Free and Cheap Ways to Organize and Declutter
Are you convinced that a small fortune’s worth of plastic bins will solve your clutter
problem? Unfortunately organization cannot be bought. Before you take your
Target card to its upper limit, follow these easy steps:
Toss, Toss, Toss!
You can’t organize garbage. How do you define garbage? If you haven’t used it
within the past year, it’s garbage. If it’s broken and you plan to use it for its pieces
but have no active project in which to do this, it’s garbage. If you never plan to use
it/wear it again, it’s garbage.
Sort your clutter into three piles: one to save, one to toss, and one to give to charity.
Make sure your charity donations are in decent shape, or you’ll just be burdening
them with a higher dumpster bill.
Most people can reduce over half of their clutter this way. You are not saving
money or time by filling your home with useless belongings.
Find a Home
Every belonging that remains should have a defined purpose, and thus a defined
home. Laundry items go in the laundry room; kitchen items in the kitchen, and so
forth. You may feel like your house is getting messier, but you in fact are moving
your former clutter closer to its new home.
Note: If there is no obvious home for an object, re-evaluate it. It may be garbage in
disguise.
Use What You Have
At this point, you will see your storage needs clearly. Often, items that would have
been dumped in a plastic bin are more usable sitting on an accessible shelf. If
you actually need a storage container, consider re-purposing items such as
oatmeal containers and cereal boxes. Even a paper bag is better than spending
money you don’t have.
Buy the Bins
Your home is now clean and decluttered, and you just need a little more storage. If
you can afford it, buying a few bins is the logical next step in the organization
process. But it is oh-so-important that you follow the above steps first, or those
bins will either merely make room for more clutter, or worse, become clutter.
Are you convinced that a small fortune’s worth of plastic bins will solve your clutter
problem? Unfortunately organization cannot be bought. Before you take your
Target card to its upper limit, follow these easy steps:
Toss, Toss, Toss!
You can’t organize garbage. How do you define garbage? If you haven’t used it
within the past year, it’s garbage. If it’s broken and you plan to use it for its pieces
but have no active project in which to do this, it’s garbage. If you never plan to use
it/wear it again, it’s garbage.
Sort your clutter into three piles: one to save, one to toss, and one to give to charity.
Make sure your charity donations are in decent shape, or you’ll just be burdening
them with a higher dumpster bill.
Most people can reduce over half of their clutter this way. You are not saving
money or time by filling your home with useless belongings.
Find a Home
Every belonging that remains should have a defined purpose, and thus a defined
home. Laundry items go in the laundry room; kitchen items in the kitchen, and so
forth. You may feel like your house is getting messier, but you in fact are moving
your former clutter closer to its new home.
Note: If there is no obvious home for an object, re-evaluate it. It may be garbage in
disguise.
Use What You Have
At this point, you will see your storage needs clearly. Often, items that would have
been dumped in a plastic bin are more usable sitting on an accessible shelf. If
you actually need a storage container, consider re-purposing items such as
oatmeal containers and cereal boxes. Even a paper bag is better than spending
money you don’t have.
Buy the Bins
Your home is now clean and decluttered, and you just need a little more storage. If
you can afford it, buying a few bins is the logical next step in the organization
process. But it is oh-so-important that you follow the above steps first, or those
bins will either merely make room for more clutter, or worse, become clutter.
Sage Homekeeping
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |