How many clothes do I need?

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How many clothes do I need

 

I am asked this question a lot by my clients. How many clothes do you need per person in your home?  How many clothes do I need? It’s not an easy answer.

  • Too many clothes can cause chaos in your home.  Having too many clothes makes it difficult to get ready in the morning, aka “I have nothing to wear, but my closet is full.”
  • If your laundry is overwhelming, it’s probably because you own too many clothes. Laundry is never complete and you have a mountain to do.  Laundry can become a priority because no one has underwear too even when you have 14 pairs of undies.
  • Think of the money you can save if you knew the number of clothes to purchase.  Purchasing just what yo need could save you money.
  • So, just how many clothes do you need per person? See what you think after I share my experiment with my client.

 

Here’s what Organizing and Decluttering Blogs say

I searched many blogs for the answer to how many clothes.  If you are a minimalist, perhaps just owning fewer clothes is your first step. Owning less is an easy option to start.  If you turn your hangers around to see what you wear, you can see how much you don’t wear. To save money, a specific list works well. That list could be a starting point to let go of extra clothes.  A coordinated capsule wardrobe minimizes the number of clothes and maximizes your style potential. You will be excited to get ready each day when you know everything in your closet matches.

 

Here’s what followers on Facebook say

I posted this question to my Facebook followers. How many clothes do I need?  Most comments included “depending on your activities.”  More activities, then more clothes.  Some commented on their own capsule wardrobes.  Many commented that they let clothes go each season.  What I learned from my Facebook followers is that the number of clothes you need is not a constant and depends on what your activities are.

 

Here’s what a client and I did

How many clothes does a mom need? My client and I decided on an experiment. Our goal was to simplify her laundry. It had become overwhelming.  We took 5 (yes, just 5) of each item (shirts, pants, exercise, dresses, undies) in her closet to keep and placed the remainder in bags in her garage. Our experiment was to keep these bags in the garage for a month to see if she retrieved any clothes and how many she needed.  Here’s how we started. We went through her clothes piece by piece and place what we were keeping in a laundry basket. When we were complete, there were 2 baskets of clothes.  Immediately she felt relieved.  She had struggled with laundry for quite a while. Right away she knew she had plenty to wear and that everything she wore would fit and be what she loved.  She is enjoying the freedom from taking care of too many things. Then she did the same for her husband!

What’s the result of our experiment?

  • Less stress because of less laundry
  • Clothes are put away in closets and drawers
  • More time to play with her kiddos
  • Plenty to wear each day

When you think of how many clothes you need, drill down to what you need to wear and how many you need. It’s life changing!  Take home this experiment and see what you think is the number of clothes you need.

 

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Family Mottos with Meaning

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Family mottos family values

 

In our 21st century lives, families are transforming daily.  Families are adding members, refashioning who is a family member and reinventing family structure.  Just how do we keep sharing our family values, inviting inclusiveness and minimizing destructive and hurtful conversations?  Having a family motto helps all your family define what’s important.

 

Family mottos not family bickering

It’s all too often we find ourselves saying, keep your hands to yourself and pick up your stuff. We can fashion that into a family motto that shares how we respect each other and take care of our belongings.  It’s more about how we treat each other that we want to convey to our family.

Here’s some family mottos ” Read more

Life Changing Apps for 2018

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Life changing apps 2018

 

My clients and I are researchers. We are researching ways to make life easier, more productive and more organized.  New apps come and go.  There are life changing apps; those being apps that make chaos become order, empower you to make change happen and help you live your best life.   I am excited to share some of the life changing apps they have shared with me.

 

MapMyWalk

We all know we “should” exercise.  Why not make it a game with Map MyWalk?  Not only can you track your progress and create a competition with yourself, you can connect with friends for real competition.  It’s real motivation to get moving

 

Shipt

It’s breakfast time and you are out of cereal, eggs and even bread. No worries! Shipt will bring these to your door quickly.  You can choose between grocery stores and Target too.  This can also save you money since you are not browsing the store aisles.

 

EveryDollar

Worried about your money?  Trouble with a budget and month goals?  EveryDollar helps you create and monitor where you are spending money so you can achieve your goals.  EveryDollar sets up systems for you to track what you are spending.  It’s an easy way to check your funds.

 

Your Bank App

Working together with your bank, it’s easy to stay on track and know what you have in your account.  Your bank app permits deposits which means less time at the ATM. Install this on your ipad and you are ready to pay bills anyway at any time.

 

White Noise Lite

Trouble getting to sleep? Here’s an amazing sleep aid – this app!  You can start the app to get to sleep and it shuts off automatically. There’s an alarm clock built in too.

 

Headspace

Meditation is an important start to your day. By meditating you set the tone of the day.  Headspace helps you do this.

 

I love adding to my list of what apps are working for me.  When you add apps to your devices, it’s a great testing time.  Remember to keep only the apps you use, deleting what you tried and didn’t work for you.  [layerslider id=”2″]

Hugs and Happy Organizing: Study and Office

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Hugs and happy organizing

 

There’s a space in all homes where it becomes the drop zone. It’s where all the items that have no home go, just so these are not in your living room or bedroom. This space has potential for many different uses and it’s up to us to create a functional areas here.   This is a Hugs and Happy Organizing story about a space designated for a study.

This client’s space had become a drop zone, that being unused space for for quite a while.  It’s been where papers and photos that had no home go, just to sit.  Piles were piling up, books were sitting on the floor, and crafts were sitting unsused.  In just 3 hours, we were able to reclaim the space for a study for her husband. Here’s what we did.

 

  • First, the client decided exactly what this space is to be used for, that being a study.  It’s where her husband will work on accelerated virtual learning. That let us know what would be needed in this space to accomplish this task.
  • Starting with the floor, we went through the piles.  The piles were an assortment of different papers.
  • Some of the piles were her kiddo’s art work from school from the last few years. We decided what to keep, what to photograph and what to let go.  This precious artwork will be stored in a portfolio in her daughter’s room.
  • There was an accumulation of mail that needed to be shredded.
  • Books were replaced on an amazing lawyer’s bookshelf.
  • We edited, shredded, and sent items on their way.
  • We consolidated office supplies into drawers for easy access.

The result is an amazing space that is ready for study!  It all came down to getting started, working efficiently and knowing what the end results should be for the desired use.

 

If you have a space that has gotten away from you, it’s collecting paper instead of being used, now is the time to get started.

 

More Hugs and Happy Organizing stories here!