Inexpensive organizing is possible. You don't have to spend huge amounts of money on closet inserts, boxes, bins, shelving units, kitchen remodeling or a bigger house.
People do this. Spending hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands on a variety of ways to increase their storage space.
Not me.
You can do all those things if you want and you
have so much money you don't know what to do with it. It's great to live
in a spacious home with massive closets and well designed storage
systems. If you can easily pay for all this using 5 to 10 % of your take
home income, then go ahead and do it.
But if you are not at that
point yet you can still live a relaxed, carefree lifestyle. You don't
have to wait to obtain a ton of money. You can get this easy,relaxed well organized lifestyle now, without spending much money.
To get this, all you do is get organized for less.
Once
you get organized and your life is running smoothly, with everything
exactly where it should be and your life in control you will wonder why
you waited so long to do this and how you ever lived the other way
before.
Throw out as much as possible
This first step is the most critical. The wrong way is to put stuff away better first. Especially going out to buy some type of organizing devices.
The right way is to have less to put away. You want to throw and throw and throw some more. You have to get ruthless. You will get rid of good stuff. You will get rid of stuff that is new. You will get rid of stuff that has hardly been used.
Do It Again
After you get rid of everything you can, you go through the process again. If you have been living in chaotic, cluttered way, you have too much stuff. The stuff is what creates the chaos and the difficulty in living. Until you get rid of more of it, your life will not improve.
You Need Open Spaces
You have to get rid of enough stuff that you develop open spaces throughout your current home. You need to have room in your kitchen cabinets. You need room in your closets. You need room on your shelves. You need to be able to freely walk around your home without walking around piles of stuff.
If Your Home is Too Small
If the home you are currently in seems too small for you, then you have too much stuff. The excess stuff is creating a blockage in your living. You may think that because you have all this stuff, you are fine. But it is the opposite. You cannot rise up because you have too much. The stuff is holding you back from having a better life.
You have to live in gratitude of where you live now. You do that by keeping your current home open and clutter free.
I mean it. If you think you will get organized when you move to a larger home, you are wrong. You have to live in the now. You cannot assume you will move to a larger home. You live now in the space you have now. Besides, if you get to the point of moving to a larger home, you will want to fill it with newer things that you obtain specifically for that home.
Some Extreme Inexpensive Organizing
Minimalism - Mark Manson
How Minimalism Bought Me Freedom and Joy - James Altucher
I am not there yet with this extreme minimalism. But it does fascinate me.
Hang pictures on the walls rather than on stands that sit on tables
These standing pictures take up an enormous amount of space. I have a lot of pictures and awards from my children all on one wall. I have grouped them tightly together in one place. This is my favorite wall in my home. Buying picture frames does cost, but this is an expense that you will appreciate. You can get organized for less by not worrying so much about the quality of the frame. The picture is what is important, not the frame.
Use nesting type plastic containers for your leftovers
One set should be enough for any household. Get rid of all
the excess storage containers.
Set up your closets so that like clothing is all together
You don't want to have to go through your entire closet every morning. Keep long sleeves together, keep short sleeves together, keep pants together.
You get the idea.
Make your bed every day
Your bedroom will look better all the time and it is more relaxing to get into a made bed at the end of the day.
The last thing I want to do at the end of a beautiful day that I spent having fun doing lots of things I wanted to do, is wrestle around with blankets.
Develop routines and systems
The more routines you develop to simplify your life, the easier your
life gets. Your day to day gets easier and you don't have to think too
much about simple things.
Keep picking up and putting things away as you go
When I get up from
my chair to use the bathroom or do anything I pick up and put away
things on the way there and back. This takes only a few seconds but then
my home is always picked up.
Concentrate on having things picked up and put away more than cleaning
Cleaning is important but
what looks the worst is having stuff lying around. It does no good to
have a spotless sink if there are dirty dishes on the counter or even knickknacks on the counter.
Make sure the areas around your
doors are the most clutter free
You need very free movement around your doors. Have places for coats and shoes that are away from the doors.
Keep things straight
Pillows and blankets look good if they lay on your couch straight. Your bed looks good if it is made. Rugs look good if they are straight. Pictures look good if they are straight. Books look good if they are straight on the shelf. Push in doors and drawers. Push in and straighten chairs. Put away clean clothes. Put away clean dishes. These are just little inexpensive organizing efforts on a continuous basis, not huge amounts of work once a week.
You can see that all of this is just effort and energy you put in, not money.
Inexpensive organizing is just using your own efforts first. Once you do this you may find that you don't have to spend any money at all on organizing. Your home will be great without any money at all.
A Happier Man › Why Get Organized › Inexpensive OrganizingThe only way I could become the happier man I am today was by leaving my wife. You might be in the same situation I was in. I suggest you take a look at my book - Leave Your Wife & Become a Happier Man with the 3 Step System.
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