How to De-Clutter Your House for $1.49
Ever wish you could just stop life with all of its work, errand-running, kid-tending, hubby-pleasing, crazy-busy activity and just get your home de-cluttered and organized? Maybe just for 3 or 4 days no one would need you to cook, wash, answer or do ANYTHING! Then, you could take the time to sort through your closets, dressers, cupboards, garage and basement and get rid of what you no longer need or use and straighten up what is left.
Usually each summer I go on a de-junking journey. I do it again the week after Chrsitmas. {I write about how in this book} However I wasn’t able to fit this in last Christmas OR last summer. So clutter of the drawer, cupboard and closet kind was hollerin’ my name. If only I could stop life to get caught up.
{sigh}
Since with our family’s schedule this summer that was simply NOT an option, I came up with an idea. A $1.49 idea to de-clutter my home.
Now you must know that I don’t work well on projects in little snippets. If a task takes about 5 hours to complete, I don’t work on it for ten days in a row a half hour at a time like some of my friends do. No ma’am. I wait until my family is all gone and I dive in and work for five hours straight, button it up and move on to the next task.
But I knew that this summer the process of de-cluttering my hidden junk {the house looked fine on the surface. Just don’t open that closet or that drawer!} would take a looooong time since it had been a while.
So here is my $1.49 idea. I trekked off and bought myself a set of index cards {49 cents} and a little organizer box to keep them in {$1}.
Next I made a card for all of the projects I had waiting for me and also listed about how long I thought they would take.
Then, I put them in the file box under a label with the time frame of the jobs.
Now, when I have a chunk of time in my day, I can ask myself, “How much time?” Then I pull out just one card, tackle the task and throw the card away.
Yes, yes….I know I could have just made a list of the projects and then crossed them off as I went but the long list would still be starting me in the face and making me feel frustrated and defeated.
This $1.49 method made me MOTIVATED AND ENERGIZED!!! I even started to pull out a 30 minute card at night and set my alarm for 30 minutes earlier just so I could knock off a card.
Then, I’d haul e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g out of the drawer, closet or cupboard, wipe it down, sort the “stuff”, put the unwanted in a donate {or garage sale} box or recycle bin and neatly arrange back what was left.
I didn’t go making major purchases either. I found all sorts of little baskets from the dollar store, organizational cubes I’d picked up from a garage sale, plastic crates, etc… to re-purpase and reorganize. I became so motivated that in only three weekends I tackled the entire kitchen, living room, hall closet, master bedroom, guest room and all the bathrooms. I know if I had just made a list on a legal pad it would still be staring me in the face because it would seem like such a big a task. I’d never have rolled up my sleeves and even gotten started.
Now, here are a few pics of my results. {I know I should have taken “before” pics to so you could have seen how cluttery it was originally but I didn’t plan on blogging about this until a few friends I was chatting with decided to make their own sets of cards.}
The office closet.
The kitchen baking cupboard.
Master bedroom closet. There is tons of wasted space in here because the builder made it so that if you hang items on the top rack, you can’t use the shelf just above the bottom rack because the bottom of the clothes touch it. Dollar store bins and garage sale shelving now hold medicines and cosmetics.
Oh…and on my dejunking journey I found a TON of socks with no match. Not sure if they will be redeemed later when we find their mate or will be tossed into outer darkness for eternity turning into dust rags so I made this:
Well, I hope this gives you some summer clutter-busting motivation! Leave a comment here on this post about your biggest hidden clutter challenge. When I return from a short blogging break, I’ll pick three winners of my book The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized and a $5 Target gift card to buy your own $1.49 system and a little treat to eat while you work :-)
Happy sorting!
NOTE: I am taking a blogging break until August 1st (give or take a day) in order to focus on our Proverbs 31 She Speaks writers, speakers and women’s ministry leaders conference being held in Charlotte, NC at the end of the month. To make sure you don’t miss my posts when I return, consider signing up to get all my new posts sent you your email box. Easy enough? Click here to do so. See you in August!
Oh Karen! These are wonderful ideas. How will I ever get it done if what I need is three weeks of uninterrupted and focused time to get it all done? I have three children with multiple disabilities and I’m a widow. For me to take even five minutes decluttering one area means that unsupervised kids are making an even bigger mess elsewhere. I am burned out, our house is a chaotic mess, and I can never seem to get ahead of things. Once the kids are asleep, I’m exhausted and have no energy left to stay up late and work on it. Plus, it’s overwhelming. What do I do?
I have a spare bedroom that has become the “throw room” – you know, throw it in there and forget about it. So I have a whole bedroom that needs to be de-cluttered but it will probably be a 2-day event.
Biggest clutter challenge is the master closet and my desk!! Love your master closet ideas, mine is like yours with the bottom shelf covered by the clothes hung from top bar. Poor planning by builders!!!
Biggest clutter challenge – basement storage. Combination of toys, keepsakes, Christmas, boxes from the last move, etc., etc., etc., etc. Every summer we say we’re going to tackle that project but we never do. Maybe we’d actually get it done if we broke the project into parts. I have your book on my ever growing list of wants. As I am a “stacker” and my husband is not, he would be delighted (major understatement) if I got all my stacks/clutter under control. Thanks for this tip!!
Toys, toys, and toys are my biggest issue. With 3 boys it seems like a toy store has taken over my house!! The more I get rid of the more family sends back with the boys after a weekend visit!
i have two major organizing challenges. The first is the office and all the paperwork and files, even the files on the computer need help! Secondly, the toys! I just cannot get a handle on them. I’ve been weeding them out, but still once I think they’re manageable, it’s a complete mess within the day! Would love to read your book!
My biggest challenge is keeping my kitchen counter free of clutter. It seems like everything is on it BUT kitchen stuff.
My biggest challenge is the stuff my two elementary school boys bringing in from events, classes, parties, etc. Then what to do with them?!?
Laurie, I take pictures of their artwork, posters, and projects they’ve done. That way I can throw things out and still have a record of it. Of course, some things you will want to save, but over the years things can really pile up.
I love this idea. I tend to get overwhelmed by the thought of everything that needs to be done and then never start. I will try this idea – it just might work for me. Biggest challenge right now is the office. It is a catch-all room and since it is summer it has stuff that I bring home from my classroom that I can’t leave in the room during summer.
My whole house most of the time! LOL. 7 of us in 1100 sq ft makes for a lot of people and their stuff. I am like you and love to work when everyone is away, but that rarely has happened since the kids came along. This method would help me and them get some work done. I am looking forward to a camping trip where the kids and dad are going and leaving me home in Aug for 5 days!
Love your $1.49 idea. I make a list and know that I will never finish it., so the card idea is wonderful. We just moved and I have a lot of purging and organizing to do. Good Luck in Charlotte
This idea is great! I think the daunting list is what keeps me from doing what needs to get done…I get so overwhelmed at how loooooong the list is. This way, the tasks are broken down and doable.This is something I’m definitely going to try. :-)
Having just moved in January, we did a fair amount of decluttering while we packed, and then more as we unpacked. There are still some boxes and drawers that could use some attention, though, and your task & time card file is a great idea. And It’s so cool to see that your cards and holder, and your sock purgatory bag are from my two fave stores. BTW, having grown up with the concept of purgatory being taught but having the feeling it made no sense based on what little I knew of the bible at the time, I burst out laughing when I saw your bag.
Love this post!! I have been trying to declutter the house this year but still feel overwhelmed. I would love this book for guidance. Thank you for the opportunity to win the book. Enjoy your break.
Love this idea. I really need to do this. What a great way to break down decluttering into non-overwhelming tasks!
I love things that make projects manageable – great idea! My hidden clutter is my craft room/office. I have 2 large open shelves that look neatly organized but so need to be gone through so I’m not overwhelmed with storing stuff I don’t use and actually craft in that room. I keep putting off doing it because I’m waiting to have a whole day to work on it. But if I get it done and had a day, think of all the scrapbook pages I could get done :)
I love this. I want to try it on my stuff. I live with a hoarder, so that part is hopeless but maybe I can tidy up my areas at least.
Oh Karen this sounds like a wonderful idea but then all of your ideas are wonderful! I wish i could send the pics of my spare room, it is a total disaster, wall to wall everything and i am totally overwhelmed. I have multiple health issues that are not helping me either. I have been diagnosed with ADD and i am Bipolar, add that to severe chronic back pain (from neck to tail bone), plantar fashinitis in my foot which is by itself very debilitating and making my back more painful than ever and an almost total inability to deal with my mess in a small apartment and i am like freaking out. It’s been like this for over a year now and i can’t get any help and i need furniture rearranged (it was not put in the correct places when i moved so that is contributing to my dilemma) and well i’m going to have to risk my back to try and do it myself. Oh please pray i can get this mess straightened out so i can enjoy my room. I am also a creative type person and have no room to work and haven’t even been able to get all my craft stuff unpacked. I am so frustrated. The ADD greatly inhibits my ability to concentrate and stay focused. Because of my disabilities i can’t work but even though i am home i just can’t wrap my mind around what to do with this huge mess. The bipolar side of me just does not handle stress well at all. I am seeing a new Dr. now and am hoping he can help me get straightened around. Maybe this book would be able to help me. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
My biggest time is prioritization! I’m never sure what to do first. I think the cards are a great idea because I sometimes waste time doing a little task when I should be doing a bigger one.
I agree. My list stares at me every time I go in and out the kitchen door. I did get to cut it in half this summer but it is still huge. I love your card idea and am going to try it. I also loved the ideas from everyone else. It looks like we all have a similar problem. Would love to read your book, in fact, I must read it. I am sure it is packed with lots of great ideas. Thank You!
My biggest problem areas are my pantry/homeschool storage area and my daughters’ room.
I love your ideas. I hope to use them to give me some incentive and also use it for inspiration for a chore system for my girls room. Thanks! Audrey
My biggest clutter challenge is time (I work four part-time jobs and have children). But my second biggest clutter challenge is that I refuse to get rid of things that don’t belong to me unless the owner is ready to release them (family of origin issue); but the other family members are rarely ready to release. And when the kids are ready to release, the hubby brings stuff back in. A few weeks ago, he brought back a huge stuffed animal dog and said, “You don’t want to get rid of Scamper, do you?” The girls do not play with Scamper, but I think that my husband is not ready to accept that the girls are growing up and don’t need these toys anymore.
Any space that I don’t focus on that day tends to get out of control. Then there are the cabinets. Closets are not so bad, but the storage room? Blech.
Anyway, I’m glad to have found your blog (through Pinterest.) I’m sure that I’ll glean some good ideas.
I so wish I could magically get my house back in order………..I guess like, get the weight off by snapping my fingers, too. I am too old to wish on stars. Got heavy and house out of order about the same time…when I had surgery………..still have health issues, trying to work and beat by the time I get home. Too embarrassed to let anyone help me till I get some of it done myself. Have been working…………feel like it will take forever.Start hurting when I work too.I am going to keep plugging through till it is DONE! This too SHALL PASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m in the mist of decluttering! My son wanted to move into our basement bedroom which has been the “storage” room (Hoarders lite). We had to move all the stuff out of that room to move him in. You never know how much JUNK you have until you have to move it. Now i have major declutting of getting this stuff moved out (goodwill, ebay and yardsale). And putting away (orderly) what i want to keep. What a job.