Blog
All the less-stuff topics in one handy place.
Dina Day! Tick it off Tuesday
Hi, everyone. Today is Tick It Off Tuesday. I don’t know how it happens but lists of things to be done seem to appear from nowhere! I make a note …
Have a Buy Nothing Day and make do instead
I used to do my food shop every Monday. I had it down to a fine art, roughly planning what we were going to need for the week then getting …
Stop pouring money down the drain. Reuse your ‘grey water’
What is grey water? Grey water is water that has been used to wash something. It is the water from showers, washing dishes, baths, sinks, etc. and it typically makes …
Refill a disposable water bottle, save money, help the planet.
You don’t need to spend money on fancy water bottles, although nice stainless steel ones are worth the money because they keep your water cool. Simply re-filling a disposable water …
How easy is it to upcycle a plastic bottle?
If you are an IKEA Family member you might have seen these amazing emails that feature products for £0! That’s right, nothing! IKEA are promoting the Live LAGOM ethos of …
Craft with Lisa from less-stuff at IKEA’s Learning Lab in Greenwich
Earlier this year I was invited to visit the IKEA store in Greenwich. It is pretty special because it is very sustainable. They use solar power, harvest all their rainwater, …
Save money, eat like a king and save food waste with Too Good To Go
Too Good To Go is a free app that saves good food from waste. Anywhere that sells food often has delicious goodies left at the end of the day. Too …
Top tips for buying secondhand – Guest post by Holly Foat
This guest post is by a Holly Foat who combines bargain hunting with living more sustainably. I’ve been super busy running upcycling workshops away from home so I really appreciate …
Celebrate #WaitroseUnpacked with an upcycling craft workshop
Very exciting things are happening this June. The Waitrose store in Botley Road, Oxford has a whole new unpackaged area! Enter #WaitroseUnpacked and you walk into the store to see …
A Rubbish Boat Trip – Plastic Fishing with Bristol Waste
Litter isn’t just on land Every week Bristol Harbour Authority fill a skip with rubbish. They do a lot of litter picking as part of their role to keep our …
You don’t need a garden to grow your own with IKEA Live LAGOM
What is Live LAGOM? Three years ago I was chosen at random because I answered an email from IKEA asking me if I’d be interested in learning to live more …
Sourdough bread instructions
I’ve been making a loaf of bread every week for a few months now and it is starting to look ok. The recipe and the instructions are from a brilliant …
A good long list of nice things to do.
This idea came from Christine in the less-stuff Facebook group. I post prompts most days with ideas for little things to do and on Tick it off Tuesday Christine posted …
Super easy and quick granola
Delicious for breakfast with yoghurt and apple puree, nice as a topping for crumble too. Not the best breakfast choice if you are trying to keep your carbs and sugar …
What do bloggers make? Earnings from less-stuff 2018 to 2019
Running less-stuff is not my full time job, although I’d love it to be. Most of my income comes from graphic and web design and a bit of teaching. We …
54 Self Care ideas for frugal and busy people
I’ve been feeling kind of Meh lately. A bit run down and lacking motivation or energy to do anything. In the Meh state I tend to forget what helps, so …
Root vegetable crumble – a delicious way to use up any veg
This is a genuinely lovely comfort food recipe with the added benefit of being a fridge clearer! You can add almost anything to it. Cabbage, Pak Choi, Kohl Rabi, Swede, …
What can you do with beetroot powder and rose petals?
The nice folk at www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk sent me a box of unusual ingredients for me to try out. I was keen to try out the beetroot powder, I like beetroot anyway, especially …
Decluttering Haiku for World Poetry Day
World Poetry Day is on the 21st March and last year, in the less-stuff Facebook group we had a play around with decluttering Haiku. Haiku is supposed to be 5 …
How changing a lightbulb can make a huge sustainable difference
This post is about the changes that IKEA has made to be more sustainable. We can use their ideas in our homes to save money too by reducing, reusing and …
What do do when you have no motivation
It happens to all of us. We tick along nicely and then something just pushes us over the edge of productivity, straight into feeling like it’s all too much bother. …
The Frugal Family Takeover Part 4 – Practical Self Care
Often people assume that after spending so very long teaching and supporting others with their personal development I have a perfect life – this is hilarious to me and those …
How Decluttering Helps You Live a More Sustainable Lifestyle – Guest Post
This is a guest post from Emily who is the editor of Conservation Folks, and she’s always looking for ways to reduce daily waste. Springtime means that the weather is …
Reducing Kitchen Waste with IKEA – Josh’s top picks
The kitchen can be a terribly wasteful place. From leftovers that never get eaten to the water we pour down the plughole when washing up. Josh an Interior Designer who …
What would you do with a bucket full of cash? The RADMIN Convention 2019
I have had the weirdest weekend. As an MA student I get emails inviting me to all sorts of things and I try to go to as many as possible. …
Anna’s top tips for deterring car thieves
Our wonderful Anna from the less-stuff Facebook group had her car broken into last week. “The car was right outside the house, under the bedroom window and we didn’t hear …
Getting efficient with the Effici Productivity Planner
If you are looking for a nice big flexible journal that helps you track your habits and make the most of the day the EFFICI Productivity Planner could be for …
Think big to save money – how IKEA’s pressure cookers can help you save
As a country, the UK is wasting an awful lot of money throwing away food. “The average household lost £470 a year because of avoidable food waste, whilst those with …
IKEA goes green in Greenwich with their most sustainable store in the UK
I’ve just come back from an amazing preview of the new IKEA at Millennium Way Retail Park in Greenwich, London. I did have a bit of trouble finding it, because …
Repaint your home on a budget and save the planet with Community RePaint
This time last year I started to strip off some of the woodchip wallpaper. I had avoided it for years because I suspected it was actually holding the house up …
Who wants your old mismatched mugs?
This is a crowd sourced post with loads of amazing ideas from the less-stuff Facebook group. Heather asked “Is there anywhere that appreciates old mugs? They are clean and unchipped …
Making a Self Care Box – tips, lists and ideas to look after yourself
I’m not sure which is worse, a winter or summer flu. I do know that if you are feeling bad it is often a lot better to stay at home …
CBD oil for insomnia – it works for me.
Insomnia I don’t sleep well. I live in the middle of a noisy city and shouts and sirens wake me up in the night. More recently, because I am …
Don’t chuck out all your stuff because of bloody Marie Kondo
rant starts here…. Bloody Marie Kondo. I’ve read her books, folded t-shirts so I can’t tell which ones they are and I’ve tried, really tried to watch her recent series …
How to Keep your Kids Clutter Free
In a nutshell – keeping the clutter down when you have children around can be really hard. Here are a few tips to keep things under control. I am the …
How to have an eco-friendly, low waste and frugal Christmas
In the brilliant less-stuff Facebook group, Laura mentioned upcycling broken old artificial Christmas trees by wrapping individual branches with twinkly lights to make garlands. This sparked off a whole load …
Making your home cosy with IKEA Live LAGOM
As part of the IKEA Live LAGOM Community, I get invited to loads of great workshops. There is no need to feel left out though, IKEA run workshops for everyone …
Why I hate Christmas, and what I’m doing about it
One of my earliest memories was of unwrapping a little record player. I must have been about two years old and I was totally confused by it. I soon worked …
LiveLAGOM, working with IKEA to be more sustainable
Two years ago, I nearly deleted an email titled ‘congratulations’ from IKEA. I’m so glad I didn’t because it was an invitation to become part of IKEA’s Live LAGOM community …
Declutter your yarn stash and help breastfeeding mums
This is a call out from less-stuff Facebook group member Shel Banks who needs knitted or crocheted boobs to use as a teaching aid. Shel says: If anyone fancies making …