Below is a chart of the shelf life of cosmetics. Anything in your cosmetic drawer/bag/box older than what is recommended should be discarded.

If you use make up regularly or daily, your applicators, make up sponges etc need to be washed weekly. They harbour bacteria, oils from your skin and dirt. It could get especially nasty if a pimple breaks onto the sponge. Blergh I know.

To wash your applicators, sponges and powder puffs, place into a bowl of warm water and mix in a small amount of baby shampoo. Squeeze excess water out, rinse and allow to dry.

This chart is just a guide, the reasons why it’s best to discard old cosmetics is because of the germs that can breed in the product, especially products that go on the eyes and lips.

Put all the socks that don’t have a partner in a basket and leave in your laundry. Give yourself a month to find the partner, if it hasn’t shown up, the washing machine ate it, so throw it away or put it in the rag bag for polishing. There is no point in hanging on to odd socks. Socks with holes in them should be ditched, same as with socks that have lost their elastic or feel “crunchy”

Underwear shouldn’t be collected – especially stained holey underpants. Get rid of excess underwear. Bras that don’t fit, old lacey undies where the lace has become brittle, old greying singlets you don’t wear anymore etc. To prevent stains in underwear, please see the “Stain Removal” section here.

Clothes – well I think you know what you need and what you don’t need. If it doesn’t fit, and you aren’t currently successfully losing weight to fit into it, get rid of it. If it hasn’t fit for a year, it needs to go. I sell my clothes on Ebay in bulk lots. They tend to sell well, better than individual items.

You haven’t worn them in the last year? Are they hopelessly out of style? Holes in them? No tread left?

Yes? Ditch em.

Kids have a great habit of hoarding the most wonderful things… to them! My Mum I am sure could tell you tales of what a gross child I was with the things I hid in my cupboards.

Kids who go to school will bring home a tonne of artwork and crafts they have created. They will bring home pet rocks and a huge bag of marbles that they won in the school yard. The trick is to stay on top of the collections and to sort trash from treasure.

Kids who have too many toys will find themselves overwhelmed and will find less to do than a child who has half that many. So open up the toy box, empty it out, wipe out the bottom of the box, then replace with toys that are not broken, cheap nasty Happy Meal toys, or they have outgrown. 10 year old boys do not need Peek-a-Blocks. 12 year old girls have more than likely outgrown their baby dolls.

Puzzles
Go through the puzzles regularly. Get rid of or put away for a younger sibling puzzles that are too easy for the child. Place the puzzles pieces in zip lock bags and store in a drawer on a shelf. In my house if more than 5 pieces are missing from the puzzle, it goes in the bin.

Soft toys
Seriously, how many soft toys does a child need and play with?? I have some on display in my daughter’s room, she has her favourites, then the rest get given away. They just take up room and if the child doesn’t play or appreciate them, then what’s the point in keeping them?

Dolls / Barbies
It’s up to you how many you keep for your daughter, and how many you know she plays with. Go through the clothes, either repair torn items, or throw them away. Wash dirty clothes. Line up Barbie’s shoe collection and toss the shoes that don’t have mates. Put accessories in a box with a lid, put clothes in a box with a lid and the dolls in another box with a lid.

Arts / Craft / Creations
If your child really wants to keep their art work, have a wall where they can display their handiwork. When the “Art Wall” fills up, they need to take one down and replace it with the new piece. Give them a scrapbook where they can glue their paintings in. Old paintings don’t have to be wasted, they can wrap up Grannies birthday present with it and let her appreciate your child’s creativity. There has to be a line drawn when it comes to keeping all the art work that your child will ever do. If you really want a record of it all, take photos with a digital camera and store their masterpieces on a CD. Don’t keep it all.

Collections
If your child is collecting things and is really passionate about it, allow them to collect it, no matter how strange the collection may be. Give them a place they can store their collections. If their pet rock is tossed into a corner and left there for ages, it’s no longer valued and should be tossed.

The list could go on with all the different types of toys out there. The trick is to sort through every single toy, place each lot into clearly labelled containers and put them away. Big toys can go into big toy boxes. Get rid of broken toys, there really is no point in keeping them. Their books should be age appropriate.

Old shoe boxes make good sock storage AND you are recycling! This prevents the socks getting mixed up with other drawer items.

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