Does your pet wear a collar and tag? If you have a pet, I hope the answer is, "Of course!" Today is a great day for inspecting your pet's tags. Are they still legible? Are they still accurate? If you have a tag from Home Away or another finding service, dial the number and make sure the information they have is correct. Does your pet only have current tags? I once found an animals whose owners kept putting on new rabies tags like they were charms on a charm bracelet. Remove the extras. Heaven forbid your pet should get lost, but we all know it's possible. Even the shyest cat or … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Decluttering Shame
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom A book, and its identical twin sister, have been both a clutter and a shame over the past half decade. When I purchased the pair, probably for a premium, since they came from a pricey, wooden-and-organic on-line toy store,  I thought they were pure genius, and I was a genius too. "Pocketful of Memories Book": oversized pocket folders, one for each school year kindergarten through eighth, with room to fill in fun information such as "my autograph," "my pets," "my favorite places to visit." How fun! How Simple! How never really used! It seemed like a no-fail system. … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Mental Clutter
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom I was surveying a newly installed fence and gate - my own - and I suddenly thought of Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project. Unfortunately for us, I don't own her book, so I can't mine it for an appropriate quote, but one of the keys to happiness that she extols is getting things done and off your to-do list. Make a mammogram appointment, write a thank you letter, update your resume, get your fence fixed. Taking something off your to-do list automatically makes you feel happier. I know it did me. The sad saga of the fence goes like this: In September 2009, … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – Too Good to Use
Do you own anything that's "too good to use"? I bet you do. I started this post by asking my mother. The first thing she said was, "Yes, and do you know what a mistake that was?" What I think is really interesting about this story is that it took my Mom less than a second to think of an answer and that the item in question was given to her as a wedding gift 49 years ago. You'll be surprised what it was. Here's what she said: "Yes, and you know what a mistake that was? When we were first married, we were given a twin blanket that was 'too good to use.' We were sharing a twin bed then and … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday – Buying a Little Happiness
According to the January/February 2012 issue of Money magazine, you'll be happier if you "Spend a Little a Lot of the Time "The Reason: Frequent small indulgences give you greater happiness than occasional splurges, according to a growing body of research covering everything from the pleasures of chocolate-chip cookies and massage chairs to lottery tickets and good grades. "The Resolution: Skip big-ticket purchases in favor of smaller ones you can spread out. Instead of splurging on dinner and a show, eat out one weekend and go to the theater the next. Rather than a designer dress you might … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Breakin’ Up Is Hard to Do
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Are you hanging on to old boyfriend /old  girlfriend / ex-wife / ex-husband clutter? Breakin' up is hard to do, and breaking' up with the ex's stuff can be even harder. Some of the things you may have that remind you of him or her: fancy underclothes photos greeting cards and letters jewelry vacation souvenirs music (what do they call mix-tapes in the days of CDs and iTunes?) toiletries food that he/she preferred debt from outings or vacation that you took together or from his/her bad spending habits. a phone or texting bill that went way over … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday – Is There Money in Your Decluttering Future?
I almost wouldn't not believe these stories of decluttering financial windfall if I had not been personally involved in every one of them. Story One is my own. Last year I was tidying up my fireproof safe that contains my most important papers (birth certificates, wills, passports, etc.) and discovered an envelope containing $500. I was shocked for about 30 seconds before I remembered that I had put that money in there after Hurricane Rita, which affected the Gulf Coast, about five hours from where I live, and the giant city of Houston. In the mass exodus, many locations did not have … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Are You Hanging on to Too Many Papers?
According to a survey I saw recently, 67% of people said that paper clutter is their hardest area to deal with. Who knows if this is truly accurate, but I'm going to assume that it means that a lot of people, possibly including you, are having trouble dealing with paper. I think there are a couple of fundamental mistakes that people make regarding paper: Believing that every piece of paper is important or has the potential to be important Believing that if a piece of paper was important at one time, it's important forever Not intentionally minimizing the amount of paper that … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Assess Before You Add
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom I bet I'm not the only one who has had conversations like this: Doing laundry, husband says: "Look at these socks. I think I need to throw them away. In fact, I think I need to get rid a lot of my socks." Me: "Looks like it." "When you go to the mall, can you get me some new socks?" "What colors do you need?" "Oh, IÂ don't know. Just get some blue, black, tan, and brown. I'll get rid of the ones that are getting holey later." Not said: Hold it right there buddy! You'll declutter after I buy new? Said instead: "Most of the socks are in the laundry. I can … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Sentimental to Whom?
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Recently my in-laws were in town. They went to their storage unit and returned to my house with a glass pitcher that they thought we might like ~ it had belonged to my mother-in-law's great grandmother. My husband seemed eager (or at least politely accepting), and I had broken one of our two glass pitchers a while back, so I wasn't opposed to having it. It was not fancy or heirloom quality, just a pressed glass pitcher with a duck scene molded onto it, something that would be the equivalent of a Wal-Mart purchase today. I used it a few days later and proudly showed my … [Read more...]