The Cost of Clutter

Money Mondays: Are You Paying Your Money Enough Attention?

By Hazel Thornton | February 22, 2024 |

            Call it what you will — The Law of Circulation, Feng Shui, The Principle-of-Not-Getting-Your-Lights-Turned-Off-Because-You-Forgot-to-Pay-the-Bill — money ebbs and flows and takes on a life of its own. Managing money is like raising children who act up, demanding negative attention if they aren’t getting enough positive attention. Whether you think…

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How to Get Organized Anywhere at Any Budget

By Hazel Thornton | February 9, 2019 |

I want to help everyone find the freedom of getting Organized for Life regardless of where they live, or how much money they have. But there’s only one of me, and I need to make a living too. Too bad I can’t work directly with all of you for free. There are lots of ways I…

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Is Your Unfinished Project Really Worth Doing? (The Sunk Cost of Clutter — Part 2)

By Hazel Thornton | September 16, 2016 |

My client and I are sorting and purging her belongings. We come across some fabric she has had for years. Decades, in fact. She puts it in the KEEP pile, saying, “I always thought I could make something out of this.” Not being a sewer, or a quilter, she does not otherwise have a stash…

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Organized Charitable Giving

By Hazel Thornton | December 1, 2015 |

Are you deluged – all year long, but particularly as the year comes to a close – by charitable giving solicitations? Does your heart go out to every cause? Do you feel obligated to donate? Wish there were a better way? Here are my suggestions for organized charitable giving, with personal examples:

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Keep or Toss? “But I might need it someday!”

By Hazel Thornton | August 4, 2015 |

Organizing and decluttering go hand in hand. Sometimes the choice to keep or toss something is easy: I love it! I use it! I need to keep it! OK, obviously a keeper. Put it away, or create a home for it. Sometimes it’s not so easy, though: But it was a gift…but I paid a…

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Are you taking it too far? (recycling/donating/selling/repurposing)

By Hazel Thornton | July 5, 2015 |

Decluttering and letting go of unwanted items is good for the soul. One man’s trash can indeed be another man’s treasure! Repurposing can be a creative and satisfying endeavor. And recycling is good for the planet. But… there’s a limit to what one person can do. You can’t save the planet single-handedly. Don’t forget to…

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“But I paid good money for that!” (The Sunk Cost of Clutter – part 1)

By Hazel Thornton | May 21, 2015 |

When I help a client sort through their things, there are any number of reasons why they have difficulty letting them go. This, despite the fact that they don’t love or use them. “But it was a gift! But I might need it someday! But I paid good money for that!” Wait! WHAT? (Cue screeching…

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Buy the best. Forget the rest.

By Hazel Thornton | October 20, 2014 |

I’m pretty frugal, but perhaps not in the same ways you are. The definition of frugal that I like best is this: Spending money on the things you value and saving on everything else. I don’t have the best of everything, but I am willing to spend money on things that are important to me.…

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Yes, you really CAN afford it, and you really DO have the time!

By Hazel Thornton | July 21, 2014 |

So, what is it, exactly, that I think you can afford and have the time for? Anything you want! All you have to do is to prioritize it and include it in your budgets. You know — your financial and time budgets. And I mean budget in the sense of allocating resources, which does not…

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What is Your Clutter Costing You?

By Hazel Thornton | January 27, 2014 |

You know you have clutter. We all do, in one form or another, and to varying degrees. But have you ever thought about what it is costing you? Sometimes the cost is obvious, such as late fees incurred for an overdue bill that was lost in a mystery pile of paper, or that you couldn’t…

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