Organization 2013: Paperwork – What To Keep, What To Toss, How To Store

 Organization  27 Responses »
Jan 082013
 

Paperwork Organization: Bills, Financials, Mail & More

Organization How-To: Get That Paperwork Under Control

If you’re like the typical household you are likely buried under paper.  Old bills, tax returns, check stubs, receipts, bank statements, notices, magazines, cards – the list goes on and on.  It can be hard to decide what’s needed to keep, how long to keep it, how to store it, and how to keep it from overflowing again.

January is a great month to get your paperwork organized.  Not only because it’s the start to a new year and that’s always a great time to make new changes, but also because the tax man cometh!  You’ll need certain documents in order to file your taxes and after this organization you’ll be able to lay your hands on what you need at the moment you need it.

Storage Supplies

You’ll want to decide which storage methods are best for you but I suggest picking up:

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Organization 2013: Organize Holiday Decor With After-Christmas Sales

 Organization  5 Responses »
Dec 262012
 

Organizing Tips For Holiday Decor

Organizing Tips For Holiday Decor

The new year is just around the corner and it’s the perfect time to get – and stay! – organized.  So next year I’ll be bringing you articles  filled with organizing tips, suggestions, cleaning plans, lists, and more in an effort to help you be on top of your game.  It’ll be a good way for me to make sure that we’re staying organized, too!

To kick off your organization start by taking advantage of these after-Christmas sales and stock up on plastic bins.  Walmart and Target (as well as other places, I’m sure) generally discount them more at this time of year than any other.  Try to pick up a few in different colors.  That way you can color-code your storage and make things easier to find.  For example, we’ll be using green bins to store our Christmas decorations, red bins for spring holiday decorations (like Valentines and Easter), blue ones for summer holidays (July 4th, outdoor decor, etc.), and purple ones for the fall holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, general fall decor, etc.).  Everything else that needs to be stored will go in clear bins.

I’ll also be picking up some of the smaller bins that are on sale.  These will be for baking supplies (sprinkles, cookie cutters) that I don’t use as frequently, craft supplies, stationary, and other odds and ends.  Don’t worry – I’ll be giving you suggestions for storing, filling, ordering and accessing them over the coming months.

Oh – and you can definitely pick up the “specialty” storage boxes if you want, but you really don’t need them.  For example, the ornament boxes that have the divided compartments: in my experience they’re not as useful as you’d think.  The cardboard bends easily, if you have oddly-shaped or large ornaments they don’t fit, and it limits the amount you can pack into the bin.  Instead save egg cartons for the smaller, more fragile ornaments.  You can also pick up some of the clearanced Christmas tins (round and square), pad them with some clearance tissue paper (or crumpled newspaper) in which to pack your ornaments.

Need more inspiration?  Check out all of my Organization 2013 posts.

What are your tips for organizing your holiday decor?