Clutter and Hoarding – How to Organize Your Medicine Cabinet
Did you notice something sticky and gooey in your medicine cabinet this morning? Do you think you need that seven-year-old tube of triple antibiotic ointment? Is it possible it’s out of date?
Over-the-counter remedies do have a shelf life to them. If you’re unsure if that remedy has any potency left in it, throw it out. Sometimes the medicines that are too old do nothing but take up space in your medicine cabinet. In our organizing project for the home, let’s include the medicine cabinet. Use these simple ideas to clear out the space takers in the cabinet.
1. To begin cleaning out your medicine cabinet, decide what you’re going to use to clean the shelves. You could use a spray cleaner, a bucket of soapy water, or perhaps a solution of vinegar and water. As appropriate, put on your rubber gloves for cleaning.
Start the project by looking at the expiration dates on the medicine cabinet items. Simply throw away the things that are expired. Just because they cost you 50 bucks that’s no reason to hold on to something that’s doing you no good.
2. After you discard the expired items, take out the remaining items. Put them in a box. Clean your medicine cabinet in sections. Start at the top and move down. You can do this project in small areas, such as one shelf at a time.
3. After you clean off the shelves, return the items to the shelves. You may want to make a list of the items you discarded. Especially if these items are prescription items, you may want to make a note to get them refilled. Of course that will depend on whether you need them or not.
If the item is seasonal, and you know that you’re going to need to use it in the upcoming season, begin to budget the money you need to pay for your prescription now. You can do this by having a little piggy bank in the bathroom somewhere. That will be where you save up to pay for your prescriptions and your over-the-counter remedies.
4. As appropriate, if there is some kind of repair that needs to be made to the medicine cabinet, make the repairs. If you are without the ability to repair what needs to be repaired, call a contractor to get the work done. Or maybe it’s time to replace the medicine cabinet.
5. If no repairs are needed, after you have reorganized or discarded the items in your medicine cabinet, praise yourself for getting the job done. Remember you’re the one that has chosen to clean out your medicine cabinet. Feel happy about achieving your goal.
