Almost everyone I talk to says they waste 10 minutes of day looking for their keys. My #1 organizing tip for everyone is to designate a specific place for their keys by the front door. Whether it's a hook, or a drawer in a table in the hallway, or a decorative box on the shelf, just make sure it's close to the front door. And then for the next three weeks, make a conscious effort to put your keys there every time you come in. I promise, if you do this, you'll save yourself so much frustration. And if you were someone always looking for their keys, you could save up to 2 1/2 days - the equivalent of a whole weekend.

Next time you start an organizing project be sure to focus on one room at a time. And try to stay in one area as along as possible. If you are working in your home office you may find items that belong in other rooms, and feel the urge to put something away, but dont! Not yet! As you continue working in one area you may find more items that also need to go "elsewhere". Use a bin, box or even a laundry basket to contain the items to go to other rooms. Once you get to a stopping point grab your items and deliver to all the other rooms in the house. This will keep you focused on the one area of organizing.

Winter is almost over. Even though it still gets cold here in Chicago its time to start packing up those heavier clothes and start looking into spring. Soon you will be wearing shorts and flip flops!
It can be difficult to determine what you should put away until next year and what to keep out. If the temperature drops you want to be prepared.
Here are a few items that you can put away that will jump start your closet organizing.
Heavy wools
Heavy coats
Velvets
Bulky sweaters
Winter sports gear-hats, gloves scarves or ski pants
Winter boots
Organizing your heavy winter clothes now will make the change of seasons a little easier next year. Also, by opening up space in your closet you can start adding a few of your warmer weather clothes like rain jackets, lightweight materials and cottons.

Yesterdays post I talked about organizing flower vases. Donating them or giving them back to the florist where they can be reused. But did you know it can also save you money? I had a dinner party and wanted to order flowers instead of trying to make the arrangement myself with the store bought flowers. I also wanted to use one of my existing vases so I did not start collecting vases again. I brought my vase to the florist, told them what I wanted and how much I wanted to spend and viola! A beautiful arrangement for half the cost because I brought my own vase. It pays to be organized!

When organizing your china cabinet, its common to have several different patterns of china, odd number of stemware or even a few broken figurines. The problem with all of these extra pieces is you cant have a dinner party for 8 if you only have 7 plates. One way to work with the odd number of dishes is to add another pattern that will compliment your current set. Or go to Replacements,Ltd a China, Crystal, Silver and Collectibles supplier to replace those hard to find patterns! If you are ready to let go of your current set of dishes to make room for a new set you can even sell your pieces to Replacement, Ltd!

At the end of the day, take a few minutes to organize your office space. Put everything away, make a "To-Do" list and please turn off your computer! Computers eat up a lot of energy when left on over night. Try about 2.8 billion a year and that is just the U.S! Computers that are kept on overnight and on the weekends omit 20 million tons of carbon dioxide. Yikes!
So please, start a new office organizing habit this spring and turn off your computer at the end of each day. Your computer will run better, you will save some money and get organized at the same time.

We are all busy these days and dont have time to waste or money. So the next time you are unsure about how to spend your entertaining dollars make sure you do a little research. We like to watch movies either at the theater or at home on netfix or our cable channel. But I must say there is nothing worse then wasting time and money on a flop of a movie. Make sure you check out At The movies for movies in theaters now or Rotten Tomatoes which also gives feedback on older movies out on DVD.
Just like organizing your closet you must organize your entertainment!

Here's a quick way to get rid of items you no longer need. Organize a themed swap party where everyone brings items they no longer need. It could be kitchen items, home accessories or even clothes. Its a great way to get rid of items and give them a new home. If you pick a theme its easier to look at one category at a time and makes the task of organizing a little easier. If the theme is kitchen cooking equipment all you have to do is go through your pots and pans and weed out a few that are not getting any use. This also is a good time to toss out those scratched, burnt and broken pieces too and reorganize your cabinets!

Want a quick way to get rid of leftovers and keep your fridge organized? Make a list of all leftovers and keep on your fridge door so you know what is available.
Make a section in the fridge only for leftovers that is visible and easy to reach. If you like to take leftovers to work, store in ziplock bags or disposable containers so you don't have to transfer to another container when you are rushed for time.

Kids get a lot of toys at the holidays, birthdays and other occasions. Instead of adding them all to the current play list, keep existing toys organized by putting new toys away until they are ready for them. Some toys are not age appropriate and your kids wont be ready for them for few months or a even a couple of years. Some toys have too many parts and pieces or are just plain messy! These toys might be better off used in the summer outdoors or not at all. Make it easy on yourself and limit the amount of toys your kids have to choose from. Give away toys your kids have outgrown as much as possible so you can keep current toys organized. Rainy or snow days are great times to beat old toy boredom. So pull out a new toy (or overstock of existing toys) out of your extra box of toys and make any day a celebration!

One of the best ways to save money in 2009 is to organize and document your gift cards. We have a lot of gift cards that go unused because we cant find when we need them.

49% of Americans have an unused gift cards worth an estimated $8 Billion!

Put all your gift cards in one place, such as manila envelope or even a Ziploc bag. Write down expiration dates or any other restrictions. Put in the glove compartment of your car or somewhere in your home where you won't forget and use them.

Go through your calendar now and make a list of birthdays, anniversaries and other special events that you know you'll be buying gifts for during the year. Use your stash of gift cards to buy other gifts is a double savings!

As you start thinking about your News Years resolutions, remember that not only making a list of your goals is helpful but putting a label on everything gives you an instant system.
After organizing your spaces. Get a label maker, use file folder labels or shipping labels(you know you have them in your office supplies)and affix to bins, drawers, shelves and files.

Labels keep everyone on track and tells you where to put things away.
Label makers range from $15 to about $200 depending on the bells and whistles.

Love this idea from Charter One. The more you get organized in your home or office by paying paying without paper, Charter one pays you 10 cents! Using your debit cards, online bill pay and automatic payment to your checking account helps the environment your bank account and your paper organizing efforts.

Use technology this holiday season to organize your gift giving. Big stores like Target, Amazon and Toys R Us have online wish lists that you can use to do your shopping for friends and family. A wish list is just like a bridal registry where you register for items you would like, but you can use it for other events like holidays, birthdays and graduations. Create your own online wish list to make it easier for your gift givers. Buy gifts that someone actually wants. You don't want to add clutter to someone else's home or your own.

If you decide to organize your home this fall and you come across any unwanted outdoor equipment like back packs, boots, and camping gear. Send it to the Gear4Good program. Used gear will go youth hiking programs in the U.S. and porter support programs in Nepal, Peru and Tanzania. This sturdy gear can also go to the Search-and-rescue teams teams in developing countries. If they cant find a home for your gear they will list items on online auctions and use money to support programs.

Summer is a wonderful time of year but it will soon be coming to a close. I know its a sad thing. The seasons change and so does your wardrobe. This means you have to put away your summer clothes and start pulling out the winter clothes. Im not saying you have to switch out all of your summer clothes right now but its time to start pulling out a few bins and bags to have ready for donation, packing or giving away to a friend. Its also a good time to start getting rid of items you did not wear this summer and you know you will never wear again...ever!
Its an even greater time to take a peak at what you stored away from the last winter and see if there is anything you can purge out. If you didn't wear it last year there is a good chance you will not wear it this year. While you are at it pull a few fall and winter items out of the storage you may need them sooner than you think.

Bonus tip! Consignment shops are putting out fall and winter clothes so bring those warmer weather clothes you no longer want and you might make a little money.

I just heard of this great new site where you can organize all those little pieces of paper of random information in an easy to use format. Convert documents into checklists for shopping or keep track of your health information and other personal information like hobbies or goals. Download templates for easy recording and share pages with friends and family. Check out Jibidee.com and it is free to sign up!

I have 10 nieces and nephews ranging from 7 – 22 years old. I can remember only 1 year that I gave them Christmas presents they actually enjoyed. I usually fall into the trap of getting the wrong gifts and I can tell they are really not interested. I don’t buy the coolest or the latest for them because I just don’t know what to buy. So this year they are all getting gift cards to Starbucks and Mcdonalds. I figure its just like money and they will actually use them. It took me all of about 30 minutes to buy for ten people. That was easy for me and I’m sure they will all be happy.
I will keep you posted on the Christmas gift reactions!

Remember along time ago when flip books were fun? You could draw a stick figure and then turn the page and draw another stick figure with one arm or leg higher then the other? Eventually the stick figure would be going off the page. You could then fan the corner of the page and make "the running stick figure"! Oh, my gosh I haven't seen one of those in forever! Does anyone even make those anymore? I received this email link to today's version. Wow times have changed.
Instead of using a notebook that has 100 changing pictures that becomes an animated cartoon, this one you just scroll down the page to see the animation. OK, I think I've see it all!

Flip book animation

My husband and are secretly fighting over the travel cup, and while we don’t say this out loud, whoever fills the coffee cup first gets to take it on road. We used to have about 6 and they have all disappeared, even the really good one.
Anyway I have the one that dribbles a little and sure enough this week on my way to a client I spilled tea on my white shirt. That is the worst! Luckily I had some handiwipes in the car and clean up the stain and I was good as new. Emergency stain resolved!