Your Organized Home

Take the Junk out of Junk Mail!

Most of us are overwhelmed by the amount of mail we receive every day.  It’s credit card offers, catalogs, flyer's, magazines, bills, charities asking for donations, and much much more.  It is unbelievable, not just think of the amount of paper is wasted to produce all this junk!  So, think green and help to reduce the amount of mail you receive every day by following these two simple steps outlined below.

Do you have too much stuff?

A couple of weeks ago I helped out at my children’s school with the yearly garage sale. At the garage sale we sell stuff that parents and others donated to the school. It’s a great event, but seeing all the donations was overwhelming. Why so much stuff and where does it all coming from?

We accumulate stuff so fast and easily. We don’t take the time to think our purchases through. That’s why we end up with so much stuff in our lives. I will here give you five tips that might help you reduce stuff coming into your life.

AboutOne Wants to Hear from YOU - Chance to Win an iPod Touch!

I am quite honored to share that the founders of AboutOne contacted me earlier this year and asked me to sit on their advisory board.  After hearing Joanne Lang's extremely professional presentation and vision for an on-line tool that would help busy moms get and stay organized, I was hooked.  Of course I was honored to be on their board!

Up until this point, the AboutOne team has been diligently in the background planning and programming the awesome new tool.  They are now needing your input to ensure that they are spending their development dollars in the right place.  (One of the things I like about this company is that they really care about what YOU think!)

If you have a few minutes, I'd love it if you would go to www.AboutOne.com and take their market survey.  It won't take long and it will help the team tremendously. 

A little about AboutOne:

Coming early in 2010, AboutOne is designed to help busy moms get organized, ->> it is a highly secure, on-line service that helps you quickly enter, track and organize your information and your household information, share pieces with family members and give you the ability from any location, 24/7 to find what you need in seconds.  

 

In addition to helping moms (and yes, dads you will love it too!) the AboutOne team is all about "giving back" too.  Here are three ways that they contribute on a bigger scale:

• free access for our Heroes (army, navy, fire etc) program
• sponsoring children in need
• giving time at events to raise money for cancer.  

Please help the team ensure that the product meets YOUR needs by taking the survey at www.AboutOne.com- it takes less than 10 minutes and you can win an iPod Touch every month too.

Oh!  They will be participating in the Great Organizing Giveaway too!

To your success!

Be organized and reduce your holiday spending!

It is easy to get caught up in the holiday excitement and overspend during the holidays. We want to be generous to our family and friends but, for many of us, 2009 has been a difficult year. I don’t want to start off 2010 with overwhelming credit card bills and I’m guessing you probably feel the same way. Here are a few tips and tricks that can help you reduce your holiday spending. 

Control Your Inner Shop-a-Holic - Questions to ask Before You Buy

When you go shopping are you looking at everything with rose colored glasses or do you administer a dose of reality?

Some people are born shoppers.  One of my good friends, Angela, is a FABULOUS shopper.  She can spot a deal from miles away.  The other thing that makes her a good shopper, however, is she can walk away from that deal if it is not what she really needs.

Keep reading for some ideas that can help you be smart with your shopping.

Guest Post: You Get What You Pay For…In File Tabs and Organizing Consultants

You Get What You Pay For…

In File Tabs and Organizing Consultants

by Barbara Hemphill, CPO®

Recently I was placing an order for plastic file tabs for hanging folders to use with a client who was installing Taming the Paper Tiger software. The premium brand cost $4.15 for 25 labels while the competition offered them for exactly half the price.  Seemed like a “no brainer” – after all, how much difference can a file tab make?  (Besides, I was ordering several hundred, so we’re talking about a significant investment for something as simple and mundane as file folders!) 

Turns out, when I got to the job, it made a big difference! 

Financial Management Resources

23% of adults say they pay bills late (& thus incur fees) because they loose them, according to Harris Interactive. The systems you use (or don't use) can make or break your financial situation.  Here are some web resources to help you get your financial affairs in order and reach towards your financial freedom!

Are Your Bills Paid on Time?

23% of adults say they pay bills late (& thus incur fees) because they loose them, according to Harris Interactive. The systems you use (or don't use) can make or break your financial situation.  Here are some organizing tips to help you get your financial affairs in order and reach towards your financial freedom!

Record Retention for Your Home

Is paperwork taking over your life? Are you keeping every single bill, tax return, insurance invoice, medical documentation, contract and even the 15-year-old warranty for the water bed that you sold at the yard sale ten years ago? If you answered "yes", you are not alone. Many people are not sure how long financial records retention should last, especially tax records.  Determining what to keep and what to toss is often a difficult decision for homeowners.

Tax Time - Get Ready

Now is a great time to get ready for tax day.  Eliminate the stress of running your calculations up to the wire by collecting what you need now. The list below are the things you should make sure you have handy.

Use a Tax Case to Collect Your Tax Related Paperwork

For some people it is a mad dash at tax time, but others like to be able to collect the information over the course of the year.  Here is a great tool that helps you do either!

Bill Paying - Are Yours Pay on Time?

23% of adults say they pay bills late (& thus incur fees) because they loose them, according to Harris Interactive. The systems you use (or don't use) can make or break your financial situation.  Here are some organizing tips and web resources to help you get your financial affairs in order and reach towards your financial freedom!

Limiting Access to Your Personal Information

Identity theft is everywhere.  One of the things that I have learned from working with different clients is that identity theft is more prevalent than you might think.  Unfortunately, those clients have had to spend a tramendous amount of time getting their identity back!  Here are a few tips that they were told after the fact.  If we put them into practice now, we'll have a better chance of preserving our information.