Today, we conclude our little week-long series of posts about home organization.

Now, if you're anything like me, the biggest thing you learned from organizing your home is that you have way too much stuff. That means you need a plan to deal with it.

For things that you don't use or aren't going to use, you can donate or sell them. Please, only pass along those things are are still usable. Clothes with stains and games missing half the pieces aren't donations — they are trash. For food, check the expiration dates. Food pantries are not permitted to use anything that has expired. (Even if the food is fine. I, for one, have no idea how dried pasta goes bad.) If you have tons of unopened toiletries and cosmetics, homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters may be happy recipients.

If you are going to keep things (because they are open already or just because you want them), you need to make a plan to use them up.

Right now, I'm focused on using up the food in my cabinets and the huge toiletry stash I've accumulated and reading the magazine backlog. So, I'm making a special effort to plan menus that use up the food I have. I found 3 partial bottles of pickles (homemade — yummmmm!) in my refrigerator. They became part of the lunches I bring to work each day. Now, they are gone and that space is clear. I plan breakfasts to finish partial boxes of cereal and containers of yogurt. Dinners are designed to use the food in my freezer and the cans in the pantry. Ideally, by the time I need to shop for the holidays, there will be plenty of room in the kitchen and I'll be energized to do my holiday cooking. I sorted all of my toiletries and have them organized and accessible. I won't buy anything new until I use what I have. And I keep what I need to use immediately (moisturizer, shampoo) close to hand so I can use it up. Every day, I make sure there's a magazine close by so I have something to read on the subway or while I wait for dinner to cook.

I'm only doing a little bit at a time, but after three weeks, I can already see a huge difference. There is more space in my fridge and my freezer seems downright empty. Cans no longer fall out when I open my cabinets. Several toiletry bottles are approaching empty and are almost ready for replacement. The magazine stack will be gone before Halloween.

Slow but steady may be boring, but it's effective!