Ten tips to clearing the clutter

Clearing out the clutter — from old tax returns to clothes you don’t wear to keepsakes that are no longer meaningful to you — can be a wonderful gift to yourself and your family, organizing experts say.

Linda Hetzer, co-author of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home with Janet Hulstrand, has talked to hundreds of people about paring down what they own, and she remembers one retired woman who went through all of her belongings, sold some of them and gave away many other things. When asked why she had done it, she said, “I am doing this for my children. I don’t want them to have do it. It’s a gift.”

“We can keep the memories and get rid of the stuff,” Hetzer says.

In fact, half of people around the world say they could live happily without most of the items they own, according to a new survey of 10,574 adults ages 16 and up in 29 nations. And two-thirds say they make it a point to get rid of unneeded possessions at least once a year, say the findings, released Tuesday by Havas Worldwide.

Retirement is an ideal time to declutter, experts say. “You don’t want to leave your kids a big mess,” says New York City organizing expert Julie Morgenstern, author of Shed Your Stuff, Change Your Life.

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