Coupons

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With our economy, coupons are an important way to make the most of your budget.   Organizing your coupons can take a few extra minutes, but the reward is incredible.  My clients feel very empowered by using coupons and it is their way of making their budgets really work for them. 
 
An easy ways to start couponing is to check out the local sites of your grocery stores. These sites have online digital coupons for you to use.   You can easily load these onto your existing store card or print coupons to bring with you.  Choose coupons for items you use regularly from the store you shop at regularly.   A major bonus (like hitting the lottery!) is to pair a coupon with a product already on sale.  Stores like CVS and Walgreens offer bonus bucks and coupons can be used with them. 
 
Keep coupons where you can use them most.   A small accordion file in your car can keep store coupons, like Bed Bath and Beyond or Chilis.  These can be categorized by your personal categories, such as food, clothes, etc. or by expiration date, or whatever works for you.  Clipping the weekly coupons from the Sunday Paper starts in your living room with clipping, then attaching to your grocery list, and then bringing these to the car.    Decide on a routine that works for you.   Most important is to keep what you use and to use it before it expires.
 
Smead provided me with this Tag Along Organizer, perfect for keeping your coupons organized!  It has 5 pockets, easily labeled for grocery aisles. It is small enough to fit in your purse!
 
 
Here are a few more online ways to get great coupons! My thanks to client Pam and her niece Stacy for sharing these with me!

www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/pgeds/pg-brandsaver-samples-coupons.jsp

www.scottcommonsense.com/coupon

www.couponshack.com

www.grocerycouponsusa.com

www.couponmom.com

www.retailmenot.com

 www.hotcouponworld.com

 www.dealseekingmom.com 

 

www.moneysavingmom.com 

 

www.katycouponers.com   

 

www.couponclippers.com 

 

www.thecouponmaster.com 

 

www.coupondede.com   

 

 

Organizing Your Car

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organizing your car

 

Your car is your office on the go and your home away from home! Whether you are a professional going to work or a busy mom or dad carpooling, having an organized vehicle can make the difference in your travels.  Organizing your car just takes a few extra minutes!

Think about what items you will need as you travel. We all need tissues, first aid kit, car insurance, and a flashlight just in case. What is needed for other travelers? Busy families may need books or toys. Travel for work may require business products and files. Take a few minutes to plan and write a list of needs for you and your family.

If you car is your mobile office, organize for stocking, storing and traveling with business tools. Carry some basic desk items such as business cards, calculator, stapler, scissors and tape in a zipper case or small tackle box. Store files in a hanging file case with a cover. Be sure to have a notebook and pen in your car for taking notes.

For kids on the go, being organized makes every trip less demanding. With access for your back seat travelers, you can place an organizer in the back seat or over the seat with a place for a water bottles, electronic games and books. For kids’ toys and more, there is the Clear away car organizer from OnlineOrganizer.com. For maps, snacks and more, look into the Case Logic Back Seat Organizer from stackandstacks.com. For movies and technology, look at the High Road Entertainment Organizer from www.thebusywoman.com. These organizing products make travel easier for everyone!

Every day items require storage too. The Creekside Cargo Mini from www.drivewerks.com keeps all sorts of items from milk to soccer balls from rolling around your trunk. For tools, purchase a durable canvas bag to contain all the tools including jumper cables. For compact disks, visor storage is a convenient, easy to access spot. What about trash? A pop up trash can made of durable mesh can fit by the driver’s seat.

What about paper? The glove compartment or center console is a great spot for this! Use a check organizer and group the papers by category, such as maps and directions, insurance, warranty/instructions and emergency phone numbers. Be sure to label each pocket for easy retrieval.

Finally, keeping your car organized requires maintenance routines. Each stop along the way and each evening empty the trash from your car. Restock the items for your business on a weekly basis. Remind family members to replace items in the storage spots. Be vigilant about your registration sticker and make a note on your calendar when to renew this. Emptying the car is more than stuffing a bag and dropping it in your garage. Finish your routine by putting the items in the trash or in their place inside your home.

What will work for you to keep your car organized?

Quick Declutter

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We think we need days to declutter and we only have a few hours. Make the most of your decluttering time with planning, focus and decision making.  Arranging your schedule with decluttering as a priority creates success. With your kids secure and cared for, don’t answer the phone, check email or get distracted with details. Your goal in this 2 hours is to find and eliminate items!  Schedule Salvation Army or other trucks to pick up from your door the next day.  If you are planning a garage sale or online sale, set a date on your calendar.  You now have a deadline and accountability!  Start with the most frustrating space first.  Get boxes for donation items, sale items, distribution items (things that go in another room) and garbage items.  Set a timer and get going!

Here is the most important aspect – good decision making.  Be ruthless with items you no longer use.  If it has become a burden to care for it, purge it.   If it is broken, you can can list it on www.freecyle.org.  Especially in your closet, keep only what makes you look and feel fabulous!  Be clear on your vision of what the space will look like when you are done.

What does success look and feel like to you? Do you feel lighter? Is there less to care for? Do you see clarity in your space? Share with me your decluttering strategy and your success!

Done is Perfect!

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Perfectionism and procrastination sound like opposites but are they really? Do you set incredibly high standards for a project including lots of planning and then don’t get started because it won’t be completed to your satisfaction? Do you put off a project, thinking you will have more time or energy to do it later? More often than you think, perfectionism can be immobilizing you.

 

Are You a Perfectionist?
Begin by becoming aware of perfectionism in your life. Many people do not realize that they are perfectionists. A home with clutter or incomplete projects can be the home of a perfectionist! Having incredibly high standards that are impossible to reach, whether in taking care of your home, completing a project, or in any thought process, indicate perfectionism. By having the realization of perfectionism, you can begin to evaluate what this is costing you and what’s next.

 

Focus on Balanced Goals and Completion
Because perfectionism is stopping us from starting, we need to focus on the goals of balance and completion. Simply put, it is that old saying, “If I can’t do it right I am not going to do it at all.” Start by asking yourself, what is “right” to you? A realistic goal balances your personal energy, time and importance of the task. You can do it well and get it done. Donna Smallin, author of Organizing Plain and Simple, notes that “done is perfect.” You can start by using Donna’s saying to help you put things in perspective, create the balance for yourself and get the job done.

 

Empowering Self Talk
Another aspect of perfectionism is rigid, black and white thinking. Either a project is perfect or a disaster! Using acknowledging, empowering self talk, including kudos of accomplishment throughout the project, leads to satisfaction with the outcome and completion. Seeing productivity, you will feel successful and feel more like completing the project. It is definitely a circle of work and success that stands out then.

 Standards of excellence instead of perfection make a difference in starting and completing a project. Whether organizing a space or any other task, start with baby steps and practice your imperfection. Work at a comfortable pace, allow for changes as needed and review your work consistently. When others offer to assist, welcome their help and disregard their imperfections as they help you complete a project.

 

What baby step can you take to breaking down your perfectionism?

 

 

 

 

 

Clutter has its cost

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Has “clutter-it is” taken over at your home or office? Is every flat surface obscured by paper or belongings? My favorite Peter Walsh statement is about the cost of clutter.  Peter Walsh has a way of saying this in his book Enough Already.  Clutter is demanding, it robs us of space.  It promises everything, delivers nothing, and eventually stresses you out.  Clutter costs us peace of mind and drains us of positive energy. Imagine what you could do with the time and space your clutter is currently taking up!

Choose 15 minutes to declutter your home every day. You can do anything for 15 minutes! Take a few minutes to get items back where they belong in their homes. If items do not have a home, decide if you will “use them or lose them” being ready to store, donate or toss. This routine will get your home or office back to running order very quickly.

Choose 5 items to declutter. What do you truly love, truly use and truly need access? Walk around your home and think about items you truly have not used in YEARS! Do this once a week, and with this baby step, your living and working space will evolve into a clear space.

Declutter your mind with lists. Use paper and pencil to clear out all those required activities, last minutes errands, purchases and more. Keep paper and pencil in your car, by your bed and by each telephone. If you always have access to paper, it is easier to make a list!

Do you have “virtual clutter” – email, forwards, or spam? Eliminate this clutter by using the spam filter provided by your service provider. Hit the delete key for unwanted emails as soon as they arrive. Add a note to your signature line on your email stating “Please do not forward unnecessary email or chain letters to this me. Thank you.” Junk mail and junk email are the same – toss these as soon as these arrive in your box!

Stop clutter before it begins! Before you purchase any item, evaluate how and when will you use it, where will you store it, and whether or not you truly love it!

What is clutter costing you?  Has it cost  you too much already?

15 minutes of Home Organizing

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home organizing

 

For most of us, we seldom have hours and hours to get organized. Here are some baby step 15 minute organizing ideas for our homes.  Just 15 minutes of home organizing makes for easy home maintenance.  See what 15 minute project  you want to start with and comment on how much you accomplished! Ready, set, go!

 

15 Minutes Under the Sink

Check out those toiletries, body lotions and cosmetics! Toss what is empty, consolidate what is half empty and categorize the items by their use. Keep extra bottles of each item to the back of the area. Place in the front, in a portable container, what you will use each day.

 

 

15 Minutes in the Medicine Cabinet

Toss expired medications and over the counter remedies. Do you have allergy medicine, cough drops or other over the counter items for use in the middle of the night just in case? Make a list of what you will need for your next trip to the store! Group together the medicines for each type of illness, from stomach to sinus.

 

 

15 Minutes in the Pantry


Can’t find what you need to make dinner each evening? Group together the veggies, then the fruits, and finally pasta. Line up your can goods together just like the grocery store. Keep what you use most frequently on the middle shelf in easy reach. On the bottom shelf, group drinks and snacks for your children to serve themselves.

 

 

15 Minutes at Your Desk


Overwhelmed by paper? Use 15 minute segments to make decisions about your piles. Your options are “toss”, “to do”, or “keep/file”. Make quick decisions about toss by referring to these options – anything out of date, any duplicates, or anything you can find on the Internet. With your “to do” pile, generate a list to be incorporated in your calendar. For your “keep/file” papers, jot the category on a post it note and stick this to the paper. It will be ready to create files at a later time.

 

 

15 Minutes in the Closet


Here is a challenge! Spend 15 minutes every day for a week in your closet! Starting on the left side of your closet, go piece by piece and decide what to keep! Keep only what you love and what will fit you currently. Donate clothes that are still in good condition, toss what is stained, missing a button or torn. Make a list of your donation items and calculate your tax deduction using “Its Deductible”. Once you have reviewed all your clothes, re-arrange them by categories of slacks, shorts, blouses, skirts and dresses. Within these categories, arrange the items by the length of the items and then color. An extra special visual touch is to use one type of hanger for your clothes! Hangers with a swivel metal head and clear plastic body with clips or without make your closet look like a fashionable shop!

 

 

Daily 15 minute reset

 

Every day have 15 minutes of organizing to maintain the systems you have set up. After our busy days, we come home tired from our work, but we still need to get a little organizing completed. What can you do in 15 minutes? Get things back to where they belong, get ready for the next day, get lunches made, get your list together, get paper sorted into your command center and get your sanity back! We all can do anything for 15 minutes, especially, if it adds peace of mind and quality to our lives.

 

Have your family team participate with you in organizing for that 15 minutes! It is more fun, gets more done, and adds to family cohesion. You can play beat the clock by setting the kitchen timer for 15 minutes. You can assign tasks to 2 family members so you work in pairs to get trash out, laundry put away, or dinner dishes done.   See who can put away the most items in 15 minutes. Don’t we all want to have fun and get the job done?

 

 

Let me know what works for your 15 minutes of organizing!

 

 

Home organizing challenges? Join my newsletter!

Paper partner or clutter buddy

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Organizing can be a lonely, isolated job. Working by yourself, you may not be motivated, make decisions or even get started. Many times my clients voice that they just don’t work well alone.  I love the idea of a clutter buddy or paper partner because organizing happens this way! A clutter buddy is a trusted, non – judgmental buddy who is there while you are organizing your stuff. A paper partner does this job while sifting through the paper piles.    These are people who offer no opinion but may offer options, who do not cloud your decision but help you reflect, and who are there to help you focus on the task at hand.  

Finding a partner is the antidote to procrastination.   First identify what is getting you stuck. Is it being overwhelmed and need someone to externally process with? Is it a skill set and you need someone who thoroughly knows this skill? Is it an enthusiastic affirmer who keeps you on task?  It is powerful to know what you need and find the partner that helps you power through the rough spots!

Partnering can take many different forms.   One way is to use your cell phone to chat with a friend while doing a task.  Whether it is sorting paper or emptying the dishwasher, this can get the task accomplished.  Another way is being together in a new space.  Coming together for coffee, both partners might bring their paperwork to simultaneously write bills.  Organizing can get done and then it is sharing what organizing jobs you accomplished each day or week.  

What are your creative ways to partner?  Who is your clutter buddy?

 

Your calendar and your master list

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calendar and master list;time management

 

There are many systems to help you with time management. I have found that this comes down to integrating two parts, your calendar and your list. We all have so much to accomplish and we all want to be productive.  Try this and see if it works for you!  

 

Your Calendar

Have a great calendar you love! It can be paper or electronic, whichever is most compatible and engaging for you. It should be portable to travel with you and the format should be week or month at a glance. Rules for using your calendar include writing in everything regularly (from doctor appointments to work meetings) reviewing it daily. Add a weekly planning time for you to review what is coming up and adding items from your master list. This is the single most important tool you can have for time management.

 

Your Master List

Most people have too much to remember on a daily basis to remember it all without writing it down. Having a list keeps you in the moment, so that you can keep energy and focus on the project you are doing. Keep a spiral notebook or PDA with you at all times, so you can easily jot down notes and lists when the thought occurs. By consolidating all of this in one place you can review and prioritize actions and projects, combine activities and errands and be more productive each day.

Weekly planning with your calendar and list

 

How do these come together? Not surprisingly your weekly planning time combines these two tools.  Take time each week to review your list and place tasks on your calendar.  This way all priorities are covered.  You can consolidate tasks too, like phone calls and emails.  Your weekly planning is a time on your calendar too!

 

Join my newsletter for more ideas on planning and list making.

Keep It Simple Sweetie

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simplify your organizing
Simplicity makes a difference in all our lives.  Creating a simple plan, working on a simplified project, and communicating simply are all important aspects of simplying our lives.  I love the mantra of Keep It Simple Sweetie because it reminds us in a fun way to keep things as simple as possible.   Often complexity makes a task overwhelming and paralyzing. The details become the project instead of the outcome.   Think of the tasks to accomplish, whether for home or work, and see what the most direct path to accomplish that can be.
  • Start with the end in mind. What do you want to accomplish and what is the deadline? What is the path to accomplish the goal?
  • Ask for help from your team, whether it is your family or co-workers.   A team effort makes the work more fun, gets the job done quickly and lessens your work load.
  • Stay on task for completion.   Keep off those bunny trails.  If you are easily distracted, create reminders to keep going and get it done.
  • Remember that done is perfect! Balance your perfectionism with the time allotted to get the job done.

Simple steps for your work at home or elsewhere create effectiveness and efficiency.  Your benefit is your great sense of productivity for accomplishments! And you get to do the really fun stuff now!

Organized Pooch

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dscn3197

Visiting with one of my longest clients I know transference of skill has happened! As a certified professional organizer, our work is to teach our clients to organize and maintain their organization, meaning we have transferred this skill.  In our work together, the client and I have organized her closets, pantry, and more.  Most importantly she has maintained them fabulously! When a new baby puppy came to their family, the pooch arrived with many different ensembles, including hair accessories.  Here is a picture of her latest organizing adventure, her new dog’s attire! It is organized by summer on left, winter on right and costumes in the middle .  This is truly happy organizing!

dscn31981