Dealing With New Stuff

When its past the big holiday, its time to conquer all the new stuff. May I suggest several ways to bring order back to your life, especially regarding gifts?

1) GIFT BOX. Some non-seasonal gifts can go immediately into your "gift" box to give away again. The intent was nice and the gift welcome, but the usefulness in your life questionable. Giving it again is a great answer!

2) GIFT RETURNS. Other gifts are nice and useful enough, but they are in the wrong size, wrong color, or wrong brand. Put these together for the next trip to town. Put gift receipts in the bag with each gift to facilitate returns. Don’t plan on doing many returns until the crowds settle down a bit and when you do go, go early in the day.

3) GIFT FRIENDS. If the gift is useful and needed, find a home for it. Can it totally replace something you already have? Do you really need two or three or more? How about giving the old away so the new will have more room and be easier to find?

4) GIFT FREELOADERS. These are seasonal gifts which are not useful nor needed in your life. You will have to decide how long you have to "politically" keep some items, but for the most part, let them go sooner than later. Alternatively, give away something else you currently own so your "new gift" guest has a nice home until you have the courage or the "time" needed before giving it away again. I often put these items in my "next year’s Christmas" box (because in one year most people forget and if they remember aren’t so unhappy that I have passed it on). However, remember to label where the gift came from so you don’t accidentally give it back!

5) I LOVE THIS GIFT, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP IT. These are usually sentimental gifts, lovely in their own way, but how many is enough? They are often also useful, but because they are not needed, well... If you don’t really, really love it, let it go to make someone else happy.

So clean up the gift mess, deciding and sorting with a goal to keep the house just as ordered as before the holidays started. Put away, give away, or store away all that stuff to keep your life as uncluttered as possible!