This Saturday, March 17th, is the long awaited Annual Community Shred Event at the Lynnwood Storables! From 10am to 1pm, you can shred up to two shopping bags or banker’s boxes for FREE! It is completely secure… you watch your paper as they shred it right in front of you. It then gets sent off to recycling.

Before Saturday morning, consider cleaning out all your file cabinets and paper piles. Need help figuring out what should be shredded? Click here to refer to my article from earlier today, “PAPER: What To Keep and What To Toss”.

HAPPY SHREDDING!!

It’s that time of year again… TAX TIME! Sorry, hope that reality check didn’t ruin your day. But look at the bright side… this month is the most perfect time to clean out all you old paper files! Aren’t you excited?!?

Don’t worry, I even cringe at the thought of having to update all my filing cabinets and sort through old archive paper boxes in my garage. The biggest question that my clients ask me when they dare to spring clean their files is this: “What do I keep and what can I let go of?”

WHAT TO KEEP
First off, let’s talk about the most important papers that you should keep indefinitely. Marriage certificates, birth and death records, social security cards and other personal documentation should never be thrown away and should be kept in a very private and secure place. Health records for each family member is also important to keep permanently. It’s also a good idea to hold onto estate planning documents (most recent version) and your retirement plan annual reports. While it’s not necessary, I even recommend keeping all your tax returns. The return itself is usually fairly small - it’s the supporting documents that take up most of the room. Speaking of, let’s go over how long you should keep those…

It has been common practice to keep all supporting tax documents for at least 7 years. That rule seems to have recently changed. According to the IRS website (click here for more info), you only need to keep your supporting documents for 4 years unless you fall under one of these four categories:

1. You do not report income that you should report, and it is more than 25% of the gross income shown on your return; keep records for 6 years.
2. You file a fraudulent return; keep records indefinitely.
3. You do not file a return; keep records indefinitely.
4. You file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or bad debt deduction; keep records for 7 years.

Just remember, the Internal Revenue Service can “revisit” your filing if it believes there’s been fraud, or that income has been substantially under-reported. Therefore, throw away at your own risk.

So what falls under the category of supporting tax documentation? Here’s a list:

• 1099s
• W-2’s
• Bank deposit slips
• Bank statements
• Brokerage statements (year end reports)
• Charitable contribution documentation
• Credit card statements
• IRA nondeductible contributions
• Receipts or logs pertaining to tax records

You should also hang onto any receipts for major home improvements… keep these until you sell your house. You may want to show potential buyers how much you’ve spent, and you can use certain home-improvement expenses to lower any tax bill you might have on your home-sale profits.

WHAT TO PURGE
As you clean out your paper piles, it’s a good idea to make two purge piles – one that is to go into recycling and another to be shredded. Don’t want to sit in front of your shredder for hours on end? You’re in luck! Luck of the Irish, that is! This Saturday on St. Patty’s Day, March 17th, the Lynnwood Storables is having their Annual Free Community Shred Event. Click here for more details.

The most important papers that you should be shredding are all your old financial statements, including anything with account numbers or social security numbers. Here are some things that you should definitely shred:

• Preapproved credit offers and applications
• Expired debit and credit cards
• Credit card statements and receipts (older than 4 years old)
• Bank account statements and canceled checks (older than 4 years old)
• Utility and phone bills
• Investment account statements
• Paycheck stubs
• Old Insurance policy information and claims

If you have any questions or if there is anything I didn’t cover, please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me. Paper filing can be very overwhelming! If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask!

We’re still in the middle of cold and flu season along with allergy season just around the corner. I’m sure you know that after their expiration dates have passed, certain medications (both prescription and over-the-counter) may lose their potency and no longer work. Now’s the time to do a quick cleanout!

Before you tackle your out-dated medicine cabinet, grab a pen and paper to make a list of anything that needs to be replaced. First, any medicine that is quite visibly old needs to go… that includes bottles that are crusty, sticky or oozing. Once you’ve tossed the obvious items, glance at the expiration dates of everything else.

I do think it is important to always have a supply of these medicines: first aid items, over-the counter pain medicine, allergy medicine, cold medicine, and any other medicines that treat any chronic illnesses you might have. But consider this… are there any medications from old or rare ailments that you probably won’t need again? There’s nothing wrong with being prepared for the inevitable. But keeping any other old medications around “just in case” doesn’t seem healthful – mentally or physically.

Let me explain. I firmly believe that we are what we surround ourselves with. We really do underestimate the power of our intentions. If you actually intend to be well and healthy, then decide how you’re going to create that reality. Let go of your unhealthy assumptions! Purge medications that represent illnesses that you’ve already healed from and free yourself from any concern that the sickness is going to come back one day.

IMPORTANT: Don’t flush any pills down the toilet! Also, never throw loose pills into your garbage as you never know if a child or animal will find them. The best way to safely dispose of your expired medications is to put them in a zip lock bag and fill it with enough water for the pills to dissolve. Next, zip the bag up tight and throw it in your garbage.

Do you have a few thermometers, tweezers, or thin tubes of ointment that clutter up your cabinet? To save space, put them in an old cup so they can be stored upright.

Last but not least, make sure that all your medications are safely out of reach of any children or pets that live in your home or may come to visit one day.

Join us at the Lynnwood Storables next Saturday, March 10th from 10-11am for a Paper & Office Organizing Workshop taught by CarlaRae. Space is limited and is filling up fast… click on the image above or call now to reserve your spot!

Fold the laundry, schedule a dentist appointment, pay the cable bill… what’s on your to-do list today? While many of us have a mile long list of things we need to get done, have you ever considered writing a list of all the things that don’t need to get done?

It might sound strange, but when you’re feeling overwhelmed with all the things on your to-do list, it might be beneficial to write an “ignore list.” The fact is we live in a distraction-prone world. Do you ever find that just when you finally get motivated to tackle a daunting task, another unimportant task sucks your time?

Here is a scenario that may sound familiar… you open up your e-mail inbox with the intention of writing a quick response to an urgent message, but then 30 minutes later you find yourself reading a dozen other unimportant ones! While our clever tech devices - like phones and computers – are supposed to make life easier, they tend to be our biggest distractions. Just yesterday I turned on my laptop to get a quick weather report to plan our long drive home from California… 15 minutes later I was lost in the depths of MSN.com watching a video about migrating sharks. Not sure how that happened, but it did!

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself: What’s not worth doing? Write down a handful of things that you’re willing to disregard and forget about… things that are not a priority, but tend to get done before other important tasks. Throughout the day, review this list to make sure that nothing on it is getting accomplished or distracting you. Reassure yourself that when your to-do list is done, you can dive into the less important things on your ignore list. Until then, focus on the important things in life and don’t let any other distracting tasks get your undeserved attention!

Move over,Tupperware! Green-Cleaning parties are the new trend!

Women in neighborhoods across the country are meeting together for these fun events to make their own home cleaning supplies. Woman’s Voices for the Earth is a national environmental health organization that started this new movement. They compiled research which found that more than 200 common cleaning products contain chemicals linked with asthma, reproductive issues, birth defects, and breast cancer.

Many people don’t know that vinegar, essential oils, and baking soda are very safe for cleaning… and just as effective as toxic household cleaners found in stores, not to mention cheaper! Woman’s Voices for the Earth is now spreading the word and created a virtual kit that includes everything you need to host your own Green-Cleaning Event including recipes, container labels, and more.

Already, hundreds of women have convened together with glass jars in hand to spend an evening mixing, stirring, and creating many household cleaning products. Laundry detergent, furniture polish, soft scrub… the list goes on and on!

Check out their website at womenandenvironment.org … Now that’s good, clean fun!

It’s Valentine’s Day! Are you feeling all mushy, gushy, and sentimental inside? If so, then now is the perfect time to create a special keepsake “Love Box”. Here’s how…

First, collect all the many love letters, mementos, and tokens of love that you have lying around your house. Do you have any small souvenirs from a vacation you took together? Maybe something sentimental from your wedding day? You can even grab a few of your favorite photos of you and your special someone.

In my Love Box I have a few corks from special dates, a paper cigar ring from our honeymoon, and a journal entry that I wrote on the first day that I met my husband (boy did he sweep me off my feet that night!)… And of course no love box is complete without a corny love letter given to me on our first Valentine’s Day.

Be careful not to clutter your box too much! Remember that extra special things can very easily lose their value when stored with too many unimportant and less sentimental items.

Next, find a box to store everything in. While an old shoebox would do just fine, it would be ideal if you can purchase a nicer box – something that truly honors the treasured items you keep inside.

My box is a simple, black leather archive box I found at Storables. Here are a few other ideas for you (click on the images to order from Amazon)…

Last but not least, make sure you store your Love Box someplace in your home where other people won’t have access to it. You don’t need to hide it (it would be a shame if you forgot where it was). And something so special shouldn’t be buried in your closet. Maybe in a nightstand drawer or the top of your dresser?

Wherever you decide to store your Love Box, continue to add special items over the years to come. Anytime you want to reminisce and celebrate your love with your special someone -particularly on a day like today - light a few candles, turn on your favorite Barry White album, pour a glass of wine, open up your Love Box and rekindle your romance!

Can you relate? Do you have a pile of stuff always sitting next to on the passenger seat just waiting to fly to the floor the next time you have to slam on the breaks? Here are a couple ideas to help cut down on the chaos…

This High Road Swing-Away Driver Organizer gives you a variety of pockets to stash all the smaller things that you need easy access to.  When someone wants to hop in the front passenger seat, just swing it to the back out of the way without having to detach it from the headrest.
(Click here to buy… from Amazon.com)

This Case Logic Front Seat Organizer easily attaches to front, back or side of seat using adjustable buckle attachment system. It has collapsible interior dividers to custom fit a variety of items. (Click here to buy… from Amazon)

For some reason I get so excited when I watch my clients purge all of their useless, unwanted junk. While I usually have a big smile on my face, they are not so enthusiastic about the process.

Here’s how it usually goes: I hold the donation bag open while my helpless victim slowly places the item into it, teeth clinched, furrowed brow, and a low pitch moan coming from the depths of their despair. I, of course, am very confident that they will soon forget about their precious rusty cheese grater simply because they have two more just like it. Besides, its home for the past eight years has been under a pile of plastic bags stuffed in the back corner of the pantry. I promise you, even though it feels like torture to let go of it now, they won’t miss it!

Years ago, when I first started my business I used any type of bag that my client had available. Sometimes the bag was small, sometimes see-through, or sometimes we didn’t use a bag at all and just made a pile of items to donate. I figured it didn’t matter, as long as the stuff was on its way out of the house.

Eventually, I noticed a trend… an hour after making the bold decision to let something go my client would notice the item staring at them in the see-through bag and change their mind. I would then have to take a few minutes to convince them all over again as to why they really didn’t need a third blender.

The donation bag problem would then get worse. After our session, I would instruct my client to take the time in the coming week to drop off the donations at the Goodwill. Boy, was I naive!!! It started to become my worst nightmare… we’re in the middle of cleaning out the bedroom during our next session and I come across the same vintage 1986 brown hairdryer that was banished from the bathroom weeks earlier! My client would then confess to digging through the donation bag right after I left their house. I somehow would maintain composure and gently ask if there was anything else that was salvaged from the donation bag. Surprisingly, most of my clients would usually fess up like a six year old that was just caught with their hand in the cookie jar. I always appreciated their honesty, but felt bad that they would put themselves through the same emotional roller coaster of letting the item go all over again.

Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and came up with a solution for my clients who had a really hard time purging… the BIG BLACK BAG. Gone were the days of thin, small see-through plastic bags. I started to arrive at our organizing sessions equipped with a box of heavy duty black bags with draw strings. Magically, once something was put into the black abyss, it was never to be seen again! It couldn’t peek out of the sides of the bag to longingly seduce my client into keeping it. Better yet, when the bag was full, I would tie it shut! I started to refer to it as the “tie of no return” (my clients weren’t always so amused).

A couple years later I got really smart and started to offer a new “perk”: if it could fit in my car, I would haul it away FOR FREE! My clients totally loved my new service. I loved it because it made our organizing sessions a lot more productive… we weren’t wasting time purging things twice. I’m brilliant!

So, moral of the story: the black bag is your friend. Trust it! If you have a hard time letting things go, don’t torture yourself by making the decision twice. You’ll probably forget that you even owned that cracked picture frame by next week. Do yourself a favor… toss it into the big black void and bid it good riddance once and for all!

The question is: Where is your collection? Do you keep it buried in a box in the basement? Or, worse yet, is it piled all over your guest bedroom, master closet, or home office cluttering up your usable space? Either way, how can you really appreciate what you have if it’s buried or becoming a burden?

My challenge to you is to find a fun and clever way to display all or a part of your collection. It doesn’t necessarily need to be out for everyone to see. Albums of paper objects can be stored on bookshelves. If your collection is too big, consider exhibiting a few items and rotating the rest. Remember, if it’s worth keeping, then it’s worth storing properly or displaying so that you can truly enjoy what you’ve spent years (sometimes decades) collecting.

When my husband and I first met, I started collecting wine and champagne corks from special events. Yes, even the home organizer has a collection! I stored the corks in a leather box with a list of the dates and descriptions. Finally, I decided to find a unique way to enjoy them. I framed three of the corks in a shadow box that is now displayed above the sink window in our kitchen. One cork was from our first date, another was from our honeymoon, and one cork was from our first anniversary.

Then again, maybe you’ve decided that you don’t benefit from the hundreds of beanie babies that you used to love so dearly… maybe it’s time to consider moving on and letting go. Some collections can be sold or donated. If it’s too hard to get rid of them, keep a handful of your favorites. No sense keeping all of them if the collection is not cherished the way it used to be.