to purge, or not to purge.

continuing with my post last week about organization, i thought today’s post would be all about purging. fitting, since i’m in the midst of doing this right now, and because i am by nature a purger. my father in law jokes that my mother in law would take the newspaper out of his hands while he’s reading it just to recycle it. i’m the same way!

if you haven’t seen it already, this is my scrap room. and yes, that is pretty much ALL of my supplies.
i don’t think i could function if i had too much stuff. i would never know what i had, and so, undoubtedly things would sit for years before i remembered. and by then it would be ‘out of style’ so i’d never use it anyway. so here are some tips i have to keep that stash to a minimum (and thus, clutter!).

1. only buy what you’ll actually use.
this is a biggie, and one that i’m still learning. sounds simple, but yet it’s so hard. that cute pp you see in the store? those adorable flowers? that ribbon?! it’s hard to say no! but before you put it into your basket, think about each item practically. will i actually use it? are you a stampaphobic, but find yourself coming home with stamps just because they’re so cute, and you MAY use them.....someday? i know i’m definitely guilty of that. do you find yourself with loads of pink when you have boys? or maybe you can’t resist buying all that cute themed paper, but your kids are all grown up. disregard how cute it is and think practically.

2. audit yourself.
a regular trip to mss starts off with a tour of the new items section, where i most likely load up my basket to the brim, then walk through the rest of the store. repeat at least three times. then before i go to the register, i go to the very back, put my basket on a crop table and reassess. because i’ve now been in the store for at least an hour, i’m bound to not remember half the things in that basket and have undoubtedly picked up a lot of similar items. do i need 3 different kinds of teal ribbon? 6 sheets of grid paper? 10 different alphas, 5 of which are brown? aside from easing by conscience, i find that it helps cut out about $30 worth of supplies and things you probably won’t use.

3. purge regularly.
i make a point to purge AT LEAST twice a year. once in the fall, and once in the spring – right before SSD. i find that knowing SSD is coming up is a good motivator. i know i’ll be buying a lot of new product, so it’s the perfect time to make space and get rid of the old. plus i know there will be a garage sale, which is extra motivation for me to make some money off my stash. (see below).

4. make that stash work for you.
like i said above, i purge before each SSD so i can put things out at the garage sale there. if you’re lucky enough to have an LSS near you that holds regular garage sale, it’s totally worth participating in. selling stuff you don’t use to buy new goodies?! heck yes! a lot of the time, i only spend as much as i make, so i leave with nary a dent in my bank account.

5. budget!
i know a number of women who set aside scrap budgets for themselves each month. while i don’t do this, i think it’s a great idea to keep your spending under control, and make yourself really think about whether or not you actually need something. if you know you can only spend $30 this month on supplies, you’re more likely to only buy what you LOVE.

6. no space? no deal.
i’ve also heard of women who use the rule – if you don’t have space for it, don’t buy it, or make space before you do. i think this makes perfect sense. why would you buy more paper if you don’t even have a place to put it? this forces you to get rid of the old stuff you’ve been hanging on to.

so tell me - do you purge regularly? do you keep everything? what kind of tips do you have?