Dan and I have mentioned a few times on the podcast how much we love our Exalibur food dehydrator. We absolutely love making our own dried fruit and beef jerky, free of additives and other junk ingredients that most other off the shelf foods have. Funny thing is, we didn’t always feel that way about our dehydrator. For a long time it just sat alone, tucked away in a cabinet above our refrigerator. It was yet another appliance we bought on impulse without thinking through how we would use it and if we really needed it in our lives. Isn’t that the case with most things we purchase on impulse?

We bought it well before we started our simplicity journey and got it primarily because we had just finished a 12 day juice fast and were motivated to continue to incorporate healthier, raw foods into our diets.  Plus we were tired of paying outrageous prices for beef jerky! So we got it, tried it…and then stored it away for months before using it again. Why? Well, like I said, we didn’t think through all the variables of bringing yet another appliance into our lives. And of course it was “out of sight and out of mind” so it simply didn’t get used.

Then one day Dan and I were discussing ways to slow the accumulation of clutter in our lives and curb our spending. We made a pact with one another to revisit and reuse some of those long forgotten items we purchased but never fully used, to see if we could or would actually use them. If not, we vowed to get rid of them for good! Luckily, after a serious interrogation session we determined there was a place for our food dehydrator in our lives. We just needed to ask the right questions:

• What and how many types of foods do we want to make with the dehydrator?

• Is there another way to make the same foods with items we already own? Or can we purchase these same foods with the same quality?

• How often do we want to use it? Are these foods we will eat on a regular basis or only on special occasions?

• Why are we not using it? Is the process too difficult? If so, can we simplify the process to make it worth using and keeping?

• Is there a routine we can establish to make sure we use it?

• Is the cost in time, effort and output worth keeping it?

In the end, we decided that it was worth it…for us. We love that we are creating healthier options for snacks and that they last longer than the fresh fruit that would end up going bad because we never ate it fast enough! Sure it takes some effort to prep the food before dehydrating, but we made the process simpler by creating a bi-weekly routine of dehydrating our snacks and we get the entire family involved making it more of a weekend or pre-camping trip ritual.

So take a look around at those things in your life that aren’t getting the attention they deserve. Is it because they really don’t fit into your lifestyle, or do you just need to take a closer look and strategize how it can add value to your life? It just might be worth the effort.

So, what do you have laying around the house that you could put to good use? What’s something you’ve been hanging on to fully intending to use, but never seem to get around to actually using it? Let us know in the comments below.