Tenner Week: Day 2: Do a declutter

How is your Tenner Week going so far? Are you finding it easy or difficult? Today is a decluttering day, but don’t raise the bar too high – go for a short, sharp declutter on a small and specific area.

Ideally, pick somewhere to declutter that’s going to improve your quality of life in some way. For example, keen cooks can pick the spice rack or a baking cupboard, writers can clear a desk, crafters can sort through and organise arts and crafts materials or sewing kits, anyone who’s having trouble sleeping can tidy up clothes piled up in their bedroom, and so on.

Choose something that won’t take more than an hour, then set a timer and go for it. Sort clutter into piles for recycling, keeping, selling and so on, then clean the space that’s left behind. Add some organisation to the space, or something aesthetically pleasing, so it’s less likely to get cluttered up again in a hurry.

Don’t try to declutter a whole room, an attic, a garage or a large wardrobe today. It’s too overwhelming. Stick to a shelf, a drawer, a box, a bathroom cabinet etc, and you’ll be fine.

What’s happening here?

So far, I’ve managed to watch no television (saving it up), and I’ve not spent any of my £10 cash. This might change when I go out for a few groceries later today, but I’ll definitely be taking a shopping list and sticking to it.

We ate well yesterday: muesli & orange juice for breakfast, cheese sandwich for lunch, cereal bar and apple for snacks, and kidney bean chilli and salad burritos. Today I’m aiming for more fruit and veg, and using up some salad, spring onions and stir fry greens from the garden.

I’ll be decluttering shoes and getting sandals out of storage today. This might be tempting fate, so watch out for hailstorms.

Available now: The ‘How to Live on £10’ ebook

To make your Tenner Week go with a bigger bang, try ‘How to Live on £10 a Week: Take the Tenner Week Challenge’. It includes a real life example of a shopping basket and menu, and plenty of free and cheap ways to keep yourself entertained.

It’s on sale at a low introductory price of £1.53, so please buy a copy while it’s on offer and help support this site. You don’t need to own a Kindle to read this book – there’s free, safe official software you can download to read it on your phone, tablet or computer.

Have you decided to do some decluttering? How much money and TV time have you used up so far?