That Christmas Time Of Year

I enjoy Christmas, truly I do! And it's this time of year when I put away my usual things I've been doing around the house, and pull down the tree and decorations for Christmas.

It's also the time of year I seriously get into closets and declutter on a major scale! I clean up the living room, put bag upon bag of old clothes, shoes and other items I no longer want or need into the boot/trunk of the car and take them off to the op-shop and make sure I have enough space for the incoming lot of new presents from family next month.

This is also the time of year where I send off Christmas cards and shop for presents.

However, this year is going to be so much more different from other years from the past. I'm going to hand-make or op-shop my Christmas presents for my family and see how I go with them. Not only am I not all that stressed out about this endeavour, but I know I'm going to save myself a heap of money in the next month!

For example, I've got Christmas Parties coming up - where I normally spend a lot of money at them. But this year, seeing I'm op-shopping for my family, that won't be the case. I'll be saving myself the cash and only looking and window-shopping at markets and art galleries - there's not going to be the guilt purchases I have made from years ago.

This is going to be a different style of shopping for me; and I think I'm going to enjoy it. 

So, what do you think? How about you give it a try? Instead of jumping online and burning a hole in your credit card or battling the mobs at the huge shopping centres, how about you go into your local big thrift store and find presents for your loved ones? Not only will you be buying something preloved, and lovely, but you'll be giving money to a worthy cause.

And this week's Weekend Challenge is the same as mine:  go through your closets, cupboard and around the house and pull out the things you've been holding onto to use for the past few years. 

Start small and go for just 10 minutes one day and put them into a bag or a box and take it straight to the car. Then the next day, do another lot of 10 minutes to look around again in another room. 

Don't rush and really think about the last time you used that item. Then, when you've got about 3 bags - or boxes - in the boot of your car, take them to your charity store and donate. It'll be the best thing you'll do all season. 

Clothes

This week, I've been looking through my clothes. Now, I didn't plan to do this; I was looking for a jumper to put on - as it became really cold one day - and pulled out three jackets which didn't fit me, and tossed them onto the floor to donate.

You see, I did buy them to wear - but I just simply didn't wear them at all. 

With one of them, I can get into it, but I can't get out of it - and that's not a good thing when you need your clothes to be nice, and yet easy to wear.

So, I looked through my clothes and found there was a fair bit of clothing I just simply didn't wear or fit into anymore. I've put it off to one side and have popped it all into a bag to donate at my local Vinnies or op-shop. 

You have to remember that with your clothes, you are wearing it, not somebody else. What you wear has to make you feel good about yourself; so when you go out op-shopping and you want to find a particular look for yourself, it's best to go on what makes you feel great - and not what other people say about you. If you feel great in something, but somebody says: 'Oh, yuck, don't like that.' that's their taste, not yours. It could also mean that they're trying to get that piece of clothing from you for themselves as well - I've seen that happen.

Okay, this weekend's challenge is your music collection - if you have cds, vinyls/records. Now, it's great to have this kind of collection in our houses, but it's also good to have under control as well. Sort out what you want to keep and what you don't; what you've been playing for the past few years and what you're not playing anymore. Now, remember that music is very much like fashion - it flips and flops in and out of the public eye so quickly that unless you're a diehard fan of a band, it's best to make sure you're doing the right thing. Don't go toss out all your vinyls of Pink Floyd because you think it's best to get it all on cd; then regret it later on. I've seen this happen to a guy who traded in his vinyls of John Lee Hooker and when I bought all 4 of his double-vinyls, he came back 2 days later and wanted them back; and couldn't get them back. I heard he burst into tears in the record store in front of the owner. Now, being into your music and a collector of music are two different things... be careful what you do with your music. Now, the next thing you do, is go out to your local newsagency and buy an index book - a large one - and index your music collection so you know what you've got. This will be a great thing for you to keep track of not only for when you move, but also for insurance purposes.

Re-Organising

A lot of decluttering is reorganising the house. Once you've pulled everything down, given it a good dust and polish, then you have a really good look at what you've got, and realise maybe you don't need some of what you want to put back.

This is the good part of decluttering.

Knowing what you don't need. 

Right now, out on the clothes line are some clothes I've washed and are going to donated to a charity. Yes, I wash the clothes before I donate them, so when the time comes, I tell them that they've been washed only days before; it tells them that I care enough to do that for them.

But they go and send them off to be rewashed anyway.

But I've found that I have a very organised kitchen now. This is because I've spent over three years on decluttering and reorganising it to the point that there's only things in it that I need and will use from day to day - week to week - and it all has a place to be at the end of the day.

My next place in the house is the bedroom. I know that sounds like I'm taking a step back - but you have to remember, I did say I'd go over another place if needs be again; and so I am.

The bedroom does seem to be ignored after it's cleaned out, though - so do other rooms - and so coming back to it keeps it from recluttering into its former cluttered self again.

So, I cleaned up my jewellery section, found all my money boxes and collected them all into one spot where they could all be placed - under the wash table where there's a little piece of timber - and now, there's space around the house where they've been spread out where I can clean up and tidy. I have more space on my duchess (where 3 money boxes had been sitting) and now the jewellery boxes can be seen better. 

To say I'm pleased is an understatement.

The money boxes are in a safe place, I can get in and fill them all up with change and then take that change to the banks in my own time. And now, the bedroom is looking a bit better - but I still have a long way to go with it. 

Now, it's Wednesday, and I missed out on last week's challenge. So, I'll set you all two challenges this time:  Go to your bathroom and look inside your linen closet (if it's not in your bathroom, that's okay... mine is, so that's why I've said this). What you do is go through all your towels and find the ones which aren't matching and good-looking and separate them from the nice, fluffy ones which you're using all time. Grab a large bag and put the old ones inside them and take them to your nearest animal shelter for them to use. This can go for your old sheets too! Any old sheets which are worn through and you no longer us - send them away to the animal shelter near you.

Challenge #2: Everyone who have children... this one is for you and your kids. As children grow, they grow out of toys they no longer wish to play with. Now, go and find a large box and get your kids to put into the box what they no longer want or need. Get your children to help you wash up the toys and take them to the charity of your choice, so they know you're not just throwing them out. Or... if you wish, take the toys to a children's hospital and donate them there.