Janice

Clutter Free Mother’s Day Gifts

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Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday. Have you bought her a gift yet?

Mother’s Day is one of the most commercial holidays in the United States. Lots of cards and gifts are given on this day to honor our mothers. The problem arises when these gifts add clutter to their homes. When celebrating the holiday this year think of all the things you can give or do that don’t add clutter. Here are some ideas.

You may want to pass this list to your own children and/or spouse and ask them not to buy you anything that adds to your clutter. It’s the thought that counts. And even more important it is to honor mothers for all they do.

  • Give flowers. They are beautiful to see first thing in the morning and last about a week.
  • Take her out to eat or have her over for brunch. Spending this precious time together is what counts.
  • If you want to buy a gift make sure it is one she either wants or is something she can use up. Bubble bath, candles, or lotion would work.
  • If she likes candy but is watching her diet than look for a small but special candy she wouldn’t buy for herself.
  • You can give her a gift card for the theater or a movie. No clutter there.
  • Print out gift certificates for services you can do for her. You can promise to wash her car or trim her hedges. Make it things you can easily do for her when she turns in the certificate for your service.
  • You can buy a gift certificate for a day spa so she can pamper herself.

There are lots of things to do or give your mother without adding clutter. The best thing you can give her is your time.

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

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Paper Clutter Challenge – Home Inventory List

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For the month of May I’m challenging myself to get my paper clutter under control. I’m going to use the information in the eBook “Cut Out The Paper Clutter” to guide me.

With all the tornados destroying homes in the Midwest and South this Spring I realized it was time to update my own inventory list. So that is where I’m starting.

Please join me in this challenge by following along. Be sure to leave a comment to let me know how you are doing.

Once completed this list will give me peace of mind in case of a disaster. It can also be used as a quick and clutter free reference for important information for warranty purposes. A second copy of this list should always be kept off premises preferably in a safe deposit box.

Creating this list can be overwhelming especially if you’ve accumulated many things over the years.

That’s why I suggest you start with taking a photo inventory first then work towards creating a written list.

Here are some great reasons for taking the time to create this list.

  • Both a photo and written inventory list can help with getting reimbursed from the insurance company in case of a disaster.
  • You get to see your possessions through the eyes of a camera. It doesn’t lie!
  • Both the photos and written list can help you recognize your abundance.
  • The photos can help you see what is clutter and what is not.

Week 1 Challenge

To keep from getting overwhelmed I’m only working on one floor at a time.

I’m happy to report that many of my pictures showed that at least some of my rooms, cabinets, and closets are under control. It will be easy to do the written inventory list later. Not everything needs to be on the written list.

The good dishes in the dinning room will be easy to inventory.

The kitchen cabinets aren’t too bad either. The photo will be all that I need. Nothing too valuable here.

The pantry may not have significant things to inventory but a picture speaks a thousand words. It needs some organizing!

Again not a significant area for a detail written list. However, a good decluttering and organizing will make it easier to know what is worth replacing in case of a disaster.

My next step in this challenge will be to take pictures of the upstairs bedrooms and the finished basement. Then I’ll start the written inventory list. Of course, the more I declutter the less I’ll have to write down.

Now that sounds like a good incentive to get rid of things!

Be sure to check back on this blog for the next report.

You can sign up to receive the updates through email on the right sidebar. ——>

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

The Home Inventory List is just one part of the eBook, “Cut Out The Paper Clutter”. You can see a list of the other chapters here. I’ve also extended the special sale price during the month of May while doing this paper clutter challenge.

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Is Your Email Inbox Too Crowded?

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Is your email inbox too crowded? Do you dread looking at it each morning?

I remember how exciting it use to be to see what the mailman left in the mailbox that day? A card from a dear relative, a letter from a friend who lived out of town, or a new magazine to read.

It also used to be fun to open my email inbox in the morning to see what interesting piece of information would be awaiting me. Now that I use email for most of my correspondence from friends, relatives, news, information (newsletters), and business information I have found that I dread opening the inbox. There are way too many emails that I’m not interested in anymore that are crowding out the few I want to read.

Several times a year I re-evaluate what I’ve subscribed to.

Many are the retail stores, both online and brick and mortar, where I gave my email address at the time of purchase. Although I rarely shop these stores I’m bombarded with special offers on an almost daily basis.

Sometimes I subscribed to a newsletter and find out it really isn’t what I thought it would be. But I take the time to open it just in case there is some tiny bit of information I could use.

It’s time to unsubscribe to the emails that are now clutter!

The following steps will help you keep your inbox to a manageable level. Take these steps every few months and you’ll start looking forward to opening your inbox daily.

Be sure to set a timer and only do so much time per day. It will keep you fresh and more objective when deciding what to unsubscribe to.

  1. Start with the easy ones such as retail stores you rarely shop at. Unsubscribe from the most recent email. Search for sender (each email browser is different) and delete all the old emails for that sender. Their specials are expired!
  2. Next look at what informational newsletters you have signed up for with retail stores. Most of the time you can find the same information on their website when you need it, not when they are trying to sell you something.
  3. Next look at the newsletters from individual smaller websites. Do their newsletters meet your expectations? Does the content add value to your life? Are there too many marketing emails sent in between the occasional newsletter? Only you can decide if it is worth it.
  4. Now look at your personal emails. Do you have certain friends or family that constantly forward those jokes, silly pictures, etc. If you are not interested in these email you can ask your friend/relative to please take your name off their forwarding list. Or you can set up a filter for those people and keep their emails out of your main inbox, away from your important emails.

Next time you subscribe to a newsletter or store email give it a month or two to decide if it is worth it. If not, then unsubscribe right away. You can always re-subscribe in the future.

Janice

Declutter and organize your piles of papers with the eBook “Cut Out The Paper Clutter”.

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Miracle Friday

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I hope everyone had a good Passover or Easter holiday this past week. Last weekend was a wild one here in the mid-west with all the tornadoes and thunderstorms. Now we are looking at potential flooding.

Many people in the St. Louis area are labeling last Friday as “Miracle Friday” because despite a tornado that took a 25 mile path of destruction through the northern part of the area there weren’t any fatalities or even serious injuries.

People heeded the warning sirens and sought out proper shelter.

I can’t even image coming out of my basement to find my home completely destroyed like the one below.

image

You can view a lot more pictures of the damage on the KSDK news site.

When looking at these pictures I get a renewed sense of what is important in life. Sometimes we put an unrealistic importance on our material possessions. Most can be replaced, the lives of our loved ones can’t.

It’s something to think about when the clutter builds up in our homes and we continue to come up with excuses to keep it.

Of course if a disaster should occur to your home it would help to be prepared to handle the aftermath. That means having the important papers you need to expedite the insurance coverage and replacement of any other important things you may need.

I think it’s time for me to re-evaluate the precautions I have or have not taken regarding my household inventory (needs updating) and other important papers. I need to go over the chapters in my eBook again and make sure everything is ready in case of a disaster.

I have decide to make this a challenge for me during the month of May.  I will work my way through my papers and household inventory and post about it on this blog. Why don’t you join me in this challenge?

Ways you can join me:

Follow this blog and post comments. You can receive updates through email here.

Follow the blog through my Facebook Page along with getting other tips there. http://www.facebook.com/CutClutterWithScissors

Take the free e-course on paper clutter:  http://cutoutthepaperclutter.com/ecourse/

Purchase the eBook: http://cutoutthepaperclutter.com/

Together we can clean up our paper clutter and have peace of mind should a disaster ever happen. Of course we pray it never does, but just in case.

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://www.facebook.com/CutClutterWithScissors

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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Take Time To Enjoy The Moments

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I’m sitting on my porch in the late afternoon on an April spring day writing this blog post. The birds are talking up a storm. A gentle breeze is tickling the newborn leaves on a nearby tree.

I’m trying to relax and enjoy the moment. Life is all about the moments but so often we miss them in the pursuit of taking care of the things that should be done, have to be done, or need to be done.

As Willy Wonka said: “So much time, and so little to do! Strike that, reverse it.”  We rush through our lives trying to take care of all those little things we feel are so important. But how important are they in the big scheme of our lives?

Right now I’m replenishing my soul by enjoying the moment of this Spring afternoon. I’m working hard to not feel guilty because I’m not taking advantage of the nice weather and cleaning out the perennial beds. Or spaying the weeds in the lawn. Or pruning back the wayward branches on the shrub roses. There are so many things I could be doing or should be doing but instead I’m sitting here just taking in the sights and sounds of my back yard.

So many of us have been brought up to believe that we are lazy and selfish is we take time for ourselves. So we keep  ourselves busy doing all those “shoulds”, “have to’s”, and “need to’s” so we can feel like productive people.

It’s time to stop the madness! We aren’t perfect! We aren’t machines! We are living beings. We are suppose to rest, renew, and replenish. Not work ourselves into a grave. We need to be more like nature and learn from her.

Get outside and take a good look at the trees, grass, shrubs, and flowers. The leaves aren’t all perfectly shaped. The shrubs don’t grow the same length branches. The yellow dandelion blooms amongst the purple violets in a sea of green velvet grass. We may consider them weeds but you can’t deny the beautiful picture they paint.

 

If we can look past natures’ imperfections and see the beauty she offers us then why can’t we look past our own imperfections and see the beauty we have to offer the world? Have we set impossibly high standards for ourselves?

Take the time today to enjoy the moments that are offered to you. Take the time to see the beauty in yourself. Not only do you deserve it you have a duty to show your beauty to yourself and the world. Nature does it everyday.

 

 

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

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