Office shopping temptations

I started a new job with an office, coworkers, and a commute. Previously, I worked from home in my pajamas, blissfully ignorant of the many shopping temptations that accompany an office job.

Working outside the home I found…

• Lots of opportunities to buy food and drinks.
• More consumer products, fashion, and gadgets. Hmm, that Kindle is smaller than mine and looks cooler. Should I buy new work clothes like those?
• More opportunities to shop. I can easily shop on my way home or walk to a store during lunch.
• Thoughts of grabbing dinner on my way home.

And finally, I felt compelled to buy something on my way home Friday. You know, as a reward for a job well done at the office.

In the end, I didn’t change my spending habits this week. But I can see that it’s easy to spend when you’re exposed to so many products and stores.

What do you think? Do you feel more compelled to buy things when you work outside the home?

Reconsidering everything you own

I’m reading a novel called “My Year of Meats” by Ruth Ozeki and was struck by the  following passage. This quote is by a documentary filmmaker living in a small New York apartment:

“It’s a ritual I perform every year. I go through all my possessions, touching each one by one. I reconsider everything I own, and either choose it again or throw it away. It’s a deterrent to shopping and stuff stays special that way.”

I love this passage (except the throwing away part); I like the idea of touching and reconsidering each possession on an annual basis. 

I can’t help but think that if I did this my garage would not look the way it does right now. Unfortunately, I don’t have a small New York apartment that forces me to reconsider everything I own. Instead, I need to be self-disciplined. Oy! 

Seems overwhelming to go through everything, but I’ve found that breaking things down into small tasks helps.

Drawer by drawer, I’m trying to make it so that my possessions are ones that I would choose again today.

What are your strategies for tackling clutter?

Letting go of stuff

I realize that having less stuff is a good thing. I’ve shut off the intake valve; I’m conscious about my purchases and make very few. However, to create the space that I want for myself and my family, I need to remove stuff.

Enter the garage sale.

I set a date and invited people to participate. With the date looming, my family assembled a large pile of things. The garage sale wasn’t wildly profitable, but it was rich in many other ways. I let go of things that I’ve been holding on to for various reasons. Here are a few of my silly reasons:

• I got a great deal on it
• It was a gift 
• It’s my backup
• It’s in great shape
• I may need it someday
• It was expensive 
• I might wear it when I paint (I never paint)
• It has sentimental value (the sentiment doesn’t leave with the item – photograph it or journal about it)

For me, I’m going with Use It or Lose It.

Now that I’ve removed a big round of stuff, I’m motivated to continue. When I open a cabinet or drawer I look for things that aren’t used. What can I get rid of? When I look at a room I look for things that are not beautiful or useful and remove them.

I love this quote from the Becoming Minimalist blog:

for me, minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things that i most value. it is about deciding what is most important in my life and removing the things that distract me from it.  it is about removing the urgent for the sake of the important.

And so I’ll keep removing things that distract me from what is most important in my life. I’ll continue to make space to create.

How about you? Do you find it easy to let go of stuff?

Start small; Declutter a bookshelf

Birthdays are a good time to purge things from the past. My youngest just turned nine, but she still had beginning reader books on her bookshelf. My decluttering project this week is… my daughter’s bookshelf.

1. Target a bookshelf

Pick a bookshelf. This bookshelf suffers from messiness and too many books.

Bookshelf before

2. Take everything off the bookshelf

<imagine empty bookshelf>

3. Clean the bookshelf

<imagine clean empty bookshelf>

4.  Purge books

• Remove things that belong elsewhere 
• Give-away pile: Make a pile of books that haven’t been read in years. Be honest. There’s no need to hold on to things that aren’t being used.
• Keep pile: Make a pile of books that may be read in the next six months.

While purging my daughter’s books, I found I had an attachment to books that brought back pleasant memories: Richard Scarry books, The Rainbow Fish and even Berenstain Bears. Good times.

In the end, I decided to let go of the books.

I don’t need to own these books in order to recall fond memories of reading them to my children. Classic children’s books will continue to exist in bookstores and libraries. Now that my children are older, I don’t need to fill my home with books for younger children.

5. Group alike items

Before putting books back on the shelf, group them by size and type (paperback and hardback).

6. Put books on the bookshelf

After purging 35 or so books:

Bookshelf after

Ah, much better.

Will the mess return? Maybe, but on a much smaller scale.

Because I removed 35 books, it’s not possible for the same mess to be recreated. There are less books, so there will be less mess. If the bookshelf gets messy, I can remove more books until the number of books is manageable. The fewer things my daughter has in her room, the more likely she’ll keep it tidy.

“Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris

Are your decluttering your home? Share your experience/wisdom in a Comment.

Start small; Declutter a cabinet

Decluttering your home can be overwhelming if you look at the BIG picture. So don’t. Instead take on a sliver of the big picture; a kitchen cabinet. Cabinet by cabinet, drawer by drawer, you can declutter your whole home. 

1. Target a cabinet

Pick a cabinet any cabinet. This kitchen cabinet suffers from randomness and too much stuff.

Before

2. Take everything out

Empty cabinet before cleaning

3. Clean the cabinet

This is a very rewarding step. Dust and dirt that you didn’t see before suddenly leap out at you. Wipe it away and start fresh.

4.  Purge

• Remove things that should be elsewhere  
• Make a pile of useful things you don’t use: the giveaway pile

My giveaway pile includes a few one-off glasses, a duplicate steamer, and a plastic measuring thing that I’ve never used. Be honest. Get rid of things you don’t use regardless of how you acquired it or how much you paid for it.

Giveaway pile

5. Group alike items

Next organize things into groups. Once grouped you can see what you have and purge a bit more. Do you really need two sets of measuring cups? Or maybe you have five mixing bowls, but you really only use three.  

Pyrex containers

6. Put things in the cabinet

What do you need in your cabinet? Before you put things back, think about how often you use things. Put the things you use most on the lowest shelf, and the things you use less often on the highest shelf.

My shelf breakout

1. Mixing and serving bowls
2. Pyrex food storage containers and colander
3. Wine glasses and a large serving plate

After

Ah, peace and order now reign where there was previously chaos. The whole process took maybe 15 minutes (plus the blogging time). Do one 15 minute project a day and your home will be decluttered in no time.

“Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris

Start small; Declutter a drawer

Decluttering your home can be overwhelming if you look at the BIG picture. So don’t look at the big picture. Instead, start small. Focus your effort on a single drawer.

1.  Target a drawer

Pick a drawer any drawer. This drawer looks like a good candidate.

Bathroom drawer (the before picture)

I call this drawer my cosmetic junk yard (yes, I’m sheepishly taking ownership of this mess).

2.  Take everything out

This step is critical. Everything must go.

Keep removing stuff

Don’t be tempted to stop short. Remove everything from the drawer.

3.  Clean the drawer

<imagine my empty drawer – I forgot to take a picture>

Now that everything is out, clean the drawer. You’re starting over. Imagine that you’ve just moved into your home. 

4.  Purge

• Remove things that should be somewhere else 
• Throw away expired items and junk
• Make a pile of useful things you don’t use: the give-away pile

5.  Group alike items

Next organize things into groups, rather like organizing Halloween candy after trick or treating. For example, I made a pile of my teeth products, my lotion products, my deodorants, and my travel sized stuff.

Misc freebies from my dentist

6.   Put things in the drawer

But first, shut your eyes and imagine your drawer. How do you want your drawer to look? What do you need in your drawer? Once you know what you need and how you want it to look, open your eyes and make it happen.

When I shut my eyes, I imagined my bathroom drawer with the things I use daily. No duplicates or backup products.

My new drawer

Ah, much better. Everything I need is readily available. 

Peace and order now reign where there was previously chaos. I open my bathroom drawer and smile.

“Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris

Simple wallets

I’ve had the same wallet for a decade. It’s pretty much indestructible.

Recently I stumbled upon a duct tape wallet that caught my eye.

MethowTime.com

These duct tape wallets are handmade in Methow Valley Washington by Brian Drye. I like these wallets because they’re handmade, thin, simple and unique. And for vegan-minded folks, they’re not made from leather. If you have your own design in mind, you can send it to Brian and he’ll let you know if it’s doable. Don’t want a design? You can order a basic brown duct tape wallet. Here’s a blue one:

Inside view of duct tape wallet

Like to keep things simple? It doesn’t get any simpler than this wallet.

Money-band.com

This simple money-band lets you carry cash and cards, bundled together in your front pocket. If paying $5 for a strong perfectly sized rubber band seems outrageous, start looking for your own rubber band. My friend uses a regular ol’ rubber band that she wraps around her credit cards a couple times. It does the trick and costs nothing.

Any of these wallets should perform admirably and won’t bust your budget. To use these wallets, you will need to whittle down the cards you carry to the bare essentials.

Inside view of my metal wallet

Right now I carry 7 cards:

• Visa 
• Driver’s license
• Gym membership
• My insurance card
• Starbucks discount card (could leave in my car)
• ATM
• My kid’s insurance card 

That’s it.

Try it yourself. Whittle down the number of cards you carry. How low can you go?

10 minute decluttering

I love this idea from Non Consumer Girl - “Every Monday, I get together things that my family and I no longer need or want. I call this Declutter Mondays.” Since the beginning of the year, Non Consumer Girl (great name!) has been decluttering and selling things on eBay. In two months time she’s sold $1,400 of stuff. I feel inspired.

So here I go. Time to wander through my home looking for items that can go. Things that are not beautiful or useful (as in actively being used) are fair game. Here’s what I came up with in 10 minutes.

Not bad. Media and books are an easy target. Clothing is easy to purge. If you can’t remember the last time you wore something, move it along to someone else. In 10 minutes time I have a small bundle of things. Could I do this everyday? Sure. Or one day a week. It’s quick, easy and helps me reach my goal of having a peaceful, clutter-free home.

Give it a try! Decluttering doesn’t have to be a huge all day project. Instead, break your grand decluttering plans in to 10 or 15 minute chunks. Do a little bit at a time and you’ll make a difference in the amount of stuff floating around your home.

Enlist your children in this project. Ask them to bring you three things they no longer want or use. Bit by bit you can create a clutter-free home, one step at a time.

15 Great decluttering tips from Zen habits
More Zen decluttering tips
Prevent clutter: Don’t buy it