If somebody asked me...

1. If you feel like there is more month left than money you make (what did I just write?), then do this little assignment:

Do NOT buy anything you don't need for 30 days. No buy one/get one frees, not two of anything that is on sale that you won't use in a month -- just pay your bills and buy the absolute minimum of anything for 30 days. Then, look and see what you have left.

Next month - fund your savings with 10% more than you did last month (if you funded them at all). And again, don't buy anything that you don't need.

By now, you have noticed that those things will come on sale again, and there is no need to load up as much as you think. Bank the money. Live more for today until you get some money in the bank.

Nobody really needs 400 rolls of toilet paper, 5 cartons of paper towels, 8 bottles of ketchup, 3 mustards, 4 mayonnaises, 6 jars of peanut butter, 4 bags of rice, 8 cans of corns, 3 large cans of baked beans, and 7 jars of jelly in the house all the time. You will survive with only one of these things, each, in the house at a time. And if you run out, well, guess what? You won't die. Bank the difference.

Oh, hey, I've got a better idea - eat all the food in your cabinets and refrigerator before you go shopping again. That'll teach you to buy those 20 cans of Vienna sausages because you think the hurricane is coming.

2. Clutter causes depression. I am sure of it.

If doctors would ask patients "how much clutter is in your home?" and suggest getting rid of it, before they write out prescription drugs for depression - I think it would change the world.

Clutter is worse than entailments, Mr. Cunningham, and entailments are bad. So sell some of that clutter and pay off those entailments. Come on, you know you don't need 7/8 of that stuff.

Here is a book on diet and clutter. The title is just so funny. Does this clutter make my butt look fat?

Of course, this is coming from a person who had made a career out of decluttering. But, hey, I can learn, too.

Are you thinking, "I have no idea what to do with all this (junk) wonderful stuff?" If you don't live in a desert or in the wilderness of Alaska, I'm sure there is a Goodwill or some drop off place for your (junk) stuff. I mean, you can always have a Garage Sale. And just sell it cheap.

But, should you have a problem, try this site and they will help you. Excess Access. Very clever. I didn't check the link really well, so I don't know about the shipping and the handling, but it sounds like they help you match up someone to take your (junk) stuff if you remain perplexed about the situation.

Regardless, bag it or box it, and be gone with it; you will thank me and think of all the money you will save on prescription drugs! And for heavens sakes, don't buy anything to replace any of the stuff of which you discarded!!

Here's another decluttering tip -- fill a bag or box with things you have not used or needed in a long time. If you have NOT OPENED the box for 30 days -- just pitch that box! I think even Murphy's law would support that if something necessary is missing, it would surely be called to be looked for within a 30 day period. But, if you are really, really squeamish about this, wait 45 days -- then throw it out or take it to the Goodwill.

It's all not so hard, really.

The truth is at the bottom of a well. You look in a well, and you see the sun or the moon, but if you jump in, there's no longer the sun or the moon,; there's the truth. ~~ Leonard Sciascia