If you’re like some people, one of the things that you do this time of year is to get rid of things and clear the clutter from your space. While you’re purging your home and office in preparation for the new year, you might be wondering if you should throw some things away. Here’s a bit of information that will help you in your process.
First off, please get rid of the junk mail! You would not believe how much of it some people let accumulate to the point of it taking on a life of its own. Get rid of the junk mail that you have now and then keep a trash receptacle of some sort near your front door or your desk-where ever you review the mail. As you sort through the days mail, toss the junk mail into the receptacle. Don’t let it hit your desk or the surface of the entry-way table, or anything else. If it has personal information you’ll of course want to shred it. Recycle the contents of the receptacle on a regular basis.
If you are in the habit of clipping coupons, go through what you have at this point and get rid of those that have expired. Make it a habit to get rid of expired coupons each time you clip and add to your stash.
I have my choice magazines and catalogs just like everyone else, but there comes a point where you have to get rid of them. Once you’ve read your magazines, clip anything that you want to keep and file it for future reference. If it happens that you aren’t able to get to the point of reading your magazines, clip the articles that you want to read and place them into your casual reading file. When you are off to a doctor or other appointment, pull something from that file and take it with you to read while you’re waiting. With your catalogs take out the pages that contain the things that you’re interested in buying and recycle the rest of the catalog.
This being the holiday season we all have receipts for the gifts that we purchased, but we don’t need to keep them any longer than a few weeks after we make our purchases. The same thing goes for receipts for gifts you purchase throughout the rest of the year. Get rid of them after a few of weeks after you give the gift, or ask for a gift receipt and toss your receipt right away.
Some additional tips when de-cluttering:
- If you haven’t used it in the last year, get rid of it
- If you’re not using it and you can get it again, let it go
- If you can’t part with it because of the amount of money you paid for it, sell it
- If someone else can get some use out of it, donate it