10 Ways to Cut Down on the Plastic

I thought in this blog I would focus on something I am sure almost everyone is dealing with (me included)....credit card debt.  From research as well as personal experience I am going to give you my top 10 tips for cutting your credit card debt down.

1. Hide your cards.  Like the saying goes "out of site, out of mind".  If you hide the cards somewhere where you don't have easy access to them you won't be tempted to use them.  I have recently done this and it really keeps me from buying items I don't necessarily need.  If you only pay with cash you really see when your money is going

2.Take stock.   Make sure you know exactly just how much debt you have.  In order to hit your target you need to be brutally honest with yourself.  According to "8 Steps to Reducing Credit Card Debt", there action plan is to write down debt and interest rate on every card you have.

3. Choose your payoff method.  There are two possible methods you could use says "8 Steps...".  The first is to put all your extra cash into the highest-interest card while paying the minimums on the others.  This method is the fastest way, overall, to lower your debt.  Once the first card is paid off, you have even more extra cash, and should apply it to the card with the next-highest rate, and so on, creating a debt payoff snowball effect.  The second strategy is to pay off your card with the lowest balance first while continuing to pay the minimums on the others.  Though this is not the most cost-effective way to banish your debt, it's the fastest way to eliminate debt on a single card, and it can be a psychological boost to eliminate a bill for good.  No one method is better then the other and it is up to you to figure which is right for your situation.  For me I focused on paying off the one with the lowest balance and the one lowest interest rate first because I have a zero interest rate credit card which I will mention more about later.

4. Negotiate an interest rate decrease.  Now this is something that I did not know was possible but it is something I will definitely consider doing myself.  Want tips on how to negotiate lower interest rates with your bank, then check out the following links

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/4-ways-negotiate-credit-card-terms-1267.php

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/herigstad-lower-credit-card-interest-rates-1272.php

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-terms-negotiate-change-1267.php

5. Consider doing balance transfers.  You can move debt from one card over to another that has a lower or zero interest rate.  This works best when you owe relatively small amounts on credit.  For me I was able to get a credit card with my bank, Wells Fargo, where I had 15 months of zero interest.  Since I really didn't need another credit card I used it to just transfer the debt I had on another card, which ended up paying it off. Now the monthly payments I was making before I make on my Wells Fargo card plus a little more and I have 15 months to pay it off before interest occurs on it.  Other banks who offer this are Bank of America and Chase, with both you get 12 months zero interest.

6.  Use unexpected income towards your debt.  While it make be tempting to spend this money it would best to use it towards paying off your cards.  It is money you normally don't plan on receiving so you know you can survive without using it for something else.  This is a great idea if you receive a tax refund this year. 

7.  Roll over the minimum payment from one card to the other.  Basically this means if you have multiple cards after you pay off one apply that card's minimum payment to the payment you are making on the next account.  Your total monthly credit card payment remains the same however the payments are restructured. ("How to Reduce Credit Card Debt" ehow.com)

8.  Make a budget and stick to it. Look at all the income you are receiving compared to all the expenses you have.  Budget out your income so that it covers all your expenses.  Then look for services that you cut or downgrade on. You then can apply the money you save from these downgrades towards your credit card payments. According to "8 Steps" Write down three ways you can cut back immediately, and cancel or downgrade some services. Divide your monthly discretionary budget into weekly allotments so you'll have a better handle on whether you're staying on track.

9.  Sell old clothes, textbooks and other items you don't need or want anymore.  If you have clothes that don't fit or you no longer want why have them keep taking up space in your closet.  This will help you not only get your closet organize but put some money in your pockets for paying your debt.  And if you have old college textbooks that are now being used as paperweights let those go as well.  While this may only be a few bucks it can go a long way towards being debt free.

10. Paying off credit card purchases right away.  While I highly encourage you not to, if you have to make a purchase with credit make sure it is something you can pay off right way when the credit card bill comes.

So there you have it, my 10 tips that will help put you on track to being debt free.  To get a look at how long it will take you to pay off all your debt go to the following link to use their debt planner module.

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/debtplanner/debtplanner.jsp

Manta: Where Small Business Grows

I recently found this great website that helps you advertise and market your small business.  You can even find other small businesses in your area to work with or purchase from. It's called Manta. This is a website dedicated solely to small businesses.  You should go check it out.  You will even find the Queen of Neat on there!!

http://www.manta.com

http://www.manta.com/c/mxj1dng/queen-of-neat

Queen of Neat is Open for Business

This is a picture of my new business card. Queen of Neat is now open for business!!

Queen of Neat is a professional organizing company. As a professional organizer I work with clients to help clean out clutter and organize their space to better utilize it.  I like to meet with my clients for a consultation to see the area that needs the work, discuss their expectations for the outcome and design a game plan. I organize everything from closets, kitchens, home offices, etc. The consultation fee is a flat rate of $30.  For actual organizing service I charge an hourly rate of $20 an hour.

So, if you live or work in the San Antonio area and need assistance organizing and cleaning your space then send me an email today. You can reach me today,to schedule your first consultation, at queenofneat@gmail.com or www.facebook.com/QueenofNeat

Start the New Year with a Well Organized Kitchen

Hello my fellow neat freaks. Sorry I have been away for a while. It has been a busy time with the holiday season, but that is no reason to neglect being neat and organized.  This blog is going to focus on a very important area of your house, at least important in my house, and that is the kitchen.  This past weekend I finally had the opportunity to begin re-organizing my kitchen.  It is not where I fully want it to be but it is well on its way. I hope to have an update for everyone in the near future.  Below, I have come up with my top 5 tips for a better organized and functional kitchen.

1.       Just like with your closet, store frequently used items in easy to reach places. For example cooking utensils that are used regularly can be displayed on the counter closest to the stove in a cute vase or racket.  This is also an inexpensive and non-space consuming way to add decoration to your kitchen.

2.       If your kitchen is like mine you don’t have many drawers.  To free up drawer space try mounting pot holders and aprons onto pegs on your kitchen wall.  This will free up your drawers to be used for other items like dishes and utensils.

3.       Clear you counters or unnecessary things.  This is your main work space for cooking. In my kitchen I basically have one counter top so I can’t afford to clutter it up.  Utilize all your cabinets even the hard to reach ones. Those can be used to house the items you do not use very often and you can always invest in a stable stepping stool to reach them.

4.       Group similar items together (i.e. all cups together, bake ware in cabinet, fine china in a separate area as regular dinnerware, etc.).  Not only does this apply to your dishes but can work when organizing your pantry or refrigerator too.

5.       Consider investing in storage aid. For your utensils you can use a compartmentalized organizer, and self-organizers for cabinets. If you have open shelves you can place items in baskets and then place the baskets on the shelves to give a level or secrecy to your belongings.

Some other kitchen organizing tips to be aware of are clean your refrigerator and pantry out of unwanted or expire food frequently.  I do mine every time I grocery shop which is every two weeks or so.  Also there is no need to spend large amounts of money on decoration. You can easily just display any fine china you may have or color pots and even nice jars you have that you use to store food such as cereal or sugar.

As we start this New Year let’s all make a pledge to get organize and eliminate the clutter from our lives.  When you have a clean and orderly space, you have a clean and orderly mind and life.

Check out the before and after pictures of my kitchen.

Before

 After

Time Management 101

You've been there before, when you feel like there are just not enough hours in the day.  You juggle so many things during the day you feel like you are in a three ring circus. You want to manage your time better but you don’t know where to start.  Well that is where I come in, The Queen of Neat.  I am going to give you 5 tips I think can help anybody get on the track to managing their time better. I am also going to share how I create and manage my daily schedule.

1.       Start by finding where you’re wasting your time.  According to “10 Time Management Tips That Work” from entrepreneur.com, record your daily activities and tasks for several days (I recommend at least one full week).  After, evaluate these activities to see what tasks you are wasting time on and how you can better utilize this time.  For example, if grocery shopping is an all-day event due child interruptions, try leaving the kids at home with a babysitter or spouse.  Or if you live somewhere that has grocery stores that provide in house daycare utilize it.

2.       Plan out your day (“Time Management: Tips to Reduce Stress and Improve Productivity” from the Mayo Clinic).  Create a written daily “To Do” list.  This is a great way to help you accomplish more and feel more in control of your day. I like to create my “To Do” list the night before.  This way in the morning I can hit the ground running.  Surely, though you can always create your list first thing in the morning.  This may help you get the day started off on the right foot and feel less overwhelmed.

3.       Schedule time for interruptions (10 Time Management Tips That Work).  This is a great tip for the work place.  There will be times where you are pulled away from your current activity but if you plan for these interruptions you will feel less anxious. An example of this would be professors’ schedule office hours.

4.       Learn to delegate and outsource (“11 Time Management Tips”, about.com).  This can work both in work and at home.  Learn to let go and know you don’t have to do everything yourself.  At work try to find tasks you can delegate to co-workers and assistants based on their level of expertise and knowledge.  At home try creating a chore chart that splits up household tasks between everyone.  To encourage participation offer some type of incentive or reward for helping with completing the tasks.

5.       One of the most important steps: Stick with a routine and a set time limit for tasks (“11 Time Management Tips”).  Of course unexpected things can occur but if you try to stick to a routine most of the time you will be more productive during the day.  Also, setting time limits on task such as checking emails will keep you from focusing on a task all day and allow you to get more done.

Now that I have shared my 5 tips to better manage your time, I want to share some of the ways I create my schedule.  You can keep a schedule in written format like I do with a planner or electronically with online calendars or an excel spreadsheet.  You may even want to do both ways to make sure you have back up.

1.       Now when first creating your schedule start with what I call the “must haves”.  These are obligations you must do and are not flexible on time.  For example if you work Monday-Friday every week from 7:30am-4:30pm this is a must have.  During this time you are usually constrained to only doing work and cannot use this time for other tasks such as household obligations.  Also, the times you are in school would be a must have.

2.       Next you move on to the “must haves” that are flexible on their start and end time.  Such things would be eating, sleeping, studying and exercising.

3.       Once your “must haves” have been filled in you can see where you have available space for free time or scheduling meetings and appointments.  You also can see where you can move flexible obligations around in the case of an emergency.

4.       When creating a schedule make sure to stick with it. Memory is important.  If you suffer from remembering the tasks you write down, I suggest using an electronic form of scheduling.  Whether you do this in your phone or computer, you can set alarms and reminders for each task.  This will help remind you and keep you on track for the day’s obligations.

5.       Remember we can’t predict the future and things come up so be prepared for the unexpected and be okay with change.

Organizing Your Way to Perfect Closet

Okay, so I am new to blog writing so please bear with me and my poor writing skills.  I believe in time and with the more entries I write they will improve.   I am the Queen of Neat and I am an aspiring professional organizer.  What I want to achieve with this blog and eventually my professional organizing business is to provide people with the tips, tools and service to create and maintain a clutter free, functional living environment.  This blog will focus on tips for organizing various areas of your home, office and life through my personal experience from organizing my own areas and as well as from organizing others through my business.  I will also provide tips and guides from others that I have come across through researching.

This first blog is going to be about organizing your closet.  I recently re-organized my closet a few weeks ago after moving into a new apartment.  I am going to share with you how I made my closet into a clutter free and manageable space. 

First, start by emptying everything out of your closet. This allows you to see exactly how much space you have to work with.  If you are planning to install shelving or storage containers this would be the time to measure the closet and insure you purchase the right size.

Next you are going to want to start going through everything you removed to see what needs to be kept and what can be purged.  Courtesy of “How to Organize a Closet in 5 Steps” by Elizabeth Larkin, ask yourself these 3 questions when deciding what to keep:

1.       Do you love it?

2.       Do you wear it?

3.       Does it project the image you want to project?

This third question was especially important to me.  When going through my closet I found old notes, letters, even clothes from middle school and high school.  As a 23 year old recent college graduate who appears to look younger already, high schooler really isn’t the image I want to project anymore.  Also, when purging make sure to keep a bag or box on hand to contain all discarded items.  It makes the job easier when hauling the stuff off later.  A little financial side note: If you want to make extra money towards the new shelving or storage containers you will be purchasing for your new closet try selling your unwanted items to a consignment shop or throw a yard sale.  If money isn't a concern you can also just donate your stuff to your local Goodwill.

Once you have determined what you are keeping it is time to reassemble your closet.  If you are fortunate enough like me to have a walk-in closet try lining items like shoes, suitcases, containers, etc. all up against the wall.  This allows you to be able to view everything clearly and you aren't un-stacking, re-stacking or moving items around to get to the things you need. You also won’t lose the walk-in aspect because everything is out of walking space. For shoes eliminate as many show boxes as you can this will clear up a lot of space.  Invest in a hanging shoe rack, floor shoe rack or cubby shelves.  Make sure to group like items with like items.  For example all jeans together, all dresses together all shirts together, and etc.  Also, if you are like me and a bit O.C.D. you can color code your clothes as well.  This makes it easy to identify what is you are looking for and provides a polished, professional look to your closest.  Store your most-used items in plain sight (i.e. work clothes), less-used items below and least-used items up high. (“20 Ways to Organize Your Bedroom Closet, apartmenttherapy.com)  To keep accessories and folded clothes neat and organize use self-dividers or cubby shelves.  If you are like me and think this will allow your stuff to be to expose to house guests, you can use a standard dresser or a chest.  If you already have open cubby shelves and want to be more creative with keeping your items covered try getting pieces of fabric and nailing them to cover over each individual cubby.  Make more room in your closet by storing out of season clothes in boxes or vacuum space saver bags up high or under your bed.  This works great if you have a smaller closet.

Now you have finish creating the perfect organized closet but it’s important to remember that you must maintain the organized space.  The more you do it the less time it will take you.  In the past I would go through my closet maybe once a year.  However, after reading Elizabeth Larkin’s article I am going to take her advice of going through my closet every season.  This is a great way to remove out of season clothes from the closet and placing them in storage boxes or bags until the season comes back around.  Also, you can do quick closet revamps once every month but do make sure to do a full one re-org once or twice a year. 

This was my closet before....

....And this was my closet after!