How Can Being Organized Save You Money?

Keeping your home organized can help you save money in several ways:

1.  If your things are organized, it is easier to keep a mental inventory of what you have and where your things are in your home.  When you need something, you will be able to find it.  This will save you money because you won't have to buy another one.

2.  Keeping your food organized will prevent you from being overstocked.  It will prevent food waste that has become expired or rotten before you use it.

3.  By keeping your paperwork organized you are more likely to pay your bills on time and avoid late fees and charges.

4.  Everyone has heard that time = money.  If you are disorganized you can spend a lot of time looking for things in your home.  Being organized can save you time, which equals money.

5.  When you are organized with your time and calendar, you can optimize your errands so that you save time and gas money!

6.  You can save money by shopping sales.  You may have the time to shop sales and ads when you are organized and optimizing your time.

7.  And lastly, being organized can actually help you to earn money!  Through the sale of things that you no longer need, want, or use.  

These are just a few ways that being organized can save you time and money.  I would love to hear of other way that being organized has saved YOU money.

Clare

Moving

Growing up in a family of 6, I liked to keep my personal space organized.  More organized than anyone else in the family.  This started my interested and love of organizing.  But it was all the times that I have moved during my life that have made me into a better organizer.

In fact, I can list 20 places that I have called home in the first 33 years of my life.  Some of the places I lived a very short amount of time.  Others were years.  But I have become very good at moving, packing, and organizing!  I can not remember all of the addresses that I have lived, but here are what I call them:

Termin Avenue (this one I was too little to remember), State Avenue, Ridge Avenue, Christmas Place, West Swallow Drive, P.E. East Dorm, Lawrenceville, GA, Commons on Apache Apartments, Boston, MA, Dorsey Lane, Cami's extra bedroom, Condo on Mill Ave., Paul's upstairs bedroom, Rental in Mesa, Dobson Ranch, Glendale rental, Camp Davis, Bridgeport Parkway, Rock Street Rental, and my current home (for the past 2.5 years)

By the way, I plan on living in my current house for many, many years!

Here are some moving and packing tips I have learned along the way:

1.  For weeks or months leading up to your moving date, ask for your groceries to be bagged in paper bags.  You can cut and use those bags to pack breakable items in your house, especially in your kitchen.  It is a good way to repurpose and re-use.

2.  One of the first things you can pack are the small pictures around the house and decorative pieces. You can use your extra towels, blankets, tablecloths, and sheets to wrap around these breakable items.

3.  In the kitchen, try to pack all the breakable items first.  Keep the plastic and non breakable items in your cabinets until the very end.  That way, you will still have dishes to use but can pack them quickly the day before you move... or even the morning of the move.  If you don't have many plastic plates, cups or bowls, you can pick some up at the dollar store and not waste any paper plates.  When you arrive at your new home, you can use that same plasticware until you open the other boxes.

4.  Pack your suitcases as if you were going on vacation.  Include toiletries and clothes for a few days.  That way, when you arrive to your new home, you don't have to un-pack anything to service the first few days.  No rummaging around to find the toothpaste!

5.  While you are packing, get rid of things!  There is no sense in moving something that you don't need or use anyway.  You can also have a "Moving Sale" with these items and earn some extra cash.

6.  Label your boxes!  The most important thing to write on the box is what room it should go into.  You can also list the major things in the box.

Moving is a great time to organize what you own.  And now the next time you see a moving sale... you might stop by.

Clare