Reduce the Crap

Where to hang my coat...

It has been a slow process over many years, but I have acquired too much stuff. It hit me the other day when I couldn’t find a place to hang my coat because the hall closet was already packed to the gills with stuff that I forgot I owned. Here are some tips for reducing the amount of crap in your life and trying to find time for the more important things in life (like managing your child’s stuffed animal collection).

1) Reduce the Clutter

Get rid of the stuff you don’t need. You know what I’m talking about – the
vase from Aunt Rosie, the thousands of stuffed animals that your child says is
special, the chocolate fountain you received as a wedding present and the
“Get Focused” t-shirt from your sister (the Get Focused is actually
out of focus…get it)? You may have used the item once to be polite but its not
your taste or you really don’t use it. So get rid of it. My rule of thumb is to
put things that I should get rid of in a big box in the garage. If
I don’t miss it 3 months later, I don’t need it.

2) Get the Family Involved

For some reason, it is usually easier for me to get rid of my husband’s possessions then what I own. Maybe because he has too many plaid shirts or because I really don’t know why he needs so many power tools (really, can’t a cordless drill do it all). Get the family involved when trying to eliminate the things you own but be tactful about it and set ground rules.

• Only Things, No People – My 5 year old daughter really wants to get rid of her 3 year old sister but I told her she was off limits.
• Help Young Children – Young children do not understand why they need to reduce their stuffed animal collection (every stuffed animal is special to my child). Be the sneaky parent and get rid of it for them. They usually forget about the toy in a day or two.
• Older Children – Kids hit an age where they want to be in control and make their own decisions. This is a great age to teach them lessons, like you have 10 puzzles and you can keep 4 but the rest will be donated to a child who doesn’t have anything.

3) Sell or Donate your Crap

So now that you have that big box
in the garage, you need to get rid of it.

• Garage Sales – We held a
  garage sale and it’s a great way to get rid of some stuff. However, you
  also have to deal with people…annoying people. People haggling and
  trying to get you to sell a Crate & Barrel bookcase for a $1, people
  knocking on your door at 6:30 a.m., people with a $100 bill trying to
  purchase a 25 cent necklace. It can be fun but it also takes a lot of work. If you don’t have the time or energy, don’t attempt a garage sale.
  
• Online Sites – If it is
  something valuable, look to craigslist, ebay or send out an e-mail to
  friends to sell your stuff. Make sure to include a picture, dimensions and
  a clear description. I really hate ads where you have no idea what they
  are selling.
• Thrift Stores – If its not valuable, donate it. All
  thrift shops have drop boxes outside their store and some organizations will
  even come by your house and pickup your items.

4) Reduce the Gifts

What I am about to say will come across as being almost Grinchlike, but here goes
-  eliminate or reduce the amount of gifts you receive during birthdays and holidays. For my daughter’s 5th birthday party, the invitation stated ‘no gifts.’ Some people will still bring gifts but for the most part, people honored the request. My kids get enough presents from family and we focus on a special dinner, cards and not on the amount of stuff they receive.

5) Reduce Mail

I made the mistake of purchasing from a certain furniture company not to be named and starting receiving catalogs from 20 other companies. I called all these companies to stop getting catalogs.

• Magazines – If you do read your magazine, see if you can pass it along to a friend so that they are not piling up. If you don’t ever seem to read it, cancel it.
  
• Newspaper – Do you have good intentions of reading the newspaper everyday? If you only read it periodically, reduce to the weekend edition or see if you can get your local news on-line.
• Bills – If available, use auto pay features and have bills sent electronically instead of by paper. Less to file and less paper to deal with.
• Junk Mail – I get too much junk mail…even my kids get credit card offers and they are 3 and 5. Stop the junk mail and catalogs by calling companies directly to get off their mailing lists.