Investing in the time to declutter and organise your home will create a home you love being in and has the added bonus of helping you save money!
Read on to see how you can save a few pounds by making some simple changes around your home.
1. Organise your food cupboards and fridge to reduce grocery bills and prevent food waste.
If you can easily see what's in your fridge and kitchen cupboards you're more likely to use the ingredients you already have rather than buy products that you don’t need.
Over time this saves you money as you won't be throwing away food that has passed its use by date or buying duplicate products.
Having organised food storage also makes it super easy to write your grocery shopping list or create a weekly meal plan which will make life easier during a busy week.
Your organised kitchen cupboard doesn’t need to be Instagram worthy or expensive. Aim to store similar items in tubs or baskets so you can see what you have at a quick glance. I recommend using whatever storage containers you have to hand like shoe boxes, ice cream tubs and Tupperware – once you know the ‘system’ works you can buy matching containers but lots of people don’t feel the need to.
Take a look at my fridge organising tips to help you get started.
2. Save money by organising your home so you have a place for everything - you'll find what you need, when you need it!
"Oh I've been looking for that for ages, I bought a replacement for it last week!".... sound familiar?
Isn't it frustrating when you have to buy a replacement for something that you know you have (somewhere) but can't lay your hands on?
It could be Sellotape, a book, makeup or clothes... the frustration is deeper the more expensive the item is, but it can be prevented if you’ve taken the opportunity to organise your home and find a place for everything.
It will be easier to find things and, more importantly, just as easy to replace them once they’ve been used - saving you both time and money.
Always start by gathering similar items together so you can see everything you have, then declutter what you don't need and find a place where you can store all the similar items together - for a step by step guide read my recent blog 'how to declutter and organised your home with the KonMari Method'.
3. Shop from your ‘stash’ to save money!
If you store similar things like toiletries or cleaning products in different places around your home then chances are you’ll have lots of spare products that you don’t know you’ve got.
Rediscover all those toiletries by emptying the cupboards and grouping them all together. You’ll be able to see exactly what you have – including all those half-finished bottles that were forgotten about once you brought a new product home.
Find a home for your ‘stash’, keeping similar items together (eg store shampoos together in a basket, perfumes together) so you can easily find what you want when you 'shop' through the unused products. Once everything's finished you'll only buy what you need, when you need it .
Another money saving tip to help you use every last drop of product from a tube is to cut the end off and scoop out the lotion that you can't ‘squeeze’ out.
Stop the product from drying out by sitting the top of the tube on the bottom, this will enable you to use the product up over a few days.
4. Get your paperwork in order and start saving on bills, fees and subscriptions
Tackle your pile of paperwork mountain and save money by organising all your home and life admin in one go. Enjoy the benefits of being organised - no more forgotten appointments or missed bill payments leading to late payment fees or interest charges. You may even find some uncashed cheques, vouchers or gift cards that you’d long forgotten about.
When you're on top of your paperwork it's easier to understand how much you’re spending every month. It will make it easier to create a monthly budget and review all your subscriptions so you can decide whether or not to continue with them.
You may even uncover duplicate Amazon prime memberships (yes.. this has happened) or come across long overdue refunds that you need to chase.
5. It’s only a money-saving offer if it’s something you’ll need and use
It may seem like a money-saving idea to sign up to the ‘subscribe and save’ option on sites like Amazon but if you’ve just discovered a stash of toiletries to work though you don’t need to subscribe to have more products delivered.
Remember... it’s not a money-saving offer if you don’t need the product.
Only buy something if you’re going to use it (otherwise it’s likely to turn into clutter).
6. Turn the things you don’t need into cash.
"One man's trash is another man's treasure" and this is definitely the case when it comes to all the unwanted stuff hiding in your cupboards, lofts and garages.
Having a good clear out is a great opportunity to turn your clutter into cash and you may be surprised at how much money you can make from clothes, books and furniture – I’ve made over £13K selling our unwanted things on eBay over the years.
If you’re looking to make some money from your clutter there are several ways you can sell your items:
* Through an auction site (eBay, Depop, Vinted) * Trade-in app/website (Ziffit, Music Magpie) * Through a Facebook group or Facebook Marketplace.
* A car boot sale
Always do your research first to make sure you include all the important details in your sale listing - take a look at my blog Top Tips For Selling Your "Stuff" for a guide to making money from your clutter.
7. Plan ahead and buy presents early to save money
If you’re super organised and you have space then you can save money by buying Christmas and birthday gifts when they are on offer during the year.
Make a list of the people that you usually buy for and keep track of what you’ve bought so you don’t double up purchases.
Always make sure you know where you’ve stored the things you've bought early, the last thing you want is to forget where it is when you come to wrap it up! Lots of people have a gift drawer or shelf in a cupboard so they can grab a pre-purchased gift when it's needed.
Enjoy being a more conscious consumer
Lots of people who declutter and organise their homes find that they become more conscious consumers once they’ve finished. This is because the process of decluttering has shown them what they’ve bought in the past and never used, which can be a bit of a wake-up call.
As you declutter your home and focus on the things that you need you automatically become more careful about future purchases - that’s a money-saving benefit you’ll enjoy every day!
Please feel free to share this blog if you found it useful
I’m Sue, a professional home organiser and KonMari Consultant based in Hampshire. I trained with Marie Kondo and the KonMari team and help busy people declutter, organise and simplify their homes so they can get on with the important job of enjoying life.
For a no-obligation chat about how I can help, please get in touch.
m: 07740 782575
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