I did do research before, especially for needed items, but my wants sort of slipped past that research stage more quickly. By keeping this list I force myself to not only wait, I also make sure I do plenty of research (and then in the process drop the product all together).

I've also noticed it becomes easier to throw things of the list after a while, and this in turn leads to it getting easier to not want to put something on there to begin with. Don't want to waste my time with things I won't buy anyway :)
By seeing the silly stuff on my list, I feel less tempted by more silly stuff. And seeing the total amount doesn't hurt either!

I currently have 5 items on my list (I dropped some earlier):
1. Griffin Clarifi iPhone case
2. Neocube magnets
3. Sigg Thermo Mug
4. Portable foldable water-drinking reservoir for the dog
5. A 5×5x5 Rubik's Cube

All wants, I don't need any of them really. They're just so much fun! ;)

Unlike others, I don't buy shoes or clothes. I buy boxes. And organising stuff. Sites like The daily planner and The container store make my heart beat faster.
And Thinkgeek.

Oh, and pens.

And I buy a lot of food.

Only on occasion do I not use the things I purchase, this happens maybe a couple of times per year. I don't buy 50 pairs of shoes, new skirts because they're on sale etc.

But I am a compulsive spender and this has to stop. I have more pens than I could possible ever get empty (granted, drawing just goes a lot better with the right pen, but I have multiple so that shouldn't become a problem any time soon). I have a gazillion (lovely) boxes.
No more buying food when I have plenty in my pantry. Make shopping lists and stick to them. Time to grow up ;)

To help me and keep me motivated, I've started reading blogs about getting rid of clutter basically. I found a good list of tips over at 'Simple. Organized. Life.' As a recovering pack-rat I found the first two most helpful.

1. Have a place for everything - this means your keys, your wallet, your office supplies, etc.

and

2. When you bring one thing home, try to send at least one thing out the door.

Having a place for everything (well, not yet, but getting there) helps me not having to search for an item. Tossing out something when I bring in something new helps me to not cling onto older items just for the sake of clinging on.

I've started feeling much calmer with less clutter around me. A lot less stress.

I put some drawingsupplies in the cabinet on the left (top-right), and consider putting my yarn and crochet things there too. I crochet in the livingroom, not in my hobby/bedroom (aka 'the funroom' ;) )

I tossed out one full garbagebag.

I love those boxes on the left. I put rarely used things in that big box and sorted my rags into smaller ones. Normally I prefer boxes over baskets but with the cleaning supplies I made an exception because I may want to carry them to a different spot (although that won't happen very often, the basket seemed more practical)

And as a bonus, I got a new coathanger.
My very own Ikea-hack as I used a Ikea Grundtal rail meant for the kitchen.

Yes, I have an obsession with plastic boxes and yes, I have a very specific obsession. When find ones I like I want to have just those for certain purposes. For food-storage I use Ikea's Pruta because they're small containers hold exactly the right amount of food for me.

I also label my boxes, so I know what I can find in there without having to turn them upside down. Even with the transparent boxes this helps a lot to quickly find what I need.

Now, on to declutter the cabinet under the sink. If I feel brave I'll post before and after photos later on.

I wanted to add my own experiences and tricks to it so I whipped up this post.

I've recently bought myself an iPhone (you may sigh/scream if you desire). My old phone started to fail and so did my palm. Combine this with my arthritis and enter iPhone. The touchscreen helps a lot with the arthritis.
I started using OmniFocus as a trusted system months for my todos before that, and happily got the iPhone app when it became available.

What to use.

Now, it doesn't really matter if you use pen and paper or a computerprogram to make your lists, you should pick whatever works for you.
For me, a computerprogram works best:

• I change my mind a lot, pen and paper gets very very messy
• A computerprogram lets me hide unimportant tasks with a few clicks / shortcutkeys
• I can't write that much due to arthritis, typing goes a lot better
• I can fit more info on my screen than on a reasonable piece of pape
• I can use my phone to take notes and then sync up with my computer

If everything fails, power goes down and my phone drops dead, then yes, I'll use pen and paper. However, if that all happens at the same time I think I have bigger problems ;-)

My current setup.

So, I have a pretty simple setup:

• OmniFocus on Mac laptop
• OmniFocus on iPhone
  which alows me to note down tasks at any time.

How I write down tasks.

When I want to write down a task I take a few extra seconds to follow my 'pattern':

• I always start with a verb, to put me in an actionable mood. The item is something I need to do, which requires a verb, so I put it in there straight away.
• if it's a call, I use something like call John about project x and I'll look up the number straight away and copy-paste it into the item (as a note)
• if for some reason I cannot look up the number straight away, I will always make an item before the original one stating where to find the number look up John's number in his letter Usually I know where to find it, so I'll make an extra note saying something like 'letter in archive' or 'letter on kitchen table'.
  I will link these items together. call John will become a subtask of look up John's number

By using a default 'template' for my actions it makes it easier for me to act on it. I know it will always say what to do (verb) with what / who (subject) about/for/because of what.
If I feel like using a somewhat vague verb like 'think about' I'll take an extra minute to break it down a little into something I can actively do, and not passively. 'Thinking about' usually involves brainstorming (noting down any idea I have on the subject) and something like a pro/con list.

Beware of micro-tasking.

It takes some more time in the beginning to do this, but once you get used to it (and it fits your thinking) it'll help to clarify tasks and help you just do the task instead of having to look up that number, so you postpone it again. A successful todo-list will not make it hard on you to follow through, it will make it easy for you to do the task straight away.
If you have to do things before you can actually start your task, then you should look into that, and perhaps make a task about it. Don't fall victim to micro-tasking though, you'll spend more time writing things down than actually doing it. Only you can decide where to draw the line in that. If you find you write down too little, try to do it a teensy bit more to see if you like it.
And don't listen to those people who say that 'look up John's number' is a stupid task to write down, because of course you know you have to look it up. If you need to have it written down to keep going, by all means write it down. It sure saves me a lot of time and frustration and takes away the temptation of procrastination.