What are you trying to wear out/use up? I feel like I have too many toiletries and I am working on getting those narrowed down.
As far as wearing out: I am trying to wear out my shoes!
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Posted 2 years ago #
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I was trying to use up toiletries until I read in one of the books that the plastic bottles and other plastic containers start breaking down leaching chemicals into the product. Scents start fading and who knows what else happens. I recently got rid of all that stuff. I was very liberating.
I'm trying to use up bathroom cleaners. I am using them to clean the inside of the toilet bowl. The products are all so harsh, I don't even want them in the house anymore. One of the toilet bowl cleaners has hydrochloric acid in it! If that isn't overkill I don't know what is.
Posted 2 years ago # -
^Bathroom cleaners! That's another thing that I need to use up. I am also trying to get safer ones (like you said, some of the stuff is incredibly toxic).
I didn't know about the breaking down of the chemicals! Luckily the stuff I have been using up isn't very old or I would toss it out immediately!
My ultimate goal is to use less products. To think of all the hair/nail/skin products I used back in college makes me cringe.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I'm trying to use up toiletries (mostly travel size - have a shoe box full of them), cleaners around the house, and candles. I have a lot of candles (haven't bought any in 2 years) and have some set aside in case of losing power (which happens a lot when we get rain storms), but I still have way too many. I forget to use them, but have started trying to use them whenever someone is over, etc.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I'm trying to use up lipstick, perfume, candles, blank journals, hair products, etc.......
One thing I'm finding helpful is when I put on a piece of clothing or lipstick and it really does not look good on me, I toss the lipstick or put the clothes right into the donation bag. I recently donated 6 almost brand new Vic Secret bras that I paid a fortune for. I went there and thought I would do it right--got measured by their "expert" and bought her recommended bra styles. The only secret Victoria has is that the bras feel like Iron Maidens!!! The hooks itched my back and the underwires dug into my ribs. I hated giving them away, but felt like it was a HUGE step forward. Why would I keep them? I would never wear them.
Anyway, little by little--one thing at a time--is what's helping me. It's very hard to face the realization that I paid for all this stuff and some of it is just going to become donations.
Posted 2 years ago # -
For some reason I bought things I liked, then wouldn't use them. I was afraid of using them up or not having them or breaking them or....I have no idea. So, I'm trying to treat myself better and use the nice things I have for ME.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Belladonna, did you grow up with an adult who only used the good china, etc. for when company was over?
Posted 2 years ago # -
@belladonna, I have a similar problem. I like to use/wear the newest thing I own. But, if it becomes a favorite, I use it ALL.THE.TIME. Then, before it wears out or breaks (shoes, tools, cool notebooks, etc.), I spend ages shopping for the perfect (but cheap) replacement and buy 10 versions that couldn't possibly replace my favorite item. Then I suffer with the not-good-enough replacements while saving the favorite and never quite using it up. Then I have multiples of stuff; I'm not enjoying the items I like; and I'm wasting money on bad replacements. Ugh.
Posted 2 years ago # -
JuliaJayne - no, I grew up with a mom that threw things out when we were in school. My mom was so clean that she would use q-tips to clean the edges of things. My dad was an alcoholic.
He held down two jobs, though and when I was in my late twenties he quit drinking and that was that. I used to throw things around my room until it looked like a tornado hit it. Then I would immediately clean it up. I learned early on that was a sure way to gain favor with my Mom.Funny thing is, several years before she died of cancer, she started to shop and hoard. She did a complete 360 from when I was young. I've often wondered if I keep things and don't allow myself to use them because A) I'm afraid of not having it and B) I don't feel like I really deserve the good stuff !?
2 years ago this May, my only sibling--my older sister--was diagnosed with AML; in 5 months she was dead. Now I'm the last of our little 4 person immediate family. I found myself starting to unclutter then and starting to use things I originally bought for me, but didn't use. I've been hanging pictures, etc. that I've had for 5 years. It's hard work, especially with Fibromyalgia and bad arthritis, but if not now--when?
Posted 2 years ago # -
s--I know! it's a recipe for clutter disaster!!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Does anyone else get this kind of 'high' when they empty a bottle of shampoo, deodarant ect? I don't know why, but it always feels good to me to actually finish something. Maybe because I know there is a stack more in the bathroom (luckily out of sight) to use up. We bought most things in bulk to save money but I'm starting to realize that I'd prefer to have less then save a few pennies.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Nina, I know exactly that feeling! LOL Sort of virtuous for uncluttering, without the guilt from being wasteful by throwing out something for which you paid hard-earned money.
We, too, are reformed "buy in bulk" shoppers. Lately we've been trying to keep only one in reserve of essential items, while there is no reserve for non-essentials. Sometimes I replenish the non-essentials on my next shopping trip, but sometimes I find I can live without them just fine. It is a long, slow process to use up all those bargain, bulk items, but we're starting to see light at the end of this dark, cluttered tunnel!
Throwing out an empty bottle is a small victory in our battle against clutter -enjoy it!Posted 2 years ago # -
Nina and paperdog - I get that very same high! Right now I am almost done with a deodorant, conditioner, body wash, and skin cleanser and I can't wait to use them up!
The same thing goes for cleaners: I get excited when I use up those as well... a lot of the stuff I have been using up are items I won't even replace in the future... that's an even bigger high!
Posted 2 years ago # -
belladonna - your hard-earned insights and story made me pause and think. I have lots of thoughts about this, which are mostly off-topic, so I'll go back to decluttering. Your reasons of fear of not-having and not feeling like you deserve the best are a direct hit on the proverbial nail's head.
We used to be very lax about sit-down dinners (we are a small nuclear family of mom-dad-two girls, too, which made reading your post especially heart-wrenching). In our new house we have a new (to us) kitchen table, and all of a sudden we find ourselves sitting down, with real dishes and glasses made of real glass! and napkins. I have generic white napkins on the table, and a drawer full of special-occasion napkins left over from, well, the special occasions they were bought for. When I asked my youngest to get napkins for everyone, she chose one of the "special" patterns and my gut reaction was "no!! how dare you use the good napkins on a week night!". I was smart enough to shut up and enjoyed the pretty teal-and-white napkins. I have a drawer full of the stuff. They cost about $2.50 per pack at IKEA. And I enjoy them much more when they're out of the drawer.
Nina, paperdog, themusiclivez - chiming in in a resounding "yes". We don't have a Costco membership anymore. Guess what - I can get whatever I need, whenever I need it, so I don't need 5 deodorants and 3 different waxing kits. I live across the street from a big grocery store, a major drugstore, a dollar store (and 2 liquor stores, just to be on the safe side). All of them are open 7 days a week, usually from 8 or 9 to late at night. If I care to drive 3 more minutes each way, I can get to two different Safeway stores and one Superstore (It's Canadian. Cheaper than Safeway, not as fancy, huge selection, lots of non-food temptations such as toys and clothes). There's a 24/7 Walmart 8 minutes away, and a convenience store across the street. Other than a major, major snowstorm, I can't think of anything that I need and can't buy within 15 minutes flat. I guess that eliminates the need for that mega-jar of peanut butter, the sack of 50 buns that were on sale and clogs up my freezer, or 30 rolls of paper towels (I can have 2 spare rolls on hand, then hop to the store when we're down to the last one).
I could have bought a bigger house with plenty of storage space, but that would cost me $100k more plus taxes and utilities. I can live with a smaller house and not buying bulk.
One last word about the satisfaction of using-up: when I buy food or toiletries of the sake of buying, not as a replacement, I literally get stressed out when I bring it all home and it's time to put it all away. What do we do when we're facing a task that we know would be difficult and will face us with the fact that we bought things we don't need? that's right, we procrastinate. And so it goes.
I bought a swim suit yesterday to replace the one that disintegrated (see the decluttering accomplishments thread). It went straight to the drawer where the late swimsuit used to live, end of story. No shopping bags in the hallway, stairs and kitchen floors and counters. I find it so much easier to put things away when I don't have to rack my brain how to re-arrange shelves and drawers to I can cram in one more item.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Aunt Cloud - you're absolutely right! I get stressed out when there isn't room to place the items I purchased. And I also get stressed out when I realize that I bought something I already had and now need to "use it up".
Posted 2 years ago # -
I'm glad I'm not the only one!
My new rule of thumb - if I stress over where I'm going to put something when I bring it home, maybe I shouldn't buy it in the first place!Off to toss a trunk-load of recycling. Pet peeve: why don't we have reusable glass yogurt and milk jars/bottles? We consume a lot of yogurt and other dairy, I wish I could rinse up the jar, bring it back to be sterilized, and get another jar? oh, yes, I forgot, this way we won't get yogurt with imporobable sell-by dates, which will make buying those 24-portion flats of yogurt not feasible (who wants to eat 2-week old yogurt anyway?).
Posted 2 years ago # -
An empty bottle of something means being able to start a new bottle. I especially like new bottles of body wash and new tubes of toothpaste. Oh, and new hair products, too! So much potential clutter at the salon. lol
Posted 2 years ago # -
I have been thinking about the overabundance of toiletries dilemma this morning at work. (I know I should have been focused on work, but it was a really slow Friday full of mind-numbing chores!)
I believe the reason we tend to accumulate so many is that you actually use less of the product than you think you would on a daily basis. When the shampoo bottle got down to a couple of inches I used to think, "almost out-better pick up some on my next shopping trip" when in reality, that couple of inches will last at least a couple of weeks or more, even with daily use. I would dutifully buy another large bottle (not to mention those "money saving" 2 packs that are bundled together!) It would stay on the shelf for weeks, just mocking me while the shampoo level in the current bottle seemed stationary.
Another culprit around my house is the teenage daughter (AKA The Diva of Hair) who purchases many, sometimes expensive, products and tires of them halfway or less through the bottle. Being frugal mom, I can't stand to let these perfectly good products go to waste, so I try to use them up on myself (AKA Short, Practical Mom Hair.) This stuff lasts forever! (And seems like the less I like it, the longer it lasts...)
Just sharing some thoughts...Posted 2 years ago # -
"I believe the reason we tend to accumulate so many is that you actually use less of the product than you think you would on a daily basis."
I agree this is one of the biggest contributors. Awhile back my hair got really dry so I bought this stay in conditioner to use while wet, AND a spray conditioner to untangle the hair, AND another conditioner for when the hair was dry. All of these were bought so I could actually comb my hair. Now, I have straight easy hair, but years of harsh chemicals to colour and lighten my hair, had the life taken out of it. It's just crazy because for 10+ years I've been paying heaps to colour my hair, then paying heaps to buy the products to maintain it, and then the products come in bottles that last forever and next time my hair gets dry I buy another product to try that, even though the old ones are still in the cupboard, and so on and so on and so on.
Well, last year I was pregnant so didn't colour/streak my hair at all and lo and behold it was in wonderful condition (a side effect of pregnancy, but still), what I discovered was that 10+ years of colouring wasn't good for my hair!
And, I hate to say it, but once again I have coloured my hair (not streaked so not quite as harsh) but still. Problem is those hair products are now 2+ years old, and I just know that when my hair inevitably gets dry again I'll be tempted to buy new product and so the merry go round continues.
Posted 2 years ago # -
one way to cut down on yoghurt container packaging is to make your own.
i've used one of these things for 12 years:
http://www.easiyo.com/
it is as simple as boiling some water and i have re-used the same two containers over and over and over.
and a fraction of the cost of buying yoghurt!
and it's always fresh!
and i have a method for making the mix go further:
http://www.patti-flynn.com/blog/2008/12/23/making-yoghurt-mix-go-further/i find if i have a kilo of fresh yoghurt in the fridge, then it is so easy to make gorgeous dressings and dips with it all the time.
back to the topic....i get a thrill when i finish something off too.
in fact, i decant stuff into smaller bottles so i can have the empty bottle thrill MORE OFTEN!!Posted 2 years ago #
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