3 Easy Steps to Start Decluttering

Sometimes looking at a huge task of decluttering a household can seem daunting. Where to start? What do let go of? A few years ago I challenged myself to purge 30 things in 30 days because I was overwhelmed with stuff after a move. Choosing one item every day felt like an achievable goal and it started me on a continual journey of decluttering.

Here are a few things that helped me start–and keep going–on this process of letting things I don’t need go.

1. Start Small

Looking at an entire house can be overwhelming, so my suggestion is to choose something small and easy to start. This could be a sock drawer, a junk drawer or a coffee mug shelf. Any area where you can get started by making some easy decisions. Sometimes being able to make easy choices about what to let go of will help give practice for the tougher decisions.

My easy area was the large utensil drawer in my kitchen. I had a number of duplicate utensils and even some random items that I had no idea what they were used for. Starting with those items let me see how freeing it was to let things go.

Granted, I still have a ways to go yet. This week I counted the number of scissors I have in my house–including regular ones and fancy craft edging scissors–and the total was 18! That is far more than I need to own.

2. Hang Hangers Backwards

Every couple of years I turn the hangers in my closet facing backwards. When I wear an item, I hang it back up with the hanger facing the correct way. At the end of a season I can look at my clothes and determine which items I wear and which items I do not. This makes it easier to decide which items need to go because I can see what I truly don’t wear.

I usually check out my closet at the end of summer and the end of winter to see where the hangers are still backwards, then I start pulling items to put in the “give away box.”

3. Use Two Boxes

I tuck two boxes in a corner of my bedroom. They are hidden enough to be out of the way, but visible enough so that I don’t forget about them.

The first box is for items I want to sell. Any items that I think I can easily sell, that are in great shape and have some value, I will try and sell online. I post on both Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, but there are other sites out there too like Kijiji.

The second box is for the thrift store. Any items that are hard to sell, such as clothes or miscellaneous small items, I will put a box headed to the thrift store.

What I like about having boxes available to continually add to, is that it gives me the freedom to change my mind. I will often have a box on the go for weeks. Sometimes I will add something to it, then completely forget about the item. By the time I go to the thrift store I can see just how much that item does not need to be in my life. Sometimes, though, I will take something back. And that really is okay. Decluttering, purging, going minimal isn’t about getting rid of everything that takes up space, but about giving you more space–physically and mentally–to enjoy what you do have more.

Do you find decluttering and letting go of things easy?
What are your favourite decluttering tips?

 

Easy Vegetable Broth

When I started eating a plant-based diet over 15 years ago, this cookbook became my Bible. I had no clue what I was doing in the kitchen to begin with and needed all the help I could get!

As you can probably tell from the picture, this cookbook is well-loved and well-used. I think I have a bookmark on nearly every page.

One unexpected thing I learned from this cookbook was how to get some extra life out of my veggie scraps.

I describe myself as a lazy cook. I like simple, quick, from-scratch food, but I don’t like wasting food, so I like stretching things and getting creative where I can to make sure everything is used up.

Here is how to get some extra life out of your vegetables:

What to do

Any time you have vegetable scraps, put them into a bag in the freezer.

Keep adding to it until you are ready to make a pot of broth.

What to add

This list is long: carrot peels, celery leaves, insides of your bell peppers (not the seeds), wilted veggies you’re just not wanting to eat…basically anything! Anything, minus the obvious unhealthy bits such as green potato skins or eyes.

What’s next

Once you are ready to make a pot of soup broth or when your bag is full, you have two options.

1. You can add these vegetables to a soup broth recipe you’re already planning, such as this simple recipe from The Spruce Eats.

2. You can simply boil the frozen veggies and have an unseasoned broth.

I usually do the second option as my goal is to get the nutrients out of these unappealing veggie scraps and into a usable form.

Once I have boiled the vegetables, I strain the liquid out and freeze it in smaller portions. I use the broth for making soups, making rice, or any recipe that might call for broth. It’s important to keep in mind if you don’t season this at the beginning, you’ll need to adjust for taste in the recipe you are making.

How do you use up your vegetable scraps? Do you have any tips or tricks on using up food items others might throw into the compost?

3 Things I Always Reuse

A part of my frugal mindset includes creating less waste. I love combining the ideas of saving money and saving the environment. This habit of reusing things in creative ways looks to go back to my childhood. I found this little guy on my dad’s garage shelf during one of my recent visits. It’s likely a Father’s Day present my dad can’t bring himself to recycle.

Looking at some more practical uses, though, here are 3 things that I always try and reuse before sending them to the recycle bin.

1. Plastic Bags & Packaging

Most people know how handy a plastic shopping bag is for a garbage bag. But I don’t often get plastic bags from the grocery store anymore since I use cloth shopping bags. That’s why I got creative. I didn’t want to buy garbage bags if there was a way to save the money and the waste.

Now I use any packaging that will do the trick! Toilet paper and paper towel packaging work perfectly to line a bin. With strategic cutting of the packaging at the top to create a bag-like opening, it will usually fit over my smaller bathroom garbage bin.

2. Newspapers

Newspapers are easily recyclable, but to give them a little more use before they hit the bin, try using your newspapers for wrapping paper.

Newspaper is also perfect for lining your kitchen compost bin to keep the bin clean longer. This can also be done for your larger outdoor green bin, if your city has these.

3. Glass Jars

Jars are one of my favourite things to reuse. I’ve reused jars for plant pots and for wrapping homemade gifts, such as bath salts.

For everyday use, I have jars on hand to store food items. Plastic containers have their purpose, but I find glass jars great for freezing batches of food I’ve made in my crock pot.

 

Almost the End. Things 22 – 28

This week I found there are some areas of my household that are easy to search out items to purge. While it is great to have some easy items to choose as I wind down the 30 things in 30 days, it means that these areas are ones where I spend more, keep more, and overcrowd my home. 

These areas are the first three of my next 7 things:

22. Scarves
23. Shoes
24. Clothes

25. Winter Gear … As the cold weather approaches, I’m pulling out the items I need to use and am letting go of the ones that I haven’t taken out for years.

26. Plastic Containers … I’m a huge fan of reusing items before recycling them, but I’ve stockpiled a few more containers than I need to keep.

27. Coloured Ropes … Miscellaneous items brought home for free with hopes of being turned into craft projects. Those never materialized, so months later it is time to pass these onto someone else.

28. Magazines/Pamphlets/Business Cards … I don’t know if I’m the only one, but I tend to keep information packs a little too long. I file them away in nice tidy areas of the house (for the most part) but not all of it is necessary. This week, I started the first round with these papers, sending many to the recycle bin.

Have you found certain areas in your home that have an abundance of things? What areas are the easiest for you to minimize?