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My Weekly Real Estate E-letters
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are my weekly email e-letters. You may click on the title of the
e-letter to be carried directed to that e-letter. I will be archiving
old copies of the e-letters on this page. Click on Weekly Real Estate Email E-letter to sign up to receive the e-letter directly in your
email box. The e-letter will contain real estate tips and tips in
general for around the home.
| Weekly Real Estate E-lettersWeekly Real Estate E-Letter(12-8-08) General Household Tips 46-50
Weekly Real Estate E-letter(12-15-08) How to Start the New Year with a Clean House Tips 1-5
Weekly Real Estate E-letter(12-22-08) How to Start the New Year with a Clean House Tips 6-10
Weekly Real Estate E-letter(12-29-08) How to Start the New Year with a Clean House Tips 11-15
Click here to read November Tips
Click here to read October Tips
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| 41. Learn to travel light. That way, a) you don’t have as much to carry, and b) you don’t have as big a bag to store in your house when you’re not traveling.
42. Close the circle. This takes a little discipline — ok, a lot of discipline — but if you can build the habit of always seeing every act through to its logical end every time, it will prevent a lot of clutter. In practical terms, this means that every time you use something, you follow through until that thing is back where it started from: eat a bowl of cereal, wash the bowl, dry it, and put it back on the shelf. Our lives tend to be built up out of a lot of little “incompletions” that lead to clutter; if you can break that habit and see things all the way through, you’ll find a lot more improves than just your clutter situation.
43. Clean one room or area a day. This is less daunting than cleaning the whole house, and gives you a clear goal, instead of the “one-more-thing” syndrome that strikes when you get a mind to “do some cleaning”.
44. Find the clutter “focal point” of each room and keep it clean. In the bedroom, make the bed and keep it clear; in the kitchen, don’t store anything in the sink. If these focal points are clean, the room will seem less cluttered.
45. Give it away. Make a habit of taking regular trips to the Goodwill or other donation center to give away excess stuff, and make sure that when that day comes, you’ve got a full load of stuff to get rid of.
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| 46. One in, one out. Make a habit of throwing out, selling, or giving away something for every new thing you bring into the house. For example, when you buy a new pair of shoes, get rid of your least favorite. Variation: One in, TWO Out!
47. Use “deep storage” wisely. Pack up things that you’re not going to use and store them — don’t keep stuff out when you are unlikely to ever need it.
48. Don’t shop “recreationally”. Go shopping for the things you need, not to kill time or “just to look”. Avoid succumbing to temptation by avoiding temptation itself!
49. Never put anything on top of anything smaller than it is. For example, never put a newspaper on top of a small book or your keys. You’ll lose less stuff that way.
50. Don’t make piles. Ever
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| 1. Have cleaning routines: Thursday cooking evening, Saturday laundry day, Monday bed sheet changing, Tuesday refrigerator cleaning, Wednesday toilet cleaning….
2. Have cleaning competitions with the family. At our house, we race ourselves, “Let’s see how long it will take us to clean the whole kitchen?” It works every time.
3. Assign weekly chores to each kid and make sure they are done before TV or playing with friends.
4 While the kids are in the shower and you are waiting for them, clean the bathroom.
5. Have a basket to catch miscellaneous items in each room and have a set day to clear it.
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| 6. Put 3-4 plastic bags at the bottom of the trash cans in the rooms. It will save you time the next time you change bags and encourage you to take out the garbage sooner.
7. Have a small bin on the kitchen counter to make it easy for you to get rid of kitchen scraps,etc. I use old plastic coffee cans and add the scraps (no meats) to my compost pile.
8. Pour boiling water into sticky pots. It will make them a lot easier to clean.
9. Make the beds when you get up in the morning. Show the kids it takes 30 seconds. You can play a game of practicing how long it takes to organize the bed and show them it takes less than 30 seconds.
10. Teach your kids to pick up toys and clothes off the floor before bed time (use the same game).
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| 11. Have a set day to vacuum the carpets.
12. When taking clothes out of the dryer, fold them straight away - it will save you ironing them.
13. Make it a habit to clean the filter in the dryer every time you open it. Burning lint in the clothes dryer is the #1 cause of domestic fires. No lint - no fire.
14. When taking the laundry off the clothesline, match socks and fold them together - it is easy to find pairs when they are hanging on the line.
15. Teach family members especially kids to put dishes straight into the dishwasher - it will keep the kitchen counter and the sink clear most of the day.
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