I don't have a microwave anymore and I don't miss it. It wasn't my choice to get rid of it, my ex left and took it with him since it was his. I missed it a few times at first and kept forgetting I didn't have one, so I bought a few things like microwave dinners and then realized I had to figure out how to cook them in the oven(which wasn't hard). Now I just don't make to much food or I reheat it in the oven or on the stove, its not that hard and I don't miss the microwave at all.
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Posted 1 year ago #
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The best decluttering idea I had was to downsize from a large home into a 2 bedroom apartment. We haven't regretted it yet and our standard of living is so much higher. Not only do I spend less time cleaning, but our complex has a pool and so DH and DD can go swimming anytime and life is a lot more leisurely. We LOVE it!
Posted 1 year ago # -
tmichelle....that's exactly what I want to do but DH likes space between him and the neighbors. I would love a small apartment/condo with amenities. No yard, exterior of house, or big storage areas to collect junk in and a workout room and pool to use without the cleanup. Sure sounds like easy living to me!
Posted 1 year ago # -
My best decluttering was about a year after my mom passed away in 2008. She had orginally had a condo in NY state and one in FL, but when she couldn't drive herself back and forth and I got tired of flying one way and driving her back (so she'd have her car), we convinced her to sell the NY state place. Everything from that home came into my basement. I had an entire household in my basement, and duplicates of everything like coffee maker, iron & ironing board, vacuum, pots/pans, etc. Not to mention too much furniture. After she had passed, I sold some, gave some to my niece, and then called a junk removal service. I paid $300 to have them haul away as much as we could fit in the truck and they donated all useable items to charity. I could hear my mom's voice in my head the whole time saying, "But that's good quality!" but to me, it was too much. I still need to go through the crystal pieces and a few other items she left behind (harder to part with), but that one overhaul made a huge difference and now my kids have their play area back!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Sky, I hope you DH will come around. My DH always did the yard work when we had our large home but wasn't a huge fan of it, so having no yard has really been freeing for him.
But, I do understand not wanting to be so close to your neighbors. We live on the top (third) floor on a corner unit so we don't usually hear our neighbors, but we have to be careful because we don't want to annoy them with our noise.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I love apartment living b/c having your own house can be a lot of work and expensive when things break. When things break here I don't have to pay for the repairs. The only thing I would change if I could would be to have a downstairs apartment. I'm kind of attached to this place right now though and I don't want to move. Also I think the downstairs apartments my landlord has are much smaller than the one I currently have so I'd be downsizing and I like my empty space. the only reason I want to live downstairs is so I can play Dance Dance Revolution.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I guess I can't say 'keep only things you need or love' lol, even though I did get to that principle long before I came across this site :P
So I'll go with this: Really Useful Boxes (http://www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/usa/) The first time I bought some, I was ambivalent - I kind of had a bit of buyer's remorse even, grumbling to myself that I was such a dolt for spending money on boxes of all things, when I could just collect various shapes and sizes from anything from pins to wine bottles through chocolates and shoes.
But oh ho, have I changed my mind since - not squared, cubed! First of all, I had totally underestimated the extent to which having all storage in the same uniform style helps create a sense of order and really bring out the work you did decluttering, especially when you really don't have enough space. Second, despite my experience, it had totally sailed over my head just how darn handy it is to have all storage be clear (not all RUBs are, but mine are - it's all I can get anyway).
In addition to the above, there is how the boxes themselves are designed, which means that even in sections of the house where I only need a single box, they are still my top choice (at least, if I only want storage and don't want it to double up as decoration):
- they close up super-tight. Picture this: the other day I had to take some grotty inked-up craft stamps to the store to be shown how to clean them, and I just plucked them off the shelf right in their little box and put them straight into my favorite bag - which is fabric and light-colored :-) - because I could be totally sure they wouldn't spill out. Uncluttered awesomeness!
- they stack securely, even without the lid. I have honestly moved stacks of four boxes in one hand without a hint of a wobble, even empty.
- You can drop them on a marble floor from adult height and they won't break. Unless they are pretty old and the snaps on the lid have worn a bit loose, they won't open either.
- they are supposed to handle the weight of a person; I haven't tested that, but I sure have filled them with all kinds of heavy crap and they have held great.
- they are easy to carry. I once got the large suspending folder box size from the store and WALKED it all the way home - 30 minutes away. I even put the convenience store shopping in it and walked the last five with no problem - there was no doing that with a cardboard file box, the cut out handles would have dug into my hands too much.I sweartagawd I have never plugged anything like this before! Ever. I just reread it and it's a total love-fest lol. But in my current large-scale decluttering I have been soooo grateful for these that they really feel like the single best decision I've made in this area. In fact, after I'm done with tonight's task, I'm going to order a few more of these little suckers to use on the next part, because I just can't stop finding uses for them. Then, in a few weeks when I am starting another decluttering project ('tis the season chez mili, I guess), I am ordering a big case of these bad boys to have plenty of storage to hand - the situation there is far more dire than what I am dealing with here, but I will feel better about it if I have the cream of the (box) crop by my side :P
Posted 1 year ago # -
My best idea for clutter cleaning is banging the high music, switching the cell phone(No distraction) and cleaning th worst part of the house that usually is my closet. There are few simple steps that can be followed as well, for them check out: http://speedydeclutter.com/
Posted 1 year ago # -
When I first bought a house alone in 2001, I outfitted it from the Goodwill and was fortunate to be in a city that had dozens of GW stores. It taught me that if you declutter and give something away, it is very likely that you can find another one again if you really need it. Selling stuff on e-bay is the same way. Lots of people are selling things just like it.
Posted 1 year ago # -
@tmichelle That's what I'm hoping will work for us: downsizing from a large house with a big food-producing garden to a 2-bedroom apartment with amenities.
I think that the best idea ever has been giving myself permission to change, to realize that the life I thought I wanted wasn't making me happy, and was in fact getting in the way of what I genuinely needed, as opposed to what I thought I should need (that it took the "earnest urban homesteading" route rather than "I deserve all the shiny things!" isn't really a point in my intellect's favor).
Posted 1 year ago # -
@Lucy We have a small balcony that I would love to fill up with a container garden. I even bought some of those topsy turvy planters to hang over top. I am not much of a green thumb, but I have container gardened once before and enjoyed it. I know it won't be the same as having a large food-producing garden like you are used to, but it may give you some enjoyment (and without all the garden pests like bunnies).
I think having amenities in our complex is really key to our enjoyment as well. Besides the pool we have a work-out room and a club house that has a kitchen which is free to reserve.
For anyone who may be thinking on downsizing to an apartment/condo I would also suggest looking for a complex with older residents. We kind of fell into ours, but it is so quiet and peaceful here that now I will put that on my list of things to look for. Also with an older crowd, the pool is never crowded and even on the hottest days sometimes DH and our little daughter are the only ones there. Also, if others do come DH is happy he doesn't have to worry about being tempted by young, firm, half naked bodies lounging around the pool :)
Posted 1 year ago # -
@tmichelle There is a portable community garden (when the economy tanked, the neighborhood residents obtained permission to put raised 4x10 beds on an unused building site: there are 100 of them now, and they're looking at expanding) not quite a block away, and there's room on the balcony for some herb pots. Looking after multiple large fruit trees and four grape arbors is exhausting, so I'll enjoy having less to do! Plus if we're lucky enough to get one of the 5th floor apartments, we can "borrow" the roof terrace garden as part of the view.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Fabulous Lucy! I hope you do get the 5th floor apartment too!
Posted 1 year ago #
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