GON Reader Letter #1
A Way to Keep Gifts Organized
I purchase cardboard file boxes with lids at office supply
stores and put Christmas or Birthday gifts in those boxes as I purchase them. I have a box for each family member. This helps me to see at a glance, who I need to shop for. When it is time for celebrating, I just load the box(es) in my car and go. It keeps me from forgetting gifts.
-- Linda Willis, Arlington, TX
GON Reader Letter #2
I Love Rolling Items
Together
I love rolling items together. One of my favorites is
rolling a matching bath towel, hand
towel, and wash cloth together so it looks like a tootsie roll when you finish. This can be tied with a decorative cord or wide ribbon and stacked in a pyramid shape some place in your bathroom. One secret to make this even easier is to buy 4 to 6 sets of towels of the same color and pattern. You'll never be missing a specific color on laundry day.
-- Rudie Ivester, Greer, SC
GON Reader Letter #3
I Trade Cleaning Tasks
Trade some cleaning time with a relative or friend. My sister or best friend can get my living room and kitchen
uncluttered much quicker than I can and I have a basket or two (usually of papers) to sort out in the end. They don't have the emotional attachment to the clutter that I have. I then repay their time by doing a task they don't especially enjoy doing.
-- Karen Walker-Sparks, Lancaster, Ohio
GON Reader Letter #4
My System for Grocery
Runs
When I run out of an item I will need at the grocery
store, I write it down on the front of an
envelope. Just
before going to the store, I can save time by going
through my coupons at home and sticking them in the envelope for that trip.
-- Teresa Chumley, Zebulon, GA
GON Reader Letter #5
How to Be
Nostalgic Without the Clutter
Pictures, especially digital ones, take a lot less room
than the
items themselves. When you're decluttering,
think about it. Do you really need to keep the item to
remember those good times or will a picture do?
My 20-year old college textbooks are reminders of a fun time of life for me, but the information within them is too outdated to be of any use. I lined them up on my sofa and took pictures of the covers.
Same thing with favorite dresses from high school (I even still fit in one!). Took pictures, didn't need to hold onto the actual cloth.
I save these pictures together in one computer folder. That way, I can browse through them when I feel nostalgic.
-- Lori, Sioux Falls, ND
