One of the harder things about my daughter’s move (besides mom separation anxiety) has been dealing with the clutter in my life. To help out the kids, we offered to let them take furniture that was in good shape, but we knew we would not be able to use when we downsized. Of course, that meant getting rid of lots of things that had been hanging around. Amazing the things I discovered and the money lost by duplicating things I already had. Also amazing, things I was holding onto that were no longer of use – like a decade old list of book review sites. After a decade, no longer pertinent.

What’s funny is that we’d put into place a way to keep most of the house uncluttered, but my office somehow didn’t get the memo. LOL. Anyway, here are some of my tips for dealing with clutter and some tips from experts on getting organized.

Caridad’s Tips for Corralling Clutter

1. A place for everything and everything in its place. Makes it easy to find things and avoids duplicating items (like I did!)

2. If you can store it electronically, do so, but not before deciding if you really really need to keep it. Scan and save notes, etc. to a hard drive and backup regularly, to both another drive and the cloud. Storage space on the cloud is more economical than you think.

3. Every six months, go through your closets, desk, etc. and discard items that no longer fit, are broken or worn, you haven’t read/used. For clothes and other items that are in good condition, consider a donation to Goodwill or the Salvation Army so that others may benefit.

4. Encourage kids to get rid of unused toys, etc. by turning it into an event – like a garage sale. Kids keep all proceeds from the sales and anything not sold is donated to charity.

5. The next time you are in a store and want to buy an item, ask yourself how often you plan on using it and whether or not it’s just going to become a dust collector. Your more organized self and pocketbook will both thank you!

Expert’s Tips on Getting Organized

Woman’s Day – 100 Ways to Get Organized

1000+ Ideas on Getting Organized via Pinterest

Inexpensive drawer organizer Tips from The Crafting Nook

Do you do better with lists? Getting Organized Printables from Simply Stacie

Organizing your Pantry by Kitchen Organization Ideas and Hacks – landeelu.com

Hope enjoyed these tips and for those who are wondering, nope, that’s not my clutter in the photo below! I’m not that bad. LOL!