Organization & Planning

Pack Rat Day!

clutter On Tuesday, May 17, let’s celebrate all those people who have stacks and piles of stuff!

Anita Taylor, Professional Organizer & Speaker, has the following advice for those of us who tend to let things accumulate, especially our important paperwork:

The best way to tackle a stack is to…

set a timer for 15 minutes
sort from the top
use the 3 D Method
Do it, Dump it or Delegate it!

Still not done? Read on…

Sort by category: When sorting materials that all belong in the same category designate a “home” for that category for filing or storing later. This is meant to be a quick sort so you can destroy the stack.

Attack from different angles: The next time you attack that stack, start from the bottom, set the timer and GO! Next time, top; after that the bottom; and, if there’s anything left on the 5th try, cut the stack like a deck of cards and work from the middle!

Don’t forget: Set the Timer and STOP when the buzzer rings!

Once you’ve gotten this accomplished, be sure to write and let me know how it went.

Quick Tips: Vacation Safely

If you’re going away on vacation, you need to take some steps to protect yourself and your belongings. But, most of us aren’t covering all the bases. Here’s what I suggest you do:

Stop the mail, newspaper, and any other automatic delivery
Make arrangements for pets and plants
Call your credit card companies to let them know where you will be so that they can approve any charges you make and contact you if needed.
Make sure you have paid all your bills ahead of time so that you don’t have a late payment (remember: late payments are the biggest factor of your credit score).
Adjust your thermostat accordingly and unplug any unnecessary electronics. It’s also a good idea to set timers for any lights or electronics you want turned on and off in your absence
Have someone either housesit or check on your house frequently
Clean out your wallet. Remove all items that you won’t be using. This includes local items (like library cards), rewards cards, and any credit cards you won’t need on vacation. You should only carry what you will be using. If you are traveling with a spouse, make sure you travel with different credit cards. If one of you loses a wallet, then the other will still have credit cards that are usable.
If you will be travelling with a passport, make sure to make two copies of the information page, and don’t keep the copy with your passport. Keep one with you in case you lose it and give one to someone you trust who isn’t traveling with you.

What do you do before you go? Let me know your tips.

What to do with all those receipts…

You come home from a long day and your purse or wallet is stuffed with little receipts. They are from the bank, the store, and the dry cleaners. You probably even have your paystub stuffed in there. Do you have a system for dealing with all these little pieces of paper? If not, now is the time to start.

I personally have different systems for different types of receipts:

Bank, debit card and credit card receipts – For the most part, these are shredded after they are balanced to my bank statement. In the meantime, I toss them into my little receipt basket. If I ever need to return an item or get a price adjustment for sales items, all my receipts are in one place and easy to find.

Warranty receipts – Receipts for items that have a warranty are stapled into the product manual and filed by category such as “appliances”, “tools”, “technology”, etc.

Gift receipts – I keep gift receipts until I can be sure that the recipient won’t call asking if he or she can exchange my gift. I wait about a month, generally.

Dry cleaning and other delivery/pickup items – These go on my fridge with a magnet as a reminder to pick up when ready. It also keeps the receipt handy.

Paystubs – I treat these a little differently. They are kept in an accordion file with my tax receipts and filed by category until my W-2 arrives and all paperwork agrees.

Because of the possibility of identity theft, each receipt and the corresponding paperwork is shredded before it’s thrown away. I never toss any paperwork with account numbers or other personal information and you shouldn’t either.

Decluttering Your Financial Records

Hurray! Tax season is over (unless you filed an extension).

The next step is to get rid of clutter – time to clean out your financial records.

Here’s what you can get rid of:

Paystubs – Do you have a stack of them? You can get rid of last year’s because you have a W-2 that summarizes what you’ve earned. Keep the W-2.

Bank Statements – If your bank gives you an annual summary or statement, then you can get rid of all the monthly or quarterly statements.

Tax Returns – Generally, you can get rid of tax returns that are seven years old or more (2003 and older) along with the supporting documentation. However, you will want to check with your tax preparer if you:

bought, sold and/or own a home
hold certain investments
received certain gifts
have any other special circumstance that requires you to keep related paperwork indefinitely.

In other words, check with your tax preparer before throwing away your returns.

An alternative to paper files

Keeping your records on your computer is a great alternative to paper files. We had a lot of paper clutter hanging around, so I started the process of scanning my records as pdfs. If you need a piece of documentation, it’s much easier to locate and open a single pdf than it is to search through a big, cluttered file full of paper. The best part is, that you don’t have to refile the pdf after you’re done looking at it. It’s also easier to fax or email a pdf if needed. Think of all the times you’ve needed to share information about insurances, taxes or rebates. Computer files are great to work with.

Make sure to shred

Remember when I say “get rid of”, I mean for you to shred each and every document that has your personal information on it before throwing it away. You don’t want to offer dumpster divers an opportunity to steal your identity.

Call your tax preparer to see what you need to keep, and start to go through your paperwork to eliminate what you don’t need. Happy Shredding!

Financial Goals for 2011

With the new year approaching, it’s time to think about your finances What do you want to accomplish in 2011? Whatever you want to accomplish, you need to have a goal.

Remember that a goal needs to be specific, with a timeframe and measurable You wouldn’t write “I want to save more” because that isn’t specific enough You would write “I want to save (amount) per (timeframe)” or “I want to reduce my expenses by (percentage or dollar amount) per (timeframe).” Write down your financial goals this week, so that you are ready for the start of 2011.

You can’t achieve your goal without knowing where you are now It’s like starting a diet You need to know where you are today and where you want to be at the end (the goal) Next, you need to make a plan to get from today to the goal What steps do you have to do? Make your list now Then start working towards your goal, by making the changes on your list.

Periodically, you need to check your progress to see how you are doing If your goal is to save $25 per week, then you need to go back and check how you are doing Did you do this every week? If so, you did it and continue the great work If not, then you need to review your goal and why it didn’t work Do you need to make adjustments to your goal to make it work? Then implement those changes Remember that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and follow your plan.

Who Knows You’re On Vacation?

Now that summer is here and school is just about out, people start to think fun and sun and for many of us, vacations Summer is prime vacation season, and while you’re anticipating the excitement of getting away from it all, you should also anticipate a little extra upfront work to help make your vacation worry-free.

To help prepare for your family’s vacation, I wanted to share with you a few tips to offer you some peace of mind while you’re away:

Stop your mail and newspaper delivery a few days before you go to make sure your request has taken effect.
Check out your yard and put away anything that could be used to gain entry to your home A ladder outside gives easy access to your home.
Make sure your services are maintained while you are gone landscaping and lawn mowing sure signs that someone is away if left undone.
If your home is empty, use timers for lights and appliances (radios, TV etc for noise).
Remember to turn off icemakers and other automatic appliances in your absence.
Don’t change the answering machine to say you will be away Inform the important people in your life directly.
Don’t post this information on social media websites before you go.
Clean out your wallet and/or purse before you go Remove items you will not be using and place them in a secure location.
Call your credit card companies to tell them where you will be going, so that they know to authorize a charge in a different location and make sure they have your cell phone numbers to contact you with any questions.

Hope these tips will help you have a great vacation!

Get Organized by Reducing Junk Mail

Does this sound familiar? You come from after a long hard day You check your mail and more than half of its junk mail Then your phone begins to ring with unsolicited calls interrupting dinner If you have a fax machine, you find pages of unwanted offers for you to go through to find the one page you want You didn’t ask for any of this stuff! So what is a person supposed to do?

For many, simply ignoring the calls, throwing away the junk mail and faxes is the easiest way to deal with the problem However, there are several simple things you can do to help eliminate the problem altogether It’s time to start opting out.

Opting out of junk mail can eliminate a good percentage of unwanted mail Most of your accounts (banks, credit card companies, etc) give you a choice in the form of an opt-out notice It’s typically the insert in the bills the one you usually ignore and toss out Anytime you see the notice that gives you the option of receiving or allowing others to send you information, check the NO box, if you don’t want your information being sold or shared from one company to another For all those other junk mailings that make you say how did I get on this mailing list? Remember that your name and address can be obtained in a variety of ways – credit bureaus, magazines or catalogue subscriptions, published information, etc It’s worth a few minutes to write or call and ask to be removed from the mailing list; you can also specify that your information not be distributed to anyone else For ways to better protect your personal information and to opt-out, check out https://opt-out.cdt.org They offer online opt-outs, as well as a link for automatically generating opt-out letters for you to print and mail.

Next week, I’ll continue with your phone and fax information.

How to Prepare for Retirement

Will you have enough money to live the lifestyle you want when you retire? That’s a hard question for most people to answer I usually hear that I don’t have enough money to live today, so how can I possibly save for my future?

Let me start by giving you some history of how retirements worked When our parents were working, they worked for one company their entire career For that loyalty, the company took care of them in their retirement Once your parents retired, they would collect a monthly pension from the company for the rest of their lives That, with the added benefit of social security, paid for their life style.

Then companies changed and 401K’s and 403B’s were introduced These are savings plans that are offered and sponsored by the company you work for You, as the employee would designate a portion of your income to go into this account pre tax and the company would match a certain percentage An example of this would be for each dollar the employee put into the account, the company would match that at a percentage up to a maximum amount Companies have almost eliminated the pension in favor of this savings plan.

This has altered your retirement and your financial future, along with the fact that employees don’t typically stay with one company for the entire career Instead of being set with a pension, you now have to be proactive and plan for your own retirement.

If you want to live the lifestyle that you are accustomed to, you have to do two things prior to retirement First, you need to save for your future by making funding your retirement a priority You need to find the money to be able to save for your future Second, you need to enter into retirement with minimal of no debt Someone who is living in a home that has no mortgage and has no other debt (car payment, credit cards etc), will need far less money per month, than someone who does.

Bottom line, you need to find the money today to save for tomorrow.

A Mortgage and A Divorce: Not a Love Story

In a divorce, the best way to handle the mortgage is to refinance. This is to protect both parties. If you’re making the payments, the loan should be in your name. If your ex is making the payments, then take your name off the loan.

Why is it so important? Because your mortgage company considers a divorce decree to be a personal matter – not a legal matter. A divorce agreement can’t prevent foreclosures or repossessions. It also can’t prevent your ex from ruining your credit if he or she refuses to make payments. The loan document is all that matters.

What if the divorce decree put your ex in charge of mortgage payments, but he or she is refusing to make payments or agree to a refinance. You could always make the payments yourself. That would save the home and your credit. The courts will (eventually) order your ex to reimburse you, just don’t expect it to happen anytime soon.

Sometimes, the biggest income earner is ordered to pay the mortgage even if that person no longer lives in the home. This is more common when children are involved. In that case, both parties may be reluctant to refinance the mortgage, because they feel the original mortgage agreement gives them control over the other person or the home. This is a bad situation for everyone. If the person left in the home can’t afford the payments, and the person out of the home refuses to pay… then you could lose your biggest investment.

If you can’t agree to refinance, then sell the house and move. Regardless of how much you love the home, or the idea of your kids living in it, it is best if both parties move to a more affordable home than to endure the continued heartache of credit problems and payment disputes.