The Royal Blog

Season Four Level Seven Meet Two

A Year To Organization, January 27th

Stacks of paperbacks you'll never read again? Donate them or freecycle them and let someone else enjoy them!

A Year To Organization, January 26th

Are you on track financially?  Develop a budget and set some goals.   Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman can help you on your way. 

A Year To Organization, January 25th

Order a free copy of your credit report and double-check its accuracy.

A Year To Organization, January 24th

Has your income changed? New addition to the family?  Time to re-evaluate your insurance and make sure it meets all your needs.  Update your will too if necessary.

A Year To Organization, January 23rd

Got a project you've been putting off? Today is the day to tackle it!  If you're feeling overwhelmed, break it into small steps and just do it!

A Year To Organization, January 22nd

Grab a hot cup of coffee (or tea or cocoa) and plant yourself in front of the computer.  Time to go through all those digital photos.  Decide on a system (i.e. by month/year) and start moving those photos into appropriate folders. Delete the truly awful or blurry photos (that can't be saved by editing) and think about getting rid of some of the duplicates (or triplicates or 300licates).  Consider getting an external hard drive to copy your photos to and/or burning your favorites to a cd.

A Year To Organization, January 21st

Gather up all the old magazines in your house and take them to the recycling dumpster.  Yep, just get rid of them.  Don't clip out articles or pictures or recipes.  Dump them.

A Year To Organization, January 20th

Yes, it is very very cold out.  Let's take a trash bag out to the car anyway.  Throw out the fast food bags and wrappers, junk mail and other garbage that has been accumulating.  Bring in all the sippy cups (or just throw them out - blech!) and gloves and toys and books that have piled up.  If you feel like braving the frigid temps - go vacuum the car out!

A Year To Organization, January 18th

Let's head over to the computer hutch.  Tidy up the drawer filled with cables, manuals and disks, throw away all the unwanted paper, find a place for the stuff that migrates to the computer area and clean off all the dust.  Delete any unwanted documents, pictures, etc and set up McAfee (or whatever you have) to automatically clean, virus-check, and defrag your computer. 

A Year To Organization, January 17th

Don't have a VCR anymore? Still have tons of videotapes? Why? Donate them! While you're at your media cabinet, tidy up the dvd's and cd's.  Make sure every dvd/cd is clean and in the right case.  Organize them alphabetically, by genre, whatever.

A Year To Organization, January 15th

Make sure you are prepared for sick kids! Pedialyte, thermometer, ginger ale, cold/flu/cough medicines, tissues, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes - all good things to have on hand.  And much better than a late-night trip to CVS!

A Year To Organization, January 15th

You deserve a break today!  Curl up with a good book, paint your nails or watch some dvr'd shows.

A Year To Organization, January 14th

Is everyone in the house up-to-date on doctor, dental or optical appointments? If not, schedule a visit now!

A Year To Organization, January 13th

Time to clean and declutter the bathroom(s).  Throw out the ratty towels and expired makeup/skin care products, clean your hairbrush and replace your old toothbrushes.

A Year To Organization, January 12

Oh the weather outside is frightful....Winterize your windows!  Stay warm and save money.

A Year To Organization, January 11th

Six boxes of opened, stale cereal?  Soup that expired in 1995?  Time to tackle the pantry! If you are feeling super motivated, clean out the fridge too.  Make a list of what you need to replace the next time you go to the grocery store.

A Year To Organization, January 10th

Find out just how much you can get done in a quarter of an hour with a 15 minute cleaning challenge! Pick a room or a project, set a timer for 15 minutes, and go to it!! 

A Year To Organization, January 9th

A few websites about Organization:

Get Organized Now

Organized Christmas

Organized Home

Rubbermaid Blog 

A Very Small Closet / Wardrobe Planning

Martha Stewart

A Year To Organization January 8th

Go green *and* simplify your finances.   Switch to paperless statements and either get email notifications of when you need to pay your bills, or set up auto-draft for your payments.  Eliminate late fees, reduce paper waste and save money on stamps.

A Year To Organization, January 7th

Brrrr! It's cold outside.  Keep the furnace running tip-top; change the filter regularly. If you haven't done it in awhile, take care of it today!

A Year To Organization, January 6th

Having trouble shutting that junk drawer in the kitchen?  Clean it out!  Do you really need four packs of twist ties, one dead battery and 12 pens that don't write? Of course not.  Spend 15 minutes and get it done.

A Year To Organization: January 5th

Yikes! The Tax Man Cometh.....  Keep a manila folder near your mail sorting spot; when tax documents come in the mail (mortgage and interest statements, 1040 booklets, etc), pop them in the folder. Start rounding up your donation receipts too, if you itemize.

A Year To Organization: January 4th

Did you make some New Years Resolutions?  To lose weight? Declutter the house?  Don't make vague, unrealistic goals!  Set a specific goal that you know you can achieve, and then define the steps you need to take to succeed.  Remember, baby steps are okay!

A Year To Organization: January 3rd

Think about this past Christmas. What didn't go quite right? Did you forget carrots for the reindeer? Did you stand in line at the Post Office on the 23rd and mutter "never again"? Did you think of some new traditions to start? Jot down a quick list and tuck it in with your Christmas decorations!

A Year To Organization: January 2nd

Time to weed out some toys! If you didn't do this before Christmas, now is the time to get rid of any outgrown, unwanted or broken toys. 

A Year To Organization: January 1st

Get your 2009 Calendar ready!  Time to mark down any birthdays, appointments, sports practices, etc.