How much is your clutter costing you?

Is the clutter in your house driving you - or someone you love - crazy? Do you collect piles of paper that either continue to mount or just get moved around? Do you still have in your possession clothes from high school, books that have long been read and forgotten, or old furniture that just sits in an attic? Do you shutter at the thought of calculating how much money you have spent on items you really don’t need? Help is here.You already know Betsy Kramer as our uber-organized Clutter Busting columnist. She may have been a source of inspiration for you with her systematic approach to eliminating clutter and her “glass is always half-full” attitude. Betsy is now joining the ranks of parentrepreneurs with a new business that helps people get control of their lives: Cash in Clutter.”Families today are practically hemorrhaging cash from over-buying things,” says Betsy. “Whether it’s overcompensating children out of guilt, buying clothes for events instead of wearing what they have, or simply not realizing they already have an item.”

Through Cash in Clutter, Betsy offers professional organizing services including home, life and knowledge organization as well as time management. Betsy helps her clients with everything from storage solutions to personalized schedules, procedures and goal-setting. “My whole purpose is to help people save time and money by simplifying their lives,” says Betsy.

So how does Betsy distinguish herself from other professional organizers? “What sets me apart from other professional organizers is that although I have my own systems, I do not ask clients to organize their lives and homes “my” way. Not only am I extremely detail-oriented, but I am also a born problem solver. During the consultation I do an assessment with the client to determine what is and isn’t working with her (or his) current situation. Then I develop a system that highlights her strengths and builds up her weaknesses. Throughout the process, I am extremely confidential and will offer compassionate, non-judgmental, personalized assistance.”

In addition to personal organization services, Betsy has been busy filling her schedule with speaking engagements. “I have had various speaking requests ranging from specialized issues like closet organization tips to more motivational topics such as creating a legacy,” says Betsy. “As my friends and family are well aware, I am a BORN people person and talker, so speaking has come quite easily for me!”

Clever Parents caught up with Betsy to talk about some easy things people can do to move towards a more organized existence, how organized living is a lot like dieting, and how to inspire your own children to reduce clutter in their lives.

Clever Parents: Have you always been organized?
Betsy Kramer: I have always wanted to be organized. I always strived to be organized. But I can honestly say I was not always organized. I did not have the tools and the knowledge to create systems that would work for me. Instead my life was full of guilt and blame because I thought I did not have the time or money to be organized. After our fire I started reading all types of books about organization and realized that until I fixed the need for material possessions, I would continue my cluttered lifestyle. I also realized that there are no right and wrong ways to de-clutter. It is important to create individualized systems and procedures. I use my problem solving abilities to help clients get to the root of their issues and help create systems to fit their lifestyle. Because I know what it feels like to be unorganized, I come into a client’s home completely non judgmental and with the empathy and compassion needed to deal with the many emotions involved in changing this aspect of their life.

Clever Parents: What are some easy ways for people with a lot of clutter and not a lot of time to realistically get started on the road to organization?
Betsy Kramer: My first and biggest advice for people is to stop buying! One of the biggest problems in our society is we just have so much stuff. In the event a person with a clutter problem hired me (or another Professional Organizer) to come into their home to simply clean house, it would inevitably end up cluttered again if they do not change their spending habits and lifestyle first. There usually is a deep seeded reason why a person clings to material possessions whether it’s for fear, security, or another reason. If one seeks to find contentment in material items it can never be found… the void cannot possibly be filled!

My second advice is to be realistic. Often times, people simply set themselves up for failure. Start small and tackle problems issue by issue. One of the exercises I do with my clients is to prioritize the areas of need and find a starting point. I think many people truly believe that their situation is unfixable. It is much like dieting…when someone puts unrealistic goals upon themselves they inevitably fail and end up binging on food. The same happens with someone who tries to fix it all at once…they just end up at the mall doing a little “retail therapy!”

Clever Parents: What are your favorite cleaning products?
Betsy Kramer: Since I also don’t enjoy my cleaning cabinet cluttered, I take a pretty minimalist approach to my supplies. I really love Murphy’s Oil Soap. I take a few capfuls of this, a bucket full of hot water, and a dampened micro fiber cloth and clean everything from furniture, walls, floors, doors, cabinets etc. I then use Windex for all my glass surfaces. I use a mixture of vinegar, water, and a little baking soda in a spray bottle for my refrigerator.

Clever Parents: What are some of the hardest things for people to throw away? What do people have guilt attached to when it comes to material things?
Betsy Kramer: Without a doubt the #1 thing to get rid of is an item from a loved one that is deceased. It can be difficult for people to separate the memory of that person from the material item. In those situations I share how I lost everything from my beloved deceased grandmother in our fire. I held onto many things that she gave to me while she was alive and things that were passed down to me upon her death. Many of these items were stored in boxes in our basement because they just did not go with the style of my home. The loss of these items did not at all impact the wonderful memories I have of her. It was not the things I loved… I loved and still love her. She is no less special to me because I don’t own her items anymore. I have wonderful memories, and you don’t stash memories in bins in your attic!

Clever Parents: How much time do you personally spend each day cleaning and picking up clutter?
Betsy Kramer: I spend about 30-45 minutes a day cleaning. This time of the year I spend an additional half hour doing the spring cleaning tasks per day. Although I like my house to look clean, I really am not a huge fan of cleaning. I also don’t want to spend my summer weekends cleaning my home! I think that this is one of the biggest misconceptions of organized people. Organized does not mean perfect! I am not some “Mommy Dearest” on my hands and knees scrubbing tile grout for hours on end! I simply live my life without emotional interference from clutter. I spend less time cleaning and more time living!

Clever Parents: What are some things you do to minimize children’s clutter?
Betsy Kramer: Stop buying! The answer is really quite simple. Our children cannot buy their own items…we are in control of that. Children will play more the less they have because if they cannot see it they will not play with it!

Clever Parents: What’s a good strategy for eliminating toy clutter?
Betsy Kramer: The best way that I have found is to first set up organization zones. Put like items together into groups and store them as such. I prefer small bins placed in a bookshelf type organization system.

Clever Parents: How can you get children thinking about reducing clutter at an early age?
Betsy Kramer: Teaching a child to donate their items is a wonderful idea. I ask my daughter to think seriously if she really needs the item anymore or if she thinks that someone else could need it more and love it just as well. Children really love to give if we allow them the opportunity. Most importantly, the best way to teach a child to live a clutter-free lifestyle is to live by example.

Betsy, whose inspiration for Cash in Clutter occured five years ago when she and her family lost their home and everything they owned in a devastating fire, is herself an inspiration. Her advice to anyone who is tired of allowing clutter to hold them back? “When I lost everything tangible in my life, I felt very vulnerable. Digging through bags of donated clothes I felt very humble. Surrounded by only my family and not my things I felt very loved. Through it all I discovered who I was. It was such a blessing.”

See Betsy’s weekly Clutter Busting column.

Contact Cash in Clutter (www.cashinclutter.com) for a free in-home organization consultation or call for speaking engagement for your group or organization at (570) 672-9052.