As you know we are in the process of reducing the amount of things we own. Over the past few months we have donated and gifted around 80% of our belongings, but those remaining 20% are still a lot.
I have been doing a little bit each day, adding up to about one to two carrier bags each week for charity,
as well as a carrier bag or two for friends.
(Some things on the way to a friend far away!)
Now that we are down to so little it is getting very difficult, I find myself having to make a decision about every item that leaves the house. Luckily this also means that I have been very cautious about letting new stuff come into our home.
I did buy one book yesterday because I just could not resist the beautiful illustrations, though.
Thinking about minimalism and the upcoming holidays has led to us making the decision to do our Chrismas & Hanukkah shopping over the next few months, and we already started. We have been doing a little bit of home shopping carefully reading reviews, making sure the things we buy will be loved and used.
(If you want to know what Santa and the Hanukkah Fairy are bringing this year just send me a message!)
This year we are using this rhyme to help us decide just what to buy:
Something they want,
Something they need,
Something to wear
And something to read.
Of course before the holidays we will also have another big day of decluttering and donating, currently using the guideline that any toy that has not been played with within the last two months will be donated or given to friends.
Of course we do consult the little ones on these decisions.
How are you handling holiday clutter in your home?
Have a lovely day!
♥
I keep everything in the hope that one day it will come to be used a d it usually does I just emptied a great big bag of marbles that had been in my cupboard for years into a glass vase and they look lovely and will separate flowers nicely
It’s always great to find a new use for things, isn’t it?
Thank you for this post, it’s very topical and important thinking for me too.
And can you tell me, please, title of this wonderful book? I like illustration very much too:)
The book is called “Beware, Beware”. We like the illustrations but we are not a fan of the story.
Oh- my I love this post! This is exactly what I have been trying to discover myself. I have been decluttering, no problem there. It is the Christmas present buying that has me and hubby not wanting to waste money on. I should say not waste money but we really want to get the girls something special not just a bunch of nothing for the sake of getting lots of presents. I love your buying rhyme, I will be using that! And what is your money limit for each child for Christmas presents, if you don’t mind my asking? And what is santa bringing? Lovin me some ideas!
We don’t have a limit or minimum amount, the little ones are getting things we know they will love and enjoy for a long time. I agree with the “buying a bunch of nothing for the sake of getting lots of presents”, we have made that mistake in the past.
We are moving house, so I’m deck uttering on quite an epic scale. The hardest thing for me to get rid of is art and craft supplies. I keep so many things “just in case” I have seven large jars of buttons. I don’t think there are enough crafts to do with buttons to warrant keeping them all. But which ones to get rid of? Which to keep? Tough decisions to be made for sure.
I had that same problem with the craft supplies, I had a whole big cabinet of them that we were keeping “just in case” and for “just the right craft”, but after a leaky pipe nearly ruined most of them I decided that there was no point keeping things for special projects. We have had a lot of fun using up our expensive and special craft things!
I am also planning on using that rhyme after I saw it on mamauk’s blog and I have used it for all birthday’s that we have had so far this year. I would love to know what Santa / Hannukah Fairy is going bring? My little one wants a knights castle but am a little reluctant to get it too early in case he changes his mind!
I have been decluttering my house and life for two years now!!!! I have not regretted anything EXCEPT….when my knitting needles accidentally got in the donate pile
so I will have to rebuild that, but other wise so happy to do it! It has me too, thinking about the holidays…maybe making a lot of gifts and not so much on the toys. Please tell me what you are buying for the holidays! Would love to get some ideas!!!
Oh my goodness! That is so sad! I, too, have donated a few things by accident when a “keep” box got given away, but in the end we don’t actually miss those things, so maybe they were not really that important, anyway! And the treasures we have been finding in the process of decluttering really make up for that!
What book is that? It looks so pretty! I just got rid of two boxes of baby/toddler toys and a bunch of the boys’ outgrown clothes (with another bag ready to go), and we took several outdoor play toys they’ve outgrown to the end of the driveway and someone came along and took them. I can’t imagine getting rid of 80% of our stuff (do you mean dishes and furniture and clothes and everything?), but I’d like to get rid of a lot more!
The book is called “Beware, Beware”, I don’t like the writing much but the illustrations are lovely. I wish we were allowed to leave things like that out for people to take, but it’s not allowed! It’s a 45 minute walk to the shops to donate it, here! Yes, we got rid of a lot of furniture, dishes, cutlery, toys, craft supplies, things like that. It sounds a lot, but we are still left with much, but we are working through it and it feels good!
I like that rhyme I, its one I try to live by but didn’t even realise that I was, lol. Be sure that friends and family will fill the in-between.
They often do, but I think that is okay, too. Though we have been blessed with grandparents on both sides who actually ask what we would like them to get for the little ones!
Wow 80% is fantastic! You’ve inspired me to do another round of decluttering. Would you be willing to post some photos from around your home? I really need inspiration!
Hi Sarah!
I am hoping to share some photos very soon, but there are a few more major decluttering days planned before I feel ready!
oooh do please let me know what gifts the children will be recieving ……
We are trying to declutter here as well. But no matter how much stuff I get rid of more seems to spring up in its’place:) Oy. The pictures in this book look lovely, I would have a hard passing it up too. And besides one can’t have too many beautiful books, right?:) <a href="http://smallnotebook.org/" helped me very much on my minimizing/decluttering quest.
For about a year now we have had the rule of “one in – two out” for a lot of things, and that has helped, not just with reducing clutter but also with bringing in less, it is a bigger decision now to buy things. Thank you for the link, I can’t wait to read it later!
Wow – *eighty* percent! That’s incredible. We’ve probably cut our possessions down by half over the last few years. Two years ago we rented a much smaller house than the one we’d owned for the eight years prior; the living space was about the same but we had this huge third floor (and then a full attic!) that sort of invited clutter. If we couldn’t figure out what to do with it, it went into storage. Not an approach I recommend…
I still want to go farther; I’m not concerned so much with the quantity of our possessions, but rather (1) that they are either useful or beautiful and (2) that they work/fit in the space we have. We’ve just bought a house that is probably much larger than we need (we fell in love with all the stained glass and gorgeous woodwork and whatnot), so space isn’t an issue, but I don’t want to fall into the trap of cluttering it all up.
You know what is most gorgeous about those illustrations? Look at how *tidy* everything is! Nothing unnecessary; nothing out of place. I can’t figure out how I am committed to simplicity & do many things much the same way my great-grandmother did, but I “need” so much more *stuff* in order to do it! Ah, it’s a work in progress, I suppose…
Meghann, that is almost exactly what happened to us! We lived in a larger house before we moved here, with a lot of in-built storage and big rooms as well as a very large garage. That and the short walking distance to the local thrift-shops meant that we cluttered up the place in no time!
Downsizing was one of the best things to happen to us, because it meant we noticed just how much stuff we really had that we didn’t need, use or even like!
We are still working through things here, but it does feel empty, especially compared to just a year ago.
my mom used to make reusable chistmas bags. I wish I could sew.
I am going with activity based gifts that will be used up overtime.
We need to cut back on clutter.
I like the idea of activity based gifts, too! We have been looking into re-usable gift bags and quite like the idea of one large bag per child with all their presents inside!
So impressed with how well the decluttering is going. That’s no easy feat I’m sure. I’m hoping so of this will rub off on me. I recently blogged about the 4 gift rule and couldn’t resist adding a 5th – One thing homemade. Here is the post in case you’re interested http://birthingme.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-five-gift-rule.html. It can be tough to set limits when it comes to gifts for our children so I like having some guidelines. I’ll be messaging you for your gift list.
I do like the idea of something home-made, too! Thank you for sharing your blog post, too!
How wise you are. Often we have too much unnecessary stuff around us. I cleans and cleans and really try to pick off any excess.
Because I love books, I draw constantly new home, the bookshelf is difficult for me to sort.
Your pictures inspire me. The recipe for potato cakes, I cook something similar here in Sweden, we call them rårakor.
Thank you for your kind comment! I, too, love books so much, I can’t help buying more and more. I find that since we sorted the bookshelves by colour they stay relatively tidy as the little ones can put their books back in the right place easily. Do you have a rårakor recipe to share?