Do you feel overwhelmed that your home is a big mess? Just looking at it, you do not know where to begin? Try this:
Take a big green trash bag and go in each room, Put everything that is laying around into this bag; clothes, toys, shoes, just what ever is on the floor and such. You will have a clean home in 10 minutes. Then while you are sitting down watching a movie, go through this bag and put everything in place. It gives such peace of mind
By Karen from MO
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I worked for an apt complex for 9 years. Our residents were mostly college students. When they graduated and moved a lot of them left everything behind.
I started gathering up the stuff that was left. I have 18 vacuum cleaners and over 300 T-shirts, as an example of what I have. I've said, "I have found everything except a house and a gun". I gathered too much stuff and now my friends think I am a hoarder. But, I've got so much stuff, I don't know where to begin to get rid of it.
I've been told to take it all to the flea market and sell there. I have a 10 room house, 5 of the rooms are almost completely dedicated to stuff I want to get rid of. Are there garage sale experts who can give me advice?
By Lotzamoxie from Waco, TX
If you don't want to donate or give it away, you can always try Craig's List. Then you don't have to bother hauling the stuff to the flea market, just post the info & sell it. Follow precaution though, don't let them come to your house, arrange to meet them in a public place like the parking lot of your corner convenience store or grocery store or something & don't go alone. Cash only, don't take checks or anything else that can be faked. Here's a link to the Waco website & to their safety suggestions.
Wait until spring and have a garage sale, or yard sale. Run an add in you're town news paper, and sell the best if you need a little cash. Then donate the rest. Don't take checks, ask for cash in your ad. You should make some good cash. You have kept the items this long. So you can surely keep them until spring, Lot of people buy old clothing to make crafts out of.
Hope this helps.
My folks owned a "seasonal residential hotel" for many years. The people would come and stay for just one season, and then move on. Usually , they were just considered tourists, but some followed "where the work was". They bought everything new when they came, and left it all sitting there when they packed up the clothing they wanted and left. Sometimes, we'd see them several years in a row just in the summertime.
I'm sure they had homes and I know they didn't always buy the best of everything to use for the time they were in the hotel. When they'd leave though, my parents would call the agency that oversaw "Battered Women" as they were always the most in need of clothing, and household items in order to make a home for their children.
Now, I always find the same outlet for anything I have to share. Those women need everything, and as a rule, they've left abusive situations with nothing except the clothes on their backs and the backs of their children. Very few of them are in a position to find a job yet, but they still need certain things which are just out of their reach.
I urge every woman reading this to consider giving clothing and household items to an agency that will get it all to "Battered Women". No one in our country needs your help more than they do.
With 18 vacuum cleaners and over 300 T-shirts, you could do a lot of good all at once.
MisMachado
I have a long icky story that I won't bore you all with, but I am in a bit of a pickle. I have made huge strides in de-cluttering and clearing my home. I began 3 weeks ago with the easy stuff, garbage, old magazines, papers, etc. that were most visible and I knew would make the "visual" impact that would keep me motivated.
Now I am at the hard stuff. Let me give you a scenario. I have a ______ (enter "box, closet, room, container, etc") containing the following: letters, books, important papers, pictures, office supplies, crafts, samples, toys, kitchen items, bathroom items, shoes, etc.
My question is, what do I do first? Sort and put things where they are supposed to go? or purge? (do the emotional part of deciding to toss, ie., do I need this, do I have another one just like it, does it work, does it make me sad, happy, etc.).
I'm going to call you Econo for short 'cuz your user name is too long for me to memorize as I scroll down the page to respond. :) Congrats for the first step! I'm like you, the visual improvement motivates me to continue the de-cluttering process. Just be aware that it can also cause a false sense of achievement! (Been there, still dealing with that!)
My best suggestion involves eight bins or bags with eight different labels:
1) Keep - Put back where it belongs.
2) Donate - Items must be clean and functional
3) Recycle - Plastic, paper, etc.
4) Trash - Trash, soiled, broken, dysfunctional, 'Nuf said
5) Sell - The garage/yard sell stuff
6) Sell - the more valuable E-Bay/auction stuff
7) Repurpose - Wood, fabric, etc.
8) Keep - Sentimental
As soon as the #1 bin (put back where it belongs), the #2) bin (donate), the #3 bin (recycle) or the #4 bin (trash) gets full, deal with them: put up, donate, recycle or trash at each days end.
Bins # 5, 6, 7, & 8, as they fill up, will need to move into another area for later action. (These will be the toughest to deal with and you will feel better by giving yourself a second, slightly delayed, opportunity to validate your original quick sort decision.) Honestly, however, by allowing yourself a second chance to go through these items you will probably find more and more items to eliminate via the trash, donate, recycle options. You will feel more confident in these choices as you give yourself the opportunity to think through it twice!
For most, the room by room method works best, but for others, it's drawer by drawer, or wall by wall. Just keep your system flexible enough that if you get stuck ("what do I do with this?") you can forgive yourself for not tackling it immediately and move on to another area that helps you keep up the momentum.
Be realistic as to how many hours per week you can actually devote to de-cluttering. Even if you get behind schedule, never beat yourself up as long as you are making significant progress on a routine basis.
I got into my own cluttered life style because a) I'm sentimental - my grandparents and parents were all gone before I was 33 years old and I inherited a lot of their stuff, b) I'm frugal, borderline cheap, and can tell you within a dollar how much I spent on every item in my home, not wanting to part with a dime and c) I can't stand throwing away anything that still has a useful purpose, even if I don't have a useful purpose for that item. (In part, that's why I use so many bins.)
I'm getting out of my cluttered life style because I'm weary of being the caretaker of "stuff"! Wishing you the same sense of sanity and best of luck with the process.
I save everything, paper and stuff. What is the best way to organize paper?
By Marion
I have started to scan everything and keep the digital copies organized in separate folders' Everything from paid bills to recipes. I get what bills I can delivered through email. Prescription recetpts?. my pharmacy will give me a single, detailed receipt for taxes every year.
A nice filing cabinet with labeled tabs on folders will keep your papers in order.
Papers for your house and car should be saved until you sell it. Tax returns and papers associated with that should be kept for 7 years. Most other papers can be discarded when you don't need them anymore.
