Tuesday, August 13, 2013

While the garbage taker outer is away...

I clear clutter.

My husband is out of town for the week.  He's visiting his family in the mid-West.  His nephew is getting married.  It's his second marriage, so we didn't think it was necessary for me to use vacation time and go along with him.  He decided to drive.  It's 1000 miles.  Since it's a long drive he decided to incorporate a visit to his aunt's lake house and visit his aunt and his cousins.  It's on the way and he loves it there.  He spent much of his youth visiting his aunt and uncle and cousins at that house in the summers.  It feels like home to him.

While he's gone I have to take care of the dog and the house and do the chores he typically does.  One of those chores is taking out the garbage.  This is an opportunity to put things into the garbage that often get taken out when the regular garbage taker outer takes out the garbage.  This is what I hear at these auspicious times.  "Hey!!! Why are you throwing THIS away?"  Yeah, when the regular garbage taker outer isn't here, I don't have to hear that.

So I'm taking advantage of this time.

Since I'm telling you all of this I thought I would share a little something something I found on the internet about decluttering.  This is from a post from Colleen Madsen of 365 Less Things. (the comments are mine)
1. Stop the Flow of Stuff Coming In. Decluttering is a waste of time if you simply replace the old stuff with new. Determine today to buy less. Trust me, you won’t regret it.  You've seen the TV show Hoarders, haven't you?

2. Declutter at Least One Item a Day. Decluttering does not have to be a mad frenzy that disrupts your entire household.  She says one item a day.  I like to use the biblical number of perfection and throw out seven items each day.  You can do what you like, but throwing things away is a good thing.

3. Declutter the Easy Stuff First. There is no need to make things difficult by trying to declutter the hardest things first.  Yep, baby steps.  Start with the things that are cluttering up the inside of your drawers before you start getting rid of the furniture.

4. Put a Disposal Plan in Place. Make a plan for your junk.  eBay, Freecycle, Craigslist, and our local thrift store are my favorite disposal options.

5. Decide to Not Keep Things out of Guilt or Obligation. Your home should only contain the things you love or use. You don't have to keep that ugly painting your sister-in-law gave you as a wedding gift. Seriously, throw that kind of stuff away.

6. Do Not Be Afraid to Let Go. The urge to hold on to items you think you might need someday can be eliminated simply by being realistic about what need really is.  When you think about it (or watch Hoaders) and you think you may use something you find in your closet or garage or junk room (oh please, if you have a junk room you are in desperate need of this blog post) throw it out.  That's what stores are for. Stores are for buying things you need, right now.  Not later.

7. Gifts Do Not Have to be Material. Give clutter-free gifts. Encourage people to follow this concept when buying gifts for you. Cash is a great gift.  And if you are cleaning out a drawer and you find cash, put it in your wallet.

8. Do Not Over-Equip Your Home. You don't need enough kitchenware and bedding to supply the 7th fleet.  Buy what you need.  Not more.

9. Do Not Declutter Things that are not Yours Without the Owner’s Permission. Everyone should have a choice about their own belongings, even small children. Honor them by allowing them to choose. You can encourage hoarding tendencies in others by ripping things away from them before they are ready to let go. (actually, this surprised me.  I'm sharing it with you even though I'm tossing stuff while my husband is away.  I can't imagine asking him about every little thing.  that being said, I would never toss something that I knew was dear to him without asking.)

10. Do Not Waste Your Life on Clutter. Don't let your stuff control your life.  Your stuff has needs.  It needs to be cleaned, fixed, insured, moved, etc., etc.  Spend you life with the people you love.  Spend your life doing what you love to do.  Get rid of things that are barriers between you and your life.



391.  Spellcheck
392.  Texting
393.  Photoshop
394.  Google maps
395.  Gmail private messaging
396.  Scanning
397.  Blogs
398.  Bloggers
399.  YouTube
400.  The Internet!!!

5 comments:

  1. ha. def get the owners permission, but it sounds like you are def on a mission yourself to clean out...i think in that case i might take a trip too...just to get out of the way...ha.

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  2. I love this post and, actually, we are thinking in the same vein...you'll see what I mean, later.

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  3. I keep a constant donation bag going. I find that really helps.

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  4. love this! I hate clutter. I take a bag to the thrift shop once a week. We have entirely too much stuff!!!

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