By Sherrie Le Masurier
Enjoy the holiday and all its trimmings but when it’s all over, a little organizing and pre-planning can go along way in creating a clutter free (physical and emotional) New Year for you and your family.
First, before you start packing away all your Christmas related gear, let’s look what you can do now to make next Christmas easier, more budget-friendly, and less stressful overall.
Christmas cards: If you plan on sending out cards next year, check your current supply and shop for them now. Create a computer address list of all the people who sent you cards this year and add in anyone else you’d like to mail one to. Next fall, all you have to do is print out the address labels.
Gift wrap and bags: Check your inventory and buy fresh supplies now when the savings are at their peak.
Storage containers: Purge unused Christmas decorations and consider buying new storage containers to hold all your Christmas supplies. Early January is typically the best time of year to purchase organizing tools.
Christmas planner: Using a planner or a simple notebook, start a shopping list for next Christmas based on comments and ideas that came up during this year’s celebration. Once you have all your gift recipients listed, you can add in gift ideas throughout the year. If you wish to reduce the number of gifts you give, now is a good time to bring up the idea of drawing names for family gifts.
Holiday budget: There is no better time than now to set a Christmas budget for next year. When estimating your overall expenses consider not only the cost of gifts, wrap, and cards but also postage, shipping costs, special meals, holiday clothing, and baking supplies. Set up a direct deposit savings account.
Family traditions: Which were the most and least favorite holiday activities? Make note of family preferences and consider dispensing with least-favorite activities next year.
Holiday goals: Setting goals early in the year for Christmas 2012 will go along way to taking the pressure off in the weeks and days leading up to holidays. Ideas include setting deadlines for things like completing your gift list, addressing cards, finishing your shopping, having your gifts wrapped etc.
Second, let’s look how best to integrate your new gifts into your home.
Evaluate and sort gift items: Start by evaluating your gifts and sort into categories e.g. toys, clothing, kitchen, decor, and returns (or to re-gifted or donated). Save and store good boxes, gift bags, bows, ribbons and cards (give them new life as homemade gift tags next year).
When it comes to toys and clothing for young kids, decide what is appropriate now and what is best to be stored for a later date e.g. toys that are too old or clothing that is too big.
If your child already has a lot of toys, set a limit to how many toys they can have out at a time. Consider boxing up some of the new toys and bringing them out next month as part of a toy rotation. (By boxing up a set amount of in-frequently used toys each month and reintroducing them the following month, your child has new things to play with and you eliminate the feeling of being overwhelmed with too much choice. It’s amazing how old toys can become exciting again when they haven’t been seen for awhile.)
Give everything a home: Use the New Year as a launch pad for a simple approach to household belongings. Commit to simplifying your life by bringing less stuff into your home environment. You can start today by deciding that everything must have a place. The old adage, “A place for everything and everything in its place”, makes a lot of sense when it comes to keeping things simple and clutter free. If you can’t find a home for something – get rid of it, otherwise it will continue to roam around your home on the back of chairs and/or on flat surfaces, and add to the clutter that seems to multiple when things are left lying about.
Implement a one in, two out rule. One of my favorite ways to beat the post-Christmas clutter is to follow a one in, two out rule. For every item that comes into our home, we remove two. This includes everything from clothes and accessories to books and toys. Everything we purge is either passed along to someone who can use it or donated to charity.
Purge instead of creating more storage space. Think twice before you add more storage shelves. The more storage space you have, the more stuff you’ll have that collects dust. Eliminating clutter is all about making choices. Keep the important stuff and purge the rest.
Keep surfaces clear. Our dining room table is the clutter ‘hot spot’ in our home. Your home environment will be appear cleaner and be less overwhelming when all flat surfaces e.g. floors, tabletops, and countertops are free of clutter. Displaying a limited number of knick knacks also reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed and eliminates the dusting of multiple items.
Make putting things a way a habit. It takes 21 days to form a habit. Vow to clear the clutter on a daily basis. It only takes minutes a day if you keep up with it.
Schedule regular de-cluttering sessions. Clutter maintenance is a must. Mark weekly or monthly clutter busting sessions on your calendar and routinely take action.
Wishing you a clutter-free 2012!
