Wannabe Clutter Free | Declutter, Simplify, Find Freedom

Have you ever decluttered your home only to watch it slowly fill right back up? This episode is for you.
Ashlee Piper is a sustainability expert, speaker, and author who has been featured on the Today Show, Good Morning America, and CNN, and in Vogue, the New York Times, and Newsweek. She created the No New Things Challenge in 2013. What started as a personal 30-day experiment turned into nearly two years of not buying anything new. The result? She saved over $36,000, paid off $22,000 in debt, reclaimed her time, and completely rewired her relationship with shopping. Her new book, No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity, guides readers through the same challenge.
In this conversation, Ashlee and Deanna dig into what she calls conditioned consumerism, the history of how post-WWII America reprogrammed an entire society from resourceful people into reflexive shoppers, and how that programming is the real reason your home keeps filling up no matter how many times you declutter.
In this episode you will learn:
Why the urge to buy new things is not a personal failing but a historical and marketing construct
The SUPER System: five ways to get your needs met without buying anything new
How to use a trigger-tracking journal to discover the real emotions driving your shopping impulses
The 2-7 minute rule and why riding it out changes everything
How the challenge builds creativity, community, and connection as unexpected side effects
Why Ashlee says women are the most powerful purchasing cohort on the planet and what that means for your household

Pick up No New Things wherever books are sold. You can also find it secondhand at ThriftBooks.
Find Ashlee on Instagram: @ashleepiper
Learn more at: ashleepiper.com
Full show notes: wannabeclutterfree.com/317

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Have you ever spent a Saturday morning deep cleaning your entire house, and by noon you still feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and a little annoyed at everything? Your house looks great. You should feel amazing. But you don’t.
That’s not you being a perfectionist. It’s the sneaky kind of clutter that almost nobody in the decluttering world ever talks about.
Calendar clutter (or the mental load of keeping everything running)
In this episode I’m bringing it to light and giving you a real system to clear it. You’ll learn the two distinct forms calendar clutter takes (an overbooked calendar full of other people’s priorities, and the quieter weight of undone decisions with no home), the weekly capture method that gets everything out of your head and onto paper, and why protected blank space is not wasted time, it’s the time that makes everything else work.
This is the finale of my four-part series on the invisible weight of clutter, the stuff that doesn’t pile up on your counters but piles up in your mind instead.
In this episode you’ll learn:
Why a clean house doesn’t always feel like a calm house
The two kinds of calendar clutter (most people only ever deal with one)
How to build a “vision filter” so you stop saying yes out of guilt
The weekly capture method for clearing undone decisions out of your head
Why blank space on your calendar is not wasted space
A simple script for saying no without feeling like a flake

Mentioned in this episode:
Effortless Home: DAILY Edition (use code EPISODE316 for $10 dollars off, 48 hours only): https://wannabeclutterfree.com/daily
Fair Play by Eve Rodsky: https://amzn.to/4wpuSwF
Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing: https://amzn.to/4weJL4E

Next week: Ashley Piper joins me to talk about her book No New Things.

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Your kid won't get rid of anything. You know their room has too much stuff. But every time you try to do something about it, it turns into a battle. What if you never had to be the bad guy again?
Dana K. White is the creator of the No Mess Decluttering Method, the blogger behind A Slob Comes Clean, and the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Decluttering at the Speed of Life. She has spent 17 years teaching overwhelmed, messy people how to get their homes under control without shame or perfection. And now she has taken everything she knows and put it into her very first children's book, Winnie's Pile of Pillows.
In this episode, Dana shares how to use a picture book as an actual decluttering tool, why her container concept works even better on kids than it does on adults, and how to get through a decluttering session with your child without convincing them of anything. This one will change how you approach your kid's stuff.
Covered in this episode:
How to use Winnie's Pile of Pillows as more than a bedtime story
Why the container concept makes the space the bad guy instead of you
The five-minute pickup test that tells you if your child has too many toys
What to say when your kid insists they need to keep everything
How to declutter with your child without starting a power struggle
Why you should never start with your kid's room
The age when kids can really start to grasp the concept of having enough
How to pass on a no-shame, no-guilt relationship with stuff to your kids

If you are fighting the toy clutter battle and losing, this episode is for you. Hit play, grab the book, and go find that trash bag.
LEARN MORE
Winnie's Pile of Pillows by Dana K. White: https://amzn.to/4afYyDH
A Slob Comes Clean: https://www.aslobcomesclean.com
Lenora and Her Super Duper Messy Room by Deanna Yates: https://amzn.to/4gDSp89
Show notes: https://www.wannabeclutterfree.com/315

CONNECT
Dana K. White on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aslobcomesclean/
Deanna Yates on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wannabeclutterfree/

LISTEN TO MORE
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wannabe-clutter-free-declutter-simplify-find-freedom/id1485473251
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ATUIVONi0kyoVUKOQV4OT?si=f555de5388164b10
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wannabeclutterfree

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Digital clutter doesn’t pile up on your counter, but it absolutely piles up in your brain. Every unread email, every unused app, every notification going off every eight minutes is quietly draining your focus and your energy.

In this episode I’m giving you three moves for your inbox, three moves for your phone, and a simple weekly habit that keeps all of it under control going forward.

In this episode you’ll learn:

The one reframe that changes how you think about email forever

How to cut your inbox in half this week without losing anything important

The 30-day app audit (and why you don’t have to fully delete things to get them out of your way)

The Favorites list trick that lets you protect your peace without missing important calls

The three-habit digital maintenance system that takes under 15 minutes a week

Resources mentioned:

Unroll.me (mass email unsubscribe tool)

Clean Email (email management tool)

Digital Declutter Challenge course: https://www.wannabeclutterfree.com/digital-declutter-challenge

⁠If this episode resonated with you, share it with one person who needs to hear it.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and if you have two minutes, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts makes a real difference.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction to Digital Clutter

00:29 Understanding the Impact of Email Clutter

03:44 Reframing Your Email Inbox

05:03 Unsubscribing and Archiving Emails

07:45 The Archive Bomb: Cleaning Out Old Emails

11:49 Organizing Your Email Folders

14:30 Addressing Phone Clutter

16:42 The 30-Day App Audit

18:29 Resetting Notifications for Clarity

21:31 Creating a Favorites List for Important Contacts

22:29 Simplifying Your Phone's Home Screen

24:14 Establishing a Digital Maintenance Habit

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Have you ever looked at a "minimalist" home on Instagram and thought, well, that is never going to be me. My kids alone would destroy that in four minutes? Or convinced yourself that your clutter-free journey isn't working because your house just doesn't look the part? You are not alone. And this conversation is for you.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RESOURCES⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get the transcripts and more at wannabeclutterfree.com/313⁠⁠⁠

⁠Episode with Joshua Becker

The Minimalists Documentary


Previous episode with Desirae⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Connect with Desirae:

Minimal-ish Website⁠⁠

⁠Minimal-ish on Instagram⁠

Minimalish Podcast: Search "Minimalish" wherever you listen

Follow Deanna Yates, the host of Wannabe Clutter Free on:

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Effortless Home: DAILY Edition - 5 Steps to Run Your Home Like Magic⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Desirae Endres is the host of the Minimalish podcast, and her decluttering journey started in 2018 when she sat down as a brand new mom and watched a documentary that completely changed the way she thought about her stuff, her home, and her identity.

Since then she has built an entire community around the idea of "minimal-ish" living, not a perfect aesthetic, not a stark white capsule home, just a real and intentional life with less in the way. 

In this episode, Desirae gets honest about the postpartum anxiety that made her desperate for a calmer home, what it felt like when her husband said their house no longer looked minimal-ish, and the beautiful shift she had about what this whole journey is actually for. We also dig into how to get your kids involved in decluttering without it turning into a battle, and the single most powerful thing you can do to raise kids who genuinely understand how to let go.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

What "minimal-ish" means and why it has nothing to do with how your home looks

The real connection between clutter and mental health

Why letting go of stuff is really about letting go of past versions of yourself

How to involve your kids in decluttering without forcing it

What age kids can meaningfully participate (and when it is okay to just do it yourself)

The one thing you can do today that quietly teaches your kids to let go

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Introduction

2:59 Desirae's origin story: the documentary that changed everything

5:37 Why changing your nature is harder than changing what you own

9:21 How decluttering helped manage postpartum anxiety

11:37 Letting go of clothes and letting go of past versions of yourself

15:02 Baby stuff, the "what if" fear, and letting go anyway

20:20 Feeling like an imposter when your home does not look minimal

22:45 The minimalist aesthetic vs. the minimalist mindset

24:56 Accepting certain areas of clutter in your current season

32:43 Teaching kids to declutter: where to start

37:21 The power of narrating your own decluttering out loud

43:28 What age should kids start participating?

47:07 What Desirae wishes someone had told her at the very beginning

49:13 Decluttering as a gateway to bigger life changes

50:09 Rapid fire questions

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Music: Fresh Lift by Shane Ivers - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.silvermansound.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We’d love to hear how you’re applying the strategies discussed in this episode. Share your stories and tips with us on social media (@wannabeclutterfree). Don’t forget to subscribe for more insightful episodes designed to make your busy life a bit easier.

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