4 Things To Purge From Your Home
Is your home full of things that you don’t use and it just seems to be getting fuller and fuller? Have you thought about a purge but don’t know where to start? Let’s start with these 4 things to purge from your home.
There is so much advice about the best ways to purge, but the most effective is to just start.
If you start with these 4 things your home will start to feel better and you will have an understanding of purging items that no longer serve you or your family.
The simplest way to explain purging is to get rid of those things that we no longer need or want. It’s about claiming your house back from all the clutter that can quickly build up.
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4 Things We Are Going To Purge From Your Home
These things might sound obvious to some, but completely new information for others.
The important thing to remember is that this is your journey and your home. Go as far as you need to and then reaccess before moving on to the next task.
The four areas we are going to focus on are:
- Trash
- Broken
- Paper
- Duplicates
These are the simplest areas that can have the biggest impact on the items we have in our homes.
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Going Through Your Home Looking For Trash
This is one of those areas that a lot of people struggle with, it’s not just because they can’t be bothered, sometimes it’s overwhelming, and the effects of depression can mean our homes have more trash than we would want.
It can also be having too many trash cans that you don’t need to empty as often as you should and this can lead to flys and maggots taking up home in there and making you feel overwhelmed.
Start using a recycling system in your home and encourage family members to use it.
So, how do we get rid of it?
We have to pick it up and place it in a trash bag, it’s only the beginning of the trash journey as we have to take it out of our homes and it has to go.
Take a trash bag and go around your home looking for things that are empty, like bottles, wrappers from food and candy, and anything else you can find that is trash.
Removing Broken Items From Your Home
How many things do you have that is broken and you haven’t disposed of yet? It’s so easy to ignore something if it no longer works.
You might have the plan to fix it, but it’s sat there for five years already, are you ever going to get around to mending it? The answer is probably no and it should go.
If they are too large for you to move and you might need help, that’s OK it still needs to go. Arrange for someone to come and move the item and dispose of it properly.
Often broken items can be recycled and that means you are not just filling up landfill sites.
Go around your home looking for the broken items that need to go, collect them together and make a plan for throwing/recycling them out of your home.
How Many Duplicate Items Do You Have?
Having duplicates of items when you only need one is taking up space in your home.
It’s time to decide on keeping just one item that you need and either getting rid of the duplicates by selling, donating, or trashing the spare ones.
If there is nothing wrong with the item it’s just a duplicate then consider selling or donating rather than just throwing it in the trash.
How you know you have duplicate items is by putting things away when you have finished with them, if there is more than one item of the same, you have duplicates.
With blended families and hand-me-downs, it’s easy to end up with duplicate items.
Sometimes these items may have sentimental value and it’s always important to ask if this is something other family members want. Having a plastic box that is for such items helps to tackle this problem. Don’t forget to label the box, I love the M220 Phomemo for box label printing.
See how many duplicates you can find around your home, now you have to decide how they are leaving your home.
Are you selling them, donating them, or throwing them in the trash?
Paper Purging In Your Home
Paper is one of the most annoying things ever invented, it has so many uses that it can easily sneak into our homes unless we have systems to purge it often.
Some systems I have in my home include:
- Sorting out the mail as soon as I have time to open it
- Newspapers used to have a time set on how long I could keep them, I read my news online now
- Any notes I take for meetings are filed immediately to prevent the paper from filling up my desk
- Receipts are stored with my accounts paperwork and if they are needed they are stored correctly others are destroyed
Go on a paper hunt around your home to see how much paper you can gather up and put it in the appropriate place if it’s still required. Make sure personal details are removed before recycling.
Why Purging Trash, Broken, Duplicate, And Paper Helps
It’s surprising how quickly these items multiply in our homes and having a purging session on just these 4 things will make a difference in your home.
It can help to motivate you to do more, if this is the case, don’t go mad as it is exhausting purging the different areas of your home, mentally and physically.
If you aren’t motivated to do more that’s OK too as you have made a start and that is always a great place to be in.
More Resources To Help You Purge Your Home
If you need more help and resources to purge your home you are going to love this list of articles that will help you with your purging mission.
- How To Purge Your House From Clutter Before Christmas
- How To Purge Your Home For A Move
- How To Purge Your Home Quickly
- How To Declutter Toys Before Christmas?
- How To Begin The Process Of Decluttering
Grab Your FREE Organizing Labels
- Easy to use
- Make your home more organized
Great information that we all need reminded about. I have 3 baskets filled with home decor that are ready to go the re-sale store. Yay, you’re my bonus feature at the #HomeMattersParty on Thursday. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Allyson, Thank you so much I can’t wait till Thursday!