I only wanted to wish all of you a very lovely weekend! I am quite excited, as the voting for the Annual Bloggers Bash best bloggers awards will be starting very soon!
I hope you had a nice week. I did. It was the usual things. However, I did finally get to make use of my random factoid series in a business context. I just tossed into conversation (at a well-timed moment, not just randomly) that bubble wrap was intended as 3-d wallpaper and it went well! Lots of conversation about it. So, that made me happy 🙂
We live in a world where we are constantly competing. Pushing…for more. But, do you ever just pause during your day and consider how wealthy you truly are? Nooo, not monetary wealth. That is fleeting. And, in this day, is nothing more than someone’s typing in zero’s and one’s. No. I mean wealthy in friendships, wealthy in relationships, wealthy in the currency of luv.
I think that all too often, so many of us take for granted the fact that there are people who care about us. And occasionally, we realise how much we truly do appreciate those who care enough to deal with us. I don’t have millions of friends. Quite the opposite, actually. But those friends and family that I do have, are super! I mean really, think about it. We ALL have our special brand of weird. Every. One. Of. Us. Even if you’re ‘normal’ (ok, especially if you’re normal!) that’s so odd now that, that, my friend, is your brand of weird. I forget sometimes how easily annoyed I am at others perceived flaws. You know, the really difficult to ignore flaws. And then I have to remind myself that, my friends and family are just as annoyed by me. That’s not a great feeling and really makes one appreciate that fact that people actually like me enough to stay around when I’m being stupid. And when I complain. And when I eat cake like I’m a food deprived monster. Do I tell them that I appreciate them? No, of course not. I’m…worried I’ll be perceived as a complete basket case. So, I come here and I tell you.
I do think that we should tell the people who care about us, and who listen to all our crazy, that we appreciate them and that we’ll listen to their crazy too. After all, isn’t needing to be loved and cared about one of the basic needs that we all have in common with every person on this planet?
Comfort wear; We love it, we need it and sometimes – we live in it. But when does it become a bit too much…frump?
I’ve been binge watching ‘What Not To Wear’ and it seems that the one thing everyone has in common is that comfort wear turns into everything wear. It is very easy for this to happen, and I can easily see how. I love my comfortable clothing at home. But even then, I feel guilty for not looking my best for my husband. Isn’t that the most important person to look amazing for?!
Remember this?
Now, before you riot, I am not requesting that anyone take themselves back to this. What I am wondering though is how did we go from this – making an effort with our appearance just because we woke up in the morning – to paint covered college pants that should have been discarded long ago? You may not be guilty of this. If it’s so, you are a better person than I.
With the relatively recent appearance of athleisure, the line has blurred even further. Now it seems that college-type pants/shirts are in fashion to wear everywhere. (Even with something looking remarkably similar to a sports bra as a top?!?) Perhaps I am showing my age, but I just cannot make myself wear it out of the house unless I’m in a gym.
I know that there is a line somewhere with this and that somehow we’ve just allowed ourselves to get so comfortable being comfortable that some people seem to no longer be bothered by their own frump (yours truly, included) until someone reminds us of it and then we are mortified. I mean, has this habit of frump become so commonplace that it’s now a happening that to look well put together makes one stand out? I can tell you that I feel that way sometimes. I love feeling that I look good. That you can see that I put thought into my appearance before going out in the world. But as fashions get more casual, I feel … out of place when I am in a dress and heels. That is such a strange feeling. To feel at least somewhat confident in my outfit, but then to be overwhelmed with self-consciousness about it at the same time. However, when I just throw on something comfortable that fits and keeps me warm and don’t think much else about it, I don’t feel confident in that either. (I do feel cozy though!) *That just went a bit off topic*
I was talking about frump. I don’t know, maybe it’s me. You see, I don’t really have a grey area with fashion. I either look like I put in some effort, or I look like I slept in my clothes. So maybe that’s why this is nagging at me so much. Some miraculous people can look perfectly coifed in comfort clothes. Me? Not so much.
I don’t know where you are on this spectrum, but for me, it has gotten my attention. After this post, at least I myself will be making more of an effort at home (as that is where I have gotten too comfortable being a slob) to look nice for the person who I truly want to impress. I mean, why should he get the mess when the rest of the world sees my best (or at least my ‘It’ll do’)? It just doesn’t seem logical, does it.
I do love being comfortable though. Hmmm… What about you?
I’ve been writing quite often about minimalism, the need to declutter, and my own attempt at saving my sanity in a world seemingly filled with chaos. This post is just me putting my thoughts in words and trying to understand what drives me in this…what drives you in this.
Today, although a day full of laughter, was also a day filled with much stress and anxiety over situations which I have little control. I noticed that my way of dealing with such matters, is to clean. To clean and declutter. But something odd happened today that made me stop and have a word with myself. I realised that the chaos in my environment is creating chaos in my mind (and that works the other way also!). I also realised that I am also mindlessly scrolling through online shops (& badly tempting myself to break my shopping ban) as a tool to escape my stress. To just…not think.
None of these is a good habit.
Window shopping online, though mind-numbing, is a horrible habit. I found all manner of lovely items that I never knew I needed, but am now fantasising about. Not the best idea for me at the moment. Because for some reason, when I am really anxious about something, those new baubles feel so….necessary. More necessary than that pile of bills waiting for payment. And how twisted is that?! Of course, I do have enough self-control to fight the urge to make those purchases. It’s the fact that I’m even considering it, that truly disturbs me. What is my problem?! Why am I so distressed that all logical reasoning seems to have left me? Uncool.
Cleaning. Cleaning isn’t a bad thing. Of course not. Except when everyone around me gets very nervous because I am cleaning with such vigour (? Is that the proper word?) that the people around me are trying to find out what’s wrong. Crazy cleaning. Yea, that’s it. Crazy cleaning. That’s not OK.
Declutter rampage. I understand that I am running the declutter challenge. Today, I was so… overwhelmed, that I truthfully had the feeling that I could happily live with about 10% of the stuff. I don’t actually have so much, so that’s actually quite a small amount. Most of my clutter is paperwork, bills, more papers, printouts, instruction manuals (all things which must be kept for what, 10 years?) random ‘what-if’ items (like empty plastic boxes that I will never use as food containers), photos from everywhere & everyone, expired sauce mixes that I don’t like but feel wasteful to toss out, and sentimental items. These are the items which are consistently moved from place to place, but never find a proper place where they are organised and away. I took the time to sit and think about why I was reacting this way. I considered many possible options. 1 of them being that there is an actual term for people who just purge their items obsessively. I think the term is anti-hoarding, but I cannot remember. There is a whole thing with it, although it is not so common because minimalism is good, but hoarding is really bad. (OK, I am not saying that minimalism is a behavioural problem. I’m saying that people who purge everything including their bed, is beginning to be seen as a problem.) This is not my situation though because our place is a ‘work in progress’…let’s say that. And then the thought came to me. OMG now I understand why I’m so strange about this sometimes. I have spent so much of my life living like a nomad. One in which I could fit all of my possessions in 2 large luggages, that just being in a normal home with average stuff (like dishes, spices, pictures, open cabinets, paperwork & exactly 5 nic nacs) overwhelms me completely. It isn’t my environment that’s causing a problem. It’sme.
Once I had finally completed my self-analysis, the stress and anxiety had left me. Presumably to go find someone more fun to annoy. But now I am really thinking about these things. Although I may have discovered the reason for my clutter craziness, it doesn’t mean that it will stop bothering me. True, I have to be able to compromise and not force my husband to live in a stark environment. But I also have to get things organised (and yes, continue some decluttering) so that I can put myself in a happy mind.
I will surely be over-analysing the purchase-purge cycle that so many of us find ourselves in. I have already been considering this quite a bit because I am on the shopping ban for many months now and have spent a large amount of that time analysing the purchasing decisions I make. This came up today because of the time spent on the net dreaming about items of clothing I would feel fabulous in.
So I guess for you this means: More strange analytical blog posts upcoming.
We are now in the month of March. I have been actively decluttering/removing 1 item daily for the last 5 weeks. I have now arrived at the moment when I am starting to see the change. It’s much like the early hours of the morning when you can see a clear sky and just the tiniest rays of the sun climbing over the horizon. Like that. It gives me hope. It is also making me think. I have been doing this for more than 2 months. Many days, I remove more than 1 item. Some days, I only remove something small – like a broken ink pen. However, that should amount to minimum 80 items. How do we have that much stuff?! This set off a long time of self-reflection about what makes me purchase. (Another blog post entirely). But it’s something we should discuss!
I have set a schedule for myself. That one day, every week (until I am sorted through it all) I will go through 1 storage item. I have baskets, bags, boxes… I would like to be able to reduce these ‘storage solutions’ or use them for other clutter. I do not have so many of these, but I do need to go through the contents. Perhaps I will discover my days’ items from here?
For the other 6 days, I will still be focusing on singular items each day. I read a comment which suggested focusing on categories. So, I think I will give this a try this month! (Thanks, ginger fluff!)
I would like to ask some of the awesome people who have been joining me in decluttering (either with this challenge, or on their own terms); How’s it going?
The above listed are the bloggers that I am able to link to. I am happy to say that there are some incredible people here that have joined the challenge, which I am not able to link to. Please, let us know how you are doing!
I have found that doing this kind of challenge is ALWAYS better with friends! We keep each other accountable and sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed to get things done!
Quite often, people say that you make a decision about a person based on the first 60 seconds of meeting them. So, my question for today is: What is it about a person that you notice when firstly meeting them that makes you either interested or disinterested in being around that person?
My answer: If the other person is interested in the meeting. That would be a determining factor. If that person is noticeably only interested in themselves, or bored/annoyed by my presence, then I want away very quickly.
Social media is a thing. A big thing that has really made itself a ‘must’ in our modern world. So what do you do when….you aren’t just loving it? Is it even allowed to not be a huge fan of social media? Or must we all be living by our smart phones 24-7?
I’m not averse to all social media. Twitter I check on sometimes. Vero I have actually found myself liking, but still maybe on a bi-weekly basis. But when it comes to things like Instagram or Facebook, I’m just not that interested. I’ve been thinking about this quite often. As in, why? I did, formerly, spend quite a bit of time on social media. But then I seem to have hit a time in my life where I just began wondering if it really is as important as (the mysterious) they say. I think that the reason may be a combination between the impulsive need to overshare every aspect of ones life with the world with the fact that people’s lives on social media are, for the most part, complete falsehood.
I’m a blogger. I love blogging. This is my happy place. Which is what makes this so weird, because I love oversharing about my life, here, on the blog. But I do not like sharing my personal world with social media. One would ask themselves, what is the difference between sharing your personal life on the internet, and sharing your personal life on…well, the internet? And that person would win, because I do not know.
Having said that; While I do try to keep this blog as realistic to my life as possible, I do not share every small strange thing that happens during my day either. I am certain that if you, my readers, realized what a boring person I can be, that on some days I forego the heels/designer/makeup all together and opt for a rather ‘do you have a hangover?’ look, or how hilarious I find fart jokes, you would abandon me all together in search of someone a bit more ‘presentable’. (I really hope not!) But I feel like you know me, here. You know my interests, you know that I am camera shy, you know that I stumble in heels sometimes, that I am a fail with domestic duties and that I cannot seem to be able to follow a proper recipe. And yet, you still create a community with me here. (Thank you!!!) So, I can be me here.
However on social media, especially Instagram & FB, its all about the image. Yes, we can all take a 1 second photo of ourselves in perfect hair and make-up and heels, before life makes us normal people again. But is that really the healthiest version of ourselves to share with the world? And what about the pressure to continue the performance once our 1 second photo becomes old? Oh, you want another one? A different location? I’m a traveller now, no, I’m a glamour mom, oops, I’m a pilot! And once that gets old? Lunch…here’s my lunch! Let’s be honest people: Does anyone actually want to see what kind of food blob I have on my plate?? No. I didn’t think so. And I just cannot keep up pretense. This puts me in a difficult position because I love my blog and the internet says I need to be as active as possible on social media because I want people to read my blog. Hmph. I think I will just stay with blogging, thank you. (Also, thank you to those of you who do share my blog posts on twitter!)
In a world where it is becoming increasingly unpopular for one to be themselves & hold their own thoughts, wouldn’t it be nice to just be boring, weird selves?
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell is my RBRC book for February. Well, actually January and February. I cannot accurately remember how I came to have this book in my possession. I would never purchase a book this size for myself, so I am assuming that this was a ‘read it & pass it on’ gift.
This book is actually also a movie, but I did not see the movie so this review is only about the book. This is a rather thick book to read, so it did take me 2 months time to get through it.
This was a good book. It did take a large amount of time to get involved in – more than the 1st 100 pages. But once I managed to get myself tangled in the characters plot, I was hooked.
Some people have said that they are not big fans of the book because the author is seemingly ‘spoon-feeding the plot to his readers’, but this is actually something that I appreciated. In a read this size, it is easy to get lost in the plot. Especially when it seems to fluctuate between the history of a problem and the present time set in the story.
I would recommend this book – especially to those who do not require a dictionary to read it. I would like to watch the movie now that I have read this. I do think I would probably be a bigger fan of the movie, than of the book.
If you would like to join my Recycled Book Reading Challenge, please do! I have been running this challenge for 2 years. I will link to your RBRC post on my upcoming post on the 1st of each month!
Hi guys, I’m down here! Keep scrolling, you’ll find my site under all the ads. Keep scrolling…..
Wow. So….ads! As you know, I was trying to format my blog and I did something really strange. In the process of trying to repair the damage I had done, my site went a bit funky for about a week there. There were word ads everywhere! I have finally managed to learn how to control how these show all over the place and have them removed. If you are like I am, you hate visiting sites that are plastered with ads! I hope that I have solved the problem, and I truly apologize for any frustration or annoyance that this may have caused for you. Thank you so much for your understanding.
For anyone struggling with this, contact WP support. They’ve been very helpful!
I just wanted to share a quick update on how my February declutter is going. Things are progressing quite nicely. Although I must confess that it seems so odd that I really can’t yet notice the difference that I was hoping to see. Except the bookshelf. My bookshelf makes me smile now! I have a few theories on why this is. These last few weeks, I have been focusing on random objects. Products that have been used or expired, items that I notice and think to myself ‘I can do without that’, a plate or cup that has been chipped…. So I think that when taking one random item from somewhere and ridding myself of it, it is barely noticed. (This should be a big thing to consider when making future purchases. Is it important enough that I will actually notice if I no longer have it?) When I decluttered my books, I took away everything from the shelves and only replaced the items which I enjoyed, was excited to read or which have a function. Now it looks completely different! I think I need to repeat this process in another area for the upcoming 10 days of this month.
There is one are of the place that’s showing some big spaces. It seems that those electric cuts we had, managed to break some of our small appliances in the kitchen. So, we said goodbye to our coffee machine and microwave. Happily, we do have a press to keep the morning java monsters happy. 😉 In some way, I don’t so much miss the microwave though. Yes, really. I find myself wondering if we really do need to purchase a new one. It makes things easier and faster, of course. But…as we don’t eat ready meals (you know, the ones in the plastic boxes that require a micro), really everything we eat can be heated in the oven. Or that’s how it seems anyway. *As I sit here thinking to myself….’am I missing something? There has to be something that we like that can only be made in the micro.’….’am I REALLY writing this?? People are going to think I’ve lost it!’* So, there is that. And in a small space, missing something the size of a micro and coffee machine, well, that does show a big difference.
I am listing below some of the brave people who have joined me in this decluttering challenge (because EVERYTHING is better when you do it with friends!) I’m hoping they will let us know how it’s going and maybe even drop a link if they’ve posted updates too!
As you have probably seen, I decided to include some affiliate marketing here. I, of course, wanted to sign on with the companies and products that I myself admire. Sustainable fashion/home, luxury items, contemporary furniture, travel and software. Through this process, I have also tried to only offer those things which may be of interest to you, my readers. I am aware, of course, that most any kind of advertisement goes unnoticed, or worse, makes people adverse to visiting ‘your’ site. But this also includes my being able to offer specialized promo codes. (Which is always nice to be able to share a special discount. I love special discounts!)
You are a very diverse group of people, and so I feel that instead of trying to guess about it, I should really just ask YOU. That’s what we do here…no?
Please, take the time to answer so I can stop being strange about this.
What would you prefer to see OR prefer to NOT see? (as per accessibility/promo codes):
Yours truly decided that she was going to give this blog a complete make-over. In the process, I seem to have installed some items which did not work well with my format and seems to have scrambled … or just deleted…. many things on this website.
Basically, I got a bit over-motivated and broke my site. 🙁
I am working with wordpress to correct these ‘issues’ as quickly as just is possible. Please be understanding. We will find a way to get things back to normal soon!
‘So here I am, again.’ I think to myself while standing in the food market. A vegetarian on a low carb diet, wondering what I am supposed to do. (OK, ok…before everyone corrects me – I do eat some fish – so I guess I’m a pescatarian (sp?) ) You see, I also tried the Atkins diet (in the peak of its popularity). And I realised during that time that a protein-rich diet was not for the weak of heart nor the light of wallet. The diet didn’t last long, as my food servers budget was not enough to justify the expense. Healthy food is expensive! ( I am still trying to understand how a package of spaghetti noodles can cost more than 1 kg of wheat powder. I mean, not just the ingredients but the manufacturing process as well – and still less expensive? Can anyone explain this?!)
Let’s be honest here: Low carb diets are expensive! Not for everyone, sure. But for those of us who have to decide whether to eat steak and fish everyday OR keep the lights on (I hope you choose the lights!) navigating a low carb diet can be a delicate dance with your finances. I am currently on another low-carb diet (1 of many throughout the years), and this time I have learned a few tricks to stretch my money further. BTW – I’ve managed to drop 6 kgs…Yay! So here are some of my money-saving tricks:
Establish a close friendship with eggs. I am not a huge egg fan, but I will tell you that this has been one of my biggest money savers. Eggs don’t cost so much, you can make them 100 different ways and they are filling. 1 3-egg veg omelet will carry me for most of the day without feeling very hungry.
Swap out your mayo and crème frâiche for unflavoured yoghurt instead. Unflavoured yoghurt is the food equivalent of multi-functional furniture. You can use it for everything! Dips, salad topping, creme sauce, a base for crème salads, a topping for eggs, and an after food delight mixed with your favourite fruit! Being able to have 1 staple that you can use in multiple ways, will save you money, stress AND its much healthier for you!
Try the canned options. I know, I sounds like a bit of a hypocrite here. But when you’re on a budget, eating fresh fish or lean cuts of meat just isn’t an option most of the time. Try canned tuna, or canned chicken if that’s your thing. Incorporating this into a salad is what I do, but there are also many different ways that these products can be incorporated into your daily diet. I mean, not every meal has to be instagram perfect…right?
Use filler. I’m using these yoghurt based tuna salads as an example, but these can be used in many different ways. For my salads, I use frozen peas and chopped celery. Both of these items are affordable and they can turn a 1-meal salad into a 2-meal salad. Ultimately reducing the money you spend on food. Same goes for stir-fry. If you add chopped cabbage, carrots and onion – it will create a larger amount of food with a lesser price. (Ever wonder why some restaurants load their food with cabbage? My theory is – that it’s to save money on the food)
Try surimi. This may depend on your location, but I have found that in many countries, surimi is very affordable. Not luxurious at all, but it will work as both a quick snack (you really can just eat them cold) as well as easily fried with a bit of lemon and sliced onion. Super easy, very affordable, a good option.
Broccoli? Yes, broccoli! Broccoli contains protein, as well as many nutrients and antioxidants which are vital for your health. Toss a handful into your eggs or stirfry, or just steam some to go with your main protein of choice. Frozen or fresh, select the most affordable.
Drink a lot of warm lemon water. The victorians used to drink tea to fill their stomachs in between meals. (Or at least that’s the working theory I have read.) But we’re talking super budget here. So forget the tea and grab a citrus fruit instead! 1 small slice can actually work well for a quite large teapot full of hot water. This combination is said to work well for the metabolism. It also keeps you feeling ‘full’ so you aren’t hungry constantly.
Grab that bag of mandarin’s instead! Mandarin’s are affordable, and research has shown that the family of fruits (orange, mandarin, satsuma) when eaten will quieten the craving for sugar. So if you’re staring at that chocolate bar, grab some mandarin instead. It costs less and will last you days longer.
Don’t feel pressured to purchase the specialty items. I have read everywhere that I need coconut oil, some kind of root powder, seed powder, special…. everything! Said items are also accompanied by a rather large price tag – one that could surely cover half your food shopping expenses. So just don’t do it. It really is not going to make such a big difference. You either lose the weight, or you don’t.
Step away from the protein bars! Protein bars and shakes are just…marketing, really. Yet another big price tag for an item that really doesn’t help so much and contains tons of sugars & preservatives.
Take it easy. You are not the only person trying to figure out how to make it all work. If you are stressing quite badly, just make yourself some popcorn, sit down, pig out and try to forget about the world for awhile!
I do hope at least some of these tips help you to save some money at the food market. If you have any suggestions of your own to add to this list, please share them!
As you know, I don’t usually post about purchasing. Software, especially that which is expensive, will be shared when I can manage to get a deep discount. I know that there are a lot of people out there using VPN’s so I thought I would for sure share this promo deal.
So here’s the deal: Hide My Ass VPN software is offering 75% off to my followers. They are shared according to currency below!
Hide My Ass VPN is offering a 75% off a 36 month subscription.
This month, I set a challenge for myself to do a bit of a clean-out. Magazines (leafs) are being found in crazy numbers here. This seems to be difficult for me to put in the bin, so I thought a small rant might be OK.
I used to love reading magazines. I would thirst for it. People would send me the leafs from overseas. I wanted to read about the newest fashion. Try the newest recipes. Contort myself according to the most lust-worthy exercises. Read about the glam travel destinations and see if I could get there myself. But then….. oh then…. the marketing came.
Now I understand that any publication (yours truly included) must pay the bills. But there was a tipping point. A point where 80% of the publication was advertisement. This happened quite trickily. For awhile, the fashion ads were incorporated into the newest fashion trends. We all knew it was advertisement, but loved looking at the photos nonetheless. However now, its just ad after ad after ad. Why should I pay 10€ to look at commercials? I can see them for free every where I go. As a matter of fact, I cannot get away from them!
So it seems to me that alas, magazines have had their heyday also and are now a thing of the past. So sad….
This post (formerly just accidentally published & emailed to all of you…sori about that!) is about a new blog series I have been thinking about.
I thought it might be nice to share some of my budget bending tips for all things. Living on a budget isn’t easy. Neither is blogging on one. But if there’s one thing I have learned, it’s how to live on as lean a budget as possible. Also some time-management, resource management & quick solutions. I know that I am not alone in this, so I thought, this might be a fun series to start here on Lifexperiment Blog.
I am a blogger, I am broke… I am the broke blogger. Hey, why not?
I decided that I would like to add a bit of ‘newness’ to my blog here. As you surely noticed, I have been changing formats like I’m trying for new shoes. I do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. I just can’t seem to find a format that I’m super happy with.
Does this happen to you? Do you become overwhelmed with the options and find something you think is perfect only to discover you can do nothing with it? Ugh.
Oh, if there was a format that you either do or do not like, please let me know.
‘For every child born in Wales since April 2014, the Welsh Government have donated a fruit tree to Ugandan families, to celebrate the birth or adoption of every child.’
Does anyone know if this is actually true? What a good idea!
Very, very cool! I am all smiles at the moment 😀 😀 😀 You can imagine my reaction when I looked at my email yesterday evening and noticed an email from Bloggers Bash. I have seen some of the posts about Bloggers Bash shared on some of my favourite sites, so I knew it was a real thing. At first, I didn’t completely understand what was happening. And then…Eureka!
Speaking the truth, I really don’t know how to react. This is the first actual blog award I have ever been nominated for, so I am surprised, stupid happy and many other things which I am unable to describe at the moment. I guess ‘can’t find words’ is true in this case. (I always wondered how that was possible, now I know!) I also spent most of last evening dancing around and annoying my husband. I think I mentioned this at least 30 times. Today I will mention it more, but I did not receive the email until it was already evening. 😉
So here’s the thing: Some of you actually nominated me! (Yes, I checked the site to make sure I didn’t actually nominate myself in some weird early morning stupor. I didn’t. It’s impossible.) So to whoever of you nominated me, A VERY BIG THANK YOU!! I cannot believe it! As a blogger, having someone appreciate our work enough to nominate us for an actual award means so very much. Especially when there are days when all of us wonder if anyone is actually reading our posts. 😀 So Happy….SSSSOOOOO HAPPY!
The email told that voting does not happen for awhile yet. I will, of course, let you know when voting begins. Because, well…now that I’m in this thing, I think we should do this!
Thank you to everyone in my blog family for making this such an awesome place to be!
I’m on a diet. A quite strict diet. Which makes me fantasize about all the rubbish food I cannot eat. So my question for today is: What is your favourite rubbish food?
Mine? Well, I do love nacho nite! But in this case, I have to say cake batter! I cannot bake a cake, but I will eat an entire bowl of batter! Gross, huh?
Firstly, the *feature photo is NOT of my home. This was a pic I sourced from Pixabay. (although at times, I have felt that this is my life)*
January is over and my January declutter challenge is past its conclusion date. This declutter challenge really got me motivated. I would actually like to continue the challenge on a month-by-month basis. Although I would really like to challenge myself and you, for all of 2019, that’s a big ask. I prefer having declutter buddies throughout this process as it somehow makes it so much easier. So, I think I will continue this challenge for February and I do hope you will continue with me!
For my last half of the January declutter, I purged 1 item a day (at least!). I realized early on in this challenge that paper clutter is my biggest problem. Bills (ooohhh…the bills!), Magazines (which I successfully managed to purge. Yay for me!) and books. I have always had a weakness for books. Everyone knows this, so I receive even more books. Occasionally, I get gifts of whatever some people manage to find at the used book shop for basically free. The problem with this is; Although people know I like to read, they have no idea what I like to read. I feel full of guilt to rid myself of gifts, so I keep them. I keep them all. This creates some spacial issues. (Also created the RBRC) Speaking the truth, I hate romance novels. I’m not a big vampyr fan, and research written in the 70’s is out of date many times over. So, I purged. This was my focus for the last 2 weeks. Purging my books and only my books. I gave away +2 full bags of books, then created 1 shelf for my ‘to-reads’ (Especially for the RBRC) and then I can pass these along (& hopefully the dictionary also!).
Looking at my shelves now feel so nice. A relief almost. It started me thinking about things. It’s strange how we spend so much time wanting items, but then when our homes are ‘full’ all we want to do is to clean it. How much time and energy of our lives do we actually invest into our possessions? In my mind, it is quite much. This should be something we take into consideration when making future purchasing decisions. Because that book costs far more than the 10 cents someone paid for it. I was surprised to find that I had been dragging these books around with me for years. Why? How much of my mental and physical energy have I wasted on some junk that I won’t ever read? How much space has it taken in my small home? How much extra electric have I paid for these items to be there? (This is a big one when sorting the refrigerator) How many times have I dusted these useless items?
365 Days of New posted about her success with the January declutter Challenge and she has photos!
Janet’s Writing Blog posted about her success this month and drops a big hint that tells me maybe she continues with me?? 😀 😀
I am pinging some of the awesome people who joined in with not only this declutter challenge, but varying degrees of eliminating the junk, and I cannot wait to hear how it went!
Time in our lives is valuable. I hardly think that there is anyone out there who actually enjoys cleaning. So isn’t it time we surround ourselves only with the people, items and activities which we enjoy and let everything else go?
Let’s keep this decluttering train rolling! Who’s with me for February?
