Hello,

Do you end up deciding to give a bunch of stuff away after weeding through your clothes closet or spring-cleaning the garage?  You bag and box it all up and then move it to some "other" part of your home.  Six months later it’s still there.  I regularly see this challenge of getting the clutter out the door with my clients.  With a little planning and set up, you can stop this from happening to you ever again.

Harmony Key

The Giving Box

1. Identify the closest donation center to your home.

2. Create a Giving Box.  Set up one container that lives out of the way.  Place in it two pieces of paper.  The first is an 8.5” x 11” piece that has two columns.  One column is headed “Item” and the other “Value.”  The second is Goodwill’s “Valuation Guide for Goodwill Donors.”

3. Every time you place an item in the container, record it on the first sheet using the guide you printed.  By the way, you don’t have to actually be bringing your stuff to a Goodwill to use their guide.  And if your item is not listed there, simply estimate what it would go for on eBay or Craigslist.

4. When the container is full, put it in your car and drop off the stuff at that nearby donation center.  Pick up a contributed goods receipt.

5. When you get home, record the items and their values you have listed on your paper onto the receipt.

6. Recycle your paper, and immediately place the receipt into your tax file for the year.

You do have a tax file for the year all set up, don’t you?  Oh, that’s a tip for another day.  ;)

Transformation Gallery

before after from a closet that stresses . . . to one that impresses Do you desire some of this type of "after" in your life? Give us a call today!

Other Movements

Clutter Out

Wanna see Erika’s favorite celebrity organizer in action on his latest show?  Tune in to catch Peter Walsh on OWN’s “Extreme Clutter.”  His direct and holistic approach is akin to the style Erika uses when working with her own clients.

Your successes, challenges, questions, and insights? Love to hear them!!!

Thanks for the opportunity to share some Living Harmony with you.

All my organizing joy,

Erika Salloux, CPO^®
Living Harmony, LLC

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