Sandra Felton,The Organizer Lady® will be speaking about the ideas found in her 24 page booklet I’ve Got to Get Rid of This Stuff.

WHEN? Wednesday, March 18, 2009

TIME? 9 PM Eastern Time, 8 Central, 7 Mountain, 6 Pacific

HOW LONG? One hour has been set aside for your burning questions.

COST? FREE There is no charge for the teleclass.  Of course, regular telephone charges will apply just like when you call Aunt Sally in Wyoming.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE? Just dial the telephone number and use the access code given below when asked. For those of you who have never participated in a teleclass, it is just like listening to the radio, only over the phone.

TELEPHONE NUMBER to call is 712-432-1699

ACCESS CODE is 466504#

Come prepared with pen and paper to write your strategies and goals.

ALSO – If you miss the live teleclass it will be available on messies.com for you to listen to at your convenience!

If you attend, please let us know how it goes.  If everything goes well tonight, I may drop in on the call.

Image: Karen Weideman

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

1)  Go through closets, dressers, toys, cupboards, cabinets, bookcases, etc before the yard sale.  Take out items that you no longer want and add them to your yard sale pile.  It’s good to do this at least once a year.  You may want to wait until spring when you’re doing your spring cleaning.

2)  Find a decluttering buddy.  I don’t know about you, but it is easier for me to get rid of things when I have some moral support.  It helps to have someone that can honestly say, “That doesn’t look good on you.  That’s out of style.  You haven’t used that in years.”  Sometimes a little nudge is all we need.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a decluttering buddy.   

3)  Price as you go.  As you find things in your home that you want to add to your yard sale, go ahead and take the few seconds to put a price on it.  This will save a lot of time and aggravation on yard sale day. 

3)  Spread the word.  I’m having a moving sale soon and I’ve already begun telling friends, people from church, and others about the sale.  I have people saying, “email me and let me know when it will be”. 

4)  If possible, post signs.  We like to use the fluorescent poster board and thick black permanent markers for our signs.  We have found that we do better with signs than with advertising.  People stop by and say that they saw our signs.

5)  Put your signs up the day before the sale so that people see them on their way home from work. Then they’ll think, “I’m going there tomorrow.” Otherwise, they might not be out and about the day of the sale.

6)  Let friends and neighbors be a part.  You can advertise the yard sale as a multi-family yard sale.  This will let customers know that there will be more things and a bigger selection to choose from.  Participants can also share in the advertising expenses.

7)  Put a price on everything.  Some people will walk away rather than asking the prices for things.  Even if the item is 25 cents, you need a price on it.  All those 25 cent items add up.

8)  To save time, buy the premade price stickers.  You can purchase these in the office supply departments at most stores.  Recently, I even saw these in Dollar Tree.

9)  If you’re selling an expensive item, take the time to print a copy of what the item cost new.  I’m doing this with toys that were expensive.  This helps the person to see that they are getting a good deal.

10)  Advertise your yard sale, garage sale, or moving sale on Craigslist.  It’s free!!!!  Specify what you will be selling.  I sold $120 to someone on Craigslist before the sale just by listing a moving sale ad. 

11)  Get up early the day of the sale.  If your sale starts at 7 am, you may consider getting up at 5 am.  This will allow you time to get everything organized and set out before customers begin to arrive.  Some early morning commuters may even see you outside and stop on their way to work.

12)  Specify if you don’t want “early birds”.  Some people are pretty serious about shopping yard sales.  They’ll come out as early as you’ll let them.   

13)  Look through purses, wallets, pant pockets, coat pockets, etc to make sure there is no money or credit cards.  Someone once told me they paid $1 for a purse that had $10 inside.

14)  Put attractive items in clear view.  A lot of people are looking for furniture, so it would be wise to put the furniture where drivers can see it from the road.

15)  Don’t pick a holiday weekend to have your sale.  I remember we did this one time and we made less than $100.  It was such a waste of our time.

16)  Don’t have continual yard sales.  You’ve seen people before who seem to be always having a yard sale.  It gets old and then people don’t drop by their sale anymore.  Plus, it’s tacky and your neighbors will be really annoyed.

17)  Have change.  It’s hard to determine how much change you’ll need and what kind of bills to get.  It seems as though first thing in the morning you’ll have customer after customer with $20 bills.  It’s really frustrating.

18)  Guard your money.  Unfortunately, sometimes theives show up at yard sales.  Usually every hour or so, I take my wad of cash out of my pocket or fanny pack (lol) and put it inside my house.

19)  Have bags available for your customer’s purchases.  I can’t stand plastic bags and I don’t understand it, but some people do like anything they purchase to be put into a bag.  It’s a courtesy. 

20)  Be friendly.  Greet each person or group that comes to your sell. 

21)  Group like items together.  All of the Christmas items should be together in one area, the kitchen stuff in another area, baby clothes in another, and so on.

22)  Sell miscellaneous items together.  If you’re like us, you have a bunch of half empty spray cans sitting in your garage.  We wondered who would buy them, but then we decided to put them all into a box and sell them all together in a lot.  This helps to sell those odd items. 

23)  Get some baggies and rubber bands.  The baggies and rubber bands will help to secure like items together or keep you from losing the pieces.  Come sell day, it will be hard to make sure your customers get all the parts that go with their items. 

24)  Have an extra person around to help out.  For me, this would be my husband.  This insures that you’ll get potty breaks and be able to eat.  It also helps so that you can talk to customers while someone else collects money or answers questions.

25)  Check with your local government or homeowner’s association to see if there are any restrictions.  Some areas require you to have a yard sale permit.  Yep, just another way to make money.  

26)  When the yard sale is over, clean up your area and take down your signs.  Don’t you just hate seeing signs that are several weeks old or searching for a yard sale that was probably last week?

27)  Advertise.  This could be in your local paper or in a free online ad.  Regardless of where you decide, you’ll need help letting the public know of the sale.

28)  Check your yard and make sure it’s safe.  Wrap up garden hoses, fill any holes, and tape down extension cords or cables.  You don’t want you visitors tripping and getting hurt.

29)  Have a strategy in place for what you’ll do with the leftover items.  Will you put them back in your house for another yard sale later in the summer?  Will you give them to charity?  Have a plan in place.

30)  Get someone to watch the kids.  I can’t tell you the number of yard sales I’ve been to where the person’s children were out in the yard digging through their old stuff and getting upset that mom was getting rid of it.  If you can’t get a sitter, then you need to have some discussions with your children before the day.  Perhaps they could even help decide what they would like to sell.

Do you have any tips to add to this list?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

It’s not every day that you make a decision to get rid of half of your belongings.  As you can imagine, this process is stressful, painful, and time consuming, yet liberating.  Today I had to say goodbye to my stoneware and some nice children’s books.       

I really liked the stoneware, but didn’t use it much.  I guess that’s kind of obvious since I’ve owned it for 14 years and it looks new.  lol  The salad bowls were perfect though.  And don’t worry.  I’m not selling all of my children’s books.  Teaching has allowed me to collect hundreds of books.  There are so many wonderful books with awesome illustrations.

That’s what I’ve been doing.  Soon my house will be sparse and decluttered.  Perhaps next week I can take a picture of the monster moving sale piles.  Then you’ll wish you lived near by.  

What are you tackling?

image by Karen

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Here is a picture of my clutter spot.  It has been haunting me for two years.  Each day I see it and it makes me feel unorganized and burdened.  I feel as though I have too much to do and I’ll never get it all done.  No matter how many times I go through the papers to file, toss, and shred, the pile is never gone.

 
I’ve been wanting to move all of these papers to my laundry room bookcases and this week my hubby helped to tackle the problem.

I kept trying to get rid of this eye sore, but the truth is, I needed all of this stuff.  I just needed a place to put it where it wasn’t so unattractive.  Now it’s in my laundry room and it’s still accessible.  It’s just out of my kitchen which makes for a much more pleasant environment.

Another bookcase in the laundry room got more organized too. Things had to be moved around to make room for the mail and bills. We have a large laundry room so we use it to keep the kid’s puzzles, games, and such.

Tada . . . here is my clean kitchen counter. I’m so pleased. It’s amazing how something so minor could make such a difference in my life.It’s hard to believe I sent Julie, from Declutter It, this picture nearly a year ago. (Oops, I was wrong.  It was back in November.)  It feels good to get things under control. Maybe now I won’t procrastinate so long. Sometimes it just feels like you can’t figure out how to get something done and you need a little help from someone else. Yay for hubby!

What have you been tackling this week?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

If there is a chore that I will procrastinate it is definitely paper clutter.  I absolutely hate going through papers, reading them, filing them, shredding them, recycling them.  Ugh!!!! All of the Christmas shopping, decorating, wrapping, and get togethers made it a bit too easy for me to put the paper clutter on hold.  So today I worked on tackling the mounding pile(s). 

I spent several hours today tackling the mound.  Now I have a backache from sitting on the floor.  It was so bad that I didn’t take any pictures to share with you.  lol  The kitchen counter and table look much better now.  Now, if I could just get my checkbook caught up to date.  :sigh:

What chore do you absolutely hate tackling?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

 1.  Homemade treats - These can be homemade or store bought.  When I was growing up, my mom’s friend always gave our family a tray of sweets for Christmas.  I looked forward to the lemon bars, cookie bars, and other treats.  Here are some other ideas for make it yourself gifts.

 2.  Store bought edibles – Give something yummy like a gift package from Hickory Farms, a fruit basket, chocolates, or a basket of coffees. 

 3.  Gift cards – Try to find out the person’s favorite store.  If you don’t know, you could always give a Visa card.

 4.  Act of services -  I had a friend whose children sent her to dinner for Mother’s Day.  When she came home she found her house totally spotless.  Needless to say, she was thrilled.

 5.  Babysitting – Keep your friend’s kids so that she can go on a date with her husband.  Even better, give her a gift certificate to a restaurant to go along with it.

 6.  Charitable donations – Give a gift to someone’s favorite charitable organization.  (You need to know the person you’re giving this gift for.  You should know if this type of gift would be ok with them.)

 7.  Entertainment – You could give someone a year’s subscription to a movie rentals such as the ones Netflix and Blockbuster offer.  Other suggestions – movie passes or theater tickets.

 8.  Special treats – Treat your friend to a manicure, pedicure, or massage.

 9.  Restaurant gift certificates – Does your friend or family member have a favorite place they frequent?  Whether it be Golden Corral, Olive Garden, Starbucks, or McDonald’s, give them gift certificates for their favorite place.  This will save them some money and you know they’ll be used.

10.  Special outing – Take them ice skating, to the theater, an amusement park, on a boat ride . . . there are tons of options.

Check out Char’s list of clutter free gifts. 

Remember to be considerate when giving gifts.  This isn’t the time to improve on the person’s worst qualities.  If your friend has issues with clutter and hoarding, this isn’t the time to give them books on organization.

When I was teaching, I got way too many do-dads and knick-nack-paddy-whacks.  A person can only handle so many candles and knick nacks in their home.   This year, let’s try not to let our gifts become burdens to someone.

What are your thoughts on this?  Are you trying to give clutter free gifts to your loved ones?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Now that I’m working from home, I’m trying to get a bit more organized.  It seemed things had been piling up and getting stuffed here and there until a later time.  When we let things pile up, it becomes overwhelming and like a defeating task.  Here are some tips to help us stay organized each day.

1.  If you get it out, put it away.  Putting an item away as soon as you finish with it is the key.  Put it back exactly where it came from.  This one habit, consistently followed, will straighten up many other habits.  Don’t forget to preach teach this one to your kids.

2.  Run the 30-second drill.  If it takes 30 seconds or less to do something, do it immediately.  Put dirty clothes in the bathroom hamper.  Return the garbage can to the backyard.  Put the newspaper in the recycling bin.

3.  Give every item a home.  This one is hard for me because I’ve never really had the time to do this.  It takes time to organize your house and give every item a home.  Now that I am working from home, I am working harder to remove clutter and try to find a home for everything.  It makes life so much easier!

4.  Go through the mail each day.  Each day put your bills in the bill basket and throw away/recycle your junk mail.  Be sure to shred anything with your personal information on it; this includes credit card applications.

5.  Get moral support when decluttering.  I am waiting on this one.  My basement is such a mess!  I feel like I am constantly getting rid of stuff.  What I need is the help of someone to offer me moral support while decluttering.  I need someone to agree with me that I don’t need all this stuff!

6.  Use the 1 toy in, 1 toy out rule.  When birthdays and Christmas come around, I let my little girl know that it’s time to get rid of some things.  She doesn’t seem to mind because I let her know that she’ll be getting new things that she has to make room for.  FYI – This rule also works well for shoes and clothes!!!

7.  Multi-task as you walk around your house.  Are you going down to the basement?  Then take something with you when you go.  Going to the kid’s room?  Then take their shoes and socks when you go (if they’re not around to do it).

8.  Use a timer.  I learned this one from the Flylady.  Sometimes organizing or getting rid of clutter seems like such a big task.  If you set your timer for 5 minutes, then you know you only have to work for that set amount of time.  Setting a timer makes the task seem less overwhelming.  When the timer stops, you can stop or keep going now that you’ve gained momentum.

9.  Don’t buy organizing gadgets just yet.  Before buying organizing bins and containers, clear the clutter first and then access what you really need.  Otherwise, you will be left with even more clutter.

10.  Avoid impulse buying.  Don’t buy something just because it looks cool or you think you just have to have it.  Give yourself some time to think it over.  Your house will be less cluttered because of it.

Do you have any helpful organization or decluttering tips?

Frugal Fridays

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

1.  Commit to change – I said last week that getting organized and decluttering is like losing weight.  Really, it is.  You have to be committed in order to change.   Being organized is a lifestyle.  That also means that some days we mess up, just as if we would when losing weight.  But we have to start out new each day toward our goal.

2.  Set small goals – Take it one drawer at a time, one box at a time, and then one room at a time.  You didn’t accumulate everything overnight, and you can’t do it all at once.  See, it is like weight loss.

3.  Set a timer – The Flylady really promotes this one and it works.  Decluttering sometimes seems like a huge overwhelming task, but if you set a time limit of 15 minutes, it won’t seem so bad.  So set the kitchen timer for 15 minutes and get busy!

4.  Change your mindset – This is one that I am working on.  Too many times I say, “Oh, but I might be able to use this again” and I know I haven’t used the item in two years.  In times like these, remind yourself of the stress it incurs and junk it.  Say it with me . . . It’s just stuff!

5.  Keep it simple – This means two different things.  One way to keep it simple is not to run out and buy a bunch of organizing gadgets right away.  First you need to sort through what you have and figure out your needs, not the other way around.  It also means keep it simple in what you keep.  Do you need 12 bottles of Bath & Body Works body wash?

6.  Sort and purge –  This is one of the most important steps and you need to be brutal.  Try to detach yourself from your belongings.  It’s just stuff, right?  If you haven’t used it in a year, then get rid of it.  :Gulp:  Did I really say that?  Yes, I need to take my own advice.  If you still can’t bring yourself to get rid of it, then put it away and give yourself a time limit of 6 months or a year.  If you still haven’t used it by then, get rid of it!!!!

7.  Have a yard sale – Sometimes selling your stuff and getting some money for it helps to take away the pain of letting it go.  I’ll sell just about anything I own.  It’s just stuff!  Keep saying it.

8.  Think of the money the stuff cost you – By this I mean think of the square footage in your house the things are taking up.  Or in my case, think of how much it costs to move the items when you move to a new area.  You have to box it up, put it on the truck, unload it, and unpack it.  It costs money (and labor) to move.  And also, think of the stress and aggravation.  Is this stuff/junk really worth it????

9.  Put organization into your daily routine. – Have the kids clean up their toys before dinner and before bedtime, go through the mail each day, put away catalogs when you’re done with them, clean out your junk drawer while you’re on the phone.  There are things that can be done each day that only require a few minutes, but will make your life much easier.  I really need to make the mail a daily priority!

10. Teach kids to be organized. – Each night have the kids put their backpack by the door, put away their toys, put their clothes in the hamper, put away the soap and shampoo when they’re done.  Teach them when they’re young so that one day it can become a habit.

I hope these tips are helpful or inspiring for you.  Do you have any decluttering or organizational tips you’d like to share? What works best in your home?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

The truth is, you have to stay on top of the clutter issue or it will overtake your house.  The clutter in my house is stressing me out and something has to be done.  A few months ago, I began a serious effort to get rid of all of our baby and children’s items that we no longer needed.  I gave away trashbags of stuff, sold some things myself, and then I began taking things to the consignment store.  In the past few months, I’ve probably taken 10 totes full of stuff to the consignment store.  Isn’t that just crazy?  It’s amazing all the things that quickly accumulate.

Decluttering is like losing weight.  Both require discipline and neither happen overnight.  Being organized has to be adopted as a lifestyle.  It seems I am on a mission to purge and remove some stress from my life.  I am going to have to get brutal about it, or find someone to offer moral support as I purge.

I am trying hard to make my life less stressful by getting organized and having less clutter.  With each box that goes out of my house, I feel a bit less burdened.  It seems my biggest problems right now are having the time to stay on top of the mess and having the guts to get brutal with the problem.

Clutter is a main source of stress, anxiety, and time loss for many people.  We could all be more thrifty with our time if we were more organized. 

Next week, I’ll share with you some decluttering tips I’ve learned.  Until then, would you like to share some of your suggestions?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy