The first of the new year means one thing to me:  CLEAN SLATE.
No matter what happened last year, no matter what state my house, my diet, my business,
my to do pile, my files are in, this is the chance to begin anew!  So you may be wondering,
what does an organizer to jump start the new year?  Well let me tell you...

1. I over-ate like most of you during the holidays, so one of the first things I like to do is clean
out that refrigerator!  I got rid of all the Christmas left-overs (we made the most of our turkey
and ham, now it's time to let it go)and stocked up on fresh fruits and vegetables (or canned if
the fresh ones weren't so great).  I also grabbed some healthy snacks for the kids' lunches.
Back to school and routines this week.

2. I hung up our new family calendar and neatly wrote in our regular activities plus any
special events for this month and hung it up in the kitchen.

3. It was easy to clean out the coupon caddy before shopping on Sunday. Anything with
2009 on it got tossed.  Even so, I'm proud to say I saved $22 that day on a $200 order.

4. Reading material which has been piling up is another easy clean out - let go of 2009
issues - the new year's magazines are on their way to your house now.

5. We took one day this weekend to de-decorate.  It's a sad time for me - I love Christmas.
But my husband says it's like a band-aid: you just have to rip it off.  I had each child take a
room or 2 and bring all the decorations into the dining room, where I packed them up.  The
hubby took down all the ornaments from the tree as he watched his football game - and he
even vacuumed up the needles when he was done hauling the tree out.

6.  Toys need to be cleaned out and re-distributed.  Before you put the new ones away, have
the kids look at their old ones and give away anything they don't want or use anymore.

7.  Tax time means a great excuse to clean out your files...or make files if you don't have
them.  If you are scrambling through bags and piles to find your charitable contributions or
medical expenses this year, create a hanging file where you can simply dump these receipts
all year and tally up at the end.  Make sure your file names are general and not too specific
so you can re-use them each year.  Empty out the contents from 2009, staple them together
and tally them up if they are tax-deductible, then keep them with your tax return for 7 years.  
Other receipts that you don't need for taxes can be shredded.
Organize your home, office, your life...
with Space to Spare!
Debbie Lillard
Professional
Organizer
WHAT ARE YOU CLEANING OUT THIS YEAR?