Do you ever wonder how you collected so many options? You started with one and now you have five half used items. One of the main culprits for letting a category get out of control is starting a new product before you have finished the original. Perhaps you realize you’re nearing the end of your sunscreen, mascara, moisturizer, handsoap, shampoo, (insert any product), so you’re proactive and buy a replacement. Perhaps you’re not looking for a replacement but see a promising new brand, or find a specialty item on sale and are excited to use it. Instead of waiting until you have finished the original, you start using the new one right away, without getting rid of the original item. This brings me to Show Pony Summer Series Method #8 Finish Before Replacing.

The best example of this in my house can be found in my freezer. I have bread bags galore with 1-3 slices left. Whether it’s an aversion to crusts, or simply a fresher loaf arrived, I often forget about finishing my current loaf before moving on. Whether it’s your freezer, your cupboard or your closet, replacing before finishing can lead to way too many options, getting overwhelmed and not finishing any of them. An easy test is to evaluate the items, how much is left in each? If there’s only ⅓ left in each bottle, you know you love to replace before finishing. 

Fixing this is easy, simply use SHOW PONY METHOD # 3 choose one item to use up all the way, and put the rest out of sight. For the second step you have options, either you can stop buying replacements before you have finished the original. Or, get in the practice of buying a replacement and storing it out of sight until it is done.

I find it better to have a replacement waiting in the wings. Recently, I thought  I was reaching the end of my daily sunscreen so I bought a replacement. I expected to hit the bottom within a couple of days, but it wasn’t until a month later that I finally used the last drop! It was so easy to finish the bottle and look for a replacement, instead of having 2 bottles to choose from for the entire month.

Do you often replace an item before it is finished? Let me know how this method works for you!