My Top Eight Decluttering & Organizational Tips

by Katy on January 15, 2014 · 17 comments

Drawer organizer

Sometimes it seems like the decluttering experts read one another’s tips and then just regurgitate them over and over again.

“Take everything out of your closet and bag up what you haven’t worn for a year.”

“Put out three boxes, keep, giveaway and unsure.”

Blah, blah, blah . . .

But I’m someone who needs new ideas and motivation to get me off my duff and into decluttering mode.

Here are eight of my favorite decluttering tips:

  1. Return everything to its proper owner. If someone left something at your house, or if you simply borrowed something from a friend or family member, get it out of your house before it just becomes part of the background. Make this happen by putting whatever it is in your car, purse or next to your front door. Then, give it back!
  2. Return all your library materials. Sure, those books seem to be renewing indefinitely, but sometimes you need a clean slate. If you haven’t read it within a week of checking it out, chances are you won’t.
  3. Find better homes for your stuff. You may own it, but if you don’t use and appreciate it, find someone who does. I am Jewish but my family does put up a Christmas tree. (My husband is not Jewish.) I went through our Christmas ornaments and realized we somehow had a baby Jesus that never saw the light of day. I gave it to my neighbor’s granddaughter, whose family is Christian. Now it’ll get used and there’s one less thing in my house.
  4. Borrow instead of buy. I like to this of this as proactive decluttering, as it keeps clutter from ever entering your home. My friend Sasha is hosting her son’s Bar Mitzvah this weekend, and so far I’ve lent her my husband’s dress shoes, a tripod and a digital frame that my father was given for “45 yeas of service.” (Never even taken out of the box.)
  5. Figure out a organizational system using stuff you already own. With three soccer playing guys under my roof, keeping all the supplies organized is kind of a nightmare. (And it doesn’t help that those slippery nylon jerseys and shorts are impossible to keep folded!) I went ahead and used zip-up mesh laundry bags to make separate categories for shirts, shorts and socks, which then sit in a fabric-lined basket. These laundry bags were required for my son’s summer in Japan a few years back, and had been sitting in a drawer. No need to take out a second mortgage for organizational products! And don’t forget my no sew drawer organizer!
  6. Know your weaknesses. I held off on having a piano for years, as I knew that extra horizontal surfaces mean extra potential clutter catchers for me. And you know what? I was right! Keeping the top on my piano clear is a constantly losing battle at my house, and no one even plays it! I should have known better and resisted my free piano.
  7. Embrace Sameness. Use a single style of drinking glasses, dish ware, socks, etc. You can avoid that higgledy-piggledy look by choosing one classic and functional item and sticking with it. My drinking glasses are the working glass style, which are always available in thrift shops, so if/when we break one they’re simple to replace. Have exactly the amount you feel you need and know that replacements exist.
  8. Fix and Mend. By endlessly holding onto broken stuff, you’re likely to acquire new versions while you still possess its previous counterpart. Avoid setting stuff aside to deal with later, and deal with it now! Take those worn down shoes to the cobbler, take that coat with a busted zipper to the dry cleaner and get out that tube of glue. Try to own a single version of your stuff rather than multiples.

Okay people, organize your house so it’s easier to keep clean and is welcoming to your family and friends!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Parking Spots For Those Who Follow The Compact

by Katy on January 14, 2014 · 4 comments

Compact

Need extra incentive to join the buy-nothing-new Compact movement?

How about special parking spaces everywhere you go?

V.I.P. all the way, bay-bee!

😉

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Cleaning vs. Decluttering a Child’s Room

by Katy on January 13, 2014 · 6 comments

The following is a reprint of a previously published post. Enjoy!
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve cleaned my younger son’s room I’d have a pile of cash that reached the moon. But somehow, however many times he/I/we get his room cleaned up, it’s just a matter of nano-seconds before the cleanliness is completed reversed. (Seriously, I’m going to get NASA working on this.)

Part of the challenge is that he has very little storage space, but mostly because he has too much stuff. The end result is that his room is dangerous for ambulation at the moment and that’s simply not acceptable.

It would be very easy for me to clean his room up while he’s at school, but I want him to make the decisions himself about what to keep and what to get rid of. So we’ve been spending a hour here and an hour there agonizing over these difficult decisions. Two laundry baskets of books went to Powell’s, (of which they bought a half basket’s worth) and about half his stuffed animals are off to the consignment store and then Goodwill.

He and I spent AN HOUR working on decluttering his room yesterday. At age 11 he still has all his little boy belongings, so we’re going through all his toys one item at a time, which is overwhelming. (That’s why we’re doing it just one hour at a time.) When we finished our hour yesterday, I had him work on reassembling his “Transformers” into recognizable forms. When he gets these all put together, then we can probably sell them, which we certainly couldn’t do if they were maybe/maybe not missing their pieces. This is a chore I don’t have the skill to do. Seriously.

Also, he’s about to get a daybed/trundle bed (awesome for sleepovers!) which will replace the captain’s bed which has provided underbed storage. The problem was that with the exception of the “action figure drawer,” nothing stored there was anything he ever played with.

We are far from finishing this gargantuan task, but I know we’ll get there one hour at a time. And don’t get me started on his closet.

Are you a fan of cleaning and decluttering your kids’ rooms while they’re away or working side-by-side with them? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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P.S. I super-de-duper wish we lived in Manhattan so that Gretchen Rubin from The Happiness Project could come over and help us declutter. Apparently, she was so gung-ho about helping to delutter during her happiness year, that she was overwhelming her friends. Why do I not have friends like that?!

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Zero Waste Tips For Your Home

by Katy on January 10, 2014 · 63 comments

I make an effort to minimize waste in my home whenever possible. We recycle and compost, mend and repair, buy only used (which almost eliminates packaging waste) and try to find alternate uses for what we already own. We Portlanders only get every-other-week garbage pickup and we share that with our next door neighbors. On average, my family of four puts out a single paper grocery bag of garbage every two weeks. Not to the level of  Zero Waste Home’s Bea Johnson, but not too shabby either.

I like to post my zero waste household solutions on my Instagram account, and thought I would share some recent photos with you.

My sons’ school lunches are always zero waste, with fabric wraps for their sandwiches, reusable containers for their fruit or vegetables and a treat wrapped in a bandana, which can be also used as their napkin. (I assume the cookies get eaten first.)

I have found myself in the routine of mixing up a batch of oatmeal cookies on Sunday, which I then bake up each morning before school. Please do not assume that I do this because I’m a Martha Stewart type. I do this because freshly baked cookies get snarfed down before they can be put aside for lunches. Cookie dough does not! This may sound like a pain in the tuchus, but I really only takes a couple of minutes. (And if I’m working, I just bake them the night before.)

Zero waste school lunch

My son was going through his room the other night and handed me this notebook which he didn’t want anymore since it was half filled with last year’s school work. I went ahead and cut out the used pages, and gave it back to him. He now has a notebook with blank pages, all ready for fresh use.

Zero Waste notebook

Last week I posted about how I darned a big ol’ pile of socks, and although I do own a darning egg, I usually prefer to simply use a humble lightbulb. A lightbulb works perfectly to round out a sock and acts to support the sock while you weave a new section and darn those holes. And when you’re done darning the sock, it goes back into use to brighten your home. No special purchase required!

Sock Darning

I’m not big on beauty products, but what I do buy get the zero waste treatment. And I do not throw any bottle away until I’ve used up every last scraping from the packaging. Shampoos and conditioners get turned upside down and then watered down, toothpaste gets flattened within an inch of its life, and my hand cream gets cut open.

It’s amazing how much is still in the bottle.

Zero waste toiletries

Although I try to not buy produce that comes in net packaging, sometimes it sneaks into my home. (Maybe leftovers from one of my mother’s guest cottages?) I was needing to scrub potatoes the other day when I remembered that I had a twisted and tied up net bag that would perfectly as a potato scrubber.

And it did. Work perfectly.

Zero waste scrubber

I buy my spices in bulk and then store them in ancient baby food jars. (They’re leftover from when my eighteen-year-old son was a wee one!) This works great, but sometimes I do need the sprinkle function that an open mouth jar simply doesn’t provide. That’s when I bust out my thrifted tea strainer, which works perfectly (and elegantly) to dust spices over my cooking. I don’t have to buy anything extra, and frankly, it’s kind of fun!

And before you ask, this is a pan of restuffed potatoes, the spice is paprika and I think the recipe is from Mollie Katzen’s Enchanted Broccoli Forrest cookbook.

Bonus tip: A few years ago I spray painted all the spice jar lids a single color. (Oil rubbed bronze, since I had some leftover paint.) Now my spices look nice and cohesive!

Zero waste spices

Do you work to figure out zero waste solutions for your home? Please share your ideas and tips in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Sorry Honey, But I Have All I Need

by Katy on January 9, 2014 · 23 comments

I am a frustrating person to have on your gift list. Why? Because I’m perfectly content with what I already own. I have nothing on my Amazon wish list, and if anything I’m feeling like I have too much stuff in my life.

It frustrates my husband and mother to no end.

I spent this last evening snuggled under a thrifted fleece throw reading a library book while wearing my Dollar Tree reading glasses. I enjoyed a cup of tea, (Red Rose, which I purchased combining a Safeway Just4U coupon, a manufacturer’s coupon and a double coupon) and it was the pinnacle of perfection.

Ahh . . . 

I’m here, I’m content, get used to it.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Is 2014 Your Year To Join “The Compact” and Stop Buying New?

by Katy on January 8, 2014 · 9 comments

Note: I wrote this article for The Huffington Post, which can be read HERE. Any and all “likes,” comments and “shares” are greatly appreciated, is they will help move the article to the front page where it will actually get read. Please click over to the The Huffington Post for your feedback. Thank you very much!

We’re already into our second week of 2014 and if you’re anything like me, your new year’s resolutions are already starting to fade. Your vow to work out three times a week was interrupted by foul weather, your diet’s been hijacked by your co-worker’s daily tins of too-good-to-resist goodies and your resolution to declutter the home office got, well . . . boring.

But I have a mid-January new year’s resolution that’s both easier than you think and will save you thousands of dollars.

Stop buying new. 

I did. Since 2007, and I’m here to tell you that this deceptively simple decision will change your life for the better. It’s called “The Compact” and tens of thousands of people have already made one year commitments to choose used.

Let me back up, and share a bit of my back story with you. I am a 46-year-old mother to two teenage boys who works as a part-time labor and delivery nurse. My husband and I drive a mini-van, live in a normal urban neighborhood, (although it is in Portland, Oregon, so there is an unbearable amount of quirky Portlandia-like hipster weirdness) and I attend enough youth soccer games to earn the “Soccer Mom” label.

Nothing too out of the ordinary. Right?

Wrong.

I write the blog The Non-Consumer Advocate and I urge thousands of daily readers to “use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without” and I mean it. In a world where deplorable and dangerous foreign factory conditions make the news almost every month, I choose to vote with my dollars. When area thrift shops burst with perfectly usable (and already manufactured goods) it’s a no brainer to look to the second hand market for my family’s needs. We mend and repair, borrow for infrequently used items and then make sure to lend out what we own to our friends and neighbors. We hold off from impulse purchases and we’re happy.

At this point you may be saying to yourself:

“Sounds good in theory, but there is no freaking way I’m signing up for used underwear/shoes/dental floss/socks.”

Don’t let a case of the heebie-jeebies deter you from considering The Compact, as everyone who participates selects their own exceptions. For me it’s socks, underwear, consumables, home maintenance supplies and personal care items. My husband thinks that used shoes are the work of the devil, so he gets a pass on that one. Everyone’s exceptions will differ, and that’s okay.

I don’t need to tell you that a self imposed restraining order from the mall will save you money, but I will anyway. You will save money when you joint The Compact, but that’s not the only benefit. You’ll appreciate your belongings a bit more, which will make you want to keep them more organized. You’ll become more deliberate about your home and go on a decluttering spree and be forced to be more creative about gift giving and end up giving more thoughtful gifts. You’ll pretty much discover a creative mindset whose ripple effects permeate every aspect of your life.

So c’mon, give The Compact a try for a month, maybe even for the full year. And if you’re anything like me, you might end up seven years in without a single regret.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Five Frugal Things — Consigned Clothes, Couponing & The Grooviest Chair Ever!

by Katy on January 7, 2014 · 25 comments

Dream chair

  1. I used a $10-off-$50 Safeway coupon, Just4U coupons and paper coupons yesterday for a huge grocery shopping trip. I spent $56.65 and saved $38.03. (Six bags of groceries, bay-bee!) And best of all, I bought nothing that wasn’t on my list.
  2. I dropped a big box of my younger son’s outgrown clothes at the children’s consignment shop. She took almost everything and even handed me $5.20 in cash for a small amount of stuff I’d brought in last year. Of course I put the $5.20 in the college fund as it was completely unexpected.
  3. I dropped a couple boxes of miscellaneous stuff at Goodwill and then browsed around. I fell in love with an overpriced $70 groovy vintage chair, but only bought a sweet little $1.99 vintage burlap lampshade. (I used a Christmas gift card to pay for it.)
  4. I was getting frustrated with the messy and chronically unorganized basket of soccer gear in my living room, but I was able to figure out a solution without having to buy anything. I brought down zip-up mesh laundry bags, (leftover from my son’s summer in Japan) and created categories. Because everything is nylon and slippery, nothing stays folded, but now all soccer socks are in a single bag, all jerseys are in a single bag and all shorts have, wait for it . . .  their own bag! With three people playing in four different leagues, some of which require different stuff for practice vs. games, I think I’ve found a workable solution.
  5. We had planned on the four of us seeing a movie last Saturday, (my birthday!) but not one current release drew me in. We had three free movie tickets from a study my husband is participating in, so we would’ve had to buy one $9 ticket. Instead, we rented Silver Linings Playbook for $1.20 through Redbox, which I’d been wanting to see since last year. And now we can save those movie tickets until we have four of them!

Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Think Twice and Maybe Even a Third Time Before Buying New

by Katy on January 6, 2014 · 20 comments

Hangers

Because consumer goods have become so unbelievably cheap, it’s easy to just buy new stuff whenever a want or need strikes. When The Dollar Tree sells multipacks of socks for a buck and Old Navy sells flip-flops for the same price, where’s the incentive to buy used, fix what’s broken or hold off on a new purchase?

But I follow The Compact and I try to buy nothing new. It’s something I’ve been doing since 2007.

Need an example?

My fifteen-year-old son collects international soccer jerseys, (which he finds at Goodwill) and carefully hangs them all in his closet. However, some recent good scores means he currently has more jerseys than hangers. I really like an organized closet and have scored enough wooden hangers through thrifting to supply both our coat closet, (no door, so it needs to look tidy) and our bedroom closet. However, my son’s closet is a mish-mash of random tubular hangers. I looked at his closet and had a flash thought that maybe I should start fresh and buy him a few packs of brand new white hangers.

After all, the hanger packs are only a buck apiece.

But I feel strongly about not supporting unnecessary manufacture of new goods, especially plastic ones with a limited life span. I realized that I had plenty of mismatched hangers on the mostly-shut-down-for-winter outdoor clothesline. Yes, they were kind of grubby, but I put them through the dishwasher with the next load and now my son has everything he needs. They’re neither austere wood, nor does he have a single color scheme, but he now has enough hangers.

My son asked for more hangers, not matching hangers!

By following The Compact and only buying used, I have a buffer zone between myself and the buying of new or even used items. I have to think twice before I make a purchase, and because it’s a pain in the tuchus to find specific used things, it sparks my make it do creativity.

And to think twice before buying new stuff will never be regretted. And anyway, the last thing this planet needs are more plastic hangers.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Non-Consumer Photo Essay – The Key to Hammy Sock Porn

by Katy on January 3, 2014 · 10 comments

It’s time for another Non-Consumer Photo Essay, because sometimes life is simply visual.

I spent a bit of time darning socks today, as my wearable socks selection was getting pretty slim.

sock darning

I also dumped everything from my key bowl and relegated the what-the-hell-is-this-one-for keys to a tidy bin in our built-in. Because with three sets of parents who together own six different houses, we are the apparent keepers of the keys. However, we do not require daily access to them all.

key organizing

I’ve now made four different meals from a single free ham that I got through my employer. (Sliced ham with Costa Rican beans, frittata; ham and eggs and calzones.) Tuck diced ham into pizza dough with cheese and broccoli and you have a very family friendly meal.

I did stick the last of the diced ham into the freezer though, as I just couldn’t face another ham-based meal.

Calzones

Did you enjoy the title of this blog post? I cracked myself up with “The Key to Hammy Sock Porn,” I think I found a working title for my book! 😉

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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In Defense of Coupons

by Katy on January 2, 2014 · 16 comments

I’ve made no bones about how I’m an extremely cheap person. I pretty it up by calling it frugal, but that’s just my secret code for cheap.

So when it comes to coupons, I’m a participator. No, I do not have shelves of got-it-for-free air fresheners and cup-o-noodles in my basement, instead I go the cheapest route and just don’t buy them in the first place. Same thing goes for beauty products, feminine hygiene, (I use a Luna Cup) paper towels and cleaning products.

I just now got home from walking to Fred Meyer (Kroger) for a small grocery shopping trip. I made sure to bring my coupon organizer, as I always regret it when I leave it at home. (A certain day after Christmas Pyrex loss leader sale sticks in my mind, as I could have combined the sale with a coupon for spectacular savings.) My shopping list was pretty simple:

  • Milk, nonfat and whole.
  • Cocoa mix
  • Four boxes of cereal.
  • Bananas
  • Four Luna bars.
  • Refrigerator light bulb.*
  • Some kind of fruit.

I was able to combine a $1.50-off-four General Mills coupon with Chex cereals being on sale for $2 apiece, and considered using a 50¢-off coupons for brand name tangerines, but chose not to, as the nameless bag was still cheaper.

I was winding my way to the checkout counter and made a detour to customer service to pick up the weekly circular, and whattayaknow, there was an in-house 4/$5 coupon for half-gallons of milk. This meant it was cheaper to buy two half-gallons of milk rather than the single gallon! Goofy but true.

My grocery total was $26.23 after the $3.30 coupon savings. But as soon as I finished paying, I remembered that  I had a $2-off your next shopping trip coupon that spit out after I bought two tubes of Colgate last week. (They were buy-one-get-one-free, and I had two $1-off coupons.) I took my coupon over to customer service, where I spent a full 60 seconds showing my receipt and being handed two crisp dollar bills.

A lot of people assume that coupons are only for unhealthy foods such as Lunchables, frozen meals and pudding packs. And yes, the coupon circulars are 90% full of these,  but the other 10% are dried pasta, sour cream, decent cereals and other real foods. Heck, my Just4U online Safeway coupons are often for avocados, onions, lettuce and tea!

So if you’ve shied away from using coupons because you assume it’s only for Extreme Couponer types, you are missing out on potential savings.

Today I saved $5.30 using coupons. Had I done a full fledged shopping trip, the number would have been more along the lines of $20-$30, which last time I checked makes it worth the effort.

Click HERE and HERE to read past Non-Consumer Advocate posts about Couponing.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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*Refrigerator bulbs were $1.49 apiece, which killed me as I know they’re 2/$1 at The Dollar Tree store. I’ll have to remember to pick up a pack next time I’m buying my soap and shampoo.

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