Declutter your life!

Preparing for this trip has changed me and Paul in so many ways, and that’s before we’ve even set off! One of the biggest things I’ve learnt, is how much our possessions can tie us down. It may sound ridiculous, but it is true, that even a sofa could stop you from travelling the world.

We have been decluttering our house for over two months now, in preparation for our world tour. This has involved giving things away to friends, family and charity shops. Taking things to recycle centres. We have also done a few car boat sales, which is an excellent way of getting rid of junk, and making a bit of money for your trip.

We got married in April 2009, and with part of our wedding money we bought furniture for our new place. The furniture has served us well for the 9 months we’ve been married, but now we have sold it all, so that we don’t have to pay for storage. This would cost us approximately £800 for the 10 months we plan to be away. I definitely feel more free, now that we know we don’t have constant money coming out, paying for furniture, that we may not even want, or need, when we return!

It is amazing how free you feel when you start to declutter your life. It is hard at first, but gradually it gets easier. I am not talking about chucking out everything. I love memories and I hate chucking out sentimental things. I have kept a journal, from the age of 10 (I am not 26), and I certainly would never chuck them out! There are ways however, of reducing the space that keep sakes take up, thus making room, for new memories! Here are a few suggestions:

  • Scrap Booking (It is best to do this as you go along, otherwise it gets left and never gets done!) We would have boxes and boxes of keep sake items if we kept everything. For example I used to have every single school book from primary and high school. Then when I did my A Levels, I also wanted to keep those books, then I went to college. Knowing when to stop is hard, when you like to keep every single memory like me! Scrap booking is a good way of documenting these things. Why not take a few pages from each subject and make a scrap book of your time at school. This will take up less space and is much easier to carry around.
  • Personal Website- You could create a website for yourself, sharing pictures, stories and events from your life. This is a good way of sharing your memories with others, plus it takes up no space and it is accessible from anywhere in the world!
  • Photo Albums- we tend to either have a box full of un-organised photos, or a computer full of our digital photos. Either way it takes up too much space, either in a box, or space on your computer.
  • Online Journal- Like the one I am writing on right now! This certainley doesn’t replace your hand writtern journal, but it is a great way of sharing experiences with others, and documenting things that you don’t want to forget!

Why not try some of these things for yourself. Although it takes up time in the short run, in the long run it will save you a lot of time. When you come to moving house, you won’t have to go through heaps of stuff and you won’t end up chucking keep sake items, in a panic, when you only have a few hours left, to get your possesions into the van.

2 Responses to “Declutter your life!”

  1. Chelsie Frodge Says:

    I like reading your article, I have also bookmarked your weblog #for the# future and added it to my RSS feeds. Thanks!

  2. 1against Says:

    2unwashed…

Leave a Reply

Subscribe to Comments?

PLACESVISITED

MOSTCOMMENTS

  • None found