Welcome back to Declutter Tuesday! If you missed last week’s update, you can still jump right in!
Have you made good progress in your attempt to part from your unnecessary possessions?
I was very happy to make great strides (especially in my closet!), and I even came up with two new self-management rules:
- get rid of 10 clothing items for every new item I bring in. Quite confident my shopping spurts will be appeased quickly.
- In another attempt to curb foolish spending, I’ve doomed the first day of the week No Spending Monday. Very simple, you should try it, pick a day of the week and plan around it so that you never spend a penny that day.
This week, I dove right into my handbag (don’t ask me why, but I despise the word “purse”).
(By the way? My husband is the BEST Santa I know!!! And Red Patent is the best color ever. So there.)
I shook the contents out on a table (I know I should do this more often, but … I just don’t — area of improvement highlighted here), and here is what I found:
Mostly? Clutter, of course!
And this how I sorted this mess into piles by category:
In the middle: the essentials include wallet and keys.
On the left hand side: must-have baby stuff (a snack, a diaper, and wipes), and must have me stuff.
On the right hand side: mostly garbage (receipts, coupons I never use, flyers, stickers, and miscellaneous) and a few items that just don’t belong.
The essentials and must-have items found their way back into my handbag, neatly organized. The rest just vanished for ever.
I’ve had to add another rule however:
- Take care of receipts tracking daily (I use Quicken on my desktop to manage my expenses) so I won’t collect useless receipts in my pockets or bags)
My handbag has just what I need in it now. Yay for Declutter Tuesday!
I do wonder if I will need to repeat these steps every week though. Keep you posted on that one!
In bonus today, I am sharing my tip on how to keep these annoying bar-code rewards cards organized (I am NOT hanging this crap on to my keys):
Find a small plastic sleeve (such as a luggage tag, or make your own with plastic sheet protectors); slide the cards into place with all the bar codes showing on the same side (do not hesitate to crop a large card with scissors as long as the bar code remains intact); add tape if necessary.
A quick glance on the reverse side and you can point the cashier’s scanner to the correct bar code.
Genius! You can now keep your rewards cards tucked away in your wallet, and find the one you need quickly, every time.
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[...] The Declutter Bug Posted on 14, September 2010 by Jane read more here [...]
Have to say I’ve not got a handbag héhéhé
But we’ve got a baby due in the next couple of weeks, so decluttering anything is totally impossible… not unless the house burned down… errrmm… *Where’s those matches*…
John Nelson recently posted…VIDEO Beware of dangerous brother-in-laws at the village parade -O essonnedaddy
Babies are, I hate to admit it, a major source of clutter.
Clutter that spans across many years until, one day, they pick up their crap to go live elsewhere — or they may have you save their “stuff” in the garage or the attic!
Back in France, in my dad’s attic, there are several boxes of old toys, school notebooks and letters that I was never able to part from. But let me concentrate on my American clutter for now!
Oh and… CONGRATULATIONS!!! Babies are the best people, ever!
My purse needs some de-clutter, too! I like the idea of for everything you buy, getting rid of 10 things. I am also getting rid of 10 things per day, but I am not spending anything until weekends. I am loving this journey! I just posted about my big de-cultter project in the pantry. Check it out when you get a chance.
-Jessica
Jessica recently posted…I come bearing breasts
Not spending anything until week-ends? If I save all the spending for the week-end then I feel worse. I try to gas up on Friday so I’m all ready to go for the work week comes Monday; and I try to hit the grocery store mid-week (then again on the week-end usually) so my bills are smaller and I waste less… But it’s so hard!
I’m headed to your pantry now!!
Stopping by via Kludgy Mom’s B2S/B2B BlogFrog. I love the feel of your blog & hope to stop by again soon to explore. The “declutter tuesday” is a wonderful idea. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by too much stuff lately & may tag on next week.
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Hi Jackie, and welcome to my little kingdom where my readers rule!
I’d love to have you take part in Declutter Tuesday next week, or anytime you want. I really see this as a long term project, so it will be up for a while!
Take care and happy blogging to you!
My grandmother still says ‘handbag.’ What a lovely word that is.
The tip for the bar code reward cards truly IS genius. I always lose those, because like you, I refuse to put them on my keyring.
Your grandmother is very tasteful, does she have French origins? Just kidding
Glad you like my tip, I bet if I trademarked this thing, I’d make a killer — just got to pay for an infomercial!
My grandmother is of French-Canadian decent.
Her taste is impeccable and she is so lovely.
Hi Maryline, yes, I like the rewards card tip too. It took me a while to work out what they were as they don’t have holes in here in Australia. I keep them in my purse/wallet with credit cards but they make it rather fat and unsightly. Plus some I only use once a year… Hmm, makes me wonder why I don’t throw them away:) Merci mille fois!
Annabel Candy, Get In the Hot Spot recently posted…Why Social Media Rules- Readers Sponsor My Trip to BlogWorld in Vegas
Hi Annabel, love having your visit, so excited to read about your plan to hit Vegas in October! Are you planning to stay in the US and visit a bit? I you come to the East Coast, give a shout!
So glad the tip is being helpful — it may have been a totally different outcome (i.e. trashing the useless cards!!!) but I’ll take credit anyway, eheh!
Take 10 things in exchange of 1 new thing? Wow, you’re good. I’m learning hard not to be a horder right now…
My handbag is another story. Yours looks nothing compares to mine as in addition to my kids stuff (you know extra pull-ups, wipes, etc.), my own stuff, my husband will also ask me to put his cell phone, his car keys and wallet in my handbag. Maybe I should give him a man-bag or something
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It’s quite hard. I bought a new jacket as I mentioned, it still had tags & I kept the receipt. I keep wondering “Is this the best I can do to get rid of TEN of my things?”.
If I do not get to wear it by the end of next week, pretty sure it’s going back!
Your husband totally needs a man-bag! They’re totally trendy in Europe; Eastpak-style pouches? Totally cool!