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Get a Life...
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| Clutter Control Center Suggestions and resources for finding a good home for items you no longer use See De-Clutter Tips at bottom of page Welcome to Simple Life Corp's Clutter Control Center! If you have an item that you no longer use, but you feel it is too wasteful to just throw it away, then look through these listings and suggestions. Note that we show the suggestions below as a source of information only. Do not send any items without first contacting the charity or individual. While we have checked each source, we do not take responsibility for any transaction, expense, or tax deductibility. Please use the information wisely. If we have been able to verify a listing's charitable status, we have so noted. You may check the deductibility of donating to any organization by checking the IRS website , using the online IRS search of Publication 78 or calling the IRS Taxpayer Service number in your area and asking if a specific charity is qualified as a not-for-profit charitable organization and if a donation to this charity would be tax deductible. Information on deductible charitable contributions can be found in IRS Publication 526. To check out a charity before you donate... try the charity evaluator at www.charitynavigator.org. At this site, you can find out how much of your donation will be used for administrative expenses and how much will actually be used for the charitable purpose! The site uses a star rating system to give an overall general rating for each charity.
Clear Your Clutter, Clear Your Mind
- Fed Up With Your Clutter? Possessed with your possessions? At last a simple step-by-step system to CONQUER CLUTTER FOREVER GENERAL RECYCLING - to find a location near you that takes a specific item for recycling, visit this fantastic website, Earth911.org. Key in your item and zip code and a list of recycling locations will appear.
OLD KEYS - Send these to Keys For Kindness and they will recycle them and donate the proceeds to the MS Society. GENERAL HOUSEHOLD GOODS - Vietnam Veterans of America will pick up your donations - see the website for a list of items accepted - if you are in an area that they service. AIRLINE MILES - The Salvation Army accepts airline mileage donations from United Mileage Plus members. They use these miles to transport personnel. WINE CORKS -- Yemm & Hart are asking you to send your wine corks for recycling into tiles. Only cork! No plastic! BUILDING MATERIALS, New or Used - doors and windows in good condition, fixtures, hardware, nails, carpeting, tiles, anything that can be used to build a home. Try contacting Habitat for Humanity. Our local Habitat for Humanity (an organization that restores neighborhoods and builds new home for families who would otherwise not be able to qualify for their own home) will accept most materials. The materials that cannot be used are sold periodically at fund raising sales. This is a great way to keep some of the old and leftover new materials from your remodeling project from getting into the landfills! OLD CRAYONS - visit Rebecca's Recyled Riters for information on how to send your old crayons to this company WOMEN'S BUSINESS CLOTHING, including dresses, suits, blouses, and shoes, can be donated to Dress For Success an organization that makes business clothing available to enable women to enter the business field when they are unable to afford the proper clothing.
If you have CANCELED POSTAGE STAMPS, especially US Commemorative, Foreign, and those with postage values of $1.00 or more, contact: Stamp Room Sisters of the Holy Cross Augusta Hall-Saint Mary's Notre Dame, IN 46556 They do not want 33 or 34 or 37 or 39 cent stamps or stamps that are heavily canceled, torn, cut or stained. Stamps must have 1/2" on each side when it is cut from the envelope. Ask the Sisters if your donation will be tax-deductible. The Sisters wash and iron these stamps and sell them to brokers and collectors to help support their Ministry With the Poor.
If you have like new or new SCHOOL SUPPLIES, such as pencils, crayons, writing tablets, scissors, rulers, etc., then contact your local elementary school or local church Sunday School. There are many children right here in the US who can't afford basic school supplies. Think about how it feels to hold a fresh, new Crayola crayon!
WIRE COAT HANGARS - check with your local dry cleaners. If they do not need them, check with any church groups that maintain a charitable clothing store. These groups are usually always in need of wire and plastic coat hangars.
SOAP, SHAMPOO, SANITARY SUPPLIES, DIAPERS - did you buy a bottle of shampoo in a brand that you never use? Or do you have a partial package of disposable diapers that your baby has outgrown? Call your local women's shelter, Faith Mission, or Salvation Army. They will probably be grateful to receive your extras.
HOUSEHOLD GOODS, FURNITURE, CLOTHING - check with your local Goodwill agency. Most Goodwill outlets no longer repair items, so in general these donations must be in good working order and with a nice, clean appearance. According to the Elkhart, Indiana Goodwill store, "Consider this - would you give this item to a friend to use? If not, Goodwill probably doesn't want it either." Donations to Goodwill are tax deductible. Be sure to get a receipt if your donated value is $250.00 or more.
COMPUTER SYSTEMS - try Computers4Kids - their online site lists minimum requirements and has an application form you can submit for preapproval of your donation. The Cristina Foundation also accepts donations of computer equipment. The following recycling services may have a shipping or service charge: Also, try the IBM site - they have a recycling program and will refurbish your old computer, if feasible, and donate it to charity. If this occurs, they will send you a tax deductible receipt. Go to the IBM site www.ibm.com and do a search for "recycle." The Hewlett Packard site also has a recycling program www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment Dell computers - go to www.dell.com and search for "recycling." Also Computer Take-Back Campaign Justin Bachman, an AP Business Writer suggests in his article, "What Use is an Old PC?" that you consider using the old PC as a digital video recorder by installing a TV tuner card and recording TV programs on the hard drive. He also suggests putting an old PC in the kitchen to use for making notes and keeping track of recipes.
OLD RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES - try the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation
BOOKS AND PAPERBACKS - give them to a soldier
OLD MAGAZINES AND PAPERBACK BOOKS - we got a great suggestion from a reader: Contact your local nursing home or veteran's hospital to see if they are interested in magazines. Contact a local trucking firm to see if they have a trucker's lounge that might like to have your old paperbacks so the truckers can take them on the road to read. Other readers have suggested used bookstores and selling your books at half.com or on eBay. Here's another really good suggestion: Donate your old magazines and books to a local jail or prison. The reader, Kim M., who has worked adult literacy programs, states that 'if they have material they enjoy, they will read more and more. Of course, that helps them obtain better job skills and self-esteem.' She especially encourages us to donate car, sports, and other guy type reading material. - Thanks, Kim! Jann suggests that you drop off magazines at any waiting room - dentist, doctor, ER, ICU or surgery, beauty salon. This is a good suggestion because it's easy to just scoop up your magazines when you are headed for an appointment. Be sure to ask the receptionist if it's okay to leave the magazines. - Thanks, Jann! If you have old magazines dated prior to 1960, then you may be able to sell or donate them to a store that deals in collectible magazines. I have contacted the website www.pastpaper.com who deals in such magazines. They indicated that they would be interested in magazines dated prior to 1960, plus later or current issues of People, Time, Newsweek, or the New Yorker. They do not want National Geographics, American Heritage, or Horizon Magazines. To see if they may be interested in your magazines, you can contact them at - bandh@pastpaper.com.
OLD TOWELS AND BLANKETS - call your local veterinarian's office or humane shelter. They may appreciate having these as bedding for the animals or for use in bathing the animals. _________________________________________________ CELLULAR PHONES - donate them to help protect domestic violence victims. Visit www.donateaphone.com. You can even print a tax receipt for your tax deduction at the site. (Thanks to Jennifer G. for this tip!) Help our troops call home - our soldiers need cell phones - CellPhonesForSoldiers.com Also, you may be able to sell your old cell phone to GreenPhone.com Another donation site is: CollectiveGood.com Another site that collects wireless and cellular phones for use in protection from domestic violence is Call to Protect.
OLD EYEGLASSES - Give to The Lions Club who will give them to individuals that cannot afford eyeglasses. www.lionsclubs.org FLORIST VASES AND CONTAINERS - for florist vases in like new condition, check with your local florist, especially the small, independent shops.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - Check out your local Freecycle organization. Individuals list things on the FreeCycle site that they want or need and you can list things that you would like to trade or give away (it is not a site for selling things). Most things are for local residents to pick up or deliver. There is likely a FreeCycle group in your area. This is a great opportunity to match your unused stuff with someone who needs exactly that item!
CLUTTER FREE FOREVER! Home Coaching Program TIPS FOR DE-CLUTTERING THAT LASTS 1. Clutter, by it's nature, is overwhelming and disorganized. It didn't get that way in a day or even a week. If it seems too ominous to take a whole day to clear it out, then try tackling it the same way it was created... a bit at a time. Have a regular, consistent method and stick to it with a vengeance. For example, you may decide to clear out 10 items every day. Or you may choose to de-clutter for 10 minutes every day. Or perhaps you will decide to fill a large box of give-away items - or even a wastebasket - every week. Let me know if you have another method that works for you. What is most important is consistency. That you begin, even if it is just dealing with one piece of paper or one widgit... and keep going... and going... and going! 2. Set limits on how much of any one thing you will keep. For example, you might like to save the plastic margarine tubs for storing things in the kitchen and even in the workshop. But do you need 34 of them? No. If they are in a disheveled pile in the cabinet then they obviously are not being used and have not been for some time. How many will you use in the next month? 5? Then keep five, or even 10 if that makes you more secure. But get rid of the other 24. This is the same for anything... large envelopes, blouses or shirts for work, notebooks. 3. If newspapers, store ad fliers, or other date-sensitive information papers are a problem (papers you save because you might want to use the flier later for shopping or someone might not have read the newspaper yet...) then have a box or basket for paper only. Designate a regular cycle of emptying it... for example once every week or two weeks. That way you can toss all papers that you "might" need without worrying that you won't find it if/when you need it. In fact, they will be all in one location and much easier to find if you do actually want to go shopping at Target and need the sale flier. Then you just recycle or throw away the papers and start over. 4. The ultimate best way to de-clutter is to completely clear out the space, sort through the items and then put back only the items that you really need and use. This is why moving is such a good de-cluttering exercise! But you don't have to throw the contents of your house or a room on the lawn to use this method. Just take a corner or a shelf or a drawer at a time. Take everything off the shelf, out of the closet, or dump out the drawer. Clean the empty area, then replace only those things you used in the last couple of weeks (or months... you choose). Sort.. recycle... give away.. trash... store.... whatever with the rest. 5. A good way to clean out a closet when you just can't decide what to get rid of is to designate an area of the closet for the things that you wore in the last few days. Mark it off - use ribbons on the hanging rod or some other method to show the area is separate. Then, as you wear and launder things, hang them in this space. After three to six months or so, you will probably be shocked to see that you are just wearing the same outfits over and over again. Take everything else out of the closet! Either store it, give it away, sell it on eBay, or throw it away. 6. Related to #5 above with cleaning out the closet... if you have clothes that you don't wear, but don't want to get rid of, then use this powerful incentive... WEAR it. Really. I have found that the clothes I have hanging in the closet that go unworn are really unworn for a reason that I've forgotten ... the color looks ghastly on me... they don't fit... they have a stain or rip... they are goofy or out of date.... they are waaaaaay too sexy to ever really wear anywhere (low cut, tight, etc.)... I could go on but I have found that if I take the accused item off the hanger and put it on, I usually figure out pretty quickly why it's been hanging so long. It's really easy to make an on-the-spot "get rid of it!" decision. 7. Have a "give away" box in a designated place at all times so that items can be easily tossed in. Let everyone know where the box is and what it is for. Check it and clear it out periodically. 8. Related to #7 above, the designated "give away" box... I have found that if I'm not sure about an item, I'll go ahead and toss it in the box. It's safe there, temporarily as I'm the only one who ever sorts out and takes the box to the Goodwill store. If I find that I've changed my mind in between the time when it's time to take the box, I can take the item out or even set it aside for putting it back in the box for more thinking time. I find that once I've put the item in the box, only once or twice have I changed my mind. 9. Realize that you live in a world of abundance. There will always be more blouses, more shoes, more envelopes, more knick-knacks, more souvenirs, more .... nearly everything. There is really no reason to hoard common household items and clothing. 10. Accept that you will have twangs of emotional pain as you toss items out. It's normal. Sometimes the pain is sharp. You're giving something up. You're letting go. Sometimes you are facing the fact that you made a mistake. Sometimes you are admitting that you've left behind a phase of your life. The emotional twang is very temporary. The feeling of relief and of new opportunities is delicious once you've let go of the old things. Try #8 above if you have a difficult time getting rid of things. 11. If something has sentimental value only, consider taking several pictures of it and then putting the item in the "give away" or "store-it-away" box. Looking at the pictures will still give you the rush of emotion and memories connected with the item, but you won't have to clean, maintain, or find a place for the item. 12. If you are really stuck on getting the clutter out of a room - agonizing on what to keep and what to get rid of ... then try the Michelangelo approach. Michelangelo once said, "I saw the angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free." In other words, he vividly saw what he wanted to achieve and he set about chipping away everything that was not part of the vision. So what is your angel in the room? Is it a comfortable sewing room? Them remove everything that is not associated with sewing. Is it a breakfast nook? Then remove everything that is not a part of the peaceful breakfast experience. Got it? Here's another... is it your closet? Then remove everything that does not make you beautiful, self-assured, stylish, and comfortable! And remove everything that is not currently wearable for whatever reason. Set your angel free! 13. It does get easier! Just get started and keep going! Good luck!
Now that you've made major progress, keep further
clutter from coming into your home. Before you buy
(or accept) an item, ask yourself these questions:
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We really appreciate your suggestions and hope that you will continue to send us your ideas for clutter control!
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