rules on decluttering and minimalism

A lot of people who know me get a look of shock on their face when I tell them that I am slowly embracing minimalism. I don't feel offended though because if you had told me 10 years ago that I would let go of my stuff, I would have willingly bet a thousand dollars that it wouldn't happen.

You see, I was that girl who left home with over 20 balikbayan boxes and managed to incur more stuff that I don't use and still lug everything around through the 6 to 8 houses I've moved into in the last 14 years.

Last year, I had 24 of these megaboxes all filled with things that I rarely used.

IT WAS SO BAD. I was such a hoarder.

My journey towards minimalism has slowly started over the years when I realized that I kept buying megaboxes to store things. I was spending money for storage on things that I don't even use. How crazy was that? This year though, the road to minimalism finally went from baby steps to a brisk walk. I even partnered with Krate to utilize some of their stuff because it also helps you in decluttering.

Now a lot of people ask me if I've thrown away all my collectibles and stuff that I haven't used in the last 3 months. My answer is NO. Minimalism or decluttering isn't throwing away everything and keeping only 145 items in your home.

If that's what makes you happy, go ahead but it's not a hard and fast rule imposed on people. Different strokes for different folks and you do you. You take the baby steps needed which I did for YEARS and YEARS.

There are no rules on decluttering but there are guidelines. There's no golden rule but I believe that Mari Kondo got it right with this.

Now not everyone adheres to this. As I said, you do you. This means, do what feels right in your decluttering journey. It's okay if there's this book your first love gave you that you just can't let go. It's not okay if everything your ex gave you is still in your home that you share with your husband. Do you get what I mean?

Now to share my own story, I saw this guide online and I thought to myself, "hey I can use that!"

So I did.

Everything that has been highlighted has been done already. As you can see, there are still some items that I have not gotten around to or didn't want to do. For the extra cords, I have placed them in one storage so that it doesn't clutter the entire house.

For the half empty bottles, I threw away those that were expired and then one by one, ensured that I empty out the remaining ones by using it until it was all gone. Afterwards, that's when I threw it out. You're decluttering, not throwing away money.

As for the towel with holes, we repurposed them into cleaning rags. Old ties are kept because they are rarely used but necessary. They also still look brand new and I know that my son will be using them quite soon when he attends parties.

The restaurant sauce packets are useful in our home as well. It also helps us save up a bit on ketchup and other things.

Birthday cards are kept and sorted in scrapbooks for me. Again, decluttering is getting rid of things you have no use for. If something makes you happy, keep it. Now remember, you don't get to say "but eveything makes me happy." If that is true, then you are born a hoarder and will die as one. As long as it doesn't hinder you and affect you in a negative way, it's all good.

My Happy Meal toys have been shrunk to 40% since I gave away a lot to charity but I might let them go soon enough. Since I will be visiting relatives next year, I might just donate them all to little cousins that I have there.

This whole decluttering thing takes commitment but once you start doing it, it just feels great. Your place feels bigger. You find your things more easily. You get to surround yourself with things you actually love and use like the one I have below. Before, I wouldn't have been able to find a space for this but now, here you go.

My inspiration area which i to my right when I am seated on my desk.

My desk which now has more space for my laptop and notebooks. My board is also in front so everything that reminds me to work harder and hustle is just there in plain view.

My make up area.

My room feels more fluid now. When I want to find something, the ones that I always need are within arms reach. When I need to fix myself, I have my beauty area. When I need to plug a USB to the back of my TV, I don't need to stand on a desk since I have managed to make things just flow. Look at this. The flow is when you enter the room you see my table and then going right there's the printer, the TV and beneath that my inspiration nook and then we transition to my pen collection then make up area and then my flatlay and arts and craft storage. You can't see it from the photo but there's a space there now wide enough for my son to sit down, play games, do puzzles or diamond paint.

I hope that this helped someone out. If I can declutter, so can anyone. Trust me on this guys. The first step is always the hardest.

UPDATE 3/4/2019

I am attaching a link to a PDF file that can help you start your decluttering journey.