It always amazes me how much stuff we can accumulate. How is it that despite many of us being on a tight budget these days, we still manage to be overrun with too much stuff? There’s a reason the tiny house craze and the concept of living with less are appealing to so many.
Eliminate some clutter and you’re sure to start feeling like you can tackle every day life with a little more zest.
Below, I have a list of simple things to declutter. Ones that don’t take much thought, but will have your home and mind feeling lighter than before.
Here are 35 things to declutter now:
1) That pile of stuff “to be repaired” (You know, the broken items you are honestly never going to get around to fixing, including ripped clothes.)
2) That other pile of stuff “to be repurposed” (If you don’t have a specific project in mind, toss it.)
3) Old receipts, statements, paper clutter (Invest in a shredder and get rid of any papers past their prime.)
4) Expired coupons
5) Old batteries (Don’t just throw them in the garbage. Check out Call2Recycle.ca.)
6) Old magazines, catalogs, newspapers, and newsletters
7) Things that don’t fit (Including ill-fitting bras, maternity clothes and children’s clothes, too)
8) Things you are hanging on to because of guilt (Ugly gifts from family members…)
9) Old cell phones
10) Old pet stuff (Unless you definitely plan to get another pet in the near future, donate these items to your local animal shelter.)
11) Expired medication (Drop these off at your nearest pharmacy, where they’ll make sure to dispose of them properly.)
12) Expired cosmetics and skincare
13) Menus from take-out restaurants (Most have their menus online these days.)
14) Wrong cosmetics and/or skincare for your skin type (Including samples and free gifts with purchase that you’ve collected over time)
15) Period underwear (Girl, get some black underwear and toss those ugly ones!)
16) Too many clothes for the wrong season (Do you own 10 bathing suits, but only swim a handful of times? Do you have 5 pairs of snow boots, but live in a rainy climate?)
17) Outdated clothes that you can’t even salvage as a costume (If they’re not funny enough for Halloween, but too funny for everyday wear, it might be time to donate them.)
18) Jewelry you dislike, is broken, or tarnished.
19) Shoes that stink, are worn out, or uncomfortable (When’s the last time you wore them?)
20) Cleaning products you don’t use. (Find out how I clean our whole house with homemade cleaners, here.)
21) Unnecessary kitchen items (We all have space-wasters that we never actually use, including, but not limited to gravy boats, fine china, strange gadgets, multiples, and too many cookbooks.)
22) Expired food
23) Food that you won’t eat before it expires (Take these to your local food bank or soup kitchen before it’s too late.)
24) Home décor (including art) that doesn’t express who you are or doesn’t bring you joy
25) Scratchy or uncomfortable throw pillows and blankets
26) Children’s art in excess (Take pictures of them for a digital scrapbook instead of filing away mass quantities of finger paint masterpieces.)
27) Children’s toy’s in excess (If they aren’t age appropriate, are missing pieces, are no longer being played with, books that have ripped pages, or are all used up, it’s time to let them go!)
28) Baby stuff (If you are done having babies, if the items may change by the time you have another one, if they won’t last, if they can be repurchased secondhand for cheap instead of storing them for years…give them to someone who will benefit from them now.)
29) Defunct art & craft supplies (If the supplies are dried up, smell funny or you just have too much of a certain item. Ask yourself whether you even scrapbook/knit/etc. anymore.)
30) Excess office and school supplies (These can be donated to a teacher in your community.)
31) Outdated calendars and planners
32) Damaged luggage and excess bags (Totes, free-with-purchase makeup bags and beach bags)
33) Rusty or moldy patio furniture
34) Broken pots, damaged hoses and any other yard items that have seen better days
35) Anything cardboard (It attracts bugs, so find a different material to store your things in.)
There you have it. 35 things to declutter now, to bring a more peaceful feeling to your home!
Want a handy dandy printable checklist that you can use as you’re going through your things? Download it here:
Does your day typically start with you feeling overwhelmed by everything you need to do?
As a mom with a newborn and a preschooler, I usually find myself overwhelmed each day. 🙂 Simple tasks such as getting lunch made is a big deal if the baby is awake. However, I’m learning and getting into more of a routine each day thanks to three things I try really hard to accomplish each evening.
I’d love to challenge you to try doing these three things every single night. The things I try to do are not hard or difficult or time-consuming, but by doing these three things almost every single night, I set myself up for success every morning when I get up. And I believe that a successful day begins the night before.
Here’s my list of three things I try to do every night:
Tidy Up
Waking up to to a tidy house makes my heart sing. Especially if the kitchen is tidy with the dishes washed and the counter cleared. Some nights this can seem daunting because I’ve let the entire day’s worth of dishes pile up. Though, if you’re not in the newborn stage of life, you should have a much better time getting this done. Do it, you’ll feel great in the morning!
Go to bed at a decent hour
This is one thing that I have rarely let slide, even if I have website projects to do. As a mom, I’m not guaranteed to get 8 hours of sleep each night. So by making sure I go to bed at a decent hour, or as soon as the baby falls asleep, I know I’ll at least get a couple of hours before I have to wake up again! Sleep makes a happier mommy. Even if you’re not a mom, or have older kids, I can’t stress the importance of going to bed at a decent hour.
Make a To-Do List
Finally, probably the most important task for me these days. Making a to-do list of the things that have to get done the next day. Currently, my list looks a little like this:
Brush teeth
Shower
Eat
Haha! But in all honesty, If I get those done and get my oldest to preschool and other activities, I feel like I’m winning! A to-do list is important for me because sometimes I have a hard time unwinding in bed if I can’t shut my brain off. So jotting down the must-dos, including my meal ideas for the next day, helps me to relax.
What are some things you like to do in your evening routine to set yourself up for a successful day?
Need some encouragement to have a better evening AND/OR morning routine? I’m SO excited that Crystal Paine of Money Saving Mom has two great courses available to change your life: Make Over Your Mornings and Make Over Your Evenings! Both of these online courses will stop you living life feeling constantly behind, overworked, and overwhelmed at very affordable prices!
5 easy things to clean when you're overwhelmed by your messy home
So, your house is a bit of a mess. Not only do you not have time to devote to a good cleaning, you may be overwhelmed at the thought of starting! While looking around at all the mess, you may think that nothing will make a difference because the mess is too great.
There are 5 main items that get scattered throughout to create chaos in your home. Learn to tackle these 5 cleaning tasks and you'll find they can make a huge difference to the cleanliness level of your home!
Do the Dishes
Quick Cleaning trick #1 is to do the dishes! Dirty dishes seem to multiply quickly and can even gather in places they shouldn't! It's important to keep up with the dishes so the old food doesn't attract fruit flies, ants or mold. So get going on those dirty dishes; I'm always amazed at the difference a clean counter can make in my home!
Quick Cleaning trick #2 is to pick up the dirty laundry and clothes piles. If clothes strewn about have taken over your home, it's time to take care of this task. Getting all the clothes laundered and back into the closets and dressers will make your house look much cleaner. First of all, go from room to room with a laundry basket or two and gather up all the dirty laundry. Next of course, is to wash and dry all the laundry. I find that if I don't fold and put away the clean clothes right away, they'll sit in the laundry basket, which quickly becomes a mess!
Gather the Garbage and Recycling
Quick Cleaning trick #3 is to gather the garbage and recycling! I think this is the easiest task because all you have to do is wander around your house and put all the garbage and recycling items into bags and then take them to the trash can or recycling box. I find when I let recycling items pile up, our house can look messy very quickly. So once a week or so, I'll wander around and pick up old newspapers, junk mail and empty cardboard boxes and put them away in the blue bin.
Toys
Quick Cleaning trick #4 is to pick up the toys. This is the battle I'm fighting with right now. Toys seem to be all over the place all the time, making the floors seem very messy! If you have older children, make a game out of putting the toys away. Or, if you have the willpower or some time, why not declutter some of the unused toys to create more space?
Paper
Quick Cleaning trick #5 is to take care of the paper. Between my husband and I, we can create quite the mess with our individual paper piles. Piles of paper drive me bananas, but I can't seem to stay on top of the piles on a regular basis. Nevertheless, here are a couple of things that help me stay organized:
Stack all the papers together. While filing papers can take a long time, stacking them all together does not. It's better to have one pile over several piles!
About once a month or so, I go though the pile I created to file, shred and organize each paper. Takes a bit of time, but I love the results and knowing I can easily find an important document.
Any of these quick cleaning tricks will give you relief from a messy house and help your house to appear cleaner, but don’t feel you have to do all 5 in the same day! Why not attempt one task a day?
I hope that these quick cleaning tricks will give you a starting point to help you keep things mess-free and organized!
What are your tips to help you achieve a cleaner home? Let us know in the comments below.
Looking for an easy way to stay on top of cleaning especially as life gets busy? Check out this gorgeous HOME CLEANING PLANNER – with room by room checklists, daily + weekly task lists, and seasonal cleaning checklists to make sure it all gets DONE!
Is your house overrun with brightly colored, plastic things that light up and make noise? Has your foot ever been impaled by a tiny sword, whilst simply walking across your living room floor? Have you ever lost a pet or child in a mountain of toys… inside your own home?! It’s time to get this toy clutter under control!
How to Keep Toy Clutter to a Minimum
You may feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of toys your little ones have, and not know where to begin. While I advise parents to start during year one, it’s never too late to scale back. We’re all feeling the Tiny House Nation concepts right now of, “Less is more,” and, “Let’s spend our money on life experiences instead of stuff.” Though you may not dream of moving your family into a home the size of a closet, you will definitely gain (and teach your children in the process) from applying a few practical principles.
Out with the old and in with the new
Every time your child gets something new, something old should hit the road. You can include your child in this process, which gives them a sense of control and might teach them to be less sentimental about material objects. If you can get them to part with an entire set or multi-piece toy, it will be less clean-up headache for you in your daily life. A few times a year, especially around birthdays and other gift-giving holidays, go through and get rid of as many toys as possible (without scarring the child for life…and that is actually a larger number than you would imagine). I suggest focusing on things that accumulated in your home, that your child may not even notice is missing.
Don’t physically toss the items you’ve collected. That’s wasteful and teaches your child that these things are disposable, and that they can always get more. If you don’t want to make a few bucks by consigning or selling (through Facebook groups, on Craiglist or through a garage sale), simply donate them so someone else can benefit from the items. With older children, I would encourage you to involve them in the selling process, so they can see that the toy they hardly used translates into money for his/her bank account.
Buy less and ask for less
There are many opportunities throughout the year, to buy for our little ones. Stores make up holidays every month to get you to spend. Stop yourself. Even if money is no object, what better use could it have than bringing more junk into the house? You could even consider clothes or food treats over toys. While it may seem drastic, consider not buying toys on holidays either. Instead, take your child somewhere they have always wanted to go, throw them a party, do anything memorable…I promise they will not feel deprived, especially if a slew of friends and family members will be buying them toys on said holiday, in addition to your excursion. And when it comes to those friends and family members, when they ask about buying for the child, don’t try to stop them. They will buy anyway! Instead, speak up about the child’s sizes or about a surprise you are trying to plan. Who wouldn’t want to pitch in toward a swim with dolphins or even a year of gymnastics classes?
Organize & create rules
As early as possible, get your kids involved in the clean-up process. Teach them that everything has its place, and that we can’t take out more than one thing at a time. Even if you simply stock up on big baskets from a craft store and toss all toys inside at the end of the day, they will be out of sight and out of your way! Things don’t have to be elaborately organized to have a big impact, and the easier you make the process, the less pushback you’ll get from your child.
Incorporate these suggestions into your life and you’ll be well on your way to bringing down that toy mountain!
How do you keep toy clutter to a minimum in your home?
Now that we’re three months into the new baby thing, I thought I’d write a post detailing the things I found really useful early on. After all, I know there may be many of you that are in the process of creating a baby registry or buying gifts for baby showers! Plus, since there are so many baby things out there, it can feel pretty overwhelming when it comes to choosing.
However, the crazy thing about babies is they’re all different, so what’s been a must-have for us might be something you want to skip. But hopefully this list will still help!
Nursing tank tops – I have been living in nursing tank tops! They’re great for layering, cover my stomach and make a great pajama top. I found four to be a good number to have on hand. I have two black ones, a white one and a navy one. The ones I have are from Target and Glamour Mom (bought used).
Lansinoh nursing pads – It’s disposable nursing pads for me at the beginning! Reusable ones just don’t work for me until I’ve been nursing for a while and things have regulated a bit. These Lansinoh ones are by far my favorite. They’re good all night long and (ummm) don’t get stuck like a band-aid…
Sleep sacks – Adelyn was never really into the swaddling thing, so this time around I’ve really been enjoying sleep sacks. (I also liked them a lot as my oldest daughter got older and grew out of swaddling.) Currently we’re using a fleece sack from Joe Fresh. As she gets older, I have a Halo sleep sack and some muslin sacks by Aden + Anais.
Muslin blankets – These have not only been great as blankets (of course), but I’ve been using them as a nursing cover! I simply grab two corners on the same side and tie them in a knot. Then I just slip the knot over my head to create a cover. I bought mine from Winners, but I’ve heard great things about the Aden + Anais ones as well. If you purchase muslin blankets, just make sure they’re the big ones! (44 inch by 44 inch, I believe.)
Burt’s Bees Diaper Cream – While I haven’t tried many diaper creams, The one by Burt’s Bees is one of my favourites! Thankfully both my girls haven’t had serious diaper rash and this stuff works well for our needs. 🙂
Sophie the Giraffe – Sophie is making her appearance again and I think this time my youngest actually enjoys her even more than my oldest! The squeaking is the “best thing ever” says Adelyn. Also, now that Adelyn is enjoying putting things in her mouth, Sophie is pretty cool to gnaw on!
Activity Mat – We’ve been making good use of our activity mat for about a month now and it’s fascinating to watch Adelyn develop her skills. She first started out as a lump basically, that smiled at the dangling toys. Now, at just over three months, she turns herself around in a full circle, grabs the toys and bats at them.
Beco Gemini – I’m not huge into baby wearing, but I wanted something that was pretty fuss free because quite frankly, I find all the options for baby wearing overwhelming. Turns out, the Beco Gemini was a lifesaver early on. Adelyn was a bit of a fussy thing so this carrier enabled me to get some housework done and even some blogging because she would actually fall asleep. I also like it because you don’t need to buy any extra inserts for newborns like the Ergo. I think it’s going to be useful as she grows older too.
Wet bags – Wet bags are so handy! While I think they’re meant for cloth diapering, I use them for everything! From wet swimsuits to soiled clothes, wet bags are a must-have in my books. I’ve enjoyed our Sweet Pea Wet bags, but there are many others out there that are probably just as good. I like that ours have a zipper, as opposed to a drawstring.
There you have it! Our must-haves for the early days (and onwards). What are some items that you found to be a necessity with your babies?
Did you know that Amazon offers a Baby registry? It’s free to sign up and you get to choose items from the earth’s biggest selection. They have over 270,000 baby items! Plus, they offer easy 45 day returns.
