Shop Less
Shop less and buy less. When we have less coming in we have less decisions to make, less to organize, act upon, and maintain. One thing that has helped me buy less is to think before I buy and ask myself gatekeeper questions.
Try Minimalism
Experiment with minimalism. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live with less? Why not give it a try? Less stuff means you have less to organize and maintain. Here are 3 ideas for you to sample for the month or for two weeks.
- Purchase only food and absolute necessities, but nothing else. To make it more challenging don’t eat out, get take out, or go through a drive thru.
- Put 5 items into a donation box each day and schedule a donation pick up at the end of the month. Make sure you only put in items that belong to you. It is very easy to get rid of other peoples’ “junk”.
- Schedule 3 fun activities with family and friends that have nothing to do with bringing home material goods.
Floor Clutter
Don’t let things touch the floor. Reserve floors for feet, furniture, and shoes. This helps reduce clutter buildup on the floor, especially in kids’ rooms.
Paper Purge
Schedule 2 hours for a paper purge after your taxes have been completed with the goal of cleaning out and shredding old, outdated, and obsolete information. Archive the previous years’ tax and financial files, and keep current active files separate from the archived ones.
Paper Discard List
Discard paper daily. Knowing what paper can be automatically shredded or recycled will motivate you to get rid of paper that has been accumulating. Use the list below as your personal paper discard list.
- old shopping lists
- used envelope
- expired coupons
- duplicate documents
- paper holding information you already know
- early drafts of something
- junk mail: mail labeled “Resident” or “Occupant”, unsolicited requests from charities, banks or other organizations, unwanted shopping circulars and advertisements, unsolicited credit card applications and political notices
- information more than 3 months old: magazines, cash receipts, newspapers, grocery receipts
- outdated material: catalogues, phone books, directories, schedules, calendars, warranties, reports, notes to self, to do lists, maps, text books, school notices, announcements, invitations
- information more than a year old: articles, brochures, instructions, manuals, ATM slips, bank registers, paid utility bills, explanation of benefits
- paper that has incorrect information: business cards, labels, stationery, letterhead
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