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Tips to Tackle Clutter Before Christmas

Last Updated: September 25, 2021 BY Jordann - 22 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Check out these helpful tips to tackle clutter before Christmas. This is a great list!Christmas is fast approaching and with it, the promise of more stuff. More presents, more decorations, more hostess gifts, more of everything!

With the weather starting to turn sour in many parts of North America, there’s no time like the present to get ahead of my clutter before the holiday season jams my 400 sq. ft. house with stuff.

Have No Space, Will Declutter

I’m probably more motivated than most to declutter. I live in a 400 sq. ft. house with about two small closets and a wall of shelving in the laundry room. I have no kitchen cupboards to speak of and a single book case. Needless to say, space is at a premium at my place.

Which means, now that I’m inside more and spending less time taking care of the yard, I’m going to tackle a few areas of my house that have been getting out of hand. It’s always slightly scary taking on organizational projects.

I’m not sure about you, but I have the nasty tendency to start cleaning one area of my house, say, the closet. Half-way through that little project I move some things to the book case and think “While I’m here…” and begin to organize that.

Before I know it I’m sitting on the floor surrounded by a sea of stuff I’ve dragged out.  It’s 10 o’clock, I’ve finished off the better part of a bottle of wine and I’m starting to think about how comfy my bed is….I convince myself I’ll finish it tomorrow, and walk around that pile for a week, before I shove the entire thing under my bed.

This has been my plan of attack for about the past five years or so and it’s only recently that I’ve actually began to develop some real skills in the decluttering arena. Here are a few tips that I’ve picked up recently, that’ve helped me stay (moderately) organized.

Start Small, Stay On Task

While it may be tempting to get up one morning and say “I’m going to organize the ENTIRE garage today!”, if you aren’t an organizational pro with oodles of insatiable motivation, that could be a recipe for an even more disorganized and dysfunctional garage.

Instead, pick something small, like the closet. Even better, something smaller, like the top shelves of the closet. Once you’re done that tiny project, if you’re still got the decluttering itch, feel free to pick something else out. If not, pat yourself on the back, and call it a day. It’s better to have one small, completed project every Saturday than one large, half assed one.

Start With the Old Stuff

It’s easiest for me to declutter when I tackle the boxes I haven’t opened in years.

Besides it being a fun little trip down memory lane, I can start the whole project out with the mindset of “I don’t need anything in any of these boxes, because I haven’t touched them in years”. Deciding what I actually need and what I don’t can be tough sometimes, so going into a project knowing that’s not even a factor in my decision making process makes the whole thing easier.

Take a Picture It’ll Last Longer

This last tip I actually picked up from the Everyday Minimalist, and it’s helped me and some friends of mine countless times. There are some cases when I’m decluttering, that I’ll come across something that is broken, or that I’ll never actually, realistically use again.

This item might be a broken necklace that I received as a gift many years ago, a childhood book that’s near to my heart, something along those lines. In those situations, I want the memory of the item, without a physical thing to take up premium space in my house.

In those situations, I’ll set the item next to a window where I have good light, and take several pictures of it from every angle. Since it’s really the idea of the item I’m attached to, those pictures will immortalize it for me enough, the physical item is no longer necessary. After that, I’m free to toss the item or donate it, without worrying that I’ll forget that it ever existed.

I’ve been using that method of getting rid of stuff for about the past year, with great results. I’ve ditched childhood toys, drawings, essays, report cards, and jewellery that my fiancé gave me nine years ago when we first met. You name it, I’ve ditched it without every worrying that I’ll forget about it. I keep a folder on my computer for the memories, and I back it up through flickr.

So take advantage of this relative lull before the crazy rush of Christmas, get your financial and actual house in order by organizing and decluttering.

But don’t forget! Just because you have all of this new found space, doesn’t mean that’s a license to fill it back up with stuff!

Do you need to declutter? What’s your goal?

22 Comments
Filed Under: holidays, Minimalist Tagged With: Home, Improvements, Minimalist

Avoiding the Commercialization of Christmas

Last Updated: December 19, 2015 BY Jordann - 24 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Christmas is coming up on us fast, and if you haven’t started saving for it yet, you should. Americans and Canadians alike are spending ridiculous amounts of money on Christmas gifts every year, and it seems like the frenzy is starting earlier and earlier every year.

Although spending on Christmas presents isn’t as crazy high as it was in the early 2000’s before the economic slow down, the average American still spent $646 on presents in 2011. $646?! That’s a month of extra debt payments! It seems that even though wallets are getting thinner every year, the pile under that tree keeps getting bigger, and it needs to stop.

Now, I’m not going to go all Scrooge on you and act like Christmas is just another example of frivolous spending and we should all do the morally superior thing and just spend time together, and that should be enough.

I get it, giving and receiving presents is fun. But does it have to be so much? A couple of presents would make me more than happy, and only having to spend money on a couple of presents, would make me even happier. [Read more…]

24 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, holidays Tagged With: Budget, Holidays

10 Ways To Make Extra Income During the Holidays

Last Updated: April 28, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 36 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

A lot of you were wanting to know about the different ways to make extra income during the holidays, such as how to make extra money for Christmas, for many different reasons: to increase your monthly income, to save more money, to help pay for the holidays, to have more Christmas money, and so on.

Are you looking to make extra money for the holidays? Check out this post for 10 great ways to make extra money for Christmas so that you can have more Christmas money!And this leads to my post today about making extra income during the holidays! After reading this, you’ll learn about the many different ways to make extra money for Christmas so that you can have more Christmas money and money for all of the other great holidays that you may celebrate.

There are a ton of seasonal jobs out there, so if you want to make some extra cash and not have to do anything long-term, then start applying! I recently read that Macy’s is hiring 80,000 employees just for the holidays, and I know that UPS usually hires around 50,000 just for the holidays.

Related articles on how to make extra money for Christmas:

  • 75+ Ways To Make Extra Money
  • 7+ Ways To Make $500 By The Weekend
  • 10 Ways To Make Money Online From The Comfort of Your Home
  • Ways To Make An Extra $1,000 A Month
  • 8 Things To Sell To Make Money
  • How To Make An Extra $500 A Month
  • 25 Of The Best Weekend Jobs

There are many positives to getting a part-time holiday job or finding other ways to make extra money for Christmas.

One positive of finding a part-time holiday job is that you can get a discount (and possibly do your shopping with this discount), fill up your time, network, make friends, and of course, MAKE EXTRA MONEY FOR CHRISTMAS!

I always kept the same job when I was younger during the holiday season, but I was able to thankfully work overtime and extra when the holidays came around. I should’ve applied for part-time jobs so that I could’ve made even more. [Read more…]

36 Comments
Filed Under: Extra Income, holidays Tagged With: Extra Money, Holidays

Happy New Year!

Last Updated: December 8, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 8 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I hope everyone had a great night! What did you do?

We bought tickets beforehand and went to a bar for unlimited drinks, it was fun! Hopefully I’ll have time to post the dress that I wore because I am still absolutely in love with it.

But today we’re having a Christmas dinner for the BF’s immediate family at our house, so I need to brush this hangover off and start cooking. Wish me luck.

8 Comments
Filed Under: holidays Tagged With: Life

What do you wish you would’ve done differently in 2011?

Last Updated: December 8, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 32 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Now that 2011 is almost over, what do you wish that you would’ve done differently? Anything about your life, finances, schooling, relationships, adventure-wise, or anything else? This will of course lead me to eventually think about my goals for 2012, which will hopefully come soon.

I would say that 2011 was pretty nice to me.  There were certain things that I wouldn’t mind staying the same, but of course there are other things that would be better if they changed, such as any illnesses or deaths of people that I know.

There were a lot of new changes in my life in 2011, I got a new job in 2010, so in 2011 I was really getting situated still and learning everything. I started an MBA program, found time to start decorating my house, and worked on myself more.

  1. Life. I would say life overall was really good. Nothing too horribly bad happened. I do need to buckle down in 2012 and actually start caring about my classes before finals so that the last week isn’t so horrible. Also want to start caring about everything more and not feeling so lazy. Also, I want to start thinking more positively about things, and having a better outlook.
  2. Finances. I wish I would have paid down more towards student loan debt instead of buying clothes and going out to eat so much. Of course my eating out has changed significantly, but sometimes I revert to old habits and eat out a ton (multiple times a day). I think I’ve also given up on the second job thing, until I graduate with my MBA so that I have more time and not worried about 2 jobs plus school. I need to be better with budgeting for vacations, Christmas, and other things also.
  3. Schooling. I wish I would’ve taken summer classes so that I could be done with my MBA in May of 2012, but now that won’t happen. Hopefully the classes that I need are offered in the Summer, but if they aren’t, then I’ll have to wait until the Fall of 2012. That just seems so far away. I want to actually open my books this semester, that is something that I can say that I did not do last semester.
  4. Relationships. Nothing I would change here. I love the BF and things are of course going great. It’ll be 6 years that we’ve been together in a couple months and our house and pups are great too. Couldn’t ask for more. We had a great time this year and have had more time together because our schedules are more in sync now, which is even better.
  5. Other. I do wish I would’ve gone sky diving like I kept telling myself, but now I’ll be waiting until the spring. I really need to work up the courage and stop freaking out!

What about you?

32 Comments
Filed Under: holidays Tagged With: Life

Make it a good one!

Last Updated: December 19, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 8 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everyone!
Have a great day.

8 Comments
Filed Under: holidays Tagged With: Uncategorized

Merry Christmas Eve!

Last Updated: December 8, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I have a Christmas dinner today and tomorrow and again twice next weekend. I love this!
Have a great weekend.

5 Comments
Filed Under: holidays Tagged With: Holidays

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Hello and welcome!
My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

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