How to Organize and De-clutter Your Home Part 5

How to Organize Your Home:

You should have a designated space to keep Emergency Information as well as Personal Information. If something were to happen to you, and your family needed access to these types of documents, you don’t want them to have to dig around through your desk, spending hours of precious time looking for what they need. Here are some of the items I suggest you keep in a safe place:

• Marriage Certificate

• Birth Certificate

• Adoption Papers

• Citizenship Records

• Divorce Papers

• House Deed

• Mortgage Papers

• Death Certificate

• Automobile Titles

• Service Papers

• Leases /Contracts

• Will

• Patents and Copyrights  

• Passports

• Life Insurance Policy

• Health Insurance Card (s)

• Copy of your License

• Medical Directives (should you not be able to speak on your own behalf, a medical directive will ensure your decisions are followed)

• Emergency Medical Contacts (primary physician’s phone number, etc)

• Medical Information (blood type, allergies, etc)

• Up to date photo of everyone in your family, including your pets (in case someone goes missing)

• Finger Prints

• Pet Insurance

If security is a concern of yours, then store these documents in a safe, locked drawer, or in a safety deposit box. Here are the items I suggest you store in a secured space.

That wraps up our 5 part series of how to Organize and Declutter Your Home! Now is the time to buy my e-book on Amazon for a copy of your own list of items to consider when trying to organize and declutter your home. 

How to Organize and De-clutter Your Home Part 4

Here is a Declutter Checklist for your entire home:

Kitchen

• Create Space for Every Item

• Donate Mismatched Items (Dishes, Cups, etc)

• Toss Old Coffee Mugs and any dishware with a stain

• Limit Water Bottles

• Add Drawer Dividers

• Toss Stained, Mismatched or Broken Food Containers

• Throw out all old Spices and Expired Foods

Bathroom

• Toss Old Shampoo/Body Lotion, etc. Bottles

• Limit yourself to 2 shampoos/conditioner, lotions, etc.  

• Limit hairstylers, and store them in a basket or under your sink- out of sight.

• If it hasn’t been used in three months, toss it.

Linen Closet:

• Toss old towels and sheets that are stained or frayed

• Toss towels and sheets that don’t match

Office:

• Tackle one drawer at a time.

• Bundle like items together (Pens & Pencils, Envelopes, etc)

• Shred Papers that are not needed

  • After 1 Month: Receipts, Deposit/ ATM slips, Reconciled Bank Statements

  • 1-3 Years: Paycheck Stubs, Mortgage Statements, Expired Insurance Records, Charity Donation Receipts

  • 7 Years: Tax Returns, W-2 & 1099, Medical Statements, Real Estate Tax Forms

Your Closet:

• Have you worn it in the last 6 months?

• Will you wear it in the next two weeks?

• If it is Broken/ Has any holes, will you get them fixed?

• Does it fit well?

• Would you buy it now?

If you answered “yes” to all of the above questions, then keep it, however if you answered “no” to any of these, then you should probably toss it.

Check out the entire series on my e-book on Amazon Here:

How to Organize and De-clutter your Home Part 3

How to De-clutter Your Home:

The best way that I have found is to clear a space- possibly in another room, on the floor and dump out all the pieces (maybe it’s just a few drawers? Maybe it’s the whole kitchen?).

Here is a starter list of things to get rid of:

• Old or unread books and magazines

• Expired Coupons

• Outgrown Clothes

• Expired Food

• Mismatched or holey socks

• Mismatched Storage Containers (having all the same type of storage containers makes it easier to stack on top of one another, creating more space)

• Duplicate kitchen items

• Expired Cleaning Supplies

• Worn Towels

• Worn Sheets

• Broken Toys

• Tools missing parts

• Broken Jewelry

• Old Mail

• Expired Toiletries/Cosmetics

• Unused Toiletries

• Unused Toys/Sporting Equipment

Want to learn more? Get my e-book available on Amazon:

Part 2 Of The Guide To Organizing And De-cluttering Your Home

How to De-clutter Your Home

When you start to de-clutter a room, it can be very overwhelming. Don’t worry, we are going to take the and divide it into small sections. Start with one end of the room (Doesn’t matter where- Personally, I go left to right around the room from the entrance door, starting with the bottom section, then the middle section, and lastly the top section - I don’t know why, it’s just what I find easiest). Use the checklists in this step to decide what will stay and what will go.

Tip: Divide and Conquer: Shelf dividers will instantly begin to add order by providing “zones” for each set of items. You can improvise with these solutions as well. For instance I use desk organizers in my kitchen cabinets to help separate dishes. I also use over the door closet shoe organizers to hold cleaning supplies.  Search Pinterest to find the solution that would best work for your situation.

There are thousands of solutions to help you organize your home, it’s just a matter of personal preference and if these systems will fit in your space.

To learn more, check out my e-book, available on Amazon: