Frugal Clutter Control

Posted by MoneySavvy on Jul 29th, 2010 | no comments home title

How do you keep your house organized? It does not have to be as pricey as you think. The reality is, staying clutter free is very simple. Here are five tips to make it happen:

1. Get rid of whatever you aren’t using

This is probably the most effective tip of all. You might have heard of the 80-20 principle. This says that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts.

What does this have to do with organizing? It means that you are probably only using 20% of your belongings. You can probably easily get rid of 80-90% of your things and be none the worse for it.

That’s not to say you should eliminate all your precious memorabilia. However, if you even get rid of 50% of your things, you are going to see a huge improvement.

Be ruthless. If you haven’t used something for the past six months, then there’s a good chance you will never use it again. And consider just giving your belongings away. This takes less time, and it always feels better to give.

Getting rid of things you aren’t using not only helps organize your home, but it also aids immensely with your mental well being. It’s much easier to think clearly in a clutter-free environment.

2. Reduce your mail

Mail is often times one of the biggest causes of clutter there is. Therefore, take yourself off the lists of catalog firms and any other companies you don’t do business with.

And try to handle your bills online if possible. You will notice a dramatic difference in the clutter when you cut down on needless mail.

3. Use your old boxes and containers

Almost everyone has boxes that aren’t being utilized. Use them to put necessary items in. Just make sure to mark them so you remember where everything is. This is one of the simplest and easiest organizing methods there is.

4. Make your own shelves

This is not hard at all. If you have any woodworking experience, you can easily make your own shelves from spare pieces of wood lying around. This is a great strategy using the vertical space of your home.

5. Use jars for smaller items

Most people have extra jars or containers they are not using. If you have paper clips and other office supplies sitting around, make sure to store them in the jars.

The bottom line is, staying organized is pretty simple. First eliminate what you don’t need. Without doing this step, your home will probably not see much of an improvement.

Then organize your remaining items using shelves, boxes and containers. Implement these five tips, and you could see a big difference soon.