- Never iron another thing! I have not picked up an iron in ages! If it must get ironed, it goes in the donation bag. I only buy clothes that can go in the dryer, and I take them out before it stops while they're still hot and put them right on hangers or fold them flat. No wrinkles!
- Less is more. Less stuff means more time, more space, and more cleanliness. (Who has time to clean under stuff that clutters counters and tabletops?) It's so easy these days to get rid of stuff when charities will come right to your door to pick up donations. I've tried to make it a habit that every time there's a donation pickup in my neighborhood, I force myself to put stuff out for it. I've done so well that I don't even use the attic anymore! No more lugging tubs of seasonal clothes up and down twice a year. I dress in layers so that now my winter tops are my summer tops with a sweater over them! If you don't wear or use something in a year, get rid of it. The less you have, the less time you spend looking for things. Like my Mom always said, "A place for everything, and everything in its place." It also saves you money because you won't be buying things you already have but can't find. And when there's less clutter around, you feel less stressed and more relaxed.
- Get rid of the old style jewelry boxes where you can't see the buried treasures on the bottom, and you have to spend time untangling chains. I love my wall mounted mirror and picture frame jewelry boxes. When you open them, you can see every single piece and they hang beautifully like in a store display. And now the top of the dresser is cleaner.
- Spend less time paying bills. I hope by now you've learned to pay your bills online and rarely have to sit down with a checkbook, a sheet of stamps, and those little return address stickers we still keep getting in the mail for some odd reason. But how many bills are you paying online? I only pay a few for the whole month. Auto bill-pay through your checking account may make you nervous in case you get overdrawn, but what I do is use just one credit card, have all my auto-pay bills charged to that credit card, and then I only make the one credit card payment. You can charge your cell phone to it, any regular charity donations you make, etc. And you can rack up more credit card points or cash backs that way, too. Always choose the paperless option so you have less filing to do - but don't forget to look at the statements so you know where your money is going. And I love not having to balance a checkbook anymore!
- Keep tools handy. How many times did you put off fixing something because you didn't want to run down to the garage to find the tools? I'm not suggesting you move one of those ugly tool boxes upstairs in your living room, but one of those nice decorative storage boxes are perfect! In fact, I even use a couple of my old dresser-top jewelry boxes for small tools. And it's better than keeping tools in the kitchen junk drawer and having to dig to find them.
- Streamline tax time. If you keep all your tax receipts in separate files from your regular receipts, you'll never have to sort through them - even to decide if some of the regular receipts are worth keeping. Just put aside room in one of your newly cleaned out closets for 7 boxes. Put all your tax paperwork, receipts, health statements, pay stubs, etc into one box for the year. Write the year on the box and put it away. Most important paperwork only needs to be kept 7 years. So when a box is over 7 years old, shred the contents of the whole box and fill it with the new year's files.
- Cut out other paper clutter. Anything you've been keeping handy like articles with helpful suggestions, health tips, or that recipe for glow bottles you copied off of Facebook - just toss them. Almost everything can be Googled when the time comes that you need them.
- Get an eBook reader. Just think of how much space you'll save if you could empty out most of your bookshelves! Not to mention the dust! Books are big dust makers. Or you can just get a reader app on your smart phone (it lets you adjust the print size). eBooks are also cheaper and you can download them instantly. And you always have something to read when you're waiting at the doctor's office.
- Get a robotic vacuum cleaner. They save time and cat's love 'em!
- Get a no-scrub shower and tub cleaner. Some of them work pretty well and you can go longer between thorough cleanings.
