Tag: 365 items

May (and April) in a nutshell!

I’m thinking it’s time I get back on the bandwagon, and what better way, than to give you my monthly sum up of April and May – hopefully before it turns out to be April, May and JUNE… 😉

We have had a glimpse of spring on and off during April and May, nothing to really shout about, but at least it’s given us the Norwegians the occasional chance to be outside (unless one really wanted to bundle up in all ones winter clothes). The poor plants have had a hard time figuring out if they really wanted to bloom or not, so everything have been kinda late this year.

April and May in a nutshell!

Declutter
During late March, April and May I did my pseudo packing party, that wielded 194 items out-the-door

Not quite the number I originally was hoping for, but anything is better than nothing.. right? 😉

Activity and exercise
Let me see:

April – averaged 3,75 times a week on activities and about 5 of them was what I would consider a proper workout – even though they were garden and walk related

May – brought out the Skikes and Rollerblades, and had a few trips to see if my body could handle it. Did go better than I expected – that was until I fell and sprained my thumb/hand badly 😦 Oh well.. it was worth a try..  My average on activities in May was the same as April, 3,75 with 5 of them as proper workouts. I am progressing towards my goal for the year… slowly, very slowly.

Only buying necessities
I’m almost on schedule. Mostly food, but as you can see from my allowances below, I splurged a little!

  • Books – still none (I think I’m doing pretty good so far this year)
  • Eating out – Since we have been doing poorly the other months, I decided to be ruthless and the deal was that we were only going to eat out once during the month of April. Now, we didn’t quite managed that (why would I even think so?) We ate out 3 times. For us, this is actually not bad at all.. but I still think we flunked! May is typically a eating out month, as we have our independence day, and there are a lot of other official holiday days. So we are back to bad again.. 8 times this month.. hmmm
  • Flowers and plants – a couple of purchases – it is after all supposed to be spring/summer, even though the weather don’t agree
  • Buying non essentials – yes:
    I bought a picture frame at IKEA, for a poster I bought a long time ago, I have just never gotten it on the wall. I thought it was time.
    And I bought myself a set of bright green Omaggio vases. I know.. not very prudent of me (me decluttering and all), but I really wanted a splash of colour in my house, and I have drooled over these for the longest time.. so I splurged 😉

Other financial goals
Mortgage: No changes, I’m staying put on my current level and only pay interest every month. Good thing is, I just received a note about a 0,20% interest reduction, that will apply from August, which will lower my monthly interest payment even more…

Other activities/projects this year
No specific projects during April and May. I’m sure it won’t be long before one or two pops up though 🙂

Well, that is it, until next time… sometime in July 🙂

Packing party – a sum up!

I never knew, when I planed out doing a packing party, that it would turn out to be as hard as it was.

It sounded so easy, this idea about doing one room at a time, for just a few days. And I had this notion that it would go by in a flash, and would reap large rewards in decluttered items.

Well, that’s not quite what happened, as you probably have gathered from how long it actually took me to do this!

I started out real good, and then somewhere half way, I ran into a bump, mostly due to the fact that I really didn’t have enough boxes to pack things in. And I did not like how cluttered my guest room was becoming, from all the discarded items from my other rooms. My own fault, as I couldn’t seem to get the items out the door, because I was fumbling around, never taking the time to actually take the pictures and sit down and write the post about them. Yeah, my bad, I know!

I’m telling you, it will be a long time before I try something like this again… if ever 😉

I did learn a thing or two though during my declutter party!

I learned that I obviously have short staying power… the first days out, I wanted to do my whole house all in one, but as I had said I would do one room at a time, I had to pace myself… Yeah! I’m not good at that. I’m more of the the get it done now kinda person, rather than the slow haul kinda person… guess I should keep that in mind for my next project 😉

I also learned that as much as I had decluttered, there are still “mountains” of stuff left that could probably go out-the-door, but I have also learned that sometimes we need time, before we are “ready” to let it out of our lives.

The things that have left my building during this packing party, are things that have survived several culling before, and I can see there are a few items, that made it through this round, that will most likely go out the door, next time around (after I’ve had a minute to think about it).

I guess this is just the way it is, slow and steady getting there, on our path towards minimalism!

Even though I never quite got rid of as much as I hoped I would, there was a few rooms that surprised me in the “loots” they provided.

I expected to find most of my stuff in the living room and guest room, this is not quite how it turned out, even though these rooms wielded the bigger items. It was the kitchen and my bedroom that surprised me most, as these where the rooms I was sure I had already gotten down to the “bare bones”. Guess it just goes to show, that we change our level of needs and wants as we move along minimising our possessions.

Since I have called this post packing party – a sum up, I guess it’s only fair to let you in on what my packing party amounted to in out-the-door items.

So here it is a total of 194 items out-the-door! 

Not quite the number I was hoping for, but chipping away at it will get me there in the end 🙂 Fortunately this time around there was a few “big” ticket items, leaving me with a bit more “empty” space as a result!

As with a lot of things in life, it’s easier when you get a little help along the way. I could not have done this without some of my fellow bloggers, who have either decluttered alongside with me or cheered me on. There are to many to mention, but you all know who you are 😉 All I can say is, Thank you!

Packing party – guest room and living room results!

It’s raining outside, and it’s time to let you inn on how the last part of my packing party went!

As you might remember from a few weeks back, I told you my guest room was next on the list.

Weeeell… it didn’t go quite according to plan… The guest room is a horrible room to do the pretend packing party on, as I think I probably have almost as much stuff in this one room, as I have it the rest of the house put together!

As I mentioned before, the room have a few big huge IKEA wardrobe cabinets. And since I don’t really have any indoor storage rooms, I use these cabinets to store all my linens, towels, guest bedding, sport items, computer peripherals, office stuff, Christmas decorations, photo collections and I could go on 😉

As good as my intention was to pull everything out, pack it up and leave it for a few days, I lost heart somewhere in the middle and just couldn’t do it..

You see, I have gone through and decluttered this room several times over the last few years. And there have been soo much stuff that have gone out-the-door, specifically from this one room, that I’m now having a really hard time.

But, even though I didn’t pack it up, I still found a few things, that needed to go out-the-door, which after all, was the idea behind the packing party 😉

When I did my living room, most of the stuff that I found that needed to go out-the-door, got “stored” in my guest room, so below you will find the result from both the guest room and living room.

So why don’t we just get to it! Here it is, the results from my living room and guest room – 56 items out-the-door! I have to admit, it’s not as much as I would have wanted, but this time around, there are a few bigger items, so storage wise, I have actually cleared out a bit…

Guest room – 30 items out-the-door

  • 2 long wood candle holders
  • 1 flower pot
  • 1 travel iron
  • 3 books
  • 2 very large vases
  • 1 spatula
  • 1 travel headset
  • 1 makeup bag
  • 1 platter
  • 1 leather foot rest
  • 1 tennis ball
  • 3 puzzles
  • 1 battery run toothbrush
  • 2 charger “stations”
  • 1 wool carpet
  • 1 smartcard reader + misc cables/plugs
  • 1 cable tube
  • 6 practice golf balls

Living room – 26 items out-the-door

  • 1 small “vase”
  • 1 VHS tape
  • 1 glass bowl
  • 2 DVD Cases
  • 4 table place mats
  • 1 table runner
  • 2 fruit/decorative bowls
  • 1 large glass decorative bowl/vase
  • 4 glass candle holders
  • 1 large headset
  • 2 tall vases
  • 1 gamegear
  • 9 games to the gamegear + 1 box to keep them in
  • 1 glass vase
  • 1 glass decorative bowl/vase
  • 3 small glass vases

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Packing party – Kitchen! And results!

I knew I would run into trouble with my kitchen packing party, and I was right.. I sure ran into a bump in the road with this one. And I have to confess, I did not pack it up like I should.

I’ve decluttered my kitchen, so many times, that every time I opened a cabinet or drawer to empty it, I took one look and realised that there wasn’t really any reason to pack it, as I would just put all the stuff right back where it belonged… So I didn’t, pack it that is!

My bad!

But even though I did not follow my own rules on this one, I did however manage to shed a few things after all 🙂

And here it is, my kitchen shed;

  • 4 measure cups
  • 2 knives
  • 1 mixing bowl
  • 1 set of tiny glad bowls to store food in
  • 1 metal water bottle
  • 2 serving bowls
  • 1 swiffer duster handle
  • 4 cleaning cloths
  • 2 dinner plates
  • 1 trash bin
  • 1 food scrap trash bin
  • 2 cereal bowls
  • 1 frying pan
  • Bunch of small river rock, sand and shells for decorations – count as 5
  • 1 terracotta plant watering “tube”
  • 2 ice cube trays
  • 1 pair of chop sticks
  • 1 thong to grab hot bowls
  • 1 broken soup bowl – that obviously didn’t want to hang around it’s siblings any longer…
  • Bunch of decorate stuff for flower arrangements – 17 items

I can’t believe it, that actually turned into 51 items out-the-door, that’s kinda cool! (small happy dance going on here 😉 )

So what room is next?

As I mentioned in my last post, doing the hallway would just be a joke (or a very easy pass) as my hallway is the size of a stamp, and the only thing in it, is the entrance door and a closet. And not to mention that this closet I have already gone through several times, and there is nothing left to get rid off. If I take a seriously good look, I might find a pair of shoes that could need new shoelaces, but other than that, only a few dust bunnies are to be had 🙂

Then there is the guest room. That’s a whole other ballgame! There is no doubt it needs to be done… but right now it looks like an overstuffed piñata, filled up with; boxes from other rooms that are not quite emptied yet, some of the stuff that is going out-the-door that I’m hoping I will find takers for, piles of out-the-door items I have not written about yet ++ It’s been literally treated as an overflow area during my packing party, and it’s a hot mess.

The guest room is NOT going to be fun, as I have a few big huge IKEA wardrobe cabinets, filled with stuff. Since I don’t have much storage rooms, I use these cabinets to store my Christmas decorations, photo collections, electrical stuff, towels, bed linen, guest pillows and covers, golf stuff, other smaller sports stuff, speakers, printer, cables… you get my drift, yes? It is where I store everything!!!

So this is how this is going to go!

This coming weekend, I will clear the room of all the “junk”, unpack the items that belong elsewhere, and prepare myself…

For the following weekend, which will be crunch time for the guest room 😉

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Packing Party results – part 1

Hi there,

I’m sure you are all wondering if there have been any result from my pseudo packing party, at least with regards of items out-the-door!

I’m happy to say that yes, there have been 😉

There aren’t any big ticket items that I’ve found I can get rid off, but there have been a bunch of the little things. Those items that hide in between the stuff that is easily “seen”. The items you don’t notice because they are just part of the rest of the stuff or collection or… you get my drift 😉

This time around, we are talking result from the bathroom and bedroom packing party. The other ones will follow 😉

I am a bit shocked when it comes to my bedroom. Since I wasn’t doing my closet, I really didn’t think there was much left to toss, as I have cleared the place numerous times… but it turns out, there were, as you can see from below 😉

So let’s get to it. How did I do? Well, here it is, 87 items out-the-door!

Bathroom – 33 items

  • Bunch of cosmetics, brushes, nail files, nail clippers – 16 items
  • Bunch of creams and lotions – 7 items
  • Hair stuff – 2 items
  • 1 body brush
  • Bunch of random stuff – 5 items
  • Bunch of contacts lenses I can’t use – count as 1
  • 1 towel rack

Bedroom – 54 items

  • 1 old worn out small backpack, it’s travelled just about every place with me, it’s sad to see it go, but it’s beyond repair..
  • 1 laptop cover
  • 1 broken bracelet, that I’m obviously not going to fix as it’s been like this for the last three years
  • 1 broken hanger
  • 1 jewellery/watch tray
  • 8 jewellery boxes
  • Purse cover bag + some plastic cover bags – count as 1
  • Bunch of small tubes of massage oil, aeons old and probably no longer useful – count as 2 as I had 2 bags of them
  • 1 magnetic picture frame, never used
  • 4 instant hand warmers (bought for a bike trip long time ago, and never used)
  • 1 hand sanitizer and 1 bottle of ?? (for the same bike trip) – count as 2
  • 1 ice pack (Bought long time ago when I was a goalie (handball and soccer), I’m only keeping one bag for emergencies)
  • 2 covers for hanging clothes
  • 1 funny scroll about Norwegians (damn, I forgot to take a picture of the text before I tossed it 😦 )
  • 5 bags for packing stuff when you travel (I have several, and these I’ve never used)
  • 18+ pieces of misc stuff
  • 3 wall posters
  • 1 wall poster tube

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March in a nutshell!

Here we go again! Another month just flew by!

I thought February was a busy month, but it was nothing compared to March…  I sure hope April will bring a little more relaxation… well I can hope, can’t I? 🙂

My step-mums move is finally over, and I believe that the things she needs me for is mostly done. Pictures are hung, office is installed, machines are connected, curtain rods are up, furniture in place, TV and internet – check.. the only thing I know I have left to do is to fix up her entrance door, but that has to wait for warmer weather as it involves paint and oil.

Spring seems to finally be on it’s way, I think.. maybe! Plants are thinking about popping out of the ground, but there are still the occasional waking up to a bit of white outside, so I’m not quite sure 😉 The weather right now is beautiful Easter weather and I’m hoping this is a sign of how the spring season will go, as that would mean a lot of days outside.

But, let’s get back to how I’m doing with some of my goals.

March in a nutshell!

Declutter
As most of you know, I’m in the middle of a pseudo packing party, so far I’ve done my bathroom and bedroom, and I’m currently working on my living-room. I’m sure you all wonder if this little project it’s wielding anything out-the-door! Well, yes it is, a black bag full of stuff went out-the-door yesterday, and I will tell you all about what the stuff was. I just need to sit my butt down, sort through all the pictures I took and actually write the post 😉 

But as you all gathered by now, unfortunately it’s not counting as March out-the-door, as yesterday was April 🙂

Activity and exercise
Hmm, sport wise I did pretty shitty during March, but I sure was active… between cutting and trimming fruit trees in my step-mums allotment garden, hanging curtain-rods and pictures, lifting heavy boxes, moving furniture, working in my own garden and actually getting the occupational walk in, I averaged 3 times a week. Still not quite according to plan, I’ve gotta do better, hopefully now that the weather is perking up…

Only buying necessities
I’m on schedule. But what about my allowances?

  • Books – none
  • Eating out – we are still doing pretty poorly, like I mentioned before, with all this “working for someone else” it’s hard.  Now that this moving business is out of the way, hopefully we can do better…
  • Flowers and plants – no purchases
  • Buying a non essentials – yes, one purchase, I got myself a new casual top, a thin cotton hoddie, to replace a couple of ragged tops I had

Other financial goals
Mortgage: After my one time lump sum payment, I won’t be doing anything on my mortgage other than pay the monthly interest. But, on a happy note, with my extra payments the last few months (I had a lump sum payment last year as well) my monthly interest payment is now half of what it was 7 months ago 🙂

Other activities/projects this year
Hmmm, now that the move is over…  I have nothing 🙂 But I’m sure that won’t last long.. so stay tuned 😉

Well, that it for now, see you around in April!

February in a nutshell!

I can’t believe I’ve almost forgot to post February’s summary!

I’ve been a bit on the busy side, it’s getting down to the wire when it comes to my step-mums move. They are working like crazy to finish her new bathroom, and we’ve been working on putting up lamps, painting and putting in storage shelves. This weekend we just finished putting in new bookshelves, today we are putting up blinds in the bedrooms, cleaning up the new place and packing the last bits and pieces, as the movers are coming tomorrow.. oh yeah, and I have a dishwasher and a washing machine to disconnect….

Since I will be occupied with the move and sorting things out for a few more day (ok, probably more than just a few), I figured I would give you a quick summary!

So here it is – my February in a nutshell!

Declutter
Yes I did actually get a few things out-the-door during February, my Wii, a bunch of clothing and a few books! 101 items all together 🙂 

Activity and exercise
My activity plan really didn’t happen much in February. Between work, treatments, running around sorting things for my step-mum and not to forget the rain, that blasted rain, I averaged only 2 times a week 😦

Only buying necessities
I’m on schedule. But what about my allowances?

  • Books – none
  • Eating out – not doing to well in February either, like I mentioned in January, when we have been working at someone’s house, I sometimes just need food “now”, or we are to tired to bother about making food and we eat out.  So it racks up! Hopefully when this moving business is out of the way, we can do better…
  • Flowers and plants – no purchases
  • Buying a non essentials – yes, one purchase, I finally found something I have been looking for, for the last couple of years, I’ll tell you about it in a separate post!

Other financial goals
Mortgage: Due to how the interest rates are doing, I made a one time lump sum payment, which I told you about a few days back… I’m really chuffed that I’m now down to about a third left of my mortgage 🙂

Other activities/projects this year
As I mentioned above, the focus is getting my step-mum into her new house…

Oh, yeah, and I did a plastic trash challenge in February. I have to admit, it was an eye opener…

I guess that’s it for now, I told you it would be quick 😉

I’ve got books…

coming out of my ears!

As most of you know, I’ve been on this quest to read myself out of my bookshelves the last year. And my plans are to continue to do so this year. That’s all good and well, until I spent weeks trying to get through one book! OK, so the book had 900 pages, and yes it is the size of 2,5 regular books.. but still… I spent pretty much all of January on this one book… (that’s how it is when you only have 30 minutes here, and 30 minutes there)

How on earth am I going to get rid of 34 books this year if I need a month on each?

Well, thankfully book reading have gone a little smoother this month, and I found a bunch I can’t bother to read again. So I have managed to rack up a number for my first book instalment this year after all 🙂

Here it is, 17 books going out-the-door! 

Hey! That means I’m halfway there already! Woohoo! I didn’t realize how many it was until 3 seconds ago when I counted them up…

That’s really cool, because as soon as spring hits us! We all know I’ll be spending most of my time in the yard, and my books will yet again be collecting dust 😉

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Closet time again!

The last few weeks, I’ve been chipping at my closet again.

One of our fellow bloggers, Becoming a minimalist is impressing the heck out of me. She has her closet under iron control, being down to a couple of shoes (shucks, I have about 24 pairs if I count all including flip-flops) and about 30? items of clothing. She follows a rule of three! 3 pair of pants, 3 cardigans, 3 t-shirts, 3 jackets and so on.

In my heart, I wish I could be on her level, but in my head, I realise that it’s not going to happen 🙂 It’s also not really practical, considering how I do my laundry.

Living on my own, it takes a bit of clothing to fill up my washing machine. As I separate my clothing into dark and light, my machine don’t run very often, since towels, and bedding is done separately from my everyday clothing. Now that I’m home a lot, I live in the same stuff all the time.. and the machine runs even more seldom than normal.. which means that I need enough underwear, socks, t-shirts and pants to last me at least a fortnight.. no rule of 3 for me.. no siree…

Like most people, I tend to use the same items of clothing over, and over again, and I’m your typical t-shirt and jeans kinda girl! Now, girl, might not be “politicly” correct as I just turned 50, but never mind, I’m sticking to my original statement,  I’m your typical t-shirt and jeans kinda girl 😉

But even for me, there are occasions where I need to dress up a little better. A meeting at work with vendors, a birthday or Christmas… you know what I’m talking about. So there are a few staple items I have no choice but to keep in my closet – unless I want the wrath of my mothers (yes both mum’s) to fall on me – even at 50…. Hey, don’t laugh at me.. you all know how mothers can be 😉

So with that in mind, T-shirt and jeans for me, pretty clothing for those couple (or ten) occasions a year, and having enough to fill up my machines, I’ve been attacking my closet, weeding a few more items out of my pile…

Last year I got rid of around 100 pieces of clothing and about 14 pairs of shoes, you’d think there wouldn’t be anything left for me to find! But there is! Even with my goal in mind, I still end up with 7 pants, 10 shirts and enough t-shirts and undies to start my own store… not to mention the sweaters, tops, sports attire, sleepwear, socks, belts…. and shoes… those darn shoes…

There is obviously no hope for me as I still have ways to go 😦

But here at least, is my latest instalment of clothing out-the-door! 72 items

  • 1 dress jacket
  • 1 green dress
  • 1 jacket for the green dress
  • 1 long summer dress
  • 5 shirts
  • 1 thin sweater
  • 1 thick jacket (my dads)
  • 1 thick fleece (my dads)
  • 2 shorts
  • 4 decorative scarf
  • 3 t-shirts
  • 2 sweaters
  • 1 fleece
  • 3 tank tops
  • 1 pink top
  • 1 workout top
  • 1 scarf (dads)
  • 1 pair of gloves
  • 1 pair of Welly warmers (which just didn’t ever work, as they came out with my feet when taking the boots off)
  • 1 cap
  • 1 rain jacket
  • 6 hankies
  • 1 pair of cosy socks/indoor “shoes”
  • 2 golf gloves
  • 2 belts
  • 8 bras (which I will save you from – picture wise – together with the other unmentionables 😉 )
  • 2 sleepwear shorts
  • 12 undies (Some with tags on. I’m sure I still have enough for the next 30 years, so I really needed to get rid of some 😉 )
  • 1 pair of flip flops
  • 4 pairs of shoes – bicycle, everyday, dancing and office shoes

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It’s Wii time!

When I lived in US, I got a little carried away and bought myself a Wii.

You’d think I was 5, but what the heck.. I don’t care what age group you are, Mario Kart, is fun.. 😉 OK, so I didn’t really get it for the Mario Kart as I got the Wii Fit balance board and everything with it! Turns out though, that it was mostly used for games, not exercise  – funny that 😉

Since I got home from US, the Wii haven’t seen much use, as it has mostly been tucked away in one of my drawers, and it’s time to let it go!

My neighbours kids are 7 and 9, and I have tested that my american Wii works on her Norwegian television, so this weekend the Wii will be installed in her house, rather than mine 🙂

I might miss Mario a little (I told you it was fun, right), but I sure won’t miss it filling up one of my drawer.

So here it is, all the Wii stuff – 12 items out-the-door!

  • 1 Wii with power and receiver
  • 1 Wheel
  • 2 Nunchucks
  • 2 Controls with plastic protective cover
  • 1 Wii Fit Balance board
  • 5 Games

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