MORE vs less: Check the Expiration Date – it’s not what you think

Day 5 – I spent 31 minutes decluttering the trunk.

How surprised are you when you spring clean your kitchen and bathroom cupboards to find items that have expired? 

I’m not surprised. It isn’t that hard for me to toss these goods. I feel a little regret that I didn’t use them up. But I am able to toss them because I don’t want to make myself sick or turn green by using an item that has passed its expiration date.

But did you know that this advice applies to things we own? Everything we own has an expiration date.

Yes, you know that food, vitamins, and beauty products have expiration dates. But I am saying that EVERYTHING has an expiration date.

Expiration = a fixed point of time when something ends.

Ava took her beloved camera to the store because she had dropped it in water.  The camera technician was final in his diagnosis; “It can’t be fixed.” So she bought a new camera and used it – then.

That camera is still working well. It still takes great photos. But Ava doesn’t use it any more. Ava’s cell phone takes photos that are comparable. It is easier to use her camera on the cell phone. And by using the camera on the phone, she doesn’t have to remember to bring her camera.

Expiration = a fixed point of time when something ends. The use of this camera has reached its expiration date.

Ava keeps the camera even though the expiration date has passed. It is no longer useful. It no longer fits in her life style. Her interest, desire, and need for the camera no longer exist.

It doesn’t matter that Ava spent $1000 on the camera. It doesn’t matter that the camera is still in good working order. All that matters is that the expiration date has passed. And so she doesn’t use it.

I need and want to look at my items with this idea in mind.

I want to ask myself these types of questions when decluttering is emotionally hard.

• Is it useful now?
• Does it fit my lifestyle now?
• Am I interested in it now?
• Will I use it/wear it/complete the project now?
• Do I have the physical energy to use it/finish it now?

Remember those potential blood-streaked eyeballs (aka ping-pong balls) I talked about yesterday? It is just possible that the expiration date has come and gone.

Day 5 –  31 Minutes of Decluttering = Today’s space is my car trunk. My daughter and I are going away for two days and it would be lovely to put our suitcases IN the trunk.

Do you ever put things in your trunk that need to go someplace? … Salvation Army … the library … a friend’s home …  And they just stay there? They stay there forgotten? Yep, that is me.

I didn’t want to expend the energy or the time to take care of it in the past. So this task lingers and takes up space. Today, I will take care of business; I have things to deliver!

Go here for the landing page with all the posts for MORE vs less: 31 Days of Decluttering. #write31days  . . . I am joining 100’s of bloggers who are determined to write every day in October on one topic. To read more about #Write31Days, go here.

Join me in this experiment of MORE vs less.

Your Turn . . . As you look at the items you are deluttering, are there any where the expiration date has passed? . . . How hard is it to let go of these items? . . . Can you relate to Ava’s experience?

Related Post . . . Taking my Hobbies from Plans to Implementation to Finishing