Organize Credit Card Clutter

Do you really need several credit cards? If you can’t justify having, close the account. Too many unmonitored accounts can be easy targets for ID thieves, who can steal  information.

Get a copy of your credit report. Credit reports from all three credit bureaus can be accessed for free once a year at annualcreditreport.com. Contact companies of accounts you want to close and have them write “Closed per account holder’s request” on your credit report. Closing credit accounts where there is a long history of on-time payments and a large amount of available but unused credit may have a negative effect on your credit score. But closing recently-opened department store cards, with low limits, should have little or no effect.

DISCLOSURE: I am not a financial expert, nor do I play one on TV. Consult with your financial adviser.

Organizing Financial Account Clutter

Do you know where all your money is? If you have multiple accounts with the same titling, it can become difficult to get a complete view of your overall allocation and track your investment performance. If you have several retirement accounts, (IRA, 401(k) account in a prior employer’s plan) consider consolidating into one rollover IRA. This will be easier to monitor and manage as well as keep your beneficiary designations current.

DISCLOSURE: I am not a financial expert, nor do I play one on TV. Consult with your financial adviser.

Organizing Your Mind

I take a holistic approach with organizing and suggest people start with their mind. This means living in the present and not spending time in fear and anxiety. I consider this an important step in getting inside and outside organized. These questions by Geneen Roth are written on a whiteboard in my office and when making a decision I reflect on these questions.

1. Does it lead me toward a fuller life or confine me?
2. Does it bring me closer to my heart or take me further away?
3. Does it open me or close me?
4. Does it allow me to trust myself further or does it make me frightened of myself?
5. Does it enlarge my life or does it make my life smaller?

Take some time to reflect who and what is important in your life. Who nourishes you? Spend time with the people who uplift you. Invited to events you don’t want to go to? Don’t. It is your choice. Don’t play the victim.

Easy way to help keep control of clutter!

Need a pair of skis for a weekend trip or an entertainment system for a party? Instead of buying….

Check out a low-commitment version of EBay:  www.zilok.com

Tips for Organizing Your Desk

Have you ever had that million dollar client and have to interrupt them with this distracted plea, “Wait a minute, I need to find something to write on,” followed by the sound of rustling papers?

Desk Surface: Projects  you are working on daily. Knickknacks belong on shelves!

Inside desk. Projects work on weekly should be kept in the drawers and on  lower shelves.

Around desk. Arrange projects that you work on monthly on nearby surfaces or in easy-to-reach file drawers.

Away from desk. If you must walk across the room, use it for storage.

Subscriptions: Do you collect? Do you read? Do you need? Can you cancel? Don’t forget to recycle!

Catalogs: How old?  Are you really going to purchase something? What immediate benefit comes from saving the catalogs? Can you recycle?

Ads/coupons: If you don’t know what it is or haven’t seen it for a while, recycle it. Don’t collect stuff that are “good deals.”

Business cards: Do you know who they are?  Don’t pile business cards in a drawer or on your desk. Weed through your collection and recycle the cards you won’t use. Then develop a better system.

Paperwork: Do? Delay? Delegate? Recycle?

File it. Label  files clearly based on how you would retrieve. Choose categories that are simple and easy for you to recognize. No “miscellaneous” file. Keep frequently used files close. File; don’t let paperwork pile up.

Your desktop is not a place to store things!

Eco-Organizing your Paper! Part 2

If you are buying paper, remember to look for  post-consumer recycled content, which avoids cutting down any new trees, and “closes the recycling loop.”

A recent study estimates that Americans could prevent the logging of over 16 million trees annually if everyone switched from paper bills to Internet banking.  Most institutions provide E statements for 401 K and credit cards can provide paperless statements.

Buy recycled filing products. Most stores offer recycled products with non recycle materials.  The more demand that is created for recycled products will help bring prices down.

All FreedomFiler label kits are currently manufactured in the USA and are printed without using any plastic components.  The packaging is streamlined to remove all extraneous printed materials to use as little paper as possible.  The company is also green in many ways. Find out more at www.freedomfiler.com/Home.cfm

Think before you print!!

Print on both sides.

Keep a box to place paper with one used side at your desk. Flip and use the other side for scratch paper.

Easy Organization Goals!

If you are feeling overwhelmed at the thought of getting organized, do one thing to make a change.  Here are some suggestions I have made to clients in taking that first step!  Remember to donate, give away and/or recycle!

1.   Have less “stuff” coming into my living space.  If I bring something in, something goes out.

2.   A place for everything. Have a place for keys, sunglasses, bills, permission slips, etc.

3.   Say no to: other people’s stuff; people who don’t support and nourish me; things I know longer use or love.

4.   Donate. I’m getting rid of everything that doesn’t represent me because I want to live in the present.

5.   Make life easy. I don’t need 5 serving platters, 8 shampoos, and 6 sets of sheets.

6.   Stop collecting stuff for others: “I was saving this for you” or “I thought you could use this.” They probably can’t.

7.   What’s behind the clutter? What is clutter distracting you from?

8. Make monthly donations to a charity you love.  Someone will be grateful for what you don’t need or want anymore.

Eco-friendly Valentine Gifts

Here are some suggestions for an earth friendly, people friendly, doing just about good for everyone gifts.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Conflict Free Jewelry: http://www.brilliantearth.com

You can send beautiful gifts and support the environment with a wide assortment of earth friendly gourmet, fruit, spa and rainforest green gifts and baskets. http://www.ecoexpress.com/

Organic flowers:  http://www.organicbouquet.com/

Organic chocolate:  http://www.shamanchocolates.com/

Gift of hope for someone else:  http://www.sustainableharvest.org/

Eco-Organizing your Paper!

Stop mail before it enters your home or office.  DoNotMail has a form to generate 17 ready-to-mail requests to different direct mail companies. DoNotMail will take the data you enter and create a PDF document with all 17 letters ready to print and send.

http://donotmail.org/form.php?id=50

Contact Opt-Out Prescreen online https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t
or at 1-888-567-8688 (888-5-OPT-OUT).

Email your removal request to Abacus Direct at optout@abacus-us.com

Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device you use. For free. www.evernote.com/

A nifty product to help you stay organized without using paper is a portable whiteboard with different templates that allows you to create lists, etc.

cocoaliving.com/products/slate

Instead of having to keep those bulky manuals, you can locate even hard to find ones here: www.manualsonline.com/

Using Leftover Wrapping Paper to Get Organized

Here are some uses for leftover wrapping paper:

create decorative box labels and color code by subject;

shred and use as packaging material;

wrap around recycled tin cans to store pens, pencils and scissors;

make a bookmark;

use in a frame and hang it for a graphic touch;

protect your books;

construct napkin rings by cutting strips and wrapping around flatware for your next dinner party;

compose a card;

save it by ironing on low and rolling it back on the tube to reuse next year!

What other creative ideas do you have?  Remember to try and make being green fun.  Don’t think of it as a chore, but rather a way to be creativity and stretch your imagination while doing good for the planet.

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