Organizing doesn’t have to be drab and boring! Get colorful hatboxes to store items. You can keep them out as decorations too! You can label the bottom of the box so you can easily see what is inside without marring the decorative outside.

As a mom of an eight year old, Lucy, I am always looking for easy ways to get her to help out more in cleaning up and getting organized. I try to make helping out a game but at times I just run out of creativity and ideas….then I came across this great card game, Les Mess.
The Less Mess Cards are an easy way to get kids to help out and create ‘less mess’, Each card has a simple activity and a time associated with it. For example, one card says:
30 to 60 minutes
Organize your toys, then you may play with them if your parents say it’s ok

Have a look at them and think about getting them for you and your kids.

Giveaway!

Check out the giveaway of one set of cards HERE!

Excerpt from The Organized Mom: Simplify Life for You and Baby One Step at a Time

By Stacey Crew
Published by Adams Media

Transitional Organizing: What Is It?

Major life changes and transitions are generally what throw people into the greatest state of disorganization. Think about these common scenarios:

A job change: Changing jobs requires physical and mental dedication, and can lead to a new schedule or not having the amount of time to address routine household maintenance issues.

A move: If you’ve moved from a larger place to a smaller place, you may lack storage. Or if you’ve moved into a larger house, you may be in the process of accumulating furniture and accessories.

Getting married and/or moving in with your partner: Combining two households can be overwhelming because you are attempting to merge items that potentially come from different styles and tastes. It’s all a natural process that is very exciting, but it can also be overwhelming because you are settling into a new way of life and possibly new surroundings.

These are generally not times of decluttering, but instead are about combining and accumulating stuff. Motherhood is one of these times when we are inundated with all sorts of gear—bottles, diapers, toys, and tiny pieces of clothing. All those items can leave new moms wondering where to put them and how to maintain some sort of organized systems once baby arrives. The key buzzwords today are “decluttering” and “organizing.” However, when you’re a new mom, to a certain extent, it’s all about cluttering—just like the scenarios we just talked about. It’s challenging to stay on top of everything when you’re caring for a new baby and accumulating and managing all of his or her gear! That is why many new moms experience a slew of emotions that can potentially contribute to postpartum depression and feelings of disappointment because what is supposed to be a most blissful time has turned out to be stressful.

Preparing and organizing before a new baby arrives can certainly help ease the potential anxiety and help simplify your surroundings so you get to spend quality time with your bundle of joy!

Stacey Crew is the mom of two, Author of The Organized Mom book and The Organizing Mama blog. After a successful career in marketing and publishing, her days as a SAHM and the multitude of endless tasks involved with raising two children, she was inspired to develop her own systems for implementing and maintaining organization. You can read her blog at staceycrew.blogspot.com.

Enter to win your signed copy of The Organized Mom: Simplify Life for You and Baby One Step at a Time on Wednesday! Or if you can’t wait, you can purchase her book here.

Even organizational experts have tasks they don’t like doing.  The author of It’s Hard to Make a Difference If You Can’t Find Your Keys, Marilyn Paul, PhD, confesses that she does not enjoy checking things off her to do list.

Gasp!

We all have a drawer or a file or pile that stumps us.

It’s completely normal folks.  The only difference between the experts and you is that they do the hardest things first.

Have you ever worried over making a decision about something for months, maybe even years and then once you’ve done it, realized that you should have done it long ago?  That it would have saved you stress, time, worry and sleep?

The hard things in your life are like this.

I know that you don’t want to.  It’s hard and scary.  That’s why you’ve got a big pile o’ mail, bills and work that’s needed your attention for months.  Those dishes on the floor and every surface, the mounds of laundry that is aching to be done, the proposal that you were supposed to hand in 3 months ago…

As hard as it may be for you to do these jobs, you are making it harder by avoiding it. You’ve been worrying and stressing all of this time, and honestly, it’s not that bad at all.  In fact, once you get started, you’ll see it’s easier than you think.

As one of my earlier articles – What I’ve Learned from Doing My Taxes – illustrates, doing my taxes was so much easier than I had originally thought.

So whatever you’ve been supposed to do all this time, but haven’t, make this the week that you tackle it finally.  You won’t believe the relief that will wash over you.  You may not realize it, but you’ve been carrying around this heavy weight all this time.

So do what I do:

1.  Tackle the big and heavy jobs first.  This not only gives you a great feeling of accomplishment, but keeps you from falling behind in case your schedule gets wonky, you come down with a cold or any of the usual “life stuff” happens.

2. If you don’t have the time to do it in one fell swoop, break it down into manageable chunks.  Just don’t do as a friend does and break it down so much that projects don’t get completed for years!  Put deadlines beside each step and put it right into your schedule/planner so that nothing else will get in the way.

Surprised at how much less time it took you?  That’s because for once, you’re not multitasking and working at something in tiny increments.  With your focus solely on this one big thing, even though you might be cursing your way through it, you’ll get it done, I promise.

Whether you’ve been meaning to get your furnace fixed, clear out the home office so that you can actually work productively in there, go through the piles of magazines that go back to the 70s or 80s or pay your bills for the last month or two, do it first and foremost.

And then celebrate with a homemade sundae, a walk in the park or something new for your home.  After all, all that hard work deserves a reward!

Stephanie Dickison is the author of the recent book, The 30-Second Commute: A Non-Fiction Comedy About Writing & Working From Home, which covers her career as book, music and restaurant critic.  She has been a journalist for over a decade and now spends much of her time writing about travel, food, beauty, style and celebrities for various publications and websites.

When she’s not writing, she’s eating, cooking, organizing, filing, making lists in sumptuous notebooks (you must use your beautiful journals) and colour-coding her ever evolving calendar.

She is one of the few writers still using technology AND paper.  But at least her paper is organized into pretty file folders…

http://www.stephaniedickison.com

Sometimes it just takes the way someone says something for it to click for you.  I hope that happens for you today.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by how much you have and much there is to do, know that it is possible to get out under of it.  And it just so happens that they are all incredibly easy concepts that you can start implementing in your life right now.

I hope they help get you moving and ahead of where you are.  And know that it is possible to change.  I went from a pack rat to a house that’s always ready for company.  I no longer have to clear off the bed in order to go to sleep.  And I can find everything I need to in an instant.

Ahhhh.  This is the life.

Now let’s make it yours, too!

Here are 3 simple truths that once you really take them in and decide to follow them, will absolutely change your life.

1. The less stuff you have, the less you’ll have to organize, clean and manage

See?  It’s such a simple thing, but often it takes years to really get this.  After all, you’ve simply become so used to being surrounded by so much stuff.  It’s almost a comfort at this point, isn’t it?

But when you start to clear away the clutter – papers, books, magazines, clothing, toys, knick knacks, etc. – a wonderful thing happens.  For the first time, you’ll really see what you have.  You can find what you need because there’s nothing in front or on top of it.

Having less stuff eliminates all the problems you are currently facing – cleaning, organizing, finding things and managing your space, time and energy, to name just a few.

You don’t have to get rid of everything in the next 2 days but once you start, it will be easier to continue on to the rest.  And one day, perhaps even soon, you’ll have a manageable space that you feel good in!

2.  It’s not about being perfect and/or a minimalist

When you’re trying to navigate your way through the clutter and mess, the idea of everything being perfect with completely clear surfaces and a zen-like feel often comes up.  I think that’s what magazines have led us to believe.  But it’s not true.

Everything is in constant motion and there are going to be days where everything’s strewn about and dishes are piled in the sink.  That’s absolutely okay.  It’s okay to be messy as long as it doesn’t take long to clean it up and it’s not the state of the entire house.

For example, my desk changes throughout the day to serene surfaces to piles of mail, magazines and papers everywhere.  It might even stay like that for 3 days.  But eventually everything will go back to its home and it will feel peaceful again.

Until the next deadline and all the papers burst out again…

3.  When something comes in, something goes out

This is another concept that takes awhile to get the hang off.  After all, you haven’t had to get rid of anything thus far, right?  Uh, that’s why you’re surrounded by a room full of stuff…

This is something that will continue on though, long after you’ve cleared away all the items you no longer want or need and just have what is essential to you.  And that’s something you have to get used to – the continuous recycling of items.

If I get a new top, another gets donated.  When it’s time for a new laptop bag, I’ll donate the old one.  This applies to kitchen stuff, furniture, anything other than things like stationery which get used up.

What it all means

We have become accustomed to putting things in another closet, the spare room or basement because there is enough room.  Living in a small one-bedroom apartment with my fella and our big cat (where I also happen to work at a little white rolltop desk at the end of the bed) has taught me that you cannot just consume and expect space to just open up for you.

What if you had to move to a smaller place?  Would you really hold onto that commemorative People Magazine from 1983?  Do you really need 3 teal tank tops?

When you have less, it means so much more.

Stephanie Dickison is the author of the recent book, The 30-Second Commute: A Non-Fiction Comedy About Writing & Working From Home, which covers her career as book, music and restaurant critic.  She has been a journalist for over a decade and now spends much of her time writing about travel, food, beauty, style and celebrities for various publications and websites.

When she’s not writing, she’s eating, cooking, organizing, filing, making lists in sumptuous notebooks (you must use your beautiful journals) and colour-coding her ever evolving calendar.

She is one of the few writers still using technology AND paper.  But at least her paper is organized into pretty file folders…

http://www.stephaniedickison.com

It’s strange.  I shouldn’t dislike doing taxes so much.  They shouldn’t make me grumbly at all.  Mine are easy compared to most people.

And I love nothing more than to be incredibly organized and have a system for everything, so taxes should just be like everything else.  It should feel good to be filing away items and adding them up.

But my setup for taxes over the years has never been perfect.

I have tried different filing systems – accordion files, file folders, receipt envelopes.  Nothing has really ever kept me fully organized like other methods I’ve set up in my office.  It’s been driving me crazy because it is what kept me from wanting to do my taxes.  Those piles and piles of receipts to sort through?  Ugh.  Please.  I’d almost rather go to the dentist.

Almost.

But in assessing my systems over the years, I realized that if I combined a few of them instead of trying to rely on just one, I’d have the perfect set up.

I have a metal box that I pop my daily receipts in so that I get them out of my wallet and somewhere where I can find them.  I also keep accordion file at the front of my filing cabinet, where I keep my copies of courier receipts (you should see how big these things are and how many pages they can get up to), writing income, medical receipts (this have most certainly become bigger over the years too), etc., that keeps them filed into neat categories so that at the end of the year, I simply pull out each section and add them up.

What I realize that had been clogging my system all of these years is that I used to try and categorize ALL of my receipts.  I would have a big box of them, thinking that all I had to do was eventually go through and sort them.  You know, like once a week.

I never did this – who wants to spend time sorting through receipts when you could be out for a walk or having a nice meal at a restaurant?

So the big box became this burden at the end of the year and thus, taxes become a Herculean task that I never wanted to do.

I just did my taxes for this year, after dreading it something awful.  And you know what?  It was okay.  I wouldn’t do it instead of going to a show or having friends over, but it was really fine.  Almost fun, if you can believe it.

How can this help you though?

1.  Keep changing things up until you find something that works

Your needs will change over the years, so be sure to change your systems.  One thing I realized is that I used to purchase more, so I had more receipts.  This has significantly decreased, which helps with the amount of sales slips that I have to go through and add up.

Try out different containers, move things to a different room all together or get rid of something you’ve been using for years in order to try something new.  Products change and get better over time, so maybe there’s something better out there than that plastic file folder from 1993.

2.  Be open to change

One area I have never managed well is email. As a freelance writer, I write about 10 different topics on a regular basis. This means that I am getting emails by the ton. And despite trying different systems over the years, only in the last week have I stumbled onto something that works.

It could be just timing – I had exhausted so many other possibilities that this is best only by comparison. Or perhaps my needs are different now than they were a year ago. Or maybe my expectations.  It doesn’t matter.  What does matter is that I am open to change, to new ways of doing things.  This always leads me to finding systems that do work for me.  And the more smoothly things flow, the less time they take and the more time I have to do things that I enjoy.

3. Enjoy the routine things in your life

If you hate doing the dishes, taxes, clipping your nails – anything that has to be done over and over again, you’re going to have a miserable time.

If you can find a way to embrace these things, it will change your entire outlook and being.

I certainly don’t love washing the dishes, doing the laundry or having to create invoices, but I do try and make the best of these tasks (I don’t call them chores, because that makes them sound just awful.  Sometimes just the change of language helps…).  I use the time when I’m washing the dishes to let my mind go free and unfurl from the stresses of the day.  For taxes, I got myself a really nice calculator – it’s big and pretty and fun to use, unlike my old small one that I could barely make out the numbers.

It might be a small thing, but oh what a difference it makes!

I wish you well with your taxes this year.  I hope that they stop bringing you angst and worry and instead are just a few hours out of your day that you can then reward yourself with something wonderful.

Stephanie Dickison is the author of the recent book, The 30-Second Commute: A Non-Fiction Comedy About Writing & Working From Home, which covers her career as book, music and restaurant critic.  She has been a journalist for over a decade and now spends much of her time writing about travel, food, beauty, style and celebrities for various publications and websites.

When she’s not writing, she’s eating, cooking, organizing, filing, making lists in sumptuous notebooks (you must use your beautiful journals) and colour-coding her ever evolving calendar.

She is one of the few writers still using technology AND paper.  But at least her paper is organized into pretty file folders…

http://www.stephaniedickison.com

February is a funny month.  We get itchy in every sense of the word – dry skin from the intense wind and cold, cabin fever from staying indoors for so long, and irritable because nothing seems to be working.  Everything has slowed to a halt and you feel stuck.

Sometimes all it takes is a little change or tweak to get organized.

Here are some suggestions to get you started:

How is your planner working out for you?

By now, you will have had a chance to use your new 2010 planner and see how it’s working for you.  Do you need something smaller, bigger or more colourful?  Do you need to move your schedule from paper to computer or phone?

If something is bugging you about your system and is keeping you from using it, then it’s time for a change.

And you know what?  That’s a good thing.  It’s better to have a planner that is doing its job than one that was free from the office or that you feel you should be using.

I changed planners 10 days into January!  I found something way better than what I was using and now, I am getting at least 50% more accomplished every day, simply because it’s a better layout for me and allows me the room to write what I need to.

This small change has impacted my work and personal life so immensely – I feel much farther ahead than I have in years!

Maybe it just needs to be moved?

I wrote an article recently where I mentioned how incredibly small my pantry is – one cupboard with 3 small shelves that holds everything that doesn’t go in the fridge.  Someone commented that I could store things elsewhere throughout the house.  What a crazy idea, I thought.  But I let it sit for a couple of days and I realized that the many, many cans of beans (that take up so much space) could actually go on a shelf behind a door in the hallway where no one would see it, but I would still have access to it.

Not only did it free up space for everything so that I don’t have to take things out in order to access items from the back (ahhh), but when I open the cupboard to get ingredients to make dinner, I feel so good I want to throw my hat in the air like Mary Tyler Moore.

And it can be anything from the front porch to the laundry room to the hall closet.

Sometimes it takes a little outside advice to prompt you to do something.  It might sound crazy at first, but don’t dismiss it until you’ve at least given it a try.

You never know.

This container is o-k-a-y, but…

Sometimes you’re in a hurry and you put something away in a box or basket and don’t think about it again until you have to access it.

Things kind of fit, but they’re a little awkward and stick out.  Sometimes the simple action of replacing a container is all it takes to make it completely accessible – and enjoyable.

Because I’m a freelance writer, I am writing on a bunch of different topics for varying deadlines – hourly, daily and weekly.  I have this pile that grows and

All it took was a cheap plastic basket that I bought for my pantry items (see problem above) that didn’t fit in the kitchen cupboard and I was looking to repurpose it for something.

I saw the pile on my desk, swiped everything into it and by sheer luck, it has transformed my items into neatly filled, easily accessible items!

It doesn’t matter if it’s planned out or completely by accident – if it works, then use it!

Bottom line

Take a good look around each room and see what needs a home, a container, a replacement and/or a change.  It’s amazing what you’ll find.  And what a difference it makes once you’ve got things that work for you!

Stephanie Dickison is the author of the recent book, The 30-Second Commute: A Non-Fiction Comedy About Writing & Working From Home, which covers her career as book, music and restaurant critic.  She has been a journalist for over a decade and now spends much of her time writing about travel, food, beauty, style and celebrities for various publications and websites.

When she’s not writing, she’s eating, cooking, organizing, filing, making lists in sumptuous notebooks (you must use your beautiful journals) and colour-coding her ever evolving calendar.

She is one of the few writers still using technology AND paper.  But at least her paper is organized into pretty file folders…

http://www.stephaniedickison.com

A lot of people look at “getting organized” as this huge boring chore.

But really, it’s an opportunity to not only streamline and ease your daily life, but make it beautiful to look at and fun to you.

We are so lucky now to have gorgeous – and affordable – storage items to choose from.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

The Home Office:

Everything from your stapler, scissors, paper clips and laptop can be pretty AND functional.  Sure you can go to organizing and office supply stores, but think outside the box too – you can use your grandmother’s teacup to store paperclips in and a woven basket for your pencils.

First of all, clear the clutter out of your office and look at what’s left.  Think about how you can store the things you have so that they always have a home.

I stopped using manila folders long ago – who wants their space to look like a doctor’s office?  I have striped, floral and vividly graphic file folders of every colour.  Trust me when I say that paying the bills using pretty folders actually does make it a little easier.

And I’ve used this principal on everything in my office:

I use a sticker on my laptop to make it look good, as well as on my cellphone.  My stickit notepad has cherry blossoms all around the edge, so even that’s visually appealing.  I have a faux leather letter holder that collects all the little bits an office tends to attract and on my write on/wipe off board  (it keeps me on top of everything, as well as alerts my fella to my whereabouts) I have a photo of a friend and I, sticker decals, a Hawaiian flower tucked behind and a magnet of Michelle Obama that a dear friend gave me after I saw it on her fridge new year’s eve.

My planner is multi-coloured with a binder that looks like a clutch.  It’s so much more fun to use than those office supply ones.  It’s actually so much fun that I find myself planning and working towards my goals more than the one I was using previously.  You know the kind – boring, black-and-white and not at all inspiring.

The Kitchen:

This is an easy place to use colour and fun design.

Organize your spices once and for all (Are you still using the bags that you got them in from the bulk store? Sigh.) by putting them in uniform containers with legible labels.  They don’t have to be spice bottles – little woven baskets or boxes bought on the cheap in Chinatown are fun and practical.  Magnet spice holders keep things at the ready and always look sharp and modern.  Plus you look oh-so-gourmand!

Buy your appliances in bright colours (no need to stick with black or white anymore).    Gather condiments in the fridge in pretty box lids and organizing drawers.  Put a decal on your fridge like we did (people always think we’ve painted our fridge!).

Attack that cupboard beneath the sink by putting cleaners in colourful caddies, separating the bathroom cleaners from the kitchen, etc.  Get big drawer baskets and fill them with your pantry items, so that you can slide everything out when you’re gathering your ingredients.

Create a curtained bottom for your microwave oven stand (making yet another place in which to stash pantry items, big pots and other necessary equipment).

Finally, declutter your cutlery drawer.  Get a good lookin’ knife holder and find baskets or trays that will fit what you need to have on hand.  There’s nothing worse than having to root around in that mess.

The Rest of the House:

Tackle the rest of the house in this fashion.  Use a beautiful hanging fabric shoe holder to hold your bills and paperwork in the hallway, refashion an entertainment center piece into a sideboard (read: place to put things!) in the living room, use your hope chest as a horizontal filing cabinet.

The possibilities are endless.

Stephanie Dickison is the author of the recent book, The 30-Second Commute: A Non-Fiction Comedy About Writing & Working From Home, which covers her career as book, music and restaurant critic.  She has been a journalist for over a decade and now spends much of her time writing about travel, food, beauty, style and celebrities for various publications and websites.

When she’s not writing, she’s eating, cooking, organizing, filing, making lists in sumptuous notebooks (you must use your beautiful journals) and colour-coding her ever evolving calendar.

She is one of the few writers still using technology AND paper.  But at least her paper is organized into pretty file folders…

http://www.stephaniedickison.com

The prospect of “getting organized” can seem overwhelming.  After all, there is so much to do now that it’s the new year.

But it really only takes a few small steps to starting the process.  And it’s much easier than you think.

All it takes is putting a few quick systems in place, and boom!  You’ll finally have somewhere to put your stuff where you can find it.  It takes just a few minutes and the practice of putting things back in their proper homes.

That’s it!

Here, let me show you how, in 5 easy-to-follow steps:

1. The new year is a great excuse to purge and get rid of items.  The less stuff you have, the less you’ll have to organize.  Get rid of old bills, papers and things that don’t work or you don’t use.  The way I do it is that I use something until it runs or wears out.  When I bring in a new clothing item, I donate one.  When I’m done with a new book, I pass it on or put it on the donation shelf in our building so that others can enjoy it.  It keeps things manageable here in our 1-bedroom apartment where 2 writers work and live with their big cat…

2.  Having said that, how about reassessing what you have?  Sometimes we hold onto things and then don’t think about them until years later, wondering why we still have something that we’ve never used or looked at?  By being aware of your surroundings and possessions, you’ll really only want to keep what’s most important.  And that will help you cut down on clutter, which will help you keep organized… you see where I’m going with this.  Reassess your belongings every 3-6 months and see how much stuff you can pass on.  You’ll feel amazing for not being weighed down by things anymore.

3.  One of the best lessons I’ve ever learned is that if you’re going to keep a piece of paper, create a file folder for it. That way, all of your papers get filed.  Who cares if there’s only a page or two within a file?  At least it’s not floating around on your desktop with you having to pick it up over and over, asking yourself what to do with it.  I know it sounds controversial, but just try it and see what I mean.  The way you deal with paper will drastically change forever.

4.  And to expand on that idea, create a home for everything.  What I mean by this is that you shouldn’t have any piles of things that aren’t designated.  For example, have a specific place for your keys, briefcase, books, bills, pots and pans, whatever it is that you have.  If you always have a place for it, you’ll rarely have to conquer clutter and you’ll always be able to find what you’re looking for.  It’s much easier than you think.

5. Think outside the box.  When I moved to my first apartment, I had 96 boxes of books and magazines.  Now I have one bookcase that holds the few books that I’ve wanted to hold onto – sentimental ones, reference books and my beloved cookbooks.  For the rest of my book needs (which are great, deep and consuming), I use my local library.  I get things in, read them and return them, along with magazines, CDs and DVDs.  That way, I don’t have to make space to store all of that in our little place.  Of course, I do have a towering pile that lowers and rises each month, depending on how much I get out and how quickly I read – but there’s just the one pile versus walls and walls of bookshelves!!  This is just one of the ways I’ve reduced the amount of things I hold onto.

p.s. Getting organized doesn’t have to mean perfection.  Life is busy and things get disorganized.  Piles will form, clothes will be discarded sloppily.  That’s okay.  What’s important is that you have a place to put everything when you can.

Stephanie Dickison is the author of the recent book, The 30-Second Commute: A Non-Fiction Comedy About Writing & Working From Home, which covers her career as book, music and restaurant critic.  She has been a journalist for over a decade and now spends much of her time writing about travel, food, beauty, style, celebrities and organizing for various publications and websites.

When she’s not writing, she’s eating, cooking, organizing, filing, making lists in sumptuous notebooks (you must use your beautiful journals) and colour-coding her ever-evolving calendar.

She is one of the few writers still using technology AND paper.  But at least her paper is organized into pretty file folders…

www.stephaniedickison.com

I must say, this is quite the busy week in the Rockmore house.

Hanukkah started last Friday night and while it officially ends this Friday the 18th, for us it isn’t over until the last Hanukkah party we are hosting is done and that is Sunday the 20th. But that is only part of the story. This week is also my husband, Adam’s, birthday (the 17th) so that means it is Birthday Week as well. What exactly is birthday week? Well for us (meaning Adam and I) we celebrate each other’s birthdays for an entire week. Yep. An entire week. Now this is great fun when it is my birthday (June) but a lot of work when it is Adam’s birthday (this week!).

This week I am glad I have our Buttoned Up tips handy on getting organized.

There are 3 of them I need to apply:
(1) Ditch Perfection – Well I live that one everyday and that means things like frozen Trader Joe latkes instead of homemade and gifts that may or may not be wrapped.
(2) Embrace the 80/20 Rule – There are things that are just not going to get done this week and that is okay. I am probably not going to get post on ebay done to see my Olympic tickets. I am not going to start my book club book that I need to get read soon. And many more things on my list….
(3) Delegate to Others – This is my theme for the week and everyone is helping me out. My sister, Susan, is making the brisket for the last Hanukkah party we are having. Our friends are bringing wine for one of the Adam events of the week. Even Lucy (my 7 year old) is going to clean her room and set up all the dradle stuff and gelt for the parties.

My hope is that the organization I am putting into practice this week might give you some ideas you can use to save you time, money or both over the next few crazy weeks.

Here is my schedule:
December 14 – 4 people over for Game Night and Adam’s Bday. Hanukah
December 15 – Hanukkah Give Back Night where we don’t do gifts but give to charity
December 16 – Hanukkah – Family Gift Night – buy one gift (e.g. family game) that all of us will enjoy.
December 17 – Adam’s Bday – Cake, dinner out, presents
December 18 – Last night of Hanukkah. Make latkes.
December 19 – Hanukah Party #2 (#1 was last week) at our house
December 20 – Hanukah Party #3 at our house too

Given all of this going on along with getting ready for a two week trip and holiday shopping for relatives, friends, etc… you can see why this upcoming week is completely nuts.

That being said, once I put together a game plan and mapped it all out, my stress completely disappeared. Here are my tips that I am doing this week and you might consider too:
1. Exchange It – A great way to save money and time is to consider doing gift exchanges for family members, parties, etc.. I am doing them for the parties I am having as well as for my extra large family. Who really needs more stuff? No one. By doing this, everyone has a better shot of getting one thing they will really like and you have so much less to shop for and money to lay out. This one is a must!
2. Cry Out For Help – When people ask if they can “bring something”, resist the temptation to say no or to bring “anything” and actually tell them to bring something that can help you out. For our party on the 19th, my friend, Susie, is picking up take out dinner for that night. On the 20th, my sister, Susan, is making brisket. When people offer, take them up on it. And if they don’t offer, ask for help!
3. Short Stuff – Shortcuts are a girl’s best friend. On a week like this, I am looking at short cuts galore. From using paper plates to help clean up for at least one of the parties to reusing decorations a few times, I am all about taking the easy way on things that don’t really matter. And it saves valuable time and money!
4. Plan Ahead If You Can – It may be too late now but always plan ahead and get as much stuff out of the way as possible. This is helping me out this week in a big way. Shopping is done (mostly on line). I bought at a great price all of my Hanukah decorations, candles, and candy. And so on and so on.
5. Have Fun With It – Perhaps the most important tip. This week is going to be all about Adam’s birthday and making him feel special and Lucy’s Hanukkah joy. That is what is important and what I focus on the rest can be perfectly imperfect!