I have been in a serious decluttering fit lately. We just moved into a smaller townhome and we've had to seriously start to evaluate all the stuff/junk that we have been hauling around on these moves. Thanks to a kick start from Miss Minimalist's blog I have been going to town!
I find that being thrifty, frugal, and having a go at minimalism is an interesting balance. So, here are two tips that I've discovered so far.
1. "Tools of the trade" - I'm a baker/cook and homemaker. Any books or tools that help me out are things that I keep. Granted, I could get rid of a cook book or two, and evaluate the effectiveness of each of my tools, but I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. So, I have a lot of tools. The key is to keep them organized and if any are collecting dust, send them to the thrift store for another lifetime of use by someone else.
2. Keepsakes - I am the queen of holding onto memories. It was getting to be pretty painful with all the junk I've moved around in my lifetime - useless stuff that was just memory incarnate. Over the years I have been slowly letting go. The following trick, so far, has proved to be the best way (and the least painful) to get rid of memory objects. If I have something that holds a special memory, but isn't a family heirloom or is something that just sits around taking up space (usually in a box!), I take a picture. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but they don't mention that pictures also take up a lot less space! Once I take the picture, the memory is in effect transferred to the picture and I can get rid of the object without guilt or too much regret. Someday I might create a digital photo album full of discarded keepsakes and be able to flip through the pages reminiscing. I'm still in this memory "archiving" process and as soon as I get my camera back I think my wedding shoes will be the next to go...
Do you have any tips or tricks for being frugal, thrifty or cutting down on junk?
2 comments:
Hi Sarah,
I saw your comment on Miss Minimalist's blog about being minimalist with children. You might want to check out becomingminimalist.com. Joshua and his wife have two kids and they give lots of great advice and ideas for families and parents.
BTW, I'm a spinner and knitter too. :)
Willow
I think having lived overseas has helped me 'declutter'. My parents' storage is packed with a lot of things I've been keeping to 'use some day', and this Christmas I think I'll be giving away/ ebaying most of it. If I have lived without it for five years, I probably don't need it.
However, I find that my husband holds onto a lot of... stuff (I almost said 'junk') that he thinks will be useful some day-- nesting preggers woman has issues with this! He scanned his old photos onto the computer-- and thought I was joking when I asked if he was going to throw the photo albums out. I think it is debatable. ;-)
If you have too many cookbooks, I'd suggest keeping fav recipes on the computer. Actually, I never buy cookbooks-- recipes come from online or the library-- but I'm not as huge a baker/cook as you (at least, not yet...).
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