Tag: decluttering

Conquering Back-to-School Clutter

Posted on by Jordank

Every year around the third week of August, “Where did the summer go?” is a common lament among parents of school-age children. Those big yellow buses will start to pick them up in next couple of weeks, if they haven’t already, and the three-day Labor Day weekend notwithstanding, the start of school is a transitional moment for familes.

As with many seasonal transitions, back-to-school time carries clutter with it. The kids will return home from school each day with new paperwork, books, instruments, sporting goods, electronics and other stuff — and will tend to toss it aside the second they enter the front door. Summer is nearing its end, and with it, your vacation from indoor clutter.

To get ready for the influx of new junk, sort through and get rid of anything your kids won’t need in the upcoming school year. Store summer items such as camping gear and swim goggles out of sight to make the transition less traumatic. This would also be a good time to file last year’s art projects that are still stuck to the fridge and send one to grandma.

This is also a fantastic time to take inventory of the clothing that does and doesn’t fit your kids; there is no reason to keep things that they have grown out of. Bag up the rejects and contact ClothingDonations.org for a free donation pickup of anything you won’t be using in the year ahead; somebody can use them! Plus, the proceeds from their resale will help fund veterans programs.

Once school starts, parents should model proper decluttering and organization skills, suggests Mindful Decluttering & Organizing. Work with kids to designate confined but comfortable workspaces; create storage systems for their school supplies and projects; and sort, file and/or trash old papers to keep the clutter from escalating.

Most of what kids learn in school is stored in their brains; it doesn’t need to be in overflowing bins and boxes that crowd the closets and attic. It’s perfectly fine to document your child’s growth and progress, but keep only the pictures, papers and other memorabilia that represent pivotal moments in their development.

Back-to-school time is bittersweet, since it represents the end of the relatively carefree summer months. To ease the transition and preserve the stress-free feeling of summer, stay organized as the weather gets colder and the leaves begin to fall.

Moving? Don’t Forget to Declutter

Posted on by Jordank

The average American will move 11.4 times in his or her lifetime, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And the Organizing Blog thinks that summer 2019 may be more mobile than most — those orange box trucks seem to be everywhere this season, taking people and their stuff across town and across the country.

One thing is certain: Moving is not easy, and it gets harder as you accumulate more stuff. Everything you keep has to go into boxes and onto that truck, and the more you have, the longer it takes and the more it costs. There is a solution, however; and that’s to keep less stuff. #Declutter before you move, and the process will be (somewhat) less of a burden.

A pre-relocation #decluttering differs from an everyday decluttering (although if you’ve followed the Organizing Blog’s advice consistently, you’ll already have limited your possessions to only the essentials). For one thing, says The Art of Happy Moving, you’ll want to declutter by category rather than room so that you pack like items together.

Begin with the heavy stuff — books, records, etc. Even if you’re an avid collector, the less of these weighty items you keep, the better your friends/movers will manage. Have extra boxes and bags available as you pack; seal up the things you want to “Keep,” sort out what you want to “Donate,” and “Trash” anything that too broken, outdated or dilapidated to use immediately.

Set the donation bags and boxes aside and contact ClothingDonations.org for a pickup. Once some of the trashed and donated items are out of the way, you’ll have more room to carefully pack up the things you want — and likely be ready to #declutter more of the things you don’t want more aggressively.

Pack three or four boxes of keepers per day, Nourishing Minimalism suggests, and start well ahead of the move so that you have plenty of time to get the place cleaned when the zero hour finally arrives. It’s toward the end of the packing phase when things can get frantic; random objects will wind up in boxes together — some essential, most not.

While it’s an incredible chore that brings lots of stress, moving is the perfect opportunity to edit nonessential stuff out of your life for good. When you unpack only the things you need and cherish in your new home, you’ll be glad you decluttered before the move.

Pack Sensibly for Your Summer Vacation

Posted on by Jordank

Summer is the best time of the year to take a long, relaxing trip to see old friends, explore new sights and go to the beach. To make your leisure time even more carefree, remember that a little bit of #organizing can play a substantial role in your relaxation while on vacation.

In other words, it pays to pack sensibly and as light as possible. You probably don’t need all of that #stuff on your trip anyway, and if you forget something, chances are that you’ll be able to buy whatever it is just as easily once you get to your destination.

If you take a plane, most major airlines now charge substantial baggage fees and/or offer special no-frills fares that permit only a small carryon. Depending on the destination, you can often save hundreds of dollars by reducing the amount of stuff you take along.

To keep within airline baggage limits, decide what you’ll need to bring before getting the suitcase out, says Land of the Traveler. Make a list of the essentials — socks, underwear, deodorant, etc. — and set them aside.

Be practical about the clothing you bring. Choose versatile garments that mix and match easily to create new outfits. Stick to a simple color palette and choose items that can be dressed up or down with accessories. Then, lay out what you’ve picked and eliminate half of it.

If you’re aren’t flying, you’ll have more room available and likely more to pack, too. Successful summer road trips have special accoutrements such as coolers full of refreshing beverages, extra chargers, sunscreen, sporting goods and beach gear.

But even on a road trip, packing clothing that does double-duty can pay off, says What to Pack. When the sun goes down or the A/C is full-blast, you’ll need a blanket or hoodie. “In addition, especially for long-haul drives, pillows are crucial,” the blog says.

Whatever mode of travel you choose for your summer vacation, stick to the essentials. There will be less to keep track of, misplace or lose, and as a result, more time to enjoy your leisure time with complete peace of mind.

#Clutter doesn’t only exist in the home; it can follow you wherever you go, complicating the good times with excess stuff. This summer, pack only what you need — and take advantage of all of the freedom that your vacation affords.

Get the Kids to Declutter on Their Summer Vacation

Posted on by Jordank

School’s out (for the summer)! And if you have kids, that means you’ll be looking for something to keep them busy for six or eight hours on most weekdays. Summer camp, a family vacation and other diversions are great options, but they can’t fill every one of those hours fast enough. This summer, get your kids involved in a good #decluttering.

You can already hear the collective groan you might hear as you suggest such a chore. But if you organize and incentivize the task, you might find that it gets done faster and more completely — and then everyone can really enjoy the summer fun.

Set a goal; the Making Lemonade blog suggests a summertime target of reducing stuff by one-third. Kids tend to accumulate lots of toys, clothing and other junk that they outgrow quickly, leading to overstuffed closets and drawers, so extra stuff should be easy to weed out. Put each of them in in charge of choosing what to keep.

Find a rainy day or quiet weekend to have everyone pitch in and declutter their personal spaces, or simply set a deadline. As an incentive, put a garage or yard sale on the calendar; anything that the kids are able to declutter and sell will mean extra money in their pockets — money they can spend on whatever they wish.

Toys can present an especially challenging decluttering task, says Simply Well Balanced. Sort them into categories — building toys, stuffed animals, craft supplies, etc. — and ask your child to keep only a limited number of favorites. Those few items will go back to the closets and shelves, and the rest will be bagged and boxed for sale or #donation. Anything broken or unusable can go directly into the trash.

After you hold your sale and distribute the proceeds, you can box up the leftover clothing, toys and other household items and schedule a ClothingDonations.org pickup. A driver will stop by on the appointed day, load up your stuff and leave a donation receipt for tax purposes. That lightly used merchandise will then be resold to fund veterans’ programs.

This, in itself, can be a lesson in personal responsibility for younger children, decluttering coach Gari Julius Weilbacher told WHYY. “It’s wonderful to teach kids from a young age about making meaningful donations. Involving kids in packing up the books, toys and clothes that they are no longer using can engage them in the process.”

Get Ready for Garage Sale Season

Posted on by Jordank

The weather is finally heating up in many parts of the country that suffered a long and inclement winter and spring. A dreary spring is great for spring cleaning, of course, but are you ready to make the most of the new season — garage sale season?

Here’s hoping that you have been able to go through your home room by room to sort out some of the excess junk you’ve accumulated over the months and years. If you haven’t given that stuff away already, now’s the time to make some money off it.

To get your sale ready, get everything you want to sell in one place. There are some things that will need to be trashed, of course, but you may be surprised at what people will want to buy, says FrugalFun.com.

“Try to sell everything! What’s junk to one person is often someone else’s treasure. Even broken appliances can be sold for parts. And don’t throw out your old magazines. Stick them all in a box and sell them for a quarter apiece.”

Arrange your selling space — whether it’s the garage, driveway or yard — like a store, with tables, racks and aisles to group similar stuff. Sort items into areas: clothing, tools, kitchenwares, electronics, knickknacks, jewelry, etc.

Post bright, colorful signs around the neighborhood, and save extra grocery bags for people’s purchases. Play some background music at your sale and greet shoppers to put them at ease while they browse.

If you plan on having more than one sale this season, you won’t have to haggle on prices much. But if your goal is to clear that crop of excess stuff (#clutter) out once and for all, allow shoppers to bargain and slash prices in the sale’s final hours.

You won’t sell everything, so contact ClothingDonations.org to schedule a pickup in the days immediately following the sale. Not only will your donation of lightly used clothing and household goods help veterans, it will reduce the temptation to take any of the excess merchandise back into your home.

Garage sale season lasts from now into fall, so get ready to get rid of the junk you don’t need. Whether you stage a single sale or decide to make garage sales a regular outlet for #decluttering, you’ll be happy how streamlined your life can become — and have a few extra bucks to spend, too!