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Perhaps the most difficult part about spring cleaning for many of us (including PennySaverUSA staffer Jason, the writer of this post) is that it’s just NOT FUN.

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There are enough things in life you have to do already that you don’t enjoy, adding spring cleaning to the list is just not going to happen unless you can find a way to make it fun.

While that might not seem possible, PennySaverUSA is here to make the impossible a reality with these five spring cleaning tips:

1. Take your time: Stressing yourself out that you have to do all of your spring cleaning in one day is the fastest way to making yourself miserable. Pick one area of the house to clean each day (or week). This will make the task seem a lot less daunting. Things are a lot more fun when you remain relaxed.
2. Make it a game: Create different challenges for yourself. For example, when cleaning the kitchen, see if you can guess the expiration date of that old jar of jelly in your refrigerator (READ: Organizing your fridge). If you’re right treat yourself to a cookie. When cleaning out the closet, see if you can guess the country where your old clothes were made. You can do this for each room you clean.
3. Turn it into a profitable endeavor: Everything is more fun when it involves making money. Keep an inventory of all items you find while spring cleaning that have resale value (READ: How to decide what to do with used items) and place a free classifieds ad for them on PennySaverUSA.com or hold a garage sale.
   

   A little song and dance goes a long way.

4. Crank up the music: There is no easier way to make an activity more fun than by blasting your favorite tunes. Sing along to them while doing your spring cleaning and take a mini-break every now and then to dance a little, too. It’ll lift your spirits and put your mind off the monotony of cleaning in no time.
5. Schedule fun activities before and after: If you’ve picked Saturday afternoon to do some of your spring cleaning, make sure to do something you like on Saturday morning and reserve some fun time on Saturday night, as well. This will keep in you a good mood, while you attack the makeup cabinet (READ: Makeup drawer spring cleaning tips) or whatever other area you are cleaning.

The key to a successful spring cleaning experience is to go in with a plan.

In this latest installment of our Spring Cleaning Tips series, we lay out a few simple steps for helping you figure out and execute your plan.

1. Come up with an objective for each room: While this step may seem obvious, it’s actually surprisingly easy to overlook. The last thing you want is to put in all this time, effort and money to get your spring cleaning done, only to discover that you put away things you still need or that you dislike the way your room now looks.

   Avoid that disappointing outcome by compiling a list of expectations for each room and perhaps draw up a little sketch of what you want each room to look like when you are done. Who knows, there might be some rooms that don’t require any spring cleaning.

2. Make your own cleaning products our use coupons to buy them: Last week, Brandi from The Reali$tic Couponer did an outstanding spring cleaning tips guest blog post for us about DIY cleaning products. As Brandi pointed out, it’s much easier than you would think to create your own products.
   

   Get everyone involved when doing your spring cleaning.

   If you still prefer to purchase store-bought cleaners, then it is imperative you use coupons. Do some research (Good Housekeeping has some good information), target which cleaners you need and what brands you prefer and then search for coupons of those products on the company’s web site or Facebook page, on PennySaverUSA.com or in your local PennySaver print publication.

3. Get everyone in your household to pitch in: Spending time, money and effort on spring cleaning and ending up with a rift that makes your living situation uncomfortable is, well, a disastrous result. Prevent that eventuality by including your housemates in all of your spring cleaning plans and asking them to participate. Just make sure to assign roles and responsibilities to help make the process efficient and keep people from stepping on each others toes.
4. Pick a date and stick to it: We’ve all been there. You say you are going to start spring cleaning this weekend, but then a friend calls with an invite to something fun or a relative calls and asks you to visit and you completely ditch your spring cleaning plans. This inevitably causes the situation to spiral and before long you are left with a mess that seems too overwhelming to attack.

   Stay away from this pitfall by dedicating a day to spring cleaning on the calendar and letting everyone know you are busy and unavailable that day. Unless it’s an emergency, make it a point to ignore all calls, texts and emails until you are done.

Sticking to this spring cleaning tips plan should get you on the right path. Please let us know in the comments if you have other suggestions.

All of a sudden, spring is less than two weeks away. It’s time to start getting out of that winter rut and look ahead.

Between spring cleaning, buying clothes for the new season, working on the yard and getting your car in order after the brutal winter months; there is much to do.

Those tasks can become expensive and put a dent into the budget, but that’s why we’re here to help. Without much effort, you can find coupons that will minimize your costs.

Too busy to clean the whole house yourself and worried about spending a small fortune on a service? Don’t be. There are a number of options available with reasonable prices and good discounts.

As for clothing, just taking a quick glance at our classifieds reveals a multitude of possibilities for altering your wardrobe.

Whether you are a do-it-yourself landscaper or prefer to have a professional handle your yard, you should be covered in that area pretty affordably as well.

Even your car’s maintenance can be done for a fair price.

Don’t stress about the expenses of spring time. Just enjoy the blooming flowers and sunny skies.

A great by-product of spring cleaning every year in many households is the annual garage sale/yard sale.  Many of us experienced this trademark of domestic enterprise that would rid closets of grown-out-of-clothes and toys, old electronics; anything that you can put a price on and a neighbor or passer-by can purchase and enjoy for themselves!  PennySaver would love to supply you with a few tips before your garage or yard sale to help to maximize your effort.

1. Location, Location, Location: When I was a child, we lived in a rather remote area, miles off of the highway, in a low traffic area. A yard sale at our house was sure to yield almost no profit, because, on a given summer day, literally 5-6 cars would pass per hour, and that doesn’t make for the ideal condition to encourage shoppers. If you live in an area without a lot of foot or car traffic, maybe ask a relative or friend if they would want to participate in a joint venture, or if you could just use their prime real-estate for your sale.

2. Pricing: We know that it’s hard to part with certain items that are taking up room, but pricing too high because of your affection for the item doesn’t help anyone. Price things reasonable, and that will encourage people to buy a larger quantity, which serves the exact reasoning for the yard sale in the first place: To Clear Things Out!

3. Bundle Items: Create bundles of similar items to sell in larger quantities. It might encourage people to buy, as it encourages their chance of satisfaction in a single purchase.  If you’re selling books or dvds, group them together in fives; even if the customer doesn’t end up enjoying the first book, they have four other chances and a new book to add to their bookshelf.

4 . Create Bargain Bins: Everyone loves  a good bargain bin! It’s great to sort through merchandise and know it’s all the same price and easy to add up what you’re spending, and the person selling doesn’t have to label every item. Save time and money!

5. Advertise: It is vital to advertise your sale with flyers and ads on…um….PennySaver!  Some people live and die for yard sales and garage sales and are looking for sales in their neighborhoods on a daily basis . It will be worth it when you turn a big profit from a very little investment!

6. Fun Stuff: Why not have some refreshments for your customers? Bring out some lemonade, have some bottled water on hand; on a hot summer day, it will help to create a better shopping experience. Have some music playing, and greet everyone just like you’re running your own little store for the day. A happy customer is the best kind of customer!

7. Raffle: If you have a large item that you need to get rid of that might be a bit much to sell at a yard sale price, but you really need it to go, do a raffle! People will flock to a sale if they think they might win a lawnmower, a TV, a bedroom set, etc.  People might show up just for this and end up buying something else!

We even provide you a little assistance for signage for your sale, Click Here! If you’re a seller or a buyer, it truly is a great place to find a great deal and a great place to make a little extra cash. And these days, that’s a great scenario either way, right?