Discounted Office Products

Approximately 90% of my clients do not need to purchase any organizing products when working with me, but for the remaining 10% I try to recommend products that will truly meet their needs. I should note that I am not affiliated with any products, so there is no conflict of interest.

A fellow organizer in New Jersey brought to my attention this week that Ultimate Office is going out of business. This is a shame, as their products seemed to be of high quality and were truly unique. Hopefully another company will fill the void as many of these products cannot be found at Staples or Office Depot.

Recycling Vacuum Cleaners

Last week my old Eureka upright vacuum cleaner seemed to be on its last leg. It wasn't surprising since my mom had handed it down to me in the early 90s. I am not sure when she bought it, but I remember her saying once that it was a low end model.

Through a loyalty program I had the opportunity to get a new Oreck XL Classic vacuum for free. This is a great deal seeing that this vacuum cleaner retails for around $300 and in my mind that seems like an awful lot of money to pay for a vacuum.

My new vacuum arrived on Tuesday and I love it! It is so lightweight, adjusts easily between different types of flooring (I vacuum everywhere to save time) and is doing a great job sucking up dog hair.

I had planned to throw the old vacuum in the trash, but felt guilty about the environmental waste. My husband reminded me that Recycle Ann Arbor would probably take the vacuum, as he had recently taken an old copier for my mom and our old shredder for recycling there. I called and they will take the old vacuum for free or at most a $2 fee. Less clutter in my house, reduced waste in the landfill and clean floors! What more could one need for a Simply Organized Life?

Organizing Tips for Families

This morning I had the pleasure of presenting my seminar titled "Organizing Tips for Families" to the MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) of Northville group (I am in the green sweater). This is a vibrant secular group that meets twice monthly at the First United Methodist Church in Northville, Michigan.

The group has quite a roster of activities including a seminar from Dr. Bob Sornson of the Early Learning Foundation on March 16th and a Mom to Mom sale on April 24th & 25th. They are currently accepting gently used items for the Mom to Mom sale which benefits the group and local charities.

An Organized Medicine Cabinet

For 2009 I have replaced the "Ask the Expert" feature from my monthly e-newsletter "Your Simply Organized Life" with a monthly organizing challenge. In February I challenged readers to organize their medicine cabinets in three easy steps. This is a simple organizing project that can be accomplished in less than one hour.

Along with readers, I took up this challenge and found six items with expired dates (see photo). It was so easy to take these items to my local pharmacy for proper disposal. It also freed up a nice amount of space in my medicine cabinet.

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Getting Out of Debt

In the last four plus years helping people get organized professionally, I have seen a high correlation between debt and clutter. I recently read in my local newspaper that the Dexter United Methodist Church is offering a course for couples called Financial Peace University based on the teachings of a gentleman by the name of Dave Ramsey.

Interestingly enough, I heard of Dave Ramsey a few months ago from a participant of my seminar titled "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life." Mr. Ramsey's teachings are based on Christian principals, but I think they can benefit folks of any faith. Here is a link to his seven baby steps.

Kindness of Strangers

Last Sunday my family experienced the kindness of strangers in our friendly little Michigan community. We were all in the car (my husband, child, dog and myself) returning from a visit to my mother about two hours away. Our little one was getting antsy in the car, so we turned on WKAR for the classical music which always seems to sooth our child. My husband, driving, was enjoying the music so much he totally missed the entrance to our neighborhood. Then he seemed paralyzed as to what to do at the next road and ended up pulling into an unplowed side road.

Our car has all wheel drive, so I was not concerned until I realized we were clearly stuck in the snow. Shortly after my husband got out to push and I took the wheel, a kind couple stopped to help us out. Being a professional organizer I really should be prepared with a winter car kit like the one described in this article, but I was not and have never been stuck in 20 years of Michigan winter driving. Fortunately, our good Samaritans were prepared with a shovel neatly tucked into the back of their car. Five minutes had not passed and another gentleman stopped to help push us out.

It really made us feel good that folks in our community are so helpful. We hope we can do the same sometime soon.

Organizing for a Career Change

I have received some great questions from the readers of my monthly e-newsletter, Your Simply Organized Life (sign up here). This month I wrote about "Feeling Fine in 2009." Here's one reader question and my response:

Q: Do you have any ideas for organizing yourself during a job search/career change?

A: This is a great question, because it is so important to stay organized when searching for a new job or possibly making a career change.

When searching for a new job, I recommend creating an electronic file folder on your computer and a paper file folder (this can be a section of a three ring binder or a hanging file folder) for each position you are interested in. If you are really tech savvy you can skip the paper file, but I find most people still have tons of loose papers to pull together. I like to label the folders by employer name. This way you can customize your resume and other application materials for that particular employer. If you apply to more than one job at an employer, just create sub folders.

As for a career change, this is a much bigger project that should include extensive research and may even require additional training. To get you started, set up a three ring project binder with sections for research, training, etc. As you conduct your search, additional categories will reveal themselves.

While going through this process be sure to manage your time appropriately with goals for each day or week.

Routines

The holiday season was a real whirlwind for me this year. It seemed to blow in and blow right back out in a flash. While I enjoyed the season, getting back to my normal daily routines is reassuring. Now I seem to have a reasonable handle on the clutter that creeped in during the holidays, including the household paperwork. What routines do you need to reinstate now that the holidays are pretty much finished?

Organized Gift Wrapping

This afternoon I took a few minutes to wrap two Christmas gifts (shown at right). These are the first of just a few gifts that I will purchase or assemble for the holiday.

I must be honest that I do not really enjoy wrapping gifts and am not particularly good at it, but I do think my tips can help the average person keep their wrapping supplies organized and at hand when they need them.

My strategy at Christmas (and for birthdays) is to buy one jumbo roll of a seasonal pattern that will work for just about everybody. This avoids the clutter of multiple rolls of leftover wrap for the remaining 11 months of the year. If this is too boring for you, you can purchase one pattern for each family member.

For all those odd ball shaped gifts (and for giving gifts while traveling), I use gift bags that I occasionally buy but in most cases I just reuse the ones I have received in good shape. The red bag in the photo contains my gift bags and tissue paper. I also like to reuse ribbons, bows and tissue paper. I keep those items in the tall bag, but as I use it up I will eliminate the tall bag and combine those items with the gift bags. All of my wrapping supplies are stored together in the corner of a closet.

If I lived closer to Royal Oak, Michigan (and if her services were affordable) I would probably give up the gift wrap altogether and use Lisa's Gift Wrappers. Lisa also has a blog with many for tips for gift wrapping.

Financial Organization

On Wednesday, December 10, 2008 I had the pleasure of presenting a joint seminar on financial organization at The University of Michigan's Center for Education of Women with my colleague, Rob Oliver, of Oliver Financial Planning. I am pictured above (in the middle) with Kirsten Elling, Managing Director of CEW and Rob Oliver. We had a great turnout for the seminar and would like to thank all of the attendees who braved the cold to learn more about planning for financial success.

Organizing Challenge--Make-up

Today's organizing challenge is to take a good look at your cosmetics. Toss out anything you no longer use and everything over one year old (some doctors even recommend shorter periods). If you are using some old products, this is the week to replace those products with new ones. That's what I did today.

I do not wear much make-up or buy many products, but recently realized that some of the stuff I have been putting on my face is quite old. Over the years I have downgraded to mostly drugstore brand cosmetics that I tend to buy at Target. I do use one item from Clinique that I am embarrassed to say was quite old. So today, I marched into Macy's with my old item in my bag and replaced it. I didn't wait for the free gift offer, which is probably a good thing seeing my item didn't cost that much. Besides, who really needs another cosmetic bag with a bunch of samples never to be used anyway.

Reinhart Coat Drive

News of Reinhart Realtors' annual coat drive came to me twice in one week. This is a great opportunity to clean out your coat closet and help someone in need. During the month of November, you can drop off coats in good condition at any Reinhart sales office or Reinhart Sunday open house. All of the coats will be professionally cleaned and distributed locally. They especially need children's coats. Daytime temperatures have been in the 30s this week. Winter coat weather has officially arrived!

Ann Arbor Job Opening

Okay, this probably doesn't fall under the usual stuff for my blog, but I figure it's my blog and I can write what I want. Besides this could really help someone in need of a job, not to mention my friend who is looking for an administrative assistant for her office downtown Ann Arbor. Here are the details:

• Administrative Assistant for Downtown Insurance Office. 8-5 daily.
• College educated, highly detailed oriented and computer skilled.
• Challenging position in the financial services industry.
• Multi-tasker with great accuracy and ability to follow up to completion on many different tasks every day.
• Salary range is $10-12 per hour. No benefits . Bus Pass provided .
  

On-line Productivity Seminar

I came accross this on-line seminar earlier this week in a random fashion. This seminar about time management and personal productivity runs for about 35 minutes. There are some great tips to make it worth your time. I particularly like what Eben Pagen has to say about multitasking.

Until last week I had never heard of this guy. It turns out he has made millions as some sort of dating guru. Not something I am particularly interested as a happily married mother, but the guy does know a thing or two about personal productivity. That being said, stick to his free videos and keep you hard earned dollars in your pocket.

Shopping at Target

Like many of you I shop at Target for household items. Ever since my child was born I find it difficult to get out of the store spending less than $100. This last shopping trip was no different. I did everything right....shopped with my electronic list (and didn't stray from it) and used about $5 worth of coupons. Upon closer inspection I found out diapers and Tide pushed me over the $100 mark. Maybe it's time to downgrade to store brand laundry detergent?

In reviewing my receipt I also noticed that Target is now categorizing items on its receipts. Of course, I love how organized this is and how it will save me time when categorizing my purchases. The categories on my receipt were: baby, cleaning supplies, grocery, health-beauty-cosmetics and home. This is a little more detailed than my normal categories, but it will be easy to combine categories which helps in day to day budgeting. Hopefully, on my next trip the bill will fall under $100.

Free Shredding Event

As a Washtenaw County Waste Knot Partner, I recently received notification of a free shredding event to be held next week in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Here are the details:

There is a FREE Paper Shredding Event taking place at the Drop-Off Station in Ann Arbor on October 17-18, 9:30AM-4:30PM. This event is open to all Washtenaw County residents AND businesses. There is a limit of 100 lbs per customer, but if you have more than this amount you may call the Drop-Off Station (734.971.7400) before the event to make special arrangements. Please see the attached press release for more information.

This event is sponsored by Recycle Ann Arbor.

Too Many Books?

I am a big fan of local consignment bookseller Books by Chance; however, they are currently at capacity and cannot take in any more books right now. That is why I was excited to hear about Page Avenue Books. Here's what Bob from PAB has to say:

"Page Avenue Books (PAB), an Ann Arbor-area online bookseller, is on the lookout for more used books to add to their inventory. If youʼre a book-hound tripping over boxes full of donʼt-wanters, or you just inherited your late auntʼs library and have no place to put it, send an e-mail to Page Avenue Books at page.books@yahoo.com. PAB isnʼt a junk-removal service, but theyʼll quote you a modest per-box price for clean, undamaged books. PAB especially likes hardbound non-fiction, collectibles and estates, will consider others. Any books that PAB cannot sell are sent to the Ann Arbor ReUse Center or recycled."

Kids' Clothes

In the August edition of "Your Simply Organized Life" I wrote about organizing kids' clothes for back to school. My own child has very few clothes and I do laundry regularly. In my opinion this is the only way to go for kids and adults. The clean clothes stay organized and this forces mom (or whoever does the laundry) to keep on top of it (bonus: no mountains of wash to do).

The old adage "less is more" is so much a part of my daily life that I was particularly annoyed last week while shopping at GAP for socks for my child (their socks stay on the kid's foot!). Because I am organized, I knew that my child only needed two pairs to add to the collection of socks for fall.

The saleswoman at GAP was so pushy in insisting that I buy "5 for $10 for only $4 more". Of course I could have easily afforded the extra $4 for three more pairs of socks, but the woman didn't seem to get that I didn't NEED five pairs of socks. I only needed two.

My point is: it's not a bargain if you don't need it. Sometimes we forget this among the bright lights and pushy salespeople at the mall. Hold firm next time you're out shopping.

Travel Tip

My family and I just got back yesterday from a road trip to Atlanta, Georgia. We were there attending the wedding of the fine young man pictured at right, a cousin of mine. The gray haired man in the background happens to be my brother (I like to tease him about his gray hair).

Today's tip is intended to help you make the transition from a long vacation to "real life" easier. If at all possible, schedule an extra day at home following a vacation. This gives you time to unpack bags, readjust your body to your regular schedule and get back to your normal routines.

We love to travel, but even more, love coming home--especially after a 13 hour day in the car with a small child! Today's transition time has allowed me to throw in a load of laundry, readjust my child to being home and even download photos from the wedding!

15 Minutes of Fame?

This is a quirky little snapshot of me (center) with Gail Nicklowitz (left) and Carol Kamm (right) at a Women Business Owners of Southeast Michigan meeting earlier this summer. I remember my colleague, Hillary Handwerger, taking this photo but was surprised when it appeared on the WBO website recently. It just goes to show that you never know where you will show up on the web these days.

I was also surprised yesterday while driving by the Photo Generations studio in downtown Dexter. Low and behold there was a big portrait in the window of my two children! Let me know if you are downtown Dexter and see the "boy and his dog photo" in the window. It's our little 15 minutes of fame!