5 Things to Do Now to Kick Start an Organized New Year

Do you have receipts weighing your purse down? Clouding your counters?  Poking around in your car?  If you run a business, often receipts can be extremely important.  Eliminating receipts by using a scan system like the Neat Scanner or an app like Expensify would be the best alternative, but if you don’t have time for that, finding a nice little “hiding place” for your receipts is an easy way to hold onto those little pieces of financial proof, while keeping the clutter to a minimum. 

TIP: Using decorative tins like these is not only a great storage space for receipts, but a cute decorative piece for your home.

Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking.  We’re just wrapping up Christmas this year, why would I start thinking about Christmas for next year?  But the question should be, why wouldn’t you right now while it’s fresh in your mind? Starting now allows you to evaluate your Christmas budget and begin setting aside small chunks of cash each month leaving you to shop stress free next holiday season! So check your budget, divide by 12 and start saving! 

TIP: Check your local credit union.  They usually offer free checking and savings accounts, and sometimes even specific holiday accounts!

If you don’t pay close attention, an irregular bill can pop out of nowhere and bite you in the butt. These include any infrequent, but easily predicted bills such as vehicle registrations, insurances, newspaper subscriptions, haircuts and styling, and memberships.  Take time to write down and calculate all of your irregular bills for the year.  Depending on their due date, divide each by the number of months you have to save for it, and start saving!  For example, if you have a vehicle registration of $300 due in September (9 months), divide $300 by 9 which equals $33.33 per month to be saved.

TIP: Create a separate bank account for these irregular bills and send your monthly savings to that account.  When the bill is due, pay it from that account.

Mail is one of the top reasons for clutter in our homes.  Creating a system for how mail comes into the house and where it goes from there is crucial to maintaining the organization in your home.  Have a single spot for mail when it comes in.  Get in the habit of sifting through the mail daily, if not, at least once per week.  Discard any trash and then move to a designated filing pile where once per week, or at least once per month, you will file them.  Your filing system is just as important.  Using colored coded files makes things much easier.  Eliminating paper bills altogether is great if you can, but if you can’t do that, make sure to pull the files to storage at the end of each year.

TIP: Using cute decorative storage like these hanging files helps liven up your space and eliminate the clutter.

Clutter around the home causes stress and to kick start the new year off right, eliminate stress and get organized, it’s time to purge!  Create a purge schedule and one week at a time go through one room or one space of the house decluttering until you’re done.  It takes time, but breaking this task down into smaller parts makes it very easy and doable.

TIP: Start with 3 extra large boxes or bins in your garage or living room.  Each time you go through a room move any excess stuff into one of the 3 bins: trash, donate, give back or relocate.