Economizing Our Stuff -- Are We Spending Too Much on Ourselves This Holiday Season?

Professional Organizer Cyndi Seidler provides a proven method to avoid impulse-buying this holiday season, and gives a new perspective to keep individuals from adding more "stuff" in their homes.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 9, 2005 -- No matter what store we go in, chances are those "impulse-buying" items are sitting right there near the checkout lanes to entice buyers to get them. After all, we don't seem to have much time to think about our need to have it once we get close to the cashier. And we wonder, how do we end up with so much stuff?

This holiday season will be like any other -- the stores start putting out their holiday decorations, and we get tempted to purchase new stuff to adorn our homes with. For many, that's easier than getting into our storage areas to find our existing decorations.

So, how do we keep from accumulating all the stuff we accumulate then? And, once we've accumulated them, how do we determine what to get rid of?

Author and Professional Organizer Cyndi Seidler suggests a Q&A approach to shopping. She came up with the approach based on wanting to change her own buying habits. Her method is simply to play a decision-making game whenever you pick up an item that wasn't a planned purchase item for yourself.

The questions a person must ask themselves are:

"Do I really need it?"
"Will this replace something that is broken?"
"Will I use it often or in the near future?
(if a decoration) "Will I display it without adding a cluttered look?"
"Is this just 'stuff'?

If any answers to the questions are "no," then the item must be placed back on the shelf where it came from. If the answer is "yes," to any of the questions, and you are not at the checkout lane, you can put it in your basket and walk around the store with it. Then, when you're ready to checkout, examine the item again and ask yourself the questions again.

Some of the same questions can apply for examining the stuff we already have. Seidler says, "It's just stuff, and we can streamline our lives by practicing junk economy." To practice "junk economy," Seidler is talking about reducing or avoiding too much stuff.

That's what Seidler put into practice when she shops now, and it gives her a sense of accomplishment as she leaves the store knowing that she not only saved herself some money, but she saved herself from having more stuff around. Not only that, but it keeps her from adding more holiday items to store each year.

"I'm faced with client's organizing issues all the time," says Seidler. "And, when I see rows and rows of holiday boxes stored in over-crammed garages and storage areas, it makes me wonder if that person could possibly use all the holiday decorations they've collected."

When it comes to buying, Seidler seems to know more than most what the side-effects are of buying excessively or impulsively. After all, it might be nice thing, but the question remains, is it a "must-have" thing?

Seidler writes frequently about these and other organizing dilemmas in the Living an Organized Life Blog at www.organized-living.com/tipblog.htm. Her entertaining commentaries and tips address organizing issues on just about any situation, and subscribers can receive the posts right to their own email.

About HandyGirl Organizers
HandyGirl Organizers was formed in 1994 by Cyndi Seidler to service individuals with organizing problems. HandyGirl Organizers delivers a full scope of organizing services, both for the home and office.

Seidler's history enabled her company to provide the kind of knowledge and skills necessary to help executives achieve higher levels of success, and provided a solution for other individuals who wanted the kind of quality help and expertise needed to organize their business, home or life.

About Cyndi Seidler
"Organizer to the Stars" Cyndi Seidler is an author, syndicated columnist and professional organizer. She's a frequent media guest, and has been helping individuals create organized lifestyles since 1994. Her methods have helped prominent celebrities such as Sinbad, Eric Roberts, Karen Black, Tisha Campbell, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Larina Adamson, Bobbi Billard, Billy Sheehan, and Spencer Davis get a grip on their hectic lifestyles.    

Book Title : "A Manual For Professional Organizers" publisher, Banter Books, Quality Trade Paperback, 148 pages, ISBN 0-9705125-0-3. Available at bookstores. Price $32.00.

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