Ways to organize and declutter after the holidays.

Public service announcement: I thought I would give you guys a break from the bowel discussion and focus on something most everyone can relate to, organizing and decluttering.

Holidays are a whirlwind. We upend the house with decorations, fill it to the brim with gifts, and then it is over in a heartbeat.  No one is sitting enamored by the sparkling tree anymore. Besides it is beginning to dry out and the mess it is making is turning your head and house into a mess. Guess it is a good thing that the New Year follows the holidays so closely.  We feel like we get a clean start. 

Clean start

This makes the weeks right after the holidays the ideal time to sort through your belongings, declutter, and donate what you no longer need. How many boxes of decorations do you have that you no longer use?  Get rid of them.  You can give things away for free using internet sites, you just leave things on the curb or your porch for those wanting them to easily drive by and grab. You can always drive the items to a donation center and be done with them once and for all. 

When what is left of the holiday décor is boxed up, make sure you label the boxes so the following holiday season you know which ones you want to pull out of storage. Nothing is more frustrating than getting the wrong box and then having to go back for another one.

Kitchen clutter to declutter

I like to go through my kitchen cabinets.  How many cups and water bottles do we hold onto? Um, looking at my cabinets the answer is a lot. Purge those things.  Also, the Tupperware.  How much of that is not being used?  It is way too big or the lid went missing a long time ago. Often Tupperware can be recycled.  Makes that job easy, just throw it in the recycle bin and someone comes by and takes it for you.

How about giving the bathroom a once-over?  Those hair products that you impulsively bought, which promised to give you flawless hair, didn’t work. Get rid of that too.   In my family, we have a group text message (like I am sure most of you have) and I like to offer items up on that.  See if any of my sisters or mom wants any of the things before I toss them. I am organizing and decluttering and they get new to them items. And it’s exciting to find someone who’s interested in my old stuff.

Maybe we shouldn’t go here

What about kids’ toys?  Maybe I don’t even want to go there.  I can hear the screaming already.  You know toys are lying around that they have outgrown or are broken.  Those are no-brainers. Toss the broken ones in the trash. Reminder:  It is okay to throw things in the trash.  The donation centers do not want broken toys any more than you do. Donate the toys they have outgrown.  If there is an overabundance of toys, hide some away for six months then swap them out, those kids will think they got new toys!

Outsmart the cost of groceries

What about the pantry? I often like to see how long we can go without buying groceries.  When we go to the dentist every six months we get a small toothpaste.  I just hoard those away in a drawer.  Nope, not now. With the current prices of groceries, we are working on using those little babies. When you step back and evaluate, there are a lot of items like that. Canned goods, meat items you stick in the freezer and forget about.  We are working through it all. 

Once things are tidied up, you can do a quick wipe-down of shelves and tables. Do a Swiffer mopping of the entire house.  That should make things feel clean and fresh. 

If you weren’t ready for the New Year, you are now!  Set some reasonable goals and make a plan of how to stick to them.

Do you organize and declutter after the holidays?

Is it an immediate thing or something you put off as long as possible?

Do you miss bowel distress stories? If so you can find one here, gutfeelings.blog/charcuterie-and-coffee-are-a-combo-to-stay-away-from-equal-fart-diarrhea/