365 day rule

Ok you wonder what it is, what can it possibly mean? The last 12 months I have been decluttering my home and disposing of the contents in an energy efficient way. Anything that has not been used in the last year, apart from obvious stuff like family heirlooms has been dealt with or is in the process of being dealt with. Any money made is being put towards debt reduction and I monitor each month how we are doing on reducing the budget. It is suprising what you pay every month that you have done on automatic.

I am now limited to 1 credit card ( for emergency purposes only) and apart from stopping me from using a variety of them and spending, it actually focusses me on one account only to deal with. If you have several, ask yourself why? I usually find one sufficient unless I travel a lot and then I have 2 just in case the machine swallows it. However as travelling is not on the agenda one card is plenty.

I am amazed at the junk and stuff we have accumulated and am continuing my efforts to sort it. We have a variety of batteries ( yuk) in a variety of toys that do no longer work and the kids have grown out of. As I work my way around the house in my 6 week cleaning and decluttering rota, I may have found that reducing the stuff creates breathing space. Batteries can be recycled and stuff can be sold on ebay or given to charity shops or freecycle. Keeping this up will create more space and gradually reduce any debt you may have. No need to do this quickly as that would make you feel deprived but 1/365 effort is worth it.

I was going through papers today, you know the bankstatements that are more than 7 years old and had a good shredding session. All recyclable on compost heap and paper collection. Be careful that you shred things, as your identity may be stolen otherwise. Does anyone really piece together bits of paper to get your credit details? Good point, if I simplify my accounts, then there will be less information to get. The paper cabinet looks lighter and saves me energy lugging it about.

dream your life and live your dream.