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ARE YOU DROWNING????

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Organized JUNK is still JUNK! De-trashing an easy way to start decluttering...You Can Do This!!!

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Our country has more storage facilities than all the Starbucks, McDonald’s and Subways combined. Fifty-three-thousand! The rest of the world only has 10,000 self-storage facilities. America, we have a problem. And let me be clear. The storage facilities are not the problem, just as professional organizers aren’t the problem, or doctors who treat cancer aren’t the problem. The NEED for so much off-site storage is the problem. Consider this: ▪ America has 7 square feet of self-storage for every man, woman and child living in the United States. ▪ Over 90 percent of it is rented. ▪ The self-storage industry has been the fastest-growing segment of the commercial real estate industry for four decades running. Self-storage generated $24 billion in revenues in 2014. ▪ Nearly 1 in 10 households currently rents a storage facility. ▪ Of those who rent off-site storage, 65 percent have a garage, 47 percent have an attic and 33 percent a basement. According the national Self-Storage Association, the top four reasons Americans rent storage units in order are not having enough room at home, storing while changing residences, storing items they no longer need or want, and storing a relative’s items due to a change in living situations. “What’s wrong with us?” I recently asked professional organizer Sue Marie Bowling of Orlando, Fla. (You want to see an organizer get whipped up, just mention storage units.) “It’s a sad American paradox that we tend to equate quality of life with having more, but the opposite is true,” said Bowling. “Especially if you’re paying for a storage locker!” I added. Average rent nationally for a 10-by-10 storage unit is $125 a month, and $159 a month if the unit is climate controlled, according 2016 statistics from the storage association. For what? Our excess. Temporary solutions Storage units are a perfect temporary solution when used wisely. My college-age daughters rented storage units with classmates when they needed to store their dorm furnishings over the summer. For folks going through life transitions, renting storage can buy needed time. When the emotions of a situation are too intense, when a life change is coming too fast, or when the divorce, job loss or loss of a home leaves someone too overwhelmed and uncertain to make decisions, a storage unit is a perfect short-term solution. The operative word here is short. If you do store, have a brief time limit in mind and stick to it. “Life is full of challenges we have no control over,” said Bowling, who has herself moved from a large family home to smaller quarters. “We can, however, restore our personal equilibrium by ordering our nest.” And lightening our footprint. Before you store, think it through: ▪ Check your motives. Sure, paying $125 once a month might feel easier than facing a bunch of tough, emotional decisions. Believe me, when I cleared out my parents’ home of nearly 50 years, I, too, was tempted to dump half the household into storage and lock the door. Sorting and selling were emotionally overwhelming and time consuming. But I knew better than to postpone the inevitable. ▪ Ask what decisions you are avoiding. Then ask whether those choices will get any easier to make later. Delaying decisions you have to make anyway will cost you. ▪ How much is your stuff really worth? Be honest; it’s likely worth a lot less than you think. Calculate the costs of storage, at $125 a month, that’s $1,500 a year. Now ask: Would you rather have the money or the stuff? Or better: Would buy your stuff back for $1,500? Because you just did. ▪ Think of alternatives. Let’s say a piano you cannot house in your home is worth $2,500. You pay $159 a month to store it in a climate controlled unit. After two years you’ve paid $3,800 for a piano you already bought once. Would it be better to sell it, donate it or temporarily loan it to a school’s music program or a church? ▪ Take the write-off. If the items are useful and you’re not using them, let someone else use them. That’s called being charitable. Donate them and take the tax deduction. ▪ Think of your legacy. Letting stuff go is a gift not only to yourself, but also to whoever will be left when you’re gone. Your kids do not want your stuff. If they do, give it to them now before you pay to store it. Leave a blessing, not a burd

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You want to start the New Year right don’t you? Let’s use this weekend to conquer some clutter in a simple way! 1. OLD SPICES Did you know spices have an expiration date? Over time they lose their taste & potency. If you want your cooking to still taste yummy, dispose of old spices, and replenish them. 2. HOLIDAY CARDS While some a certainly sentimental, others are not. The holiday card from your high school friend you haven’t talked to in 5 years is probably a good one to just toss. Keep those from your immediate family and close friends in either a photo book or look up some ideas on Pinterest for clever storage ideas. 3. EXPIRED MEDICINE Oh yeah, medicine expires as well! Personally, expired medicine kind of freaks me out, so I do my best to make sure I toss them out as soon as they expired. You don’t want to mess with medicine that doesn’t work! 4. OLD WINTER CLOTHING Unless you live in the south, you’ve probably been wearing your winter clothes for a few months. You’ve also probably noticed which ones you or your kids have outgrown, or are just worn out. Now would be the time to either toss them if they are in bad shape or donate them! 5. OLD MAKEUP Makeup expires as well! Mascara is usually good for about 3 months, while foundation or concealer can be good for up to a year. Most bottles will have an expiration date somewhere on the bottle, you’ll just have to look. 6. EXPIRED FOOD With the end of the holidays comes a full fridge of food that needs to be gone though. If you still have leftovers from Christmas they should be discarded or frozen if possible. If you have a ham bone, I highly suggest freezing it to use from delicious New Orleans style Red Beans & Rice! 7. UNUSED CORDS Have a cord that you have no longer have a clue to what it goes to? Yeah, time to toss that! 8. OLD NOTES, NOTEBOOKS, RECEIPTS, ETC If you’re like me, you probably have several old notebooks and/or notes laying around. Now is the time to throw away those old notes and useless receipts. (NOT the ones you need for tax reasons) My fiance is a receipt hoarder. I once found a receipt from Taco Bell that was almost 6 months old. Definitely something that could have been thrown away immediately. 9. OLD MAGAZINES & CATALOGS If there is an article you really like and would like to reference later, you can easily scan it into your computer and save it! 10. LAST YEARS CALENDAR I will keep my planner for a few days after the new years to go through it and read my notes, and things I’ve done. After that? It is time to toss it. Otherwise, it will either sit on a shelf or in a box collecting dust. It really isn’t worth keeping, I promise.