iamnotaminimalist

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 66

I went and bought something I shouldn't have. (The Jay plushy - to go with my Lacey plushy). Well. First time in a few months I did something this regrettable.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 65

It is time for spring cleaning. And for us, that means going deeper into parts of the home that are usually left untouched. In this case, all the kitchen cabinets. We went over our pots and pans (decided to keep all of them). Gave the spice cabinet a much needed declutter. Found a lot of glassware we don't actually want (so off to glass recycling it went). My partner decided to say goodbye to mugs, because cups without handles are easier to store (they stack) and he isn't usually bothered by a drink being too hot to hold. I decided to bid farewell to a few curved plates, as they fit poorly in the dishwasher and we have a LOT of completely flat plates that don't have this issue.

Tomorrow we'll try to do the same with all the open storage in the living room. It's a bit out of control.

By now, I've developed a sense for what might actually be useful to have around vs. what isn't very useful but I tell myself it is because I feel bad about tossing it. One of the things that proved themselves useful recently is a set of reusable can covers. It's a simple product: a set of plastic lids in diameters that fit the most common diameters of food cans. For the longest time it just sat next to our cutlery in the drawer, unused, until some time last week when my partner brought home a can of palm oil to cook with (do not ask me why. I try not to interfere with his ideas when it comes to the kitchen). So he used some of it, and then asked me if we have a container to decant the product into, because the can isn't exactly resealable.

"Ohoho, but what if I told you it is?" I asked, pulling the appropriate can lid from the drawer as I did.

You might think keeping "unnecessary" gadgets around runs counter to the stated purpose of decluttering, but that's not true. As long as you know what function every object in your home serves and all your gadgets are in working condition and accessible to use when the need arises, it's fine. Having too many of these things and being unable to keep track of them is where the problem starts.

Peace and love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 64

In the past week, I've given out some of Baby's newborn and 0-3 size clothes (we had so many!), a bluetooth speaker, Baby's breathing monitor that we ended up not using because we room-share, some placemats I had lying around (and have no clue how they came to us). I also had to throw out one of Baby's clothes that finished its life as a consumer product after being worn by who knows how many babies befrore mine.

I'm glad to have found the local buy nothing group. I know some of my belongings are junk, and the junk does get sent to the recycling/garbage bins, but there are a lot of things in my house that are useful - just not to me personally - and it's nice that they can reach the people that could enjoy them to their fullest.

I think the funniest duplicate purchase we made recently was the two folding cribs. We wanted to buy just one, of course, but when we brought it to my mom's place, she told us to leave it with her and gave us money to buy another one for our use. I am unsure why she would want an entire travel crib in her home when she only sees a baby there every few weeks, but who am I to argue...

I'm removing a lot from the house, but the process must continue. last night I had to take things off the floor so we could wash it, and it dawned on me how much I still have, and how much floor space all these things take up. I'll have to figure it out, somehow.

Peace and love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 63

After the last gathering we held at our place, I realized we have no need to buy disposable utensils again. Why is that? Well, I finally went through all the things in the "camping supplies" drawer and discovered we have 2 'picnic sets' (reusable plastic utensils). The sets together serve 12. Real d'oh moment, but this is definitely a 'better late than never' kind of deal.

And today, an unexpected thing happened; the kneeling chair broke. Although I had originally bought it for myself, my partner ended up using it a lot more, so I asked him if he wanted to replace it, and he said - "no need. Hand me one of the folding chairs instead." (We host a lot, so we have 6 folding chairs and 4 stools lying around.) This happened only a few days after I let go of my gaming chair with its broken pneumatics, and I too decided the folding chairs were a good enough replacement.

I also got a new toilet cleaning brush and oven mitts to replace worn-out equipment. Tidied the bathroom while i was at it. Came across the plunger. I forgot we had a plunger (but rest assured that my handy partner didn't forget).

Still struggling with redundant cosmetics, but I think it's less of a struggle than it used to be. I'm better at choosing products that are useful, but more importantly, I'm getting better at not buying new things to solve imaginary problems with my grooming routine.

Peace and love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 62

Today I decluttered the remaining lip tints I had (2, after the third one broke) because they sting when they touch my lips. It's a small thing but it still matters. Yesterday I sorted through the various hand and elbow braces and threw away the ones that were worn out or picked up an odor. Slowly I am removing from my home all the things that were once useful, are useful no more, but were not thrown out because I haven't been paying attention.

One day my home will be free of distractions.

I do plan to make another purchase soon - a combined shoe and coat rack, to replace the current coat rack that is quite literally falling apart. (Serves me right for buying furniture off a groupon... the things I did in my 20s...) Will keep the current shoe rack though, so guests will finally have a place to put their shoes when they visit. (It's been bothering me pretty much since I moved in with my partner.)

Peace and love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 61

Today I veered a little off the original plan and shredded my old travel journals. My thoughts are not that important that they should be left for my son to deal with after I die. They're also extremely cringe.

I did cut out the photos, and then pasted them in a notebook. The photos are nice to have, and not as cringe.

Welp. Time to put up that ad for the baby bath.

Peace and love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 60

Pared down the plush toys. Found a rabies plushy (that is to say, a plush shaped like the virus) in there. I do not remember when I got the rabies plushy. But it's cute.

Tomorrow I will put up an ad for the baby bathtub in the local buy nothing group. It's an alright tub, but our bathroom is simply too small to accommodate it. We bought it after too much pressure from relatives even though we knew it would be of little use to us.

I tossed a couple of poor quality notepads into the paper recycling bin after years of telling myself I'll use them.

The baby's play mat turned out to be of little interest to the baby. It's a hit with the cats though, so it stays.

Peace and Love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 59

With my ability to engage with time-consuming hobbies temporarily gone (what with a demanding baby and all), decluttering is the only thing that is both easy enough to do while the little guy sleeps and quiet enough not to wake him up.

So that is what I (continue to) do.

Today was a big win! I pulled out all the boxes from the overhead storage and sorted through them. The old keep/toss/donate routine. I was very happy to discover that I had room in my closet for all the sweaters and scarves I wanted to keep. This means I've managed to pare down my wardrobe to such an extent that I don't need seasonal storage anymore! This was a goal that I set for myself and it is finally accomplished. Yay :)

The next thing that's going to be sorted this way is the pile of plush toys I haven't touched in years. I don't plan to keep ALL of them for Baby.

Peace and love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 58

Yesterday I found the time to throw out more expired cosmetics (old tubes of aloe vera gel). Today I ought to find time to go over my winter gear and maybe finally say goodbye to things I clung to for sentimental reasons. If they're in good condition I'll drop them off at the second-hand donation bin, and if not - to the textile recycling bin they go. Maybe I'll finally be able to fit all my clothes in the closet afterwards, no need for seasonal storage; if so, it'll be wonderful, as it would clear up the overhead storage space for when baby outgrows his crib (which we will not be donating/reselling/throwing away for now, in case we end up with baby #2 by surprise).

Peace and Love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 57

I finally did it. Tossed out the loose powder and the cream blush that I felt bad about throwing away. Chucked the contents into the trash, cleaned the packages as best I could and threw them into the appropriate recycling bins. I did the same with a black eye pencil that turned out to have a lousy texture. Today I will finally part with the last few inherited dresses I ended up not wearing. I've been stagnant about it, and bringing in the baby gym and new nursing pillow was the push I needed to get on top of my own belongings.

Peace and Love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

ENTRY 56

Here I am, writing this post from a bedside table adjoined to my recliner-slash-nursing chair, on a tablet rigged to a bluetooth keyboard-mouse duo, with my baby resting in my lap after he's had a little bottle brunch. This entire station is the product of endless tweaking, and when i say endless I do mean endless - I'm on my way to replace the current nursing pillow with one that is bigger, firmer and most importantly, closes at the back. I'll keep this pillow after getting the new one, though, because it works pretty great as a head pillow for an adult.

I did let go of some other things, like an unidentified... roller thing (why did i buy that), a personal shopping cart that turned out to be too big for our building's elevator (defeating its purpose), a small vertical rotisserie (what's the point if you can't run it continuously like you would in a restaurant?) old shoes I had no use for and no plan to repair, books I no longer want in my house, board games we only played once, superfluous bags and a tub of hair gel. I also let go of my first baby related item... an electric breast pump that wasn't as effective as I hoped it would be, and some bottles we (baby and I) didn't really like.

So far we (partner and I) haven't caved in to pressure to buy a stroller, but that's not to say we didn't buy other things for baby that I suspect were not wise purchases. Little things, but they will accumulate if I don't stay vigilant.

And through all this I'm STILL trying to use up all my ill-advised cosmetics purchases from the last two years! And now with baby I have even less motivation and opportunity to put on makeup. Gah. I'll at least muster the courage to throw out the corrector palette in my box that's obviously expired.

Peace and love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 55

As Baby continues to acquire equipment of his own, I'm trying my best to remove things I no longer use. We let go of an old pillow, a kitchen gadget that wasn't seeing much use, a baby bathtub we received even though we already have one... and I plan to give away one of the baby carriers we bought because it wasn’t supporting my back as I hoped. I also decluttered one shelf in my bedroom that was full of little bits of junk I was hanging onto for no reason. But it's not enough. We need to figure this out before he grows up.

Peace and Love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 54

Baby supplies aside, the decluttering continues. This time one of my lipsticks - the same one I had forgotten in the car once - broke apart in my hands. So I finally tossed it. This event also motivated me to throw out a brush cleaning solution that wasn't actually any good at cleaning brushes. It's small but It's something.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 53

So our baby boy was born, alive and healthy :) and that means we've been... I can't say we've been "re-cluttering" because all the things we brought in were needed for his care, but we have been bringing new things in. I don't know where we'll pack everything up when he outgrows his crib or when he's too old for breastmilk (meaning, when I won't need the pump and bottles for him). So now, after I've mostly settled in to the new routine of life with baby, I need to seriously pare down my belongings so I'll have room to store all these baby things (either until we decide on making baby #2 or until we give them away. We'll see what the future holds.)

Peace and Love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 52

I went ahead and bought myself some things that I wanted for a long time, a finer nib and a converter pump for my fountain pen. (I will buy the ink bottle/s and fully transition to refilling when I run out of cartridges.) It's not a huge purchase but it feels like it is, maybe because the upfront cost looks like a lot compared to a 20-pack of cheap ballpoint pens.

And I already have a lot of stray ballpoint pens at home, pens that I bought before my tastes changed and pens that I got as promotional swag and pens that I have no clue how they got here. I recently went over them and threw away the ones that were no longer working, and still I am left with too many.

The ones that still work I do my best to use up, even while I do most of my writing at home with the fountain pen, but the writing experience is so miserable in comparison... I know it's privileged of me to say, but if you can afford to buy one good quality, comfortable, refillable pen for your home? Do that, and get one simpler pen for the road if you don't want to risk losing the good pen, and that's really all you need (assuming you're not an ink artist).

Peace and Love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 51

It's just so me, to buy a hair product (frizz control spray) and then shave my head 3 weeks later. Oh well! My partner can spritz a bit of it on his beard every now and again until my hair grows back a bit in a month or two. It won't do much for facial hair but it does smell like fruity bubblegum, and he likes to smell nice.

I also got around to finishing that hand cream and the deodorant I've been struggling with, and some liquid soaps - which means I can finally get around to using the bar of soap that was sitting untouched in my cabinet. The conditioner bottle is also (finally) on the way out, as I've been using it as a shaving cream substitute just to get rid of it... and there was a lot of shaving to be done recently (see prev. paragraph).

Still struggling to use up my makeup, especially now that I barely leave the house (being unemployed and all). Can't give it away because it's unsanitary to do so. Don't want to throw it out because I do use it, on special occasions. So I guess I'll just trudge on with it. I'll stay focused and try to finish one thing at a time. I think I'll target the never-ending cream blush and the loose powder, because these are the two products I'm least satisfied with and would love to be rid of them ASAP.

In a fun bit of irony, my partner's sister decluttered some mugs and teacups... and foisted them on her brother (and by extension, me). The mugs are cute so I agreed to keep them, but now I'm trying to find who might want to take two cute sets of teacups, because we barely drink tea, and when we do, we just drink from a mug...

Handling the flow of objects into/out of the house can be pretty taxing!

Peace and Love.

[iamnotaminimalist]

Entry 50b

Found the lipstick. It was in the car.

Peace and Love.

Entry 50

I somehow managed to lose a lipstick. I'm going crazy trying to figure out where I could have put it, but it's more out of intellectual curiosity than anything. I do not plan to buy a replacement.

Peace and Love.