How Long to Keep Everything A-Z

You might be holding onto some clothes and shoes because, once again, you don't know how long you should keep them. I've held onto clothes and shoes well past their usefulness: when they didn't fit, itched, scratched, and no longer projected the image I was trying to project.

I've now established some guidelines for how long I keep clothes and shoes: How Long to Keep Clothes & Shoes

Financial records, receipts, tax returns, credit card offers... How long do I have to keep these? And how do I get rid of them? Fear not, here's a handy, printable list:

How Long to Keep Documents

• This stadium file is perfect for organizing incoming mail.

Food is something you *really* want to be clear on the expiration date once it goes into your refrigerator or freezer. I like to store food in Pyrex glass containers, and I label them by writing on a masking tape with a sharpie pen.

Food Storage Times

• This food storage container is perfect for storing portion-sized soups, stews, casseroles, rices and more.

See also: What to Do with Food so you can use it before it goes bad.

Whats the shelf life of your make up and grooming products? Sometimes it's very tricky to tell since makeup and shampoo often don't come with expiration dates. Here is a guide.

How Long to Keep Make Up

This is a huge source of clutter for me! I like to hang onto my Saturday and Sunday new York Times well past their expiration dates. Here are my self-implemented guidelines:

For the weekday newspaper, recycle these every single day, meaning you keep it no longer than 1 day. As soon as the next one arrives, the old one goes in the recycling bin. If there's an article or recipe I'm interested in, I tear it out and put it in my In Box.

For the thicker weekend edition, I keep these for a week.

read more about How I Manage Mail & Paper

Holding onto and using sneakers for longer than you should can lead to injury. Also, old sneakers tend to get pretty gross after you've run or walked in them for a while. Here's how to tell when it's time to upgrade your kicks.

How Long to Keep Sneakers

I remember a few years back, Mark Bittman of the New York Times said to throw spices out after one year, and then everyone told him that was too soon. I'm sticking with a year rule, just to be safe.

Spice Storage

Different sunscreens go bad at different paces base don how much heat they've been exposed to and the makeup of the ingredients. It's best to find a sunscreen that is labeled with an expiration date, barring that, throw sunscreen out after 1 year.

Top Sunscreens

If they have an expiration date, throw them out when they reach that date, but most don't, so look for these these 3 signs it's time to toss the shampoo:

1. Smells
2. Turn Color
3. Changes consistency

A good rule of thumb is to keep toiletries fora year and then buy fresh ones.

How Long to Keep Everything | How to Store Everything | How to Recycle Everything | Where to Donate Everything | How to Organize Everything