You may have noticed that I am taking my time on this Kickstart to Clutter Free eCourse. The duration of the course is 14 days, but there are no rules saying you have to complete the course in fourteen consecutive days.

So, what are we tackling on Day 5? The kitchen cupboards...

At first glance, I was thinking (and you might be thinking), "Hmm, the cupboards aren't too bad." But once I started getting into the one set of cupboards next to my oven, I knew I was in trouble.

I pulled everything out, shelf by shelf, and was so surprised when I found items with dates like this:

Yes, you are seeing that correctly. An unopened box of graham crackers with a best used date of August 2014!!

One thing I am remembering during this course, I am not the only one who lives in this house. But I have to take some responsibility for the things that come into my house. I do 99% of the grocery shopping. Which means I should be checking the refrigerator and cupboards before I go shopping. Yes, I did throw away opened boxes of things. You know the ones with just a few crumbs at the bottom that nobody ever finishes (still can't figure out why this happens!)

But with better planning on my part, I can avoid dumping this much stuff from my cupboard:

And needless to say, I was able to clear out more than 25 items from my cupboards. After doing a bit of moving some things around, the cupboard next to my oven now looks like this:

There is actually empty space now!

Since going through this one set of cupboards took a bit of time, I may tackle the baking and spice cupboards on another day. But next up will be the kitchen drawers...

Be sure to check into Kathi's Kickstart to Clutter Free eCourse if you are wanting to tackle your clutter for good!

I love books.

I love books like some women love shoes.

I love books like some women love clothes.

I love books like some women love jewelry.

I love to shop for books like some women like to shop for...I think you get the picture.

My earliest memory of my love for books was reading late at night with a flashlight when I was suppose to be asleep. When my parents took away the flashlight, I would read by the light coming in from my bedroom window.

I love the way words on a page create images in my mind.

I love the sound a new book makes when it is opened for the first time.

Over the years, I have added many, many...probably hundreds of books to our home library.

But one thing I have realized (especially after reading Kathi Lipp's book, Clutter Free), is that I have hundreds of books in my home, that frankly, I just do not love. So why am I keeping books in my home that I do not love?

I kind of like the idea of a big home library, but there are many books I have read that just really aren't my favorites. They were good books, but not ones I plan on reading again.

So, I made a decision today...I need to clear out my home library and only keep books I love.

To be honest, this is going to be one of the hardest things for me to do. When I told my husband what I am going to do, he had to ask me twice what I was going to do.

Tonight, I attacked one section of a very large bookcase in one room of our home. Basically, I put the books in two piles: did I love it and would I read it again? or did I read it and I don't think I will read it again?