Give yourself the gift of time.

How about purchasing a few months of housekeeping instead of clothes? Purchase a gift certificate to a restaurant so you don’t have to cook. Have the veterinarian groom your dog instead of doing it yourself, being soaked, and making a mess. Buy a book on tape to listen to in the car on the way to work. Purchase a cell phone and eliminate phone tag by forwarding your calls when you leave the office. Have your groceries delivered once a week for a month (less than the cost of a blouse). Hire a teenager to do the major cleaning required before houseguests arrive.

Recycle and Reuse Holiday Cards

Each year 2.65 billion Christmas cards are made. Instead of throwing out your old holiday cards, consider donating them to charitable groups that will create new cards - or turn them into new cards yourself.

• Send holiday cards to St. Jude's Ranch, a nonprofit home for youths that collects old holiday cards for reuse. Either cut off the backs of the cards or leave them intact. Children at St. Jude's earn money by creating new holiday cards from the old. Mail the cards UPS "ground" or "bound printed matter" to St. Jude's Card Recycling, 100 St. Jude Street, P.O. Box 60100, Boulder City, NV 89006.
• Cut off the backs of old holiday cards that do not have writing behind the front and use them as postcards.
• Create your own card by cutting and pasting parts of old cards onto a new blank card. You can find packages of blank cards at most arts and crafts stores.
• Use old holiday cards as gift tags by cutting them into square or rectangular shapes and punching holes in the corners for string or ribbon
• Make placemats out of holiday cards instead of buying new ones. Cut out pictures or shapes from the old cards, place them between two pieces of contact paper and press together.

Preparing to Organize your Home

Before you rush into home organization - plan your work. Go though each room and decide what you want to do with each.

• What has served it's time and needs to go?
• What can stay?
• Where will they be placed in the room?

Don't forget to note how much time you think each room will require.

Clean out your Kitchen Drawers!

Open your drawers and cabinets. Look through the tool caddie on your counter. Pick up each and every hand tool, electric tool, and gadget in your kitchen and ask these questions to help you pare down to the essentials:

• Is this easy to use?
• Do I frequently use it?
• Is it enjoyable to use - e.g., It feels good in my hand.
• Is it easy to clean?
• Is it easy to store and does it earns its keep in storage space?
• Do I have too many of these?
• Can I do this task just as easily by hand (without the messy cleanup of a machine?)
• Does this tool really make the task easier and quicker, or is it just a cool gadget?
• Is it uncomplicated to use, clean and care for?
• Is it clean, in good shape, and ready for action?

After review, throw away or give away the items you really don't need!

Staying Organized at the Office

1. Have a master to-do list for each day at your desk.
2. Pre-Sort the mail. To-File, To-Read, To-Contact(write or call).
3. Create a separate drawer for personal paperwork, items, etc.
4. Color-coding your files makes it faster to find information.
5. Sub-divide larger files with interior file folders.
6. At the end of each project or event, organize paperwork and file or store it.
7. Straighten desk at the end of the day and especially at the end of the week so that you can start each morning with a clear desk.

Divide and Conquer Your Makeup

Drawers in the bathroom tend to be catch-alls for lots of different containers, most of which badly organize their contents. An expandable cosmetic drawer organizer fits in a shallow drawer and takes the place of bulky cosmetic bags. Different size compartments will organize lipstick, blush and eye shadow so you never have to root around to find what you're looking for. As you organize your makeup, be sure to throw away anything that smells or is expired. Old makeup contains bacteria that can irritate your skin.

Plastic Grocery Bags - Recycle

Ask your favorite stores to start offering $.05 or $.10 credits per bag to customers who bring their own, and/or to charge for disposable bags (plastic and paper). They can join other progressive retailers including CostCo, Whole Foods, and Ikea that have already taken the lead. They can save money and help the environment at the same time.

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Weeding out your Closet

The first step in organizing your closet involves getting a sense of what clothes you own. This is a good time to keep a few large boxes or baskets nearby. Designate one container for things to be donated, one for things to be thrown out, and one for things to be repaired. Depending on your wardrobe, you may also set aside a container for things to be sold. Inevitably, as you go through your closet, you will find pieces of clothing that you know will no longer fit, that you no longer like, or that need minor (or major) repairs. These can be moved to the appropriate containers as you work through the contents of your closet. Set the hangers to the side, as you may need them later.

Organizing Your Tie Rack

Is your tie rack is a mess? Here's some simple tips to get it under control!

1. Get two plastic bags - one for Discard and one for Donate.
2. Lay all your ties out on the bed or floor.
3. Discard ALL that are stained, torn or discolored.
4. Donate ALL that: don't match any of your clothing , are out of style , you haven’t worn in a year

Make your Bed!

Make your bed as soon as you get up. This task generally takes a minute or less, and it can go a long way toward making the room look neater and more pulled together. If you have kids, get them to add bed making to their morning routines, too.

Dissolve soap scum from shower doors

Dissolve soap scum from shower doors. Clean with a dryer softener sheet.

Keep frequently used information and files in a place that is easily accessible

Keep frequently used information and files in a place that is easily accessible. For example, keep important phone numbers near the phone or active project files on your desk. With everything at your fingertips, you won't waste time searching for information when you need it most

Clean up your music collection

Anyone with even a modest-size collection has CDs separated from their cases, missing case jackets, scratched discs, damaged tapes and case-less cassettes. Gather it all together in one spot. Separate into stacks and toss damaged ones. Sell the ones you no longer want.

Declutter

Don't limit your decluttering to the usual garage, basement and attic. Look at the common areas -- drawers, cupboards and places where things tend to go that we think we'll get to later. Divide clutter into boxes marked "keep," "donate," "sell" and "throw out" -- even though you don't want it, someone else might. Hold a garage sale or sell it online.

Eliminate static electricity from your television

Eliminate static electricity from your television (or computer) screen by rubbing it with a clothes softener dryer sheet.

Repurpose your fireplace ashes!

Save all those cold ashes from your fireplace to throw on your driveway for more “grit” under your tires.