Celebrate March’s Clutter Awareness Month

The word “clutter” derives from the Middle English word “clotter,” which means coagulate. Think stagnant, accumulated … stuck! When clutter invades our homes and offices, it can our space cluttered … and us disorganized as a result. We lose things, forget to pay bills, we procrastinate and waste time. So stop contemplating your clutter and dedicate some time to conquering it!

DEFINE “CLUTTER.” Clutter is anything unnecessary and extraneous. It can be more than the physical clutter most of us think of. Getting organized means clearing out the clutter in your mind, heart, and life.

START THE PROCESS OF DECLUTTERING. Start small. Divide your desk or room into sections. Pick one section (like a drawer, cabinet or closet) and begin decluttering. Try to touch things only once while going through this process – quickly make a decision to keep or toss.

ASK IF YOU CONSIDER EACH ITEM BEAUTIFUL, USEFUL, OR LOVED. If not, why are you keeping it?  If you’re still not sure if you should get rid of an item, ask yourself, “What is the worse thing that could happen if I toss this?” The answer may help give you the power to discard the clutter.

TO STOP CLUTTER, PREVENT IT FROM ACCUMULATING IN THE FIRST PLACE. Don’t give clutter a chance to form. As you’ve probably experienced, once clutter occupies a space, it has a way of multiplying. Always remember to place your emphasis on quality or quantity. In other words, it’s not important to have a lot of things, many of which you never use. It’s more beneficial to have fewer things, all of which you use and/or enjoy.

THINK BEFORE YOU BUY. Try to look beyond the initial “thrill of the purchase” and see what provides deeper moments of meaning. Once you rid yourself of clutter and make space only for what’s special and useful, you’ll find it’s easier to get – and stay – organized!

Hope you’ll visit The Organizing Genie blog again when you need home and office organizing suggestions and advice. I’m always here for you!

What to Do with Garage Sale Leftovers

In my old disorganized life, after having a garage sale I would put the leftovers back in the garage to “hold onto” for the next garage sale.  So essentially, I was holding onto stuff I had already deemed unwanted, and if not sold in the garage sale, no one else wanted it either. But for some reason I felt that this junk still had value enough to continue storing it in my garage.  I now see the error of my ways, and now ban the unsold stuff from ever coming back into my garage, and I’ve never missed any of it.

How about you? Is your garage, basement, attic full of stuff you’ve already relegated to those spaces, but you hold onto it for some reason? I found some great tips for what to do with garage sale leftovers on About.com by Housekeeping expert Sarah Aquirre.

Originally posted 2009-07-10 09:21:01. Republished by Old Post Promoter

7 Strategies to Make Laundry Day Less of a Chore

With families so busy these days, the laundry room can be one of the most cluttered areas of a home. Kids are notorious for changing clothes frequently and adults often drop items as they come in the door. Often by the end of the week, the laundry room and hampers are overflowing and the weekend is spent performing the arduous task of doing laundry. So how does a busy family spend less time doing laundry and more time enjoying the weekend? By organizing the laundry process and laundry room to make the task a less time consuming chore.

Here are some tips to make laundry day much more efficient:

1. Assign one to two days a week as laundry day. If you run your washer and dryer less often it saves time and money on your electric bill. In our home we do laundry over the weekend and one load mid-week on Wednesday.

2. Make laundry day a family affair. There is no good reason for the home manager to be responsible for the family’s laundry without help. This is a chore that children need to learn and it makes the job much more manageable when everyone pitches in.

3. In a common area between bedrooms, replace the traditional one basket hamper with a three to four section laundry sorter. Clothes are then sorted by color as they go into the hamper, saving the entire step of sorting laundry by loads (color, whites, etc.) In our home, we use a laundry sorter that looks like the chrome example below, but there are several styles to choose from. Take it from my experience however, don’t pinch pennies and buy a cheap model ~ this system will get lots of use, and from my experience, the less expensive (less sturdy) models don’t hold up over time. This one tip will save you about 20 minutes per weekend.

4. Train your children to wear a piece of clothing at least twice. This was a habit I had to break in my youngest daughter, who found it easier to throw every piece of clothing she took off into the laundry basket instead of hanging it up. I developed a sign that hung over my kid’s laundry sorter that said “STOP, is that item really dirty? If not, hang it up and wear again.” Setting that expectation reduced our weekly laundry volume by about 30%.

5. Set up an organizer that contains your most used laundry supplies near the washer and dryer. That means detergents, softener, stain removers, hangers and baskets all in one place.

6. Assign each family member a basket or designated area for their clean clothes. As clothing comes out of the dryer, each family member is responsible to fold and put away their own items, then return the basket. Use these handy sorting labels for hanging clothes Simple Division Garment Organizers to separate clothes in a laundry room by each family member. Each family member can easily find their clothes to return to their room.

7. When purchasing new clothes, get into the habit of reading clothing labels and select fabrics that hold their color well, resist stains and wrinkles, such as polyester or rayon mixes. This will reduce the arduous job of ironing. I don’t even own an ironing board anymore.

I am in the process of developing a laundry sorting tool into a product that has helped many, many of my clients. You’ll be amazed how this one tool will reduce the time you spend doing family laundry. I can’t wait to introduce it to you in the next few months.

Originally posted 2008-09-20 08:16:24. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Tackling the Dreaded To Do List

Trying to get things done around the house, but feeling overwhelmed by your never-ending list of things-to-do?

Here’s a simple system that works.

Make a Master Task List of everything you have to, or want, to do. Don’t worry about the order right now.  You’re basically brain-dumping on paper all your To-Do’s to get the thoughts out of your head and onto paper. This exercise  creates a master laundry list of tasks.

Now, beside each task on your master list, assign a letter of priority:

A = Important / Urgent

B = Important, but Not Urgent

C = Would be nice to do

Each day, transfer no more than 4 items (3 is ideal) from the master list to your To Do List (two A Priorities, one B Priority, and one A, B or C Priority). Focus on completing only those items and forget the rest for now.  When you’ve completed the 4 items on your list, feel free to transfer 4 more items from your Master List to your To Do List.

The key to this system is that you’ve gotten all those pesky tasks that swim around in your head, onto paper. Then by moving to your To-Do list and focusing only 3-4 tasks per day, you’ve kept your list manageable and attainable, rather than setting yourself up for failure by a To Do list that not even Super-woman could accomplish.

By using this system every day, you’ll be amazed at all you can accomplish in less time and less stress!

Find this To Do list notepad at The Simplified Home.

Originally posted 2009-11-07 16:48:10. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Where to Find Money Saving Coupons

Now that you know you can save money with coupons where do you find them? There are the obvious places that coupons hang out, but you may not be aware of some other places you can get coupons. Keep reading to find out more.

The most likely place to find money saving coupons is the newspaper. On Sunday especially, the newspaper is full of store circulars and coupons for products you use all the time and new items that you can try for next to nothing. This is the first place that everyone looks.

Manufacturers also offer printable coupons online. These coupons have barcodes and can be printed off of your printer and used in their store. Most people don’t think about these coupons but they save you lots of money. I have gotten into the habit of searching online for store coupons before leaving the house.

Have you ever received emails with links to recipes for sites like Betty Crocker, Bisquick or Cooking Light? If you like to cook or rather like to eat, check out these links. You can unsubscribe to these emails whenever you like, but give them a look first. Not only do you find interesting recipes but they usually include coupons as well. Simply agree to receive new offers and your electronic mailbox will be full of coupons for cake mix, pancake mix, free trial size lotions, hairsprays and other toiletries.

Printable coupons are also available on websites. Try sites like www.coolsavings.com or www.allprintablecoupons.com. You can search by category or brand name to find coupons that fit your needs. Just point, click and print those that interest you. It couldn’t be easier.

If you belong to survey sites, you know that you can make extra money by offering your opinion. Some survey sites also offer points for taking advantage of their offers through links on their sites. On MyPoints.com, one of these discount links leads to printable grocery coupons. Every coupon that you redeem at the store earns you points towards gift card rewards when you reach a certain points level.

Don’t neglect magazines either. While you are reading the articles and looking at the pictures, take a glance over at the advertising pages. Many advertisers include a coupon along with their ads to entice customers to buy their product. Some types of coupons offered can include, Buy One, Get One Free or up to $1.00 or more off of a starter pack for air freshener or a new mechanical mop. If you ignore them, you’ll be throwing away money.

Look for displays at the front of your grocery store. Some grocery stores have coupon bins where customers can drop off coupons that they don’t need in case someone else can use them. You could find a coupon for several items on your list if you take time to look.

Another place that I look for coupons is in my Angie’s List magazine. Need your house painted, an interior decorator or even tickets to a local show? A membership with Angie’s List will surely pay for itself in the discounts and coupons you’ll get from participating vendors.

Coupons are a valuable asset to the shopper trying reduce household spending. Get in the habit of looking for coupon deals everywhere so you don’t miss out on great savings.

Important Tips for Closing Out 2008

Originally posted 2009-01-04 20:06:49. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Are you prepared for an emergency?

March is Red Cross Month. As we approach the season of increased weather related emergencies, we are reminded of the unprecidented natural disasters of 2008. At no time in my lifetime can I remember so many natural emergencies occurring so close together. 

Regardless of how busy our daily lives are, we must take personal responsibility for our own care and safety by developing a preparedness plan in the event of a national emergency.  As the Red Cross says “Help Starts with You.”  Preparedness is all about planning ahead, having what you need on hand, storing things in an accessible way and making sure you know what to do before you need to put that knowledge into practice. Even though predicting every disaster scenario is impossible, preparing the basics is smart and simple. Take the time NOW to accomplish the below steps and your family will be basically prepared for any natural or unnatural disaster.

• Prepare a Family Communication/Reunion Plan. The Plan enables your family to communicate and to meet during a disaster. It records all important phone numbers, email addresses, and meet-up locations so that family members can reach one another by phone, email or in person. But keep in mind that you may not be able to rely on land or mobile phone communication, so be sure to have a back up plan.
• Stock three days and three nights of provisions to get you through 72-hours of living without electricity. The provisions are obtainable at any Walmart or Target and most large grocery stores. Just add these items to your regular shopping list.
  • One gallon of water per person per day (for three days). For a family of four, you’ll need 12 gallons of water.
  • Ready to eat, non-perishable food (dried fruit, cereal. protein bars, canned food, crackers, soups, pasta, rice, peanut butter and jelly, pudding cups, powdered milk are highly recommended)
  • Paper plates, cups, dinnerware, paper towels, plastic food bags, plastic gloves and a manual can opener
  • One flashlight per person plus extra batteries
  • Travel size toiletries, including sun screen
  • A First Aid Kit for the home, one for the car and one for the grab and go bag.
• In a central location put a change of clothes for each family member plus extra underwear and blankets and basic toiletries like soap, toothbrush, shampoo, toilet paper and razors. Use a shelf, an extra large plastic trash bin, or an extra large plastic container for these items.
• Have a supply of cash for a 72-hour period. ATMs may not be an option.
• Prepare a supply of family over-the counter and prescription medicines.  Remember the pets too.
• Purchase a NOAA weather radio. Radio Shack, Walmart, Home Depot and Ace Hardware carry them. Set it for your county. It will tell you the status of the disaster, evacuation information, and alerts. Get a transistor radio with batteries. It will tell you local conditions, school closings, travel hazards, and local shelters. While you’re there pick up a landline telephone (it costs under $12.00)
• Pack a grab and go bag (backpack or small rolling luggage) in case you have to evacuate your home to a hotel, shelter or relative’s home. Keep it light with just the basics: toiletries, change of clothes, medicine, 2 bottles of water, protein bars and cell phone.
• One person in the family needs to carry a first aid kit.
• Depending on your family, add special items like extra eyeglasses, favorite plush toys, or portable electronic games.
• A dust mask, duck tape, scissors, a whistle, can opener and other similar items.
• Copy the contents of your wallet (both sides of credit cards, insurance cards, and license). Stick it in a grab and go bag.
• Prepare for the care of your pets too – food, water and food bowl, leash, a toy, medications, vet records.
• For a complete, portable document system, get a PortaVault at http://www.securitaonline.com.

Schedule a natural preparedness day to review your plan with your family. Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for their own safety when a natural disaster does occur. Then practice your family disaster plan at least twice per  year.

For more information on developing your family’s disaster plan, visit:

American Red Cross - “Help Starts With You”

www.Ready.gov

Originally posted 2009-03-17 10:50:07. Republished by Old Post Promoter

John Rosemond is my Hero!

When I began writing my book, Mom, Can I Help Around the House? I consulted the expertise of many highly regarded child experts. One of my favorites is John Rosemond. Several years ago, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend a presentation of his at my church and found his traditional philosophies about raising children to be identical to my own. I have read several of his books as well. This week I happened upon an article by John Rosemond that I had to include on my blog. His no-nonsense approach just tells it like it is, and I believe today’s parents need reminders like this to bring them back to reality of what our role is of a parent. This is what my book and chore system is all about, but I could never say it as eloquently as John Rosemond has in the following article.

Teach children the skills they need to be independent

The purpose of raising a child is to get him or her out of your life and into a life of his/her own.

1. Put yourself at the center of your child’s attention, not the other way around. It is a simple matter to discipline a child who is paying attention to you and nigh-unto impossible to discipline a child who is not.

In that regard, always keep in mind that the more attention you pay a child, the less attention the child will pay to you.

2. Put your child into a meaningful role in your family, one that is defined in terms of responsibilities known as chores (remember them?).  By the time your child is 4 years old, he should be contributing significant time and effort on a daily basis to the maintenance of the household.Your child’s chores should not be assigned haphazardly, but should be established as a routine.

In addition to picking up after himself and keeping his own living space clean and orderly, he should be working in “common areas” of the home, doing such things as dusting and vacuuming.

You do tell people that your child is gifted, do you not?

Without chores, a child is a mere consumer, on a perpetual entitlement program, and entitlements do not strengthen people or culture. Grow a strong child.

3. Keep television and other electronic media out of your child’s life until your child has learned to read well and is self-entertaining.The research is clear that electronic media shortens attention span, interferes with the development of certain critical thinking skills and develops a dependency that leads to frequent complaints of boredom.

Remember that an average of just two hours of “screen time” a day means your child is absorbing electronic stimulation to the tune of 730 hours a year. That’s the equivalent of eighteen 40-hour work weeks.

Think of the creativity that’s being lost. Grow a child with a strong brain.

4. From day one, keep clutter out of your child’s life by keeping toys and other “stuff” at a minimum.
Paradoxically, children who entertain themselves well (low-maintenance children) tend to have few toys. These children are also more grateful for and take better care of what they have. Grow an imaginative, creative child.

5. Emphasize manners, not skills.

Sixty years ago, most children came to overcrowded first grades not knowing their ABCs, yet at the end of the year were reading at a higher level than today’s kids, most of whom are already reading in kindergarten.

That happened because parents of 60 years ago taught proper behavior, not skills; therefore, teachers taught skills, not proper behavior. Grow a polite child.

6. Love your child enough to grow a happy child.

Family psychologist John Rosemond answers parents’ questions on his Web site at www.rosemond.com.

As I write this, my two kids are happily doing their chores. To receive the first chapter of my book Mom, Can I Help Around the House? F’ree, visit href=”http://www.KidsandChores.net”>www.KidsandChores.net.

Originally posted 2008-12-13 19:28:33. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate?

Movies and TV shows have depicted the drama that comes from the emotional and complex job of dividing inherited items among family. Most families can tell stories about fights that have broken out over Mom’s good china or Grandma’s doll collection. Perhaps you have already experienced this madness and fighting, but hopefully you have been spared so far from this torture. I’ve experienced this twice in my family ~ one experience was a positive one of reflection and family bonding. The other however, was a nightmare. As a result of how personal property was divided in my in-laws family, family bonds were broken. A brother and sister haven’t spoken in five years.

As we Baby Boomers age, these issues will become increasingly prevalent and they deserve consideration in your family. In the past few years as a Professional Organizer, I have had increasing numbers of clients who call on me as an objective third party to help in these family transitions.

When a loved one passes away, it is not just the items in a Will that need to be dispersed, there is also the personal property as well. Estate Attorneys reveal that it typically isn’t how the monetary assets are divided that causes conflict in families ~ it is the dividing of personal belongings that cause the emotional conflicts. Childhood and family memories are tied to these physical items. Unless the family is proactive in planning for this inevitable transition, conflict, misunderstandings and hurt can result. 

When I started working with families and seniors in transition, I found a wonderful book that helps families plan for this inevitable process. Written from a true story, the workbook “Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate” was researched and developed by the University of Minnesota Extension Service. Full of fill-in the blank forms and order of importance forms, the topics covered in this 83-page workbook are:

•        The importance of recognizing the sensitivity of the issues

•        Determining what you want to accomplish as a family

•        Deciding what’s fair to all involved family

•        Understanding that belongings have different meanings to different people

•        Distribution options and consequences

•        Identifying that the family relationships are more important than stuff

•        The importance of making agreements to manage conflicts if they arise

Some non-titled property that this workbook may help you to divide are china, collectibles, jewelry and family heirlooms. The workbook guides you and your family through the steps of developing a plan for the easiest and most painless way to divide everything, with the goal of preserving family bonds and remaining on speaking terms afterwards. This book is a great asset for any family who will be, or already is, in the emotional position of dividing personal property of a loved one.

 

 

 

Originally posted 2009-01-09 14:18:27. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Reduce tax time stress with planning and organization

I filed my tax return today! And all 2009 documents are filed safely away with my tax return. Because of my organized filing system, it took less than an hour to gather everything together. This is a huge improvement over past years when I didn’t have any system in place. Every year I procrastinated until the last minute because it was such a chore to find everything and organize it before I could even begin working on the return.

Are you guilty of procrastinating when it comes to doing your taxes? Is it because avoiding tackling the mountain of receipts and documents that have been piling up for the past 12 months? Follow these easy steps to make this season less taxing.

Tax time is inherently stressful for people because they realize that they need to organize their important documents but they don’t know where to begin. In reality, tax time is the perfect opportunity to get organized and to develop a system that will work for you for years to come. This is what made the difference for me.

With the tax deadline looming, try these suggestions to make this season less stressful.

1. Prepare for tax time by making an electronic checklist of documents you will need based on your returns from the last few years. Create the checklist by reviewing your tax returns from previous years and attach it to the inside flap of your tax folder. Also, organize your documents by category such as income, deductions, exemptions and miscellaneous. For instance, deductions would include mortgage interest, property taxes and residential energy credits. Exemptions could include vehicle registration and taxes, medical expenses, contributions to IRAs and student loan interest paid. By checking off the items as they are received, you will know which documents have arrived and which ones you are still waiting for.

2. Purge files of monthly bills from the previous year and set up a filing system for the current year that includes receipts, credit card and bank statements, medical expenses and utility payments. It is best to shred any documents before you discard them. Only keep prior year documents that are needed to support a prior year tax return.

3. Place current tax records and other important documents in files that are clearly marked and easily accessible. After your tax returns have been filed, place your copy of the return and all supporting documents into a secure file, preferably something with a closed top like a Smead Expanding File, label it for the tax year, and store in a secure location with previous years’ returns. If you prepared your tax return electronically, place a disk with backup copies in the file for safekeeping. The picture shows what I use and it has worked great for many years.

4. Plan ahead for next year by setting up a filing system for documents and receipts for the current year. In January, get a jump start on this year’s tax return by setting up an expanding file with sections labeled for income, expenses and taxes. Place documents like payroll stubs, 1099s and statements from your financial institution in the income section; receipts for tuition expenses, real estate transactions and donations in the expense section; and receipts for tax expenses in the tax section. If you store the file close to where you sort your mail and file the documents as they are received, the papers will be ready for you when you begin working on next year’s tax return. I love the FileSolutions Home Filing System, a ready-made colorful home filing system that makes filing easy.

5. Preserve tax returns indefinitely and store supporting tax documents (which can be destroyed after seven years) in a file labeled with the year and the destruction date. Be sure to check with your tax advisor before destroying any documents.

6. Put Your Feet Up and know that you are ready for next year!

With April 15th rapidly approaching, hare a few free sites that offer free filing services:

• http://free.free1040taxreturn.com/
• http://www.fileyourtaxes.com/Alliance
• http://www.eztaxreturn.com/scriptsez/start.exe/eztax/p/alliance2009/start.html?r_link=www.irs.gov
• http://www.efiletaxreturns.net/home.aspx
• http://www.completetax.com/FFAindex.asp?welcome=GY1318083
• http://www.taxactonline.com/index.asp?sc=0850302
• http://free.123easytaxfiling.com/
• http://www.1040now.net/freefile.htm
• http://www.free-tax-return.com/2008/
• http://www.icanfreefile.org/
• http://www.taxslayer.com/americanpledge/default.aspx?source=ihtffgtsd
• https://www.taxsimple.org/index.aspx
• http://onlinetaxpros.com/index.php?linkid=ff
• http://citizentaxfree.com/
• http://www.esmarttax.com/freefederalfile.asp
• http://www.olt.com/main/oltfree/default.asp
• http://turbotax.intuit.com/taxfreedom/
• http://www.freetaxusa.com/
• http://www.hrblock.com/taxes/partner/index.jsp?otpPartnerId=180

 Here’s to a tax season with less stress!!

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