Those Christmas Stragglers

Ok, you've taken down all the holiday decorations and put them away. Then, while folding laundry, you find a sole Christmas placemat or napkin. While cleaning up the kids' rooms, you see a Christmas book. Then, you remember you have a CD of carols in the car. Argh!

Even after you put all the tubs and bins of holiday gear away, you are still likely to find the stragglers -- random items that should get put away with the rest. It usually takes me a couple of weeks to gather up all the stragglers due to laundry and the dishwasher, as well as cleaning around the house. For example, I have some miscellaneous holiday dishes, dish towels and gift boxes that somehow weren't available when I had all my plastic bins out.

Here's an easy solution: place an empty basket or open bin in a convenient but out-of-major-traffic spot. Designate it as a catch-all for leftover holiday items as you see them. Then, around mid-January (or whenever you're feeling confident!), bring the basket of Christmas stragglers to your holiday storage place and disperse the contents into their appropriate bins. Our holiday bins are stored in an outside shed (we have 2, and the large one is primarily storage) so I have to go outside. Much easier to do it once, in this cold weather!

This "system" works for any holiday or event -- whenever you take stuff out for a special occasion, and then have to return it!

Organizing the Little Ones

If the January issues of magazines are correct, now is the time to Get Organized! and Be Organized in 2008! I laugh a little seeing all the headlines and titles on the women's magazine covers this time of year, as they all seem to include "clutter", "organized", and "tips". And yet here I am giving you more!!

In my house, before the influx of new Christmas toys and playthings come in, I weed through and purge some of my children's things. I make space for the new items, and reorganize/review the systems for toys, clothes and bedroom stuff.

Here are some ideas for keeping your kids' things in an 'orderly manor'.

• Have a ‘coming & going’ launchpad. The goal is to make sure that everything they need is in one place when it comes time to leave & gets put back when they come home. Create cubbies, hooks, tubs for each child or use a bookshelf or chest of drawers. Set up the routine that after school, kids go to their special spots to put jackets, shoes, backpacks, etc.

• Have a large calendar with scheduled family events. You can color-code the items you write in according to type of event or by family member.


• Switch out toys so that 1/2 total collection is out & 1/2 in storage out of sight.


• Use plastic bins with lids & labels for small, multiple-item toys. Assign rules to the toys & try to stick to them: inside toys, outside toys, upstairs toys, downstairs toys.
  
• A plastic shoe holder is a neat & inexpensive way to store small stuffed animals or anything that you don't want to toss into the toy box. You can also buy plastic toy chains or hammocks to use underutilized space.

Separate containers by category & don't mix categories. Leave room in each container to grow.

Make sure that there are plenty of places for children to put things away at a lower level that they can use without help.

Label what goes in each container as specifically as possible. For little non-readers, use clip-art pictures, cut from catalog, scan actual item, or cut up flashcards. If kids share a room, use their photos to label their individual items.


• Puzzles: mark back of pieces with abbreviation, put in Ziploc bag or plastic envelope with cutout of puzzle picture; put all bags into plastic container.


• Keep a clothes hamper in each child's room or closet.

Try keeping a box named “Too small” & one named “Too big” on a shelf in the kids’ bedroom closets.

Use flat under-the-bed boxes for bedding or saved artwork.

Install hooks low enough on the inside of the closet door so kids can hang up their own jackets, belts, or bathrobe. Put those things you want them to be able to reach and get for themselves on the lower half.

• Determine where school papers, artwork, & other items from children will go once it comes home. Setting up a routine will help control clutter of this type. Don’t let the kitchen become a dumping ground.


• Although it might be hard for you to toss things for that first child going to school, imagine the amount of things you’ll have to deal with times the # of kids you have. You can have a “holding tank” container (i.e. under-the-bed clear one), one per child. Decide if the item is worthy of keeping, put in the container & then at end of a school year, go through to decide if you want it long-term.


• Check on organizing product websites for kid-specific organizing solutions, like Pottery Barn Kids and Space Savers.

No, I Haven't Taken Down the Decorations Yet

I was in Target today, wandering the aisles, and saw oh-so-many holiday plastic storage bins. I did get some post-Christmas bargains -- gift wrap, cards, et al -- but did not buy any more bins or organizers since I feel like I have enough stuff for the holiday.

I am less in the accumulating mode, and more in the replace it or one-in-one-out mode. That is, I will buy Christmas paper and bows at 50-70% off in the days that follow Christmas and then put all of it (along with the other leftover gift wrapping gear) into its appropriate labelled bin. The stuff I buy replaces what I used -- it's an ebb-and-flow kind of situation. Or, if I get new ornaments, I will donate or toss an equal number of older ones. I don't have to continue buying plastic baskets until I have one for every 12 Days of Christmas, that's for sure!

In a prior post, I talked about holiday storage (read that post). My fave bins are my ornament organizers (see pic) and round wreath storage container. I bought mine a couple of years ago, and have had a hard time finding them online other than the link -- I prefer the sturdy plastic vs. a box or bag.

I also think the light organizer shown here is great.

I generally take the tree down a couple days after Christmas, and then the rest of the decor on January 1st-ish. It takes some time to put the items up, and just as much time to dismantle, pack and store.

Hope your de-decorating goes well and your holiday decor and supplies stay organized!

Cleaning just for Company -- No-No!

I don't know about you, but the best way for my house to be its cleanest and most presentable is to have company over. If people are visiting, my husband and I go into turbo-boost tidying-up mode on every floor of the house. I often think that I should schedule all of my socializing and invitations to our home close together, thereby making the most efficiency of the "ready-for-company" status. It reminds me of a wooden plaque I see at the country furniture store all the time: The house was clean last week -- sorry you missed it.

Not that the house is messy -- I actually keep it very uncluttered considering I have 2 preschoolers -- but it is the deep cleaning of surfaces, dusting and uber-vacuuming I'm talking about. Luckily my husband is a big help with this (a bit more anal than I, actually, in this department!). But his M.O. is to, all of a sudden, usually on a weekend morning, go "This house is a mess" and begin furious scrubbing of the stovetop. True, I have to deal with the daily decluttering and cleaning so I generally don't want to do the BIG in-depth clean that my husband has the energy for.

I am not sure if I have a solution (other than to invite people over every week) but I do have some tips to balance out the cleaning burden better.

• Consider doing the ‘circular’ maintenance tasks (ones that are never really done) daily. Doing one task related to the laundry, mail, paperwork, or cleaning cuts down on massive, overwhelming projects that take up a whole day or weekend.
• If you are facing a huge pile of laundry, you are more likely to procrastinate because it seems daunting. By doing a bit every day, the little amount seems doable and therefore gets done.
• Many tasks, if left undone, end up turning into mountains of clutter or hours of time. For instance, if you sort through your mail each day, it will take less than 5 minutes. Let it go for an entire week, and it can take an hour or more. If you lightly clean the bathroom after everyone showers each day, it will never require a deep cleaning. If you wait a week or more, intense scrubbing and quite a bit of time will be required to get it back to a sanitized, clean state.
• For all the chores or tasks you want done, create a master list. Walk around your house, and write done everything that needs to be done by room. Highlight or cross out task when done.
• It may be helpful to tackle chores in baby steps, by doing a small number in a certain time frame that is doable for you, like in 15-minute increments.
• Think of your home as a tree and each room is a branch of that tree. For each branch, compile a list of all the tasks you'd need to accomplish to get that room to be the way you want it to be. Cycle through the branches, one per week, and spend just 15 – 30 minutes per day in your branch.
• Give yourself little mental races: do a task during commercials before show comes back on, or the microwave dings, or see what can get done before something happens (i.e. work on a drawer until laundry is done or Johnny gets home).

2008 Calendar Time

Now is a good time to purchase your 2008 calendars -- not only is January just around the corner, but surely things for the next month are popping up that you should record.

You might also consider how you keep track of appointments, to-do tasks and events. I usually recommend that you have no more than 2 calendars -- one large calendar for everyone's schedules/events, and one personal planner that you can carry around. (Otherwise you do a lot of transcribing and duplicating information).

The large calendar provides an overview for everyone at-a-glance and incorporates each family member’s priorities. If you have kids, you can consult your school calendar and transfer all important dates onto the calendars to cover holidays, school activities, etc. You can also color-code the items you write in according to type of event or by family member.

Your personal or work planner can be a paper planner or PDA that you can take with you. Carry your planner/calendar system at all times. By having your system on hand, you'll review before you commit and remember events when the time comes. Some options to check out are Franklin Covey, planners at Staples, and electronic PDAs at Palm's website.

Remember that you can use your calendar both for events/happenings AND tasks/to-do items. This ensures that you will do things on the day they should be done.

The most important key to success, though, is to synchronize the 2 components, which isn’t difficult but it is something you have to remember to do. My husband and I both have electronic PDA's so we're able to 'sync' our calendars by beaming events from handheld to handheld. Then I upload the PDA's info to our computer so I can print out 8 1/2 x 11 sized calendar printouts to be viewed in the kitchen.

The more you write down, the less you have to remember and the more that will get done. Here's to a more organized 2008!

Organizing Books

When I did a search for books on 'organizing' on Amazon.com, 175,742 results came up. Yikes! That's a lot of books discussing decluttering, huh?!

Books are a passion of mine -- I'm an avid reader -- and I do have organizing books that I use as professional reference and resources. But I consider books on how to get organized similar to dieting and other self-help books -- they may help or inspire, but are they sufficient to make the changes necessary?

If you were trying to stop smoking, you would probably not buy a book on the topic but instead get medical help, use the patch, chew the gum, attend a support group, or a combination of all of them. Same thing with organizing -- you might get a book to give you tips or ideas, but it probably will not address all your specific concerns.

If I need a room painted or carpentry done, I generally call an expert to do it. That way, it gets done and it gets done right. I don't buy a book on the topic (unless I am really interested in the subject matter) as my sole solution. Hiring a professional has a ton of benefits and the money spent is worth the completion/accomplishment of the task(s). It makes it happen.

So getting an organizing book in the near future? Just know there's a ton of them, and words on a page may not have the magical effect you're looking for.

Thinking about New Year's

Not too far after the Christmas wrapping paper is picked up, comes that time of year where many people make resolutions. I'd like to add my two cents to the topic of New Year's, and our habit of resolving to (fill in the blank).

First of all, let me say that I think making a resolution is a wonderful concept -- trying to improve yourself, make things better, etc. I understand how it is a new year, a fresh start, and the natural fit of making a change at that time. It is a great time for introspection. However....why not make a resolution in May? Today? Last week? What about the old line of 'tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life'? And do we keep New Year's resolutions?

Consider these "Fast Facts About New Year's Resolutions" (from About.com):

• 63% of people keep their resolutions after two months.


• 67% of people make three or more resolutions.


• People make more resolutions to start a new habit, than to break an old one.

Let's be realistic, and understand that for resolutions to stick, they must become part of our lifestyle, our lives. The change must be one you're committed to being a consistent part of everyday life, and that is not easy.

Sometimes, we create our own obstacles that prevent these resolutions from being accomplished. Identifying those roadblocks to why we don't exercise more, eat better, stop smoking et al could be more helpful than the resolutions themselves.

I read something from speaker Tracy Brinkmann that I really agreed with:

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. Don't give yourself an out. Stop blaming your parents, your childhood, your kids, your wife, the economy, your boss, your dog, your postman or any other thing/person in your life. It is in fact YOUR life. Don't say if I could I would, say I can and I will. You may have many reasons why, but only you can CHANGE them, so take responsibility. Step up and remember the words of Oprah Winfrey "My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." (OnlineOrganizing.com)

Just Checking In

Ok, consider this a virtual coaching opportunity for you to see where you're at with your holiday goals. Pretend I'm right there, asking you:

1. Are all the gifts bought? If so, wrapped? If not, do you have a list or something in mind for those that are left? Have you remembered all the service people and workers that you interact with on a regular basis?
2. If not wrapped, do you have sufficient wrapping supplies to do the gifts?
3. How about stocking stuffers?
4. Have you sent out Christmas cards? If not, do you have the actual cards ordered or bought? Are you planning to work on them by a certain date? Don't forget stamps and return address labels to make the work easier.
5. Are you hosting any holiday festivities such as get-togethers or parties? What supplies do you need (food, drink, decor)? Do you know how many are coming, and if there are overnight guests, do you have everything you need for their stay?
6. Is the Christmas tree up?
7. Is outdoor decor all set?
8. If so, are there any things you could purchase to make next year's holiday storage easier (i.e. bins, plastic wreath containers)? Are there boxes or outdoor decor to replace?
9. When you see them on sale, can you buy needed wrap, ribbons, bows or cards for next year?
10. Can you make a To-Do list of anything you still need to deal with over the next 12 days?
11. Have you thought ahead to New Year's plans?

Christmas Storage - Location, Location, Location

The following information is a combination of: 1) ideas and statements created by, and 2) tips and additional ideas of mine inspired by material from, my friend Janine Godwin of Nooks and Crannies Professional Organizing in Katy, TX. [In other words, most of it is hers, some is mine LOL!!]

To make space for all your holiday decorations and related 'stuff', here are some tips you can use now or when packing up after the season is over for where it should go.

Attic Storage

• If you want to maximize the amount of space you have available in your attic area, then the reality is you need to clean the space. In order to have it work for you instead of against you, then starting from scratch may be the answer. If you need the space, then you need to create the space.

• If you have an attic, and it is unfinished (i.e. exposed joists, wiring, etc) make the space work for you! You can install plywood across the joists and create a great storage area. A wonderful alternative is Attic Dek®, which are pre-measured high-density plastic panels that are made to simply screw into place, giving you the space, ventilation and strength you need.
  

Closet Storage

• Use your indoor closet space for smaller holiday items such as ornaments, breakables, heirloom pieces, etc. Don’t waste this valuable space with garland, wreaths, trees, and outdoor ornaments which are all large and bulky, unless you have the equivalent of a small room-sized closet.


• Store items in clear plastic tubs. This allows you to see what is inside at a glance. Use smaller tubs, which are easier to lift, configure and stack.



• Stacked tubs/boxes are more difficult to get to than those that are stored on shelves.



• Take advantage of specialty storage items designed especially for holiday ornament and decorations (check out stores like Target and WalMart first).



• Inventory of all your decorations. This is a great time to do an actual written list of your seasonal items. Place the lists inside a binder or notebook to refer to at anytime of the year. You can also tape a list of items inside each bin lid, or inside the front facing out, so you know at a glance what all the contents are inside.
  


• Label everything.
  

Garage or Shed Storage

• Placing large tubs or boxes on plastic pallets, not only gives you a dedicated storage space, but it keeps the contents from getting wet “just in case”. The High and Dri Storage Pallet® is another one of those ideas that come in handy when you need that extra space.
  


• Store bulky, heavy items in your garage, and not indoors. Invest in a Christmas tree storage bag or tubs to safely store and protect your investment. No one wants to lug a tree out of the attic each year, so make it easy and store the tree at ground level.



• Think “vertically”. So much wasted space in garages is due in part to lack of storage space above eye-level. Professionally-installed shelving or a “garage lift” can give you much needed storage space for holiday decorations.



• Remember, anything you only need once a year shouldn't be in prime nearby real estate; it can be the furthest away and the least accessible when you are considering storage spots.

For additional Christmas organizing tips, see my post from 11/27.

Let Your Kids Help with Being Organized

This post will delve a bit into parenting issues but my main point applies to organizing. When discussing kids' chores or their part in cleaning their rooms, clients and I talk about their expectations for their children in the household. For ex., do your kids put away clean clothes? do they put away their toys? Do you have them help around the house? etc. If I know who is responsible for household tasks, I can better help design strategies and organization systems.

Smart managers in the corporate world know that part of success is in delegating. I try to encourage busy moms to do the same -- take more off their plate and either eliminate or delegate. While I am not encouraging child labor, I do think it is perfectly appropriate to give jobs to kids that are well within their capability. Kids like to be like adults, and enjoy playing the part sometimes. Children as young as 2 and 3 can help sort and put away things such as clothes and toys. Additionally, it is part of their development to learn more and more coping skills and life skills. If you always pick out your child's clothes, and you're still doing it when they're 15, that's a problem. If you always pick up dirty clothes and do all of the laundry, the teenager never learns how to do it thus flounders in college.

Connie Johnson, in an OnlineOrganizing.com article, stated: "Things and space are CONCRETE and meaningful across age groups and ability levels. Sorting and categorizing, and purging are key skills to develop in the quest for organization. Happily, many of these skills can be ENCOURAGED while enlisting your children’s help around the house –- a two-fer! Laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, meal preparation –- all give many opportunities to learn and practice these skills. Sorting socks, putting away clean dishes, writing the grocery list by food group or location within the store, putting all the soups in one section of the pantry and the paper goods in another –- all these activities lay the GROUNDWORK for sorting and categorizing papers at school or work."

It can, and should, be done!

Gotta Luv the Gift Cards

I, for one, love receiving gift cards. It is so great to be able to whip out a Dunkin' Donuts gift card instead of cash, when I have my window down on a cold day at the Drive-Thru window. It is a mini-feeling of being rich, where I just flash some plastic and I feel like no money has been exchanged.

My husband will find the first sentence of this post ironic. It has become kind of a running joke between us that you only give gift cards (and in his case, a gift certificate back in 2000) if you don't really care about the person. True, when he gave me a gift certificate for Bath & Body Works for my birthday when we were dating, I was disappointed. After all, aren't those products what you give a teacher or a mother? Where was my romantic, "we're in love" gift, I wondered. Granted, we had only been dating for a month so I suppose a teddy from Victoria' s Secret was not in the cards.

But I digress...nowadays, I appreciate when someone thinks of a fave place or somewhere I might like to go, and gets me a gift card. It doesn't matter the $ value -- sometimes it entices the recipient to shop there when they wouldn't normally. Or it can make things more convenient when they do go to their favorite haunt. You can find a ton of different gift cards on display for purchase in places like CVS or Wal-Mart (so now you don't have to drive to separate stores or restaurants for each card).

Gift cards for Christmas have two elements: practicality and thoughtfulness. Practical because they're like free money, and thoughtful because they involve thinking about the recipient's likes. They are small enough to fit into stockings, but you can wrap one in a box to become a present. Gotta love the gift cards! (Or if you don't, get some for someone who does, hint hint!)

How long to hold on to tax returns?

Although you probably don't want to think about doing your 2007 tax return now, I like the end of the year because it means I can wrap up my record-keeping for the year in preparation for a probable tax refund. Once I get the W-2 forms in January, I'm ready to send in my paperwork to my accountant and wait for good news. Generally we get notice of refunds by the first week of February (I've told you I'm not normal!).

I also love that I can throw away yet another year's return and file of paperwork. While 7 years seems to be the most common guideline we all hear as to how long to keep tax paperwork, my accountant said 3 years. Most clients don't trust that number so we operate with the 7-yr rule when purging, and I suggest that they consult with their accountant.

According to most online research on the topic, "there is a three year statute of limitations for the IRS to assess a tax and impose a penalty on the taxpayer. Once this three-year period has elapsed and the IRS is no longer permitted to examine your returns for a particular year, you can dispose of that year's records. You should note that the three years begins when the tax return is due; if you filed early, the due date is still the target date." Of course there are some situations that require holding on longer to pertinent paperwork, but for the typical consumer, this applies.

For a more specific explanation and all the exceptions, see the IRS section on this topic. This information may come in handy before April!

Frugal Christmas Gift Ideas

I wanted to share this interesting list for those of you stuck for gift ideas this holiday season. Always on the lookout for creative but not expensive ideas, I found this:

63 Gift Ideas for Under $ 10
by Michelle Jones

1. Gourmet coffees with a personal coffee cup
2. A pound of pistachios
3. Child's artwork, framed
4. Journal with special inscription inside
5. Teacup with box of herbal tea
6. Deck of cards and book of card game rules
7. Homemade cocoa mix in a pretty jar
8. Collage of special photos
9. Get pens and pretty stationary
10. Bottle of sparkling cider
11. Home baked bread, include recipe
12. Disposable camera or rolls of film
13. Basket filled with deli cheese and fruit
14. Craft supplies
15. Holiday serving bowl or platter
16. Pretty basket filled with special jams or mustards
17. Decorative napkins and napkin rings
18. Fancy chocolate bars tied with a ribbon
19. Gardening gloves with a plant or flower seeds
20. Photo album, hand decorated is even better
21. Makeup tote
22. Prepaid photo developing envelopes
23. Homemade cookie mix with instructions for baking
24. Variety of bread mixes
25. Special coffee cup filled with candy
26. Fancy magazines tied together with a pretty ribbon.
27. Gourmet popcorn and flavored oil
28. Locally made barbeque or steak sauce with basting brush
29. Pancake or waffle mix and a bottle of real maple syrup
30. Movie theater gift certificates
31. Board games
32. Jar of sourwood or pure honey with biscuit mix
33. Note cards and book of stamps
34. Picture frames, buy them on sale!
35. Specialty cookbook
36. Pretty glass jar filled with candy
37. Collectible sports cards
38. Muffin mixes with muffin pan
39. Books, there are still a few for under
$ 10.00.
40. Set of dish towels and dish cloths
41. Nail polish kit
42. Pretty night shirt
43. Basket filled with kitchen gadgets
44. Video rental gift certificates
45. Pepper mill and fresh peppercorns
46. Handwritten copies of your favorite recipes
47. For the pets, gourmet dog biscuits or cat treats
48. Baking pans and supplies
49. Prepaid long distance phone cards
50. Small clock or radio
51. Pretty box for keepsakes
52. Colorful Post-It notepads
53. Address book
54. Christmas ornaments
55. Puzzles
56. Blank video or cassette tapes
57. Sewing supplies
58. Flashlight with batteries
59. Favorite quote embroidered on a nice handkerchief
60. Makeup brush set
61. Expensive socks, still under $ 10
62. Special soaps and bath puff
63. and don't forget my absolute favorite...home baked cookies!

Copyright 2002 by Michelle Jones, founder of BetterBudgeting.com

Tame Catalog Chaos

As you may have noticed, there has been an influx of catalogs since Thanksgiving -- there are days I get a dozen of them. Hopefully, once Christmas comes and goes, the pile will begin to lessen in the mailbox. Until then, if you are having separation anxiety in trying to part from every catalog, here are some tips to handle all the tempting 'store magazines' you are getting.

RealSimple.com suggests "Separate these bulky items from your other mail before you even take off your coat. Put them in a designated basket or magazine tote so you can transport them easily from room to room for perusing, then to the recycling bin when you’re done. Pick a container that’s big enough to hold the month’s required reading but small enough to force you to purge the old issues to make room for the new." I tell clients to treat the catalogs like magazines or newspapers -- put them in a vertical magazine rack until you read them. The finite space will force you to be attentive to the contents and purge when there is no space left.

Keep in mind that 99% of the time there is a website address or phone number available on every page of a catalog -- you could pull out a page or pages that show items you plan to buy or consider and still have the needed information to place an order. Even if only the store name appears on the page(s) you ripped, you could search online. After pulling out the page(s), take a second to circle or mark the item you're considering so you avoid saying 'why did I want this?'

I do not recommend any fancy storage or filing system for this kind of stuff. Sometimes organizing tips will talk about filing catalogs, putting them into plastic sleeves in binders, etc., but I am not an advocate of that. To me, that is tantamount to ironing and folding underwear -- unnecessary.