Identify and Rid Myself of 43 Items of Überclutter

I was really ruthless and disposed/donated to charity so many items I have had in my possession far too long. A couple of notable items;

(42) A silk top which had several elements of being nice, but didn’t really look that great on. In fact, I can’t actually remember EVER wearing it, apart from trying it on!

(43) A pair of shoes in perfectly wearable condition. I had the mantra “if I haven’t used it in 12 months, I probably don’t need it” in my mind, so out they went!

That feels better now :)

I’ve spent the last couple of hours trying to cull some more of my stuff. When going through my bookshelf I was surprised to find things I thought I’d previously discarded! I’m about to take a large bag of books and magazines down to the charity shop. Here are some items I uncovered;

(15-18) A whole pile of paper clutter including;
*Old study notes
*5 yrs old mobile phone bill
*Old plane ticket
*Brochure for income protection insurance that I opted not to take. Not sure why I decided to keep it on the shelf after reading the fine print (Trailing commissions? Get lost!)In the recycling where it belongs

(19-21)I have sooo many bags. I managed to part with 3 of them that I don’t use. Off to charity

(22-27)Various magazines. I’m too busy to sit around reading magazines I have read before! Off to charity

(28-33)Various books including one short story collection I don’t expect I will ever read. A book about Indian Feng Shui. I never found the book particularly appealing, so it makes little sense to keep it

(34-40)Various clothes. Some items which I could imagine wearing again, but I own far too much. Some things have to go! One dress I’ve held on to for several years, but I’ve always thought, “not sure if this garment is very flattering”. I own many clothes that I do consider flattering, so really I should just wear them!

(41) A strange looking plastic massage device that I was given in a shopping centre promotion

A helpful rule in conquering the war on clutter is to discard things not used over the last 12 months. All the items I have discarded would belong to that category! Now I just have to train myself not to bring unnecessary things in.

I’m unwell, stuck at home instead of being away for the weekend as originally planned, not happy! Being in a bad mood is actually a good thing when clutter clearing is involved. I revived this goal, as I seem to have not completely rid myself of all the clutter last time. I rearranged the furniture in my room earlier in the week, and suddenly hidden items seem to have sprung out of nowhere.
Here’s my progress so far on my (gasp!) second round of 43 items of uberclutter;

(1)A couple of plastic lids in the bathroom cabinet. Have no idea what containers the lids were for

(2)An inflatable mattress repair kit. I sold the mattress at a yard sale several months ago, so I don’t need a repair kit for it now

(3)A pocket calendar for 2008. I could wait several years for the days to align again, but I’m not that patient

(4)Various scraps of fabric that I thought I might use for projects. I have other projects on the go now, so no time for playing around with scraps

(5)Random receipts. One was for a taxi ride in 2004!

(6)A few expired discount vouchers

(7)A pair of slippery sandals. Whenever I wore them, I would think to myself, “I wonder if I’m going to slip this time?”

(8)A pair of sandals that I stopped loving when I saw a friend of a friend who had the exact same pair. Donating these to charity

(9)Lipgloss in a ‘not quite right’ maroon colour

(10)A few make up brush type things. One I believe is a cuticle stick. I wouldn’t know how to operate one of those things, so it’s gone

(11) A bookmark I remember buying for $1 on a high school excursion to the art gallery. It had seen better days

(12)Breath drops. I can only imagine they came free with an airline toiletry bag

(13)A very depressing postcard from a friend interstate who was having trouble finding work at the time. I received this postcard five years ago, and somehow it has remained in my possession, just to remind me that postcards shouldn’t always be a happy event?!

(14)A deposit slip for a bank I no longer belong to

Feels very good to have this goal complete, finally :)
I had a sale and released some items of uberclutter for a small profit. Some notable items that come to mind are;

40- inflatable mattress (Don’t need this as I have a couch that can double up as a spare bed. The one time I tried to use this it was a huge hassle to inflate and impossible to fold back neatly)
41 – suitcase (I all ready own two other suitcases)
42 – various dvds, cds (None that I intend on using any time soon. Thrilled to get some money for these items)
43 – ice cube tray (It wasn’t likely to be used any time soon. I all ready have ice cube trays that work fine!)

Completing this goal has been a good exercise. Not only have I cleared a bit of space, it has forced me to be more careful with my purchases. I’d like to travel to Europe and the States again soonish, and it makes more sense to save money to spend on travel and life experiences rather than material belongings

I was doing a mad search for a pen I had lost, when I found two Chinese silk pyjama jackets. I’m sure someone will find them ultra stylish, but that’s not me. So out they go!

4 more and I’m done…

The manual is for a phone I stopped using about four years ago. It’s been sitting in the cupboard for eons. The reason this item of uberclutter gets a special mention is because when I flipped through the manual briefly today, I discovered it’s not even written in English!!

36- I was sending an email to a relative and found I didn’t have her email in my contacts list. However, I did notice a couple of individuals in the contact list that do not belong there any more. People that I don’t associate with anything positive. Deleted!

37- I haven’t cleared my internet browsing history on my computer for ages. I cleared it tonight, and suddenly my head feels clearer.

These two examples of uberclutter relate more to mind clutter than physical space. Clutter can exist in so many forms. I really do feel considerably better after attending to these two. Everything counts!

Six more things and I’m done. The countdown is on!

32- Another pair of shoes that were a gift, but have defective straps. So out they go!

33- Another cap that was a gift. I don’t know how I accumulated all these caps as gifts. I don’t care for them, as I have my own cute little caps, bucket hats and wide brim hats that I love. Hats are personal. I’ll have to spread the word around, “thanks, but no more of those caps please”

34- A large bag full of papers from a course I did some moons ago. Don’t exactly have loving memories of the course, and would much rather clear the feng shui for more learning

35- Modem from the last internet provider I was using. The service was absolutely woeful. I found it downright depressing to go online as it took so much dialling, only to be cut off repeatedly during my time online. The cables, power pack, modem – all gone!!

Setting this up as a goal has highlighted to me that not only do I have uberclutter, but find the same sorts of items keep appearing. This goal also reminds me of the fact that everything should have its own spot, and like items to be stored together. So things don’t need to be bought when the first one cannot be found. There really is no need to have 5 pairs of scissors and 7 pairs of tweezers…

30- A large pile of superannuation product info books for funds I haven’t been in for about 8 years. They were in my filing cabinet. I can’t remember the exact figure, but it’s something like 80% of items filed don’t end up ever being needed again. This was a good example!
31- I have a spare sunglasses case which is going to my cousin. She was telling me she needed to buy one, but she can take my spare for free instead. Everyone’s happy, life is good :)