http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogList.asp?sort=organizer&schedule=55 Our finances, the paperwork associated with our finances, and the clutter that results from that paperwork are things that keep many of us awake at night. The goal of my Sunday financial blog is to share my thoughts and tips on how we can minimize both the physical and mental clutter that our personal finances often give us. Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:27:03 EST en-us http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2968 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2968 Sun, 11 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST I've had writer's block for a few weeks. I couldn't think of a thing to write about that would help you minimize your financial clutter. I still can't. A few minutes ago, my husband glanced over at my laptop computer and saw that I was playing (yet another) game of solitaire. He asked me, "Don't you have to write your blog?" I answered that I did indeed have to write my blog, but that I had writer's block and didn't have anything to write about. He told me to ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2934 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2934 Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:30:00 EST Only one month left until Tax Day 2009… For many of us, preparing our income tax returns – or even gathering the documents and giving them to someone else to prepare – is the most postponed of all our household tasks. We know it's important, but we procrastinate until the last minute (or even beyond the last minute) to get started. If that is true for you this year, read on. I am NOT an accountant, and I'm not giving you tax advice. I am a professional organizer and daily ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2920 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2920 Sun, 7 Mar 2010 11:30:00 EST The very thought of being audited by the IRS sends chills down our spines. Mary McClung, a professional organizer and my friend and colleague, was recently the lucky winner of an audit. She lived to survive it, and she gave me permission to share her "lessons learned" with you. · Do issue 1099s if you are required to do so. This year, if you paid $600 or more in compensation for services rendered by a nonemployee to your trade or business, you need to give a 1099 to each of ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2879 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2879 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST They sneak up on us - those bills that only come every quarter, or twice a year, or annually. We tend to forget about them until, uh-oh, we find one of those periodic mega-bills in the mailbox. If you find yourself wishing that you had remembered to save money to pay those bills, here is an easy way to organize your finances so you'll be prepared next time. Make a list of all of your periodic expenses. Here's my list: · Car insurance (2 cars, 2x/year) · ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2873 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2873 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST Perhaps you won't go out celebrating, but this Monday will be a happy occasion for consumers who have credit cards. President Obama signed the Credit Card Act of 2009 into law last year, and most of the provisions become effective on February 22, 2010. Some of the welcome changes, organizationally-speaking, are: · Standardized due dates for payments. Your credit card payment will always be due on the same day of the month. Now it will be much easier for you to ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2865 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2865 Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST It's Valentine's Day, and many of you out there in blog-reader-land will be exchanging tokens of affection with your significant other. Flowers, candy, cards, jewelry and the like are wonderful gifts to give and to receive. In addition to those traditional gifts, however, it is important that you give another kind of gift to the person you love – the gift of knowledge about your family's financial picture. I have worked with many clients – mostly women – who felt totally ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2855 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2855 Sun, 7 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST The Ravens didn't make it. I'm snowed-in under a blanket of 26 inches of snow, so I can't escape it. So while I was in the shower this morning, I came up with a way to lose several pounds during the Big Game. During 2009, I gained some weight. So did you. Not that kind of weight. I'm talking about the weight of paper statements . Think about all of the weekly, monthly, and quarterly statements you accumulated last year: · Pay stubs · ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2840 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2840 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST "BE ready, so you don't have to GET ready." I heard a preacher on the radio utter those words, and they have stuck in my mind. Now, I know the preacher was talking about being ready for something entirely different, but I couldn't help but think about how that sentence could be applied to organization: BE organized, so you don't have to GET organized. In fact, I uttered those words to my husband as we frantically "got ready" for people to come over during the recent Christmas ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2831 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2831 Sun, 17 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST I just returned from seeing The Screwtape Letters , a play based on the book by C.S. Lewis. Screwtape, a.k.a. the devil, gave the audience a multi-sensory experience of what Hell is like. The glassy-looking walls glowed red to simulate the intense heat we associate with our concept of Hell. But Screwtape also told the audience that Hell is NOISY – full of incessant, loud, unpleasant noise. The auditorium filled with a cacophony of such sounds, and to an auditorially-sensitive person like ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2823 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2823 Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST January has been designated "Get Organized Month", a.k.a. GO Month, by the National Association of Professional Organizers. www.napo.net When most people think about "getting organized", they think about eliminating their unneeded stuff from their closets, garages and drawers. We are well aware of the clutter we have in those areas. Here's how the dictionary defines clutter: · A confused or disordered state or collection; a jumble · To fill or spread over ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2814 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2814 Sun, 3 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST All of us at Absolutely Organized wish you a very happy 2010! Over the last week, I hope you have been able to take some time to reflect on the past year and to set some goals for the new year. If one of your goals is to gain more awareness of and control over your finances – and the fact that you're reading this blog tells me that it probably is – you're going to like the simple, but powerful online tool available to you for FREE at www.mint.com . I have used Intuit's ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2806 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2806 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:30:00 EST The last week of the year is always a time of reflection for me. Some of my reflections are quantitative: How well did my business do this year? (Not bad, considering the economy.) How closely did my husband and I stick to the spending plan we set up last January? (Pretty closely, actually.) How does my end-of-year weight compare with my beginning-of-year weight? (Ahem…) Other reflections are more qualitative: Am I spending my time on the people, things, and activities that are most ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2802 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2802 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:30:00 EST Before I became a professional organizer, before I became a mother, I was a store manager for Toys R Us. Back then, I wouldn't have had time to write this, because during the weeks before Christmas the managers worked 80-hour weeks. The Saturday before Christmas each year was the biggest sales day of the year. My store always was the highest sales-volume store in the region, and it wasn't unusual for us to sell $100,000 worth of toys on that Super Saturday. (That was a lot of money ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2781 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2781 Sun, 6 Dec 2009 11:30:00 EST Question: What should you and Santa Claus have in common? Answer: You both should make lists and check them (at least) twice. List-making is a kind of therapy for me, especially when I am under a time crunch. (And aren't we all , at this time of year?) This weekend, I used up half a legal pad making Christmas lists – shopping, menus and prioritized daily tasks. But simply making lists is not enough. The first draft of a list tends to be a "brain dump" – a mish-mash of ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2768 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2768 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST In front of the grocery store, where I picked up some last-minute items for our Thanksgiving meal, I saw the familiar red kettle and heard the familiar bell ringing. I smiled and opened my wallet, searching for a dollar bill to put in the kettle, and remembering my father-in-law, Ellis Trezise, who spoke so highly of the Salvation Army. Thanksgiving weekend is the perfect time to remember to share our blessings with others in need. It is the beginning of the gift-giving season for most ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2721 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2721 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST One of the things they never taught me in MBA school was how to be a master of my own business administration. I started to learn what I hadn't learned when I was several months into running my business. I couldn't work at my desk. It was covered with paperwork: office equipment manuals, business plans, and various other papers presumably related to the business. I remember thinking that, if I was going to put myself out there as an organizing expert, I had better get my own stuff ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2704 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2704 Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST Every business has employees. Every employee has paperwork and/or electronic files associated with him or her. Even if you own your own sole proprietorship business, you need to keep some employee files for yourself. Start by separating the documents related to each of your employees into categories: · Employment documents. These are the papers your employees filled out when they were hired, or when they changed their withholding allowances. At a minimum, each employee's ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2693 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2693 Sun, 1 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST When I heard the word "vendor", I used to think of guys selling things from carts on city streets. In my mind, those "vendors" were trying to forcibly sell me things I really didn't want. When I became a business owner, my definition of a vendor expanded. I now define a vendor as a person or a company that sells goods or services to my company to enable me to engage in my business. Some of my company's vendors, particularly the ones who want to sell me advertising space, still ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2681 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2681 Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST Keeping track of your customers is critical to the financial success of your business. So your customer files are not the place for disorganization in your office. What goes in your customer files? Regardless of the nature of your business, you will need to capture the following information about your customers in an organized system: · Contact information · Contract or letter of agreement · Records of sales: estimates, orders, invoices, sales ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2670 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2670 Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST I know, I know. Most of you small business owners would rather be out there working in your business (and making money) than creating and maintaining paperwork and electronic filing systems for your business. Go ahead and groan, but please keep reading. Business filing does not have to be complicated. If you own a franchise business or are an independent consultant for a company, your parent company may have already given you a ready-made, tried-and-true structure for maintaining paper ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2637 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2637 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST Last week I spent two and a half days exhibiting at my county's Senior Expo. I spent the other two and a half days getting ready for it and recovering from it. I spent a lot of money on the Expo, spent a lot of time on the Expo, and didn't make much money last week because of the Expo. It was a good week. As a small business owner who also works IN the business a lot, I realized that I haven't been wearing my "business owner hat" nearly enough. I love working ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2622 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2622 Sun, 4 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST "It's too expensive." "I can't take time off from work and family." "It doesn't directly increase my business, so why should I do it?" Those are three of the excuses why small business owners don't bother to attend educational conferences. And they're not true. I just attended the annual conference of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. www.nsgcd.org This group (of which I am a subscriber and board member) always puts on awesome conferences, and ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2612 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2612 Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:30:00 EST Many years ago, a very successful corporate vice-president asked me if his desk was the messiest desk I had ever seen. As a professional organizer, I'm asked that question frequently. Usually I smile and reassuringly tell the person that their desk (home, office, or whatever) is nowhere near the messiest I have ever seen. But that day I paused and said, "You know, I think you do win the prize for the messiest desk I have ever seen." Upon further exploration, I realized ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2605 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2605 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:30:00 EST It happens every April. Small business owners gather their prior year's business records to organize them for their tax preparer. They start making lists of their income and expenses by category. So far so good. Until they stumble across transactions they simply don't remember. Was that UPS charge back in July for products she sent to a customer, or was it for the birthday gift she shipped to her mother? How about the Starbucks receipts? Were they for meetings with clients, ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2583 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2583 Sun, 13 Sep 2009 11:30:00 EST Last week, I talked about how business, particularly a home-based business, can take over our time, if we allow it to do so. The same can happen with our space. If we don't consciously carve out a space at home in which to conduct business, our work will quickly migrate onto every available horizontal surface in our homes. Location, Location, Location It was the most important factor when you chose where to live. Location is also the most important factor in choosing where you ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2568 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2568 Sun, 6 Sep 2009 11:30:00 EST As we approach Labor Day 2009, I'm thinking about all of us who are home-based business owners. We never do truly get to take a "labor day" holiday. Whether we love or hate our work, it's always right here, beckoning us to attend to it 24-7. Your Homework for This Week: Examine your home-based-business work situation. Is your work taking over your life, in terms of time? Although work is an important part of your life, it should only be a part of your life. Take some ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2549 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2549 Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:30:00 EST My old roommate used to say, "I must have money in the bank, because I still have checks left!" Unfortunately, she was serious. When I told her that – no, that may not be the case, and that she should reconcile her checking account with the bank every month, she told me that, why yes, she does reconcile her bank account every month. Her method? When she got her bank statement in the mail, she simply wrote down the ending bank balance in her checkbook, assumed the bank must be right, and ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2530 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2530 Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:30:00 EST At least once a week, I have to tuck my tail between my legs and admit to some online entity that I've forgotten my password. Fortunately, most of the time they can send me an immediate e-mail that allows me to enter the website, change my password, and go on with my business. That is, until next week, when I forget it again. We've spent the last few weeks discussing security issues related to our finances. Password security is an important component of our overall financial ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2511 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2511 Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:30:00 EST How annoying is it to pick up your daily mail, only to find that ¾ of it is junk mail (or as my friend Debbie in the business would correct me, "Direct Marketing Mail")? Whatever you want to call it, I call it a thief: It is a thief of my time because it makes me take the time to open it, read it, and shred it. It is a thief of the natural resource of trees. It is a thief of our tax dollars that pay to recycle it. It is in collusion with thieves who steal it from our mailboxes and our ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2498 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=2498 Sun, 9 Aug 2009 11:30:00 EST My clients have many different philosophies about the subject of shredding. Some of them (gasp!) don't bother shredding ANYTHING – a practice I strongly discourage. Others won't discard ANYTHING with identifying information on it until they have shredded it. You can imagine the volume of papers that accumulates, waiting for that elusive date when their owner finally has time to sit and shred them all. And some of them shred SOME THINGS, like old bank statements and checks, but worry ...