In the past at this time of year I have gone into whirling dervish decluttering mode, tossing out piles of stuff - only to wind up regretting some discards and buyign tons more junk to refill my empty shelves.

So this time I'm taking it slowly and making absolutely sure I don't want something before I get rid of it. I tidied my shoes and gave two nice but never were comfortable pairs to charity - hope they fit someone better than me. I sorted my cookbooks and gave some I never use to the annual booksale. And went through a big pile of papers and binned some that were no longer relevant. Now I'm relaxing with a cup of tea and surveying the rest of my possessions. I quite like the clothes I have and they're in good condition. So I'll hang onto them and only replace when they're worn. I've done quite well over the last few months at not buying stuff (three months without buying yarn!) so resolved to be satisfied with what I have, and only allow anything new into the house if I get rid of something old. This is a small house, so I really can't have tons of stuff in my closets. I will go for minimalism and much savings.

Of course, there's still ds's room with all his gear, waiting for him to come back and take it away...