This staged photo on the left doesn't look half bad, does it? We’ve sorted like-with-like and have in here only what was wanted. We have beautiful stacks of lids and a pile of straws.

Well, as soon as it was closed and opened again its contents were everywhere leaving chaos behind. Why? Because stacks of items don’t stay stacks when given room to move and momentum to move. This is why I like to use organizers inside drawers.

We were able to put lids together and straws together in a way that they will stay contained with space for the less used items in the back. Leaving everything easily in sight.

How do you keep your things easy to find and not chaotic?

The freedom that you and your family can find with meal planning is incredible. There are businesses upon businesses who are ready to help you plan your meals. They range from sending you full meals to providing recipes to organizing your personal recipes in a weekly plan for you. And these are just a sampling. There are even meal planning notebooks and notepads and dry erase boards. However, none of it works if it doesn't work for you. Likewise, it only works for you if you stick with it. So take some time to look at some options, ask your friends who have similar tastes (literally) and lifestyles, and try one way of meal planning that you think may work well for you. Additionally, if something has worked for you in the past doesn't mean that it will work for you indefinitely. As your lifestyle, family, and home changes, so may your meal planning strategies.

Some of you may want to stop reading now because you love the thrill of the chase. You’d rather a deadline of 6pm to make up something from whatever you have on hand. If that’s you, you may not want to try meal planning right now. Or maybe, even if you love the thrill, you’ve started to see the toll it’s taking on you and your family. If so, reading this article does not commit you to meal planning. It doesn’t hurt to have ideas.

Since this article is about the freedom found in meal planning, let's get to it.

Save Time

A lot goes into making a meal, not just cooking the food. Let’s make it more streamlined leaving more time for things that are important to you.

Planning
Starting with a decluttered and organized pantry, you can plan meals for the week based on what you have in your pantry. If there is something that is on it's way to the trash can if it's not used soon, plan a meal around it. If it seems overwhelming and you like lists, this may be a good route for you: Make a list of pantry items. Using a cook book or online tool to find some recipes using those pantry items. Write down which meals you want to make which days. Or simply know that you will eat those meals sometime that week. Make a grocery list of things you still need after using up your pantry items. After putting in the initial time to plan at the front end, you have taken the stress out of the day-of “what will we have for dinner” decision fatigue each and every day.

Shopping
Knowing what you need for the week ahead gives you an exact list of ingredients that you need. If you use a food delivery system you will save even more time. Although you will pay for that time with actual money. If you use a pick-up-at-store process, you will breeze through the order process because you already know what you need. And the same is true if you are walking into the store. Well, unless you take that curious and always-learning toddler with you. But you already knew that.

Prepping and Cooking
Since the food in your pantry, fridge, and freezer are easy to see, grabbing everything you need to cook the meal you planned for should be a breeze. The time that could be spent wracking your brain to think up something to eat that your whole family will like from what you have on hand is now yours again to do with as you please. How about a bubble bath? Also, you now know how long the meal you are making should take to make. That goes a long way in helping your night to run more smoothly.

Save Cash

If you know exactly what you need, you are less likely to spend money on things you don't need. Yes, this does take self-control and you are fully capable of that. And with time and practice, it becomes even easier. Not only are you only buying things that you plan to eat, because you are planning what you are eating, things aren't going to waste in your fridge. Because you have decluttered and organized your pantry, things won't get lost and go bad either.

Have More Fun

Maybe you like to explore different types of foods and try new recipes. When you plan ahead, you can make sure that you have that ingredient that is essential to the recipe - even if you did have to go across town to the local Asian grocery to find it.

Question for you

How can you implement any of these ideas to help you find freedom in your home?

“What’s your advice for dealing with an inbox of 50,000??? Other than “good luck”!!”

A friend sent me this text recently. My top-of-the-head response to her was “send me your password and let me deal with it.” Then I offered her another option that I’m going to lay out for you as well.

It happens. Emails flood your inbox and sometimes there just isn’t enough time to get caught up. You subscribe to something because you want the free printable or meal plan or to enter their contest and then you get 3 emails a week from them… and all the other subscriptions that mean nothing to you. You see that a package is coming and want to be sure you keep an eye out for it. Then it comes and you get another email saying as much. Then you have two emails in your inbox that sit there… you have two pieces of trash cluttering up your inbox. Your important emails go unnoticed, meeting are missed, and then all of a sudden you can’t even download your emails. And then you are pressured into paying for storage.

Please don’t pay for more storage! That is like paying for a storage unit to hold all your junk mail. It’s trash, don’t pay to store it.

Instead, do some work to throw that junk email (or no longer needed email) away. Here are some generic steps that will help you. There are so many videos out there to help you with your specific email provider inbox. That may just be your best friend with this electronic clean out.

1.    Delete - Do a search of whatever email sender you want to delete, then select all and “delete.” One word of caution here - sometimes there are still “keep” emails in these searches so be sure to look over the list before hitting “delete.” Certainly you can delete one at a time as well.

2.    Unsubscribe - This is the “do it now to save tons of time later” tip. If you don’t get a good return from reading the emails that are subscriptions, you may choose to unsubscribe from them. Most sites make it pretty easy but it does take time. If you use Gmail, there may be an “unsubscribe” button on the main page. Otherwise, scroll to the bottom of the email to find the “unsubscribe” there. Note that some companies have weeks before they actually unsubscribe you.

3.    Make folders and filters - This is if you want a zero-inbox but still want to keep up with some emails. This is not for everyone. Hint: in most emails you can archive something and just search by a keyword, eliminating the real need for folders and filters if that is how you will access those emails.

4.    Set a time to go through emails weekly/monthly - Digital or paper, it needs to be gone through. If you set a time and do it then it will become less and less that you have to go through. Unless, of course, you go on a spree of giving out your email address.

What other tips do you have for staying on top of your emails?

The Story Behind the Name “Little Red Stool”

When I was student teaching at the end of my college education the school was doing a fundraiser. Not one of those “buy a bunch of popcorn that you’ll never eat” but more of a “Target in a magazine” kind of thing. There were so many fun things to choose from. And as a hopeful wife and mom I bought two things: a family fun cookbook and a little red stool. Now, when I say I was a hopeful wife and mom I mean, my parents married right out of college and it just seemed the natural next step for me. Did I mention I wasn’t dating anyone? Well, that’s important. So I bought a stool for my non-existent children. (Don’t try this at home… that’s one way to get you to a place where you need my services.)

Fast forward 1, 2, 5, 10 years and I still didn’t have any children. I wasn’t married either. But I sure did keep that stool. It was a symbol of hope for me. Something I chose for my future children as a way of helping them when they were not quite big enough to reach the sink to wash their hands and brush their teeth. More important than the fact that I kept that stool is that I continued to chose to keep that stool. Over the course of my adult life I moved several times. Each time I made the conscious decision to keep that stool for my non-existent children.

About 7 years ago I was able to use that little red stool for the first time. No, God had not given me children of my own but a sweet niece. I was beyond excited to have her spend the night and to wash her hands using that stool. To my shock, I found out the stool isn’t actually stable. Y’all, my precious little red stool wasn’t even useful! I had to stand behind my niece so the stool wouldn’t tip as she shifted. I laugh to myself when I think about that day.

I do still own that stool. It is the name of my business, after all. More than that, it is a reminder to me that the dear people who invite me into their homes have things that are precious to them, things that for some odd-to-others reason, they want to hold on to.

And now that little red stool holds my work bag.

What can you learn from my little red stool story?

1. I have personally held on to things that, from the outside, shouldn’t have been brought into my house in the first place much less kept around.

2. There are going to be things in your life that you want to hold on to that might not make sense to anyone else. That’s okay. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else. It’s your home. I won’t make you get rid of it.

3. Our lives change. Sometimes in the way we expect; sometimes in ways we did not expect. Our homes should reflect those changes.

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]]>The Story of the Little Red StoolShannon SimoneauMon, 17 Feb 2025 13:49:01 +0000https://www.littleredstoolorganizing.com/blog/blog-template-dont-publish-fdfkg60186d3cc67bcc4e1b12548d:6021a62d46373673e42f09d2:67b33e4d7d89f056d263a4bc

Where do I Donate or How do I Dispose of…

In over 8 years of working with clients to find peace and freedom in their homes there are still new things people are wanting to dispose of in a specific way. To answer most (not all) of the “how do I get this out of my house” I could say “trash” or “donate.” For a lot of people this answer is enough. For some people, they want to know the absolute best place to guarantee that everything is disposed of properly or goes to someone who can use it right away.

For this reason I have made a list with some of the most common and not so common items that clients have wanted to dispose of properly or to a good home.

You can find a short list below but the full list is here. Please check with the individual locations before donating as businesses, services, and ministries may change their locations and practices.

General disposal and recycling:
Augusta, GA has a Waste Wizard website that will direct you to proper disposal of many types of items.

Columbia County, GA provides a list of acceptable items to dispose of and recycle.

A few specifics:
American flags: American flags have a special way in which to be cared for and disposed. American Legion, Evans, GA has a retiring flag dropbox that will provide this service for you.

Eye glasses: Drop off at Stanton Optical working with The Lions Club.

Legos: sell to 2nd & Charles by the ounce, mini-figs separate

What items do you have questions about? Check out the full list here.

Gifts to Give

It’s one of those times of the year when a lot of people are giving gifts. For some, gift giving comes easily. My neighbor is one of those people. It’s as if she has an innate ability to give the perfect gift. For others, finding something that the recipient would like seems like an impossible task. Well, here are some things to consider when giving gifts that might help you lighten up your own expectations as well as give you a little more confidence in gift giving.

Who is Receiving the Gift?

The first step in gift giving seems obvious: who are you giving the gift to? So, sure, it’s going to your oldest daughter or your dad or your best friend of 25 years. But think about them specifically when deciding on the gift. Here are a few things to take into consideration.

1. Age. Be sure your gifts (especially to younger people and kids) are age appropriate. A 1,000 piece puzzle would not be a good present for a 3 year old. And a baby rattle probably won’t be the best gift for your teenager.

2. Stage of life. Is your recipient starting out on their own or starting a family? Do they have an established home? Do they travel a lot?

3. Current needs and likes. Does your recipient have more needs that need to be met than likes that can be shopped for? Would they like some cash to go toward a bill rather than a store-specific gift card that won’t help pay the bills or put food on the table? On the other hand, does your recipient have a house full of things and just doesn’t need one more thing? (I have an entire section below for these people.)

4. Relationship. Think about how close you are to this person. Some people like to give gifts to family, close friends, and acquaintances alike. Give away! Be thoughtful to give appropriate gifts that reflect the relationship you have. A pair of diamond earrings may be appropriate for your mom but not so much for your neighbor that you speak with only in passing.

5. Budget. Do not go into debt to buy a gift for someone. Even if that someone is your spouse. Be thoughtful about the kind of money you can spend, make a budget and stick to it. It the answer is “zero,” don’t worry, I have some free and inexpensive ideas to come.

Gifts for Someone Who Doesn’t Need More Things

There are some people who just don’t need (or want) more things. Either they have lived so long that they have everything they need or their lifestyle is minimal; they have so much money that they will just buy what they want or their house is just overflowing with things already. So what can you give them?

The answer these days is “experiences.” To be honest, though, that is just so vague. And we often think of experiences as being expensive. Here are some ideas that are specific and inexpensive.

1. Write a letter. Spend some time writing out ways this person is special to you and others. You can include memories that you share and words of encouragement as well.

2. Plan to spend time together. This can be anything from a detailed weekend away to a dessert at home. The key here is to spend time together.

3. Give a personalized coupon book. The possibilities are endless here. Almost any age can give this gift or, for that matter, receive this gift.

Believe it or not “experiences” isn’t the only answer to this question. Another great way to give a gift to someone who doesn’t need even one more thing is to give them something that is consumable.

1. Food. Sweet or savory. The idea is that these will be eaten (or go bad and get thrown away).

2. Craft, office, school, travel supplies. Be careful that you aren’t adding to an already overwhelming pile of these products.

3. Subscriptions. Two words of caution here: While these are technically consumables (especially if you do a jelly of the month club), not every views them this way. Also, some subscriptions can be too much for the recipient. For example, a magazine once a month is one thing but a craft box once a month can be overwhelming.

Whether you spend time together or give a gift, take some time to let your loved ones know that you appreciate them.

Children's toys can multiply so quickly. Between birthdays, holidays, and the generosity of family and friends, a room in your home can go from a mild mannered play room to an all out toy store... just not as organized.

Below are 10 questions to ask to help you decide what toys to keep and what toys to box up or get out of the house altogether.

I've found that asking the same question in a different way can make all of the difference. Or the same basic question with many layers to help you answer the question. So if you need more than “what do you want to keep around your house?” or the flip-side of that question “what do I want to let go of?” here are some other ways to think about those questions.

Questions to help you think of what to keep out and around your home

1. What toys do your kids go to first thing? (a book, a doll, a toy car, etc.)

2. What do they spend extended amounts of time playing with? (manga-tiles, coloring, reading)

3. What would they cry real, lasting tears about losing? (a lovey vs. 1 of 30 matchbox cars)

4. What toys do you see as a grower of imagination and learning and growth as a functioning member of society? (legos, musical instruments, craft/science supplies)

5. What toys meet your family's mission statement? (if you don't have family mission statement, take some time to come up with one) 

Questions to help you think of what to get out of your home (or box up for soonish or sentimental)

1. Are there duplicate toys that serve the same purpose? (I'm talking about 2 xylophones here, not 2 stuffed animals.)

2. What toys have the kids outgrown? (teething rings, bouncy seats)

3. What toys do they not play with? (they just aren't into horses)

4. What toys are too complicated for their age? (100 piece puzzle for a 3 year old)

5. What toys drive you crazy? (the singing remote, anyone?)

Remember, this is your house (that you share with your family) so think about what you want to keep up with and what your children enjoy and what serves the greater purpose of your family and growth of your children.

Today’s post will be short. There are so many people living in the immediate aftermath (and really, still in the emergency phase) of Hurricane Helene which started making landfall the evening of September 26, 2024. I have already received an email from someone who had a major wake-up call when she realized that if the tree fell on her house, no one would be able to get to her because of all the items in her home. You may identify with that and want to move forward as well.

Please don’t sit in shame. Recognize that you are ready, reach out, and move forward with intention. We simply cannot change the past. We can move forward with intention. You can make decisions now to help you in the future. Whether you are digging out from after a literal natural disaster or from the piles in your home, step by step will get you there.

There are people ready to help. Please reach out. We can’t know unless you tell us.

For those of you dealing with Hurricane Helene’s aftermath, you are prayed for.

Will you declutter and organize while I'm away from the home?

I hear you, your time is precious and there are only 24 hours in a day. However, my short answer is “No.”

I only work side-by-side with clients. I have two main reasons for this.

First, I don't know what you value if you aren't there to tell me. I see a broken piece of wood and see trash. You see a broken piece of wood and know exactly what piece of furniture that it belongs to. I see movie stubs and think they are sentimental treasures. You see movie stubs and see trash. I can reverse both of those example as well. So as you can see, I need you in order to declutter your home.

Second, I can't help you create maintenance systems if you aren't there to let me know how your household runs. Left to my own devices, I may recommend a shoe spot inside the back door. With you there, I find out that your family doesn’t even use that door - making a shoe spot there unreasonable. Again, I need you in order to create maintenance systems in your home.

You may be wondering how it works then to work side-by-side with me as a Professional Organizer. Questions. Lots of questions. The fun kind. The kind that get you to understand why you have something and whether you want to keep up with it or not. Questions that get you thinking about how you really live your life, how you want to live your life, and get you on the road to living that life.

It takes work, as most good things in life do! I make it fun and engaging and effective. We do enough to get the job done without burn out and giving you tools to use for a lifetime.

*DIFM - Do It For Me

Take a little trip through your closet and have a small fashion show! Turn up the music and try on your clothes. Relive a memory or two. Make decisions as you go of what you want to keep and what you giggle at because you'd never really wear it in public anymore. 

When you’re done, if you let things go, you will experience a lighter load in your closet and your mental load as well.

Your kids might have too many toys if…

I recently talked with a group of moms about organizing. One of their biggest questions was about toy organization. Since actually organizing is near the end of the organizing process, I thought I’d share some things to get you thinking about the best way to go about organizing your kids’ toys. The first place to start is to figure out if you have too many toys. You probably already have an idea, if your honest. But here are some clues that your kids might have too many toys.

1. They often say they are bored.

2. They don't clean up their own room/playroom even though they are old enough.

3. They play with the same 3 things but there are 27 bins full of other toys.

4. They don't really play with their toys.

5. They meltdown constantly in their room/playroom.

If you aren’t sure that these things are happening, keep an eye and ear out the next week or so. Closely notice your child’s behavior. If you see that you may have too many toys around, take some time to let go of a few things. To help you do that, think about the things you want to keep around. Below are toy-specific questions. If you’ve ever heard me speak, you have a list of basic questions that would help as well. If thinking about what to keep sounds too difficult for you and you’d rather think about what to let go of, you can find some helpful questions at the end of this article. The point is to make the decisions actively. Otherwise, that stuff is getting the say-so and bringing overwhelm with it.

Questions to help you think of what to keep out and around

1. What toys do your kids go to first? 

   Every child is different but they likely have a few toys that they gravitate toward.

2. What do they spend an extended amount of time playing with? 

   See question 4 below, they might be the same things.

3. What would they cry real, lasting tears about losing? 

   Depending on the age of your child, real tears might not be lasting tears but I hope you get the nature of the question here. A lovey may be different than 1 of 30 matchbox cars.

4. What toys do you see as a grower of imagination and learning and growth as a functioning member of society? 

   These are usually open-ended toys like blocks or craft supplies (not necessarily craft kits) but not limited to these.

5. What toys meet your family's mission statement? 

   If you don't have family mission statement, take some time to come up with one with your spouse or as a family if appropriate.

Questions to help you think of what to get out of your home

You don’t have to get rid of all of these things if you think you will use them in the coming years and have a comfortable space to store them. Letting them go to a new home may be just the easiest choice for you and your family. You decide!

1. Are there duplicate toys that serve the same purpose? 

   I'm talking about 4 xylophones here, not 2 stuffed animals.

2. What toys have the kids outgrown?

   For example, teething rings for the elementary school family

3. What toys do they not play with? 

   Maybe they just aren't into toy horses.

4. What toys are too complicated for their age? 

   100 piece puzzle for a 3 year old is probably too advanced.

5. What toys drive you crazy? 

   Cough, cough, the singing remote, cough, cough.

Take some time to evaluate the state of your children and their toys. Who knows, you might find out more about them in the process.

Declutter or Organize?

I like to define my terms when I’m working with others. People like to talk in generalizations or vague terms - this sentence is proof. When someone says “my house is such a mess” they mean one thing but I hear any number of things. Their house could be dirty or cluttered or both. They could have dishes on the counter or all over the kitchen. They could have a load of laundry that needs to be put away or a mountain that needs to go through the whole laundry cycle.

So let’s define a couple of terms for this blog. You may mean declutter and organize when you say organize but there is a big difference.

Declutter - letting go of things that don’t serve you or your household.

This will always include things leaving your house. This will never include bringing things into your house.

Organize - putting the things you are keeping in a home that makes sense to you and your household.

This may sometimes include bringing things into your house. This may also sometimes include things leaving your house.

Now that we’ve defined those terms, we can talk about what order to do those two different things in much easier.

Declutter first. Organize second. Always.

Now that you know what decluttering is and what organizing is you can hopefully more easily see why you always declutter first. Here are just a few reasons.

If you try to organize first…

• you’ll want to buy lots of supplies that look pretty and helpful

• you’ll fill those supplies up and see that it doesn’t help you keep up with your things any better

• you’ll bring those supplies home and see that you don’t really have room for them

• you’ll bring those supplies home and run out of energy to finish the project so you have a pile of supplies

• you’ll want to return those supplies because you aren’t going to use them

• you’ll forget to return those supplies because they got lost with the other piles

• you’ll have spent time and energy and money on something you can’t really use

• you’ll beat yourself up for buying something you can’t use and not returning it in time to get your money (and space in your house) back

• you’ll wish you had a way to be more efficient in organizing your house and keeping up with it

• you’ll remember that blog that you read that said “Declutter first. Organize second. Always.”

How?

Think you need some organizational supplies? Take some time to empty a drawer, decide what you want to keep up with, and let the rest go. Then put everything you’re keeping where you would use it. Do you still need organizational supplies? If yes, measure for what you need. Buy what you think will help. Put it in and fill it with your things. It’s a much easier and efficient process when you go in order.

In less than 15 minutes this mom of two was able to make decisions about each item. As you can tell, a lot of it belonged somewhere other than this closet, leaving the closet and each item with purpose. We also assigned each item a home which gave organization to the closet. This makes it easier recall where each item is and where it goes when it's not being used.

Decluttering, It’s Not So Black and White

Look at the image above. What would you keep? Why?

The answer isn’t so easy, is it? There are several questions that probably come to mind immediately.

1. What is everything?

2. What condition are they in individually?

3. What kind of space do I have in my home for them?

4. Do I already have something that serves the same purpose, and better?

5. Do I have the time to repair or update any of the pieces that aren’t just the way I would want them?

Now imagine a spot in your own home. You can even take a picture like the one above if that helps you to hone in on just a few things. Ask yourself the same questions that you did when looking at this photo of someone else’s belongings. You don’t have to just know right away if something is a “keep” or a “go.” You can ask yourself some questions to help you make that decision. Then, having made the decision, make the necessary arrangements and plans to either update, rearrange, or let go of each item.

Happy decision making!

Ask before buying

No matter what time of year, buying things can add chaos to your home. Gift-giving and gift-receiving times can expedite the process though. So as you are preparing for birthdays or holidays or end-of-the-years, ask yourself this question:

“Where will it live?”

Where will it live?

You give gifts to people who live inside your home and outside your home. The question will be the same but the answers will be different.

Gifts in your own home

The easiest way to come to an answer to this question is to have already found homes for everything else in your house. Do the work ahead of time to make the decisions later pretty simple. When everything else has a home, you can envision where the new items will live. Or you will realize that you don’t have room for that item or that you don’t need that item because you already have all you need.

Gifts outside of your home

Gift-giving has become a thing we do without thought. Your child has a teacher (or 4) so you give them a gift. You search online for “best gifts for teachers” and choose something from the list that looks thoughtful, like a mug with a coffee gift card and a cute saying. This is where asking the question “where will it live?” will help you to be a more thoughtful gift giver. Where will that mug live? Now, you won’t actually know this answer for all of the people in your life but the thought here is to think for the other person. While the thought may count, make sure you think about it.

“Too Much” is Relative

The phrase “too much” is relative. You’ve probably heard that “ants can lift and carry up to 100 times their body weight. That’s the equivalent of a 200-pound man benching a garbage truck.” I think we can all agree that a garbage truck is too much for any person to lift. And while ants are really strong, a single penny, which an adult can carry hundreds of with ease, would be too much for a single ant. It’s not a lot different with our stuff. One person can carry a lot, another not so much. While you could take that phrase literally (physical weight) we are going to talk about the mental weight of stuff in which the comparison is the same.

Do I Have Too Much Stuff?

1. Do I have piles around my house?

2. It is difficult for me to keep my house picked up?

3. My drawers are difficult to open.

4. No one in my house can find something of mine if I ask them.

5. I can’t find the scissors.

6. Is my mind is always racing about the state of my house?

7. Cleaning is out of the question because there is too much stuff around.

8. I purchase things even though I know I have them somewhere in my house.

9. There are still unopened boxes from our last move 3 years ago.

10. My spare time is always spent straightening up.

11. I really have no idea what is in my drawers or cabinets.

12. Do I panic when someone is coming over?

"There's an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes." Forrest Gump

This super fun and spunky mom of two tackled her closet and shoes with clarity and determination. You can't wear it if you don't know you have it or where it is. It's hard to know where it is if it's hidden in so much stuff.

Decide what you love and feel good in. Keep those things. Everything else? Let it go, let it go!

The Fact of Clutter

It was consultation time with a returning client. We were walking around the house as she was showing me her spaces and letting me know a little bit about the why behind the clutter. She was telling me about the local CSA boxes, the bounty of food, and the beautiful flowers that her husband got her. Then she said something that struck me deep down.

“At this point, something beautiful just adds to the clutter.”

Read that again.

“At this point, something beautiful just adds to the clutter.”

This young mother of three small children had gotten to the point of not being able to enjoy something beautiful in her home. That is just striking. That is the state of so many homes. That is why I do what I do: help people find peace and freedom, and beauty, in your home.

How Do Our Homes Fill with Clutter?

How do we get here? How do our homes get so full of clutter that we can’t enjoy the beauty inside? It comes down to a few basic things.

1. We choose to bring in more things than we can maintain.

2. We choose to fill our time with more things than we can maintain.

The combination of these two things always equals chaos in some form. Most of the time it means a house so full of stuff in such a messy way that we can’t enjoy the beauty or even the every day or the people who live inside. Our visual space is overwhelmed and overwhelming and so is our mental space.

Here are a few ways these things can show themselves in our lives.

1. We use our time to buy things we know we already have but can’t find.

2. We bring in things we don’t need - mindless shopping, some freebie, etc.

3. We don’t keep up with regular household chores.

4. We don’t teach our children how to do regular household chores.

5. We try to do everything in the house by ourselves from daily chores to major repairs.

6. We shop to kill time, to fill a void, to make us “feel better”, or to keep up with the Joneses.

7. We keep things in our home past their usefulness.

8. We fill our calendars because of FOMO; because we can’t say “no” to our friends, to our kids, to our families; we think the more we do the better a person we are; we think the more our kids do the better people they will become.

9. We don’t know how to rest or be alone or not be busy all the time.

10. We don’t take the time to know what is in our homes or to decide what gets to stay.

11. We let other people shame us into keeping or buying things we know we don’t need in our homes.

What would you add to this list? How do you see the clutter pushing out the beauty in your home?

What to do with All These Gift Cards

Almost every home I enter has gift cards that pop up all over the home. They were forgotten or no one knows where they came from. And for sure, no one knows if they are still good or how much money may or may not be on them. Most of the time the gift cards are out of sight, out of mind. If you find yourself in this same predicament, here are some tips to help you use those gifts that people gave you.

Where to Store Gift Cards

First things first. Go on a scavenger hunt and round up all the gift cards you can from around your house.

No matter the amount of gift cards you have, keep them all in one place. Try a labeled envelope or a rubber band to contain them. You may consider keeping your gift cards in a file in the file cabinet or maybe in a special place in a desk drawer or entry way. If you find that the gift cards still aren’t being used, try the next tip.

Store a handful of gift cards in your wallet. If you find it difficult to remember to spend other people’s money (ahem, a gift card), put it in front of your money (your cash or card) so that you’ll see it first and use it. (See more tips on how to use gift cards below.)

If you have gift cards for multiple people in your household, let each person have their own envelope with their name on it. I recommend that they all stay in the same place unless the owner of the gift cards is responsible enough to have them in their own possession.

How to Use Gift Cards

Be honest, do you ever go to (enter gift card business name here)? If you don’t, give it away to someone who will use it. If the thoughts of regifting give you the creeps, don’t make it a gift-gift, make it just a “I thought of you today” gift.

Gift cards are, um, money so use them like money. The trick is that most gift cards are for specific store. So how can you remember to use them?

My favorite fun suggestion for how to use gift cards is to have Gift Card Days! You may have gift cards for meals, desserts, clothes, games, books, outings. You may be able to cover an entire day of staycation with gift cards! Plan one day that you (or you and one child or your whole family) enjoy a full day FREE (or at a super reduced rate to you) using gift cards! Did you know there is an actual National Use Your Gift Cards Day? It’s the third Saturday in January. But I say do it anytime!

How to Keep Track of Gift Card Balances

But what happens when you don’t spend the entire gift card in one transaction? How on earth do you keep up with the balances? No one wants to keep up with the receipt that tells you the balance. My tip is to use a permanent marker to write the balance on the gift card. Each time there is still a balance, cross out the old balance and write the new balance.

What tips do you have for using gift cards?