DECLUTTER FIRST, ORGANISE LATER.

Whenever I watch an organizing video on YouTube, I get new ideas on how to keep my home in order. I try to implement them if I can. 

Scene from Hoarders 

When I first watched Hoarders however, I was horrified and disgusted with the way Americans collect stuff, literally turning their homes into gigantic garbage bins. I guess that nowadays stuff has gotten so cheap that one can keep on buying but not using. 

Here in India, fast fashion has trended in a big way too, making it possible that, in the near future, every hoarder's dream will come true.

In my own home, I see this hoarding mentality creep in. My eldest son keeps getting hand-me-downs that he can't let go of. My second son, however, is minimalist. So is their Dad. 

I confess that I am a hoarder trying to become a minimalist. I learnt and practised the Konmari method five years ago and got rid of some of my 'unwanted' stuff. Project 333 helped me customise my wardrobe. Still, the 'What If' mentality is hard to shake off. 

In another two months, we are moving into a much smaller home and I am feverishly downsizing. I let go of several books, CDs, DVDs and even my oven and some of the baking items that can only be used in an oven. 














     Things I said Goodbye to. 

A year ago, I gave away all the make-up I had been gifted in Australia. My cousin, who is a beautician, benefited.

So, once I managed to let go, I am now trying to find places for the things I really want to take with me to the new home. 

           

DECLUTTER FIRST

I cannot emphasize enough that if you don't let go of the stuff you don't honestly care for, your chances of enjoying those that you truly love is NIL. 

Now that I have just half dozen outfits in my closet that I enjoy wearing, that fit well and have pared down my undergarments to just two pairs of each kind, there's no agony over What To Wear. I have to just pull out a clean one!

I do have some spares in a suitcase but those are kept to replace frayed/torn clothes. I also keep my off-season clothes in there. And I limit my storage space to ONLY that one suitcase which has a permanent place inside my cupboard!

Recently, I invested in some storage baskets for the children's clothes. We had been corelling their clothes in Amazon storage boxes for years. I figured that it was time to give them a better storage container. So I looked up some deals on Amazon and finally zeroed in on the ones you see below. Make sure when you buy anything to first measure your space properly. 


I've been doing the FLYLADY method these days. Among the many routines she teaches is the "15-minute DECLUTTER" one. She says that clutter cannot be organised, its rightful place is in the TRASH CAN! But its not easy to just throw away stuff that someone else could use. So the next best option is to DONATE. 

Some do try selling but it is a time-consuming process to get a person who will want exactly what you have and be able to come to collect it. I find it is better to join freecycle groups and get rid of the junk quickly. 

In Goa, we have a thrift store that has regular SST sales in the year. You can connect with them to give away your stuff. They either sell your item, swap you with something they have that you may need and the rest is put in a takeaway box which is FREE. (Incase you are interested, their poster is at the end of this article.)

Once you have decluttered so that everything you have has a fixed place in your home, you will be at peace with yourself and your surroundings. 

Whenever you do need to buy something, its always wise to ask these questions:

1) Do I have a place to put it?

2) What is it going to replace?

3) Would I love it enough to clean it?

4) Does it make me smile? 


And, the next time you go shopping offline or online, don't be shocked if you come back EMPTY HANDED. The thought of putting junk back into your calm and clean spaces will be more than you can bear. 

BONUS: With the money you save, you'll be able to buy a few quality goods that you will enjoy, cherish and carefully look after for years to come.



The most recent sale advertisement 

 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WRAPPED IN RUBBISH.

Image
 Look at these two items. Both are oats but are priced differently. The obvious choice, if you are not brand conscious, will be to purchase the lower priced one in terms of unit price. The Lion oats, however, has a ziploc bag packaging so it can be reused whereas to reuse the Saffola oats one we might need to use a clip or rubber band.  Now look at the item below.  What do you think about the packaging? Reusable. Recyclable? If they were all priced the same and you were not brand conscious or you knew all three were of the same quality, which one would you prefer to purchase? Think about it and leave your answer in the comments below.  With supermarkets springing up at every corner and online shopping taking the world by storm, it was inevitable that packaging had to become the number one concern of manufacturers.  How do I get my goods to the customer safely so he is satisfied? When he sees it, he should feel that he is getting a product that is not contaminated. So packaging evolved
Read more

How to Upgrade Your Lifestyle Without Spending an Extra Penny

Image
How to Upgrade Your Lifestyle Without Spending an Extra Penny by Joshua Becker Fifteen years ago, in Vermont, I discovered minimalism. While cleaning a garage full of clutter, my neighbor changed my life with a couple of sentences. She said, “That’s why my daughter is a minimalist. She keeps telling me I don’t need to own all this stuff.” The scene that played out in front of me changed my life. My garage, full of dirty clutter, had taken up hours of my morning, while my 5-year old son played alone on the swing-set in the backyard. I realized the need for change. All the things I owned were not contributing to a better life. Even worse, they were keeping me from it. My wife and I, along with our two young kids, embarked on a journey to remove all the unnecessary possessions from our home and life. And with it,  came countless benefits. Real things like:  more money , more time,  more focus , and  less stress . One of the most surprising benefits I discovered along the way was the abil
Read more

EMBRACE EMPTY SPACES

Image
These past months, I have been busy packing to move to our new home. Since I cannot take a lot of stress, I decided to do my packing in stages.  Right at the beginning, about two months back when renovation work was underway, I went through all the stuff I had in my drawers, cupboards, etc that I didn't think I would need for the next two months. I call them my RARELY USED ITEMS.  I was able to purge quite a lot of stuff from this category very easily as I wasn't in love with them, didn't really see much use for them and knew that I wouldn't miss them. I had to find new homes for some of them too. So it was good that I started early.  There were quite a number of things, however, that I didn't use but had sentimental attachment to. I put these in a separate box to decide later about.  In one box, I put all my replacement items - duplicate things that I might need if what I used presently broke.  And so I managed to par down my possessions quite a bit. I felt relief,
Read more