Pack It Faster and Easier

As we enter vacation season, I thought I'd propose some tips to make packing easier.

1. Make a list of items to pack about a week before you have to pack. As you do laundry, put the clothes you want to take in your bag, to avoid the last-minute laundry rush. If you go on the same or similar vacations every year, consider writing or typing a master packing list. For example, if you go to the beach for a week each summer, make a list of items such as "4 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, toiletries bag, camera, sun block," etc. You don't need to be specific, but be comprehensive.

2. Keep a great toiletries bag or Dopp kit. Instead of running around gathering supplies at the 11th hour, keep a small toiletries bag year-round. Check it a few weeks before traveling to see if anything expired. Most drug stores and supermarkets have travel-size toiletries, but visit Bed Bath & Beyond for a great selection. To find your absolutely favorite soap or shampoo in a travel size, try www.minimus.biz. If your toiletries bag is overflowing, consider removing anything you hardly use, anything that a hotel may provide, or anything you can easily buy in the hotel shop or drug store when you get there.

3. If you're flying, check the restrictions in advance. The airline rules for liquids change often, and airlines have their own size limits for carry-on bags. A few weeks before your trip, visit your airline's website for baggage guidelines. Most airlines request that you keep your liquid toiletries in bottles/tubes three ounces or less, and that they all fit together in a one-quart (sandwich-sized) plastic zip-top bag.

4. Bring extra plastic shopping bags. They are great for dirty clothes, shoes, wet swimsuits, food, etc.

5. Put heavier items at the bottom of the suitcase. Put shoes and your toiletries towards the bottom-where the wheels are on rolling cases-so the suitcase isn't top-heavy when transporting.

6. If you're traveling for more than a week, don't be afraid to plan to wear things twice. Skimp on packing extras of items you can wear twice, like pants, sweaters, shoes, etc. Don't skimp on underwear, socks, and undershirts. Pack basics that can be mixed-and-matched. Remember that most people who see you when you travel will not see you twice. Plus, unless you're going somewhere like the Hamptons, not many people will remember what you wear anyway. (Sorry!)

My mother and I went to Italy for a week with only two small carryon duffle bags. When everyone else was waiting at baggage claim and lugging big suitcases through the airport, we were onto our destination quickly and easily. We had more than enough to wear, and nobody was the wiser!

What do I do with all this stuff?

Sometimes the most frustrating part of an organizing project is getting rid of all of the clutter at the end. When I do a professional organizing project for a client, I take the client's stuff with me at the end of the appointment. But if you are looking to get rid of your clutter now, here are some ideas.

Donate to thrift shops. This area boasts hundreds of thrift shops, including Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and shops in churches and hospitals. Many shops will give you a receipt for donations, so you can deduct them on your taxes, but call ahead first to check their donation hours. Although the thrift shop will give you a receipt, you will have to estimate the fair market values
yourself. The Salvation Army provides a good value estimation guide online at http://www.satruck.com/ValueGuide.asp. It is also helpful to browse the thrift shop racks to see how
they price items. Before you donate the items, I recommend writing or typing a list of donated items and estimated values. When you receive the donation receipt, staple your list to it and keep them both in your tax file. You'll be surprised how it adds up!

Donate books to the library. If you have a lot of books to give away, try your local library. You can find a list of libraries that have book sales on the Delaware County Library System's website
at http://www.delcolibraries.org/LibraryInformation_BookSales.htm. Many have ongoing book sales and accept donations year-round. They don't accept everything, though--so give your old encyclopedias and National Geographics to someone else!

Recycle hazardous waste. The County of Delaware hosts hazardous waste recycling events four times a year at various locations around the county. For dates, locations, and instructions, see their
website at http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/recycle/hhw.html, or call 610-892-9627. They accept computer and portable televisions twice a year. If you need to get rid of a computer now, call your
local Goodwill store to ask if they accept computer donations. If they don't, Staples and Office Depot recycle computers for a fee.

Donate your Christmas cards to St. Jude's. Ever wonder what to do with all of those holiday cards you get every year? They're so beautiful, it's a shame just to throw them out. Well, St. Jude's
Ranch, a campus for children rescued from abuse, collects the fronts of all kinds of cards to use for craft projects. The children construct new cards using the old fronts, then sell packets of their new, hand-made cards to raise funds for the ranch. For details, see their website at http://www.stjudesranch.org/give/Recycled_Cards.php, or mail to "St. Jude's Card Recycling, 100 St. Jude Street, P.O. Box 60100, Boulder City, NV 89006."

If you think some of your items may be valuable, consider calling an appraiser, an auction house, a used book store, a record/CD trader, a comic book/baseball card store, or selling them on ebay
or Craigs List. The old saying goes "time is money," and I'd like to add that "you need to spend time to make money." Selling on ebay and in live auctions are often not as lucrative as they seem. Be honest with yourself, and really consider how much time you have before launching into another
project.

Press Release: E-newsletter

DO YOU WANT FREE ORGANIZING TIPS?
--Get Free Clutter Tips Emailed to You Monthly from Sara Long Organizing--

Brookhaven, PA - Are you ready to clear the clutter, but you just don't know where to start? Sign up for Sara Long Organizing's free email newsletter and achieve your goals of a clutter-free home!

Sara Long Organizing, offering professional organizing services in the greater Philadelphia area, publishes a free email newsletter monthly to help people from all backgrounds conquer the clutter monster.

Newsletters include organizing tips, how-to guides, special offers, and reminders such as upcoming free recycling events and postage increases.
"People have told me that these emails were the springboard they needed to start getting their homes organized," says Sara Long, of Sara Long Organizing in Brookhaven, PA. "My goal is to send useful information to people in a very convenient and paper-free way, to make people's lives easier one step at a time."

To sign up for this email newsletter, simply visit Sara Long Organizing's website at www.saralong.com, and click on "Newsletter Sign Up."

Sara Long Organizing can help you with your home office, files, bookshelves, photo collections, closets, kitchens, bedrooms, project rooms, and more. Sara Long Organizing also provides virtual assistance services, such as organizing contact lists and mailings.

Sara Long is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and its Greater Philadelphia Chapter. Sara Long Organizing is committed to bringing clients friendly, patient, respectful, and confidential service. If you're ready to say "so long" to clutter, visit www.saralong.com today.

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Reduce Junk Mail

You're trying to reduce, reuse, and recycle, but every day your mailbox is full of paper, most of it junk. Marketers call it "direct mail," but all that unwanted mail is clogging your mailbox, cluttering your home, choking the environment, and threatening the safety of your identity. Although you can't escape mail altogether, here are some tips on how to reduce the junk.

1. Remove your name from Direct Marketing Association (DMA) mailing lists. Go to www.dmachoice.org and click on "Remove My Name From Those Lists." They will send you a verification email, and they will need a credit card (which will not be charged) for identity verification. You can also verify by mail for a $1 charge. DMA allows you to remove yourself from all lists, or select catalogs and companies individually.

2. Remove your name from pre-screened credit offers. To reduce all of those credit card offers, go to www.optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5-Opt-Out (1-888-567-8688). This is a free service offered by the major credit bureaus. You can opt-out electronically for five years, or forever by mail.

3. Try to buy over the phone instead of online. At the end of the call, ask the sales representative not to send you any catalogs, to keep you off of their mailing list, and not to sell or trade your name. Most reputable stores have codes in their computer systems for these requests. Sign up for coupons by email instead, if you prefer.

4. When you buy something online, read the terms of agreement and privacy policy. I know, they're really long and boring, but they may have insights into what you can do to keep your name off of mailing lists. Many online order forms have checkboxes to opt-in to their mailing lists. Often the checkbox is already checked, and you have to know to uncheck it if you want to be
excluded from their list.

5. If all else fails, call the company. When you get unwanted junk mail, put it in a pile or envelope labeled "Remove from Lists." Set aside an hour a month to call them and ask them not to send you any more mail and not to sell or trade your name. Mark the date you called on the mail, and refer back to it if you receive a lot more mail from them. Remember, large mailings with your name may already be in process when you call, so it can take up to two months for you to stop receiving mail from companies.

Major life changes like moving or name changes open you up for more junk mail, because it changes the basic information registered with these agencies. If you move or change your name, remember to re-register.

Spring Into Cleaning

If you're like me, the last thing you want to do when the weather starts to get warm is to stay inside and clean, but I always feel better when I finish a few key spring cleaning chores. It washes the winter out of my house, along with those stuffy, closed-up winter smells. If you don't know where to start your spring cleaning ritual, here are some ideas.

1. Start at the top. This time of year is a great time to clean your ceiling fans and light fixtures. Most light fixtures will unscrew with a basic flathead or Phillips head screwdriver. I usually suggest cleaning from the top first because dust falls as you clean, so why try to fight gravity?

2. Launder everything. Have you ever asked yourself "when was the last time I washed that?" Include washing draperies, pillows, comforters, and dust ruffles in your spring cleaning ritual. Pet-owners and smokers: you will be amazed at how washing fabrics freshens the air in your house. It's one of those old open house "staging" tricks. If you are lucky enough to get a particularly nice spring day, hang items on your clothesline. If it's too overwhelming to wash them all at home, spend a few hours taking up four or five machines at a laundromat. Or, better yet, get them dry-cleaned. Just don't forget to read the labels!

3. Shampoo the carpets. It's worth it to call a professional shampooing service because they will move the furniture and do the legwork. If you want to do it yourself, though, you can rent a shampooing machine from many supermarkets, home repair stores, or department stores. If you have pets, have kids, or smoke, think about purchasing a shampooer and doing it more often, section by section. I thought I had clean carpets until I shampooed them! Wow!

4. Get rid of expired items. Take time to look through your refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, and bathroom cabinets for expired items. You may be surprised at items that have expiration dates. For example, did you know that sun block expires? So does bottled water. Feeling guilty about all the garbage? Take preventative measures: make a list of new items to buy, but only include items you actually used in the past year. Any other items can be bought or borrowed in an emergency.

5. Sort and purge before buying anything. I know, I know, all of the stores are having sales on organizing equipment. Resist the urge to buy new shelves, bins, boxes, and hangers before you actually go through your stuff. You will probably wind up buying eight bins in a sale, when you only really need four. Extra racks and bags become part of the clutter. I know it's tempting, but be
strong!