Minimize Junk by Tracking Item Time Limits
October 10, 2008 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Home & Living
One of the best ways to keep your house clutter-free is to maximize on your minimizing stuff potential. One great way to achieve this is to know and track item time limits. Not all, but many home items do have time limits you should adhere to. For example:
Magazines – read it, love it, cut out keeper articles and pics, then recycle that sucker. Magazines are not meant to be kept forever.
Calendars – I don’t care how pretty it is; do you honestly browse calendars you had nine years back? Recycle them when the year is over. The same goes for appointment book refills – no good after the year is over. Better yet, declutter even more (and save money) with a cool perpetual calendar.
Old cosmetics and medicine – this stuff not only has a solid time limit, but keeping cosmetics and medications after that expiration date could be dangerous. Toss stuff when it expires.
Expired or WAY old food items.
Old health or informative texts. When I was in college for nursing, the texts changed every single year – that’s how fast medical info changes. You don’t need books like “Cancer curing foods” or “How to care for your child” from 1975, unless of course you want a good laugh. I have this old pregnancy and child care text, and it’s all “babies should sleep on their stomach, with a blanket” and “give your kid syrup of ipecac” (Um YIKES!) – both are things we now know not to be safe.
Tax returns or rental agreements from 1983 (good lord).
What other items can you think of that should be let go on a specific time line?
