In case of an emergency….

If something were to happen to you, would your spouse or family know exactly what financial accounts and documents you have, where they are located, and how to access them? How would they know where to locate the different Websites and passwords you use to access information on the Internet? Create a personal document list that includes not only the information on your investment and retirement accounts, but also pertinent information on your property (deed to home, title to cars, insurance policies, legal agreements, etc.) A personal document list should include the names and phone numbers of guardians, executors, trustees, lawyers, accountants, investment advisors, etc and the location and contents of any safe deposit boxes.

Most folks do not have the basic estate planning documents, which include a will, living will and durable power of attorney. Quickens Willmaker or Plan Your Estate from Nolo.com are on line.. These programs can walk you through making a will and provisions you need to consider for your situation.  Once you’ve done this homework, seek the advice of an attorney who can help you complete the process. How much you’ll pay will depend on how simple or complicated your documents are.

Got Counter Clutter?

Those piles of papers, bills and statements cluttering kitchen/office/bathroom counters must go! Replace with a filing system organized by what makes sense to you and how you would retrieve.  Then use it!  by filing  stuff as it comes in, rather than letting them pile up. The important thing is to use a system that works for you and that you will use.

Close out your checkbook register at year-end and start a new one. File the register with  tax statements you will need for your tax return.

Keep insurance policies, wills/trusts, birth/marriage certificates, passports and other hard-to-replace documents in a fireproof safe box and a backup of financial records on your computer.

Use a safe deposit box at your bank to store  valuable and irreplaceable documents and items. Don’t keep your will here. At your death, the bank will seal off access to a safe deposit box until the court approves an order appointing a representative to oversee the opening. Consult with an attorney for further details. I am not an attorney nor do I play one on TV.

Green Your Finances!

According to Javelin Strategy & Research, 53% of Americans currently use online banking services, rising to an estimated 67% by 2012.  The report also estimates that Americans could prevent the logging of 16.5 million trees every year if all Americans switched from paper bills to Internet banking.  Save trees and pay bills on line!

Get E statements for 401 K, credit cards statements

Use on line banking. When I joined the credit union they said I could still get paper statements, but I would have to pay!  Encourage your bank or credit union to offer on line banking if they don’t already!

Buy recycled filing products. I have a list of resources on my site.

A straightforward filing system is Freedom Filer.  (https://freedomfiler.com/AffiliateClickThrough.cfm?cid=9749) All FreedomFiler label kits are currently manufactured in the USA and are printed without using any plastic components. packaging is streamlined to remove all extraneous printed materials to use as little paper as possible.

Little changes can make a big difference!

Financial Account Clutter?

Do you know where all your money is? If you have multiple accounts with the same names, it can become difficult to see your overall allocation and track your investments. If you have several retirement accounts, (IRA, 401(k) account in a prior employer’s plan, etc.) 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.

What’s in Your Wallet?

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

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 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.

Make sure you have a list of all your credit cards, with contact information, pin numbers, etc. in the event your card is stolen or lost.

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

Green 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/

In what small way can you make a difference?

Do You Know Where All Your Money Is?

If you want to make more money and believe in the law of attraction, do you think you will attract more money if you can’t manage or don’t respect what you already have? Even if you don’t believe in the law of attraction, do you think you benefit from not knowing where all your money is?

How do you know your finances need to be better organized?

• Have you recently paid a bill late because you couldn’t find it?
• Do you have a list of all accounts, numbers, online IDs and passwords?
• Do you have all your credit card accounts with pins, passwords, etc.?
• Do you have wills, living wills and durable power of attorney documents?
• Do you have a specific financial plan for paying down debt and building savings?
• Do you have a list of all retirement accounts and life insurance policies, including beneficiaries?
• Do you know your credit score?
• Do you have a recent copy of your credit report?
• Can you quickly find all your policies (health, auto, etc.) to see if you can get a better rate?

What steps can you take today to get your finances better organized?

STOP IT BEFORE IT STARTS!

I cannot emphasize this enough:  STOP JUNK MAIL BEFORE IT ENTERS YOUR HOME!  I have helped clients sort through tons of junk mail.  Why continue to waste time. Send a clear message to direct marketers to stop the junk!

Use their 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

If you don’t want to enter your personal info into a random site, you can use fake data and then download the PDF document for a reference to create your own letters.

Contact Opt-Out Prescreen online https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t or at 1-888-567-8688  from your home telephone .

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

Remove your name from ADVO Inc. by calling 1-888-241-6760 or completing the form at www.advo.com/consumersupport.html

Fill out the form on the Direct Marketing Association’s website at www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing

Email your removal request to Publishers Clearinghouse at privacychoices@pchmail.com

Get off Val-Pak’s list by filing out the form at http://www.coxtarget.com/mailsuppression/s/DisplayMailSuppressionForm

To remove yourself from Acxiom’s list, you must request a mail-in opt-out form by calling 1-877-774-2094

DoNotMail.com notes, “Catalogs may stop coming when your other removal requests are processed, but you can always call the catalog company.”

Other options if you want to pay someone to take care of it for you:

http://www.41pounds.org/

https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/home.action

THANKS! It really DOES take a VILLAGE!

Proud to say I am the 2011 National Association of Professional Organizers Los Angeles Green Award for Most Eco-Friendly Organizing Service award winner!

I want to thank EVERYONE who took a minute out of their lives to vote for me, offer me words of encouragement and/or congratulate me. Some of you had never met me, but were willing to support me!  I won because you all supported me.

A list of those whom I have GREAT GRATITUDE for; words can never truly express how honored and blessed I feel:

My family (Big J, Jen Jen, John, Justin, Kristin, Clare, Max & Emma) & friends (too numerous to mention but I love you all) were wonderfully supportive and got out the vote!

My Grandmother Seibert for always believing in me and trusting I would find myself even when I didn’t.  Sybil Rhodes for being like a second mother to me & being an example of the best way to live your life!  If I live my life 1/100th of the way they have lived I will consider myself a success.

My clients who have trusted me to de-cluttering and organize them. I can truly say I have the best clients every and enjoy working with each one!  As they transform their lives, I am transformed.

My brother Justin Seibert of Direct Online Marketing ( http://www.directom.com/) for all his advice, setting up my website, doing that SEO stuff I do not understand and continuing to be a huge source of knowledge—and most importantly father to the stars of some of videos–Clare, Max & Emma.

Angel Lebak of Assistant Angel ( http://virtualassistantsocialmedia.com/) for being the best social media virtual assistant ever. Being able to put someone in charge of a huge project and not have to think about it is a relief! Her social media campaign won this award for me! I completely trust her for business & personal advice and proud to call her a friend. What a great thing to have someone who believes in you those moments you doubt yourself!

Michele Little of One Chic Mama (http://www.onechicmama.com/) for styling me and finding me a dress I could “reuse”. More importantly she saw the beauty in me when I couldn’t see it in myself. Can’t wait for her to revolutionize women and how we view ourselves.

Phyllis Smith of A Younger You (http://www.ayoungeryounc.com/) for an acupressure facial treatment to put my best face forward! Raised an inch–now if she could only do to my breasts & butt! West Virginia gals rock it & look after each other!

Mara Cohen of Mara Cohen LHP Cosmetics (http://www.lhpcosmetics.blogspot.com/) for loaning me her gorgeous wrap and her bling bling bling! I felt like a million bucks.

Barry & Ellen Sherrill of Aim Group Two Promotional Products ( http://www.aimgrouptwo.com/) who made my reusable bags and go to the ends of the earth to find green products and have the best customer service ever!

Amy Shair of ReMax (http://www.amyshair.com/) for helping me shoot videos, giving me ideas, loaning me her Flip camera, having great knowledge for technical advice! Call Amy for your Shair of the Market–love that and have to say everytime I use her name!

Laura Poole of Archer Coaching ( http://www.archercoaching.com/) in helping me define my mission & vision for my work.

Michelle Gower of Gower Power ( http://gowerpower.com/) for kick ass press releases. Glad she will now have another one to do! Her wisdom for word press taught me that an e-mail signature can be soooo much more!

Marilyn Shannon ( http://www.reenchantplanetearth.com/) & my WPN Cary group: y’all my girls! (http://womenspowernetworking.com/north-carolina-raleigh-durhamtrian…) I am a success because of your support. Could not have done this without each & every one of you!

Jill Hively of Order up Organizing (http://www.orderuporganizing.com/) who campaigned for me as much as I did myself.  How wonderful it is to have a colleague that supports you and knows that together we are truly stronger!  What can I say?  She is a West Virginia gal!

Christine Englebreacht The Total Spa Escape (http://www.thetotalspaescape.com/) for helping me with make up.

Pat Howlett Inside 919 (http://www.insidenetworx.com/) for giving me tons of advice for videos & content, and creating inside 919 for free to allow small business owners like me the chance to succeed.  This is a true gift for our community.

Dave Silvestein of New Frontier Realty ( http://www.newfrontierrealty.net/) better known as Stinky to me, for sponsoring me i.e. used his valuable frequent flyer miles to get me a plane ticket, escorting me to two events, being my chauffer, housing & feeding me!

Carol Schwartz for all her business advice both personal & professional! I am blessed to have her in my life & proud to call her a friend!

Kerry Waite for nominating me!

Victor Hammer, who is my youngest & coolest client ever, & lent me his brand new flip video so I could record my event. In 20 years this kid will be doing something great—he is the best repurposer I know! Thanks to his mom Tina who is a wonderful client who has become a friend!

Apologies if I have forgotten anyone! Let me know if I did so I can correct.