#672 – From Pantry to Plate: The Secret to Smart Food Storage

#672 – From Pantry to Plate: The Secret to Smart Food Storage

#672 – From Pantry to Plate: The Secret to Smart Food Storage

Join Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo in this episode of Clutter-Free Academy as they tackle the often overwhelming world of food storage. Whether you’re struggling with long-term pantry organization, fridge chaos, containers for on the go or finding the right containers for meal prep, Kathi and Tonya share practical tips and solutions that can turn your kitchen clutter into culinary clarity. They explore the benefits of square, stackable, and see-through storage solutions, the beauty of a cheese drawer, and how to make food storage solutions work for your unique household needs. Tune in for insights that cater to anyone aiming for a clutter-free kitchen.

  Photo of Kathi’s storage drawer organization as promised!

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

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Meet Our Co-Host

 

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Tonya Kubo Picture
Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:11) 

Hey friend, welcome to clutter free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps every day to live with less clutter and more life and I am here with my my co-conspirator on all things clutter free. It is Tonya Kubo. Hey Tonya We are both in podcasts ? How do we want to say we’re both heavy laden with podcasts right now 

  

Tonya Kubo (00:28) 

Hey Kathi. 

  

Yes, we are deep, deep in creator mode. 

  

Kathi Lipp (00:41) 

Yes. ? you know, so most of my clutter free people are probably not your target audience for the podcast you’ve just launched. But you know what, if 3 % of them are, they’re going to want to find it. Just just do me a favor. Tell me, give us like the the elevator pitch of what your new podcast is about. 

  

Tonya Kubo (01:02) 

Yeah, so my new podcast, so it’s depending on our cluttery people, it actually could be perfect for them, because my podcast is for people who feel like they don’t fit in. So. 

  

Kathi Lipp (01:09) 

Okay. 

  

Well, okay, 

  

there we go. I hadn’t heard it described that way. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (01:17) 

Yeah, yeah, it’s not a business podcast. is. 

  

So Apple is categorizing it under relationships and so society and culture is the big label. And it’s just for people who feel like they don’t fit in, aren’t quite sure that they might be too weird for a polite company. And we just have a conversation every single week with somebody who has learned that. 

  

Kathi Lipp (01:28) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. Okay. 

  

Tonya Kubo (01:45) 

rather than trying to fit in, they’re just gonna own their weird and find other people just like them. And then we talk about what makes that work. 

  

Kathi Lipp (01:50) 

? 

  

And what’s the name of the podcast? Love it, love it, love it. 

  

Tonya Kubo (01:54) 

Find your freaks. And who 

  

gave me that title? That would be Kathi Lipp. That would be Kathi Lipp. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:00) 

You know what? 

  

I love a good title. Not going to lie. Yeah, I did a whole speech around that for when you’re writing to an audience, you have to find your freaks because your book is not for everybody. It’s just not. And so with this podcast, we’ve had to find our freaks. So, guys, you are our freaks and we love you. And I just want you to know that’s the highest compliment we can give you, because who else is going to listen to an entire podcast episode? 

  

Tonya Kubo (02:09) 

Yeah? 

  

No! 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:28) 

food storage. Who? Our freaks! Because I love this stuff and can I just tell you Tonya you gave me the highest compliment I think anybody has ever given me. Because when I said Tonya what kind of food storage do you use? How did you answer me? 

  

Tonya Kubo (02:29) 

Our freaks. Our peeps. 

  

Whatever I see you use in your house. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:50) 

Okay, can I tell you why I feel like that’s such a huge compliment because I do take these things too seriously like it I have realized in ? my late stage clutter ? the things that I am doing my clutter looks very different now in my late 50s than it did say in my 30s or 20s and Usually my clutter now 

  

Tonya Kubo (02:57) 

Hahaha 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:15) 

Is I buy something because I’ve researched it. I think it’s going to be great and come to find out it doesn’t quite work But it works enough that I don’t want to get rid of it But it works not enough for me not to go out and buy another thing and so then I have two things and I have to I have to fight my inner clutter girl and Say, you know what somebody this is going to be perfect for somebody else, but it’s not me 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:23) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:45) 

And so that is my story of storage containers. And here’s why I think it matters, ? especially pantry organization. have, okay, so I really believe that there are three different kinds of food storage. And there may be more, but in my house, there are three. There’s the long-term pantry storage. So what I consider long-term is not like years, but ? we in our house put, 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:45) 

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:15) 

cereal into a plastic container not because we’re trying to be as my niece would call it aesthetic ? no, it’s because we live in the middle of the country and every once the while the ins the outside tries to come inside and My goodness, yes, so we’ve done a much better job of that recently, but it just is better. We also can get 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:31) 

I was gonna say you have to keep out the critters! 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:42) 

Extreme temperature differentials and so it just makes sense so but also storing like your flour or your sugar or Your brown sugar those kind of things so we’ve got long-term pantry storage, and then we have fridge storage So I’m thinking like last night. I made a Cucumber salad in like an Italian dressing that tastes better after it sat overnight and so 

  

? That went into fridge storage Leftovers go into fridge storage now if it’s up to Roger it might go into a ziplock bag because deciding on on The storage even though it really is pretty well laid out is just too much for him So I tend to put be the person who puts away all of the leftovers, but I that’s really important What are you going to keep your leftovers in? Because you want to be able to eat your leftovers when you come back to them 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:41) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:41) 

And then 

  

the third segment is food to go storage, which isn’t a huge category for the Lipp family. I’m guessing it might be a bigger category for the Kubo family. If you’re packing lunches. Now, where it is a category for us is we often bring food to neighbors or to my mom. And then ? also when we go to town, you know, we are usually driving for an hour and 15 minutes before we get somewhere. And Roger’s going to need a little snack. 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:52) 

Yeah. 

  

Yup. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:11) 

? He’s just gonna need a little something to nosh on and of course I will join him in that. those are the categories we’re talking about. So ? I wanna talk about long-term pantry storage first. ? I really believe that getting the right storage, it helps you keep track of what you have. Now, is your storage see-through or is it opaque? 

  

Tonya Kubo (06:11) 

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

? most of my storage is see-through. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:40) 

Okay, I feel like that is a huge bonus, at least for us to say, this is actually what we have instead of opening it up and also. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (06:42) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yes, because like I have a flour 

  

bucket. So you know, because I have sourdough and I use a high gluten flour to feed my sourdough. So that is in an opaque round bucket. And then our backup rice is also in an opaque round bucket. And there is nothing worse than opening that up and thinking it’s like half to three fourths full and finding out, no, no, no, my friend, you are wrong. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:58) 

Yes. 

  

Okay. 

  

How? 

  

Right. You’re not making sourdough tonight. What were you thinking? You thought you were going to have rice with that orange chicken? I think not. Yeah. No, I have to have everything see through. In fact, I this will be a totally different episode. But Roger just Roger makes very few decrees in our family. ? He makes very few like, but he said we will never and I mean never buy an opaque storage container again because we are 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:20) 

Mm-mm. Mm-mm. 

  

Mm-hmm 

  

Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (07:43) 

currently going through our attic and cleaning things out and I agree it’s Have mercy. Okay. I also love a see-through container because it it avoids duplication you know what you have you can see what you have and then For me it makes meal planning quicker and more efficient because like I need to know are we running low on rice? 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:48) 

And every box is a mystery. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:10) 

And if we are, we have rice probably three times a week, which may pale in comparison to the Kubo household, but very few others. And ? I need to know when we’re running low because it’s not go down to 7-Eleven. It’s it’s hitch up the mule team. 

  

Tonya Kubo (08:14) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yes. Well, 

  

and you know, we live within walking distance of a grocery store, but we have finally bitten the bullet and decided we are the buy rice 25 pounds at a time family. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:38) 

? Costco does this for a reason. They love us and they want good things for us. Okay, I wanna talk some best practices. So ? I believe deeply for all storage containers, square and stackable. ? Because square takes up less space than round because it can fit together better. And then stackable, 

  

Tonya Kubo (08:42) 

Yes. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yes. 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:07) 

This is especially for like our fridge storage and things like that. There is nothing worse than having containers that don’t sit well together. I don’t know anybody’s house who has enough space for that. I really don’t. ? How do you label your containers? 

  

Tonya Kubo (09:10) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

No. 

  

Well, if they’re see-through, I usually can just see what they are. That’s part of the beauty of having transparent storage is you don’t have to label. ? You know, I love a good label maker because you taught me that and I don’t have great handwriting, so it’s just nice to use a label maker. But for some reason, my label maker seems to always end up at Mr. Kubo’s classroom. And so I frequently can’t use my label maker in my home. 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:31) 

Okay. 

  

Yeah, yes 

  

I don’t either. 

  

? 

  

Tonya Kubo (09:55) 

I get to use my label maker every summer because he remembers to bring it home at the end of the school year. But I don’t get it. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:01) 

So you’ve got two, 

  

two and a half months to make all your labels for the year. my goodness. 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:04) 

I just keep my 

  

sticky notes with all the things I want to label and then come June 6th get to label stuff. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:09) 

My goodness Label everything. my goodness 

  

now. I will say Yes, I think you can see most of the stuff, but I have to label things like flour Are apparently I collect rice I had no idea but I was looking at my rice collection I have about seven different kinds of rice and I want to make sure I’m using the right rice. I know I’m ridiculous you guys but I I 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:19) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

hahahaha 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:39) 

got a new labeler ? because my other one died and it’s called Kata symbol. I’m holding it up, yes, right there. And can you see that? 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:46) 

Let me see. want to see. Hold on. I have to move a thing. 

  

Ooh, it’s so nice and like compact. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:53) 

Yes, 

  

it’s really nice and it is Bluetooth to your phone. So you type on your phone and it spits it out. ? it makes me very, happy. Very, very happy. So yes, I will. 

  

Tonya Kubo (11:08) 

I’m adding that to my list of things I want, but I will 

  

hide it. It’s small enough to hide. See, my other one’s not small enough to hide. This is small enough to hide. And then maybe it can actually be my label maker. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:16) 

Uhhh 

  

I love 

  

that. I love a good plan for you, my friend. Okay. Now, um, I, so I believe in labeling and expiration dates and you know, some things I don’t worry so much. We go in through enough flour. We go through enough rice that we’re not going to worry about that. But if I am worried about it, I am going to put it on there, whether it’s an official label or maybe I’m just going to write it on there with like, um, blue painters tape or something like that, because I am not. 

  

Tonya Kubo (11:23) 

Hahaha 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:50) 

making my storage pretty for other people. mean, it this is we’re getting it done friends. And then my, my long term pantry storage, I like to categorize it together. Like I’m putting baking things together and I’m putting snack items together and canned goods and grains. Like I, and I know what area to go to in order to do that. And we’ve talked about this in some other episodes. They’re also 

  

Tonya Kubo (11:53) 

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:18) 

It’s great to have those containers, but it’s also good to have things like risers so that if you have smaller containers towards the back, you can see those. And then, of course, I will always mention these until the day I die, the pullout shelves. The pullout shelves, I will list all of this, you guys. And at the end of the episode, we’re going to talk about my favorite kind of storage. As you know, 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:23) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yes, yes. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:44) 

I am the pied piper of storage that the Kubos will just follow along afterwards. But I feel like I’ve done the research and we’re gonna be able to do that. Okay, I wanna mention some things about just some tips for this. ? FIFO, we all know the acronym FIFO, first in, first out. So if you are… 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:46) 

Hahahaha 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:10) 

creating the storage and you have more than one container, make sure you’re using up your first container first and airtight. I think that’s the most important thing. ? What special considerations do you have for like temperature and stuff at your house? is, cause it gets pretty hot there, right? 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:28) 

It does. so our challenge, of course, so we don’t have a pantry. So we have like two cabinets and one cabinet gets really hot. It’s just that’s where the kitchen like sunshine comes through. And so that one is like I keep cold cereal there. I keep things that aren’t going to go bad faster if they get the sun beating down. 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:37) 

Yeah, right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right. 

  

Yeah, so something to consider friends if you live in a place where ? you’re getting those big bags of flour and things like that one, know, Tonya is right. Don’t be storing that in the hottest place ? because, know, It can change things. She’s storing stuff like cereal and things that is going to get eaten more rapidly. But also a good practice is to freeze 

  

that rice, freeze that flour at least overnight so that if there are any what we’ll call wee beasties in it, you’re gonna kill those off. 

  

Tonya Kubo (14:19) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

I was gonna say, 

  

that’s why I don’t want my flour where it gets hot is I don’t want the wee beasties to come out and play. 

  

Kathi Lipp (14:30) 

Yes, right. Yes, to grow. 

  

Yep, exactly. Okay, guys, we’re going to take a quick break and then we’re going to come back and we’re going to talk about fridge storage. So you’re not going to want to miss that. We’ll be right back. 

  

Okay friends, it’s time to get into your fridge. ? I love again a square container. I love a square container because I feel like that’s more stackable and clear. I think in the fridge, it’s super important that you have clear containers because only things that are known and seen will be eaten. Yeah. And also if something’s gone a little off, you want to make sure that you’re able to see that. 

  

Now, I stack my clean containers in a drawer and I’ve got, I’ll add a picture of that drawer so you can see how I’ve organized it, but I’ve also bought some organizers to, ? how do I wanna say this? Contain the lids. Lids are an important thing, right? So I’m going to show you my storage drawer, which feels very intimate. I don’t know why, it just does. But I’m. 

  

Tonya Kubo (15:35) 

Yeah, that’s hard. 

  

I was like, I’m not 

  

showing them my storage drawer, Kathi. 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:46) 

That’s okay, 

  

I will take the bullet for both of us. But I want you to see how I’ve stacked the lids in there too, to maybe give you some ideas. And I’ll put a link to the kind of drawer dividers and things that we use in there. Because I feel like for the first time in my adult life, it’s working. It’s taken 57 years, but we’re here. ? Yes. And it’s also important that things have a tight seal. 

  

Tonya Kubo (15:54) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mmm. ? 

  

Yay! 

  

Kathi Lipp (16:17) 

because you don’t ? want any odors getting out or coming in. So that’s really, really important. I also tend to have designations within my refrigerator of like the top shelf is leftovers and ready to eat items, middle shelf, dairy and frequently used item, bottom shelf, more like raw meat, that kind of stuff. And then I have a crisper drawer and a cheese drawer. I love my cheese drawer, not gonna lie. 

  

Tonya Kubo (16:17) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Me too, 

  

I have a cheese drawer. It’s my favorite part of the fridge. 

  

Kathi Lipp (16:46) 

It’s it’s the best isn’t it if I 

  

it acknowledges our love and passion for cheese I love that so much the other thing that I’ve done in the past is have bins for similar items so a couple of things you might want to think about like if you’re gonna be creating a charcuterie tray just having a bin in the fridge that you can throw all that into and pull out or a Condiment bin if that you know depending every refrigerator is like a fingerprint 

  

Tonya Kubo (17:16) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:16) 

It’s very 

  

different than somebody else’s fridge and how often and where you want to find stuff. I think that that’s very individual as well. 

  

Tonya Kubo (17:24) 

Yeah, well, and it also depends on life circumstances. Like when the girls were littler, so I’m thinking like when Abby was in preschool, Lily was in early elementary school, we had bins in the bottom shelf of the fridge that had the snacks that they could grab and go with whatever they needed, right? So like your like package string cheese, your little apple slices, like all of that. And then they had a lot of freedom at snack time because they knew which bin had what. 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:39) 

Mm-hmm. Right. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Yeah, ? I love that so much. 

  

Yes, I feel like every, I don’t know, five years, my refrigerator goes through a metamorphosis and things just have to be in different places than they’ve been before. I just have to, you have to make it your own. And I think part of making it your own, one customization, maybe some containers, like kids know, hey, here are the snacks you can have anytime. And here are the snacks you can have once an afternoon. 

  

Tonya Kubo (18:11) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:25) 

And those are in two different containers. We’ve got the red and the yellow or the green and the red. There we go. And then, ? but also having those clear containers for leftovers helps me meal plan better. I know what’s there. I’m like, that’s right. I forgot I’ve got that potato salad leftover from when we did barbecue the other day. And now I’m going to be inspired to barbecue something else. 

  

Tonya Kubo (18:30) 

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:51) 

I also am a big believer in labeling those leftovers with the date. I just have blue painters tape. It’s nothing fancy. It’s not aesthetic, but it works. ? I know some people, I don’t do this, but some people keep a small dry erase board on the fridge door to track leftovers and expiration dates. That seems next level. But if you’re cooking, if you’re cooking for more than a few people, that might be really, really important. And 

  

Tonya Kubo (19:13) 

Yeah 

  

Kathi Lipp (19:20) 

As I’m spending, I’m trying to spend less money on groceries, that might become something, that might be something I aspire to one day. Is there a way that you clean out your fridge on a regular basis? 

  

Tonya Kubo (19:24) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Well, for us, we make soup on the weekends, which is how we use up leftover meats and veggies and any veggies that are about to go bad. That’s our favorite thing. I have, again, because I have kids, I do the meal plan on the fridge. so I generally know if there’s rice in the fridge, the rice came from Tuesday night. If there’s potatoes, the potatoes were from Monday. I don’t need to actually mark the leftover container. 

  

Kathi Lipp (19:41) 

Love that. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

You’ve got an archeological dig going on that will really, really help. I love that. Okay. And then let’s go to our third segment, food to go storage. ? I, I love making sure that I have containers. One, I don’t know if this is an issue in your home, but I send containers and I say, go with God. Like if I don’t get those containers back, I’m not sending my 

  

Tonya Kubo (20:22) 

Hahaha! 

  

Kathi Lipp (20:28) 

$8 a pop clear good containers out ? What what kind of to-go containers are the Kubo’s using? 

  

Tonya Kubo (20:30) 

Hmm. 

  

Yeah, so Brian prefers to use like the gladware, you know, so that’s the it’s disposable, but it’s meant to go through multiple uses. Because like you said, if it doesn’t come back, especially with the girls lunches, it’s like, OK, if they leave it or what usually happens is it gets left in the backpack in the car over the weekend. Brian likes to just throw the whole container away. Just say, you know what? We have sacrificed this to the microbial gods. So. 

  

Kathi Lipp (20:46) 

Right. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Right, right. 

  

Right. 

  

Tonya Kubo (21:06) 

That’s his preference. I have always preferred the metal containers, but good golly, Kathi, they are such a beast to clean. And so I’ve just had to say, you know what? Forget it. 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:16) 

How are they, really? 

  

For this stage in my life, no. Yeah. ? I love these kind of containers because sometimes what I’ll do is I’ll just prep a bunch of meals and just stick them in there and I can bring them to our neighbor. We can eat them. They’re ready to go. ? I really do feel like they encourage healthier eating on the go. Like I’ll make our little snack packs in there or something like that. It’s better than going to Carl’s Jr. 

  

Tonya Kubo (21:23) 

No. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:48) 

at least budget-wise, health-wise. And I like the multi-container. What do I want to say? Yes, I like that. Now, some people like to have a bunch of different containers. ? You know, you do what floats your boat. Now, when I’m bringing food to other people, I will sometimes do that because I don’t want to put like the dip. 

  

Tonya Kubo (21:58) 

Like multi-compartment. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (22:16) 

Like if I’m making a yogurt dip, I don’t want to put that in the same ? container that a the hummus at like I don’t want them to have to heat things up. So I don’t want them to have to heat up the meat that kind of thing. So I like multi-purpose containers that are microwave safe, freezer safe, leak proof. We don’t normally heat stuff up in plastic, but I’m also not ? religious about it. ? But they do have to stack. 

  

Tonya Kubo (22:16) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (22:46) 

Like 

  

if they don’t stack, it’s not happening. I’m pitching them. They’re out the door. And I love like the bento box kind of that makes me super, super happy. The other thing I haven’t had much experience with and I wonder if you have is reusable bags. I mean, I know we all know about, you know, washing out a Ziploc, but have you used any of like the beeswax or any of that kind of stuff? 

  

Tonya Kubo (23:10) 

Kathi, if it exists, I have used it. Yes, I did. I did the beeswax fabric ? sandwich wraps for a while. I’ve done reusable. Yeah, we’ve done the reusable, like resealable bags. We’ve done all of it. And, you know, it’s like everything works to some extent if it works for your family. Right. So the beeswax stuff. 

  

Kathi Lipp (23:12) 

I know, you’re an experimenter, yes. 

  

Right, right. Sometimes you just have to try. 

  

Tonya Kubo (23:37) 

Yeah, and this, like the beeswax to wrap a sandwich isn’t bad, but they don’t last forever. So you do have to replace them. And then when they stop being sticky, you just have to be prepared that there are consequences to that action. 

  

Kathi Lipp (23:44) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mmm. 

  

Yeah, I will say one thing. We’re gonna get into our next segment and tell you, I’m gonna tell you some of the things I recommend. But can I tell you, this is a category where my millennial-ish kids love when I buy them something. They love a food container. They love a beeswax. Like, it’s the practical thing that they may already have. 

  

Tonya Kubo (24:09) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (24:21) 

but it’s in a different format. And if you’re trying to think of something, because they don’t want to be using the Ziploc bags, they don’t want to do any of that stuff. But also those glass containers are pretty heavy to take to school or work. 

  

Tonya Kubo (24:26) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah, well, that’s the problem, right? Is glass and metal are heavier. ? nowadays, especially like for school age kids, you used to be able to just put your lunch like by the door of the classroom. Now they expect the lunch to be in the backpack all day. So it’s a lot for the kid to carry on their back. But what I was going to say is if you don’t have compartmentalized containers, if you don’t have the bento box, know, the silicone cupcake holders, like cupcake wrappers. 

  

Kathi Lipp (24:47) 

? interesting. Yeah. 

  

Yeah, great idea. 

  

Tonya Kubo (25:01) 

Those are something that 

  

I use when I do, I tell Abby that I’m taking, I’m sending her with mini charcuterie. ? I used to call them like mom lunchables, but it’s whatever word it takes, but you can put the stuff in those and then they can pull it out if they need to heat something up. 

  

Kathi Lipp (25:08) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yes. Right. 

  

I love it. And is she is she a lunchbox accessory bringer homer? 

  

Tonya Kubo (25:26) 

? no. No. That would be nice though. One day. 

  

Kathi Lipp (25:28) 

Okay, okay. Yeah, 

  

you know, some days. ? Okay, where are you storing all this stuff in your tiny petite kitchen? 

  

Tonya Kubo (25:38) 

Yeah, so we just have one cabinet that has two shelves that’s devoted to kind of all of this stuff and the bakeware. 

  

Kathi Lipp (25:46) 

Yeah So guys my number one recommendation for this is The stuff you’re not using donate it or throw it away Like you’re never going to use it more. You’re gonna buy stuff to replace What you if you lose what you love, but I I kept things for way too long I also have Something like I said when i’m giving things to other people. It’s the I don’t care if it comes home 

  

Tonya Kubo (25:54) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (26:15) 

And 

  

so one of the things I’ve done for that is ? I’ve bought some lower cost ones and we’ll talk about that in our next segment. Okay, Tonya, we’re gonna take a quick break. We’re gonna come back and I’m gonna tell you my favorite food storage brands and why I love them. This is my own mini version of Wirecutter. These are the things I love and I have tested and I can’t wait to talk to you about them. So guys, we’ll be right back. 

  

Okay guys, we are back and I’m gonna tell you these are the things that have earned a place in my clutter free home and I’m just gonna tell you my favorite brands will link them in the show notes So if you want to check them out on Amazon or other places you’re able to do that So my favorite why can’t you the right container matters? These things are not cheap. Let’s be really honest. ? I I love a good container 

  

Tonya Kubo (27:18) 

True. 

  

Kathi Lipp (27:23) 

But when I went to go order my long-term pantry storage containers, I said, yeah, I’ll be doing that in three months once I saved up, because that’s how not cheap they were. But I’m glad I invested, because they look better, they seal better, and all of that. ? I want something that’s durable, stackable, and versatile. ? I also like to be able to wash those out in my… 

  

Tonya Kubo (27:35) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (27:53) 

dishwasher and so I will tell you you have to turn your heater off and I am not guaranteeing that any of these things are going to be ? Dishwasher safe for you, but I’ve come to a place where I’m using hot water in my dishwasher But turning the heater element off so that it’s not melting things because I have melted and I didn’t cry but I did feel tears forming in my eyes 

  

Tonya Kubo (28:14) 

Hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (28:22) 

So let me tell you my three favorites. So this is for the long-term pantry storage I love the OXO good grips pop containers. Do you know what I’m talking about Tonya? I 

  

Tonya Kubo (28:35) 

Of course I have them because I tried them out at your house and so I have them at my house now. This is 

  

going to be a very short segment for us, Kathi, because you’re going be like, hey, Tonya, have you heard of these? I’m like, yes, actually I have. I own them. 

  

Kathi Lipp (28:45) 

Okay, the 

  

the third one may be a surprise for you the third one Okay, so because I don’t know that I’ve ever shared those with you. Yeah guys, you’ve probably seen these they’re clear containers I have them in both my ? I have them in white and in like stainless steel they look great and They are durable in the dishwasher again with the heater element off 

  

Tonya Kubo (28:49) 

Okay. 

  

Kathi Lipp (29:15) 

and they keep things fresh. And I don’t have a ton of storage. Maybe other people might think, you have a ton of storage, Kathi. For me, it doesn’t feel like a ton of storage. So I need to use that storage space as smartly as possible. And these are all squares or rectangles, and they are great. And you like them as well, right? I know you have them, you like them. You’re not feeling like you wanna try something different. 

  

Tonya Kubo (29:36) 

Yep, I do, I do. 

  

No, but I will say that, you know, because they do that vacuum kind of seal thing, but you can’t overfill your container. So we’ve had some issues with the cinnamon toast crunch not being willing to seal, which just means everybody eats cinnamon toast crunch for dinner. Really is what happens. We have to make the space. 

  

Kathi Lipp (29:46) 

Yes. Yes. 

  

It’s so true. Yes. 

  

Yes, I love that. I love that plan. It’s a use it up plan. And I label those again with my little labeler. I love them. Okay, my fridge storage are the Rubbermaid Brilliance food storage containers. So these are clear on top clear on the sides. And they have like gray handles, they have a gasket all the way around. So when you press it down, it seals and then they have ? 

  

Handles on both sides that click down and I have dropped those on the floor Not a problem. They do not leak. They do not let odors in or out. So Love me some of those ? Do you have those as well Tonya? 

  

Tonya Kubo (30:45) 

I do. ? My Kubo girls though are hard on things. So they have managed to like get the sides those like tabs. They can break those off. And so you do have to be careful. But I find like that wasn’t a problem on the ones that I used exclusively. I’m just gonna say. Not that I blame people. I’m just saying I did not have that challenge. 

  

Kathi Lipp (30:50) 

? 

  

? yeah. 

  

Mmm, yeah. 

  

They have different dexterity than people our age. And you know what? Here’s the thing is I get older, I’m going to get back into a dropping stage. So, you know, everything that is new goes around again. I love these. Again, neither of these I’m talking about are cheap. I’m just admitting it, guys. But I’ve also not wanted to rebuy, rebuy, rebuy, rebuy. And I feel like they’re such an investment because they keep the food longer. And so I’m not throwing food away. 

  

Tonya Kubo (31:10) 

Hahaha 

  

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (31:36) 

And so I use these for Roger’s chips for crackers all sorts of things. They keep things that I like a crunch and you know when your cinnamon toast crunch doesn’t have a crunch anymore It’s not as enjoyable. I’m not gonna lie Okay, so my favorite thing that I do for on the go storage. It’s a ? A brand called bent go so it’s like bento but been good. you’ve used it before Tonya 

  

Tonya Kubo (31:50) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah, for lunch containers for the girls. 

  

Kathi Lipp (32:06) 

I love their stuff. I love it. 

  

Tonya Kubo (32:08) 

Yeah, it’s really, 

  

really nice, except that I not going to lie, I threw an adult size temper tantrum when they didn’t come home for summer break last year. Because they’re they’re like a little too pricey for me to want to replace twice a year. 

  

Kathi Lipp (32:17) 

I don’t blame you. Okay. 

  

Yeah, okay. So the ones I bought and let me know if these are the same. It’s a 20 20 pack now when they say a 20 pack what they mean Is the bottom of the container and the top so you’re getting 10 units? and so So if you’re expecting 20 of these it’s not going to happen guys, but so 10 units for $14, excuse me 

  

Tonya Kubo (32:40) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (32:52) 

It comes out to be about a $1.40 apiece, I think. 

  

Tonya Kubo (32:55) 

? that’s 

  

a really good deal. What we got was they were specific for school lunches. And so it was the bottom, the top, was some accessories for like dipping sauces and then like a, a tote and a drink. 

  

Kathi Lipp (33:00) 

Okay. 

  

Okay, so 

  

here’s what I’m imagining because mine you would not want these in a backpack if it had like spaghetti or Something a little bit wet in it. So I I think bento makes a lot of different things So you probably have the foo foo shishi ones and these I got I actually got these at Sam’s Club ? in a pack some of them were just one compartment some of them were two compartments and 

  

Tonya Kubo (33:14) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (33:37) 

? Than three compartments and ? and Tonya Tonya hold up what you’ve got there I know you were trying to you were trying to be sneaky 

  

Tonya Kubo (33:43) 

Oh, well, I was like, hold on. was trying to 

  

show you something and then it was like big pop over ad that just keeps happening on my thing. But there we go. Yes, it says claim your $10 off. I would really like it if it would let me exit. OK, well, there you go. So that little like $46 one. 

  

Kathi Lipp (33:53) 

Okay. 

  

But you found a discount. 

  

Nice. 

  

Okay. ? nice! Okay. 

  

Tonya Kubo (34:12) 

is what we had. 

  

Kathi Lipp (34:12) 

Okay. And so 

  

this is from the actual company. So we will put the Amazon link and the Bintco ? link in there as well. Cause we love to save a little cash. love that. Yeah. This is perfect for meal prep, lunches, snacks, you guys, if you’re taking food to work or, you know, sending it off to a friend, something like that. I think that these would be great. ? If you know somebody who has had a baby and you’re bringing dinner. 

  

Tonya Kubo (34:24) 

I love saving cash. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (34:42) 

And to do ? a few of these for family members so everybody can have their own. Beautiful, beautiful. And we also use them for like, we’ll do a snack-cuterie. So like here’s a few crackers, here’s some ? grapes or orange slices, that kind of thing. It makes us really happy. Snackle box, I’ve seen that before. It’s so cute. Choosing the right container really does help simplify this. 

  

Tonya Kubo (34:55) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

We call that a snackle box. 

  

Kathi Lipp (35:12) 

You’re not spending and guys, okay This is gonna be my last thing and now I know some of you are gonna write me and say Kathi must be nice to have all the money. I get it Sometimes we are able to buy ourselves out of solution But can I tell you one of the best things I’ve ever done was get rid of all my random Tupperware rubber made Bing-bob-boom ? Because it was frustrating me so much and I just went all in 

  

Tonya Kubo (35:39) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (35:41) 

on this Rubbermaid Brilliance. It made all the difference in the world. I am not constantly hunting for the right ? lid to the right thing. It just works. ? I hope this episode’s given you some practical tips, inspiration to organize your food storage. Guys, if you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe wherever you love to listen to podcasts or share it with a friend who could use a little help in the kitchen. 

  

Don’t forget to tune in next time. We want you to be able to organize your spaces without feeling overwhelmed. That is our goal here. Thanks so much for hanging out with us. You’ve been listening to Clutter-Free Academy. I’m Kathi Lipp. Now, go create the clutter-free life you’ve always wanted to live. 

 

 

More Posts 

#672 – From Pantry to Plate: The Secret to Smart Food Storage

#671 – Sentimental Clutter: Finding Freedom in Letting Go

#671 – Sentimental Clutter: Finding Freedom in Letting Go

Kathi Lipp returns with Tonya Kubo and Tenneil Register to address a common challenge faced by those on the clutter-free journey: sentimental items. In this insightful episode, the trio tackles the emotional weight of inherited belongings and the guilt that often accompanies letting go. Through personal stories and heartfelt advice, listeners will find encouragement and practical ideas for memorializing loved ones without drowning in clutter. Tonya and Tenneil offer creative solutions and emphasize that true memories don’t reside in things but in the stories and connections we cherish. Tune in to gain a fresh perspective on organizing keepsakes that celebrate the lives of those we’ve loved and lost. 

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

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Meet Our Co-Host

 

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Tonya Kubo Picture

Meet Our Co-Host

 

Tenneil Register

Tenneil Register can be found creating, repurposing, decorating, gardening and welcoming guests to their reclaimed barn storefront. She and her husband, Cowboy, established rural roots for their blended family of 7 in their DIY ranch home in Iowa. Connect with her on Instagram for practical ideas to reclaim your home.

Tonya Kubo Picture
Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:09) 

Hey friends, welcome to clutter free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps every day to live with less clutter and more life and we are back here for our three part series of sentimental items because Tonya Tonya Tenneil and I have all talked about this recently where when Tonya you were doing the clutter free Bible study and you said that people were really struggling with their sentimental items. Is that correct? 

  

Tonya Kubo (00:36) 

Yeah, that is 100 

  

% correct. 

  

Kathi Lipp (00:40) 

Was it more their own stuff, their kid’s stuff, or stuff that has maybe been passed down from people that they love? All the above. Okay, we’re not doing any special treatment for anybody. It’s just all the things. Yeah, you know, all three of us have had to go through this at one point or another. I’ve lost my dad. Tonya, you’ve lost your mom. And, Tenille, you lost a sibling recently. And so… 

  

Tonya Kubo (00:48) 

All of the above. Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (01:09) 

? We are all coming to this with some practical Application and you know, Tonya, I’ve never really thought about this before But I’m just gonna get and this wasn’t something I prepped for the show But you know, I don’t think you care. You’ll let me come at you. Is it different? I wonder because you and I have both lost a hoarder as I just wonder 

  

Tonya Kubo (01:34) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (01:38) 

I have not personally, like, but you know, my mom’s not a hoarder, my dad was. I haven’t been able to compare and contrast that. That is not your situation either. Do you think that there’s a different level of guilt or do you think there’s a different level? I don’t know. I’m just, I’m, you can tell I’m exploring this in my brain in real life time, but I always know you have such good wisdom. What’s your immediate thought to this? 

  

Tonya Kubo (02:01) 

Yeah. 

  

It is a different type of hard and let me I’ll give you the sort of what I have come to because you’re right I don’t have the personal experience of Having to clean up after one relative who was a hoarder and one who wasn’t but you know Brian lost his dad before we met and ? Because I am so closely connected to our Clutter Free community, right? I talked to them a lot about what they’re dealing with and so the difference is 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:10) 

Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (02:35) 

is the first difference that’s a big one for those of us with a hoarding background is the volume we have to manage when our loved one dies. There’s a volume that nobody else can ever understand that we go through. So there’s that piece that makes it different. But in terms of the sentimental items, those of us, depending on where our loved one was on the hoarding spectrum, 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:44) 

Yeah. ? amen. Yeah. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:04) 

In some cases, is actually there is a large volume of stuff that is usable, good condition, yada, yada, yada. And then on, you in my mother’s case, there was actually very, very little that was usable. I mean, so much had just been destroyed and eaten away and rotted. So that’s different. So there’s that piece. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:27) 

Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:30) 

that makes it different. And then the other that I would say is our folks who don’t come from a hoarding background, a lot of times part of why the sentimental items are such a struggle is because they have these very acute memories of the sacrifice that their parent or their sibling went through to keep this stuff over the years. And they feel like they are a bad daughter, bad son, bad sister, bad whatever to not 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:50) 

Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:59) 

have the energy, the time, or even the desire to go through that same level of sacrifice. 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:04) 

Yeah, you know, it’s very interesting. I think ? not always, but many times this does fall to the oldest daughter. And I’m an oldest daughter. Tonya, you’re an old you’re you’re only child. So oldest, you’re all the thing. You’re you’re the middle of the youngest. Tenneil I don’t know. I know you have a sister. Where do you fall? 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:20) 

I’m all the things, all the things over here. 

  

Tenneil (04:28) 

Yeah, so I’m the second in my overall family, but I am also the oldest in some ways. 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:35) 

Well, and I would say it’s being the oldest daughter and it also tends to fall to the daughter who lives the closest. 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:44) 

Yes, absolutely. Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (04:44) 

That’s where I have 

  

been a lot of times. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:49) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:50) 

Yeah, the one who’s closest. Well, this is part of the reason that we have ? our clutter-free creative counselor, Tenille Register here, who has walked this road, but also has great ideas for us to honor the loved ones with meaning and intention. And you’ve done some really beautiful things in your own life. So ? we’re very grateful you’re here, Tenille. 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:53) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Tenneil (05:15) 

I’m glad to be here. 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:18) 

Yeah, okay. So 

  

here’s the first thing I want to talk about is the emotional weight of inherited items. ? Because they do have a weight to them, right? We get things, whether sometimes they are passed down, sometimes they are left behind. ? Tonya, I have to imagine that a lot of your stuff as with my stuff, it wasn’t so much passed down to me. There wasn’t intention with it being passed down. 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:46) 

Mm-mm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:47) 

It was more of like, well, there’s their stuff. Same for you. Yeah. OK. Yeah. And so ? I think there was a real issue for me not knowing what my dad wanted done with some of these things and, you know, not thinking to ask those questions until he really couldn’t answer it. ? You know what? Where does that guilt come from, Tonya? When 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:51) 

Yep, exactly. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:14) 

where things that haven’t been specifically passed down to us and we’re trying to sort through all this stuff. What do you think is running through people’s heads with that guilt? 

  

Tonya Kubo (06:23) 

Well, I think if it hasn’t been intentionally passed down, right? I mean, first of all, there’s this belief that there must have been a reason for them keeping it. And because I don’t know the reason, I can’t make the right decision on what to do with it. That’s a big one. Another piece of guilt is, you know, my, like what I’ve heard a lot in our group is my parents had such meager circumstances. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:33) 

Mmm. 

  

Tonya Kubo (06:50) 

but they made a point to move this through three different houses. So who am I to get rid of it? And so there’s that, that’s a heavy weight, right? Because what you’re really doing is you’re carrying the burden of your parents decision-making there. And like though you can make a different decision, some people don’t feel free to make the different decision. And then the other piece, and I go back to this, nobody has said this in the group recently, but it… 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:50) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:19) 

was it came from a deep place of pain. And I think that just because people haven’t said it out loud doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. They actually believe what they do with the item is akin to what they do to the person. And so I have heard things like to get rid of my brother’s sweaters would be to kill him all over again. 

  

Kathi Lipp (07:34) 

Yeah. 

  

my gosh, okay, that’s deep. Yeah. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:42) 

Like, but that is the depth of the feeling. And I’ve heard that several times. 

  

Like when I was doing my free sale and I was getting rid of this angel collection I had, I’ve talked about the angel collection for years, people were like, that is like you are destroying the generosity of every person who gave that, gave one of those angels to you. 

  

Kathi Lipp (07:54) 

Yeah. 

  

? 

  

Tonya Kubo (08:06) 

And but the thing is, is I don’t get offended, right? Because I know the pain that that is coming from. They’re not they’re projecting their own hurt, their own tenderness onto me. And I don’t have to accept that. But I mean, this is this is how cluttery people feel many times that keeps them holding on to things that they don’t even really. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:15) 

Yes. 

  

Yes. 

  

Right, absolutely. You know, it’s so interesting. Am I erasing that person if I get rid of this item? And you know, it’s very interesting to me because my kids only know my grandparents through items. You know, I think, you know, my youngest grandparent died when my son was, you know, probably five and didn’t live anywhere near us. And so, you know, but we have to 

  

Tonya Kubo (08:49) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:02) 

Curate that because as much as we don’t want clutter our kids Do not want clutter all my kids in their 30s like now I will say that my girls have wanted some very specific things like one of my girls like If you ever get rid of that purple chair, I’ll take that purple chair and she said that to me like eight times I’m like, know what? I think you’re gonna enjoy this purple chair more than I will and like, you know some things that were super practical but 

  

Tonya Kubo (09:09) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:31) 

They don’t want stuff from their great grandparents that they’ve never met. That’s not how they are living. I’m holding onto a couple of things from my grandfather to my son, but they’re small. There’s like a football ring and things like that. ? yeah, Tonya, go ahead. 

  

Tonya Kubo (09:34) 

Mm-mm. Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

There’s just one more aspect that I, because I think Tenille’s gonna have a really good insight on this, so I wanna bring it up. So this came up recently in the Bible study, which is, because to your point about as much as we don’t want the clutter our kids don’t, is trying to work, we’ve got several members who walk this walk. They try to get their parents to declutter and downsize while their parents were alive. And their parents very, 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:56) 

Yeah, yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:16) 

freely and unapologetically said, why would I do that? That’s your problem when I’m gone. And now they’re in a place where the parent is gone. They have to clear through it all and they are angry. And what they’re realizing is whereas one person might say, well, I’m so angry. I’m backing up a dumpster and it’s just all gonna go. They’re so angry that they don’t feel like they can. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:22) 

Cool. 

  

yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:41) 

objectively process through the clutter and so it’s taking them even longer and then that just makes them angry. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:43) 

Hmm. 

  

Yeah, when we have people come into the clutter free for life group, our paid group, I would say at least a third of them are saying they don’t want to leave this mess behind for their kids. And so that’s what I love. Okay, Tenneil, we’re going to get you back in here. let me ask one of the things that I have realized through, you know, looking at my grandparents stuff, we’ve lost ? all four of Roger’s parents because we had, you know, steps and things like that. 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:53) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:17) 

is that it’s not the stuff, it’s the story. Like what’s the story that I want my kids or Roger’s kids to know about these people who have passed on? So how do we tell that story? Because we can’t sum up a whole life, but we can leave our kids with a narrative of these people that they come from. 

  

Tenneil (11:42) 

And listening to Tonya talk about the reasons that people struggle with this stuff, it is even more important that we figure out how to take what I heard over and over, Tonya, is a thread of guilt and turn it into a story, right, of joy and remembering and even that grief story. So I think there’s something to be said for physically, tangibly. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:45) 

. 

  

Tenneil (12:10) 

not just having the object, but doing something with the object that says, I’ve moved through the guilt, I’ve moved through the pain, and this is what I’m taking from this person’s life. And not just what the story of their life was, but how it intersects with ours. And so I think there’s a lot of hands on ways we can do that because we don’t want them to be just a memory, right? 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:25) 

Yes, yes, absolutely. 

  

Tenneil (12:33) 

We want their story to have its shape in our life, whether our memories of them are positive or not. They still have helped shape who we are. So how do we take some tangible objects and reflect that shaping? 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:46) 

Okay, I want to know how you’re doing this, Tenille. And I think one thing, Tonya and I got some feedback the other day from one of our previous episodes, we were talking about memories and how I kept a footprint of one of my chickens in my underwear drawer. I think, and Tonya, what was it that you kept in your drawer? I’m trying to remember. Baby teeth, that’s right. We talked about that last time. 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:11) 

? baby teeth. 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:15) 

The baby teeth are a recurring theme here. But here’s what I’m wondering. Do cluttery people not feel that their memories are worth having a space to keep them? Why am I keeping these next to my underwear? That’s my big question. Like I’ve never had like 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:17) 

It’s always the baby teeth. 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:38) 

like a chest, a memory chest or anything like that. A hope chest, that’s what I was trying to say. I’ve never had a box where I keep all my, like, why do I think that my memories are not important enough to preserve in a special way? I don’t know, I’m getting very deep in this episode. I don’t know. Yeah, Tenille, please address this, come on, help me. 

  

Tenneil (13:41) 

Yes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:42) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Tenneil (14:02) 

some of it is decision paralysis, right, which is what really affects us about clutter, right, is this weight of the decision, right, where am I going to keep these things? And so I think when we can put these things in a visible place, in a practical way that influences our life, then we kind of take some of that decision out about where to store it or where to keep it. 

  

Kathi Lipp (14:06) 

Mmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (14:29) 

even honestly if we get too caught up in where to hang it, right? Or how to frame it. We’re going to get stuck in any of those places. And so I like to really keep it tangible and simple and also changeable, right? We’re not making a monument here. If we hang it on the wall in the kitchen and it works until we redecorate the kitchen, that’s okay. We are not making monuments here. We are just learning to live with the pieces 

  

Kathi Lipp (14:29) 

Hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Right. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (14:58) 

of someone else’s story that have crossed our path. So this can look like a seasonal decor item and just really getting creative. Like when do I think about this person? If it’s grandma and you think about her in the kitchen or, you know, like I have a memory with my sibling ? who was not ? like mechanical or carpentry. 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:02) 

Thank you. 

  

Hmm. 

  

Tenneil (15:24) 

but he was available and so he helped me repair my falling down flower bed, right? And so it’s not like gardening that connects them to me, but this like section of the garden I actually hate, his willingness to stick it out in the heat and figure it out with me are there, right? And so this year I’m gonna plant something purple, his favorite color, near that section of the flower bed. If my flowers die, it’s okay. That’s not my brother. 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:51) 

Mm-hmm. Right, 

  

right. 

  

Tenneil (15:54) 

That’s 

  

my memory of him being there for me, right? And so those are some examples of simple ways, like where am I when I think of this person? What are the connections I feel? 

  

Kathi Lipp (16:06) 

And I think the other question there is where am I most likely to tell their story? So like to tell the story to your kids, you know, when he was helping me with this garden, I knew that was love because he didn’t like to do stuff like that, but he just wanted to be near me. I think those are some great criteria for that. ? And I’ve talked about this in other places. Like I have something of my dad’s that is connected to both of us. 

  

It’s his first paycheck when he worked at the library for 40 cents an hour, you know, his first paycheck was like 720, $7.20. But you know, because 

   

having something that is I love what you said. It’s not just about the person. It’s about your connection to the person. I love that. Okay. So it’s what you’re seeing is make that memory active. Like put it into place. Yes. 

  

Tenneil (17:02) 

Yes, and 

  

use the things. Like sometimes we’re so scared if all we have left is grandma’s dishes, we don’t want to break them, right? So we don’t use them. Grandma doesn’t want you to live like that, right? And so use those dishes at your gathering. If there’s a tool that you kept of your dads or your grandpas, use it every now and then. Like I just really think that it’s important that it becomes a real and 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:16) 

Yeah, right. 

  

Tenneil (17:31) 

part of your life in any way that it can. 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:35) 

Love it, love it. I love the idea of honoring someone by living with the items. Okay, when we come back, I want to talk about some memorial projects because I think this is what people think of mostly when it comes to what do I do with their things? And so I know that you’ll have some great ideas about that. You’re gonna help me and Tonya out here a bunch. So we’re gonna take a commercial break and then come right back. 

  

Tonya Kubo (17:52) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:05) 

Okay, we are back and Tenneil is going to solve all of our problems about what to do with those keepsakes. Tonya, did you have anything from your mom that you were able to use to memorialize her? Was there anything that you were able to keep as a keepsake or was that just not something you were able to do? 

  

Tonya Kubo (18:27) 

Yeah, that’s an interesting question. So the things that I kept that I was able to keep. So she still had my grandfather’s wallet from when he died at the hospital. She still had the bag of stuff, of his stuff, but the wallet was still in good condition. Everything else wasn’t. So I have that. I have my grandfather’s old milking stool from the 1930s. 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:37) 

? cool. 

  

Mm, okay. 

  

? 

  

how cool. 

  

Tonya Kubo (18:56) 

It’s absolutely not usable, right? ? But I still have it because it’s cool. ? And then ? there was a small container of ceramics that I had done when I was in like the second grade. So those are really like all that was usable because my mom, because of how advanced her hoarding was, there were no keepsakes. There was no jewelry. You my mom never married, so there wasn’t a wedding set. There wasn’t a locket. 

  

Kathi Lipp (19:00) 

Yeah. Yeah. 

  

No. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (19:25) 

Nothing 

  

like that. She had some of her writings, but even her recipe box, which I loved when I was little, it was completely, all the recipes were mildewed and the paper had disintegrated. So that would have been something I would have loved to have kept. That probably would have been my absolute favorite thing to have kept. It just wasn’t in a condition where I could. 

  

Kathi Lipp (19:31) 

? 

  

Yeah, but you’ve got the memory, so that’s good. I love that you have the memory. Okay, Tenille, we need some ideas. We cluttery people are very good with a project when it’s low hanging fruit. It can’t be too complicated, it can’t be too crazy. So give us some ideas, all right? 

  

Tonya Kubo (19:51) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Tenneil (20:09) 

Okay, so one trend that I love when it comes to fabric is we’re starting to see taking just a little piece of it. So like we’ve got grandma’s wedding dress or a baptism gown or these things. I grew up in a home where these things hung in the closet turning yellow and you were the evil one if you decided to throw these things away, right? So we’re starting to see where they’re cutting out just a bit of lace from it. 

  

Tonya Kubo (20:23) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (20:27) 

Right. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (20:35) 

And they’re having that piece of lace sewn into their dress or onto their veil or things like that. So I think that’s a huge shift is that we don’t have to take the whole object. It can be just a piece of the object. So I think that is really important. And then looking, I mean, the most common is when you can plant something in it, right? So we’re talking teacups, ladles, even like, 

  

an old can from the garage, right? Lots of grandpas kept every can under the sun, full of all the different nails and the objects and stuff. And if your conversations with grandpa happened in that workshop, right? It’s okay to get rid of all of his stuff and then hold on to one of those rusty cans, right? And plant a little something in it or use it to hold your pens and pencils on your desk. Like let their real memory stand out. It doesn’t have to be of 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:08) 

Hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (21:23) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:23) 

Right? 

  

Tenneil (21:34) 

? like monetary value. If it makes sense to you, then it makes sense. 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:38) 

Right. Right. 

  

I’ve got to dig out that Hillsbrothers coffee can, you know, ? because we have a couple of those and I’ve always kept them outside and they would look so cool inside. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I think that that’s really, really key is it doesn’t have to be of great monetary value. We have something that I just have to tell you about it. It’s so cool. And I’m sure both of you have seen it in our house, but you may not have known what it was. 

  

My grandmother loved popcorn, loved popcorn. And she has a popcorn popper. It’s this long metal kind of, don’t know. It looks like, I don’t even know what it looks like, but it’s an old fashioned popcorn popper that we have. 

  

I love it so much because we could use it to pop popcorn and we will someday. We haven’t done it yet, but we will someday. And it makes me so happy to think about my grandmother, even though I never popped popcorn with her, the joy is there. And by the way, Roger loves popcorn. Like that’s his favorite thing in the world. So it intersects, even though she never got to meet him, she would have loved him. Yeah, so that’s what it brings up for me. So I love that. 

  

when you’re saying it doesn’t have to be a value, but it’s a value to you because of the memory. 

  

Tenneil (23:04) 

Yeah, and like taking that coffee can one step further, if it has a lid that’s open and closed, then if you have like little sugar or creamer packets that you only get out every once in a while, storing those in there so it also like is super functional rather than just decorative can be a really big one. Another great one is to take like a wood planer tool. So it’s like a chunk of wood, you know. 

  

Kathi Lipp (23:13) 

you 

  

Yeah? 

  

Tenneil (23:31) 

And you can turn that into a bookend or there’s like a little hole on the top of those that’s perfect for a test tube. And then you can use it for like starting plants, right? Now you have a piece of art and this like talking piece all from this thing. And also I think a really big one is think outside the box. We tend to think like, where can I put this in my living room? I feel like that’s just what we go to for memory things. 

  

Kathi Lipp (23:42) 

Yes! 

  

Tenneil (23:57) 

but it doesn’t have to be limited to that. It can be as simple as keeping the clothes pins and using those clothes pins to hang a few things on the wall in the laundry room. Right? Like you just can be so simple in how we do these things. 

  

Kathi Lipp (24:08) 

Wow, I love that. 

  

Here’s what I love that so many of the things that you’re speaking of ? are for men. Because I think it’s easier for us to figure out what we’re going to do with grandma’s apron. But dads, dads can be hard. Grandpas can be hard. 

  

Tonya Kubo (24:14) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Tenneil (24:28) 

I didn’t, when you were talking about cleaning out your loved ones things, I have this unique experience where I had to clean out all of my dad’s belongings and I would say he was borderline hoarder and while he was still living, but without his say in it. And so I’m gonna go through that whole process of wondering whether I was doing the right things for them. Now I’m 20 years down the road and he’s starting to accumulate things again. 

  

Kathi Lipp (24:44) 

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Wow. 

  

Tenneil (24:55) 

But I have very firmly given him like square footage boundaries. He can only feel that space because I don’t want to go through that whole process more than once. 

  

Kathi Lipp (24:59) 

Yeah 

  

And it 

  

is a process. And I can’t even imagine with the person still being alive and going through that process and them coming back to say, wait, you got rid of blank? my goodness. And it’s like, ? yeah. Okay, so I know that we’ve all seen some of the things ? online where ? you make it into a teddy bear, you make it into a t-shirt quilt. 

  

I will tell you one of the things that I saw recently that I loved. ? One of my friends, her father passed away and he always wore flannel shirts. She took a heart out of his flannel shirt and sewed it to the inside of her jacket. And I just thought, what a clever way of keeping him close to you without having to keep hundreds of shirts. 

  

Tonya Kubo (25:56) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (26:01) 

because I think there were dozens of shirts. Let me not exaggerate. There were dozens of shirts, but if there were 200, I wouldn’t be surprised. But to take a couple of those things, a couple of those shirts and cut out the hearts and put those in places where you’re gonna see it over and over again. And one of things I thought about and she is gonna do now, which I think is really cool, is she is sewing one of those hearts onto the front of a pillow. 

  

that she can keep in her, I think it’s her living room or maybe it’s her study. But I just think what a simple way, you don’t have to keep the whole shirt. You can use that as the basis of something. What about donations? ? Now, Tonya, I know you didn’t have a lot to donate. Like we went through a lot with my dad because my dad had a lot of collections. So, and of course, you my mom, you know, here we are 10 years out. 

  

Tonya Kubo (26:51) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (26:57) 

It’s so weird why I remember the year he died. It’s the same year that the clutter free came out. And for some reason, I have to put those two things together to be able to remember it. But it’s been 10 years out and my mom just gave away his stamp collection because that was 50 years of them being together. Let’s not always say agreeing on the stamps because when I say a stamp collection, we’re talking 

  

Tonya Kubo (27:22) 

Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (27:26) 

crates and crates and crates of stamps. But it was such an intricate part of who he was. And so ? we did some donations there. We did some tool donations. did a, ? we did put some ads, some places about people could pick things up if they were interested in them. But he had very specific things, not of a great deal of value. Like if you saw them guys, you would be like, ? maybe not. 

  

But I know Tenneil would be able to come up with things to decorate with. But not high value, but for some people, they might have been high value ? because they are very interested in that niche. And so I think about those kind of donations things, but I also think about in Tonya’s case where there wasn’t a lot left to 

  

to remember them by, know, is there, what are things that we can do? I love your idea, Tenille, of planting something, because if Tonya’s mom had a favorite flower or a favorite color, you can find that somehow. Are there any other things that you can think of to memorial? Or maybe you don’t live close to that person. Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (28:45) 

Right. So I 

  

was thinking that earlier, like ? when I sell vintage things, ? one of the things that I sell is like thermos, old vintage thermos. And I’ve had several people buy those because it looked like the one that their dad had. And then they incorporate that into the decor. And so because our connection is to the memory and honoring that person’s legacy, it doesn’t have to be their exact object. 

  

Kathi Lipp (29:00) 

? yeah. 

  

Tenneil (29:13) 

Also thinking outside the box. So when I lost my sibling, we have his childhood items, but we, he did not own any possessions of his own when he passed, he was living homeless. trying to figure out how to process that, right? In the place where we did us a memorial where he was found, there was like a dried Spanish moss hanging off of the tree growing on the fence and scattered. 

  

Kathi Lipp (29:24) 

Hmm. Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (29:43) 

on the ground there. And so I took some of that Spanish moss that I could bring home and just put in a little bowl, right, as a little bit of a memory. And so thinking outside of the box, or if the person loved to go hiking, come up with, you know, a little bowl of pine cones or something like that. So we can kind of recreate if we’re in a situation, let’s face it, families can get really ugly in the process of dividing up things. 

  

Kathi Lipp (30:10) 

Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (30:13) 

And so if you didn’t end up with grandma’s recipe box and that broke your heart, look around, make vintage shopping and adventure and find one that’s maybe similar or represents the same thing. And the other value that that has is if you do have these odd objects that you’re like holding onto because I want to use it, but I’m not sure what to do with it. I say, find your local vintage shops that are especially decorative. 

  

Kathi Lipp (30:13) 

Yeah. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (30:41) 

because a lot of times you’ll go in and you’ll see an idea. Countless times ? do I hear people say, ? my goodness, I have one of those in the garage from my grandma or grandpa and I never knew what to do with it and now I’m gonna bring toolbox in and put my grandkids colored pencils in it and they’re coloring the toolbox at the ready, right? So those are the things. 

  

Kathi Lipp (30:41) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Bye. 

  

Yes. 

  

? you just sparked something 

  

for Tonya. You just sparks. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (31:08) 

love that idea! That’s such 

  

a great idea! 

  

Kathi Lipp (31:12) 

I love that so much. Tonya, I want to come back to you because I feel like many of us who are cluttery, we struggle with the conversations around items. Where do you think that that stress mostly comes from for our people? 

  

Tonya Kubo (31:29) 

Well, what do mean by the conversations around the items? 

  

Kathi Lipp (31:31) 

Like, 

  

what do, when you pass, what do want me to do with this? When I pass, do you want to have this? I guess if the, I guess my question is, is there an easier way to get into those conversations that you have heard from our group? I know my mom was very bold and said, I’m putting Post-it notes under everything I want you to make sure you don’t sell. 

  

Tonya Kubo (31:36) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (31:57) 

So like, 

  

I love that she brought it up because it’s very awkward for me to bring up. Let’s be clear. 

  

Tonya Kubo (32:02) 

Yeah, I would agree. It’s always easier if the parent brings it up to the kids or like, it’s much easier for you to bring up what you want them to do after you’re gone than it is for them to bring up what you want me to do with this after you’re gone. But I would also say that there are some kids that really struggle with their parents’ mortality. And so you kind of have to like weigh the pros and cons. Like, not… 

  

Kathi Lipp (32:13) 

Yeah. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Mmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (32:30) 

all kids want to have the conversation with you. But what you can do, so let’s just say that you can’t have the conversation. Well, you can do what your mom did, right? And do post-it notes or even, ? I knew somebody who did a label maker, right? And just did labels underneath and they just, they put the name of the person they wanted it to go to. And then they had a journal that, and it was in an envelope that was like open when I die sort of thing. 

  

Kathi Lipp (32:33) 

Yeah. 

  

Yeah. Okay. 

  

I love that. 

  

Tonya Kubo (32:57) 

But in that journal was like, the things that I haven’t specifically designated, here’s what I think you should do with it. And here are the things that if you think I care about these things, I just need you to know you’re wrong. Like I don’t care what you do with this. 

  

Kathi Lipp (32:57) 

Yes. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah, okay. 

  

Okay, 

  

that’s such a great statement. If you think I care about this, you’re wrong. I love that. Yes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (33:15) 

Right? 

  

Yeah, there 

  

was like one item that it was a military family and so they had moved it from places and the person was just like, look, I’m sure you think because we moved it to so many places, it was really, really special. It was really, really special to me, but I don’t see this being of any use to either of you kids. Now, if I’m wrong, fine. 

  

Kathi Lipp (33:32) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yes. ? 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (33:44) 

But just so you know, there’s like something, if you’re like, don’t know what to do with this, don’t feel like you have to like run a storage unit for it. We’re good. 

  

Kathi Lipp (33:50) 

I 

  

love that. Yes, there is nothing that I own that my kids should be paying rent on. I love that. Yeah. And you know, we had a terrible thing happen in our family when my husband’s stepfather, so my stepfather-in-law, I don’t know, ? you know, he graduated from Princeton. He was a doctor of philosophy. ? He had a chair from Princeton. 

  

Tonya Kubo (33:57) 

Right. 

  

Kathi Lipp (34:19) 

And the people who were closest proximity wise was my brother-in-law. And so he contacted everybody in the family and said, who would like this chair from Princeton? And everybody said no. So he donated it. And then like four months later, somebody said, you know what? I’ve changed my mind. I want that chair. And he’s, I didn’t keep it. And like, I don’t blame my brother-in-law for getting rid of it. 

  

Tonya Kubo (34:24) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right. Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (34:45) 

You said you didn’t want it and 

  

people are going to be listening to this and saying Kathi Why didn’t you bring it home? It would have had to have been shipped like it was a whole thing. So there was ? Yes, we can’t keep everything forever 

  

Tonya Kubo (34:58) 

No, and I just want to offer you a flip side to that story because similar was Brian’s dad’s truck, which they kept for a while because it’s like all of them agreed. Brian’s mom, sister and him agreed. It’s nice to have a truck, right? Like in the family. And if it doesn’t belong to any one of us and we all share it, this is kind of like nice to keep around. It makes sense to renew the registration. And everybody agreed it would live. It lived at his sister’s house for a long time. Then it lived at his mom’s house. Well, his mom 

  

Kathi Lipp (35:05) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah, right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Tonya Kubo (35:27) 

was not appreciating it living in her house. Quiet like his sister enjoyed it living in her house. And so his mom put out the call, know, like asked us if we wanted to keep it, because if we wanted to keep it, she was fine with it. She’d pay the registration. It was this whole thing. And Brian’s sister was like different phase of life now, like, no, like I can’t store it, can’t do this. We were like, yeah, we just don’t see that that makes sense for us. So his mom said, okay, well, I’m selling it. Kathi, there must have been. 

  

Kathi Lipp (35:29) 

Okay. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (35:57) 

a dozen times in the following five years where somebody in the family would be like, dad’s truck would really come in handy right now. But here’s the thing, it was as so funny as they would say, ? dad’s truck would have come in really handy right now. And then they were like, but the idea of storing it to get to right now, right? But they would laugh because everybody acknowledged we had the chance, we were given the choice, didn’t make sense. 

  

Kathi Lipp (36:04) 

Ha 

  

Right? Yeah, exactly. 

  

Yep. 

  

Tonya Kubo (36:23) 

I of regret it right now, but don’t regret it enough to wish we’d had it for the last so many years. 

  

Kathi Lipp (36:27) 

Exactly. And you know what? Dad’s truck served when it needed to serve and then you could figure out other things. Guys, I just want to wrap us up by saying this, that if there is no other circumstance where quantity is lesser than quality, it’s in the memories of our people. And, you know, I also want you to know when that person has passed, 

  

Tonya Kubo (36:31) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (36:55) 

They don’t know what you’ve done with their stuff. And they didn’t always have an accurate perception of what was important to you. I think it’s really interesting when my kids bring up childhood memories and I’m like, going to the train station is your favorite memory. What about Disneyland that we spent thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars on? No, it was going to the train station. So let’s… 

  

Tonya Kubo (37:16) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (37:21) 

the important things be important to the people that they were important to. And you don’t have to, you don’t have to manufacture that importance any longer. Tenneil and Tonya, thank you so much for being here. And friends, thank you for being here. You’ve been listening to Clutterfree Academy. I’m Kathi Lipp Now, go live the clutter free life you were always meant to live. 

 

 

More Posts 

#672 – From Pantry to Plate: The Secret to Smart Food Storage

#670 – Emotional Decluttering: A Journey Through Sentimental Keepsakes

#670 – Emotional Decluttering: A Journey Through Sentimental Keepsakes

In this episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp is joined by clutter experts Tonya Kubo and Tenneil Register for the second part of their heartfelt discussion on sentimental items. Discover the emotions that often lead us to hold onto things we neither love nor use, and learn how to navigate these feelings with grace. Whether it’s figuring out what to do with your prom memorabilia or repurposing your grandmother’s teacup, our hosts share practical steps and innovative ideas to help you cherish the memories without clinging to items out of guilt or fear. Tune in to learn how to display the items you love and let go of those you don’t. Plus, dive into Tenneil’s incredible tips on repurposing for a clutter-free home filled with joyful memories. As an added bonus, Kathi cointinues her new segment: “Things That Have Earned A Place in My Clutter Free Home” where she chats with Tenneil about a simple gadget that made a huge difference in storage space in the kitchen! 

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

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Meet Our Co-Host

 

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Tonya Kubo Picture

Meet Our Co-Host

 

Tenneil Register

Tenneil Register can be found creating, repurposing, decorating, gardening and welcoming guests to their reclaimed barn storefront. She and her husband, Cowboy, established rural roots for their blended family of 7 in their DIY ranch home in Iowa. Connect with her on Instagram for practical ideas to reclaim your home.

Tonya Kubo Picture
Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:08) 

Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter Free Academy, where our goal is to help you take small, doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And we are back. We have a three-part series here on sentimental items, how hard they are to declutter, what do we do with them, and maybe just a couple of pieces of advice to say it’s okay to get rid of it and prove that you don’t hate. 

  

the other person who gave it to you or your own life. And I’ve got two of my favorite cluttery experts here. We’ve got Tonya Kubo and Tenneil Register. Hey guys, welcome back to the program. 

  

Tonya Kubo (00:48) 

Hey, Kathi, . 

  

Tenneil (00:49) 

Hey there! 

  

Kathi Lipp (00:51) 

Okay, so Here’s what I want to talk about today Because you guys are such geniuses Tonya about making the hard decisions about getting rid of to Tenneil once you’ve made the decision to keep it What do you actually do with it? And Last week we talked about your kids stuff, which has so much emotional attachment next week We’re to talk about the stuff from people who have passed on 

  

I mean, like we’re just bringing out all the hard hitting subjects right now. But today I want to talk about our own stuff. And I want to talk about why do we hang on to things that is that maybe we know we’re never going to use them. We know that we maybe we don’t even really love them, but we feel such an obligation to keep them. 

  

I’ve had that for a couple of different items in my life I feel like Through a lot of growth and let me be honest from a couple of people passing on I’ve been able to get rid of some things But I just wonder do any either of you have any insight to this? Why do we hang on to stuff even? Sometimes I don’t even think it brings back great memories, but we just can’t seem to let it go 

  

Tenneil (02:16) 

Letting go is scary because we’re wondering what that means about us and what that means about that relationship. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:25) 

Tell me more about that. 

  

Tenneil (02:28) 

So when we’re walking through it and we are still holding on to a physical object, we’re still giving ourselves time to figure it out, figure out the relationship, figure out what it meant, figure out how to grieve, figure out how to hold on. And we find something significant about doing the physical let go. And so we kind of want to know for sure that we’ve done the emotional part correctly if we do the 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:42) 

Yeah. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (02:56) 

physical part correctly. We’re like looking for affirmation. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:01) 

Okay, okay, I totally get that. I have a question for both of you. Are you guys hanger on-ers to your own stuff? We’re not not stuff you’ve been given necessarily, or are you letter goers? 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:14) 

It takes me a while. Like I am in general, my cluttery problem is not that I acquire a lot. I am not a big shopper. I just don’t know what to do with stuff once I have it. So I tend to be a keeper. So like what we have been, you we talk about this all the time. It has taken Brian and I have been married now 16 years and it’s just this year that we’re getting rid of the wedding pictures from our first marriages. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:25) 

? yeah. 

  

Yeah, that’s a hard one. It’s a hard one. 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:41) 

Well, and it’s back to what Tenneil said, because I’m thinking like where I keep those photos is also where all of the prom stuff is. And I don’t know if so this is the thing is this does not hit home with current teens at all because this is not how they do prom. But prom in the 90s was a whole thing of a thing. You paid your money. You got your photo album with the theme on the cover. You got your champagne flutes. Why did they give us champagne flutes? It’s not like we could drink at that age, but they did. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:59) 

Absolutely. 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:10) 

And we got a key chain, got all these things that matched the theme. And I remember thinking it was so important to have that stuff back then. And now I look at it and I’m like, what am I supposed to do with this? Like all I can think about is we had one year where the theme was from dusk till dawn. And that’s when the Quentin Tarantino movie came out. So every time I look at it, I go, I remember how excited I was to see that movie and how horrible that movie was. 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:36) 

Okay, there we go. I love that that’s the memory that pops up for you. 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:38) 

So as, right, 

  

why am I still keeping that stuff if that’s the memory that pops up? I’m keeping that stuff because I go, well, when I go to my high school reunion, are other people gonna have it? Are other people gonna talk about keeping it? What does it say about me and my high school years and what I think about all the people I went into prom with if I get rid of this, which is what I really want to do? 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:04) 

Yeah, ? really interesting. How about you, Tenneil? Are you a hangar oner or a letter goer? 

  

Tenneil (05:10) 

So I’m somewhere in the middle. I’ve become much better letting it go. think transitions of life. I do still have first wedding pictures also because I thought that my child would want them, but he doesn’t. So I’m really close on that one too. Tonya, have to tell you though, let go of the prom stuff. I’ve had my reunion. There was one really great thing that somebody brought from the reunion. 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:23) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:25) 

Nope, they 

  

don’t. 

  

Tenneil (05:38) 

It was the school handbook for our very conservative parochial school. And that makes for excellent conversation. So if your key chain’s not gonna make for good conversation, let it go. 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:51) 

Fair enough. 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:51) 

Hmm 

  

really interesting. Yeah, I want to talk about the emotional drivers that sit behind our inability to let things go so Tonya you and I have talked about this for years fear what if I need it someday or the other version of that is what if I regret letting this go and Guilt this was from somebody that was important in my life whether I’m no longer in touch with them or maybe they’ve passed on something like that 

  

And then I think there’s a third one here, identity. Guys, again, I’m bringing up old stories, but I only have one life to live. And so I only have so many stories. But I was a sales rep for years and years and years. And I invested in these leather cases for catalogs. And this was important in my job. 

  

We did not have a laptop to bring around. These were leather cases that we put, you know, the A &A plush and the Carolina candles and all those catalogs in. I would take them into a store and somebody would order something and I’d go home and write up the order. It feels very archaic now. I could not get rid of those leather cases for the longest time because they were expensive. And you know, the year I bought them, I bought them because I was salesperson of the year. 

  

And that was important to me. That meant something to me. And so that was, it was an identity. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but it was an identity thing saying, you know what, because then I went home and I was homeschooling my kids and then I went through a divorce and I was working at a job that wasn’t my favorite. And I could look at those cases and say, okay, but I had it going on 

  

like and maybe I’ll have it going on again. You know, sometimes we keep things not out of love but out of guilt, fear or the need to remember who we were. And I just think it’s so important to really recognize why are we hanging on to things that make no sense. By the way, I no longer have those leather cases. It’s probably been 20 years now. I’m good. But at the time, and I think we all have those things like that. 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:48) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:16) 

We have somebody in our life who says or maybe it’s media. You’ll regret getting rid of that You’ll regret it. So One of the things that Tonya and I have talked about a lot in our group Clutter free for life that if you love it show it so if you if you say that you love this purse But you have it in a box in your garage. I question your love 

  

And so I wanna talk about some ways that we can display things. And one of my favorites is I have a friend, Robin Neal, who we’ve been friends for a really long time. And her father-in-law had passed away earlier the year of this story. And he was famous for his chili recipe. And so she had a butcher block inscribed. 

  

with her father-in-law’s handwriting with the chili recipe. And there’s a great picture that went around TikTok. And I think it had something like six million views. It was crazy. It went crazy of her husband opening up this package and seeing that and what it meant to him. But it wasn’t just keeping the recipe and even just framing a recipe could have been cool, but this took it a step beyond. And when we wanna talk about the step beyond 

  

Tonya Kubo (09:24) 

wow. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:42) 

We come to Tenneil Register. We’d love some ideas for things that maybe they’re not super useful day to day, but can give us some ideas of, I don’t want to get rid of it because it’s important to me. I’ve discovered I’m not keeping out of fear or guilt or false sense of identity. No, it really brings back happy memories and I want it. 

  

Tenneil (10:05) 

Yeah, I want to share a recipe idea too, because it’s always such a favorite. And that is at Christmas time, have a small tree in your kitchen and hang the recipe cards for family recipes like this all over the tree. And if you have grandma’s old utensils or something like that, you can hang it on the tree. Then the rest of the year, you can pack that down into a small little tote and you have 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:09) 

Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (10:34) 

At the time of year that you’re gathering with your family in your kitchen, you can pull out these recipes and these little utensils and do a kitchen tree. It is usually everyone’s favorite idea of how to remember grandma. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:46) 

Okay, I want to spin off on this for just a second because I think we think if we want to put something up it has to be up all year round and I am a very seasonal girl like every spring summer fall winter I’ve got a little tote where I’m pulling things out not just the fall decor. It’s not that it’s the Native American dolls that my friend Susie gave to me that I put in the fall decor. It’s the 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:55) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:14) 

picture that my grandmother passed down to me that I have out in the spring. But I don’t have it out year round because my house would be an antique store. But it’s I love the idea of switching things out. Okay, what are some other ideas to Tenneil? 

  

Tenneil (11:30) 

Yeah, so another one is make sure you’re using the things you can use. like sometimes, you know, that’s like a vase and we’re afraid to use it because it might get broken or something like that. If like you said, if we love it, use it. But also like maybe you don’t put fresh flowers in vases. I use a lot of like sentimental items. I think you might even be able to see one on the video behind me as bookends. So like a vase from China is 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:36) 

Mm. 

  

Yes. 

  

Tenneil (11:59) 

holding up as a book in for my actual books that I need to use throughout the day. And so incorporating those so that if it’s functional, then we’re not setting up a museum, right? And that’s what we want to avoid is having a museum of things. We want to have a home that’s been built over time that’s functional. And so I think asking yourself, how can I use it is really, really the most important question if you 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:04) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right. 

  

? I love that so much. And I think that displaying something, being surrounded by things you love is such a gift to yourself. And it shows the life you have and the hopes and dreams you’ve had. know, Tonya, do you have any ideas that you could share with us on this topic? 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:50) 

Well, mean, I second what Tenneil says. It’s like, if you can create something functional out of it, I think that’s brilliant. know, the recipe cards. I knew a woman who had her mom’s recipes all framed in the kitchen. And it was such an easy way to decorate an apartment and make an apartment feel homey. And part of it was that her mom’s handwriting in and of itself was a beautiful decor in addition to the recipes. 

  

And I think, you know, I think we need to give ourselves permission to not be connected to the items. Like it is okay that that meant a lot to you 15 years ago, and it can have meant a lot 15 years ago and not mean as much today. And that doesn’t make you a bad person. 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:31) 

Mm hmm. Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

I love it. Yeah, you know, what I’ve had to discover is that having, using what I can or have it when I can’t use something, but it’s still precious to me. I was just visiting my friend Sherry, our friend Sherry, and she gave me a little framed sunflower. And that was her daughter who had passed away, her favorite flower. 

  

Like there’s no practical use for it, but I’m not getting rid of it because I love it. And so it has yellows in it. So I put it with some blue little vases that I really like. And sometimes the vases have flowers in them and sometimes they don’t, but a little vignette is, a fun thing. And you can, you can make a vignette out of the weirdest stuff. I, I came in second place in a baby contest when, you know, 

  

56 years ago. I’ve got the little trophy. I it means nothing to anybody But I just like having it on display because I’m like what a weird thing and I love it so, know and sometimes we don’t want to use things because We don’t want them to get broken. We don’t want them to get chipped So we keep them away, but when something feels too precious to use or display I think we have to ask ourselves. Am I protecting it or 

  

Tonya Kubo (14:44) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:00) 

Is it protecting me from dealing with letting it go? Like, am I too afraid to unpack those emotions? And maybe you can’t unpack the emotions right now, but it’s okay. We’re gonna take a quick commercial break and then we’re gonna come back and we’re gonna talk about Tenneil’s favorite subject, repurposing. Okay, so we’re gonna, we’ll be right back. Okay, we are back with Tonya and Tenneil. Tenneil, how do you? 

  

I want you to talk about more ideas for repurposing. Give us some more ideas because you’re such a genius at this. And I want you to give us your weirdest and wackiest ideas. 

  

Tenneil (15:39) 

Oh boy. Well, I was going to start with the plain ones, Kathi, , but we’ll start with the plain ones. So your plain ones is right, like a teacup. If you don’t drink tea from it, but it’s grandma’s teacup, can it hold your rings? Can it hold soap? Right? And even like your little sunflower picture, is it something that should be out all the time or should it come out just during the month of May that you get out the tea 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:44) 

Go f- start there and then build our way up, yes. 

  

you 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (16:09) 

for the soap, know, like that 

  

Kathi Lipp (16:10) 

Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (16:10) 

kind of thing, so that you’re going through a process. Wackier ideas is like the things you can hang on the wall. So when you were talking about your leather suitcases, I actually have a bag from my corporate days too that I still love, but I don’t carry it. So it hangs on the coat rack by my front door for like your everyday clutter that you need to hide in a hurry. And it’s just like a hiding place, right? It looks like a bag I carry in and out, but I actually… 

  

don’t, right? And so, grandpa’s, you know, hand rake, if grandpa was a gardener, right, hang that on the wall and use that to hang your necklaces off next to your closet or hang the dog leash on next to the door where you head out, just to turn the object upside down, inside out, spin it round and round until you can find some other form. 

  

Kathi Lipp (16:40) 

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

? 

  

? I need to be thinking about this. Okay, so I’m gonna throw a couple objects at you. This is our game show. And I want you to tell me, okay, so not only do I have one spoon that is precious to me, I have two. One that we found buried on the property here, and it’s from a company called Rogers Brothers. 

  

and we looked it up, it’s from the 1920s. And then I have one of my grandmother’s serving spoons. Like, what do I do with those? 

  

Tenneil (17:41) 

Well, I mean, first of all, are they usable? Like, can you stir your coffee with it? The rogers spoon? 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:46) 

just that 

  

they’re giant and I’m worried would I get poisoning from them but maybe that could use them yeah yeah I would need to figure that out yes 

  

Tonya Kubo (17:52) 

I was gonna say, this lead poisoning? I don’t know. 

  

Tenneil (17:58) 

So a big spoon, one of the ideas we’ve done in the store and people usually love because they usually have one like an old spoon or ladle or something. If you’re able to hang it on the wall and it makes a cup, you can put like a little plant or succulent or something like that. Or you could have your kitchen keys, your keys or whatever, if you need it to be functional. 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:09) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

I love that idea. And I love the idea what you were talking about the rake where you could put a dog leash or something like that. I love that idea. Okay, I’m trying to think. I have lots of cards that people have sent me and I get rid of most of them. But what’s an idea for the ones that you want to keep? 

  

Tenneil (18:39) 

Yeah, this one’s not overly creative, but it looks a little better than a bulletin board. I have a screen in my office. It’s like a wood frame that’s a screen. It’s industrial off the farm. And I have clothes pins on it where I can rotate out cards or inspirational sayings. I’ve got a couple of pictures of my grandparents. Just my own kind of teenager pin board in my office. But to keep up with looking bulletin board, it’s actually like an industrial primitive screen. 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:43) 

I’ll take it. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mmm. 

  

Tenneil (19:09) 

you could do it with an old window screen too. 

  

Kathi Lipp (19:09) 

? 

  

okay, I love that. Tonya, I’m gonna ask you for one in just a second. But, Tenneil, another thing I would be interesting to get some ideas from, if you have somebody in your family, they wore a uniform, you know, like I’m thinking like, you know, firefighter, police officer, they have a badge, they have a hat, like, what are your ideas for that? 

  

Tenneil (19:34) 

Yeah, so some people go full out, right? Like shadow box on the wall, it’s that important. You mentioned last time we were talking about kids, like sometimes it works to get it out seasonally, you know, for that moment of memorial. But I think it’s kind of choosing an item from it, right? The hat, can it be worked into your mantle decor, that kind of thing? Or like I think of a fireman’s jacket. I could see some semblance to leaving that on your coat rack next to the door. 

  

Kathi Lipp (19:46) 

Mm-hmm, yeah. 

  

Right. 

  

Tenneil (20:04) 

just there as a statement kind of thing. 

  

Kathi Lipp (20:07) 

Yeah, 

  

and guys don’t be afraid to look at something like Etsy if you’re not the crafty person because they can take grandma’s china that was broken and turn that into a necklace or something along those lines Tonya jump in here play the game. What’s something that you would throw it to Tenneil? 

  

Tonya Kubo (20:26) 

Something that I would throw at Tenneil, baby teeth. 

  

Tenneil (20:29) 

yeah. 

  

Okay. I’m going to say first of all that I’m pro getting rid of the baby teeth. And I believe there should be a tradition when the truth comes out about the tooth fairy that we give those babies back and the kid can decide like, we want to bury them or what do we want to do? 

  

one for you all that is still a thing in our house and that is a first pacifier. I think at 17 my kids still finds a little joy from knowing it’s in the top drawer of my jewelry. 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:07) 

Oh my gosh. You guys, anything that somebody has sucked on? I don’t know. I don’t know. 

  

Tonya Kubo (21:15) 

I didn’t 

  

have a pacifier, my children never had pacifiers, so I have no pacifiers in my home. 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:19) 

? my- 

  

Okay, we went to the hospital in the middle of the night to get Justin his pacifier that he was going to die without apparently. Like, because he didn’t know the difference between, you know, not having a pacifier and me dumping him off at the orphanage. Like they were on the same plane. Okay. Yeah, I love the idea of like, 

  

Tonya Kubo (21:32) 

? 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Tenneil (21:41) 

Thank 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:48) 

burying the teeth for the tooth fairy to recycle or something. I love that idea. Guys, I love this so much because our memories shouldn’t live in an attic, they should be in our lives. They should be incorporated into our lives. And Tenneil is so good at this. Tenneil, would love, you you said at the store, what people may not know is you own a beautiful store. What’s it called? 

  

Tenneil (21:52) 

Right? 

  

Yeah, R7 reclaimed and it’s a vintage barn and so we specialize in how to recycle and, you know, reclaim the unexpected. 

  

Kathi Lipp (22:17) 

Yeah. 

  

Yeah, okay at some point what I’m gonna do if you’re a listener and you’re like I have this weird item that I would like to know how to incorporate I’m gonna book another show and what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna bring these ladies back and We’re gonna come up with those weird items. I’m gonna read them off. I’m not gonna give to Tenneil any prep Because she is so creative. She is seen and done everything No 

  

Tonya Kubo (22:45) 

Ooh. 

  

Tenneil (22:49) 

Are you gonna save me at all? 

  

Tonya Kubo (22:53) 

I will prep, I will do homework for you, Tenneil, because I’m the person who threw baby teeth at you, okay? 

  

Kathi Lipp (22:59) 

Yeah 

  

my goodness, I love this so much. Okay, guys, just remember, you deserve to enjoy your sentimental items, not be overwhelmed by them. Okay, thank you ladies so much for being here. Guys, we’re gonna be back in just a moment with my new favorite segment, Stuff That Has Earned A Place In My House. We will be right back. 

 

PART 2 

Kathi Lipp (00:00) 

Well, welcome back to ClutterFree Academy. ? 

  

Today in our third segment is another episode of things that have earned a place in my clutter free home. And I’ve got my friend, Tenneil Register. Tenneil’s part of my team, but also my friend. And if you need your house redecorated, just invite her over and let her sit amongst your house and she will not be able to help herself. That’s just the kind, but she’ll only do it with your permission. Hey Tenneil. 

  

Tenneil (00:27) 

Yeah. 

  

such 

  

an accurate version of me. I’ll be switching, but I’ll wait for permission. 

  

Kathi Lipp (00:36) 

Well 

  

You were you were not rooted at all. I’m like, please please please because here’s the thing I think other people can sometimes see things that you know, you just live with all the time, right? And you think you don’t think about things being in a different way and we were literally moving dressers upstairs from downstairs and You know when I bought this house man, you know things were where they were and I changed a ton of stuff 

  

but some of the stuff I left just where it was because I thought it was cute. But then your house moves and things like that and you just have to figure out new solutions. And that’s one of the things we’re gonna talk about today is figuring out new solutions. there’s very little that I get to influence Tenneil about, but I influenced you and that makes me very happy. And it was so funny. I’ll tell you this Tenneil and then we’ll actually talk about the item. 

  

You know Roger and I were going to a church and we have since left this church so I’m not telling any tales out of school but ? one of the pastors did a whole sermon on like the worst thing that your child could grow up to be is an influencer and I’m like well, okay, first of all, thanks ? But I also think isn’t that what everybody does? We’re trying if you’re a politician, you’re an influencer if you’re on TV, you’re an 

  

Like we’re all influenced and I want to influence people one to not buy things that they don’t need but two if something works for me I want to share about it because it’s made my life better, right? 

  

Tenneil (02:16) 

Yes, and for most of us, at least listening to this podcast in America, we’re probably gonna spend our money on something. So if it’s something that makes your life easier and makes you happy, I love when people share what’s working for them. It just gives me new ideas. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:29) 

Right. And that’s the thing. I don’t want to spend my money on stuff that doesn’t work. And so, so let me tell you how I influenced Tenneil. Now, some of you have listened to the podcast where I was talking about organizing your pots and pans and ? Tenneil I, the day that podcast came out, she’s like, I’m getting that pan organizer. And okay, so I’m going to tell you my experience with it. then 

  

Tenneil (02:34) 

Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:55) 

I want to hear yours. And I don’t know what her experience is. I just told her, Hey, we’re recording this episode. I’ll find out if you liked it or not. But I’m going to tell you what my experience was. my, have a corner cabinet in the kitchen and pots and pans. They were such a pain that my husband who everybody I know, you know, I, everybody knows I, I, I don’t worship him. only worship God, but 

  

Tenneil (03:24) 

Admire. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:25) 

I admire greatly, but it got to the point where he was setting out to dry the pots and pans on a pretty regular basis because there’s such a pain in the rear to put away. And so he also, he still does this with our, our, ? not Tupperware. I can you tell I’m a child of the eighties. I call it Tupperware, but, yeah, he doesn’t like that either, but that’s very easy to put away. So I bought, 

  

this it’s called ? Muddella eight tier heavy duty adjustable pan organizing rack for kitchen cabinet storage and organization. So I mean, that is a mouthful. But what it does is it’s so you don’t put your pans or your pots inside of each other. They’re each on their own level. And I have to say the amount of people who now put away their pots and pans in my household. 

  

or even people who are visiting ? without being harangued has gone up 100%. Including me, by the way, including me, because I used to avoid it too. Okay, so now I don’t know, this is honest reaction, not that we’re gonna ever lie to you guys, but ? Tenneil, what is your unbiased reaction about this pot and pan organizer? 

  

Tenneil (04:49) 

I love it. So I was so excited because our pot in pan one, I’m like the only one who can do it correctly, right? 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:55) 

Yes, 

  

nobody can do it like mom does it. 

  

Tenneil (05:00) 

And similarly, we tend to leave them out like on the stove kind of ready to reuse because it’s irritating and we cook a lot. So I was super excited about this pot and pan holder and I ordered it and it was super late at night when it was delivered from Amazon. Everyone was like, who’s at the door? And so I start putting it together. So it was a whole family activity of watching me, you know, put this together. Me explaining that I’d ordered it off the podcast. I just, I don’t usually do that kind of 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:04) 

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Tenneil (05:29) 

And so they were super intrigued. The guys in my house were really impressed with the design. And I got down on the floor to put it in my cabinet and it didn’t fit because I didn’t measure first. And I was like so bummed. But I was like, this thing though, it makes sense. This thing makes sense. And so I scooted my little rear over to the next cabinet, to my corner cabinet, where I also have like 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:30) 

Yeah, yeah. 

  

Ooh! 

  

? no. 

  

Yes. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Tenneil (05:57) 

piles of things, but they’re a little bit different. They’re like containers that I take cookies in, deviled eggs, tray, strainers stuff like that. And it worked brilliantly in there to stack all that stuff up and each have its own, it’s almost like a slot, its own shelf, right? And I ordered a second one to do under there. And then ? we’re still gonna order another one. We can make it fit our pan cabinet, but our pan cabinet has a 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:58) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah, 

  

Yes, right. 

  

Tenneil (06:26) 

like a top shelf in it, half shelf. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:29) 

That’s mine does too. Yes. 

  

Tenneil (06:30) 

And so you 

  

need to remove that for this to really do its job, which is okay. I would prefer it be gone in this baby work. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:38) 

Yes. 

  

So for some reason, this works with my half shelf. It just, mean, yeah, it’s a little, it loses a little space. But what I’ve done is I’ve put my turkey roasting pan behind that, which I only need to get to once a year. And I only need to get to it when my 30 year olds are in the house and one of them can do the crawling. So I’m fine with that. So yeah. So, ? okay. I, I’ve never given, you know, a 

  

a ranking on this portion of the podcast. But for me, this is a 10 out of 10. It solves a huge problem. It isn’t crazy expensive. It’s not cheap, but I also don’t want cheap because I want this to last for a long time. It’s $31 and ? I just got it off of Amazon. We will put the link in the notes ? and you don’t have to give it a 10 out of 10, but what is your ranking for it? 

  

Tenneil (07:32) 

Yeah, for sure for what it did for me, I would give it a 9 out of 10 for the space that it fixed for me and I’d give it a 10 out of 10 if it measured correctly, but that’s on me, not on the product, right? 

  

Kathi Lipp (07:37) 

Yeah. 

  

Okay, 

  

but you know what this is really good to know that you should take that extra three minutes and Measure that space and guys, you know, I’ve talked about how I’ve ordered and I’ll put a link to these two I’ve ordered ? Those a dozen of the tiny measuring tape. So I have one in every room of the house because I That saves me a trip into town to return something 

  

Tenneil (07:49) 

Yeah! 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:08) 

And yeah, so many times I wish it worked better on clothes because like I still end up returning clothes because I don’t know what size I am anymore. But for things in your house, it’s always good to just take that extra second to measure. I bet nine times out of 10 Tenneil, you can eyeball stuff. I bet you. 

  

Tenneil (08:29) 

Yeah, 

  

and when it comes to like furniture and other spaces, I pretty well have nailed that and I measure a lot of stuff. I just didn’t think through. I was so excited about it on the podcast. So, yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:33) 

Go. 

  

No, of course not. Yeah, exactly. 

  

Okay, friends. So this is called the Mudella eight tier heavy duty adjustable pan organizer rack for kitchen cabinet storage and organization. And so ? I, like I said, love this thing. If you are struggling with what to do with your pots and pans, this is worth trying. As you know, Amazon, you can always return things. 

  

But yeah, this works for us. And I noticed like it’s saying free delivery today, 5 to 10 PM. Yeah, and here’s the thing guys, it doesn’t do free delivery to my house. It does free delivery to my mom’s house. But if I really needed it, we could do it. So I’ve ordered the second one. 

  

Tenneil (09:19) 

No. 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:26) 

And yeah, we’re gonna be so organized. It’s gonna make cooking a dream. I’m so excited. Tenneil thanks for sharing my love of pot and pan organization. It makes me super happy. 

  

Tenneil (09:37) 

Yes, it’s the little things. 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:39) 

It’s the little things, that’s true. Anytime you can remove an obstacle from something you have to do is huge. Well friends, you have been listening to ClutterFree Academy, I’m Kathi Lipp, now go create the clutter free life you’ve always wanted to live. 

 

 

More Posts 

#667 – Clutter Free Finances: Taking Control of Subscriptions

#667 – Clutter Free Finances: Taking Control of Subscriptions

#667 – Clutter Free Finances: Taking Control of Subscriptions

On this episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo dive deep into the world of subscription services and the hidden costs they can incur over time. As many of us fall into the habit of acquiring more subscriptions than we need, our finances begin to clutter much like our living spaces. Kathi and Tonya share personal stories on saving thousands of dollars by auditing their monthly subscriptions, canceling those that went unused, and exploring alternative solutions. They’ll also introduce you to the idea of Low by July, a practical exercise in mindful spending. This episode is brimming with relatable anecdotes, actionable tips, and a call to reclaim the financial freedom many of us don’t realize we’ve lost. 

 

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

Links Mentioned:

Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook Group (the Kindest Corner of the internet!)
Clutter Free For Life

 

FYI: Some product links may be affiliate links. If you buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support! 

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Meet Our Co-Host

 

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Tonya Kubo Picture
Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:09) 

Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter Free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And we are talking money today. We are talking money, money, money. And I am here talking money with my friend Tonya Kubo, who, you know, we just have so much of it. We don’t know what to do with it. That’s the problem, right Tonya? Yes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (00:33) 

Right, right. That money 

  

tree in the backyard is like worse than a lemon tree. 

  

Kathi Lipp (00:37) 

It’s been so… 

  

Now, okay, did watch, speaking of trees, I watched a video last night of somebody talking about, he’s in construction and somebody, they were working on their house and they said, ? you should probably tell your workers not to eat the apples off of that tree. And he said, my goodness, I’m so sorry. 

  

Normally when we go and work on people’s houses, they have no problem with it. And she said, no, it’s no problem. It’s just that those have not been processed. And he said, well, what do you mean? She says, well, those are like backyard apples, but they’re not store apples. he’s like, so tell me what’s wrong with them? And well, they haven’t been processed like as if they were going through a store and we just don’t want any of your workers to get sick. 

  

And so she honestly thought that the apples at the store were a different kind of apple, like a different variety than the one. And he’s like, well, why would you have an apple tree? And she says, it just looks pretty. And first of all, I’ve had apple trees before. Those are the messiest trees in the world if you’re not constantly eating them. OK, so that was a tangent that we didn’t need to go on. But you know, 

  

Tonya Kubo (01:42) 

Hmm. 

  

They are super. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:04) 

Because apple tree, well, don’t we all wish that we had an apple tree in our backyard now because we know some prices are gonna be going up here pretty soon if they haven’t already gone up for you. And we had a challenge in our Clutter Free for Life, which is our paid group. this was an impromptu challenge, but it was based on something I’ve been working on, I would say for the past five months. And. 

  

Tonya Kubo (02:10) 

Yeah. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:31) 

I just realized it’s very easy for me. We have become the this is the decade of the subscription. I know there were subscriptions before. I know there will be subscriptions in the 2030s, but this is where people said you can’t start a business unless it’s subscription based. Maybe it’s been longer than this, but this is where like I can. I have noticed that subscriptions keep. 

  

Tonya Kubo (02:41) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:02) 

I anything I want to buy they want it. I was trying to buy socks the other day. They wanted me to buy a subscription to socks. I’m like, yeah, I’m not doing that. Like I’m not changing out my feet. I don’t wear that many socks. It’s nutso we want to be subscribed to our food. We want to be subscribed to delivery. We to be subscribed to our television. And that was not all the unnecessary expenses in my budget, but it was a lot of them. 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:09) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:32) 

And I don’t know about other people who are listening, but I do feel like I have some insight after doing this experiment in Clutter Free for Life. Because I challenge people, just for the moment, could you save $1,000 a year just by going through your budget and canceling subscriptions, canceling things that are coming up that you are no longer using? And while I feel like I crushed this, 

  

You crushed it like a tin can. And I was able to eliminate about $2,500 worth of reoccurring expenses for the year of our Lord 2025. And some of it was through canceling things, some of it was renegotiate. There were so many different varieties. But Tonya, how much did you end up cutting? 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:14) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

So by the 28th of February, we actually landed at just shy of 5,000. I think it’s like 4,994 or something or other. Like ridiculousness. 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:37) 

It’s crazy. 

  

Oh my gosh, did you so, when I find 

  

$6 more and just, yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:46) 

Well, was Brian and I was like, what if I cancel this? He’s like, Tonya doesn’t count if you cancel it this month and then live to regret it and restart it next month. 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:54) 

Right, right. Well, okay. 

  

You know what? This may be my first time that I ever disagree with Brian Kubo because we all know that I’m a Brian Kubo fan. But if you cancel something to see if you can live without it and you realize, yeah, no, this is really important to me. I think that’s a victory, but I understand his premise. So I don’t disagree with him, but I do think that there 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:10) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:23) 

there is value in saying, I’m gonna pull back, nope, I’ve decided this is worth the $12 a month. So I wanna get into this because I think it’s really, I think it’s a great challenge to see, could you eliminate $1,000 of reoccurring expenses in your year? And you think, well, $1,000 over an entire year doesn’t feel like very much, but. 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:26) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:51) 

Could you use an extra $80 a month? I know I can. And maybe if you haven’t been paying attention to your budget, maybe you could eliminate $2,000. It’s not that you’re not paying attention, but at one point in your life, at least for me, at one point in my life, Brit Box was very important to me. And then it became not so important to me. At one point in my life, I was helping, I bought a subscription for my kids. 

  

Tonya Kubo (06:03) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:20) 

that 

  

was very important to them. Well, they don’t use it anymore. So why am I paying for it? So these are some things. why, I really believe that clutter and finances go together. Okay, so tell me what you think about that because it’s important to me. 

  

Tonya Kubo (06:24) 

Right. Right. 

  

they totally do. Totally do. 

  

Well, feel 

  

like clutter and finances go together for a few things, right? So we know that we cluttery people really struggle with overwhelm, we struggle with decision fatigue. you you sign up, subscriptions are the bane of our existence, because you sign up and then they’re just like out of sight, out of mind. And then you, you know, in some cases, and this was something that Brian had figured out a few months ago, 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:53) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right. 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:10) 

you’re subscribed to the same thing in three different ways. So that sort of stuff though, like the cluttery person’s overwhelming decision fatigue, I think leads to a lot of overspending, duplicate spending, also just unintentional spending. Like if you knew that was coming out of your account every single month, you would have canceled it long time ago, right? So there’s that piece, but then there’s the other piece where it just, I think it just weighs on our mind. I mean, 

  

Kathi Lipp (07:27) 

Great. 

  

Right. 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:39) 

Ten charges coming out of your account every month are ten different things to keep track of. 

  

Kathi Lipp (07:46) 

It’s so true. this is why it’s so much like clutter, because it’s very easy to mindlessly have things come into the house and then they accumulate. You have to take care of them. instead of being intentional about what comes in, it’s very easy. Subscriptions are just habits that are unexamined habits sometimes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:52) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:14) 

I know, you know, when I was in my first marriage, when I first got married and we were paying bills, you you’d sit down with your checkbook and you had your stack of envelopes and you had your stamps. And I think it was 13 cents at one point. I mean, like, you know, we’re talking back in the olden days and you knew every dollar that was going out of your account. That’s just not the case anymore. 

  

Tonya Kubo (08:23) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:40) 

And 

  

so it’s very easy to let those things build up without doing it. So Tonya, I told people was go through your bank account and see, you what are those reoccurring charges? What are those things that are coming out that maybe you’re not paying attention to? But you took it to a whole new level because you realize they’re getting money from us in ways that we may not even be aware of. 

  

Tonya Kubo (08:50) 

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

  

yeah. Okay. So I feel like here’s what’s really important is to understand that I have my own business. So part of why I could save almost $5,000 a year is because I did this in my business account in addition to in my personal account. But what we’re, it’s all real money. It affects how much I get to pay myself. Right? So that, that counts too. But to your point, you know, on my business side, there’s only like 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:17) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Witcher is all real money, by the way. It’s all real mo- Yeah. 

  

Exactly. Yes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (09:40) 

one way things come in or two ways, right? I either use my business debit card or I use PayPal. That’s it. That’s how I get charged on things. But I was not prepared for this, Kathi, but you’re right. I figured it out really fast. On the personal side, there are the bank account charges, right? The things that use your debit card. But then if you have credit cards, there’s the things that you put on a credit card and forgot you put on the credit card. 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:47) 

Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:08) 

And 

  

if you don’t max out your credit cards, how would you really pay any attention? It’s like if your credit cards are always at zero, you’ll notice. And if your credit cards are always maxed out, you’ll notice. But if it’s anywhere in between, you wouldn’t. But then what we also discovered was PayPal subscriptions. So I had subscriptions hiding out in PayPal that I had no other record of that had to be canceled in PayPal, couldn’t be canceled anyplace else. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:16) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right. Hmm. Okay, yeah. 

  

Mmm. 

  

Yeah. Right. 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:36) 

which then led us on the trail of Google Pay or Apple Pay. Sometimes you have subscriptions directly through those. anybody who has done any of those, like if you do a lot of online shopping, right, you’ll notice that some, there’s shop accounts and they collect, they’re the ones who are facilitating your subscription service. There’s links. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:45) 

Mm. 

  

Guess. 

  

my goodness. 

  

Tonya Kubo (11:04) 

So Kathi, I found subscriptions hiding in like six different locations just on my personal site. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:12) 

It’s insane, right? 

  

Tonya Kubo (11:13) 

Right. And part of how I noticed was a couple hit that I wasn’t expecting. So the PayPal thing was I had an Evernote subscription. I started using Evernote in 2016 when my mom died. I’m like, no, no, it would have been 2015. So when my mom died, I needed a way for us to have all the information associated with her death and I needed to be able to access it at my computer. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:21) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm, right. 

  

Okay. 

  

Tonya Kubo (11:41) 

or on my phone and I needed Brian to be able to access it. And Evernote at that time was the easiest way to do that. So did you just hear me say my mom died in 2015? Yeah, so I haven’t actually accessed Evernote for anything else since then. And yet I got this notification from PayPal that they had processed a charge. And I’m thinking like, I don’t have anything coming out of PayPal. And it’s $120. And I go and look. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:47) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right? Ten years ago? 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:11) 

And it’s like, I’m still paying for Evernote? 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:16) 

Wow. 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:17) 

Why would I think about it? I haven’t touched it in years. But so that’s a charge that got canceled. 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:20) 

Right. That’s insane. 

  

Yeah. it’s heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking. And you think about the money that has been wasted. But here’s we’re going to reframe it. The money that will no longer be coming out of your account. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:28) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Exactly. Exactly. 

  

And you know what? I know that we have a lot more to talk about on the savings front, but we should probably take a break, pay some bills, and then we’ll come right back. 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:43) 

Yeah. Okay. Yep. 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:51) 

And we’re back and we are talking about how we are saving. So Kathi, I just shared how I cut expenses that I kind of didn’t even realize I was spending for maybe a decade or so. How about you? 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:52) 

Okay. 

  

You know, so a lot of things I did I realized a lot of my things were hidden inside of Amazon So, you know like Brit box and thing Acorn TV, you know things that you’re like, I’m totally into this show Well, I’m into that show and then I never use it again. So that was a problem and I I had to 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:14) 

Mmm. 

  

You 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:34) 

I had to reframe some of my thinking from, know, when it’s clutter, it’s like, do I need this to with subscriptions? Do I use this? Not will I use this? Because and you know, they they really play with our mentality saying, well, if you cancel it now, if you resubscribe later, it’s going to be more expensive. 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:43) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

was hoping you 

  

would address this because I think that holds us, Cluttery people in bondage, Kathi. 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:59) 

It’s so true because but I I had to think about okay, but if I cancel it and I resubscribe a year later That will cover me forever. That will cover me forever so and I am not paying for anything that I’m not using and so one of the things that I did was what are the alternatives so One thing that ended up being so interesting 

  

Tonya Kubo (14:18) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (14:28) 

was I was looking over all my subscriptions. This is something that’s really interesting. The subscriptions you actually use, are there other benefits that come with that subscription? So one of them for us was we were paying for Paramount Plus, which is like CBS. Because we use it all the time. Well, come to find out, our Walmart subscription had free Paramount Plus. 

  

Tonya Kubo (14:37) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

includes it. 

  

Kathi Lipp (14:57) 

It included the one with the commercials, which Roger, every time we watch commercials says, we should pay for the, and I’m like, no, stop that, stop. You can sit through a commercial. Go to the bathroom, go put some more ice in your drink. that’s right, and I’ll scream, it’s coming back on! But what are the alternatives? 

  

Tonya Kubo (15:05) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. Go do what we did in the 80s, Roger. 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:23) 

we have become very impatient and I blame social media and I know you love social media, but I’m gonna blame social media here for something because it used to be a movie would come out and yeah, you talk about it with your friends, but you could see it. You could wait six months until it was out on VHS or on disc or whatever like that. But social media makes you feel like you are missing the most important thing in the world if you’re not at Wicked on opening night. 

  

You know, it comes to find out you will live. You probably will live. Now there are things that will be exciting for you and you’ll want to go see, but you know what? It’s okay if you don’t do that. What are some alternatives? Can I wait to read that fiction book until it’s available at my library? Because there I can get it for free. What free apps could I use? Do I really need another subscription? 

  

Tonya Kubo (15:58) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (16:22) 

Or should I go investigate what’s actually on YouTube? Because there’s a lot of stuff on YouTube. Tubi, T-U-B-I, is a free streaming service. And if you’re like, yeah, but it doesn’t have this thing that I want to watch. One of the things that we are doing is we canceled our Apple subscription. We canceled a few other subscriptions, and we’re using the free versions, or we’re not using anything. But I will go back and subscribe. 

  

Tonya Kubo (16:27) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (16:50) 

You maybe every six months for a month and I’ll watch on Apple the morning show and Severance and like, you know, all the things I’ve been waiting for is going to be an awesome month. But, you know, for right now I can watch things on Paramount Plus. We do have Max, which has a lot of great shows. So we’re using that. But when it comes time for me to go to Apple, I’ll cancel my Max subscription for three to nine months. 

  

Tonya Kubo (16:57) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:20) 

and 

  

wait till the things that I wanna watch are on there and it’s okay. I probably will not die. So I wanna let people know that every July we do something great in our Clutter Free Academy group and we do a Low by July. And so can you give us a little glimpse into what we do in our free group in the Low by July? 

  

Tonya Kubo (17:24) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah, so Low By July is simply about paying attention to your spending. So it’s not a spending freeze. It’s not, my gosh, I can’t drive across town because I’m not allowed to fill up my gas tank. It’s simply trying to minimize the impulse purchases we make, right? So it’s really looking at, you know, do I need to go to Starbucks every day? 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:05) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Tonya Kubo (18:17) 

Do I need to go to Starbucks once a week? Are there alternatives that maybe I want to explore? And if ultimately you say, get so much joy out of going to Starbucks once a week compared to making coffee at home, then hey, that’s okay. So it’s really just figuring out how can you be more intentional with your spending and really focus on what makes sense for you and your family. And we do it in the free group because we know that the biggest… 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:30) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Tonya Kubo (18:45) 

contributor to clutter is what we bring in the house. So if we can minimize what comes in the house, then our in-home decluttering efforts have a greater impact. 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:48) 

Mm-hmm. Great. 

  

Yeah, it’s so easy to just do the same things out of habit You know, this is gonna sound ridiculous But I have been buying too much asparagus. Let me just be honest. Let me let me confess here There has been too much asparagus buying in my life. I’ve been buying the Costco size asparagus it’s just me and Roger and while we enjoy asparagus we don’t enjoy it that much and 

  

Tonya Kubo (19:16) 

Mmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (19:24) 

What I’ve also come to notice in my patterns is we tend to eat a ton of asparagus when we’re grilling. But we’re not grilling right now because it’s March. And so to just take a step back and look at some habits that maybe you have that has been causing you to spend money. And so Tonya today, I’m gonna throw away some asparagus and I’m gonna do it guilt free. But what I’m not gonna do is put it 

  

Tonya Kubo (19:31) 

Hmm. 

  

Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (19:53) 

back on my Costco shopping list, I’m gonna put it back on there with a little parentheses that says May, because Mother’s Day is when we can pretty much guarantee we’re not gonna get more snow. And so this is the same thing. I’m gonna ask you to look at your habits. so a couple of things I wanna encourage you to do. Go over to the Facebook group, which is Clutterfree Academy, Kathi Lipps Clutterfree Academy. 

  

Tonya Kubo (19:55) 

Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (20:24) 

and join us. So when July comes, you’ll know when we do our low by July, you’ll be you’ll already be a part of the group. You’ll already know. But I also want you to do something else. I would love this is my challenge to the people who are listening. Do a quick audit. What subscriptions or services are you paying for but not using? And we had somebody in our paid group, Clutter Free for Life, who said, I’m not doing this. 

  

Tonya Kubo (20:41) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (20:53) 

I’m not doing it because I grew up without a lot of money and I don’t want to be told what I can and cannot do and I want to enjoy these little luxuries in my life. Can I tell you that’s the exact opposite? I don’t want you, I don’t want you canceling things that bring you joy. I think many of us could eliminate a thousand dollars just by getting rid of the things that we are literally not using. 

  

Tonya Kubo (21:11) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:24) 

Or the next level is maybe we’re using it sometimes, but it’s not worth the amount of money we’re paying for it in proportion to the joy that we’re getting from it. And that’s what I want you to think about. if you’re willing to take the challenge, what I would encourage you to do is get into, just keep a little Excel spreadsheet or even on a notepad and go through your bank statement. 

  

Tonya Kubo (21:36) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:53) 

and figure out what those charges are because they do a really good job of calling them different things so you don’t know what you’re actually being charged for. So one of things I would encourage you to do is just take that name and put it into Google if you can, you know, if it’s, you know, Starbusters. Okay, what’s Starbusters? Is that a Starbucks, you know, sign off? Is it Starlink? I don’t know. 

  

Tonya Kubo (22:15) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right. 

  

Kathi Lipp (22:22) 

but find out what it is. Somebody else will have Googled that and they can tell you what you’re paying for. And get rid of the things that are not actively improving your life. I wonder if many of our people could be saving 200, 500, $1,000 a year. Guys, so do the quick audit, get rid of some of those big ticket items. Next time, what we’re gonna be talking about, 

  

Tonya Kubo (22:29) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (22:51) 

we’re gonna talk to Tonya about how she renegotiated some of her bills. And I did one too. Let me just tell you, my savings were less than yours, but they all count. then cutting down on some of those reoccurring charges that are not bringing joy to your life. This was a great episode. Thank you so much, Tonya. 

  

Tonya Kubo (22:55) 

? yes I did do that. 

  

Hahaha 

  

? thank you for having me. This was great. 

  

Kathi Lipp (23:16) 

Okay, well. 

  

Tonya Kubo (23:19) 

And I think we are about at time, Kathi, but I want to say that I really hope that everybody listening takes that next step to do a quick audit. You are going to be amazed. And please make it judgment free. Don’t be like me. Don’t be all sad and feel like you have to go to confession in order to talk about the Evernote subscription that you had for a decade and you didn’t know about. Just judgment free, shame free. Just do that audit and see what you find. 

  

Kathi Lipp (23:32) 

Yeah, yeah, right. 

  

You 

  

Tonya Kubo (23:46) 

And we will see you next time when we talk about those big ticket savings. So you have been listening to ClutterFree Academy. Now go create the ClutterFree life you have always wanted to live. 

 

 

More Posts 

#667 – Clutter Free Finances: Taking Control of Subscriptions

#666 – The Nightstand Reset: Creating a Launch Pad for Peace

#666 – The Nightstand Reset: Creating a Launch Pad for Peace

In this episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo delve into the importance of a tidy nightstand for a better night’s sleep and a more organized life. They discuss Kathi’s recent purchase of new nightstands with built-in outlets, her nighttime routine essentials, and practical strategies for keeping your bedroom clutter-free. Whether it’s finding the right furniture, using drawer dividers, or setting up a night basket, Kathi and Tonya offer a step-by-step system to help listeners turn their nightstand into a launchpad for an organized day. And don’t miss the listener challenge that encourages you to declutter your own nightstand and reap the benefits. 

 

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

Links Mentioned:

Download the Free Guide:
The Nightstand Reset – your 10-minute guide to a more peaceful evening 

 

FYI: Some product links may be affiliate links. If you buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support! 

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Meet Our Co-Host

 

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Tonya Kubo Picture
Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:09)
Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter Free Academy, where our goal is to help you take small, doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And I am here with Tonya Kubo, leader of all things clutter free. Tonya, we are back into small spaces. We love a good small space. you know, our last podcast was our spiciest episode ever. And now it’s Tonya and Kathi after dark.

Tonya Kubo (00:40)
I you hide these from me just to get my reaction.

Kathi Lipp (00:44)
come on. actually that one that one I just came up with.

And let me tell you, on one of my favorite podcasts, Wirecutter. At the end of the podcast, they ask, what’s your favorite thing that you’ve bought recently? And so Tonya, want you to, I want to pretend I’m on Wirecutter and I want you to ask me that question. Yes.

Tonya Kubo (01:10)
Okay, so Kathi Lipp, what is your

favorite thing you have bought recently?

Kathi Lipp (01:14)
I’m so glad you asked. I’m so, so glad you asked because I’m so excited about this. And I bought it. I actually don’t have it. So maybe check with me in six months to see if I still love it. But can I tell you, you know, something I have discovered Tonya is I am really good at decluttering and I am a total cheapskate when it comes to organization. Like I’ve, I’ve thought for years, I don’t need to

Tonya Kubo (01:24)
Ha ha ha ha!

Ha!

Hmm.

Kathi Lipp (01:44)
buy all these wacky organizational tools. don’t need, and then I’ve come to find out sometimes you do. You’re creating the system, but to keep the system going, sometimes you’re like, okay, I just need to do this. And so I have finally broken down and I have bought new nightstands. Now I haven’t bought a new nightstand. I’m not exaggerating. Since I was married the first time,

Tonya Kubo (01:47)
Mm-hmm.

I’m right.

Mm-hmm.

Hahaha

Kathi Lipp (02:14)
And that was in 1990. So I have not bought a nightstand for myself in 35 years. So I’m going to tell you about this nightstand. So the nightstands we have now, because they were passed down when we bought this house, so you could say we bought it since we bought a house and these came with it, but I digress. They’re very open. And so you see everything.

Tonya Kubo (02:17)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (02:43)
And

I don’t like that look. And no, I am not a Swedish girlie. I wish I could be, but that is just not how I live my life. And so I’m reverting back to the nightstand of my youth, which was two drawers. And one drawer was for everything you need every single night. And the other drawer is for things you may need less option, but you definitely want to have.

Tonya Kubo (02:45)
You don’t like the open concept nightstand, is that what you’re telling me?

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (03:12)
And now these new nightstands have in the top of the nightstand, they have built-in chargers.

Tonya Kubo (03:23)
What? Like, like chargers for a phone or like, like outlets for like a regular cord?

Kathi Lipp (03:24)
Yes. Yes.

Outlets

outlets so you can put your USB cords in them and Yes, and can I tell you how excited I am about this little update and the reviews on these are really good I’ll put them. It’s on Wayfair. I’ll put a link so you guys can see them, but That is what we’re talking about today is nightstands because we’re going through the house and we’re doing all these little micro spaces and

Tonya Kubo (03:36)
God

Okay.

Kathi Lipp (03:59)
These microspaces make the difference day to day of how we operate our life. So let me ask you about your nightstand situation, Tonya.

Tonya Kubo (04:02)
Mm-hmm.

well, mean, my nightstand situation is not that exciting because the way our house is set up. So we have one nightstand and that’s on Brian’s side of the bed and it is one drawer and a shelf at the bottom. So it’s kind of a hybrid of what you have. And then on my side, because the bed has to be pushed so close to the dresser, I just use the top of the dresser as my nightstand, which is problematic because I don’t get the benefit of drawers because it’s our dresser drawers.

Kathi Lipp (04:16)
my goodness.

Yes. Yes, yes.

okay.

Right.

Yes. Yeah, that I think you got the short stick.

Tonya Kubo (04:40)
totally got the short end of the stick. And if you come into our bedroom, it makes him look like Brian is the organized person. And I am not because of course for him, he just tucks everything into the drawer before he like leaves in the morning. Meanwhile, everything, you know, like my eye drops and all of my stuff has to be on top of the dresser. So it’s just not an ideal situation. It’s one of those things where we’ve talked about like,

Kathi Lipp (04:50)
Okay.

Beautiful.

Mmm, yes.

Tonya Kubo (05:06)
Well, we should do it differently, we’re like, okay, well we have to wait till we buy a new dresser and then we can do this and then we can do that. And then suddenly I’m tired. I don’t want to change.

Kathi Lipp (05:10)
Yeah.

Right. It’s

the give a mouse a cookie of nightstands and nobody needs that, right? So I have found part of the reason that I’ve made this change is a couple of reasons. One, Roger has a CPAP and we need a place to put all of that nonsense, right? But the other thing is I have noticed when my nightstand gets too backed up,

Tonya Kubo (05:18)
Exactly!

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (05:42)
I

actually don’t sleep well because I’m afraid my phone’s going to fall off. I’m afraid about that glass of water. Like, and I at night, I don’t want to spend time cleaning all that nonsense up, but I really do feel. And this is this. If you listen to our podcast listeners from Dr. Vicky Casper, where she was talking about getting better sleep, she says a neat organized bedroom.

Tonya Kubo (05:48)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (06:12)
Impacts

your sleep in really really good ways And so I know that a neat surface actually helps me fall asleep faster It it feels more invite. I love walking into our room when the bed is made the nightstand is clear and it’s like, It’s just all waiting for me. Does that make sense? I don’t know Yeah

Tonya Kubo (06:29)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I mean, it totally makes sense. And I also

think that, you know, I’m a big proponent of routines, like having a solid morning routine and an evening routine. And my thing is, your evening routine should be all about making your morning easier. And your morning routine is all about making the end of your day easier. And so I can imagine having a tidy nightstand really makes the mornings easier at your house.

Kathi Lipp (06:39)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yes.

Yes.

Yeah, absolutely. And I just want to sink into bed. And, you know, I have a little routine that I do each night. And to have all of that there and then to have what I need in the morning, my phone, my glasses, all that kind of stuff. It just makes everything better. OK. go ahead.

Tonya Kubo (07:11)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so was going to say, so, so, you know, we’ve talked about the value of a tidy nightstand. We talked about a couple of different nightstand situations. So let’s just say our listeners not there yet, Kathi. Our listener doesn’t have the open concept nightstand that is soon to be replaced by a closed concept nightstand.

Kathi Lipp (07:28)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I get it.

I

am waiting for the FedEx guy right here. I am.

Tonya Kubo (07:44)
Yeah,

with power associated with it. Like that’s my favorite part of the whole thing. So walk us through how to get started. Okay, the nightstand is out of control. What do we do?

Kathi Lipp (07:48)
my goodness, right?

Yes, me too.

Yeah.

Okay. And by the way, I have been perfect. My nightstand that I’ve had has been perfectly serviceable. It’s just not my ideal situation. And right now I wanted to do something for me. So it doesn’t matter what your nightstand situation is. It all starts the same way. So first, again, as, as long time listeners, this podcast has been going for a decade now.

Tonya Kubo (08:17)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (08:26)
I’ve always said don’t pull everything out at once and put it in the middle of the room, but we’re talking about super small spaces here, tiny, tiny, tiny spaces. So I’m gonna tell you, pull everything out. I want you to pull out the books, the cords, the lotions, the random socks. I mean, we’ve all been there, right? Let me talk about other things I have in there, like the tweezers, the chapstick, and then you’re gonna sort this into a couple of different piles, so keep.

Tonya Kubo (08:26)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (08:55)
What truly belongs? So do you have medications that you need to take at night? That phone charger, your chapstick, maybe you have a little vase you want to keep on that nightstand. I like to a pin at my nightstand, my glasses. So I’m going to keep those. And then another pile is relocate. What has wandered there that does not need to be there?

Tonya Kubo (09:11)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (09:23)
I’m embarrassed. I don’t know. You I have weird stuff there. And also I have too many pairs of glasses. I don’t need like four pairs of glasses right there.

Tonya Kubo (09:33)
Okay, do you want to the weird stuff that’s in Brian’s drawer when I clean it out? Candy wrappers. He hides the candy wrappers because you know he’s like sneaking the candy so that one of the two children doesn’t see and then he stashes the wrappers in the drawer.

Kathi Lipp (09:36)
I don’t know, do I?

yes.

Well, you know what? Go off, King. That’s all I have to say. Brian has lost a ton of weight. He’s gotten so healthy. Whatever candy he wants, Brian gets. So…

Tonya Kubo (09:55)
Ha ha ha ha ha!

to say it’s so funny is I’ll go to his drawer to like look for something because that’s oftentimes where we have a backup charger. I’m like, of all, I didn’t know we had peeps and there were twicks in this house and nobody told me I am not okay with this.

Kathi Lipp (10:10)
Yeah.

Yeah, right. Okay,

can I just go a little off topic? I think what I need to put out into the universe, because I have dropped this hint too many times and have been ignored by Roger Lipp, the Japanese assortment of Twix. Have you guys, you seem like the household that would have had these at some point.

Tonya Kubo (10:24)
Sure.

Mm-hmm.

yes. Yeah,

well we’ve had the Japanese assortment of Kit Kats. There’s like 40 different versions. Yeah, 40 different versions. Yes. I’m just gonna tell you right now, strawberries and champagne, hard pass. It tastes like rotten grapes. Just gonna tell you right there. I did a whole like Instagram live on it because they were so bad. So bad.

Kathi Lipp (10:45)
That’s what I meant! I’m sorry KitKat, not Twix. Yes.

really? Okay. Eww!

I had no

idea. Okay, but I want to try the rest of them. Yeah.

Tonya Kubo (11:05)
The rest of them are amazing, especially

the ones that they have that you’re supposed to broil. Yes, we can talk about this after the episode.

Kathi Lipp (11:10)
What? Okay, we have, we

have real, no, people will email me. Okay, just tell me, how do you broil a Kit Kat?

Tonya Kubo (11:20)
It is a regular KitKat, but you’re supposed to like broil it and they have these in-depth instructions about what the degrees are and how long because you have to be careful because it starts to melt. But it’s I think it’s toasted marshmallow flavor. And then so you broil it to like toast it. But it ends up just being a melty mess and it’s delicious. It’s worth the mess.

Kathi Lipp (11:27)
Okay. Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay,

so guys if you want to know how to do that I would say go on AI or google because I I don’t know but I We need to figure this out. Okay, so you have your keep pile things you want to keep in your nightstand You have your relocate? Apparently candy wrapper. Well the next the kitkat candy wrappers go into the next day discard recycle trash old receipts anything that’s expired etc, etc and

Tonya Kubo (11:45)
Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (12:08)
Before you reload this is the time to get out the handy vac you want to go deep in there you want to get all of that cleaned out give it a good wipe let it air out a little bit and a clean slate helps you see how much space you really have and then We’re gonna we we’re going to I want you to wipe down the top, too I want you to you know, just whether you use furniture polish a Clorox wipe, whatever it is

Tonya Kubo (12:33)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (12:38)
Just make sure you’re starting off with a clean slate.

Tonya Kubo (12:43)
That sounds good. you know what? It’s time for us to take a little break before we get to the rest of it. But when we come back from the break, stay listening because we’re going to talk about the right furniture, the right accessories, these important things that will help you maximize your space. We’ll be right back.

Kathi Lipp (12:47)
Okay.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Tonya Kubo (13:02)
All right, and we are back talking right furniture, accessories, and really getting to the practical. How do you do the thing? How do you have an effective nightstand? So Kathi okay, so you’ve upgraded to the two drawer nightstand with built-in outlets. I was hoping that you would talk to us a little bit more about.

Kathi Lipp (13:18)
Mm-hmm.

Tonya Kubo (13:24)
why you felt like that was the right solution given your current circumstances, because you already told us what you have now is actually serviceable.

Kathi Lipp (13:27)
Yeah.

It’s totally fine, but I will say I did have to put like a basket on the second layer. know, so we have a drawer up top, which is a very thin drawer and then a, just a shelf at the bottom and I had to put a basket on that. So that would be the basket I pulled out at night with like my face cream, all that kind of stuff. So we’ll talk more about that in a second, but I just wanted, I wanted to be able to close things up at night and just be done, but also,

Tonya Kubo (14:01)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (14:02)
Be able to see what I have and what I need and so this little tiny drawer I have it’s fine But it means everything has to be stored laying down and it just it wasn’t smooth Let me just say that it wasn’t smooth and so I I do have a really lovely solution that my my lamp is built is attached on the wall

Tonya Kubo (14:31)
Mmm. That’s nice.

Kathi Lipp (14:31)
So it doesn’t take any space up.

that’s really nice because that can take a lot of your usable space top. I just, at 57, I wanted to walk into my room and not have it be so utilitarian, but just to be lovely. If I wanted to, you know, we have wildflowers here. I want a little vase of wildflowers. I want my book to be on my nightstand.

Tonya Kubo (14:40)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (14:58)
I don’t want a bunch of medications, know, tissues, that kind of stuff. I want it to look lovely. And I will say one other thing I’ve done that this would not work for my friend Brian Kubo, who is trying to sneak his candy. But we have put between our nightstand and our bed, just a thin, clear, waste paper basket that, you know, so for that occasional tissue, that occasional candy wrapper, like the things we can just throw them in there and

Tonya Kubo (15:09)
Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (15:26)
It does help keep that space a little bit neater and tidier.

Tonya Kubo (15:31)
Yeah, well, I can imagine, you know, I know for us we have blown through charging cables because of tripping, tripping over the cord. So this sounds to me like that would solve that problem as well.

Kathi Lipp (15:37)
Mmm. Yes. Yes.

Yes, I think, you know, and the chords make, we have so many chords in our life. And I get sick of looking at chords. I mean, it’s not, is it going to disrupt my whole day? But no, to have less chords is kind of a beautiful thing.

Tonya Kubo (15:49)
Mm-hmm.

you

Yeah, and then I just want to say like on the inside drawers, we’ve talked in prior episodes about the honeycomb or box dividers. So I just think it’s important to highlight the fact that if you have drawers, we’re not necessarily saying just dump everything in there equally. There are drawer solutions in terms of organizing as well.

Kathi Lipp (16:05)
Mm-hmm. Yes.

No, no.

Yeah, I’m gonna wait till I get these drawers in my house and then I’m going to Put the dividers in that we’ve talked about, you know, these are spring-loaded so that they’ll fit in almost any drawer and The honeycomb box so I can put little things in there. But yeah, that makes it so much Everything’s standing up. You can see everything at once

Tonya Kubo (16:30)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so what else do you have for us?

Kathi Lipp (16:45)
Well, you I’ve told you about my night basket before, in case nobody’s heard about this before. This is just a basket I use at night. So I have things in there like I’ve got a pill organizer that, you know, there are a couple of medications I take at night. So I put those in there. I have face wipes, the Neutrogena face wipes, because I’ll just be honest, when it gets past seven o’clock,

Tonya Kubo (16:49)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (17:12)
If it’s a choice between me getting out of bed to wash my face or laying in bed with my Neutrogena wipes or not getting out of bed at all and going to bed to sleep, Neutrogena wipes for the win. And then I have facial cream. have neck cream. Now I do get out of bed to brush my teeth, drink my water and stuff, but every once in a while, I’ll be honest. I would say, you know, maybe once a week, maybe once every other week.

Tonya Kubo (17:15)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (17:42)
I’m like, I can’t even, and I know that grosses some people out. So one of the things I’ve done is I keep dental wipes in there. So, you know, they’re loaded with toothpaste and I can just, and I’ve got little tiny toothbrush and I keep my dental floss in there and it just makes my life easier. I also will take some vitamins at night. So like I keep everything in that bag. I will, I don’t know what my bag is going to look like with this new setup.

Tonya Kubo (17:49)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (18:10)
but I will have some kind of little bag or tote that I can pull out and have everything that I need at night. And one thing I’ve just added to it is just a little Tupperware container that has a moose treat in it. And because she comes to bed with me and I just wanna have a little routine for her at night. So it corrals all my bedtime routine into, know, steps into one place. And I am 93 % more likely to do it because I have it all together.

Tonya Kubo (18:10)
Mm-hmm.

you

Yeah, I love that. And you know what? A little bit earlier you were just saying you get sick of looking at chords. Any tips in that front?

Kathi Lipp (18:46)
Yeah.

So I would say one of things that we’ve done is and I feel like this is absolute genius. I got a multi-pronged outlet and I put Velcro on the back of the outlet and then the other Velcro on the back of my nightstand. And so I can I can take that off. I can plug everything in and then I can slap it on the back.

Tonya Kubo (18:59)
Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Kathi Lipp (19:16)
and you don’t see all those chords going crazy. just, I feel like that was kind of a genius solution. makes me super, super happy.

Tonya Kubo (19:20)
Well…

Got it. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. I’m visualizing, which is why I’m talking slowly. So what about emotions? Cause you know, Kathi over in Clairefree Academy and our Facebook group, you want to believe that there’s not like it, it’s just stuff or you want to believe that something in the house doesn’t have emotion, but there’s emotional connections to everything for someone, right? So how do you address that side when it comes to the nightstand?

Kathi Lipp (19:30)
Yes.

Yeah, everything. Yes.

Yeah, I think, you know, it’s a little bit, we talked about the underwear drawer the other day and how we keep sometimes sentimental things there. If you’re going to display something on your nightstand, I think it’s an excellent place to put it. But I think what we, know, Tonya, our grandmothers and great grandmothers had trousseaux. They had, you know, a keepsake chest where they could keep all those things. And we’ve gotten away from that. And I think that each of us,

Tonya Kubo (19:57)
Mm-hmm. Yeah!

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (20:24)
needs a box, a place to put those things that maybe are not going to be displayed, but are still precious to us. Because if they’re in our nightstand, I don’t know about you, but I just told you all the lotions and potions I keep in my nightstand. If I’ve got a love letter from Roger, do I really want that next to my bath and body works, you know, hibiscus? No, I don’t. Let me keep that in a special place. Let

Tonya Kubo (20:29)
Mm-hmm.

Hahaha

huh.

Kathi Lipp (20:51)
So let, if you wanna keep a framed photo or something like that, that’s lovely, go for it. But if you just don’t know where else to keep it, get a box that is just for things that are important to you because we all have memories that are important to us that maybe we don’t have to keep it, but you know what? We get to keep some silly stuff. We get to keep some emotional stuff. I think that that is okay. I just want you to also think about

Tonya Kubo (21:00)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (21:21)
We talked about this in our coat closet using that as a launch pad what if you thought of your nightstand as your you nighttime shutdown area and your morning launch area So i’m gonna keep my glasses here. I’m gonna keep my phone here. I’m gonna keep my e-reader here These are the things you know, i’m charging my watch i’m keeping everything here I have a little notepad here if I want to keep notes. This is where my book goes

Tonya Kubo (21:26)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

you

Kathi Lipp (21:50)
So you have all of that that you need when you wake up in the morning and you reset it at night and it’s good to go. You you have your bottle of water. Like I put a bottle of water next to my nightstand every night and I may take a sip, a couple of sips at night, but the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is I chug that whole bottle of water because I forget to drink water during the day.

Tonya Kubo (22:12)
Mm.

Kathi Lipp (22:15)
But if it’s right there next to my nightstand, I’m gonna chug it as soon as I get up when I’m at my thirstiest. So think of it as your lunch.

Tonya Kubo (22:24)
I love that. I love that. Okay. So nightstand as a launch pad, which I think is a powerful reframe. And Kathi just want say thank you because you are the person who is designing these episodes for practical action for our listeners. just get to show up and ask questions and be curious. It’s like my favorite thing. And listeners, I’m just grateful to you.

Kathi Lipp (22:41)
You

Tonya Kubo (22:46)
for joining us, lending us your ears and taking advantage of all of these practical tips. So we’ve covered the why, the how and the emotional side of decluttering your nightstand. Your challenge this week is going to empty the nightstand. Try Kathi’s advice of setting up the night basket, maybe invest in a pillow organizer and see how it transforms your evenings. Make sure to check out the show notes though, cause we’ve got resources there for you to all different places and a handout that goes along with this episode.

Kathi Lipp (23:13)
Mmm, you got

go ahead Tonya. I was just gonna say one other thing is that make sure that you’re regularly cleaning it out It’s easy to let silly things like a lotion sample or you know, something along those lines just Don’t don’t get in your own way when it comes to the nightstand. You don’t need to keep all that stuff I’m sorry. I stepped on you, but it just occurred to me. Yeah

Tonya Kubo (23:18)
Mm-hmm.

no, you’re all good? Well,

because maintenance is so important, right? I think we’ve done a great job of talking about how to get it to a status. And what you did was remind us that it’s worth the time to keep it there. So thank you, friends. You’ve been listening to ClutterFree Academy. Now go create the clutter free life you’ve always wanted to live.

Kathi Lipp (23:42)
It really is. Yeah.

 

More Posts 

#667 – Clutter Free Finances: Taking Control of Subscriptions

#664 – Transform Your Underwear Drawer: Tips for a Peaceful Start to Your Day

#664 – Transform Your Underwear Drawer: Tips for a Peaceful Start to Your Day

In this laugh-out-loud and surprisingly transformational episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo dive deep—literally—into the drawer that gets no love but causes a whole lot of frustration: your sock and underwear drawer. From chicken footprints and Sharpies to mismatched socks and holy underwear, they uncover the oddities that sneak into this tiny space—and provide the simple steps you need to bring peace and order to your most intimate drawer. 

In This Episode You’ll Learn: 

  • Why worn-out socks and too-tight undies deserve a swift exit 
  • The magic number of pairs you really need (based on your lifestyle!) 
  • Kathi’s favorite affordable organizing tools (spoiler: cereal boxes included) 
  • What to do with all the random stuff hiding in your drawer 
  • Why your underwear drawer should be the least stressful part of your day 

 

Click here to be notified when the next podcast episode is released!

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

Links Mentioned:

Download the Free Guide:
Declutter Your Sock & Underwear Drawer Cheat Sheet – A step-by-step plan to sort, toss, and organize. 

 

FYI: Some product links are affiliate links. If you buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support! 

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Meet Our Guest 

 

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Tonya Kubo Picture
Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:09) 

Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter Free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And I am here with my Clutter co-creator. Yeah, we create clutter together, but we also clean it up together. It’s Tonya Kubo. Hey, Tonya. Okay, this is Clutter After Dark. 

  

Tonya Kubo (00:24) 

Hey, Kathi! 

  

Kathi Lipp (00:33) 

This is our most intimate episode ever. Guys, we’re talking underwear here. Can I just say, before we talk about getting into discussing, we’re talking about decluttering your underwear and sock drawer. Now, first of all, Tonya, do your underwear and sock co-mingle? Like, how are you set up? 

  

Tonya Kubo (00:38) 

Can we have 

  

Yeah, so my underwear, socks, co-mingle. 

  

Kathi Lipp (01:04) 

Okay, okay. And when I’m saying underwear, I’m meaning all the categories, okay? So like, okay. Yeah, yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (01:09) 

Yeah, yeah. So like for me, it’s like camis and 

  

like long, like long johns and stuff for when I travel to cold areas. My slips, all of that. That’s all one drawer with the socks. 

  

Kathi Lipp (01:17) 

Okay. 

  

Okay, 

  

there are gonna be people who are like, what are slips? I mean there really will be. That’s okay. Hey, so, but you didn’t slip, okay, nevermind. We’re gonna stop with all the puns. Yeah, my underwear, sock drawer, it’s bras, sports bras, tights, all of that kind of stuff. And they’re all very individual. But I do wanna say this. If you have never tried… 

  

Tonya Kubo (01:25) 

I know. I know. But I have a slurp. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (01:49) 

the sports bras and underwear from Costco, may I highly suggest like I I I’ve I have converted I have converted fully and I’ll put the links down there to they’re not affiliate links. A lot of the things we do in here are affiliate links, which means hey, the clutter free people make a little bit of money off of this. So but these are not Costco doesn’t do that kind of thing. But I just love them so much. And you know what? 

  

Tonya Kubo (01:53) 

Mmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:17) 

I love that I can pick up some new underwear next to my rotisserie chicken. Just makes me super happy. Okay, so if you are tired of mismatched socks, holy underwear, or random junk in your drawers, today we have got a very quick plan to fix it. We are gonna talk about matching socks, we’re gonna talk about organizers, we’re gonna throw out. 

  

what’s worn and unloved, we’re gonna get you into shape. Because I don’t know about you, Tonya, like my first thing I do in the morning is drink coffee, and the second thing I do in the morning is get ready. So gathering up what I’m going to wear is one of my first jobs, and I don’t wanna be mad first thing in the morning. So this feels like a good launching point for us. 

  

Tonya Kubo (02:45) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah, no, I agree. And so, and this is timely for me because I just went through my socks and underwear drawer. We just did a deep laundry decluttering of everybody’s clothing and such. So, but I have a feeling that your situation’s a lot different than my situation because you have fewer people and you don’t have children in the house. So tell me what was your drawer situation before you tackled it. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:14) 

Did you? Okay. 

  

nice. 

  

Yeah. Yes. Right. 

  

Okay, so I have one big giant drawer and I was trying to kind of put things into piles. So like there was a sock pile and there was an underwear pile and a miscellaneous pile. And then also let’s talk about the nonsense that was in my drawer because that’s a running theme in this podcast. So I probably would win. 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:38) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

You 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:01) 

the award for the strangest thing kept in my underwear drawer, which was a footprint of one of my chickens who has passed. I… 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:16) 

see why you would keep it in the underwear drawer though. 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:18) 

I didn’t know what else to do with it. And so like it was one of those things where I, yeah, I just didn’t know what, I think a lot of things that we don’t know what to do with end up in that kind of drawer. Okay, do tell me. 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:33) 

I’ll make you feel a little bit better, Kathi. So in mine, 

  

baby teeth, because where are the kids guaranteed not to look, right? They’re not going to dig through mom’s underwear. The second thing is during the pandemic, right? I couldn’t go to a salon and get pedicure. So I bought like all the salon stuff and all the extra like foot files and that thing that looks like a bar of soap, but is actually like porous that they scrub your foot with. I have one of those in my underwear drawer. Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:38) 

Yes, yes, I… Right, exaca. Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Yes, right? 

  

Okay, 

  

yes, yes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:03) 

Yeah. 

  

So and then I have like just random stuff. have markers, Sharpie markers that I didn’t want Abby to get into to draw on the walls. Put them in my underwear drawer, of course. So there you go. 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:10) 

Yes. 

  

Look, 

  

and why do receipts end up there? That’s a good question. Receipts, phone chargers, things like that, right? 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:20) 

Yeah. Right. 

  

Totally. Totally true. Okay. So we got a picture of your drawer and all the randomness. What was that like during your day to day life? I imagine you weren’t having to take out the chicken foot imprint every single time to get ready, but still there was probably like, I don’t know, some wasted effort. 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:36) 

No, 

  

Okay, well, I’m admitting all my foolishness in one place, okay? So why did I have socks in there that the elastic was blown out on? I think I was just so happy that I matched the sock that I didn’t care if I actually liked the sock. 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:58) 

Right? 

  

My college roommate used to say, if it’s washed, it has to be worn before you can get rid of it. Otherwise you wasted the effort of washing. Yeah. So any things she would like come out with like, holey underwear. And she’s like, no, I have to wear these, but as soon as I wear them, I will throw them away. And I’m like, I would throw them away now actually. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:10) 

I totally get that. 

  

Okay. Yes. 

  

my goodness. Yes. Because what if you end up at the hospital with holey underwear? I’m, you know, like this is deeply embedded in me, but here’s the thing, something that I haven’t really talked with you a bunch about, you know, I have, you know this, I have a bad back and I have done a lot of strength training and everything like that. And you know, they show all these commercials for people, for shoes to put on. 

  

you know, when it’s hard for you to bend. And for me, it’s just one side of my body. What they don’t talk about is the socks. The socks, shoes are not a problem for me. It’s the socks. And so here’s the problem. If one of my, I tend to watch, wear those no-show socks because I’m a Gen Xer. That’s what we prefer. And if one of those socks slips down while I’m in the middle of Costco, 

  

Tonya Kubo (06:53) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (07:20) 

It’s not going back up. Yeah, and so like those need to be gone friend. Those need to be gone. Yeah, it’s my secret chain. Okay, so it was frustrating. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:20) 

yeah, yeah. 

  

Okay, it was frustrating. 

  

But you’re on the other side, Kathi You are teaching us from the other side. So, and what I love about the series that we’ve been talking about, where we’re tackling these small spaces, is your solutions are just simple and yet with high impact. So tell me where you got started with your underwear and socks drawer. 

  

Kathi Lipp (07:37) 

I am. 

  

Yes. 

  

Okay, removing all the single socks. Like, okay, why are single socks there? I think what I thought was, well, when I find the other single sock, I will go back there. What I finally did is I just have a bag with single socks, and after a little while, like, I’ll gather all of them up, and I’ll say, these have been in here for three months. Now, if I don’t find them in the next go around, they need to be thrown away. But also, throwing away socks where 

  

Tonya Kubo (08:16) 

Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:26) 

The elastic is blown out on them. They’re not the ones I like. They feel funny on my feet. Now, let me also say, when I was a single mom, it didn’t matter if they felt funny on my feet. I was keeping them because I was broke, right? But can we all agree if your underwear is falling down, it’s time to throw it away. If it’s cutting off your circulation or something like that. 

  

Tonya Kubo (08:30) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. Right. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:56) 

I need you to throw those things away because that’s not how we should be living. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (09:00) 

Exactly. Well, I would say if 

  

anything that is supposed to be contained is falling out, you deserve to throw them away. 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:07) 

Exactly and let me also say with those single socks. I finally just realized I need to keep those in The laundry room so when I’m done folding laundry if there’s a sock left over I can put that where the other socks go instead of having to do a sock scavenger hunt before I try matching things up 

  

Tonya Kubo (09:16) 

Mmm. 

  

Right? 

  

Okay, so you had one spot for your random socks. You talked about getting rid of your worn out unwanted items, right? So the socks that slipped down, the undies that just have lost their containment factor. So once you get rid of all the bad stuff, then what? 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:34) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yes. 

  

They’re not doing it anymore. Yes, exactly. 

  

I’ll also say on the underwear anything you’d be embarrassed to show up at the hospital with you know let’s just go ahead and say you know Stains you know things like that whatever you need to do. Just be done with it. Okay, so now what I’ve done is I’ve used a couple of organizational solutions, so I Don’t know it’s called a honeycomb organizer and Okay, so it is 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:02) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

I have no idea what that is. Talk to me, Kathi. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:21) 

You put it down in your and I’ll link all of this in our show notes so you can see what I’m talking about. But it’s got like a bunch of little squares. They’re more like trying like diamonds that when you undo this and you can put a pair of socks in there or you can put a pair of underwear in there. So it’s not just a giant pile, but you can see everything you have. And for me, 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:35) 

Got it. 

  

Hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:50) 

And I think for a lot of people who struggle with clutter, when things are hidden, they’re no longer used. And so this says, no, this is what you have and you can go, I just love going to my drawer and plucking out that orange pair of no-show socks. Nobody’s gonna see them, but I know that they’re there and it makes me so happy. And I can see everything I have. And then I have some small fabric boxes for things like bras or sports bras. 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:55) 

Mm-hmm. Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:18) 

tights, underwear, things like that. It just is a way of being able to see everything. Now, I’ve ordered those off of Amazon, but if you are, you know, if money is a struggle right now, which it is for a lot of people, could you use a shoe box? Could you use a tiny shoe box for little kids? At one point in my life, I use cereal boxes for organization. just… 

  

Tonya Kubo (11:47) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:48) 

I 

  

had to because I had no money. So those are things you could use. So try using multiple smaller boxes with out lids and that can really help you keep organized in some of, it’s just a drawer divider that will get you to the next step. 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:05) 

Ooh, okay, well I am excited because we are going to go on a break, but when we come back, you’re actually going to answer probably one of the most often questions, often asked questions that we get in Clutterfree Academy, which is how many pairs do you actually need? Seriously, Kathi, that question comes up all the time. Plus you are going to tell us what to do with those items that don’t belong. We’ll be right back. 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:08) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right. Yeah. 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:32) 

All right, we are back Kathi and you are going to tell us the secrets of the universe as it relates to underwear and socks drawers. How do we figure out how many pairs of socks and underwear we really need? 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:37) 

Yeah 

  

I think the first thing you have to figure out is how often do you do laundry? Because if you’re doing laundry just once a week, figure out how many pairs of underwear, how many pairs of socks you wear in a week. And I would say add two or three, right? Because you want to be able, but if you’re doing laundry multiple times a week, you probably don’t need as many. Maybe you just need divide by two, add three. 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:52) 

Hmm. 

  

Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:17) 

So I think really using your scientific method here and saying, what do I actually use? And if you’re like, I don’t know, that doesn’t feel like enough, that feels weird, that feels scary, then what I’ll suggest you do is put in the amount that feels comfortable in that space. So maybe eight pairs of underwear feels good in that space. Do you ever run out? 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:17) 

Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:44) 

That’s a great question. Do I ever run out of that space? I tried to dial back to eight. It didn’t really work for me because sometimes I’m wearing more than a pair in a day. know, sometimes when I’m changing for bed, like whatever, everybody has their own routine. So you have to figure out what actually works for you. And I think that that’s okay to do. I also have different kinds of socks. I have the no-show socks and then I have the socks I wear in the snow. 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:45) 

Mm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (14:12) 

So eight pairs of socks is not going to be enough. When it’s cold outside, I need more heftier socks. So you just have to apply a little bit of the scientific method. One thing that really helped me figure this out though, Tonya, was when I, in addition to that honeycomb organizer I talked about and the different little boxes, I put drawer dividers in my drawers. 

  

Tonya Kubo (14:20) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (14:41) 

These are spring loaded so that they fit the short ways in your drawer. So I have now a section for underwear, a section for sports bras, a section for regular bras. It’s like putting drawer dividers in there so that you can section out your space. And that really said, this is how much space I actually have. 

  

Tonya Kubo (14:41) 

you 

  

Okay. 

  

Mm-hmm. Okay. 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:07) 

for my bras. This is actually how much space I have for my slips or tights or whatever it is. And that really helped me out. 

  

Tonya Kubo (15:08) 

Okay. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

I love that. I love that. And I think that, you you brought up some good points about not just laundry schedule, but also habit. For instance, like when I used to, I used to work out six days a week, not the life I currently live, but I would like there was the workout underwear that served a certain purpose. There was the day to day underwear that served a certain purpose. So that was a time in my life when I needed a lot more than I need now. But I love that idea of combining 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:26) 

Yeah. Okay. 

  

Yes, right, yes. 

  

Yes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (15:43) 

the physical space that you have to fit the things with the laundry schedule. I think that’s really powerful. 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:46) 

Yes. 

  

And Tonya, we are not minimalists, but we are minimal-ish. We are always determining what is the least amount of an item that I could live with that still serves its purpose. Minimalists might say, no, I’m going to arrange my life around only having 

  

Tonya Kubo (15:53) 

No. 

  

Right. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (16:16) 

you know, five pairs of socks. No, we’re going to arrange our socks out of our minimal need that we actually have. 

  

Tonya Kubo (16:17) 

Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

  

Yeah, like when we were just going through our stuff, you know, I settled on 13 pairs of underwear. Why? Because I just, because actually it was like, these are my favorite, like these are my favorites, right? And then I made an Amazon mistake, which I’m just sharing with our listeners in case they make the mistake. So sometimes on Amazon, you think you’re ordering one thing and it come to find out you are ordering a package of multiple things. And so I had wanted to get some of those long boxer shorts. 

  

Kathi Lipp (16:31) 

Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

  

Yes! Yes! 

  

Yes. Right. 

  

Tonya Kubo (16:55) 

to wear underneath dresses. And I wanted a black pair and a white pair and I accidentally ordered packages of eight pairs each. 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:04) 

Wow, fancy you. 

  

Tonya Kubo (17:07) 

fancy me with my 16 pairs of long boxer shorts that roll all the way up to your hip if you try to wear them underneath jeans. So I just decided that, you know, the 10 or so pairs that did not get worn at all did not need to be with me at all. And Brian was very happy. I think I have my own section of the donation center at this point, but. Right. 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:10) 

Right. 

  

that’s so funny. 

  

Right? 

  

I love that. I love that 

  

so much. Yes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (17:35) 

So I just want 

  

to share, since we are sharing some Amazon links in the show notes, I just want to let you all know that you should pay attention to both the quantity and also the unit items inside the quantity that you’re purchasing. 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:43) 

It’s so true. It’s so true, 

  

absolutely. 

  

Tonya Kubo (17:49) 

Okay, so Kathi, talk to me about brands. Because you mentioned like there’s some no-show socks that you particularly like. You like the Costco underwear. But at some point, you were using something else. How do you fit like the whole brands I love versus maybe I spent good money on this? You know the thing. 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:56) 

Yeah. Yeah. 

  

Yes. 

  

Okay. So my whole life has been, I spent good money on this. I need to wear it as a punishment. One of my favorite discoveries this year is the Wirecutter show. I’ve talked to you about this before. It is the New York Times Wirecutter where they do their product recommendations and they do extensive testing. One of my favorite things that we just bought, Tonya, Tonya. 

  

Tonya Kubo (18:11) 

Right. 

  

Mmm, yes, yes. 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:36) 

My life has changed, we just got a new mattress. And which is a very expensive purchase, right? Now it’s not their most expensive purchase, which by the way, they don’t recommend because they’re not crazy, but it’s a $75,000 mattress that Martha Stewart, but their product tester did sleep on it for six months to say, is this really worth it? Just to make sure. 

  

Tonya Kubo (18:40) 

Whoa. 

  

Yeah. 

  

just to make sure it wasn’t worth $75,000, 

  

I’m sure. 

  

Kathi Lipp (19:03) 

Right, 

  

she sacrificed, she goes, if I could, I would buy it, but that’s not how I’m choosing to spend my money. So I really listened and that’s how I found out about the Costco underwear, you know, and they like to recommend, hey, if you’re a normal person, this is a decent price to spend to get this decent thing. Well, you know, I’ve owned two pairs of Bamba socks in my life and I love a Bamba sock. 

  

Tonya Kubo (19:09) 

Hahaha 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Mmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (19:31) 

But you know what, I kept on thinking I could get the same effect with these Costco brands. Now in the Costco underwear, yes, I’m getting great results. The socks, maybe it’s because I have size 11 feet, I don’t know. They’re just not the same. Can I just tell you I doubled down and I got an eight pack of Bamba socks. And I need to wear those until Jesus comes back. 

  

Tonya Kubo (19:46) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Go you! 

  

Kathi Lipp (20:00) 

But you know what, here’s the thing. I have bought so many pairs of socks cheaping out and they’re the ones that, you know, when I talk about rolling down my feet, Bombas has never done that to me. They’ve always treated me right. So I think if there’s a brand you love and you’re going to invest in it, then follow the directions on how to wash and dry them. 

  

Tonya Kubo (20:03) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (20:27) 

You know, figure out what’s gonna keep them the brand you love and stick with those brands you love. And if you’ve never tried a bomba sock before, I’ll give you a link, because man, they are just the best. I love them so much, yeah. And you can get a discount code too. So we’ll share those. 

  

Tonya Kubo (20:46) 

Okay, well, so we talked a little bit earlier about the weird stuff in the drawers. What’d you do with your weird stuff and how do we prevent just wedging any old thing in our underwear and socks drawer? 

  

Kathi Lipp (20:50) 

Yeah. Yeah. 

  

Yeah. 

  

So like what I just talked about with the bombas, you want to go to your drawer and everything in there is something that you use and you love and would buy again. The chicken footprint, maybe not. Maybe not. So do you have a place that things that are meaningful to you, but they don’t really have a place in your life? 

  

Tonya Kubo (21:07) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:23) 

So one of the things I have committed to myself to do is I’m gonna display that footprint. I’m gonna find a place in the house for it. And it doesn’t have to be, it doesn’t have to be a big place on my wall. It could just be something that I love. Other things that I found in there. Sometimes I put things in there because I can’t decide. And if I can’t decide and I haven’t used it in this long, like I got these. 

  

Tonya Kubo (21:29) 

Hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Right. 

  

Kathi Lipp (21:52) 

Like I don’t even know how to describe them. They’re like they smell good. They’re supposed to be atomizers, but I don’t really know how I don’t know. They’re weird. I have never used them. I’m just going to throw them away and it’s okay. So only keep things in there that are meant for that drawer. Do you have a box you could put things in? Like these are meaningful to me, but I don’t have a place for them right now. It’s okay to have some precious memory places in your life. 

  

Tonya Kubo (22:03) 

Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah, and you know, as we wrap up sort of this discussion on the underwear and sock drawer, you know, we’ve talked about in some cases, you’ve got like seasonality that you need to think about. I think for most of us, socks and underwear aren’t seasonal. I know for me, I do have four pairs of like really thick socks that I’ll wear with boots versus my thinner summer socks. But I think you can just honestly tuck them into the back corner of the drawer or just get a small bin if you need to. Would you do anything different? 

  

Kathi Lipp (22:30) 

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

  

Yeah, right. 

  

Nope, you know, the only thing I do differently is I do have fall boxes that we put upstairs and sometimes I’ll put some of those things in there because I know I’m not going to need them before fall. But you know, we’ve got a weird situation here. 

  

Tonya Kubo (23:03) 

Yeah. So, okay. So this wraps up our steps that we have gone through socks and underwear drawer. I don’t think we’ve ever spent quite so much time discussing such tiny aspects of clothing, but hey, this is an important thing. I’m curious though, Kathi, socks and underwear, it feels like it can get out of hand easily. How do you keep it tidy once you’re happy with how it is? 

  

Kathi Lipp (23:14) 

Yes? Yeah. 

  

Just keep going back to that drawer and saying, does this make me happy? And if you have kids that you’re working with them on that drawer, like are you actually wearing these things that are in the back corner? Look at the bottom of the drawer. Are the things that are never getting daylight? Not that your socks and underwear should get too much daylight. But if they’re not going through the laundry on a regular basis, it may be time to just say, you know what, we don’t need these anymore. 

  

And that’s okay, that’s okay. That’s why I really suggest getting brands you love so that you’re not re-buying mistake after mistake, because I’ve done that. I’ve wasted a lot of money doing that instead of just buying what I love, because I want to go to that drawer and feel like everything in here is something that I’m happy to wear. 

  

Tonya Kubo (24:16) 

I love that. Okay. Absolute mic drop right there. Everything is something that you’re happy to wear. Now listeners, you want to check our show notes because we have a simple downloadable guide for transforming that old sock and underwear drawer into a tidy functional space, following the tips that Kathi shared today. And we’ve got links to all the cool stuff that she mentioned, the Bamba socks, the Costco undies. I don’t know what else, but I’m sure, the honeycomb organizer. I almost forgot about that, Kathi. 

  

Kathi Lipp (24:43) 

Yes, yes, 

  

very important. 

  

Tonya Kubo (24:46) 

And 

  

we cannot wait to hear from you next time. Now, Kathi, thank you so much for breaking this down, spending the amount of time that you have in helping us really make sense of this small but important to function space. Any other things you want to add before we close off? 

  

Kathi Lipp (25:02) 

Yes. 

  

And we have all been in that broke place where we’re just happy to have any underwear. And I also want you to curate your life. I want your underwear drawer to be the least stressful part of your day. That’s my goal with this podcast. 

  

Tonya Kubo (25:26) 

I love that. I love that. Okay. Well, you have been listening to Clutter Free Academy. I am Tonya Kubo with Kathi Lipp. Now go create the clutter free life you’ve always wanted to live. 

 

 

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