Simple Self Improvement

                                                                                                                 Image: Gerd Altmann Today's happiness tip is limit your choices . I do like to have choices, but like plenty of other people, I find having too many choices is overwhelming. I actually find a limited number of choices when it comes to what to wear, picking what to have for tea and which activities to be involved in ma...

                                                                                      Image:Bill Kasman from Pixabay Today's happiness tip follows on from yesterday's when I wrote about simplifying life. Today's tip is consider decluttering your life if you haven't already done so. The term declutter was first recorded in the mid twentieth century but I don't recall hearing it until the current century. When I got married in the nineteen seventies I was much too busy acquiring and accumulating things for my new home to think of the possibility of ever having too much stuff! However, a time did come when I decided I had too many things and needed to part with some. It has been an ongoing process for me....

                                                                    Image:Marie Vonow Okay, so here I am at the final day of November and the end of my self imposed six month ban on unnecessary shopping. For further information check out my blog post http://simpleselfimprovement.blogspot.com/2019/05/six-month-shopping-ban-challenge.html  How did it go? What did I find out about my shopping habits? What are my goals for future purchases of non essential items? I actually found I made more non essential purchases as time went by because I had come to the conclusion that making such a purchase from time to time is okay. I think each person needs to make their own decisions about how many items they want in their home and how many '...

Shops in Adelaide                                            Image:Marie Vonow In the days leading up to officially starting this personal shopping ban challenge I must admit I was tempted to do a bit of 'binge shopping' at a couple of op shops. Also, I kept thinking about a salmon pink cardigan I had seen at KMart that I liked. I managed to resist temptation and now, three weeks later, that cardigan doesn't seem important. How does clutter accumulate? I have thought a lot about how much stuff one accumulates even when trying to declutter and keep from accumulating new clutter. It occurred to me it isn't surprising stuff accumulates over the years. I married and moved into my first home (apart from my childhood home) in 1975 which is now 44 years ago. Now, say I acq...

Clay tiles Whitmore Square Adelaide                       Image:Marie Vonow Having moved house at the start of 2019 and having decluttered (again!) before moving, I thought I had this decluttering thing worked out. However, for me it is an ongoing process. A different house means I no longer use some things I previously did and it means I have found it necessary to acquire a few things I didn't need in my previous house. What should I do with items I am not using now? Now, what should I do about the things I don't currently need? Could I possibly need them in the future? Perhaps and perhaps not. Should I hold onto them or set them free? Mostly, I have decided to donate what I no longer need to op shops or give away through Gumtree. I have sold a couple of items too. Thinking before I buy I am thinking carefully before making any new purchas...