Today’s area for Money Saving Mom’s Clear out the Clutter Challenge is the Kitchen and Stockpile.
Here is my throw away pile:
It includes quite a bit of medicine that was expired. I decluttered my medicine shelf last fall, but this is the stuff that was stuck in the hard-to-get-to cabinet when we moved in . . . 4 years ago. It’s pre–couponing medicines. Pre-kids in some cases. I found things that expired two, three, four, and yes, even five years ago.
And yet . . . the “What if?” lobe of my brain still kicked in. What if we couldn’t get to the store for like, well, five years, and my humongous stockpile of non-expired medicines wasn’t enough and the only thing that could save someone’s life was this single Advil Cold-and-Sinus? Wouldn’t it be better to risk taking a (by then) 10 year old med instead of dying?
I threw it away. No hero delusions for me anymore.
The other things are spices that we used once and didn’t like, a full bottle of sprinkles that I have a vague memory of one of my children sucking on, and empty boxes.
Oh yes, and the bag of Lay’s potato chips? Well, um, I’m pretty sure that’s been in the impossible-to-get-to cabinet above the fridge for at least 3 years. Yes, because I haven’t looked up there in at least three years. I’m thinking that in the early days of the house, I must have had the fabulous idea to put chips in that spot. I’m good at coming up with fabulous ideas, just not always with remembering what they were.
And here are the things that I’m putting in the garage sale:
Four full packages of clearanced coffee filters purchased just before I broke the pot, three mugs that are too huge to drink coffee from, and a little package of lights for a Christmas decoration. Who knows why in the world I thought the coffee-cup shelf was a good place for that? Or why my selective-slob-vision hadn’t seen them there until today.
Although I really didn’t think I needed to, I’m so glad I did this. Small amounts of ongoing purging is what will keep this home in order. Isn’t that what normal people do?
Check out more clutter challenge participants at Money Saving Mom.
Free Spirit. Hero Delusions. Seriously. Quit talking about ME! I'm so glad we're in this together… :>)
First, I love the title of your blog! Great job clearing out the kitchen. I went through my meds a couple of months ago, but your post is a great reminder that it is good to do it a couple times a year. I didn't think I needed to do much decluttering in my kitchen either, but I was surprised by how much I found!
Great job!!
Ooh those large coffe cups are great for soup! I so want to come to your garage sale! Or try making a small microwave cake in them (or put a mix in the mug and give as a gift) My favorite: Chocolate Butterscotch Mug Cakes
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons instant butterscotch pudding powder
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons semi sweet chocolate chips
Frosting:
1 box of prepared butterscotch pudding mixed with store bought chocolate frosting
Prepare mug by coating the inside lightly with cooking spray. Pour all of the dry ingredients into a bowl.
Beat egg first with a spoon and mix in other liquid ingredients.
Then add dry ingredients and mix until you’ve removed all lumps. Pour the batter into the mug (do not fill more than halfway) and smooth the top with a spoon.
Thump mug firmly on the tabletop six times to remove excess air bubbles.
Place mug on top of a microwaveable small plate or saucer. Bake for 3-4 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the middle of the microwave mug cake and removing the toothpick. If the toothpick is dry, the mug cake is done.
Wait two minutes then run a butter knife along the inside of the mug and tip the cake into plate. Position the mug cake so that the slightly rounded top is on top. Your microwave mug cake will now look like a slightly overgrown muffin. Frost the mug cake with premade frosting.
Option: frost the whole chocolate chip butterscotch microwave mug cake with prepared butterscotch pudding chocolate frosting From: 101 Mug Cakes featured on Rachael Ray 12-4-09
Love the recipe! I actually have a set of 10 big blue mugs we use for soup. I love them, but I've never made a cake in them, the kids will love that.
Someone else’s timetable, yep, feels like bossing!!! Check.
I wonder Nony, do you have a horible aversion to filling out forms, too? I always feel like me and the form are wrong sides of magnets being pushed together.
Oh my word. The forms are my nemesis. I will avoid them forEVER if possible. And then they end up taking like three minutes to fill out.
Actually, I had TONS of coffee filters leftover from just before I got my Keurig (LOVE my Keurig ♥). but I started using them to give certain snacks to the kids in. Things like fish crackers, grapes, etc. Now they’re gone and I’ve actually considered buying more because they’re so cheap!
there is no such thing as a coffee cup that is too huge to drink coffee out of. in fact, hubby and i have trouble finding coffee cups big *enough*… too bad you don’t live near me… or that i didn’t read this four years ago 😛
You know I really have a problem with food/medicine decluttering. It makes me feel guilty.
Here in europe, my grandparents lived through WWI and WWII (TWO wars in their lifetime… it boggles my mind). They kept everything from the tiniest bit of string to the expired pain killer and they had had good reason to.
But I don’t have a good reason to. I have access to everthing I need. I always have some money to spare at the end of the month, even if it’s little. And I know we never know what the future may bring, but there are people that are actually living through wars RIGHT NOW, my money should go to them (through the red cross or something) instead of spending it to stockpile canned food that I’m not going to touch in years… when I’m telling myself that, it works (more or less)
Though sometimes I still feel guilty sometimes that I’m not as efficient as my grandmother who, it seemed to me, could make a meal with anything and repair everything…