Doris Puls

What extras do you have in your living spaces, or maybe even hanging around at work?

Let’s talk about food.

How many of you have full freezers, refrigerators, pantry and food shelves that are filled to the brim with foods you don’t use?

When my refrigerator freezer gets fuller than what I like, I make it a point to use something everyday until it is cleaned out, thus eliminating the foods I don’t really love but should eat.

I try not to put anything new in the freezer and maybe even get by with getting necessities like milk and fresh vegetables from the store for a while. Sometimes, you even have to throw food out that is no longer edible (don’t just go by the expiration dates).

Let’s discuss a random “extra” that I see when I am organizing with people.

Do you use your gift cards and gift certificates? One statistic I read is that 40% of gift cards do not get used up and that as much as $23 billion in gift cards are unspent. How about taking the time to actually use yours before they expire or before they are “out of sight, out of mind”? I never give gift cards for that very reason, because I am afraid they may not get used. Sometimes when I give money, I might specify what they could use it for. I also do not issue gift certificates because, let’s face it, not everyone wants to be told they need a professional organizer in their homes (or anyone telling them they need one).

Another “extra” most of us probably have are emails in our inbox. We can declutter by unsubscribing to what we do not use, making folders so we can easily find things we do use, and trashing what we know we don’t need.

How about when you are waiting for someone and you have your phone with you, just start eliminating a few at a time?

Then, of course, there are all the extra clothes, shoes, boots, etc. that we accumulate but don’t eliminate. Donations to St. Vincent. Salvation Army, kids clothes to Children’s Closet and Baby Pantry all help needy families in our community and get rid of the extra clutter in your own homes. With a closet of clothes that you actually wear, it makes it so much easier getting ready each morning, especially for kids.

Then, we also have the issue of just too much stuff in our homes in general. How many extras do you have? How many do you need? Look around you. Be generous and give to others. Someone else can use what you aren’t and it gives you more space in your homes. Everyone wins.