3 July 2011

Decluttering : part two

1 Corinthians 7:29-31 : The Message
I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don't complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple — in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.

I've been collecting tips and hints about decluttering for a while, and want to share some of these with you now. Some of these I've been using for a while; others I'm trying out at the moment:

A good starting point is a realisation that clutter enters your house pretty much every day (e.g., free papers, junk mail, flyers, gifts). So you need to remove it at least once every day. Even if it's only 15 minutes a day. Start by keeping a bin by the door so that the junk mail goes straight into it. It may have got its way into the porch; a little determination will stop it getting any further!

Stop bringing new stuff in now. That may mean buying nothing new, but if you are serious about decluttering this is a step you have to take, at least for a while. If there is a good pressing reason why you have to buy it, then use the 'one in, two out' rule. When you bring one item in, you have to throw two out!

If you haven't used in in a while, throw it away. Chances are, you won't miss it... If it's too good to throw away, sell it or give it away. Support your local church or charity and donate it to them. I've found that Freegle and Freecycle are very useful groups for giving away items that are otherwise difficult to donate. Your unwanted yet valuable items are doing nothing in your house; set them free to do their work. Hoarding them is a selfish act!

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