story goes like this. My husband walked into the office of one of … [Read more...]