![\"Is](\"http:\/\/icecreaminspiration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Purse-before.jpg\")
<\/a>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
TODAY’S FREEBIE<\/h2>\n
Welcome!<\/span><\/p>\n So glad you found this challenge!<\/strong><\/p>\n Like so many of us, you are looking for ways to clean and organize not only your home, but your LIFE! Even small things can make a big difference, like cleaning out your purse and keeping it that way. Today I’m going to teach you how to do that using the KonMari method<\/strong> as explained in the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you have any of the following either laying around your house or in your purse?<\/p>\n Guess what my friends. Time to get rid of those. They serve no purpose. Are you really keeping your old drivers license because you want to remember how you looked at the time you got it? Nobody looks good in their drivers license picture, so why would you want to save it? Cut it up and discard the pieces in several trash cans (to avoid identity theft). I can understanding wanting to save old passports as a memento of the places you have been. But if you ever got a passport and then never went anywhere, just throw it out (if it has expired).<\/p>\n First of all, let’s define “valuable” and determine which of these items (gift cards, coupons and receipts) fall into that category. The answer is, it depends.<\/p>\n Gift cards are valuable if you are actually going to use them. Some stores will buy back gift cards (at less than the value of the card). There are also online sites that will buy back cards. Some of these are Card Pool<\/a>, Raise<\/a>, and Gift Card Rescue<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you are like me, gift cards are hidden in an obscure pocket in your wallet. I constantly forget that I have them, and so I never use them. A solution for this is to move all your gift cards to the front of your wallet with all your credit cards so you will see them each time you go to pay for something at a store.<\/p>\n Now let’s talk about coupons. Oh, those tempting coupons! Unless you are one of those extreme couponers, this is what I say. Throw them in the recycle bin. Will you really<\/em> go to that Indian restaurant before the coupon expires? Will you really<\/em> buy that more expensive brand of sugar that will still be more expensive, even with the coupon? Coupons just mess up our purses and keep them messy. If you have coupons in your purse, go pull them all out right now. Then go through them and see how many have expired. I bet over 90% can no longer be used.<\/p>\n “But what if I need it?” you may be asking. In The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up<\/a>, <\/strong>this is a question that is ruthlessly answered. Don’t save stuff just in case you “might need it.” Throw it out. If you do end up needing it later, you can usually easily get it. I also take comfort in the fact that when I throw my coupons into the recycling bin, I can go back and get them out if I truly need them.<\/p>\n I use an app on my phone called Retail Me Not<\/strong>. Whenever I go shopping, I check it for in-store coupons. It almost always has coupons for Michaels, JoAnn, Kohls, JcPenney, and many others. Then the cashier can just scan the code at checkout, and voila! You just saved 35%!<\/p>\n What about receipts? I had the bad habit of just stuffing every single receipt in my purse and letting the whole collection languish at the bottom. Pretty soon, the collection became so large that it began to poke up out of the top of my purse in a most embarrassing manner. We are not stuffing tissue paper into a gift bag to make it pretty. We are filling our purse with trash.<\/p>\n Why do we keep receipts? It’s just so we can take things back if necessary, or keep them as business expenses, right? But our purses are not the place to store them. So here’s what you do:<\/p>\n As soon as you get home, take ALL the receipts out of your purse and put them into a box or folder. I understand that you can’t always go through them right away when you are trying to get through the door while holding three bags of groceries and two toddlers. But as soon as you can, go through those receipts and throw out all those with purchases you know you won’t take back (like groceries). Save the rest. If you have a large stockpile of old receipts, throw out ones you no longer need. File the rest in a folder (especially if you have a business and need to keep them for your records).<\/p>\n You may be thinking, “But I don’t have time for that!” If you deal with your receipts every time you shop, you can go through them with lightning speed. You could go through your receipts while you are eating lunch or having a snack. It will take you three minutes at most. Once you know you will not return something, you can safely throw out the receipt.<\/p>\n Marie Kondo (the author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up<\/a><\/strong>) <\/strong>suggests doing something that I think will work for some people, but not for others. This is what she says:<\/p>\n I believe this is helpful for people who change purses often. Instead of having to dig through your purse and pick and choose what you want to transfer, imagine how easy it would be just to put everything from your “purse box” into your other purse.<\/p>\n There are those of us, however, who use the same purse until it falls apart. For us, we should focus on taking better care of our purses so they will last longer. If you are like me, you walk in the door and unceremoniously drop your purse on the floor where it can be stepped on or gnawed on by the dog. Let’s not do this any more. Let’s find a nice shelf or hook for our purses.<\/p>\n This is what is in my purse now that I have cleaned it out. Much, much better!<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n This challenge is based on the KonMari method found in the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up<\/a>. <\/strong>If you are just joining us, be sure to start at the beginning<\/a>! It’s very important to go in order! You can also visit my Transform Your Home, Transform Your Life<\/a> page for all the previous posts in this series. Don’t feel like you have to catch up if you are just finding this challenge now! Just make sure to start doing the weekly challenges from the beginning, and you will be fine!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Next week’s challenge: Electronics and Appliances<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/icecreaminspiration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/TYHTYL-Pinterest-purses.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
<\/a><\/p>\nTODAY’S FREEBIE<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n