Has anyone use these recommended junk mail eliminators???
https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-stop-junk-mail-amp-email-once-and-for-all-241158
“Has anyone use these recommended junk mail eliminators??”
I tried one but it wasn’t super effective. What WAS effective in eliminating paper clutter was putting a recycling bin and garbage bag steps from where I bring in the mail. I simply don’t put the mail down until I’ve thrown away 90 percent of it. I open bills immediately and toss everything but the bill itself ( I pay everything by chase bill pay…yes you can do this for your handyman or other small business bill…chase will send them a check).
This is my NO EXCUSES way of getting rid of clutter’s biggest bestest friend: Paper.
Paper is the enemy of clean. Period. Full stop. Keep it out of your home as much as possible. Doing so changed my life.
DH gets his credit cad bills & bank statements electronically, but then prints them out, so he eliminates very little paper clutter.
I get some bills electronically & count on having access to them should I need them at some time. I’ve cut back on magazine subscriptions (DH doesn’t like reading articles online) and have a paper bag that any paper that’s recyclable gets tossed into immediately.
I’m failing the September sweep. I realize that with a short vacation and now a wedding this weekend it isn’t happening. I’m saving the emails and will get a late start once life returns to normal.
“Do one thing to “attack the source” and stop clutter from coming in.”
I have barricaded the door so H can’t get in…
I’m admittedly WAY behind…but still thinking it’s possible to catch up!
Day 7?
Today’s Assignment:
Do a 20-minute decluttering sweep of your living room.
Set a timer for 20 minutes, and head into your living room with a laundry basket (or something else to collect clutter with). While the timer is counting down, venture around and collect as much clutter as you can into your basket.
You’re looking for anything that’s out of place—including stuff that needs to be trashed or maybe it’s just time to pass them on to a new home.
Where to Look:
on (and under) the coffee table
under and around the sofa
consoles and sofa tables
side tables
cubbies/drawers
bookcases
entertainment center
What to look for:
trash
drinking glasses and mugs
random objects and decor
toys
books/magazines
CDs/DVDs
electronics
shoes, handbags and accessories where they don’t belong
in-progress work, hobbies or projects
Gather it all up in your basket. When the timer stops, you can stop too. Empty your laundry basket by returning things to their rightful place, or by discarding anything you don’t want into your “sell” and “donate” boxes from day one.
And don’t forget:
Clear three things from your monster zone.
Day 8 - THE DREADED PAPER CLUTTER!!!
Today’s Assignment:
Set up a system for handling paper clutter.
Before you can set up a system, you’ll need to deal with any existing paper piles. Take them all up by the armful and do one ruthless sort right now, getting all the trash and recycling into your regular bins, and shredding anything that needs to be shredded.
I have one hardfast rule for this initial sort, and every time you bring in mail hereafter: Don’t leave anything in its envelope! Often we end up hanging on to trash and letting it clutter our tables and countertops, all because we couldn’t be arsed to open it in the moment. Even the stuff you know for sure is important should be liberated from its envelope—because it’s going to make the pile smaller and more uniform instantly.
Once you’ve streamlined your existing piles, step two today is to set up a system for handling paper going forward. This system doesn’t have to be complicated or homogenous. It just needs to work.
You should have a plan or a place for each of these types of paper or mail:
Trash and recycling, including shreddables
Pretty straightforward. Toss your envelopes, inserts and bulk mail right away. For anything sensitive, if you have room for a shredder, great. If not, I swear by these shredding scissors; I keep them in my kitchen junk drawer near where I sort my mail so I can quickly cut through anything sensitive before I toss it into my recycling bin.
Short-term needs
This includes coupons you might want to use, or a flyer for an event you might attend. Basically, anything passive you might want to reference in the near future. Give these a home where you’ll see and remember them. You can stick them to the fridge, or stash them in a basket or tray somewhere. (I have mine in a toast holder on the kitchen counter.)
Action items
This category is for anything that needs doing. Bills that need to be paid, or invites that need to be RSVP’d for. (You might need to separate this by family member.) A good place for this type of mail is in or near your workspace—or wherever you tend to sit when you’re dealing with grown-up things like this. For instance, if you carry the same bag to work every day, put these things in your work bag to be dealt with the next morning as you settle in. Or place them in your favorite chair when you get home and commit to handling them before TV time that night.
Long-term filing
Anything you need to keep for your records should have a permanent (and ideally, fire-safe) place. Get thee a compact file cabinet and commit to putting long-term paperwork inside it the day it arrives.
Leisure mail
These are your catalogs, magazines and newsletters. You should drop them wherever you hang out at home—like right next to the sofa or on the coffee table. You can stay on top of this paper home library by retiring issues when you’re done reading them, or when the next issue arrives, or just on a regular schedule (say, recycle everything every Monday night).
Like I said, this system doesn’t need to be perfect. If you can’t commit to setting up formal spaces for each item above, I find that even just reading the list of the types of mail helps. Once you have a framework and a vocabulary for all the paper items that come into your house, you’re already better equipped to deal with them.
If you have any clever ways to handle your mail, or smart places to put them, share it with us in the comments!
And don’t forget:
Clear three things from your monster zone.
I go through mail next to the garbage can and get rid of all envelopes, too. I’m glad I no longer have a mail issue. Thank god I finally got my mom off the mailing lists a year after she moved in- it seriously took a year. When she moved here our mailbox was suddenly full to the brim every day!
I’m back in my closet today. I’m trying on every piece of clothing. Touching and declaring “you bring me joy!” wasn’t working for me. Trying on is a new level of enlightenment. I’m getting rid of “might fit if…” clothes. No ifs!! My closet is very big, but I hate it being full. I think it will bring me joy to walk in there once I’m done and to see only things that joyfully fit!
I also had a good mail system already in place. My problem is getting rid of clothes that were basically new, I never really wear though they fit, but might wear and the thought that I had paid for them. I am slowly getting over that, but it is taking several passes at the closet and sweater drawers (my weakness).
“Touching and declaring “you bring me joy!” wasn’t working for me. Trying on is a new level of enlightenment.”
To be fair, stuff that doesn’t fit isn’t exactly a “joyful” moment.
I’m in the closet too and under the bed storage bins dragging out clothes. Gotta try some on but I’ve got three bags of discards so far. Easy to get ruthless if it’s been under the bed! Had a ton of t-shirts from events and organizations (a lot from the kids) that I originally planned to make a quilt out of. Decided to take a picture (might make a collage or scrapbook them) and just get rid of them. Good decision.
I had a fair number of tops that did bring me joy to touch and see them- beautiful pattern or color, comfortable fabric- but trying them on reminded me some had shrunk in length, some had developed that pilly look, some had a frayed spot, some had stretched out sleeves, etc. They still brought me joy the last time I wore them, and I could still wear them, but I’m ready to part with them now. I have two large bags so far.
Here is my clothing problem (besides the fact that I love clothes!) - the world is just too casual of a place now. Sigh. I like to get dressed up! Not gala dressed up - just more dressed up than the world seems to be. AND, I really like dresses over pants, and dresses seem to carry a more innate feeling of dressed up in general. So, I have way more dresses than I need. I do wear them occasionally, but even in my most casual dresses I am often accused of being too dressed up.
" but even in my most casual dresses I am often accused of being too dressed up."
Forget the naysayers.
Wear what you love. Like I always told my kids–“SOMEBODY needs to look good, might as well be you!” And looking good makes you happier.
I wear dresses often just because they are cooler and more comfortable than anything else.
My everyday uniform is a casual dress, in cotton, linen, or wool, with flat shoes. Sometimes it bothers new acquaintances, but they get used to it. One new friend kept inviting me on outings and suggesting there was no need for me to dress up. Over and over and over. Finally I told her I had no other casual clothes, no pants, no jeans.
To my surprise, she bought some lovely (and casual!) Marimekko dresses and now wears them regularly, not just out with me.
There is a blog called purse forum. Under the Wardrobe heading, there is a thread on minimalist closets. Posters are sharing photos of their closets. Pretty inspiring fun.
^^ I will want to look at that!
I work and only wear dresses or skirts unless we have an occasional jeans day. Hate pants and own very few - and those rarely get worn. No pants for time outside of work either unless it’s jeans or leggings.
A little free time tonight and tomorrow is garbage day so heading up to my monster zone. 
@Hoggirl: I’m with you. I wear jeans and simple shirts routinely, but I’d much rather wear dresses – long ones, nice ones, short ones, whatever – whenever I have someplace to go. Even if that “someplace” is just Panera with my friends.
I’m late today!!!
Today’s Assignment:
Do a 20-minute decluttering sweep of your kitchen.
Set a timer for 20 minutes, then grab a bin or basket and pilfer through your kitchen, swiping as many things as you can bear to get rid of. You don’t have to totally overhaul your space—just do as much decluttering of needless things as you can before the timer runs out.
But first… there are a few places not to look: The fridge, freezer and pantry can be spared today, because we’ll be coming back for a sweep of those food storage spaces next week. I also suggest skipping your junk drawer during this timed sweep; I’m a firm believer that every room should have a catch-all junk area that can be stocked without judgement. If it can close, it’s fine and good. I promise.
Where to Look:
cabinets
drawers
on the counter
on top of the fridge or cabinets
any freestanding furniture, like a hutch or island
What to look for:
anything that belongs in another room
broken cups, mugs and plates
multiples you have too many of
the fifth and sixth water bottles you never get to
kitchen tools and appliances you never use
baking sheets, pans, and pots that sit untouched
duplicate kitchen tools
old, gross cleaning supplies
old, stained, or extra plastic containers
takeout condiments, plasticware, and stray menus
out-of-date invitations or event announcements
expired coupons
excessive collections of paper or plastic bags
expired medication
cookbooks that haven’t been cracked open in a year
When the timer stops, you know what to do: Grab your basket and sort everything in it. Anything that’s in good enough shape should get set aside into “sell” or “donate” boxes, and the rest can get tossed into trash or recycling.
And don’t forget:
Clear three things from your monster zone.
Betcha you can find at least one of those ^^^ things to go through!!
@abasket - the kitchen sweep is a good one. There tends to be more places to hide crapola there than anywhere else.
I had a cookbook thought when reading this as well. Know how several of us have done the reverse hanger thing in our closets? I am thinking this protocol could be applied to cookbooks as well (if one could stand to have the books facing the wrong way). They could be turned around and reshelved properly when used. I used to have (I kid you not) over 300 cookbooks! I did a couple of rounds with those. When we did the major downsize, I actually went through them and physically tore out pages within books that I used. Hey - if someone is going to get a cookbook for a buck, are they really going to care if a page is missing? I found that in the cookbooks I had remaining, I often only had ONE recipe contained therein that I used. Initially, I was making copies of those, but as we got to crunch time on the move, it was simply faster to tear out the page (please don’t judge me). This took less time than one might think as I didn’t go all the way through the books. I just knew which recipe I always turned to within them and went straight there.
^^This is an excellent idea. You win the Friday Sweep Hack Tips!!!