January

Start the New Year off fresh by purging expired goods in your home. Go through the fridge. Pull items out of your pantry. Empty your medicine cabinet. Take any of the expired goods you come across and toss them. Reorganize good items that you have multiples of with the oldest ones at the front to prevent stale-dating them in the future.

This also makes for a great time to clean all those areas too!

February

Tax time is almost here! That makes for a perfect time to organize your office and filing cabinets. Old taxes need to be kept for seven years, so go ahead and get rid of anything older than that.

Tax Tip: Instead of keeping everything in old shoe boxes, why not file your receipts in folders so you can find them easier next year.

March

Who’s up for some Spring (safety) Cleaning? As Daylight Savings Time begins, now is the perfect time to check dates on your smoke and co2 detectors. Smoke detectors typically have an 8-10 year life span and co2 detectors last 5-7 years. They typically have a manufacture date and/or expiry date, and should be replaced as necessary. If they are within their lifespan, now is a good time to replace the batteries regardless. If it is a hardwired unit, take the time to test it now.

Don’t forget to check your fire extinguishers and other safety devices in your home while you are at it.

April

April is a special month featuring Earth Day—an annual celebration in support of protecting our environment. People participate all over the world in many ways, many of which include community cleanups. What can you do? Clean up your yard, neighbourhood, workplace/school grounds, or participate in a community cleanup in your town or city. We can all do our part to put waste in its place, so roll up your sleeves and make our world a greener place.

May

As the weather warms up, shorts and sandals come out of storage for the summer. Now is the time to be critical of your winter wardrobe and purge what no longer works. Get rid of anything you didn’t wear over the winter. There is no point storing it, if you didn’t even wear it. Save the valuable real estate in your closet for clothes you actually wear.

June

School is winding down for another year. That means that teachers are sending home reams of old art, assignments, tests, and more. Plus, desks and lockers are getting emptied of everything else. While you might want to keep some pieces for posterity, you don’t need to keep it all. Same thing goes for school supplies; anything in good shape can certainly be reused, but broken crayons, pencil nubs, and empty pens can go. Successful purging makes for great life lessons.

July

Ah, summer. You have arrived at last! Schedules are stripped down to vacation mode and you should be too. Embrace the simple life. Spend more time outside. Add fun exercise routines to your day—swimming at the beach anyone? Eat clean foods, like healthy salads. Breathe and let go of some of those responsibilities that weigh you down, even if only for a little while.

August

As summer slips away, school looms on the horizon. Before life gets hectic once more, take the time to prepare for what lies ahead. Assess computers, tablets, phones, and other devices to see if they can handle another school year ahead. If they fall short, add them and old TVs, radios, DVDs, game systems, and other electronic devices to your e-recycling pile. Load of Rubbish will gladly collect any e-waste from your purging binge.

September

You cannot stop the school year from coming, so you might as well be ready for it. Time to restock cupboards with quick and on-the-go snacks. Before you do though, take the time to clean them out. While you are at it, do a deep clean of your stove, oven, dishwasher, fridge, and other kitchen appliances too. They will be stepping up in usage, so you might as well start off fresh all around. Of course, if they don’t come clean, now might be a good time to replace them. More for the purge pile!

October

As temperatures drop, like it or not, but many people spend less time outdoors. That means patio furniture, pool toys, yard ornaments and more need to get stored for the season. Time to get rid of any broken items, including old barbeques and lawn mowers. While you are out there, don’t forget to clean your eavestroughs and inspect the exterior of your home for any other winterization projects, like replacing windows or fixing your roof.

November

Anyone up for hibernation yet? Time to stock up on new books and movies to enjoy while you are snuggled into a cozy chair. Might as well make room for them though, by thinning out your old collections. Say goodbye to old books, movies, CDs, records, video games, board games, and other entertainment items you no longer enjoy. And if your old couch is more lumpy than luxurious, maybe you should consider getting rid of that too! We take it all.

December

The last month of the year is upon us. For many of you, that means holiday decorations come out of storage to make your home more festive. Of course as you make room for them, you need to put other pieces away. Before you store everything, think about whether you really need all those knickknacks though. Could they do with some purging too? Of course they could. And when you take your Christmas decorations down, why not purge them too. You probably got new pieces to add to your collection, so let grubby pieces go.

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And that brings us to the end of the year, but certainly not the end of your purging. Go forth and make space in your life for more time for you!