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Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you find some helpful hints for organizing your time and space. My passions are to help you make home a refuge instead of a crisis center, and to help you function in peace rather than chaos - at home or at work. I have switched my main blog to 1-2-3 ... Get Organized on WordPress, so please visit me there.



Monday, June 11, 2012

6 Ways to Prevent Yourself from Bringing Clutter Home


Hope you had a nice weekend. Ours was cold!! We even had snow on Saturday. Not exactly the June weather we were looking for! Here are some thoughts I had about preventing clutter from entering your house:

1. Don't order anything on eBay, Craig's List, infomercials, etc. at night. Wait until the next morning to see if you still love it.

2. Don't be pushed into buying because you have to act in the next ten minutes. The same deal will most likely come along again and again, with the same deadline. 

3. When you are shopping, ask yourself if you love it and if you need it. Just because it's on sale and is a great deal doesn't mean you need to bring it home with you.

4. Don't ever buy a high-ticket item without talking to your spouse, if applicable. I've known more than one person who has bought a car without consulting the spouse!

5. If you have a serious impulse-control problem, put a "want to buy" list on your fridge. Your item must stay at the top of the list for 30 days before buying it. If something comes along that you want more than #1 on your list, replace it with your new love. But it must stay #1 for 30 days before you buy it.

6. Don't do recreational shopping. Shop when you need to, with specific items in mind. When you shop recreationally, you inevitably find something you can't live without that you wouldn't have known existed otherwise. :)

Do you have ways to avoid bringing home clutter? 


More on avoiding clutter:

A Dozen Tips for Staying Clutter-Free in 2011

Beware - Stores Increase Clutter to Promote Impulse Buying

The Psychology Behind Hoarding