10 Easy Ways to Reduce Clutter

If you don’t know where to start, these tips will help.

Clothes, junk mail, knickknacks that seem to multiply …. Most of us have some degree of clutter in our homes and offices—and the piles tend to get larger as we age.

A certain amount of clutter is fine as long as it doesn’t interfere with your life. But if you’re spending more and more time looking for your favorite clothes, or if you have to go out and buy more stuff because you can’t find the stuff you bought last week, or if you’re not paying bills because you lose them under all the new mail coming in, you may have a problem.

Too much clutter can raise your stress. It can poison your air with allergens and breed insects and roaches. Even worse, it can lead to fires and falls that can hurt or even kill you.

If clutter is getting the better of you, it’s time to take some serious steps. These 10 easy tips will help get and keep your clutter under control.

1 For every new thing you bring into the house, throw out, donate or give away something old.

2 Avoid impulse buying.

This applies to food purchases, too. Take a quick peek into your fridge, cupboards and pantry before you head to the store so you won’t buy what you already have. And stay away from garage sales, where low prices may tempt you to pick up things you don’t need.

3 When sorting through things you feel a sentimental attachment to.

Organizing expert Marilyn Nagel says, “Keep only things that 1) make you feel happy and have no negative memories attached, 2) have a use or are valuable, and 3) have a place in your home so they’re easy to find.”

4 Don’t keep things because you feel obligated for some reason.

The people you feel obligated to probably would feel bad if they knew the items were adding to your clutter.

5 If you received Christmas gifts you don’t like, won’t use, and cannot exchange at the store, don’t store them

– donate or give them away as soon as possible.

6 Every three months, go through your books and magazines and donate what you don’t need to the library, Nagel suggests.

The library can sell your used books to generate needed revenue.

7 Once a year, go through your makeup and get rid of anything that’s old, not used or expired.

You can also do this with canned goods and with drawers like the utensil or collect-all drawer. Planning this around your birthday helps you remember to do it, Nagel says.

8 Create a file for warranties, instruction books and receipts.

This will help keep you organized and cut down on paper clutter. “I used to print out online payment receipts,” Nagel says. “Now I just copy the confirmation number into my checkbook. I don’t print them out unless I need them for tax purposes.”

9 Don’t save photo negatives except very old, treasured ones for which you don’t have the photo.

Today’s technology allows reproductions to be made from photos. And don’t save duplicates. Nagel’s idea: Turn them into postcards and send them to whoever’s in the photo. “That’s a fun surprise, especially if the photo is very old.”

10 Have your name removed from mailing lists.

Go to www.donotmail.org, www.catalogchoice.org, or www.optoutprescreen.com for credit card and insurance offers, or www.donotcall.gov to stop unwanted phone solicitations.