The Queen of KAOS @Home

by Maria GraciaIn the words of Henry David Thoreau, Simplify, Simplify. Here are the Get Organized Now!â„¢ Top 10 ways to organize and simplify your life.

1. LESS IS MORE. It’s more important to have a few nice things that you truly enjoy, than to just have lots of stuff. Say goodbye to things that don’t fit, are out of style or are unflattering. This goes for clothing, furniture, knick knacks, and other possessions you’re not happy with.
2. CONSOLIDATE CREDIT CARDS. Most stores take Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Pay off your other credit cards, and in the future use only one or two of these major credit cards. Or, if possible, use cash or your ATM card for purchases.
3. COOK MORE. Don’t spend more time cooking. Just make more when you cook. Rather than cooking enough for one dinner, make enough for at least two dinners. Refrigerate and freeze the extra portion and you’ll have another meal another night, with no extra work.
4. SCREEN YOUR CALLS. Let your answering machine take all your phone calls, and return calls on your time.
5. DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF. Don’t allow trivial matters to aggravate you. If the milk spills, wipe it up and move on to more important things.
6. GET HELP. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Split up household responsibilities among family members. Delegate to your staff. Outsource projects, repairs and so on.
7. DON’T TRY TO REMEMBER EVERYTHING. There’s no need to store it in your memory. Write it down, and write it in one place so that you can find it easily.
8. WATCH TV ON YOUR TERMS. If your favorite program isn’t on at a convenient time, use your VCR and record it. Then, watch it when you want to–without all the commercials!
9. DON’T OVER-SCHEDULE YOUR CHILDREN. Too many activities can cause a strain on your children, and you!
10. PLAN EACH DAY. Spend 10 minutes each night, planning for tomorrow. You’ll be focused and ready to take on the world each morning!

by Maria Gracia - Get Organized Now!â„¢
Want to get organized? Get your FREE Get Organized Now!â„¢ Idea-Pak, filled with tips and ideas to help you organize your home, your office and your life, at the Get Organized Now!â„¢ Web site
http://www.getorganizednow.com

In all my years living frugally, I have found that some things are worth buying new. Even though I often recommend shopping at garage sales and thrift stores, there are times when you don’t really save anything buying an item used or cutting back on something. I have tried to figure out how to save money using cloth napkins instead of paper ones, but I just haven’t been able to justify the effort when paper napkins are so inexpensive.

If the effort to make a less expensive item useful exceeds the value of the savings, it is not worth buying something used. I have put together a list of some of the things that I buy new and some of the things I try not to buy new.

Things I will buy brand new or name brand (I usually try to make sure it’s on sale):

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by Maria GraciaHave you ever heard the old saying ‘time is money’?To be perfectly honest with you, that saying is incredibly misleading.

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by Jill Cooper

We live in a society of extremes. People seem to be extremely in debt, extremely overweight and extremely disorganized. people everywhere are trying to come up with new and better solutions to solve these problems but not many of their ideas are working.

It’s because they are focusing on the wrong problem. For example, if your child comes to you and says “I have a drug problem.” You don’t sit them down and say, “Well let’s work on a way to get your grades up and then we’ll work on your drug problem.” How foolish that would be. The real problem is not the grades but the drugs. You take care of the drugs and the chances are pretty good that the grades will come up.

For some of us, instead of focusing on getting out of debt or losing weight, we need to first give more serious thought to becoming organized. Does that sound crazy, almost laughable? Before you start laughing too hard, look at these examples and see if you can relate.

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It’s that time of year when all that “free” money starts rolling in. I’m talking about the bonus money, you know — the fun money (otherwise known as our tax refund)! That is the way so many of us think of a tax refund and five minutes after we spend this year’s refund we are already thinking about what we are going to do with next years money.

Many of us look at it almost as if we have won the lottery. We are going to do so much with it and it seems to have such amazing powers. I mean a $1000 tax return can buy a car, furniture, big screen TV, or a family vacation all in one fell swoop. There is almost nothing it can’t do; no problem it can’t solve. It’s our mad money, our fun money.

Not!!!!!!!!!

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by Maria GraciaAlmost every kitchen has appliances, oversized servers and pots that are seldom used.Obviously, items that are never used should be donated, sold or tossed.

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by Maria GraciaThe wonderful, sentimental Pack Rat. So nice. So loveable. So out of space!Pack Rats desperately need more room, but can’t bear to part with their stuff.

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You can save money on gifts by shopping wisely and presenting them nicely. Here’s a perfect example: One time I found my mother in law’s favorite bath gel on clearance for $1.00 instead of the $8.00 it normally costs. I bought all they had left and then, for several holidays, I made nice gift baskets with new items from the dollar store, yard sales and the thrift store. She would never have known that the $30 value only cost me $5-$7 for each one! Of course, we put the money we would have spent toward paying off our credit cards instead of just spending it.

Listen to what they like, then keep your eye out for good deals at clearance aisles, thrift stores and yard sales. If someone collects something small, make up a nice little gift with several of those small things. Here’s a good example: My daughter collected penguins last year. We collected several over a few months and then made a nice box filled with penguins for her. She never knew and wouldn’t have cared that the cost was only a couple of dollars. It made a huge impression because it was something she liked.

Remember when shopping for gifts, it’s not so much how much you spend but how you present it. If you think about it, when you pay more for something at the store, what you’re often paying for is just the presentation.

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Keep your thermostat at 78-82 in the summer and 60-65 in the winter. For most people, this is the other way around. If you currently keep it much lower than this, try changing it over a couple months so you can get used to it.

Move down to the coolest part or up to the warmest part of the house. In the summer move all your beds and/or the TV down to the basement. In the winter your upstairs room maybe the warmest so move up there. Don’t move everything twice a year. We have a bi-level house and immediately after moving in, we realized that even though a bi-level has bedrooms on both floors, it works better for us to live during the day all on one floor. We moved all of the sleeping arrangements downstairs, even though it meant that we used the downstairs family room for our bedroom.

In the summer, open windows in the opposite corners of the house to “draw” the air through first thing in the morning. Then close them later before the heat of the day hits.

Use fans instead of central air or even air conditioners. We don’t turn on the air conditioner unless it is more than 80° F (27° C)

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by Maria Gracia Getting organized does not have to be an expensive task. You may think that you have to go out and purchase all sorts of organizing baskets, bins, holders and cabinets. In other words, you may think you have to spend lots of money to lead an organized life.But, the truth is, organizing is a PROCESS, not a PRODUCT. It takes skill, application and motivation. And yes, tools certainly help–but there are many frugal ways of getting and staying organized, without breaking the bank.

1. DE-CLUTTER. Chances are, you have available storage space in your closets and cabinets. But, perhaps they’re currently filled with clutter.Empty them out this weekend, and dump or donate things you don’t need and no longer want.

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