Donating This Holiday Season

'Tis the season to get envelope after envelope from a variety of charities asking for holiday donations.

Donating money or goods to charity is a fine and noble thing to do - any time of year.  However, there is a way to do this without clogging up the mailbox!  Just a few simple steps:

1) Toss those envelopes directly into the recycling bin when they show up in the mail!  I realize some of them come with those wonderfully sticky address labels or greeting cards.  Or charms.  Or key chains.  Those items should only make their way in to the house if you are actually going to use them.  For example, if yesterday you were cursing yourself as you wrote your return address on 20 envelopes, maybe keeping the labels is a good idea.  Or, if you've been thinking you needed another key chain as you took out your janitor's hook, then perhaps the key chain will be helpful.  If you feel guilty about tossing usable items like note cards and charms in the recycling or trash bin, add them to your ongoing bag of donations.

2) If you're not sure which charities to send money to, research them online.  Make sure their values align with yours.  You'll also want to find out what your donation will support and how much of that donation will get used for which services.  There are some great websites that do all that work for you:
  • Charity Navigator evaluates and classifies a variety of charities.  It informs you of the charities' financial health, as well.
  • Charity Watch is sponsored by the American Institute of Philanthropy.  This site grades and rates charities; it can be searched by type of charity or alphabetical listing.
  • Which Charity does not rate charities, but rather allows you to find one by type of charity or by what type of donation you'd like to make (money, time, goods, volunteer, etc.). 
  • Cards That Give and Good Cause Greetings (note this site is a commercial, not charitable site) both list organizations that produce and sell greeting cards to help support their causes.  If you're not going to send holiday cards, skip these links!   
3) Decide on which charity or charities you'll donate to this year.  Go to the organization's website and donate online.  They will email you a receipt for tax purposes.  You can save your receipt to your tax file.  No writing checks.  No finding stamps.  No running out to the mailbox.  If there is an option for receiving information from the charity when you are donating online, click the options that will send you information online, not in paper form - and only if it's information you want and will really read.

4) If the envelopes keep showing up in the mail, annoying you, grab one or two at a time before they hit the recycling bin.  On each there should be a phone number where you can contact them.  Call the number and inform them you're doing your giving online now.  Ask to be removed from their mailing list so they can save the postage and the amount of paper hitting the curb.

5) Enjoy the holiday season knowing you've helped a cause near and dear to your heart, in as stress-free (and green!) a way as possible!

Giving Thanks

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  Like you, I have many things to be thankful for this year.  I have a safe, warm home.  I have my health, and my family has theirs.  I have wonderful people in my life to share fantastic experiences with.  And, I'm fortunate enough to have a job I love, helping people relieve the stress associated with their stuff.

Of course, I know there are many, many people who are not so fortunate to have some or any of these things.  We can all do our parts as individuals to help make sure others are fed, clothed and loved all year round. 

I want to also think on helping those more immediately around you to have a less stressful season and year ahead.  The art of being organized is pretty basic at it's heart: have less, keep up routines.  For a lot of people, that takes some practice and assistance.  It also takes some getting used to the idea that a relative stranger might be able to make this process go all the quicker and easier.

So, this year, as you're giving thanks and giving gifts to express your thanks, think about organization.  Think about how wonderful it feels to know where your things are, when you need them.  Think about how great it is to feel comfortable having someone drop by unexpectedly.

Maybe you can get the wheels turning on someone else with a small gift, like these.  Maybe, the boss or your coworker could use some subtle hints that their messy desk is stressing out the whole office?  Something like this might be helpful.  But, don't get too bogged down with gadgets and gizmos.  Real organization comes with time.  How long has your mess been staring at you?  Well, then it won't be fixed over night.

Take the time to chat about how staying organized has changed your day-to-day routine.  Offer to help start the process with them.  Just make sure you aren't over stepping any boundaries.  A professional, with no attachment or memories of the items being handled really comes in handy here!  And, just for good measure, don't forget to be a good example for those around you - even when you travel (these might help). 

Help someone feel less stressed this season.  Give them one more thing to be thankful for.  (Well, two things - they'll be even more thankful to have you in their life.)

Make Up & Beauty Products

I recently started using a new regimen of beauty products from Arbonne.  This brand appealed to me for a variety of reasons, notably that it's a green and vegan company.  And, from using these products, and learning more about beauty regimens from my consultant, Jeremy, I began to realize something:  I see a lot of beauty products in people's homes.  They're in bathrooms, bedrooms and purses.  They're stashed away in kitchen drawers and on desk tops.  And, most of the time they've been sitting there for who knows how long.  These items might not be the best things to be rubbing into your skin anymore.  So, on that note, I've worked out some guidelines with Jeremy so you can clear out what really isn't healthy to put on anymore.

-  First and fore most: If there's an expiration date on the packaging, pay attention to it!  Chances are the product is no longer effective in it's original purpose.  It might smell bad or feel gross.  An ingredient may have spoiled.  Sometimes it's easy to find like on this bottle:
But, sometimes it's a bit harder to find the date, like on this tube of ointment.

-  Secondly, many products have  a dating system from when you've first opened the product.  If you're not aware of the symbol, it's easy to overlook.  There will be an open jar pictured with a number inside.  The number indicates how many months the product is fresh and usable after it's opened.  Here are some examples showing items good for 12 months:
This means it's important to remember when you first opened the item!  If possible, I suggest keeping a sharpie in the bathroom or near your beauty products to quickly scrawl a date on the tube or jar you've just opened.  Just don't grab it instead of the eye liner in the morning!  If that seems to risky to chance, I suggest using nail polish on the tube to write a quick date.  Nail pens are especially good for this!

Expiration dates are great guidelines!  But, if the following dates happen first, toss the item and replace it with a new one (assuming you still like the product).

- Third, some basics for skin care.  The LA Times has a great list that's easy to use and developed by a dermatologist.  But, here are some highlights, that are sort of surprising!
  • Serums: 6 months
  • Concealer: 3 months
  • Cream eye shadow or blush: 2 months
  • Mascara and liquid eye liner: 3 months
  • Lipstick: 1 year 
  • Nail polish: 1 year
I also found out that bar soap shouldn't be kept for more than 3 years; perfume should get tossed after 2 years.

So, for those of you with cabinets filled with hotel soaps from vacation 10 years ago and make up you bought in college, it's time to let it go!  If it comes down to it, treat yourself to some nice, new, clean products and start fresh.  Better safe than sorry!

Recipes, Articles and All Those Clippings!

I've had a lot of requests from clients lately asking for ideas on how to store, and later find, the many, many articles and recipes they've torn out of magazines over the years.  And, although almost everything is available digitally now, there's something to be said for sitting down with an actual piece of paper and reading an article.  We'll get to the digital part later.  First, let's figure out what kind of articles you've got.

Recipes - definitely.  Articles you'd like to read sometime - probably.  Household hints or to-do lists - quite possibly.  There are tons of interesting things that warrant our pulling them out for later reference.  Before you begin to store any of these clippings, you need to look them over to make sure it is 1) still a topic you are interested in knowing more about, 2) that this information isn't available somewhere else and 3) if it's are recipe, you'd actually make it (look at ingredients and time it takes for a quick assessment).  There are two ways I like to suggest corralling and collecting this scraps that are hiding all over the kitchen and office.

Choice 1: Files!  Whether it's in a file box, a drawer or in a desk-top sorter, keep these articles in files.  Each file should be labeled by topic.  For example, if all you have to keep track of are recipes, perhaps files for "Appetizers," "Salads," "Chicken," "Beef" and "Dessert" will work best.  Maybe you have a separate folder for recipes you haven't tried yet and the ones you have made (and liked) are sorted into their respective files already.  In any case, there are two great places to keep these files: near the place you keep other cookbooks or near where you tear articles out of the newspaper and magazines.  That way, they can immediately get sorted and put away.  If you're collecting topics unrelated to cooking, like articles on health, work-related or personal growth, keep those files near any reference materials you have (think book shelves or other articles) or near where you'd sit down to actually read them, when you have the time.

Choice 2: Binders! This is especially helpful for the visual type.  Have a binder for each topic you find yourself tearing out articles about.  One for recipes, one for health articles, one for cleaning...you get the picture.  Then, fill the binders with clear page sleeves. Avery has some great, basic ones.  If you want something fancier, check these out:

The colors may help create smaller categories, as well.  If it's recipes, each color can be a topic within the recipe binder.  If it's health/medical related articles, each color can be related to one particular health issue (healthy sleep habits, exercise routines, etc.).  It's easy to add and subtract pages as you add or toss articles.

Now, an important mention.  Most of the articles you're clipping can be found online, I'm guessing.  Think about creating bookmark folders in your browser where you can tag and remember all kinds of articles to reference whenever you'd like.  If you're willing to make the swap to digital, you just might like it!

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