Sunday, September 19, 2010

Clutter & De-cluttering - Part 3



Diving in..............

Now that you are stepping into the Twilight Zone of Clutter - what is the best way to decide what to get rid of and what to keep??????? What do you do with the stuff that you no longer want or need???

Lets start with the clothing rule - If it hasn't been out of the drawer or closet in the past 6 months, get rid of it. There are certain exception to this though, especially for a man. Some men today do not wear suits a lot except to funerals or weddings, so if you haven't taken one of your suits out of the closet in past 6 months then consider yourself lucky to still have your family and friends around... Although if you have 12 suits hanging in the back of the closet, then that might be another story...

As for other items - Ask yourself this -


  • Do I really love this item or just pretend to because it came from Shirley and Stan?
  • Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it? This one is the most dangerous! One way to to work around this is to have someone else (whom you trust!) help you go through things. They don’t have the (sometime’s irrational) emotional attachment that you might have, but can still recognize if something should be kept.

  • Have I used it in the past year? or even the past 6 months?

  • Is it really garbage? Does it need fixing? Do I actually have time or the money to repair it?

  • Do I have another one that is better?

  • Should I really keep two?

You also can have the 6-month box; Take all your items that you unsure about getting rid of (e.g. “I might need this someday…”), put them in a box, seal it and date it. When you come across it 6 months from now and you still haven't opened it to get anything, donate the box WITHOUT OPENING IT. You probably won’t even remember what there was in the box.

One of the key things though is to take the pile of stuff you are not keeping out of the house as soon as possible, take it to a staging area in the garage or shed if you're going to sell it or the back seat/trunk of you vehicle if you're going to donate it...

Now that you are all done sorting, the stuff you're not keeping can be:


  • Donated to charities
  • List your clutter on craigslist
  • Sell it on Ebay
  • Have a garage sale and then anything that didn't sell donate it...
  • or even as I have done with many things - put at the side of the road in front of your house with a free sign on it...
  • OR Gift Everything to all your family & friends, LOL

Now I'll end part 3 with this caution - You really should stop for the day even if you are not done:

# 1 - If you find yourself hitting a “brain fog” where nothing makes sense or you find yourself holding on to everything you are reviewing - and/or #2 - If you hit a hysterical state of mind and start tossing everything without looking at it.

Of course before starting on your De-cluttering for the day make sure you put a nice crock-pot of this dessert on for your reward later, for a job well done;

- Apple Sauce -

--4 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters
--juice from 1 lemon
--1/4 cup water
--1 teaspoon vanilla
--1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
--1 Tablespoon brown sugar

makes enough for about 4/5 people

Skin, core, and cut your apples into quarters. Plop the pieces into your crock pot. Add the juice from the lemon, and the water. Pour in the vanilla ( imitation or real), add the cinnamon and brown sugar.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When the apples are super tender, mash with a potato masher or large fork. Serve up in bowls with some whip cream on top and maybe some warm cinnamon sugar donuts on the side...

2 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Good Afternoon

Can I link to this post please?