Tag: Motivation

I want, I want – I want it now!!!!

I think it’s time to move out of this consumerism mindset. First of all it’s expensive, and second it tends to generate stuff… and since my goal for this year is to reduce stuff…out the door the shopping sprees goes 😉

Today I’m taking a stab at decluttering my life in 2014 with a promise – to make an effort to buy only necessities. You know, needs rather than wants.

Now, this doesn’t mean I’m going to live on oats, walk around with my toe sticking out my socks, only shower once a week, never use the car, use next to no electricity and so on…. you get the picture 😉

Nope, I have every intention of still living good. In my world, I believe necessities are what you need to survive, and live a happy life.

This definition, might include items in addition to the basics of food, clothing, and shelters. But the key is; what do you really need? And even more so, do you need it all the time? or can it be an occasional treat?

Since we are all have different life’s and interests, needs will differ from person to person. Have you ever thought about what your absolute needs are?

I know, this might not be for everybody, but if you have been thinking about the same lately. You know: buying less, saving money, less impact on the environment and so forth. And if you like me, just starting out, why don’t you make a list of your own, like I’m doing below 🙂

My overall general rules

Only buy necessities. Replace an item that is broken/ used up only if I really, really need to.
I will use up the stuff I have before I consider replacing.
I will try to find creative ways to meet my needs, and make do with the things I already have before I consider buying more.

Some of my allowances

Yes, allowances, I gotta live a little 😉

Books – I can buy up to 10 books/magazines for the whole year – you might say this is not a necessity, but I love books, and house/garden magazine and believe me a total of 10 books or magazine is quite a limit for me. And I will preferable get them as e-books since I don’t want to add to my already overflowing bookshelves.

Eating out – I eat out a lot, and the goal for 2014 is to cut down to at least half the amount of times I eat out. Yes I know, eating out is not an necessity either, but it’s an enjoyment I’m not quite willing to let go of yet.

Flowers and plants – I love my garden, I might even be a little bit obsessive about it – just ask anybody that know me 🙂 And I love having plants and flowers in my house, so I will allow myself to get some summer plant for the garden and the occasional orchid or cut flowers for indoors. But I do promises to not go totally overboard like I have a tendency to do. The goal for 2014 it to cut down to procuring less than half of what I normally would.

None negational items

I have several projects inside and outside the house, that have been in the making for quite some time and are planned for this year. These I will have to spend a little money on. And even thought doing the projects might not be strictly necessities (well, some of them are starting to be), I am still sticking to my my original plan 🙂 So what are these projects you may ask? Well… I’ll let you know as I move along with them…

That is it, so far!

If I think of something else for the list I can always add it later.

But if I can do this, I’ll say it’s a good start on living with less.

Real estate value

My neighbor just sold their place, a small three bedroom town home. The other day I was talking to a friend of mine, and I mentioned that my neighbor had finally gotten their place sold. This news sparked a conversation about the price difference of a small place vs. a bigger place, and the cost associated with needing a larger home.

Now, I know some families are big and need a big place to fit everyone inn, but there are also families out there that have a big home just to have room to store their stuff.

How many times have you heard – “well, I need a big home so that I have room for all my stuff”, ok….!!! sure, it makes sense to need a bigger mortgage that will keep you in debt for longer, just to fit in stuff…!! (Yeah, that’s me being sarcastic) “What about getting rid of some of the stuff instead, so that a smaller cheaper home is big enough?”

Have you ever thought about how storing stuff, you don’t need, can be a massive drain on your finances?

In the region of Norway where I live, the difference in purchase price between a small two or three bedroom home is easily a minimum of 500 000 NOK (about 85 000 US dollars). That’s a lot of money to dish out just so that I can store some stuff that is probably not worth even close to 40 000 (7000). And just think of places like for example London and New York, where it’s way more expensive to go bigger.

Would it maybe make more sense to have a smaller and cheaper place, and then buy the items as you need them, rather than store a bunch of items just in case….?

With the extra mortgage, interest and years of debt a bigger home most likely will generate (unless you just won the lottery), your should at least be sure your stuff is worth it, either financial or emotional.

I think a good exercise while decluttering would be to look hard at the item and decide; is it really worth the money it wold cost to keep it? Is this an item I can let go off? and should I ever need such an item, would it just be easier to buy it then?

And you might say… Well I got this place and as long as I have room…. well yes… But you started this journey because you found yourself in need of a little more space and room to breathe.

And just image, with less stuff, you might be able to downsize to a smaller space one day. With less mortgage and therefor more freedom to afford to do the things you really love….

And me? My item for the day is to realize I’d rather declutter and stay put.

I love my little house 😉

How much do we really need?

I was packing the other day for my trip to England to celebrate Christmas with family, and before I knew it I had clothes, presents, bags and Christmas food all over the place and I suddenly found myself looking at the stuff in desperation.

How much easier wouldn’t life be if there was less choices to be made. I mean seriously, with all the stuff we tend to have, there are just so much more we need to decide on.

For example in my instance of packing for this trip. I had to choose what outfit for this that and the other occasion, what bag to pack in, that would be small enough to fit into my brothers car ( which is seriously tiny) and still big enough to hold all the stuff I needed to bring (I’m sure we all have been here). And it made me think, how much stuff do we really need, I mean really truly need.

Do we need 30 pens, 16 cocking pots and pans, 12 suitcases and bags, 42 wine glasses, several sets of china, so much cloths that it looks like you are being attacked when you open the closet, that is, if you managed to close the closet doors in the first place, and I could go on…. How much is enough all ready?

Just imagine how much simpler life could be if you had less stuff to relate to. What about: only have a few suitcases (one of each size, that could pack into each other), a closet that only had your favorite outfits in it. For dinners, only the pots and pans you really need to cook, and only you favorite china, glasses and cutlery to put out for guest. How easy would it be to throw a party then? You wouldn’t have to stress over what to put out, what fitted what, does that glass go with that china pattern?

And then some of you might say “but my guest would notice I use the same stuff all the time” Well yeah! So what? Are they visiting you to admire you china, or enjoy your food and company? Why not go with a nice white set (like most restaurants do, since food always looks best on white plates), and then stash it up with different accessories instead.

The same principle can be used on wardrobes. Have some selected key pieces, and change the look around with accessories. If you think about it, we probably do this partly already. The items I use on a daily basis, are the same pieces over and over again, and they represent only a small percentage of my closets. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. Why not make these favorite items some of the key pieces in your wardrobe and clear out the stuff you never use.

As I move along into my declutter year of 2014, I’ll be taking a hard look at: how much is enough, what selected items to keep, and how I can streamline my possessions to lighten my load. But at the same time, still have enough to throw that party, dress nice, decorate my home and do the things I like.

What about you? Do you have a need to streamline a little? What will you be doing in 2014?

The declutter process

Where do we even begin

Having decided to attack the clutter monster, now what? There are hundred if not thousands of websites out there telling us what to do, so where do we even begin?

Well I believe the best way to go about this is to just start. Start somewhere, start anywhere, it doesn’t matter where, as long as you just start.

You know how they say to eat an elephant one bite at a time, I think this is the best way to tackle clutter as well, one piece at the time. Trying to do it all in one siting might just be to overwhelming.

Since we are all differ in our declutter approach, It doesn’t matter if you declutter in several purges or slow and steady, do whatever works best for you.

So any idea about how to go about it?

Start small: Take small steps ever day. You don’t have to get rid of all your stuff to start this challenge.

Have patience: Decluttering is a process, so don’t beat yourself up if you are having a hard time decluttering.

Realize the burden of stuff: Too much stuff is a burden. You spend hours and hours of stepping over it, cleaning it, repairing it, organizing it and moving it. Being clutter free means you have to spend less time on it, and get more time on family, friends and activities you love.

My 2014 plan

So this is my plan, starting January 1st 2014 – lose on an average at least one item a day all through 2014 – yep that’s at least 365 items.

This means toss, recycle, donate or sell the item(s).

And to make myself accountable I will post something about my decluttered items on this blog.

Have I ever tried something like this before. Nope, absolutely not. But hey, there is always a first for everything 😉 (and I already know what my first item will be… I just won’t tell you until January 1st 😉 )…

Work it! Work it!

It takes interest, practice and tenacity to get good at something

I’ve just been sitting here looking at and listening to The Voice, and I’m amazed at how good they are, just think of all the hours and hours of practice behind their talent.

It made me think about the parallels to life in general. To become good at something you have to have interest and determination. Some are natural gifted and some have to work hard at it, but we all have to some extent put in the work.

You know, anything really worth doing takes persistence, perseverance, and stubborn determination. Just like being a great singer requires a real gift, even the most gifted singer won’t make it without the tenacity required to make the long, hard journey until they reach their goal.

I believe this practice is something we all could benefit from implementing. Just like with everything else in life, if we want to get good at it, we need to put in the work. Sometimes, hours and hours of work and effort.

So how do we get there, to the point where what we wish to achieve it’s a natural extension of who we are? Well, we start doing something. We start chipping away at the “clutter”. We make an effort to be more conscious about what we bring into our life, of both physical and mental “stuff”. And we practice, and practice, over and over again until we are there.

This is at least what I will be doing, during the journey that I’m now embarking on. Hoping that with practice I will eventually get to that state, where making the right decisions on what to bring into my life becomes an integral part of me.

It doesn’t matter what you want to archive in life. Becoming a minimalist, a writer, singer, an architect or whatever that makes your heart sing, just please start somewhere, put some effort into it and I’m sure you eventually will get there.What about starting together with me…. 🙂