by Ann Marie Dwyer

Created on: February 27, 2007   Last Updated: December 21, 2008

Clutter inhibits lifestyles, depresses mood and invites allergens and pests. If you are ready to rid your house of clutter, or you never want to need to rid your house of clutter, take immediate action!

Top 10 ideas for clutter control from a confessed pack rat:

1) Reduce mail by billing and banking online - save a tree! Read the mail over the garbage can or shredder. Junk directly in the bin. File the important papers. Put a check in the return envelope, stamp it and walk back to the mailbox.

Cards and personal letters should be responded to immediately, either by telephone or return mail-then throw them away. If you will not do it now, place it into your scheduler to do on your next day off.

2) Make a list when you shop and only buy what is on your list. Evaluate what you have and determine what you really need. If your list includes a replacement item, throw away or donate the old item before you buy the new one.

3) Cancel magazine subscriptions. When the "Reorder NOW" comes in the mail, bin it as junk mail. Recycle all magazines over 3 months old. If you are keeping magazines for an article, clip it, place it in your scrapbook and recycle the rest. If you are keeping it for a recipe, search for it on-line. Look at the magazine's website first!

4) Organize your hobbies and assign them a space. If they exceed that space, pare down your supplies or complete a project to reduce clutter. If the project is more than three months old, toss it. Do not begin a new project until you finish one.

5) Stop buying movies. Subscribe to a mail order movie house.Donate the movies you have bought to a nursing home or residential facility for the handicapped.

6) Donate books you have read to your local library.

7) If you have not worn or used it in more than one year, donate it to charity. If it is in a cardboard box with a date more than a year old, throw the box away without opening it. You have not missed it.

8) If it is broken, fix it and put it away. Or simply, throw it away.

9) Designate a treasure chest. When it is full, determine what is no longer treasure and get it out. Pass it down, donate it or throw it away.

10) True clutter bugs should throw or give away or sell five items everyday until counter tops, tabletops and shelves come plainly into view. Put five things where they belong (and sometimes that's in the bin) before lunch and another five before bed. Start and end your day with a feeling of accomplishment toward your clutter-free life!

Clutter will leach into every crevice available if left unchecked. Avoid clutter in your house by evaluating (judging the value) all your items.

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