Just What I Needed Today…A Free Household Management Chart

Today was one of those days that seem to be happening all too often lately.  I spend the day frantically running around...cleaning, errands, laundry, more cleaning...more laundry...etc...  only to end the day thinking I got absolutely nothing accomplished. 

While surfing the web tonight...I found this site, "Mommyclub.ca" that offers free printable checklists (including my personal favorite which offers a checklist of things to do around the house). 

I don't know about you...but sometimes I just like to be told what to do..and when to do it. =) 

Organize Your Purse in 5 Minutes

Does carrying around your heavy purse drive you crazy? Does it take forever to hunt for your ringing cell phone amidst the chaos inside? Are you carrying around receipts and coupons from years ago? It is time to do something about it!

Empty the contents of your purse onto a table or floor:

• Sort in 4 piles: garbage, reallocation, keep in purse, to be filed
• Start with obvious trash items like candy wrappers, tissues, old business cards and papers.. Take it straight to the trash when you are done cleaning out the purse. Once the purse is free of garbage move onto to what you know you will keep in your purse.
• Items to Keep: These should include keys, wallet, sunglasses in case, cell phone, PDA device, working pen, gum(or mints) , floss if you like and a toothbrush. You might also require a small tissue packet and a lip balm/gloss or lipstick and one hairclip or tie. If you plan to keep makeup place it in a small Ziploc bag. You may also want either a brush or comb. In a smaller side pocket you might keep a small pack of medication or feminine hygiene products.
• Items to reallocate would be things like kids toys, lint rollers, extra pens, pads of paper, cassette tapes, extra hairclips, combs, brushes, hairspray
• File any receipts, documents, appointment cards etc. right away as to avoid losing them altogether.

**Store groups of items in small snack size Ziploc bags. This makes hunting for lipgloss easy when you aren't going through everything, but one bag. Open up the wallet and do the same as you did with the purse.

• Remove any old coupons, receipts, papers, and throw them away.
• Find any appointment cards business cards that need to be filed and do so now. Find a home for foreign coins and bills.
• Keep all relevant cards, stamps, credit cards and your own country's currency in a small amount. Make photocopies of all important credit cards and documentation in case you lose something.

Keep your purse and wallet organized by weekly going through it and removing receipts, trash, papers and cards that don't belong. Remove all the pens you collect and see if you can't make your purse lighter by dumping out the change and trading for bills at the bank or local coin changer. Store all baby and kids items in a separate diaper bag or knapsack as to not turn your handbag into a dumping ground.

Karla Davis is the President of Florida Home Staging & Redesign. She is a Home Stager, Professional Organizer, Interior Re-designer, as well as Public Speaker. She specializes in Staging and Organizing homes, office spaces and has over 10 years of experience and success within inside/outside Sales and Marketing. Karla is also the wife of Author, Paul Davis and is currently writing two books of her own. Karla's life mission is to positively transform the homes and lives of everyone she meets.

Please contact Karla for your Home Staging, Interior Redesign, or Professional Organizing needs at:

Karla Davis
Florida Home Staging & Redesign
Professional Home Stager
P.O. Box 684
Goldenrod, FL 32733
Tel: (407) 284-1705
Karla@FloridaHomeStager.com
http://www.FloridaHomeStager.com

Home Staging for the Serious Seller!

http://activerain.com/floridahomestager

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karla_Ruzycki-Davis

Calendars, Charts & Checklists…Oh MY!

I've just updated the calendars, charts and checklists page with all of the free charts & checklists I've updated this far.  

Stop in frequently as I make (and upload) more forms weekly. 

How to Create a Craft Box for Preschoolers

Excellent "How-To" article from ExpertVillage.com. Enjoy!

Today’s Free Printable - Weekly Meal Planner…Enjoy!

Click here for another free printable page from Simplesahm.com. I spend one evening each week filling in as many meal ideas as possible. You may want to slip the page into a page protector and write on it with a wipe-off marker (or you can laminate it). That way, you can adjust your meal plan if something unexpected happens....(like running out of milk!) Visit 30daycafe.com for more meal planning resources.

Enjoy!

You are welcome to share this page on your site or blog as long as you offer proper credit. Thanks!

Free Babysitter Information Form

I am a bit of a list-junky. I have grocery lists, meal planning lists, blog-topic lists, "things I must have" lists...and more.

I am in the process of making them "pretty" and posting them onto my site. Here's a babysitter information form that I post on my fridge every time I have a sitter.

(You'll want to make separate copies for each kiddo).

Enjoy...and STAY TUNED, more checklists, charts & fun forms to come!

You need to have Adobe Reader to print this form.

*Feel free to link to this form on your blog or website (just include proper credit, please). =)

I Just Fired the "You’ve Got Mail" Man - A Few Tips for Managing Your E-Mail

I'll never forget the first time I was exposed to e-mail. I was a Junior in high school participating in a typewriting class. I was playing on the computer and clicked on an icon I had never seen before. "What's this?" I asked my teacher. "Oh, that's electronic mail...it's a new thing, but no one uses it much".

A few years later, I finally figured out how to send and receive e-mail messages. I remember feeling almost giddy as I would hear the man say, "you've got mail". "Yippie...I love mail!" I couldn't wait for the next message from my friends. "This is the coolest thing...ever!"

Twenty years later, (and after five years of running a home-based business) I often want to strangle the "you've got mail'- man. "I'm too busy to check my mail right now". "Thank you, but I don't want to participate in a 'hug-war'". "The dancing hamster is cute, but I am trying to work, darnit." "Thanks, but no thanks for the 'virtual' flowers." "Arghh.....!"

Set aside blocks of time to check your e-mail, and turn off automatic notification.

Create separate accounts for your business, and "fun" messages. While this might seem like a "no-brainer" to most of you, it took me a year of filtering out my dad's goofy joke messages from business mail that I had to respond to. Now, I read all of the "silly-stuff" when I am watching television (or when I am bored) and I read my business account mail when I am working.

You are probably wondering why I have such a love-hate relationship with automatic mail notification tools. While they are fine when you are simply goofing around and checking personal mail, they can be a tremendous distraction when you are actually working. Personally, there is nothing worse than being in mid-thought as I am typing out a blog only to hear, a n obnoxious "ding-dong". I was tired of the 'you've got mail' guy, so I picked a "doorbell" instead.

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Wash Tubs , Play Dough Containers & Shoe Hangers - a Few Clever Craft Storage Tools

I have always been an avid crafter. I love to paint, create with clay, draw and build. Needless to say, I have a pretty chaotic craft room, or as my husband not-so-politely calls it...a "crap" room.

My craft room became even more cluttered when my daughter turned three. She definitely got my crafty...(and slightly disorganized) genes. Suddenly my already crazy craft room was also filled with preschooler essentials like coloring books, crayons, beads, buttons, tissue paper, and left over toilet paper rolls.

In an attempt to regain order, I came up with a few creative ways to store all of the stuff we were continuing to accumulate. Here are three quick ideas;

Vinyl Shoe Hangers Aren't Just for Shoes: Since I am not much of a shoe-collector I had two unused clear shoe holders hanging in my closet. I decided to stuff the clear vertical pockets with paint brushes, paper, stickers, extra markers, tissue papers, chenille sticks, scissors, colored pencils, and other craft items. I hung the shoe bag on the lower rack of my pantry within reach of my preschooler. Now, whenever my daughter gets the urge to create a chenille stick spider or a toilet paper roll musical instrument, she can grab the supplies on her own.

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My Mobile Mini-Van Office

I started my home businesses shortly after my daughter was born. Sometimes I miss the days when I could simply roll my child in her bassinet room to room while I worked. On Saturdays, I rolled her into our storage room so I could prepare Ebay orders. During the rest of the week, she would swing quietly next to me and sleep while I made calls and placed orders on the computer. When she was a few months old, I even brought her (and her portable swing) to a craft fair

. Unfortunately, she got more attention than the products did.

Of course, the days of moving my sleeping child from room to room were short lived. It didn't take long before I was setting up shop wherever they were playing versus taking them with me. Now, I work in their bedrooms, their playrooms, in the car, outside and even at the park sometimes.

Thankfully, technology has allowed us to work just about anywhere we want to. We have laptops, cell phones, and blackberries. However, if you run a home based business, you already know that not everything can be done on a laptop. (Trust me, I've tried.)

We still have paperwork to fill out, orders to place, checks to write, forms to file and other tasks that almost seem old-fashioned in today's society. Since my kids are quite mobile now (they are both preschoolers) I came up with a solution for getting things done while we are on the go...which is usually *always*.

I created a mini-van office. It is quite simple, actually. I simply purchased a handled filing box at a local discount store that had a clear storage lid with compartments for rubber bands, a small stapler, paper clips, and pens, pencils and push pins.

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