What’s THE best way to declutter?  What’s a surefire way to keep clutter from making you crazy?   Shut it down before it ever enters your home.  Bolt the door!  Don’t even peek.  Just be very, very quiet and back away slowly….Really, stay on top of the game by blocking clutter in the following five ways:

1. Don’t be a storage facility for others.  If they don’t live there, neither should their stuff.  When someone moves out, make sure they take everything with them.  If it’s really that important to them, they shouldn’t be leaving it behind anyway.
2. Pass by that “awesome” sale, that super “good deal.”  We often get sucked into bringing home something that we didn’t need just because the price is low.  Remember, the price on your sanity is high if clutter is causing you stress. 
3. When birthdays and holidays roll around, ask people not to give you gifts of stuff.  Instead, ask for gifts of time and entertainment.  Go to coffee together, go out for lunch, go to a movie, ask for season tickets to the zoo.
4. Curb garage sale shopping.  Don’t spend your Saturday going through other people’s stuff and bringing home things that you didn’t need in the first place.  If you really must hit the garage sales, then make a list of things that you truly need and make it a scavenger hunt to find what you need.
5. Online/TV Shopping:  If you are sitting down ordering items that you don’t need as a past time because you are bored and unhappy, then it’s time to find an interest or hobby that will keep you busy, get you out of the house or help others.  You don’t need that stuff to make you happy.

Bar the door.  Lock it and throw away the key.  Just keep clutter out so you don’t even have to declutter and you’ll be A-OK!

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Tags: birthdays, clutter, declutter, garage sale, gifts, holidays, shopping, storage facility, stress