Spring Cleaning time is here and for many, it can be quite an undertaking. Check out these tips to make the entire process easy and organized!

Step One: Determine what you really need/frequently use and put the rest aside.

There are a variety of different items people hoard, and closets bear the brunt of the hoarding. Do you still have clothes and shoes you wore in high school? It may be time to get rid of these items. Don't worry, your groovy bell bottoms and miniskirts may have been appropriate then, but if they are sitting in your closet collecting dust, you should probably just get rid of them. A good rule of thumb is: If you haven't worn it in the past two years, throw it out; excluding special occasion gowns and suits, of course. Follow this rule with everything in your house. If you haven't used something in the past two years, there's a good chance you won't miss it when it's gone.

Step Two: Make a profit or a charitable donation with your excess belongings.

They say "one man's trash is another man's treasure." You may not have any use for your old belongings but someone else could see them as a great benefit to their lives and may even think they are worth a pretty penny. Your vintage clothing we discussed earlier can be put up for auction on eBay to make some decent money from the hipster crowd. The same can be said about shoes, books, kitchen appliances and more. Another alternative method for gaining profit from your old, unwanted belongings would be to hold a garage sale. Garage sales can actually bring in a pretty good amount of money that you never knew your old junk was worth. If there is any excess after the sales, or if you would just rather not mess with sales at all, you can simply drop your excess belongings off at a local thrift store to make a charitable donation.

Step Three: Take it room by room.

Once you get all of the excess junk out of the way, cleaning can still seem like an overwhelming task. The best way to ease the stress of the job is to simply start with the easiest room in the house and work your way up from there. For example, you can clean the bathroom one day, the living room the next and so on.

Step Four: Cleaning while you organize.

To ease the task of cleaning after everything is organized, you can practice cleaning while you organize. Use this time to attack major problems as you see them, such as a stain or spill on the carpet beneath a pile of junk.

Step Five: Clean on a day when the kids are gone and there will be little interference.

There is no subjective best time of day to clean because everyone has different schedules. Choose a time according to your schedule where you will have a full or even a half day of free time to devote to cleaning. If there are other people in your house, encourage them to either help you clean or leave the house that day so you can clean and organize without interruption. As far as a general time of day, it would probably be best to begin early in the morning so you can make quick trips to the store as needed throughout the process.

Step Six: Give each room a unique cleaning treatment.

Every room is structured differently and serves different purposes. Because of this, you should apply different organizational techniques and cleaning strategies to each room. For example, the garage requires more organization and less cleaning than other rooms in the house. The kitchen will need to be mopped and scrubbed. Another good tip is to clean in old clothing so you don't mind getting it ruined. One of the best products you can use to help organize your closet is the Closet Genie, which can be found at a local dollar store and is an easy-to-use and secure way to maximize closet space.

Step Seven: How to stay organized.

The best way to stay organized is to constantly get rid of things you don't use anymore. For example, if you just bought a pair of new shoes, get rid of an old pair you don't use anymore and replace the shoes instead of adding to a collection. This allows you to keep a steady amount of belongings in your home and will eliminate the build-up of clutter. Another easy way to stay organized is to simply put things back where they belong after you use them. Staying organized is a great way to avoid Spring cleaning until the next year comes along.