Everyday Cheapskate: How Clearing Out Clutter Can Improve Your Life

Mary Hunt on Mar 26, 2024

Concentrate: It's ridiculous how the things we really do need get scattered all over the house in random drawers and cupboards. Getting everything similar into one place is also a shocking experience. Yes, we need that thing; whatever it might be. But do we really need 18 of them?!

BROWN BAG METHOD

Getting rid of the clutter is a good place to start. Personally, I'm fond of the brown bag method for instant results -- something that works wonders, especially when you are at your wit's end over clutter and chaos.

Take one (more as necessary) large brown paper grocery bag, bin or box and fill it with all of the stacks of extraneous papers, magazines and mail; your basic clutter. The purpose here is not to throw anything away, but just to get it out of visual range until you have time to sort and file. At least that's what you tell yourself.

Stand back and enjoy that completely clear counter, desktop, table or another flat surface. Amazing, isn't it?

If no one in the family has mentioned missing something of importance within 48 hours or so, it is probably safe to throw the whole thing out. While this may be a method of last resort, I guarantee it works.

SALAMI METHOD

A more preferred way to get organized may be the salami method. You wouldn't think of eating an entire salami in one sitting. You'd eat it in slices over a period of time, right? Think of your project as one big salami. Start with one thing. One room. One closet. One drawer. Tomorrow is another day; another drawer and another attic. Soon you'll be in control.

I've learned that gaining control over the stuff in my life has an effect on my attitude. When everything is in its place, I'm less stressed, able to think clearly and a happier person, basically. Order brings calm; clutter results in chaos.

SEVERE MESSIES

I have found some kind of comfort in knowing that I'm not the only organizationally challenged person out there. Just the other day, I was reading that the ratio of naturally-born neatniks to messies is about one to a million.

Not everyone has a severe case of the messies, but if you think you might, you need to read "Sink Reflections" by Marla Cilley.

Cilley, aka "The FlyLady" to the thousands who log onto her website Flylady.net, kindly and with great empathy reaches into every person's home to help make housecleaning more fun and life more organized.

Beginning with Shiny Sink 101, Cilley explains how a spotless kitchen sink can direct even the most discouraged housekeeper onto the path of well-ordered domesticity. And who wouldn't love that?

========

Mary invites you to visit her at EverydayCheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at https://www.everydaycheapskate.com/contact/, "Ask Mary." This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book "Debt-Proof Living."