Junk Mail Overload

I previously wrote about junk mail, but I am all riled up today because I just picked up my mail after being gone for a week and found the following in my box: 12 pieces of junk mail and 4 pieces of real mail. One of the envelopes even fooled me well enough to open it; the return address was my bank’s, but the contents included those deceptive “convenience checks” that aren’t really checks at all, they are charged to your credit card if you use them. If you find those in your mail and you don’t plan to use them, please shred them so they don’t get used by someone else.

I recommend the Mail Preference Service, https://www.dmachoice.org, to all my clients who want to reduce their junk mail intake. When you go to the Direct Marketing Association’s website you can opt out of credit card offers, catalogs, magazines and other mail offers. I have done it myself and it works, for the most part, but a small amount of junk still slips through.

Anyone have an idea how to stop getting mail from Comcast and Verizon, who are the worst offenders, in my opinion, at 2-3 envelopes a week?
Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!

Junk Mail Overload

I previously wrote about junk mail, but I am all riled up today because I just picked up my mail after being gone for a week and found the following in my box: 12 pieces of junk mail and 4 pieces of real mail. One of the envelopes even fooled me well enough to open it; the return address was my bank’s, but the contents included those deceptive “convenience checks” that aren’t really checks at all, they are charged to your credit card if you use them. If you find those in your mail and you don’t plan to use them, please shred them so they don’t get used by someone else.

I recommend the Mail Preference Service, https://www.dmachoice.org, to all my clients who want to reduce their junk mail intake. When you go to the Direct Marketing Association’s website you can opt out of credit card offers, catalogs, magazines and other mail offers. I have done it myself and it works, for the most part, but a small amount of junk still slips through.

Anyone have an idea how to stop getting mail from Comcast and Verizon, who are the worst offenders, in my opinion, at 2-3 envelopes a week?
Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!

Making Cleanup Child's Play

I was encouraged to expand upon a tweet that I left on twitter about making clean-up time seem like playing.

I have to admit that I sing the clean-up song (after giving the two-minute
warning, of course). Yesterday, however, I turned the actual putting-away into play. There were several empty jigsaw-puzzle frames and a big bag of miscellaneous jigsaw puzzle pieces that needed to find each other. Instead of telling the two preschoolers to clean up the puzzles, I asked them to see who could finish the most puzzles.

Of course, we were still left with a few missing pieces and when we searched the house for them, we attacked cluttered toy boxes and got rid of some junk. The task was never referred to as “organizing” or “straightening up;” we were simply on a mission to find the lost pieces and complete the puzzles.

While you can’t turn every organizing chore into a game, working with your kids to make it appear to be fun certainly makes it go more smoothly.

What do you do to make organizing less like work and more like fun? You can leave a comment here or you can follow me on twitter @organizedmarcie.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!

Making Cleanup Child's Play

I was encouraged to expand upon a tweet that I left on twitter about making clean-up time seem like playing.

I have to admit that I sing the clean-up song (after giving the two-minute
warning, of course). Yesterday, however, I turned the actual putting-away into play. There were several empty jigsaw-puzzle frames and a big bag of miscellaneous jigsaw puzzle pieces that needed to find each other. Instead of telling the two preschoolers to clean up the puzzles, I asked them to see who could finish the most puzzles.

Of course, we were still left with a few missing pieces and when we searched the house for them, we attacked cluttered toy boxes and got rid of some junk. The task was never referred to as “organizing” or “straightening up;” we were simply on a mission to find the lost pieces and complete the puzzles.

While you can’t turn every organizing chore into a game, working with your kids to make it appear to be fun certainly makes it go more smoothly.

What do you do to make organizing less like work and more like fun? You can leave a comment here or you can follow me on twitter @organizedmarcie.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!

Own to Rent

You may already be familiar with websites that let you rent textbooks, toys or handbags. They are worth considering if you need to use something for a short time and really don’t need to own it.

But did you know you could rent out things you already own? While eBay became a huge marketplace for people to sell their things to other people, these websites allow people to rent to each other.

Whether the owners of items are professionals or just people who have stuff they are willing to lend out, the transactions are covered by agreements about fees, rental time and return condition.

Two of the companies you can try are Zilok and Rent Instead. Neither charges a fee to list, so take a look around your house and see what could be earning you some extra money.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!

Own to Rent

You may already be familiar with websites that let you rent textbooks, toys or handbags. They are worth considering if you need to use something for a short time and really don’t need to own it.

But did you know you could rent out things you already own? While eBay became a huge marketplace for people to sell their things to other people, these websites allow people to rent to each other.

Whether the owners of items are professionals or just people who have stuff they are willing to lend out, the transactions are covered by agreements about fees, rental time and return condition.

Two of the companies you can try are Zilok and Rent Instead. Neither charges a fee to list, so take a look around your house and see what could be earning you some extra money.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!

It’s Just Like Riding a Bike

You’ve probably heard the saying “It’s like riding a bike.” People usually say it when they mean that you can pick something up that you haven’t done in a long time.

Last week I was on vacation and I rode a bike for the first time in 15 years. It was rough starting out, but once I found my balance (and got over the toe-clip issue), it all came back. As I was pedaling along in the woods, I thought about the old saying and realized that it could refer to any number of actions that people just stop doing.

Are you someone who used to have a great system for filing your paperwork, but instead of filing, you’ve been piling lately?

Did you put things away until you had kids and then you started to settle for dumping in any available container so your house looked tidy?

Did you stop doing household chores regularly because you were so tired from working long hours? Did that lead to buying things you already had because you were too tired to look for them?

It is true, you can go back to something you once did. Whether it’s something you truly enjoy or just something that needs to get done to make your life easier, get “back on the bike.”

What habits would you like to return to?

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!

It’s Just Like Riding a Bike

You’ve probably heard the saying “It’s like riding a bike.” People usually say it when they mean that you can pick something up that you haven’t done in a long time.

Last week I was on vacation and I rode a bike for the first time in 15 years. It was rough starting out, but once I found my balance (and got over the toe-clip issue), it all came back. As I was pedaling along in the woods, I thought about the old saying and realized that it could refer to any number of actions that people just stop doing.

Are you someone who used to have a great system for filing your paperwork, but instead of filing, you’ve been piling lately?

Did you put things away until you had kids and then you started to settle for dumping in any available container so your house looked tidy?

Did you stop doing household chores regularly because you were so tired from working long hours? Did that lead to buying things you already had because you were too tired to look for them?

It is true, you can go back to something you once did. Whether it’s something you truly enjoy or just something that needs to get done to make your life easier, get “back on the bike.”

What habits would you like to return to?

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!