Weekly Tip

“If it’s a habit, it ceases to be a source of conflict,” says Gretchen Rubin, author of Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives.

Even toddlers can learn to hang up coats (provide them a hook), pull up bedding, put clothes in hamper, bring plates to sink.  Toddlers think of work as play and you can turn this teaching moment into a game.  Following routines offers a sense of calm.

Once a child starts pre-school there will be a set of routines for picking up the classroom.  Capitalize on the cubby system at home, purchasing similar storage bins. Sing the school’s clean up song as you work, i mean play, with your child.

Keep a donation bin in the garage.  Getting rid of old toys and too-small clothing is important for an organized home.  Purge as you go instead of spending an entire Saturday “cleaning out” will be much better received by your entire family.

Children love to mimic and who best to mimic but a loving parent teaching them the fundamentals of an organized life.

Store garments like formal dresses, coats, silk or leather on wooden hangers in a breathable garment bag, never in dry cleaning bags which trap chemicals and moisture, causing yellowing.

Natural fiber clothing need air circulation.  Airtight bins are great for space conservation, so if you are using them, poke holes in them.  This will avoid mold and mildew, yellowing or a musty odor.  If your clothing is shelved, cover the stack with a pillowcase to keep the dust off.

Time to empty out that big kitchen box.  We are not performing science fair experiments in there are we?  Empty and toss the expired foods, I guarantee they are lurking in there.  Sanitize the drawers and shelves.  Deodorize the inside walls with all-purpose cleaner and vacuum the coils behind, soak the ice cube catcher in baking soda.  When putting items back in, wipe them off so the old gunk doesn’t return.  Organize the contents… condiments in the side door, dairy together, meat in the meat drawer, produce in the produce drawer and NOW… your fridge and food are fresh and that big box will run more efficiently.

It should be just cash and…

Two credit cards.  Yep that’s it.  Choose the one with the best rewards or lowest interest rate and keep the others at home in a lockbox.  Photocopy cards, front and back, storing the copy in your lockbox.

Consolidate store loyalty cards, coupons, and other people’s business cards by downloading apps, like CamCard, Keyring or Grocery Pal.

Refuse receipts from grocery stores, delis and coffee shops.  Throw out any in your wallet right now!  Planning on returning an item?  Keep those receipts in a folder, or tape them to the return. When offered an email receipt, accept the offer, then set up an email account just for receipts to protect your main email address from mailing lists.

Even though your wallet has a compartment for coins… use it for emergency items like band-aids, safety pins, earring backs.  Drop loose change into your pocket and use it that day.  If not, it goes into the change jar when you get home.

Never carry your Social Security card.  This belongs in your lockbox away from identity thieves.

Toss old lottery tickets, casino vouchers, to-do notes, shopping lists and scraps with phone numbers… need I say more?  Your handbag is now lighter and your back pocket won’t slouch.

One of the most common accumulations I see with clients is books.  Seriously?  With all the E-readers we still accumulate books?  When moving, this means endless heavy boxes and trips from house to truck and truck to house of books!  Not many of us have dedicated library rooms and it is time to consider book de-cluttering.

The most common statement I hear is “I might read it again.”  How many of your books have you actually read again?  Unless you are a professor or scholar very rarely will ordinary people read the book again.

Pay it forward!  Donate your books to your local library.  Libraries will either shelve them for others or sell them at book drives whose proceeds go to buy more books for the library so we are never without books, books and more books…  Oh!  My!

The book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo has over 3 million copies soldand I am proud to be one of those 3 million. Here are just a few quotes from this helpful book:

when you put your house in order you put your affairs and your past in order too

surround yourself with only the things you love

tidy a little each day and youll be tidying forever

when de-cluttering ask yourself, does this item spark joy? If not dispose of it.

This website will continue to post more ideas from this neat little book stay tuned.

When a drawer no longer closes easily, it’s time to clean it out.  Sign up for paperless and online billing to eliminate paper pile ups.  Make your bed and the room will look less messy.  Open storage shelves dictate neatness.  These hints are especially helpful in small spaces.

The bedroom should be an oasis for sleep, relaxing and lounging.  If you are staring at piles of laundry, books, magazines, electronic devices, you are not in Zen or rem.  The headboard doesn’t have to be just a pillow prop.  Find one that stores books and magazines, can hold a lamp and you have triple duty functional furniture.

A single shallow shelf above the bed keeps books close at hand and will limit the number of books you store in the room.  Save space by mounting a reading lamp on the wall.  And that laundry?  Throw it in a decorative hamper, or better yet get your extra steps in and take it to the laundry room.  When it’s clean?  Put it away right away!

You go to your local big box store and buy volumes of toothpaste, dental floss, pantry foods, tissue paper, greeting cards… only to come home and find you already had volumes of these items scattered about.  SAVE MONEY!  GET ORGANIZED!  Categorize your things based on how you use them and which room should have them.  Doing it now prevents you from wasting time searching all over the place for something later and keeps track of household items running low.

– Use shredded paper from your shredder to cushion gifts instead of tissue.  Makes great packing for moving and mailing as well.

– Take a rainy or snow day off and sort old photographs by family member/friend groups.  Label the back with acid free pen so you and your family can always identify who’s who.  Not a great photo of Uncle George?  Why keep it?  Trust me, he won’t mind if it gets tossed.

– B.O.O.M. Box (Broken, Odd or Missing) box to be stored in garage with objects waiting to be glued, found or fixed.

– J.U.I.C.E. Box (Just Unused Inputs Cords and Electricals) box will contain all those cables and cords so they don’t die tangled in some drawer or forgotten in outlets.  It helps to label these cords so you will always know to which device they belong.