Started a low-spend year again after a gap of a year. I tried last year and forgot in April. So I'm now loosely doing a budget challenge to not buy new things just replace essentials. The obsession has evolved to also using up things in the fridge, pantry, bathroom and dresser... and then to become a full declutter challenge.
I'm working decluttering one thing a day. And because I don't like putting things in landfill, I have a range of options!
1. LANDFILL and RECYCLING
It's unavoidable that some stuff has to go in the red bin. Things I've let go of this way include my old non-stick fry pan. A pottery class fail. 3 pairs of bad tweezers (and I bought 1 pair of tweezermans to replace).
Recycling: I put my 20 year old uni textbook in the recycling last week. I've taken my old laptop and random cables and things to Officeworks ewaste, I worked on that project for a week, resetting and deleting data and gathering things together for the drop off.
2. DONATE IT.
Not original but I have made it a satisfying regular thing to do, just have a box on the go and take it every few weeks. I have a favourite op shop and I wash and iron things before I donate them. I've donated my Big Soup Pot - that gave me so much cupboard space! And I can't remember when I last used it, I just kept it because it was part of a saucepan set and I had used it in the past so in my mind it was useful. In the last while I've culled tote bags and small hand bags, washing and ironing and wiping things so they look decent to be used if they are wanted.
3. USE IT.
I have almost 10 year old lip balm and 20 year old body wash. I know. Nothing wrong with them, but they are non-favourite non-habit things I never reach for. I don't want to waste it so I'm just putting lip balm on extra-dry winter skin on feet etc lol.
Things being non-favourite is a theme I've noticed. Non favourite clothes or food. A podcast ep suggested a good challenge for clothes is to wear the things you never wear. Then you know! It either is NOT going to ever be worn, eg, no pockets is annoying. Or it might actually be a thing that works but you just haven't taken the risk with it, or you've been saving it for an occasion that never happens, and you start wearing it.
Other things I've been using up is cards, I've been writing and posting cards to kids and thankyou cards to adults.
And I have a collection of frames and drawings/art I'm going to hang on the walls instead of just keeping in the cupboard for one day.
I've done a lot of cooking to use up random ingredients. In future, I've decided not to keep leftover ingredients from one-off recipes if I can just use them up as soon as possible. Eg a 1/3 packet of pistachios. I will just add it to my meusli or a salad. I'm annoyed that I have rice flour and corn flour, what are they for? I'm just mixing them into other baking now, and hope to never buy them again.
Using things is a slow steady project. Donating and binning is an instant gratification thing (if you find it easy), but using is very slow... but when I reach the end of a jar of spice or a tube of moisturiser I feel triumph!
NO STORAGE
My home won't look more minimalist after this, in fact it might be more maximalist with pictures on the wall. But the difference will be in the cupboards. I want to whittle down the stored stuff. Slowly but systematically. And I hope that by doing this at the same time as my low spend year, I will reinforce the low spend habit, reset the habits of accumulation a bit. Seeing all the things I have and making decisions about them is quite an antidote to buying more. I would really like to commit to slow mindful consumption.
My dad said recently "We're in the stage of life we don't buy things" and I think I'm in a stage of life where I will still buy things but I want to finish this year with less not more, and anything I buy it's with an eye for what I know from my mid-life experience that I value.
If you are decluttering, here are some other thoughts.
- We always acquire stuff, it trickles in even if we don't buy it, and also our needs change, so moving things out of our life is a healthy thing to do. We don't have infinite storage.
- It's hard to let it go, but it's easy to live without it. This is my favourite mantra (quote from Caroline Winkler). If it's something I don't need but I still feel oddly torn about getting rid of it—my business textbook from uni, for some reason—this helps me, because I know it is true. My life is fine without my business textbook which I never read after uni.
- There are times when a purge is good, but there's a lot to be said for slow and steady, because at the end of the day the change is you. If you practice something mindfully and regularly there is more chance of you learning it and absorbing it. You clear a small area and you have a win and move on to a bigger area. You feel the pain of getting rid of something that seems like a waste of money to lose, and that pain is a lesson to learn not to make that mistake again, and you feel the relief of not being reminded of it anymore after it is gone, and you are encouraged to let go of the next things that has been causing guilt. I see a lot of youtube videos of people doing a massive purge in one weekend and I wonder if that will last or if they will continue in their current habits of mindless shopping and aquiring until they do the next purge, repeat the cycle? It's probably not like that, it probably gets a bit better each time, in which case you may as well go slow and steady. Especially if you are sensitive and want to be really thoughtful about the process.
