CLEAR OUT FOR CASH

Clear

out for Cash from any old thing How to make money

Introduction

Here at MoneyMagpie, we know times are hard.

This energy crisis has got us on our knees thinking of creative and fun ways to earn some extra cash, so it brings us back to our old favourite of having a clear out.

The truth is, however little value we assume upon our possessions, the reality is that so many unexpected things have value. Added together, these unwanted items can generate quite a bit of cash to help us with those bills, or to go towards a holiday or something new and needed.

One of the best parts is you get a gloriously accomplished feeling with it. The sit back and feel organisedand sorted feeling is so rewarding. There is a Buddhist philosophy that we can feel the weight of our belongings and the stress that goes with that weight. While we are not quite ready to live a life without possessions, a la Siddhartha, there is something to be said for the feeling that comes with a good clear out.

So, we ask you. Do you want:

• More money

• More time

• More peace

• More health

...without putting much effort into it?

If the answer is yes, then read on to find out about just how to empower yourself and find that pre-existing nest egg within your own home.

Follow the plan in this eBook and you will be wealthier, healthier and a lot more organised day-to-day! Enjoy.

See What Treasures I have How to Clear Out the House and

Clutter can creep up on the best of us and, irrespective of your organisationalpersonality and style, a bit of spring cleaning and organisationnever goes amiss. Why is important? Because life is easier, less stressful and actually cheaper (!) if you’re not having to constantly navigate clutter.

What are the benefits of a good clear out?

• You’ll save time because you won’t be endlessly looking for lost items

• And this will give you more time for the things you want to do

• You will also save money by knowing what you need and only buying those itemsinstead of buying several versions of something you already have

• You will feel less stressed by living in a clutter-free environment

• You can make money by selling things you no longer want or need

• You can help the world (seriously) by giving the junk you don’t sell to charity

• shops and free sites

Where to start?

We are big fans of the Four Box Method. Remarkably, this involves FOUR BOXES. Yes! Amazing huh?

The Four Box Rule

Just pick a room – maybe the one with the most junk – and grab some bags, boxes or anything else you have to hand So, as you clear your clutter, just put things you don’t want to keep into one of the four boxes (or bags) that you have designated as above: Throw, Sell, Charity and Mend.

The Four Box Method: Box 1: Things to throw in the bin.

Nice easy one this. If something is beyond repair, broken, mouldyor so full of holes there’s no point, throw it away. You could, of course, have a double box/bag here with one for stuff that could be recycled (paper-based, metal, glass or fabric items) and the other one for the bin proper.

Box 2: Things to sell.

This box will need to be divided later into ‘Things to sell at auction’, ‘Things to sell online’, ‘Things to sell at a car boot sale’ and more. In fact, you might end up with so many things to sell that you could have a garage sale and get rid of a load in one go. See page 8 for more info on how to do all of these. You could also put here things to swap with friends. Cosmetics, clothes, bags etc could be added to this list.

Box 3: Things for charity.

This is another nice easy one. The lovely thing about giving items to charity is that, like throwing things away, it’s quick and can be done now, giving you free space immediately. It also gives you the feelgood factor of knowing that you have effectively given to charity and done some good to society without spending any money. Of course, you can’t give everything to charity. On the whole they won’t take certain items such as furs, electrical goods or cosmetics (see more on page 28) but those can either be offered for free on Freecycle.orgor put aside to swap with friends.

Box 4: Things to mend.

So next time you’re watching TV, take one of these items out (electronics that need tweaking, jeans that need mending) and gradually give them new life. Also, though, in this box you could have items that could be recycled and made into something more exciting. They could be recycled into presents for friends and family. for more ideas on how to recycle and up-cycle things for profit.

What can we sell?

Sell your old laptop

Sell on your old laptops and computers and gain some of your expenditure back! Cash In Your Gadgets will even arrange a free pick-up slot for you. All you have to do is tell them the serial number and its condition and they’ll give you a quote. Even if your device has been through it, if it turns on you can still get some money.

Sell Your AluminiumCans

If you’re partial to a can of coke, why not collect your empties. Whilst it is easier to just throw them in the recycle if you collect your cans, you make a bit on the side. Sites like Think Cans are a good place to start with this – it can help direct you to your closest can recycling centre.

Sell Cardboard Boxes

Boxcycleis an online marketplace where you can sell your used cardboard boxes for cash. To get started, create a free listing, then when someone in your area is searching for boxes, you can confirm availability and schedule a pick-up time. Once the buyer has picked up the boxes and verified the sale, Boxcyclewill credit your account with the money. Payments are made via PayPal and can be requested anytime.

Sell Your Old Sofas Online

There’s nothing people hate more than having to hack up a sofa to take it to the tip. So if it’s in a good state why not sell it online – websites like gumtree or Facebook marketplace are a great place to start.

Recycle Your Ink Cartridges

If you still have a printer at home –you’ll know how expensive they are to buy. But what if I told you that you can make money from reselling the empties. The Recycling Factory offers this service, if you input your ink cartridge type, they’ll tell you how much you can earn.

Old Books, CDs & DVDs

A nice, easy way to get pretty much instant cash for these is to download the Ziffitapp which enables you to scan the barcodes of your items to see how much you could get. If you’re happy with the price offered then you just need to pack your items (they can all go in the same box) and you can then either drop it off at one of their Collect+Storesor use their free courier service. Amazon can be a good place to sell books, particularly if they’re quite specialist. You can advertise for free, and you don’t have to pay delivery charges. However, they do take 17.25% of the sale price as commission (they call it a ‘closing fee’).

Uni Textbooks

When you finish university you are left with a whole lot or expensive text books. Generally speaking, wear and tear is not the best selling point: make sure there are no missing pages or indelible scribbles throughout. But your books may still be worth something if they just have a bit of a tatty cover or dog-eared pages.

It’s win-win for everyone: you get rid of books you don’t need, and someone else gets their core texts for a reasonable price. eBay and Amazon are classics when it comes to marketplace selling, and although they’re extremely popular and so stand to get you a speedy sale, they do come with some hidden costs when you sell your textbooks.

Other Surprising Things You Can Sell Online

There is virtually no limitation to what you can sell and make money from online. Here are a few other ideas for you to sell instead of throwing out!

Plain Old Cardboard Boxes

You can make money out of any cardboard box you own, no matter where it’s from, with Sadlers. Simply send them the details of what you have and they’ll get back to you with an offer. If you decide to accept it, they’ll organisea collection and will pay you the same day they receive your stock.

Empty Perfume Bottles

Although this won’t make you rich, the average empty perfume bottle will sell between £5 and £8, so it’s a fair bit of income if you have a few empty bottles lying around – better than them ending up in the bin anyway. Plus, extravagant bottles can go for even more so it’s worth keeping any that look a bit unusual.

Jam Jars

Often you’ll need a few to sell as a bundle as they don’t really sell as single items. It can take a while to build up a collection so bear in mind that you’ll need somewhere to store them before you can sell. But they are another good way to earn money from stuff that would have otherwise ended up in the bin.

Loo Rolls

Again, you’ll want to sell these in bundles. Usually you’ll need upwards of 50 to sell in one bundle, so again, you’ll need to take into account where you’ll be able to store them in the meantime.

Chapter 3 Tech clear out

You can sell old tech in high street stores such as CEX and there is an abundance of sites online where you can sell, too.

Best practice is to shop around before selling to make sure you get the best deal, particularly if you’re selling a relatively new device. For example, with an Apple iPhone 8, 64GB, we saw a price difference of just over £60 across different sites.

Compare and Recycle

This is a great site to use! Simply search for the product you are selling, and it’ll list prices being offered, how you can be paid and how long until you receive payment. It’s a good way to make sure you’re getting the best deals possible to make the most of your tech spring clean.

Music Magpie

No relation to us – except for the money making ethos! Music Magpie buys everything from mobile phones to kindles, tablets and laptops, CDs and DVDs. It’s easy to use: start an order online by inputting the items you wish to sell and receive an instant quote. To complete an order, it has to reach a minimum of £5 and you can have a maximum of 500 items in one order. No worries if you have even more – you are allowed to complete as many orders as you wish. During the current climate, Music Magpie is also supporting the NHS by donating £1 to NHS charities for every tech item traded-in and sold.

Money 4 My Tech

Money 4 My Tech buys a range of electronics including laptops, iMacs, tablets, mobiles, games consoles, iPods, and headphones. Depending on the size of your items you can either borrow packaging from them for free and return when you send your order or request a collection from you. Both options are free of charge.

eBay

The third party sellers make it easy to send of your old tech to them but it is worth checking out whether you can make any more money by selling it directly yourself. So much technology (used and broken too) is sold on eBay every year. Research yourself to see if people are selling similar items to yours and what prices they are selling for.

Where to Trade In

Trading in is another option to recycle your old electronics and save money. If you’re looking to purchase a new version or upgrade then you can get better deals by agreeing to a voucher rather than hard cash.

WexPhoto & Video

Here it is easy to submit a request for an instant no-obligation quote. If you agree to the quote, you’ll receive credit you can spend in-store or online. They also offer regular trade-in bonuses with up to an additional £500 available.

Sonos

This audio brand has now launched a tradeup programmethat gives you up to 30% off a new speaker when you return your old one. Check the Sonoswebsite to see if your device is eligible.

Most phone service providers also welcome old phone trade-ins and will offer discounts off your next purchase in exchange for them. Samsung, for example, also offers serious discounts for wearable tech like the Galaxy Watch.

Make Money From Broken Electronics

Devices not in working order still make money! Your tech spring clean hasn’t been futile – you can get cash for your broken tech.

Gadget Salvation

Gadget Salvation is happy to take almost any device off your hands, even if it’s broken. It’s on a case-by-case basis, so you’ll need to fill out a form about your broken tech to get a quote.

Recycling Tech

Sending electronics to landfill is not only a waste of parts but begins to cause enormous environmental problems, too. Even if you don’t want the extra hassle of selling your old tech, make sure to recycle it and not put it in the rubbish.

Recycle Now

This is a very useful site that tells you how you can easily recycle your old tech – giving means they can sell on the products for cash, or take it to a household waste and recycling centrewhere they have an area specifically designed for electronics. Use the tool here to find your nearest electrical recycling point.

Tech Recycle

An ethical IT recycling company ,so you can declutter and do good too. You have to have enough qualifying items, but if so you can book a pick up with them where they’ll come and collect your items for free. They plant a tree for every 20 tonnesof electronics they recycle so a great cause to support if you can. Your local tip will also have an area specifically for recycling old technology and gadgets, too.

Sell Empty Tech Boxes

Nowadays when you buy a fancy toy, it’s not just the product that matters. The packaging has become just as important, and itself a part of the whole. But this trend actually means there are some great ways for you to make cash out of your old tech boxes. A lot of people will either buy gifts second hand and want to be able to present the gift nicely in the appropriate box. Or people may be reselling something and in this case most products will have more value if they come in the original box. So if the seller doesn’t have their original box, they can take to the internet and purchase another.

How much you can make from an empty tech box obviously depends on how much demand there is for it. The more recent the model, the more the box will likely sell for. But as a ballpark figure, an iPhone box for a model released in the past few years will usually sell for around a tenner.

Chapter 4 Phones

It’s time to cash in on your old mobile

Phones left lying in the nation’s drawers could be worth £3.4 billion

giffgaff has been helping people get the most from their mobile for over a decadeand as the cost of living bites, ensuring you get the best value for money has never been more important. giffgaffhas got some clever hacks to help you to squeeze more cash from your phone –whether that’s a few quid, or hundreds of pounds.

Trade in to cash out

Did you know that your old mobile could be worth a lot of money? giffgaff’s research suggests that most people don’t. With 67% of us having at least one handset lying around in a drawer somewhere, there could be a whopping £3.4 billion worth of unused phones gathering dust in the nation’s homes*.

So, why don’t more of us trade in and cash out on our mobiles? giffgaffhas done some research on this and discovered that around a third of us want to keep a spare for emergencies, a fifth fear losing personal data, and one in eight of us are so emotionally attached to our old phone that we don’t want to give it up**.

giffgaffpays, on average, £108*** for previously used devices, so trading in and cashing out makes a lot more sense than hanging onto an old device. We know that just over a third of savvy UK consumers are now more likely to trade in their old phone. The good news is that giffgaff makes it easy, with an instant offer, free postage, certified testing, and rapid payment.

Reuse for rich rewards

The flip side of the trade in coin is that you can buy refurbished, high quality phones at a fraction of their brand new cost. Samsung’s flagship S20+ 5G, for example, was around £1,000 at launch: just two years later, you can buy it -refurbished with giffgaff – for as little as a third of the price.

With a big chunk of a mobile contract going towards paying off a shiny new phone, refurbished handsets with great value, flexible SIM-only deals make a lot of financial sense. To help its members out even more, giffgaff is fixing all its UK prices for the rest of 2022.

Gift for good

Trading in, reusing or recycling mobile tech also offers a chance to do good – both for your local community and the planet.

Further giffgaff research shows that, despite strained finances, almost half of us (44%) see giving to charity as a priority in light of the rising cost of living****. The mobile network helps its members to care for grassroots, community causes through its partnership with Neighbourly – with the option to donate between 10% and 100% when you trade in your old phone.

Beyond all the unclaimed cash and feel-good giving, your old mobile is a treasure chest of rare materials, including cobalt, lithium and tellurium. Mining these metals carries a significant environmental cost -so, even if your mobile is too old or broken to save you money, recycling it will help us to save the planet too.

So,

the budget boosting, community caring,

and planet

protecting question is, what are you waiting for? It’s time to make the most of that old handset.

Places to sell

Car boot

Car boot sales are quick cash but they’re not necessarily the best place to get top prices for things, so don’t take valuable items that you could sell well online.

Perfumes (even half-used), furniture, plants, toys and children’s clothes always do well, as do books, vinyl, CDs and the like. Also remember to keep the pricing simple: people love haggling and they love a bargain. It might be worthwhile marking items up slightly so that if people want to haggle you’ll feel more inclined to lower the price. For an in depth guide check this seven step guide on how to make the most of car boot sales.

Facebook

Local community Facebook groups for selling or swapping your belongings are becoming a very popular choice to sell or simply giveaway unwanted clutter.

The best bit is there are no fees, so you get to keep the profit. There are hundreds of Facebook buying and selling groups in the UK and all over the world.

To get started, search for your area or postcode in the main search box, alongside words such as 'selling', 'sale' or 'buy'. It’s also considered a safe and trustworthy selling option as most people only have friends and family on Facebook.

The Marketplace on Facebook is also an oftused platform. Much like eBay or other selling sites you can specify collection details, but mainly it is advertised to people within your area. Meaning if its a larger item, collection won’t be an issue.

Instagram

Instagram also now have a vibrant “preloved” community. On any official shopping platform, it’s standard procedure for sellers to pay a small service/transaction/commission fee, but with Insta you bypass all of these fees, as you’re dealing with your customer directly via DMs. Remember that people using Instagram are not necessarily looking to spend money but if they spot something quirky, limited edition and affordable, they may just feel inspired to part with a couple of pounds.

Garage Sale

It’s an American concept but it’s pretty popular here, particularly if you can’t be bothered going all the way to the car boot sale. Get all your junk together from the whole house (and whatever is lurking in the garage already) and have a sale.

Clear out for Charity

We are a charitable nation. Two thirds of us (44 million) give money to charities every month with an average donation of £16 each time. We volunteer, run bake sales, take part in marathons and insist that our celebrities do their bit by making fools of themselves on TV for their favouritecause.

And we are rightly proud of our charity shops that raise millions of pounds for good causes, help those on a budget locally and enable communities to recycle products and keep them out of landfill. Truly a win-win situation.

But there’s more that can be done, particularly when it comes to charity shops. Too many households are wasting valuable resources by throwing items away rather than helping them to do good through a charity shop.

For example, according to the Love Your Clothes campaign, in 2015 British households were hanging on to £30bn worth of clothes which had not been worn for 12 months. The average UK household owns around £4,000 worth of clothes and buys about £1,700 worth more each year. Also, 350,000 tonnesof clothing worth £140m is binned annually.

And that’s just the start. There is widespread ignorance of what treasures the average household has in its cupboards, drawers, lofts and sheds -treasures that could be making good money for good causes.

It’s so easy to donate to charity – have you heard of Gone for Good? One of their volunteers will come right to your home, to pick up your items at the time you’ve specified. How handy is that!

Here are a few of the more surprising items that bring in the cash and where to take them:

Donate Stamps

Stamps can be really valuable. Quite a lot of charities take them in and sell them on to stamp collectors or dealers. Foreign or old stamps usually make more money, but charities collect current UK stamps as well. It’s worth just asking your local charity shop if they take stamps and then including them in the bag of stuff you take to them. Leave at least 8mm of paper around the edge of your stamp (make sure there’s a good amount of paper still round them because ordinary stamps are sold by weight) and send them off to your chosen charity or take them to your local shop. Charities that collect old stamps include RSPB, DHIVERSE and the World Owl Trust. Alternatively, donors can send stamps to Charity Stamps Direct which will allocate the money to the donor’s chosen listed charity on their website.

Printer cartridges

It takes 3.5 litresof oil to make a new laser printer cartridge and 90ml of oil to make new inkjet cartridge? Giving charities your empty cartridges helps them to sell them directly to companies which refill them and sell them on. This makes them money and decreases the 1800 tonnesof cartridges that end up in UK landfill sites every year. Recycle and you will not only help charities but help the planet!

Collect up your printer cartridges and either email the charity for a freepost envelope or take them down to your local charity shop. Why not suggest the scheme at work too? It will generate extra funds for your chosen charity and make the company look good! Charities collecting printer cartridges include

RNLI, Sense, Barnados, World Cancer Research Fund and the British Institute for Brain Injured Children. Boots the Chemist also recycle printer cartridges and they give 100 Boots advantage points per cartridge while donating 20p to charity.

Old spectacles

Charity shops will take glasses of all types including sunglasses (in fact those are likely to sell better than prescription ones). However, it’s also a good idea to donate them to a sight charity. Sight charities collect old spectacles to send to people with sight difficulties in developing countries. All you have to do is take your old glasses into your local donation point.

The main national project at the moment is Vision Aid Overseas, but smaller local charities near you may also collect. All branches of Dollandand Aitchinsonstores and most Boots stores have glasses recycling bins where you can deposit your old spectacles to go to Vision Aid and other needy causes.

Foreign currency

You know what happens when you come back from holiday with those spare few Euros in your purse and you wonder what to do with them as you have too few to change at the bank.

Well, instead of accumulating a mini coin collection in your top drawer, give it to your local charity. Some charities are also still collecting old currency from Europe that you can no longer use. Take your spare cents, francs and lira down to your local charity shop or, for very heavy collections, free collection is often available. Charities such as RNIB collect current foreign currency, while charities such as Help the Aged, Marie Curie and Age UK collect old currency that you can no longer change.

Mobile phones

With mobile phone companies constantly offering free phone upgrades and new handsets with new contracts, the number of discarded mobiles is increasing rapidly. Instead of throwing out your old phones, give them to your local charity which can sell them on (even if they don’t work). This is a great thing to do if you’re getting a new phone for your birthday. Contact your chosen charity for freepost envelopes to send them your old mobiles.

Charities currently collecting old mobiles include Mencap, ActionAid, Bliss, Age UK and CLIC Sargent. Another possibility is that you can make money for yourself and give this directly to your charity by doing your own recycling. Organisationsthat say they will recycle for charity often don’t give as much money for your phones as the usual recycling companies. You’re often better off doing it yourself.

Old clothes

Having a sort-out in your wardrobe to make room for this season’s latest fashions? Donate your old clothes to charity, where they can be sold in charity shops to make extra money for that charity, or sent to those in need.

On the whole, retro or designer clothes make the most for the charity shops, but all clothes are accepted as long as they are clean and in good condition. Either take your clothes down to your local charity shop or your nearest clothes bank. Some charities will also collect clothes from your home if you phone up to ask.

Nationwide charities that collect clothes include the Salvation Army, Oxfam, Sue Ryder, and the British Red Cross. If you have any Marks & Spencer’s clothes that you can donate, Oxfam offer a £5 Marks & Spencer’s voucher to every bag donated that contains one or more item of clothing (with the exception of lingerie and swimwear) from Marks & Spencer.

Furniture

Oxfam has traditionally been the first port of call for those wanting to donate furniture to charity. They have furniture ‘showrooms’ in a few parts of the country. Also, though, the Furniture Reuse Network runs an excellent website that will put people in touch with charitable organisationsin their area that need furniture. Volunteers pick up the items in vans and lorries and take them to homes, churches, charity shops and voluntary organisationsthat need them.

For many, the free sites like Freecycle and Freegleact as a type of charitable conduit for furniture and other items from those that have but want to give away to those that are in need.

Gift aid schemes

When you take your unwanted stuff to your local charity shop, ask them if they have a Gift Aid scheme in place. You could help them make even more money without any cost to yourself as it enables the charity to collect an extra 25p in tax relief for every per pound raised by selling the items in its shops. Donors are asked to sign a short Gift Aid Declaration form which confirms that they are a UK tax payer, and gives the charity permission to sell the goods on their behalf.

Getting the goods to the shops

One of the biggest barriers to getting items to charity shops is the difficulty some have transporting the items, particularly bulky goods. This is where Gone for Good meets a need.

Gone for Good is a social enterprise set up to both support retail charities and to encourage people to donate unwanted goods to charity and so avoid sending them to landfill. By using the Gone for Good smart phone app, users can donate their unwanted stuff to charity by simply taking a photo of their unwanted goods on their phone. The app makes decluttering and house clearances easy. The app locates partner charities who collect the categories of goods offered from the user’s Postcode. No need to ring around or leave your home. The app is free and the charities collect for free.

Gone for Good partners with lots of national charities (such as British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Mind, Shelter, Sue Ryder and Debra) as well as with several local charities and hospices.

Spring clean your finances

‘Face The Tiger’

The first thing you need to do in your walk to financial freedom is to ‘Face the Tiger’. You need to know exactly what you’re up against, and the way to do that is... wait for it... to open your statements and bills and actually see what the damage is. You might not have done this for quite a while. In fact, they might still be in their envelopes, stuffed in a drawer by the front door because you can’t bear to look at them. That’s perfectly understandable and loads of people do that.

But it’s not going to help.

So, do whatever it takes to get them out into the open and into some sort of order. Maybe get a friend or family member to sit with you as you open them, or just put a film on the TV that you like and sort them as you watch it. It doesn’t matter how you do it... just do it!

Once you have opened up all the statements and bills you can find (and maybe have printed some off the internet if that’s how you get them), put them in date order and place them in piles on the floor or the table, wherever you’re doing it, one pile per bank/utility or whatever it is. Now you can put them in a lever arch file, or a filing cabinet or, if you’re doing things digitally, scan them and file them online together with pdfs of your online statements.

Do a budget

Because doing a budget is a whole lot more glamorous than it sounds. It’s your first step to really getting on top of your money . Budgets are easy to do, particularly as there are online tools to help now.

Switch providers who are draining your cash Changing some or all of your bill providers could save you hundreds of pounds, with tariffs changing so often it’s hard to keep up with it, and companies both trying to get customers from their rivals or persuade them to stay loyal to them. In some cases your current provider will want to keep you as a customer and may be persuaded to match or better deals you find elsewhere.

With bank accounts, many people think it’s more trouble than it’s worth to ensure all their payments and debits are changed. But there’s a chance you don’t have the best account for your needs, such as overdraft provision, or benefits like car breakdown cover.

Switch your TV, broadband and home phone

You can get a much better deal on your broadband or your whole TV, phone and broadband package: in fact, consider giving up the TV package as these can be stupidly expensive. Try cheaper alternatives such a Netflix or Now TV. You can also get a cheaper landline (if you’re still using yours – cancel it if not).

We all need to spring clean our finances if we’re going to keep more of the money we make each month.

Credit Rating

While you’re switching, make sure your Experian Credit Report is accurate and up-to-date. Your credit report can show you if you’ve missed some payments on cards or loans you have.

Doing this could help you be better off in the long term, as when you make an application for a loan, credit card, mortgage or other type of credit – like a new utility contract or a mobile-phone account – lenders look at your credit report to work out a credit score for you.

Lenders like to see evidence that you might be a responsible borrower, and given that late or missed repayments stay on your credit report for at least six years, it’s a good idea to make your repayments on time if you can. Checking your Experian Credit Score before you apply for new credit can give you a good indication of how lenders see you

Clear out your Mental Clutter

It’s one thing to clear your physical clutter but clearing your mental clutter is probably even more important. Do you find yourself regularly bothering about small, unimportant things?

Do you check your Facebook and Twitter statuses constantly?

Are you concerned with what’s happening to celebs, people in soaps, and your neighbours? If lots of little, annoying, upsetting and largely trivial things are cluttering up your thoughts and emotions through the day, you’re going to be held back in life and the physical clutter will manifest itself around you again, as our surroundings tend to mirror our thoughts.

So, what can you do about mental clutter?

Here are a few habits to cultivate:

Get quiet and take control of your thoughts.

American professional de-clutterer Peggy Caruso says, “recognisingand being thankful for the good things in your life can keep you from adding new clutter.”

She recommends that people take a moment each day to acknowledge and appreciate what they have. She says it will also help you forgive grievances -another thing that can clutter up our thinking!

It’s an idea that has been around from ancient times. In the book of Isaiah in the Bible, we are told, “Be still, and know that I am God.” We can do that at any time of the day or night.

Cut down on Social Media

In fact, if you can do it, don’t just cut down… give up on social media completely. If that’s a bit hardcore, just look at it once a day.

Check emails just once a day.

This is something I’m hopeless at, but all the time management people say it’s the best way to keep emails under control. If you can do it then do. It is a good way to keep it in its place. Also don’t read emails or social media at the weekend. It will suck you in!

How to Maintain the Clearness

It’s a wonderful feeling to get yourself organisedand clutter-free. In fact, when we asked our MoneyMapie.comreaders how they felt once they had done a good spring clean and de-clutter, they said it made them feel rejuvenated and gave them a generally positive outlook.

But it doesn’t take long for the clutter to creep in. If you’re anything like me it seems that books, cosmetics and bric-a-brac seem to breed on the shelves all on their own!

So, to keep the clutter at bay and stay on top of your stuff day-today, follow these handy tips:

Charity bag

Keep a ‘charity bag’ or box handy in a cupboard so that you can pop in there anything you know you want to get rid of. Once it is reasonably full, take it to your nearest charity shop or book a collection volunteer with Gone for Good.

While you were watching... TV

If you like watching TV of an evening, grab a drawer or empty a shelf that needs sorting while you’re watching. It gives you something to do with your hands while you’re watching (which also stops you snacking!) and makes you feel virtuous at the end of the evening because you’ve done something useful instead of wasting it in front of the box.

Family habits

Get the family into organisedhabits. Use a family calendar pinned on the wall for everyone to put their ‘appointments’ on; parcel out household chores to the kids and set up a timetable for when each one has to do the dishes, lay the table, clean their room etc; do a family car boot sale or even garage sale once or twice a year where the kids are allowed to keep money made from selling their things.

Bill organisation

Set aside a few hours once a year to switch your monthly bills like gas and electricity, phone and broadband, insurance etc.

Changing clothes

When you change your clothes seasonally, go through the ones from the old season and throw out or sell any you haven’t worn all season and know you won’t wear again. With the new season’s clothes, try them on before putting them in wardrobes and drawers to find new combinations of clothes.

Finish each day with a 5-minute de-clutter

Take a few minutes to quickly tidy and throw anything you don’t need away. If you do it every day, it’ll only take you 5 minutes.

References and footnotes

*Figurecalculatedbasedon 45% of Censuswiderespondentskeepingaworkingbackupmobile phone (equivalentof 30.2 million people within the 67.22million in the UKpopulation [ONS2020])multiplied by £111(the averagea membergetswhenthey recyclean olddevice with giffgaff)

**Censuswideonline surveycommissionedby giffgaff conducted21.01.2022to 24.01.2022among2,019 UKgeneralconsumers.YouGovonline researchcommissionedby giffgaff, for the UrgentCall campaign,polled 2,000UKadultsbetween08.10.21and11.10.21.The researchwasconductedto find out the population'sviewson electronic waste,their supposedemotionalattachmentandattitude to recyclingtheir old devices.

***Averagetakenfrom total paymentsvshandsetstradedin betweenJune2020andMay 2022.

****Censuswideonline surveycommissionedby giffgaffconducted11.03.2022to 16.03.2022among 5,002 UKgeneralconsumers.The researchwasconductedto find outthe population'sviewson the costof living.