It's spring cleaning time a good time to deal with all the clutter in the house. To be successful to tackle the clutter and keep in from coming back you need a plan.

I'm what you call a collector, I tend to keep everything. The problem is, there isn't a place for everything - not good. So I spoke to the editor of Shop Smart magazine to get some easy to do clutter control tips.

Your first instinct may be to buy a bunch of containers to put everything in. But editor Lisa Lee Freeman doesn't like that idea.

"You're putting all your clutter in boxes but you are not really addressing the problem, which is too much stuff. The best way to deal with that is once a year decide you are going to purge and put all your energy into getting rid of stuff you don't need.

"I would say go from room to room emptying drawers, closets and put everything in two piles. One pile is the stuff you like, you use, the other pile is the junk, stuff you never use, doesn't fit, that's stained, that's broken, maybe a repeat of other items you have. Get rid of that stuff," she said.

Dealing with family heirlooms is never easy, but Freeman says you've got to make some hard decisions.

"Give yourself permission to let them go," she said. "At least get rid of the broken ones, you don't need that around the house. Just save the ones in good condition. You can display them, you can use them as paper clip holders. But get rid of the ones you don't need that are ugly and taking up space."

Shop Smart magazine has a few more anti-clutter tips to pass along. Build 10 or 15 minutes in between activities to make sure you have time to clean up a project before you move on to the next one. That way at the end of the day, you won't have piles everywhere.

And identify dumping groups such as the kitchen counter or dining room table. Make sure these areas are cleared before you go to sleep.

We have a rule in my house. My wife actually came up with it. If something new comes in something old goes out. For example, if a new dress comes in, an old dress goes out, and so on.

Shop Smart says some organizing tools can just add to the clutter. The editors say accordion files tend to become "catchalls" for paper clutter. Containers with rims that stick out at the top or bottom or both are not so hot because they waste space. And cardboard boxes are only so-so because they can be damaged in normal use and are not good in places where there's any moisture, such as a garage.