Now- The Best Time to Declutter

Why now? Well is is the holiday season, and everything else is in overdrive- why not the decluttering too? And lots of organizations are looking for your donations right now!

Now is a great time to clean out, while you are in the attic pulling out your decorations (or your garage) take a minute to look around and see if there is a box or an item that you didn't even realise was there- and get rid of it! Start with one things and move on from there.

You need to start somewhere, why not right now. Look around right where you are sitting and find something to get rid of. If you are not home- think- of one thing you can get rid of. Getting rid of something does not mean throwing it away. Remember, I love to be Green! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

So for inspiration here are some great things you can do with all your "stuff" .

Go through your closets and pull out 10% of your clothes and give them to charity. If you have 20 tops- find 2 you could donate to Good Will or Salvation Army. Same with you pants, sweaters, etc.. Sometimes it is easier to get rid of stuff when you know you are doing a "good deed".

Now find all your "winter wear" - Do you have old coats, gloves, hats... take all the ones you never wear- don't fit - are out of style and donate them. There are people out there who can really use them! If you have kids who have outgrown their coats from last year- donate them to Coats for Kids- you can ususally find collections for this at schools, churches, and town halls.

Now hit up your linen closet- do you have old, ripped, stained towels, sheets, even linen table clothes- donate them to an animal shelter. They use them for the animals to sleep on, wash the animals, and clean the cages.

Now head over to your dresser. Pull out the same 10% as above for t-shirts, even PJ's in good shape. Then sort out that mess of socks- any with holes add to a "rag box" for cleaning- a sock slipped over your hand makes a great "duster"-even with holes. Old T-shirts that are beyond donating cut into rags- for cleaning. **Side note: I am a huge convert from Paper towels, I use cloth for everything now. I will post about this later. But this is great for the enviorment and saves money!**

Ok- now lets get to the bathroom and grab a big box! Pull everything and I mean everything out of the bathroom cabinets and put it all in the big box. Now wipe down all the shelves while they are empty. Then carefully go through each item in the box before putting it back in the cabinet. Some things to think about: Check the expiration date, think about how much is left (if a bottle is nearly empty is it worth taking up space? -now the Frugal me says add it to a similiar product- don't just throw it away. IE: almost empty shampoo? open another one and add it to that one) Also consider if it is a product you use daily, or weekly. If it isn't even used weekly- then it can probabaly go. Medication should not be kept in the bathroom- the humidity is not good for it- move all medications to the kitchen cabinets. With little ones in the house we keep our meds in a basket on the top shelf of the linen closet.

Once you have put back only what you use- look through that box of garbage. Is there anything you can repurpose? **FRUGAL TIP: If there are small plastic bottles consider washing them out. Once clean and dry put then in your suitcase! Next time you travel you won't need to buy travel bottles. And the great thing about it is you can take your favorite shampoo (not all brand come in travel sizes), and you don't have to spend money to buy the generic empty bottles, and if you accidently leave it behind- heck it was garbage anyway! I keep a toiletry bag full of empty bottles and free samples in my empty suitcase, their all ready when I need them. **


Now that you have worked hard- take a break! I'll be back tomorrow with more decluttering and what to do with your "trash". Remember : One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure!