Blissfully Organised

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Changing Purchasing Behaviour

There is more to simplifying your home management than decluttering the things that you no longer need.

I also guide my clients to set up easy to manage systems that work for the way that they live and advise on introducing daily habits that will help to avoid the build of clutter, such as time management and purchasing behaviour.

Once you have achieved your home organisational goals the easiest way to maintain order is to be aware of everything that you have, understanding what you need and creating effective storage so that everything has a place.

The key to changing future purchasing behaviour is to be mindful of the inflow of stuff into your home and being aware of what you already have. This will help you avoid purchasing duplicate items as you can easily find what you need, when you need it.

If you are still decluttering and organising space in your home it’s useful to put each item in one of the following categories as you review it.

  1. Essential Items – use daily
  2. Regularly Used Items – you don’t use it every day but regularly i.e. once a week or once a month
  3. Desired but not needed items – these are items that you purchased as you wanted them rather than needed them
  4. Archive items – these are items that you do not need to access regularly and need to be stored in a less accessible space in your home such as a loft

Items in category three are much easier to declutter as they have been purchased out of want rather than need. You can consider ways of decluttering these sustainably.  This reduces the environmental impact as you keep stuff in circulation, rather than simply storing and not using it in your own home. Consider reselling or donating items that you have purchased but do not need. If you have time you could also calculate how much you have spent on items that you don’t need. Once you are aware of how much you are spending regularly can adjust your spending habits and redirect this money to something that you need to save for or plan a special treat  (weekend away, holiday, trip to the theatre etc).

How can I stop buying things that I do not need?

It’s ok to buy a few things that we like but if you feel that you are regularly buying items on impulse that you do not need, I wanted to offer my top tips to support you to adjust your purchasing behaviour. Extra stuff requires space and needs to be managed.

  1. Inventory: Keeping an inventory check of the things that you own will help you avoid unnecessary impulse duplicate purchases.
  2. What is Important? Understand what is important to you in your home. You may have a hobby or collect specific items. Be aware of your what you need.
  3. Create a purchase list: this should include replacement items and new items that you need. When you go shopping you can focus on the items on your need list. Remember that if you purchase a replacement item you need to recycle the item that you are replacing.
  4. Avoid temptations: If you know that you can’t resist purchasing items on a shopping trip or whilst browsing online you may want to take a break from shopping trips into town or online shopping. Only go shopping if you have a list of what you need.
  5. Delay a purchase for 5 days: avoiding an immediate purchase to  give you time to think about if you really need it and where it will be stored in your home.

Having less stuff means that you have less stuff to manage. Be mindful of the inflow into your home and enjoy a simplified home management.

Let’s keep organising!

Tracy Ross

Professional Organiser

Blissfully Organised

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  • Tracy has helped me many times over the years, and I think I must have known her for 10 years now! When I first contacted her I had reservations about letting someone into my home, making judgments and telling me what I should do. But Tracy's service is NOT like that at all. She did a full home audit and we chatted about what I hoped to achieve. For years I'd been frustrated by our storage area, a large room under the house which was hard to access and full of things we hadn't seen for years. We agreed to tackle it and Tracy suggested that to start with, we took everything out. I thought she was completely mad at this point. Three hours later we had done just that, assessed what was there, got rid of some of it, sorted some and made plans for the rest. It was like a massive weight had lifted from my shoulders. After that she helped me organise rooms, and filter through boxes of stuff. More recently she helped me prepare for a big move. It's always an absolute pleasure to see Tracy and she is very thoughtful in her approach. Her service is life changing and I am very grateful that I contacted Tracy all those years ago. Contact her now, you honestly won't regret it.

    thumb Clare Suttie
    June 11, 2020

  • Tracy helped my young girls and I declutter before a house move. In particular I was impressed with how Tracy got on well with the girls (7 yrs and 3 yrs) straight away and explained the sorting process simply. This has had a lastly impact on my children, getting them to appreciate you can’t keep everything!! I too enjoyed spending focused time with Tracy looking at my wardrobe. I will definitely be implementing the learnings for my clothes purchases such as reducing my tendency to buy some items in too many colour ways! Thank you Tracy for all your help. Jo

    thumb Joanna Dew
    August 25, 2020

  • I first met Tracy in 2019. I live overseas and wanted to help my Mother clear a downstairs room to become a bedroom, I needed a gentle, trusted professional to complete the task after I had returned to my home. We all met and agreed upon a plan, but it was not to be as my Mother’s health deteriorated very quickly and she passed away. Although I did return to the UK a few times that year, decluttering wasn’t a priority. Then Covid put an end to my being able to return. Finally, in spring of this year, flight restrictions were lifted and I saw an opportunity to return to the UK, now faced with the task of clearing the family home. I contacted Tracy and thankfully, despite short notice, she had some free days to help me. We arranged 6 days throughout my 2 1/2 weeks to help me stay on track and motivated. Tracy helped me stay focussed and helped me believe we could achieve a fairly daunting task of going through a lifetime of memories, papers, photos and possessions. I had to be very disciplined about what was kept as whatever I chose to keep was to be shipped back to my Country. Tracy gave me time to tell a story about an item and why it made the “keeper”, or “think about it” pile, yet didn’t break stride in her work whilst listening. It was a very cathartic process. I felt like I was talking to a long time friend. She has a talent for putting you at ease, and for helping you see objects with a critical eye. Not once did I feel she was making the decision, more that she helped me verbalize my attachment, or not, and that really builds a bond of trust. After each session, I had “homework” to complete before we met again and a follow up email charting the successes of the day and the plan for the next session. As I was on my own during my stay in my family home, this could have been rather lonely, but knowing that Tracy was coming, both broke up the monotony of going through endless boxes and kept me on task such that the job was successfully completed.

    thumb Andree Stow
    May 9, 2022

  • Tracy is exceptional at what she does and is generous in what she gives. Highly recommend.

    thumb Jayne reah
    February 23, 2022

  • Tracy is amazing. We were renovating our house and finally was able to plan some extra storage. Tracy helped us to plan out new fitted wardrobes and then came back a few months later to help me get into a system with my laundry ( one of the things as a family I find hard to keep under control! ). She is kind, non judgemental, motivational & inspirational! I would say most people could do with a bit of Blissfully Organised in their lives!

    thumb Laura Dannan
    December 14, 2020