It might come in handy some day.

Even after two years of de-cluttering, I still have this mantra and I still believe it true. Some things are worth keeping because the price to replace them is exorbitant. For some items, I have a plan.

When my grand-daughter begins school this year I am sending all the supplies I have saved over the years with her. Some will work for her class and the others I will donate to the school.

However, we have had a flea problem this year. I think Max has more fleas as an inside dog than he ever had living outside. After trying over a dozen remedies, I remembered I had diatomaceous earth. Searching through my deck box, I found it where I imagined.

Check out that price. $0.83 for the bag. Where will I get another deal like that? DE is safe for use all around the house and on pets. Messier than I remembered, but the fleas must die!

Then, driving down the road I saw cast iron skillets tossed on the sidewalk. First I drove past, but at the corner, I thought, "Those might come in handy some day." Zooming in reverse, I backed up to the sidewalk. There must have been some fight because three skillets lay on the walk, two of them damaged - actually broken. I took the third. It fits perfectly in my counter top convection oven.

Washed and seasoned, it has performed wonderfully. Because cast iron maintains its heat, I can reduce cooking times.

Under the desk, I have boxes of stationary from previous jobs that would have gone to recycling. It comes in handy for a little girl to draw and "write letters," paint, or cut.

Before I had grandchildren, I gave away most of my children's books. As happy as I was to gift them to another family, I am just as dismayed that we don't have them. We have more and have been blessed with entire sets from other families - but you know that special thing that cannot be replaced, that's the spot.

I weigh letting go with my life's mission and goals. Things that don't fit, move on. If there's a place, it waits. I look forward to sharing the blessing of plenty. I have got a lot...

Namaste

Seeking Treasure?

Check your clutter.

I have a lot of stuff. Some days I discover even more stuff. Stuff that I didn't know I had. Some of it is cool. Some has gone bad while I was saving it for a special occasion. That's the thing about tucking stuff back for later. If you don't take the time to rotate it, you are likely to just forget about it.

As I was clearing off the bookshelves one more time, (I do a last look before I walk out the door with donations.) I discovered ink for my printer. I have a Lexmark X3430. It is an all-in-one. It scans, copies, prints, reads flash cards and had PictBridge. It probably does way more stuff, but I have no idea. I need it to scan, copy and print. Years ago I bought it for a fabulous price and loved it until I had to buy ink cartridges.

One of the advantages of working in an office is that you can print at work. The concept of printing at home was foreign. That said, my cartridges lasted quite a while, until my children and their friends needed to print assignments or just printed for the fun of it. One day they announced that the printer was out of ink. I directed them to the store to replace it. "Well, it's expensive." "Yep."

What I later learned is that the ink also dries out if not used regularly. So my $30 cartridges are just wasting away. That stopped my purchases all together, until... As I am home these days without the convenience of an office for printing, I was looking for a resource.

Back to my clutter. I found, on my book shelf, an unopened ink cartridge. It has been sitting on my desk until today. I finally took it back to the store because 1) it cost almost $30 and I can use that money better, and 2) I can print at the library for five cent a page. On my return I found a very big 3) color cartridges are expected to get only 175 pages. It is written on the package. And, 4) my printer only takes a color cartridge. I only need black ink.

Refund totaled $29.09

These days you can buy a brand new printer with a cartridge for the cost of a cartridge. So, I collected my refund and bought groceries. It was a great day. While I make most of my food from scratch, I picked up Progresso soups and one pound bags of frozen vegetables both on sale for $1. For an easy meal, I place a cup of spinach in a bowl then cover with a can of soup. Microwave until hot and serve with crackers or bread. Quick and easy.


Dig around in your stuff. You never know what you might find. Enjoy the adventure.