Friday, November 07, 2008

Friday Declutter Challenge 7 Nov - remove temptation


Please encourage all your blog friends to join us in decluttering and choosing to live a simpler life by using the button on your sidebar. Christmas is just around the corner and you need to start taking action so that you don't just fill up all the spaces you've already decluttered.


The Declutter Tip for the week
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Remove the temptation of wanting to buy or get things by going on a media fast:

  • newspapers
  • brochures
  • catalogues
  • ads on TV
  • internet shopping sites
If you don't see it, you won't want it. Because if you really need it, you'll go looking for it, won't you?

Years ago I used to scour the free newspaper that got delivered to our house to find all the specials. And then on the weekends we'd go to about 3 different shops to buy all these specials.

It started taking up too much time so we stopped. And you know what? Not only did we save time, but we also saved money (at the time, hundreds every month).

No temptation = No buying = No clutter

Do you find this to be true in your own life too?

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This week I decluttered two lipsticks from my make-up case that are basically done.

I also went through my pen holder on my desk and got rid of a mechanical pencil (I don't even write with pencils) and a gel pen that had gone dry.




I also went through some files in my study. It's so interesting - the narrower I make my niche (time management and organising for small business owners in a service business) the more I find I can declutter.

I'm sure when I next go through files I'll find even more that I can throw out.

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What did you declutter this week?

Please link to the post on your blog where you show off your pictures or talk about the declutter. Or if you don't have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you got rid of this week.

It can be anything - physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism! :)

What are you going to declutter next week?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

whew! this week's decluttering was hard work--but well worth it. Thanks again for all the encouragement and inspiration, Marcia!

DeeAnn said...

Lots of decluttering this week. I cleaned out our storage shed to prepare for the holidays. I got rid of most of my holiday items. My goal was a large plastic box full. I did even better. Most of my holiday items now will fit in a basket. DH filled the car twice with "junk" & took it to the thrift store. Found more DVD's to get rid of. My DS is going out of town to school in a few weeks. We packed his room, organized his clothes & decluttered his room. Organized & decluttered all our software. Decluttered & organized back up discs. Unsubbed from more e-mail lists.

Marcia Francois said...

WOW and WOW again

I am amazed at you guys!

Trish - awesome job. Go reward yourself with a nice bubble bath.

DeeAnn - don't you love it when you reach AND exceed your goals?

Yvonne said...

Yesterday, I tackled a small corner in my bedroom. I figured anything was better than nothing, right?

I got rid of a huge stack of magazines that I kept because I thought I'd go back to look at them. Nope, hadn't happened, to off they went.

Then I have a collection of make-up in little boxes that I'd bought but hadn't used. So that filled up a good sized zip lock bag (2 or 3 qt. sized) and I'm going to bring it to our meeting to see if any of the gals want any of it.

I also was able to throw away a plastic bag full of papers that I kept for one reason or another but don't need anymore.

That section is cleaner and neater, but it still can use some tweaking.

Yay, me!

Me said...

I'm going to try to read one newspaper a day - I'd like to see the end of them before Christmas! Then I can start on the magazines. I need to focus more on working on my room if I'm ever going to get it done.

Lindsay Spencer said...

I got rid of some old decorations I had stored that I'll never use again. I also went through some of my dishes and got rid of ugly old bowls and cups that have accumulated.

Janelle said...

My 2 kids' birthdays are coming up in the next week. I started cleaning out the toy closet and organizer in our basement in preparation for the haul from the birthday party and Christmas. Anything broken was thrown away, baby toys we don't use were put in a box in case we have #3 someday.

Jackie B. said...

Unfortunately it was not a good decluttering week over at my house. I think we took in more than we got rid of. I had a decluttering project planned but never got around to it. I only did a couple of small declutters! I got rid of a few magazines that I read and I also cleaned up my saved emails. Not much but it is better than nothing. The week just seemed to fly by before I knew it. I will vow to do better next week.

Anonymous said...

I have somehow aquired a large collection of shoe bags... I recently went on a trip and only used one. It turns out that they are women's shoe bags, and they don't fit my larger, male-sized shoes. If I had used them, I would have known that! So away they went... felt good in a small tiny way.

John aka OrganizingLA

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