Jana Botkin has given us many organizing tips already. If you missed her interview just go back to the Organizing section of this site and you’ll find her interview below this post. Jana is an artist in California who tries to live a simple lifestyle. You can check out her website here http://www.cabinart.net . If you’d like to see what’s in the mind and life of an artist you can follow her in her blog here
http://www.cabinart.net/weblog/
Below, Jana shares some more tips and ideas on how to stay organized and how to live a minimalist lifestyle. Enjoy!
1) Water in a spray bottle applied lightly to a cloth works better than Pledge.
2) I use soap.com for all of my toiletries. If you spend $40, the shipping is free. Their prices aren’t dirt cheap, but they do have sales and coupons. Besides, it’s worth spending an extra dollar on an item to avoid going into town (Jana lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. A trip to town is almost a 2 hour round trip).
3) A friend told me that once a month she has an Eat-From-The-Freezer week. Brilliant!
4) I have two boxes of Christmas decorations. If something new comes in, something old gets tossed. The lids must fit.
5) Only keep one box of gift wrapping supplies.
6) Conditioner that you don’t like is great for shaving your legs with!
7) Only keep two sets of sheets per bed – 1 for summer and 1 for winter.
8 ) New clothing purchased must match something I already own.
9) If you don’t read ads, then you don’t start thinking you need things.
10) Never tell anyone that you collect something. When word gets out that you like a certain thing, it will start to come in. It can get overwhelming quickly.
There you have it! More insightful advice. I have to agree with the last one. I decided to collect something years ago and told a few people. One person (who was trying to be nice) bought me tons of these little things. First of all, it totally took the fun out of collecting something, and secondly I didn’t know where to put everything. What’s nice about collecting something yourself is you can add to your collection slowly. You can find room for things as you go.
I’m also going to try the Eat-From-Your-Freezer week. I know I have things in there that need to be used up.
I hope Jana’s advice was helpful. It’s always interesting to see how other people live and try to keep things to a minimum. Don’t forget to check out her website http://www.cabinart.net
Those are all great ideas! Since I’m in the middle of organizing our linen closet, I really like the 2 sets of sheets per bed idea.
I liked that idea too! I’ve been doing that for several years now and it really cuts down on the amount of things that need to go in the closet.
Jean, when I first heard that idea about the sheets, I was shocked. Then, I realized that if I wash the sheets as soon as I strip the bed, it isn’t a problem. Besides, then my laundry hamper doesn’t get overstuffed!