Are Pets Messier Than Kids?

Pets are like kids in many ways. We love and take care of them. We buy clothes and toys for them. They make a mess and do not clean up after themselves! Thanks to their owners (us), our pets tend to accumulate too much stuff. Toys, clothes, beds, and blankets are scattered about the house. […]

File Cabinet Drawer Open Avadian

We need to declutter and archive statements more often.

The truth is my husband and I archive our records once every three years. Thirty-six months of accumulated paperwork is all our file cabinets can handle. By this time, our files have grown so full that even the hanging folders lose their grip and collapse from the weight of being overstuffed. It’s also about this […]

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Photos, PHOTOS Everywhere!

Photos, PHOTOS, when do they become Digital Clutter? In STUFFology 101, we write about digital clutter the kind that harmlessly takes up residence on your smartphone, tablet, or hard or external drive. On the cluttergories page, we define digital clutter as anything in virtual form—such as photos stored in our computers, a backlog of emails, or too […]

I've "Bin" there before

I’ve “Bin” there before

Clutter builds up over time. It creeps along, unnoticed at first. Then one day we almost trip and fall over that stack of stuff next to the couch. We try to avoid the clutter creep. We try to outsmart it. We store things in bags, boxes, and storage bins. Out of sight, out of mind. […]

The U.S. Savings Bonds Windfall

By Brenda Avadian, MA   During the 1950s, while earning $100-plus a week, my father withdrew 10%  of his paycheck to buy U.S. Savings Bonds. In 1996, after my father was diagnosed with dementia, my husband, David, and I returned to my childhood home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where my father had lived for forty-five years. […]