KIS - Clutter

One of my biggest goals in my quest for simple living is to do it without clutter.  For me, too much crap lying around breeds discontent.  I feel claustrophobic, disorganized and just generally yucky.

I did the extreme approach recently in that I purged darn near everything I owned in order to basically start over.  Now granted, this was in conjunction with our move to Arizona, but I realized after our plans fell through and me moved back into our house that I really could have done this anyway.  So even if someone isn't planning to move, one could still purge and begin again if one was wishing to do so.

Now that we are settled back in it is as important as ever not to fall victim to old habits and start cluttering up the place again.  So far, so good.  Now that I have the basic furnishings and items I need to live comfortably all I have to do is maintain it.  And I have to say it is so much easier to do so when you have less stuff to begin with.

With our things unpacked, put away and organized I find it is much easier to keep it that way.  I clean less often.  I organize waaaaaay less often because I don't need to.  Even though we own fewer clothes and only about a quarter of the towels and linens we use to, surprisingly I do laundry less often and it gets done quicker.

Less time spent cleaning and maintaining my stuff frees me up for other things I find more enjoyable.  We spend more time together as a family, more movie nights, more time with friends and we have more time to just sit and relax.  I also have the time and energy to raise chickens and work on my gardening skills.  Quality of life is steadily improving.

Every day I work to keep clutter at bay.  I sort the mail and the papers the kids drag home from school right away.  We put as much paper and junk mail into the recycle bin as we can.  Newspapers get read, coupons get clipped and then placed in the recycle bin.  Not allowing things to pile up and accumulate is important.

We regularly go through clothing to donate as it gets outgrown.  I'm still getting rid of stuff I don't need or use anymore.  I'm using up what I already have instead of buying new whenever possible.  I replace items as they are worn and the worn items get tossed out or repurposed.  I kindly turn down offers from well meaning friends who try to give me stuff they no longer want.  I shop less.

One of the key things we've done is to develop new habits.  Every night we make a sweep through the house before bedtime to pick up and put away our things.  The day before the trash is collected we make sure and gather everything that needs to go regardless of how small the amount may be.  We try our best to consistently clean up after ourselves.

Keeping clutter at bay is a constant work in progress.  One we will continue to work on daily.  How are some ways you manage to clear clutter in your home?