Paper Products You Should Get Rid of Today

There are many reasons for acquiring paper and keeping it in the home - practical, convenient or sentimental. But even if they fall into that category there is a time frame for keeping them.  Bills are important for a few months, books from friends are great, but in the end everything can be recycled (or in the case of books, sold or donated).As great as it is to recycle and sell, why not just stop acquiring the paper in the first place.  To help you start this new habit here are my tips on what to get rid of:

Receipts - I keep mine for a week. They lay in a special folder next to the shredder and then once a week has passed, shredded! They may be small but they add up in your purse, wallet and table. If you have paid by credit card, you can check if it has been billed online. If the receipt contains a warranty, file them securely and shred them after the warranty period has expired.

Bills and Bank records - many of the institutions are now issuing e-statements such as DEWA, Du, Etisalat and the majority of banks. Receiving your statements electronically will save you money and receiving mail in your PO Box.  You can also save your bills online in a folder and then delete them after one year.Cheques - unfortunately we still need to use them here. Keep the stubs for 3 years and then shred.

Packaging - We seem to be inundated with packaging from online shopping, supermarkets, etc. Whilst we can't stop shopping via these channels, why not try and reduce the amount of online shopping done or buying packaged supermarket items and buying locally.  Buying locally reduces your shipping costs but eliminates the packaging waste and allows you to chose products with less packaging.

Paper Kitchen Products - They might be made of recycled paper but they are still a waste of paper. Why not use towels and cloth napkins for every day use. I also keep all the plastic and paper received from take outs - it's my way of recycling.

Notepaper and Post-it notes - How many scraps of paper do you have lying on your desk, in your bag and around the kitchen counter. Why not use an electronic notebook like Evernote (check out my blog about Evernote) or Wunderlist. If you need to make notes for your family, why not use a Weekly Planner like the one you can buy from Decluttr Me, download and print it easily and then pin each week on your fridge door.Books - If you love reading paper books, instead of buying, why not go to the library and borrow a book for a few weeks. Otherwise move to the electronic world and buy ebooks. I buy mine mostly from Amazon and download it onto my Kindle App. I can read books now on my laptop, phone or tablet at any time.  For the old books, donate them to the library or to the various animal charities. They sell the books and use the proceeds to neuter animals (see my blog post on selling and donating to charities here).

Photos— Photos are mostly taken digitally now but you will still have your glossy paper photos from the past. Go through them and discard the ones that are bad, show red eye or are repeats. Instead of printing new photos, why not put them on an electronic frame. It means you can see multiple photos in one frame at any time. Or you can save the photos on your computer as a screensaver.

Newspapers and magazines— You can download newspapers and magazines online now. Cancel the subscription and read them on your table in the morning.  If you’re interested in the crossword puzzles, look online for your daily fix. If you want to keep the article which has you in it, ask the publisher if they can send the pdf of the page or go to the library and make a copy from the magazine there.It may be hard to give up these paper items. But giving them up means you are building a habit to be clutter free.  Don't rid of all types of paper immediately, start with one kind and then discard another type of paper the following week. Before you know it you will be hardly recycling paper, because there will be nothing to recycle.Is there any other type of paper that you think should be included in this list. Let me know in the comments box.

If you need help to reduce your paper clutter, why not contact us to book a Free 20 Minute Phone Consultation. Fill in the form here and we will be in touch:      

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