Once you tackle your books, it is time to declutter your papers. Today we’re going to focus on those little scraps of paper you have floating around your van, the kitchen, and your purse: receipts. Find out how to declutter and organize receipts with these tips!

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[bctt tweet=”Find out how to declutter and organize receipts by getting fewer receipts, updating your register nightly, and organizing receipts you have to keep!” username=”diyadulation”]

Thankfully, receipts are not a difficult clutter area for me. The worst of it is holiday gifts. I purchase gifts all year long to save the most money and that means having a way of organizing them for an entire year. Luckily, after the holidays, I can shred them and call it a day.

The rest of my receipts follow specific systems so that I’m not drowning in them. If your purse or wallet is overflowing with receipts or you struggle to find the ones you need when you need them then you’ll love these tips for how to declutter and organize receipts.

 

Add Less Receipts

You can start decluttering your receipts by simply adding less to the pile. Every week you make purchases and likely shove those receipts in your purse. Instead, use your phone to take pictures of the amounts you spend or to make notes of ATM withdrawals. The gas station is an excellent example of a place you can easily take a photo of the pump instead of printing out a receipt. I also forgo a receipt at Starbucks or any other place where it is offered.

Secondly, pay with cash so that you don’t have to hold onto the receipts that you do get. When you pay with cash instead of your debit card you don’t have to worry about adding the purchase to your register. Then, when you get home, you can immediately place the receipt in the recycling.

 

Create a System for Receipts

Once you start bringing less receipts in, it’s time to create a system for handling the ones you do. Start with the receipts you save simply to add to your check register. Place receipts in your wallet in front of where you store your debit cards. Each night add those receipts to your register and recycle them. Don’t let them pile up for weeks. Storing them in front of your cards helps as an incentive to clear them out nightly.

Storing and Organizing Receipts

For receipts you must keep for returns or warranties, add them to a small binder along with any other pertinent paperwork. Then make it a point to go through the binder monthly or quarterly to clear out receipts past their return window or expired warranties.

Receipts that you need for tax purposes should be stored in a file along with your other tax documents. After filing, keep everything together for the recommended number of years and then shred them when it is time to discard.

 

Holiday Receipts

During the holidays, you collect a lot of receipts. You don’t want to get rid of them in case a gift needs to be returned but you also don’t want to store these with the warranty receipts. Instead, I recommend storing these in your Christmas binder (or that section in your planner). Include packing slips from shipped items as well as gift receipts.

After the holidays, purge what is remaining in your Christmas binder to make room for the next year.

 

Now that you know how to declutter and organize receipts you can move onto the next area of paper clutter in your life. Don’t forget to use your phone to get fewer receipts, add them to your register nightly, and organize receipts that you have to keep for a streamlined system.

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All the book nerds in the world cringe at the advice that you should keep no more than 30 books when tidying up with the KonMari method. The fact is, books spark an immense amount of joy. They aren’t just stories. Books contain some of our best friends, amazing adventures, and worlds of exploration. Find out how to declutter books the KonMari way from a fellow bibliophile.

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[bctt tweet=”Books contain our best friends, amazing adventures, and worlds of exploration. Find out how to declutter books the KonMari way from a fellow bibliophile.” username=”diyadulation”]

This is the part of the journey that I dreaded the most. I seriously love my books. None of them seemed dispensable. I’m committed to the process, however, so I gave it my level best.

As with all of the other areas of decluttering, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up tells you to find all of your books and place them in a pile. That’s what I did and it took up half of my living room. The only exception to the piled up books were the kids books. Each child made their own piles of the books that belonged to them and we went through those individually.

Admittedly, I learned that even decluttering the kids books was difficult for me. It’s so hard to see them go. These are the stories that they begged for night after night. They illicit memories of snuggling in their beds and taking them on an adventure. We persevered and got through it.

 

Disclaimer:

• We did not get down to 30 books. No where near it. However, we did reduce our total library by nearly two-thirds so I still consider it a win.

Decluttering Kids Books

I believe it’s important to include your kids in this process as much as possible. For that reason, I didn’t feel comfortable going through their books and deciding for them. Instead, each child went through the house and collected all of their books. Then we put them in separate piles. Here are my tips to make it easier:

1. Mom or Dad should sit with them to help guide them as they declutter.
2. As with the clothes, pull out a toy or other treasure that brings your child joy. When they are having trouble deciding, let them give it a squeeze and remember the feeling.
3. Define an area beforehand that will store the books. Let your kiddos know that everything they keep has to fit in the pre-designated spot.

 

Decluttering Cookbooks

Decluttering cookbooks was super easy for me because I use so many online recipes now. When you pile them all up, it’s easy to see the cookbooks that I bought with high hopes of trying new recipes but never got around to it. Let’s be fair, it’s so much easier to pull out my phone and look up a recipe on Pinterest than to dig through cookbooks.

When you go through yours, think about how often you actually pull out the book instead of looking up the recipe on your phone or tablet.

Some cookbooks only get used seasonally and that’s totally okay. For example, I have a cookbook that I pull out during the holidays to make all of our Christmas treats. Although I don’t really use it the rest of the year, it gets more than enough use in the months of November and December. Keep those cookbooks guilt-free.

Decluttering Manuals and Textbooks

If your husband is in a field that requires continued education, you likely have more than one textbook laying around. We even had some of my old college textbooks from 10+ years ago… for courses I completed… and got a degree. Why hold onto those items? I held onto literature anthologies, formatting handbooks, and psych textbooks for reference.

Other than my MLA formatting handbooks (which are no doubt out-of-date at this point) I’ve never looked at these since class. The same goes for a lot of my husband’s medical textbooks. He has a medical textbook for ski patrol from 6 years ago. Even he did start volunteering again, he would have to get an updated textbook to learn the most up-to-date treatments and procedures.

If this sounds familiar, these tips will help:

• Old textbooks are pretty much a no-brainer. If you are holding onto college textbooks for classes you’ve completed, you don’t need them anymore. They served their purpose and taught you what you needed to know. Let them go.
• Manuals for appliances, electronics, and tools are almost all online now. If you have a particularly old item, check before tossing the manual. Otherwise, recycle it and free up space in your home.
• Any procedural or skill textbook or manual more than 5 years old is likely outdated. If you truly still need the information, seek out the most recent release.

 

Decluttering Game Books

We are super nerds so we also have a collection of game books. These include video game guides, role-playing game (RPG) core rule books or additions, and even card game books.

When decluttering these, automatically get rid of any game guides for games you don’t play anymore. For example, I still had the entire set of Sims 3 game guides but I only play Sims 4 now. These were an automatic toss for me.

The same goes for RPG books of games we no longer play. Sometimes you get one to try out and it doesn’t fit your style or you simply lose interest. Whatever the case, get rid of these ones.

 

Decluttering Remaining Books

This was soooo hard for me. We put all of our books on the floor and I sat down next to them and started sorting. At the end of it, I was trapped between towers of books and was attacked by a stack once but I came out alive. Luckily, I have some tips to help out all of the book lovers like me.

1. Don’t make a decision on series until you have them all together. This is especially important if you have similar books tastes to your husband. We had multiples of the Harry Potter series because both my husband and I collected them before getting married.
2. As with your clothes, don’t feel bad about having a maybe pile. As you go through your books it gets easier so coming back to a maybe pile is actually helpful.
3. Always remember to think about the local library. For example, I had collected a ton of Janet Evanovich books and have still only read 1 of them. Clearly, I’m not invested in the series and it is popular enough that I can always borrow them from the library when I want to read them.
4. Limit books that you are keeping for emotional reasons. For example, I have my grandfather’s old Purdue textbooks because they remind me of him. Instead of keeping the entire set, I chose 1 Pose and Poetry textbook with his name and note written inside. The rest, I don’t need to hold on to.

 

It’s not easy to give up books when you absolutely love your books… okay, let’s be fair: You love all books. Learn how to declutter books the KonMari way even when you’re a book love with these tips. If this bibliophile can do it then you definitely can!

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More Ideas You’ll Love:

• Does the KonMari Method Really Work
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Once you declutter your own clothes, it’s time to tackle the kiddos outfits. You may be tempted to simply do the job yourself but this is such a huge undertaking and lifestyle change that it’s better to include your kids as much as possible. Find out how to declutter clothes with kids the KonMari way to include them in this new lifestyle.

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The kids had mixed feelings in the beginning of this. The oldest knew how big of a job it would be and that was overwhelming. Our daughter just took it in stride and the youngest saw the piles of clothes and thought of them as giant leaf piles.

However, once we got started the oldest really found his stride. After we finished, he remarked surprise at how much fun it was. That’s right, he totally thought it was fun to do. Pretty awesome, right?

The youngest one loved being included in something that his older siblings were doing which I think helped his focus. He lasted a lot longer during the process than I thought he would and I credit that greatly to everyone working on the same task.

 

Now that we’ve successfully completed the task, I have some tips for how to declutter clothes with kids the KonMari way that made the process go more smoothly and easier.

 

KonMari Clothes with Toddlers

When decluttering clothes with toddlers, be prepared to do a lot of the work. This is especially true if your child has a ton of clothes. Their attention span and patience will wane as the process drags on.

 

If they start getting restless, let them expel some energy. You can either take a break during this time or mom/dad can keep decluttering while the kiddos get active.

It also helps to have older kids going through the process at the same time. My youngest was much more excited and involved because his big brother was doing the same thing. Toddlers don’t get to do what the big kids do a lot so it adds an element of excitement for them.

Lastly, while toddlers can totally fold and put away their clothes, being faced with so much at once can be overwhelming. My little one loved the novelty of the task at first, but lost focus about halfway through.

 

KonMarie Clothes with Young Kids

Young kids are better able to determine what sparks joy for them. However, clothing is not going to be the easiest item for them to determine that feeling with.

For our 6 year old daughter, we had her pick out a toy that brought her joy, a small stuffed doggy. Anytime throughout the process when she started to struggle, we had her pick up the stuffed animal and remember that feeling. She went back to the stuffed animal frequently but it really helped her discern what to keep and what to toss.

Before you get started decluttering clothes with young kids, have them pick out a toy that truly brings them joy. Have them describe what the feel when they hold it and teach them how to search for that same spark during decluttering.

 

KonMarie Clothes with Older Kids

Older kids can do this pretty much autonomously. My 9 (almost 10) year old sorted through all of his clothes on his own. We did run into a few issues where guidance was needed, listed below.

 

Let your child know it’s okay to get rid of items that they just got. For example, he got a few items for Christmas that didn’t spark joy for him but he felt guilty getting rid of them since they were brand new. In this instance he simply needed validation that it is perfectly okay to let go of the item.

Example:

• I asked him if opening the gift gave him joy and he said yes. I asked him if he knew how good it made the person who gave it to him feel and, again, he said yes. Then I told him that the item had fulfilled its purpose and brought joy to both of them. It is okay to let go of it so that it can find a home with someone who loves it.

He also struggled letting go of clothing that held some important memory for him. For example, he had a teeshirt that a penguin painted from a vacation years ago. He didn’t really want the shirt but he treasured the memory of the vacation. In this instance, we talked about whether he needed the shirt to remember the joy of that vacation. In the end, he was able to let it go with love and without regret.

 

Additional Tips

First, remember to go through the process with your clothes first. This helps for 2 reasons. One, it helps prepare the kids as they see you doing the same job you expect them to do. Secondly, it helps you prepare for helping them with the process. It’s much harder to teach something you’ve never experienced.

 

If possible, try to divide and conquer with your spouse. My husband helped our daughter while I worked with the boys. This made the process much faster.

Also, although older kids can totally do this on their own, it helps to have mom or dad there for support. Even though I didn’t have to do much for my oldest, the fact that I was there supporting and helping him meant a lot.

Lastly, I recommend allowing kids to make an unsure pile as well. This pile gets smaller as the process continues because they identify the feeling of joy more easily. Before that, though, it can be overwhelming to be forced into a decision before fully understanding.

 

Learning how to declutter clothes with kids the KonMari way doesn’t have to be difficult. Remember to have younger kids choose an item that they know brings them joy for reference during the process. Also, include the entire family. It brings you closer and also provides support so that kiddos don’t get overwhelmed during the process.

Don’t fall into the trap of doing it on your own. Not only will you burn yourself out on the decluttering process, you will miss an opportunity to see how amazing your kiddos really are. I guarantee they’ll surprise you.

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• Does the KonMari Method Really Work
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