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An actress friend was relating the other day, "Note to self: put on the boots before putting on the corset.". I haven't had to experience that yet, my characters don't call for corsets, but I have had injury times where I couldn't bend my leg much without pain and it was most difficult to put on my boots the normal way. So I added to my household inventory boot hooks and since mine is a life where things can't be found when they are needed, I think I have 4 pairs (2 long, 2 short).
SIGH, another thing of life, a small thing of life, to find a place for. Or this weekend, I am doing some cleaning and tossing/shredding and there are about a dozen LED flashlights and a weather radio waiting for me to go to the store to buy batteries so they can be tested, off my left wrist right now, there is a USB speaker that eventually should have its own place......somewhere.
Somethings can have a designated place. Mom taught me to have an emergency drawer in the kitchen, a place with a flashlight, batteries, Sterno, matches, chem light, safety vest, camping knives, and the like. This came about when I was moving and she took all my odds and ends of such nature and placed them in one drawer.
I suppose as I make my resupply list, such as for batteries, I ought to add parachute cord to it ........ to tie around the cross boards in my closet that my boots sit on to hand my boot hooks from. It might be as "tacky" as hammering a nail into the wall for them, but at least it is a bit more functional. Granted, I have cord around, but put some into use, especially since the stuff unravels once the reel is put into use, buy some more to have on the ready.
Is "it" needed? In a functional capacity, probably. Right now, I am sitting in a $400 kitten toy and a $4 leather chair. Three cats over 14 years have done a wonderful job shredding it. It is certainly up for replacement. But there are a few things of life. It still serves its basic purpose in life, it's a chair and until I'm ready to fork out another $100 or so for a new one, it has its place. Besides, it's a proven kitten toy; why give them a new challenge?
But if it isn't functional, if the flashlights don't light, if the radio doesn't work with new batteries, then off to recycling they go.
Of course, some necessary clutter things seem to come with their own self replicating drives. You know that it often costs less to buy a new handheld camp lantern with its own spring top battery than to buy a replacement battery alone? Part of the reason why I must have a half dozen sitting around here and in the vehicles (got into them originally to illuminate training floats in a lake and then to supply my mother's house with her caretakers).
As I've gone through life, I've developed a back pack and now a tool/tackle box mentality. Have odds and ends of a certain nature, such as bike accessories? Make a backpack for it. My stage makeup is in a tackle box. If REI (but not other people) has duffel bags on sale, I pickup one or two because I know they can always have uses, permanent or temporary. As I find the power and memory cells for my DSLR, into the camera backpack they go. But there we go again, that self replicating drive. Where do all the bags and boxes go?
Well, back to the digging, sorting, tossing, and shredding.
Last edited by TamaraSavannah; 09-28-2014 at 08:06 AM..
I'm not really a minimalist-certainly have my share of stuff- but guess for me, it's at least partly being lazy.
I don't want to clean and/or fix it. I don't want to clean and/or fix whatever the stuff has to be stored in. If for some reason I need a new widget, it goes where to old one was, and the old one gets gone.
I don't want to spend my life or my money looking for things to store things in. Less stuff means more time.
At this age in life (65) that means more than stuff.
Of course, some necessary clutter things seem to come with their own self replicating drives. You know that it often costs less to buy a new handheld camp lantern with its own spring top battery than to buy a replacement battery alone? Part of the reason why I must have a half dozen sitting around here and in the vehicles
That is not necessary clutter... that is holding on to things you don't need anymore (hoarding?).
When you buy a new one, get rid of the old one.
One in - one out. This is what DH and I live by for most non-perishables.
We are clutter free... I really cannot fathom the concept of necessary clutter.
That is not necessary clutter... that is holding on to things you don't need anymore (hoarding?).
When you buy a new one, get rid of the old one.
One in - one out. This is what DH and I live by for most non-perishables.
We are clutter free... I really cannot fathom the concept of necessary clutter.
(the subject was handheld camp lanterns and how it costs less to buy a new lantern and battery than the battery alone)
I don't understand...............who doesn't need flash lights? Who doesn't need something that throws a great big beam that won't roll away?
If the "torch" is still workable, why throw it away.......but why spend more money on just the battery when the combination is cheaper?
I'm not even sure where to start here. Yes, each person in my family has a flashlight. ONE flashlight per person, a headlamp that is kept bedside for emergencies. We all bring our headlamps along when camping. Additionally, we own a battery-powered lantern. It's kept on the shelf in the hall closet, so we know where to find it if the lights go out, and it goes camping with us, too. That's it. If a flashlight breaks, we replace it and discard the broken one. One in, one out.
I have a rotation. In general, it's one room per week. I clean top to bottom, emptying every drawer/cabinet/closet and evaluating the contents. Excess items are donated. Anything broken is repaired or discarded. Daily hotspot drills keep surfaces clean and orderly. I frequently read on-line articles and books to learn how to avoid unecessary purchases by using things I already own to accomplish tasks. That's how I keep my house mostly clutter-free, although far from perfect. We do live here after all.
I feel the need to ask, although I'm not sure I should, why exactly is yours "a life where things can't be found when they are needed?" What is holding you back from creating a more organized household?
Last edited by randomparent; 09-28-2014 at 04:00 PM..
..........I feel the need to ask, although I'm not sure I should, why exactly is yours "a life where things can't be found when they are needed?" What is holding you back from creating a more organized household?
Not necessarily holding me back, just slowing me down.
Essentially, a very varied, active life. I dance, I act, I scuba dive, I bike, I shoot....get the picture?
When I was shopping today, I took a look at the lanterns. Lantern with battery $6.87, battery alone $9.87. Hence, we do have the interesting situation where one can be economical with their money....but not necessarily be a minimalist.
About necessary clutter, consider pistol magazines. Properly, for a 3 magazine load out for one pistol, there should be 12 magazines. 3 active, 3 for training, 3 in the vault resting their springs, and 3 in reserve....and that's just one pistol. As things go, I have three active pistols, a large heavy (.45), a small heavy (.45), and an exercise pistol (9mm).
Or consider scuba tanks, two of them. One in active use, the other one there when the other is in for inspection or for affairs where I want to have two tanks on site. Or dive computers/sensors; I have three, 2 computers, one analog console. A back up computer for on site if one computer fails (or is out having the battery replaced, that tends to take a while), a final backup if both computers fail.
And so forth and so on.
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