What does your wallet look like?? Part #2

Here are the last 2 tips…

3. How may credit cards are you lugging around?? Maybe you have one credit card, maybe you have forty. How many is necessary to lug around with you?? Lugging around all forty just makes your wallet confusing, if you ask me. I know you know which top three or four cards you use the most. Leave the specialty credit cards at home. You know the ones like, the Macy’s card. You most likely are not shopping there every week. So get it out only when you are planning your next trip to the mall. Do you understand? It just isn’t necessary or safe to carry them all. Plus in case your wallet or purse gets stolen, it’s a lot easier to call in to cancel three to four cards instead of ten.

4. Do you feel like you have a million reward cards?? I would encourage you to get them all out and spread them out on the counter or table. Check everywhere for any and all reward cards. Once you have them laid out, pick your top five to seven stores you shop the most in. Carry only those in your wallet and keep the rest together in an envelope or container in a drawer. When you are looking for one, you will know where to find them or where to put them back after shopping.

Homework: Find a Home for everything in your wallet, and when you go shopping this weekend… IMPRESS THE HECK OUT OF THE CASHIER WITH YOUR ORGANIZED WALLET!!!

What does your wallet look like??

How bad does your wallet look?? Is it overstuffed with receipts and credit cards?? Are papers falling out everywhere? When you are standing in the checkout lane at the grocery store paying the cashier do you keep apologizing because you are searching for money or the right card to use for your transaction??

Why not just make it simple, and keep an organized wallet, with only what you need in it!! Carry only receipts for known return items and carry only the rewards cards and credit cards you absolutely can’t live without.

Here are the first 2 great tips in having the ORGANIZED WALLET you have always dreamed of...

1. Find the best wallet to fit your needs. Don’t get too big of wallet or too small.

2. There are only 3 types of receipts to keep in your wallet. The first kind of receipt is for returns. If you know you’ll be returning the item, it belongs in the wallet in its rightful HOME. But then once you return it file it in your desk under receipts. (I usually keep them in a special HOME for three months and then I toss.) The second, is receipts for business write offs, for example gas receipts. Anything that you can write off for your business. Once again when you get home, then file it in its rightful HOME. The third kind of receipt just takes up space and should be tossed. It’s receipts from Wendy’s, the hair salon, the grocery store, etc. These receipts, for mindless every day purchases, have no place in your wallet. If you use your debit card, subtract the amount out of your account when you get home and then toss it. There’s no reason to keep them. Toss them before you even leave the store if you are paying with cash.

Come back on Friday for the next 2 tips!!

Home Organization Myths Part 2

Another myth that people think are true is…

Myth #2: You have to spend a lot of money to have the right kind of storage.

NOT THE CASE!!!

There are so many discount stores and now and days they have dollar stores that have great storage products that will get the job done.

You must realize that storage doesn't have to be fancy. In fact I use more items from discount stores like Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree, for storage than I do from the big name stores.

Myth #3: It takes a lot of energy and motivation to get your home organized.
This is absolutely false.

It's really only a matter of changing the way you do things and way of thinking differently about the material things you have.

There are some simple rules you can start to live by that will make disorganization a thing of the past. For example, assigning a home for everything in your house!!!

Even if you are not the cause of the clutter and it's a spouse or kids living with you, you can all learn what it takes and just make a few simple changes to live a better and easier life which is of course…BEING ORGANIZED!!!

Home Organization Myths

There's a little misunderstanding about home organization and getting organized I would like to clear up for you.

These myths you should be ignoring and understand home organization isn't as hard as it first appears...

Myth #1: You have to be born organized to live organized!

That is sooooooo Wrong! Some people believe if you don't have organization in your blood, it's going to be nearly impossible to make the changes to how you live and enjoy the simplicity of being organized.

You can truly learn to be organized, and once you do you will see how much easier your life really is, for you and your family.

Come back Friday and see the next 2 myths!!!

It’s TAX TIME!!!

Don’t you just love those two words???

I have made my appointment for Tuesday, so I have been getting everything in order for my tax guy, who I must say I LOVE, if anyone needs a good tax guy let me know!!! This time of year can be very stressful if you are not organized. So by setting up a tax file it can save you a lot of time and trouble when it comes time to file your taxes. Try these ideas for organizing your tax files.

Organize your files into the following categories…

Income- Include pay stubs, W-2s, 1099s, interest statements, and dividend statements.

Medical- File receipts for medical expenses, and health insurance out-of-pocket expenses.

Donations-Include receipts for both cash and non-cash donations.

Real Estate- File interest statements from mortgage, tax assessments.

Child Care- This file is for child care payment receipts.

Tax Correspondences-Include any important letters from the IRS or your state revenue service.

Student Loans - File statements of loan interest paid.

Misc. Receipts-Add any receipts that might be needed for deductions.

Payments- Include any records of advance payments.

Old Tax Papers- File by year your old tax returns.

HOMEWORK: Call and make an appointment with your tax guy, or if you do it yourself, set an appointment and SCHEDULE it on your calendar so you will follow through!!!

Early to Bed Early to Rise!!!

Those of you that know me know that I am a big time SLEEP ADVICIT!!!! I have always felt that, kids need their sleep…of course so do ADULTS!!

The amount of sleep a child needs varies depending on the individual and the age of the child.

Following are some general guidelines:

1-4 Months Old: 14 - 15 hours per day
4-12 Months Old: 14 - 15 hours per day
1-3 Years Old: 12 - 14 hours per day
3-6 Years Old: 10 - 12 hours per day
7-12 Years Old: 10 - 11 hours per day
12-18 Years Old: 8 - 9 hours per day

In order for your children to get enough sleep, you need to…YES!!! BE ORGANIZED!! Have your days planned out. For example my family has always gotten up at 6:00am. So my 2 littlest ducklings go to bed between 6 and 6:30pm. My 10 year old is in bed by 7:30 and my 15 year old is in bed by 9:30.

Here is the trick to getting kids to sleep at a reasonable hour…

Consistency – This is the most important part. If you want them to be tired at a certain time, you need to get them to go to sleep at that same time EVERY NIGHT. Otherwise they won’t be tired at that time.

Have a Routine – If you are going to be putting your younger children to bed without a fight, you need to have a set routine that you do every night. For example, they know that when you read stories, and put on the same music, it means bed time. Just completing the steps of this bedtime routine will help them start to shut down their body and get sleepy.

Leave before they are asleep – This will help them learn that when they are in their bed or in their crib, they can always put themselves to sleep and back to sleep by themselves just fine.
PLEASE, for your kids sake… put them to sleep early so they aren’t tired and cranky during the day. This is a bonus for you...A NICE QUIET RELAXING EVENING FOR YOU!!! Or better yet some more free time to get MORE ORGANIZED!!!!

BOOK ORGANIZATION!!!

I love to read, I love to read to my kids, I love BOOKS!!! However I sometimes have a hard time storing books.

My 2 littlest ducklings share a room; they are 3 years apart so they share a book case with there books. Avery’s shelf is on the bottom and Finley’s shelf is on top. We go to the library once every 3 weeks. I keep the library books separate in a basket away from all the other books. It works FANTASTIC!!! That way when it is time to return the books, I just have to grab them from the basket throw them in the bag, and take off to the library. ***I also only check out 20 books at a time, that way I always know how many I have and how many need to be returned.

We also have a book shelf in our hall closet where we keep all the rest of the family’s books. I must say that I love the library, and always have. *** I love the fact that you can borrow a book to read and then give it back, so you don’t have to store them.

An easy way to organize your books is to sort them by age groups. Also make a pile for the books you love and a pile for the ones you didn’t care much for, and find out which ones you would like to read and which to give away. Once you have minimized your book collection, you can organize the remaining books in alphabetical order and/or categorically.

Here are 6 great ideas to help you give your books away…

* Find out the books which no longer inspire you and donate them.
* Donate magazines to local schools; these magazines can be used for art and projects by students.
* Donate them to local charities, libraries and rehabilitation center.
* Do a book swap? Tell your neighbors they can have them. Try to find someone who will benefit from the book and can appreciate such a gift.
* You can donate academic books to high school, university and college libraries.
* Have a garage sale

Hope you have a great and organized WEEK!!! Homework: Read a good book!!!