10 Easy Ways to Get Organized
by Jill Cooper
http://www.LivingOnADime.com/

1. Hang up your keys. (Preferably by the door.)

2. Find a place for your purse, coat, gloves and other frequently used 
items and always keep them there.

3. Make your bed each day as soon as you crawl out of it.

4. Get dressed. Even if you are a stay at home mom or your job is at 
home, get dressed. Clothes really do make the man or woman. You'll be 
just as productive as you are dressed which means if you are dressed 
for sleep (pajamas, sweats or a robe) then you will get about as much 
work done as you would when you are sleeping. That may be stretching 
it, but you get my point.

5. Wash the dishes and wipe the counters after each meal. No matter how 
large or small the meal or how tired and in a hurry you are, do the 
dishes. Even if you are hurried or late in the morning you wouldn't 
dream of leaving the house half dressed. Make leaving your kitchen 
clean as important a priority as getting dressed for work. This may 
seem impossible at first but once you are on top of things it should 
only take five or ten minutes to clean your kitchen.

6. Get rid of trash. About 50% of what unorganized people have in their 
homes is trash or stuff they will never use again. Stop wasting time 
taking care of it, moving it or stepping over it. As you walk through 
the house, pick up garbage and toss it.

7. Control your laundry. Don't let it control you. Follow these simple 
steps to help keep your laundry from taking over your home and you.

    Place a hamper or basket for dirty clothes in each bedroom and/or 
bath. Make sure that everyone's dirty clothes are put in the hamper 
before bed and in the morning.

    The laundry isn't done until it is put away. Get out of the mind set 
that if it is washed and dried it is done. Folding and putting it away 
is equally as important.

          Some of us think that if we get the laundry washed and dried 
that's all we need to do and it's okay for the family to just pull 
stuff out of a pile. That makes as much sense as cooking a meal and 
expecting everyone to stand at the stove and take turns scooping the 
food out of the pan and eating it one spoonful at a time. You wouldn't 
dream of doing that. Yes the food is cooked, but the meal is not 
complete until the table is set and the food is put on plates. Do the 
same for your laundry. Put it away.

8. Pick up continually. This may seem like a pain to do at first but if 
you stick with it, it will become a habit. I didn't realize how much 
of a habit it had become for me until I was visiting my daughter's the 
other day. As I was walking into the kitchen, I picked up empty 
glasses and odds and ends on my way. Then when I walked from the 
kitchen to the bedroom I picked up toys as I went in there. It wasn't 
even my house but I had seen something out of place and out of habit 
picked it up. Every sock or glass that you walk past is a spore 
waiting to flourish into a vortex of debris. Catch it while it is 
small! _

9. Read and dispose of newspapers and magazines. There are usually two 
reasons people have stacks of newspapers and magazines piled around:

    They want to save an article in it. If that is the case then cut the 
article out as you are reading the magazine and file it. Trust me, you 
not only won't cut that article out at a later time, but you probably 
won't remember what or where it is.

       They don't have time to read them. If you aren't going to read 
them the why are you subscribing to them? Stop your subscriptions. 
This doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing. If you can't keep up 
with the daily newspaper then just get the Sunday paper. Most people 
usually have more leisure time Sunday to read it. Pick out one or two 
of your favorite magazines and stop subscribing to the rest.

10. With any item, if it is broken or you don't use it anymore get rid of 
it. That includes clothes, toys, furniture, decorations, dishes and 
exercise equipment. If it's not important enough to fix right now, you 
don't need it!

What other tips can you give for getting organized? Where and how do you start?

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the editors 
of http://www.LivingOnADime.com/. As a single mother of two, Jill 
Cooper started her own business without any capital and paid off 
$35,000 debt in 5 years on $1,000 a month income. Tawra and her 
husband paid off $20,000 debt in 5 years on $22,000 a year income.