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Master Bedroom

Home Office
Bathroom

Kitchen
Living Room
Kids' Stuff



Master Bedroom

• Clothing is the single most problematic area in a house.
• Most people only wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time each season.  There is a lot in their closet that is not being worn.  This can be a very difficult task because clothing is cheap and easily assessable.

 Here are some ideas to reduce:

• Keep the clothes you love and you get compliments on.
• Discard any items that are soiled or torn right away.
• Then get rid of any item you know doesn’t fit or you don’t like or you haven’t worn in 6 months.
• If you are holding on to items that you hope to get into some day, just get rid of them.  They are mocking you every time you look at them.  Plus, when you do get to the size you desire, you can treat yourself to a new wardrobe that is in fashion.
• Keep only the socks that you have matches for.  Discard all others.
• Keep only the bras, slips, and underwear that fit and are in good shape.
• Sort out all of your t-shirts and keep only the ones that fit into the zone you designate.  You may want to sort by like colors or long vs. short sleeves.  Keep how many you have space for.
• Organizing clothes by color can help narrow down too many of the same color or style.
• Clothing is meant for drawers and hangers, not the floor.  Use a hamper.
• When you switch out seasonal clothes, evaluate each item before storing it or putting it in the current closet.
• If you are still left with a large collection, turn all the hangers around and after 6 months any items that are left, get rid of them

Shoes

Narrow down shoes to the area in your closet to store them.  Spread them out and get rid of duplicates or unworn pairs.

Jewelry

Get rid of any jewelry that you don’t use.  Since Gold price is so high right you, you can sell Gold back to be melted

Home Office

Paperwork is one of the hardest clutter battles to beat since we are constantly bombarded with junk mail, bills, and letters.

• Shredder: Invest in a good cross cutter shredder.  This will prevent your confidential information from getting compromised.
• Computer files: Delete and sort computer files on a regular basis.  Back up important files. We forget to do our home files since work files are backed up each day without us knowing.
• Bill Paying: Find a system that will work for your family to pay bills such as, Microsoft Money, Quicken, Quick books, using a check book, etc.  Use on-line bill paying to avoid losing bills or paying late.
• Easy to reach: Keep check book, bills, stamps, and envelopes in one location.
• Warranties can be organized in an alphabetical accordion folder.

Here are paperwork guidelines for shredding of items

(Please talk with your Financial Planner or Accountant for verification)

Each month

• Receipts such as ATM, bank deposit slips, credit card purchases after you have checked them against your statement or bank account. Keep only for refund or warranty.  Evaluate this each year.

Each Year

• Utility bills
• Bank and credit card statements unless you need for proof of deductions for taxes.  Many companies will provide a year end summary.
• Medical payment records

7 years due to tax implication

• Cancelled Checks
• Credit card statements
• Mortgage interest
• Pay stubs
• W-2 and 1099

Keep as long as you have the item

• Home loan records
• Insurance records
• Deeds, car titles, receipt for major purchases
• Receipts for major home improvement costs for insurance claims

Keep forever

• Birth certificates, marriage license, insurance policy info
• Wills and trust information
• Annual tax returns
• Year-end summary statements from financial institutions
• Receipts of investments you own

Here are some suggested file names for your filing cabinet:

Financial

Credit cards

Receipts

Investment information such as 401K, retirement planning

Home

Mortgage

Water

Wastewater

Electric

Gas

Stormwater

Cable

Telephone

Internet

Garbage service

Home repairs and ideas

Insurance

Disability

Home

Life

Medical

Medical history and test results

Vehicle

Taxes (separate by year)

Return documentation

Supporting paperwork

Travel

Brochures

Vehicle (separate for each vehicle)

Maintenance

Loan information

Warranties

Manuals

Here are some suggested items for a fire safe box:

Fire insurance policy

Birth Certificates

Passports

Marriage licenses

Wills and trusts

Valuable item

Photos of valuable items for insurance

Bathroom

The bathroom is an area that is hard to keep clean.  When clutter builds it is even harder.

Kitchen

Pantry items

• Check your pantry items (baking supplies, cereal, and canned goods) periodically for expiration dates.  If items have expired, discard.  If they haven’t expired but you no longer need the item, donate it to a local food pantry.

Spices

• Normal containers of spices only last 12 months.  I have just found the greatest product for spices.  They are individually wrapped teaspoon-size packets of spices that are resistant to light and last for years. They stack neatly in a cabinet.  

  Their website is www.tspspices.com  Please check them out!   

  
  Garbage Bags

  • Put several garage bags in the bottom of the garbage can under the one you are using.  This will avoid having to be looking for garbage bags and you will be able to see when you are low before running completely out.

  Fridge and Freezer

  • Check your fridge and freezer for mystery and expired food.

  Large Equipment

  • If you have large items such as ice cream maker, bread makers, food dehydrator, crock pot, fondue pot, etc. that you haven’t used in 1 year, get rid of it.  It will give you needed counter top or cupboard space.

  Meal Planning

  Meal Planning can be a daunting task!  But, you can also make it very easy for yourself.

  • Create a list of regularly made items broken down my categories such as beef, fish, vegetarian, eggs, etc.  Here is a sample meal list.
  • I like to keep all of your regularly made recipes in a recipe box even if they come from a cookbook.
  • Decide on each day’s menu.  Look at the items you have available in your freezer, fridge and pantry.  Compare with the recipe sheet. Pull the recipes from the box.
  • Create your grocery list once you decide on each day’s menu. Use the grocery list to highlight the items you need to purchase.  Click here Grocery List, SAVE to your computer.  Make any changes to suit your circumstances.  Print several of them and post on the fridge door.

  Before:                                                             After:

      
    
  Peter Walsh from Clean Sweep and "It's All Too Much" techniques: 

   

• Cookbooks can be very overwhelming.  Most people don’t use very many of the ones they have.  One technique to narrow these down is to put a post it note on the page each time you use a cookbook.  After 6 months if there are no post-its then get rid of the cookbook.
• If you have too many spoons, ladles, serving utensils, etc, put them all in a cardboard box, if you don’t take them out of the box in 1 month then get rid of them.
• Tupperware/food storage containers can take over needed cupboard space.  To narrow this down, match up all containers and lids, tape them all shut.  Each time you use one, break the seal.  After 1 month, discard all the ones with the tape still on them.

Cooking

Put dishes away as you are cooking and after eating to avoid having to clean a lot all at once or until dishes are harder to clean.

 

Easy reach

Place your dishes, silverware, glasses within easy reach of the dishwasher for unloading.

 

Organizers

After you have purged items, organize areas using shelves, lazy susan, back of door organizers. 



 
Living Room

This room can lose its function easily and can become clutter central for many people. 

 Videos/DVDs/CDs

• Get rid of the ones that you don’t watch or have the technology to play
• Keep only the ones you have space for. To reduce space, get rid of all of the jewel cases your DVDs and CDs came in. Use a small binder/organizer for them.
• Transfer movies and family videos to the most current format. For example, transfer 8 mm film to a DVD. There are lots of companies that will do that.
• Sort by category, who listens, or alphabetically. Whatever works for your circumstances.

Books

• What is the purpose of keeping the book – reference/knowledge or leisure reading?
• Do you have books you have not read?
• How much space do you have for books?

Magazines

• There are over 22,000 magazines in the US on any subject you can imagine.  Keep only 3 subscriptions to have time to read them all.
• Keep only 2 issues of each magazine. You want the latest information
• Rip out articles that you are interested in and keep organized in a binder
• Hospitals and doctor’s offices can use old magazines for waiting rooms

 


Kid's Stuff

Kids learn from example for everything including clutter

 

General tips

• Keep a shoe organizer with 7 slots to organize a weeks worth of clothes, socks, etc. for each day OR Match outfits on hangers, so you can just pick matching shirt and pants.
• Have clear areas for reading, sleeping, clothes and toys
• Keep items at your child’s height to put items away easily

 Toys

• Throw out any that are missing pieces or broken.
• Children that are in daycares are not home that many waking hours to have the entire stock of a toy store. So keep only a couple of bins of toys.  When a new toy comes in, an old one goes out.
• Rotating toys will reduce boredom
• Regularly sort toys especially before a holiday or birthday
• When holidays or birthday comes around, give family members suggestions for gifts:
  • Zoo membership
  • Trip to the museum, park, ballet, symphony, play, etc.
  • Savings bonds or money for college fund
  • Money donated to charity in the child’s name

 Clothing

• Kids’ clothes are regularly outgrown.  Go through the closet every 6 months or sooner.  Each time you try on an outfit that doesn’t fit, take it off and put in a box to donate or pass down.  If you have the child wear it, you may forget to pull it out of the laundry.

 Large items

• Cribs, strollers, highchairs, bouncers and all of the other large items you need for a baby are quickly outgrown.  Get rid of these items as soon as they are no longer needed.

 School and art work

• Kids bring home a lot of art work and projects from school.  At the end of each semester, sort out with your child your favorite 3-4 items to keep in a portfolio or bin.  You can also scrapbook your favorite items.
• You can also frame your favorite items that can easily be switched out when new work comes in.  There are great front opening frames made for this.
• If it is too large or is a 3-D item, take a picture of it.