I was thinking about the small changes we make to our routines and the far-reaching ramifications of those changes.
This financial view of time-wasting struck me as interesting.
If an employee earning $80,000 per year looks for items for 15 minutes per work day, they are wasting $2500 per year. (of course, if you earn more or less than $80k you should adjust the numbers)
My clients frequently want to be better organized to avoid feeling frustrated as they rummage through drawers looking for things. Clients typically say things like “I felt so stupid when I couldn’t find it” so our goal is to replace those negative feelings with success.
Professional Organizers often offer clients suggestions for simplifying their holiday shopping and gifting. The article below is currently being forwarded around through email. I think a lot of the ideas for supporting local businesses are sound. Enjoy !
As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high
gear to provide us with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods – merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This
year will be different. This year give the gift of genuine concern for our economy. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!
It’s time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box ?
Everyone — yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local hair salon or barber?
Gym membership? It’s appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.
Who wouldn’t appreciate getting their car detailed? Small detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a book of gift certificates.
Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a flat-screen TV? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.
There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants — all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn’t the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn’t about big National chains — this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.
How many people couldn’t use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a local shop?
Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.
My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.
OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery
and beautiful wooden boxes.
Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at
your hometown theatre. Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.
Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand twinkling lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about
fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.
Christmas is now about caring about encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn’t imagine.
THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.
Forward this to everyone on your mailing list — post it to discussion groups — throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in
your city — send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations, and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other,
and isn’t that what Christmas is about?
If you take a long time to assemble all necessary documents to prepare your tax return think about being better organized for next time.
Here’s a few useful tips from Omnibus Organizing in the San Francisco Bay Area:
As with all filing, the important questions isn’t “where should I put this?” but “when I need it, how will I find it?”
The first question leads to those beautifully labeled files that are never accessed (about 85% of filing, according to the NAPO Statistics). The second question will help you save time by grouping things together you’ll need at tax prep time.
When setting up home business files – consider using the headings from Schedule C, that way you just copy over your totals.
When paying utility bills, use your bank’s online service then, at year end, you can download that info into Quickbooks or Excel and quickly calculate your deduction.
By taking time to organize your system properly, you will save money because you won’t overlook a deduction and will continue to save time every tax season.
As you add a new year to your filing, remember to remove and shred old documents,
Happy Holidays to you all.
As you enter this busy (somewhat frantic) season, you’ll need all your organizing skills. Here’s 3 easy tips to help you get started:
First tip – simplify your life by giving fewer gifts. Back in the 90s, I read a wonderful book called “Unplug the Christmas Machine” the authors proposed replacing shopping with family experiences such as taking all your nephews and nieces somewhere, baking with them, caroling – you get the idea. In addition, they propose offering to take friends out for a meal, to see a movie, or for a hike. I know I’d rather have time with my loved ones than a gift.
Second tip – attend only the events you really enjoy and guard your time so you can enjoy your family and friends. So often we run ourselves ragged trying to attend everything.
Third tip – purge closets, toy boxes, kitchen cupboards, etc., BEFORE bringing in new items.
Tell me what your best holiday tip is . . .
As a Professional Organizer, I am opposed to clients using a storage space – it’s usually a slippery slope. Nevertheless, I wanted to share this amusing ad I saw online in the “Best of Craig’s List” – it ALMOST makes you want to rent a storage space. (Thanks to Thorpe Park Storage)
“In the early stages of the excavation of Pompeii they unearthed a beautiful, well-preserved villa with a chariot parked outside a carriage house. Further excavation reveled that the carriage house was over-full of bins of old clothes, broken pottery, urns missing their stopper and crates of cuneiform tablets documenting 20 years of taxes paid to Caesar.
Fast forward almost 2,000 years. Do you park your vehicle in your garage? Of course you don’t. There’s no room. It’s in the DNA of peasants to hoard in case of a failed harvest. We fill our collective garages full to the ceiling with irreplaceable family heirlooms, priceless collectables and museum quality artifacts because we just might need them someday.
But history has shown that the rare individuals that are the first to break a conditioned behavior end up prospering beyond measure. Gutenberg was just tired of the clutter. His press was initially designed to compress a lot of stuff into a smaller box. The Wright Brothers were just trying to get rid of some old bicycles in an expeditious manner when a stiff wind came along. Even Hewlett and Packard had to clean out the garage before they got to work. My God man, you just need some room to think! There could be a time machine or a cure for cancer just waiting for you to git that **** out your garage! You owe it to mankind. Clean out your garage and rent my Thorpe Park storage space today.”
After 5 years in business, I was recently talking to a friend and realized how lucky I am. I get to work with so many interesting people and every day is different – one day I’ll be sitting in a nice air-conditioned office, doing nothing more strenuous than making file folder labels then the next I’m wearing mask, gloves, thick jeans, etc. and clearing out a rat & black-widow infested garage or storage shed. The common thread is that my clients are ready to make changes in their lives. Sometimes, it’s a small one like finally going through that box of papers they inherited when a parent passed away (where I’m there as much for emotional support as anything else) Other times, its down-sizing to move into an apartment after living in the same home for 40 years – 3500 sq ft down to 1200 sq ft is a FUN challenge. I am awed by many of my clients and feel blessed to be able to help with their transformations.
In my work as a professional organizer, I frequently find clients have lost track of accounts or small pension plans because they’ve relocated.
I was recently alerted to the very real danger of losing these inactive accounts – thanks to Ann W. Damani-McKinney, CPO, Conceivable Solutions, Inc.
As States look for ways to boost their incomes, they are becoming stricter about claiming inactive accounts – One non-commercial site, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, allows you to search by individual state.
For further details, check the Securities & Exchange Commission website http://www.sec.gov/answers/escheat.htm
Happy hunting!
I frequently work with clients that have medical items left over from a relative’s (or their own) previous illness.
I just met Linda Strickland, the President of A-Maze-ing Solutions here in Contra Costa County. They distribute donated durable medical equipment – crutches/chairs/ seats/Depends etc. to folks that are referred to them by non-profit agencies in the East Bay.
What a relief to know these expensive items will find a second (and sometimes 3rd & 4th) life through this organization. Contact them at amazingsolutions200 1@yahoo.com (sorry, no website – for client privacy reasons – they are working on it)
phone 925 753 0524 or fax 925 776 5314
Hope you can send some useful items their way.
As you reflect on 2009 and the time spent in your home office, perhaps you had trouble keeping up with your filing?
If so, the system is probably too complex. Statistics say that we never look at 80% of what we file so ask yourself two questions: “WHY do I have this?” and “WHERE ELSE can I find this?”
For example, the conventional wisdom is to file paper bills but do you really need October’s utility bill? Can you find the payment listed on your bank’s site? (added bonus at tax time: you can download payee info for the year straight from the bank’s site into Quicken or Excel) If you need to know account details such as energy usage, you can quickly access that information on the utility’s website. So WHY are you keeping the paper?
I suggest my clients take a few minutes to familiarize themselves with their bank and utility’s websites. Once they know how easy it is to access the information, they can “go paperless” with an easy mind. If a bill is a regular amount, put it on automatic payment and never have to worry about it again. The time savings repeats every month for every bill you delegate. In addition, consider dollar savings – a monthly bill needs checks, stamps etc. which are around $6 per year. Setting up on-line payments takes about 5 minutes to do – if you spent an hour and set up 12 bills, you just saved $72 and (as Benjamin Franklin said “a dollar saved is a dollar earned.”
This afternoon I had a wonderful time presenting a workshop at the Peninsula Jewish Community Center. The staff were extremely professional and supportive, the “audience” asked some great questions and the Power Point ran smoothly. The handout included the following resources for simplifying life:
REDUCE
https://www.donotcall.gov/ (reduce time wasting calls)
https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t
register to avoid those pesky (and ID Thief tempting) pre-approved credit offers
http://privatecitizen.com/ (reduce junk mail and calls by over 70%)
http://www.catalogchoice.org/ (get OFF mailing lists for catalogs you don’t want (especially good in fall as pre-Xmas is a huge mailing time))
http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/ (opt out of receiving phone books. I just used this in Jan 09 so can’t vouch for it yet.)
http://mashable.com/2007/10/26/100-ways-to-organize-life/ (lists a huge variety of ways to share calendars, remind yourself to change the oil, record what is in storage, etc.)
http://www.simpleliving.net/ (how to consume less and enjoy life more.)
Pay bills online – or automatically for recurring amounts – and cancel paper statements.
If you have a back-log of financial documents you can take it to be shredded or arrange for the truck to come to you – prices are typically $10-$12 per bankers box with a minimum of 12 boxes for them to come to you.
Local shredding companies:
www.ironmountain.com
http://www.shredworks.com
RE-USE
Everyday Items
Grocery bags – small dollar amount but you use HUNDREDS a year.
Consignment Stores:
Taking to consignment or selling on e-Bay or Craig’s list can take quite a bit of time. However, it may be worth it for high-end items.
Donations:
Take the tax write off and donate to a local charity.
Many distribute cards then drive up the street on the set day – saves you gas and time and they’ll leave a tax receipt.
For large amounts or furniture, I’ve had good service from United Cerebral Palsy. Call (510) 881 5812 to arrange a pick up.
If you don’t want to wait until you have a large amount, both Craig’s List and Freecycle can list things very easily and the recipient just comes and picks them up. (no money changes hands so you just leave items outside for pick-up)
RE-CYCLE
Resources within San Mateo County for hazardous waste, recycling info etc.
http://www.alliedwastesanmateocounty.com
e-Waste
If you saw the 60 minutes program on our dumping toxics on other countries, you are probably scared to get rid of items – check out the 6 sites in San Mateo County www.recycleworks.org/ewaste/index.html
http://www.alliedwastesanmateocounty.com
Residents are allowed to set out a maximum of 2 cubic yards of material, which is equivalent to twelve (12) 32-gallon bags of material. In addition, residents can set out one (1) large item (e.g. washing machine, dryer, refrigerator or freezer), as long as the item does not exceed 200 pounds. No commercial size refrigerators or freezers are accepted. TVs and computer monitors require special handling so please call (650) 592-2411 to dispose of these items. No hazardous waste (e.g. paints, thinners, or other chemicals) will be accepted for on call clean-ups or for regular collection service. (copied December 09)
Medical Items:
VIDA Volunteers for Inter-American Development Assistance – 6251 Hollis Street, Emeryville, California USA 94608 phone: 510 655 8432 or info@vidausa.org (They accept drop offs of re-usable items.) or check with Allied Waste for closer places.
Clean towels and blankets can be used by the Humane Society or SPCA
Peninsula Humane Society, 12 Airport Blvd, San Mateo, CA 94401-1098 (650) 340-7022 www.peninsulahumanesociety.org
