The first 6 days of this week we are in Zone 5 the Living Room. Not often do we get to spend this much time in this zone as it is always the last days of the month in the new week.
I am glad we get to spend this much time this month and it couldn’t have come at a better time. This is the first of the year and I am going to tell you 3 things that your can get rid of today to make Zone 5 look great again!
Old Magazines
There is one thing one can be sure of. Many ideas are repeated in the coming issue or coming year of a magazine. Magazines are great with using the bait and switch method to get your attention. They just find another way to word the same thing that people want to hear that encourages them to buy the magazine. I was great at doing this standing in the grocery line. I felt I needed a treat for all the hard work I did at grocery shopping. I wanted something to read to unwind a bit before I would put away my groceries. Today I don’t do that anymore as I come home to check notifications on Facebook to unwind a bit before I get all the groceries put away. This doesn’t mean that I don’t have any magazines. My mom likes to give me month old magazines after she reads them. Then it is up to me not to let them pile up. I remember when I kept every magazine. I had a library of them. Now I think why? By today’s standards some may have called me a magazine hoarder. When I decided to get rid of all of them I was amazed at the space I had gained. If you have old magazines from last year and you can’t bring yourself to throw them away then cut out your name and address if you get it as a subscription and give them to businesses where you get your oil changed or tires. They never have magazines for women in those places. Make someone’s wait easier in the waiting room.
Catalogs
If you have any type of hobby, you are going to have catalogs laying around. For me it has been seed catalogs because of my passion for gardening and these catalogs sure brighten up the winter for me. The problem is if I don’t stay on top of it, I could easily accumulate 3 years of catalogs and we all know the price changes from year to year. These are the ones that have no value to anyone. Just toss. Keep this year’s and make a note in your planner when all the seeds and plants you are going to buy for the season and then toss the catalog.
Newspapers
This past year I became the correspondent for local news in my area. With this I receive a complimentary weekly newspaper. The only newspapers I had to deal with before was the ones that came in the mail with the grocery ads in it. I haven’t quite been doing this job for a year yet and I have to be honest. I haven’t thrown any away. What I decided is to ask a couple of people I know that don’t get the newspaper and give to them if they want it. Otherwise some is going to be shredded for my compost pile and the rest tossed.
I am looking at that hot spot right now as I write this blog. I am going to take a before picture and an after picture for you so I best get busy at taking care of business.
Marilyn