Yard Sale Treasure Map

Type in your zip code and the site scans Craig's List for upcoming yardsales!
Yard Sale Treasure Map

FloorPlanner

The easiest way to create a Floor Plan!
FloorPlanner

Personal Gofers

Outsourcing your Chores!

ihabilis

Get Friday

Ask Sunday

Red Butler

I love LISTS!

Real Simple has over 50 checklists for almost anything you can imagine. I love Real Simple, and I love checklists! Some of my favorites:

Picnic Packing Checklist
Camping Checklist (I have one of my own I've used for years, but this is a great one!)
HouseGuest Prep Checklist
Warm Weather Packing Checklist
Moving Checklist

Shredding Schedule

I've been asking people this for a while, and I finally found some recommendations.

• Monthly bills - shred them once you verify that the charges have been paid in full
• Credit card statements - shred them after you've verified the transactions and paid at least the minimum amount due
• Monthly investment statements - shred as soon as you receive your annual statement
• Bank statements and cancelled checks -shred them after 4 years
• Annual investment statements and tax returns - shred after a decade

That Stack of Frames

Extra picture frames lying around? Use some of the smaller ones to frame items on your refrigerator. Just add a magnet strip and dress up your icebox!

Use a larger frame as a tray for displaying items. Insert a colored piece of paper or cloth and then display vanity items, tea service, or office supplies.

Tips to tame your Schedule

Just random info on schedules, life, stress, etc.

• Make a list of all the activities that you long to do more of...things that make you happy, relaxed or sane. Then rank the list in order of importance and pick one or two to focus on.
• "Devoting more time to what you love can help you get more done overall. Research shows that to be productive and creative, you must take time for recreation and relaxation. Trying to skimp on them hurts your motivation and often leads you to procrastinate. Plus, being a little selfish will keep you from becoming resentful, burned out, or cranky. And that's a good thing for everyone."
• A 2004 study shows that office workers are interrupted, on average, every 3 minutes. The study also showed that it takes about 23 minutes for people to get back to the task they were taken away from.
• "Limit distractions: resist the urge to check your email 500 times a day. Experts recommend checking only twice day - at noon and at 4pm. Those are the times when you're most likely to have responses to your previously sent e-mails." (I'm not sure if I could do this, but it sure would allow me to get a lot more done!)
• "Schedule a quick and brainless task first. This will allow you to cross something off your list right away and to start the day feeling accomplished. Schedule your most onerous task second, it's better to get it over with it."
• (My hubs does this, but I haven't perfected it yet.) On Friday afternoons, set aside a half hour to go through what has been accomplished for the week and map out the next week.
• "Force yourself to work on a procrastinated task for a short period of time - perhaps as little as one minute. When you realize how much of the anxiety was created in your head, you'll give yourself the jolt needed to follow it through."

Email Organizing

I put a * in front of my most used email folders. And I put a "z" in front of the folders I use least. It's a small thing but it works well.

Tupperware storage

I'm shamed to admit that I'm drawn to this. It's because I still haven't found a good tupperware solution. I like this because all containers have a one-size-fits-all lid. And we don't have a lot space, so storage is an issue.

The other thing I've considered is the Tupperware Flat-Out...containers that collapse for storage. Anyone found any other solutions that work?

Keyboard Organizer

I think I like this idea...don't know how practical it would be, but it sure has received a lot of rave reviews.

Boxes, Boxes, Boxes

Go to Used Cardboard Boxes next time you move to find discounted factory misprints and overruns. They sell them for 30% less and deliver them to you in 2 days. And from what I looked up, it's much cheaper than those last minute boxes you buy at the UHaul store!

Sandal/Flip Flop Storage

Get a wine box from your local grocery. Turn it on it's side. The bottle slots are the perfect size for storing flip flops, sandals and some flats during the summer months.

Note Clips

Man, I'd be in heaven with these things! Clip-Rite Clip-Tabs combine a paper clip with a sticky note. You can instantly clip and tab documents — at the same time! (Yes, I get excited about small things.)

PlanningWiz

This is the best online room mapping tool that I've seen yet. I've used several in the past when I've moved to a new place, re-arranged a room or even re-arranged my office. I'd rather "see" it before I start moving furniture around! PlanningWiz is great.
(ht: Matthew)

Travel Shampoo and Conditioner

I believe I read about this travel tip (or maybe my husband told me about it) but just hadn't gotten around to posting it here yet. I tried it this weekend and it works great.

I filled an old contact case with shampoo on one side and conditioner on the other. Then carried that with me on my trip. It's enough for one shower and doesn't take up much space in my toiletry bag. I actually had several old contact cases so I filled up two. It obviously wouldn't work on a long trip or if you had really long hair or like A LOT of shampoo, but for a short trip, it was great for me!

Greeting Card Organization

This was a tip that was sent to me...BUT I already do it! But I thought I'd share it here.

Quick Tip: If you send out a bunch of birthday cards, consider doing them all at once. Write the date they need to be sent where the stamp goes and keep them in chronological order. When you mail them out the stamp will cover the date.

Keeping up with stuff

I often put an important item in a "safe place" so I won't lose it, and then forget where it is. I've tried using the technique below with Excel, but I don't always have access to the file.

So here's a good solution my hubby found using a passport as an example - make a private, searchable database of locations via email:

I put the item back and then I emailed myself:

Subject: Passport
Message Body: In your backpack in the closet.

I also applied the label "Stuff." This way when I lose my passport next time I can simply pull up my email and see where it is located.

Down-Sizing

I'm very sentimental with "stuff" and it can be very difficult for me to get rid of it...even if I haven't used it lately and it needs to go. A couple of coping mechanisms that have worked for me are:

1. Take a photo of the item. I find that my mushy, sentimental feelings are triggered when seeing the item. So a photo creates the same warm feelings, but without taking up space.

2. Put items you are considering getting rid of in a box and keep them there for a week or two. Then look through the box again and make your final decision. Time to adjust to getting rid of it sometimes is all it takes!

Home Inventory

Know Your Stuff has a free software download you can use to do a household inventory by logging items room by room, uploading digital photos, and scanning receipts. There are MANY reasons to do this inventory...so JUST DO IT!
**Hint - once you do this, store the information somewhere besides your house.