The Posh Blog

This week I am in Orlando, Florida for my Professional Organizer Conference.  I traveled yesterday and used one of my favorite products while on the plane.  It’s the three in one pen, highlighter, and Post-it Flags from Post-it ®.  This pen is handy to have while you are traveling or to keep in your purse or briefcase on a daily basis.  It saves you from having to carry multiple items when you’re on the go.   

I also like to keep one in my bedside table so when I’m reading at night I can have my highlighter and flags handy.   

The highlighters are available in two formats:  either the highlighter and the Post –it ® flags (shown above) or the highlighter, pen and Post-it ® combo.  Both are great to have depending on your needs.  One less thing to carry while you travel!   

Enjoy organized travels!

Angela

Reduce, reuse, and recycle your stuff!  Happy Earth Day!  Do you have big plans for Earth Day?  If the answer is “no” here’s an easy way you can participate.  Go through your home or closets and do a quick clean sweep.  Grab a shopping bag and fill it up with items you no longer need, use, or love.  Think of this as a challenge for a good cause.  I am challenging you to fill up two large shopping bags with stuff that you can take and donate.  Spend no more than 30 minutes going through your home and choosing the items you can part with.   

A great starting place is your kitchen.  Look through your cabinets and weed out any small appliances you have not used in one year.  Look through your kitchen drawers and pick out those kitchen gadgets you “had to have” but have never used and let them breathe new life in someone else’s kitchen. If you still need a little help it’s time to hit the closets!  Children’s closets are fantastic for this!  Children out grow clothing and shoes so quickly, it’s easy to fill up a bag with just children’s clothing.  If you don’t have children consider raiding your own closet and letting go of anything that no longer flatters your figure, your completion or your personality.  If you can’t say “this is SO me” then it doesn’t deserve a place in your closet.   

There are so many great charities that rely on the goodness and donations that we can provide them with.  For many charities the items we donate are then sold in the charities thrift shop or at a large “Garage Sale” type of event.  The proceeds are often used to fund programs, put clothes on people’s back, give people jobs, and feed people in need.  

So donate today, for the earth, for the other people you are helping, for helping reduce a little bit of clutter from your home, for the tax write off, for a little good karma during unpredictable times, or for all of the above.  But just do it!  You’ll be glad you did!

Enjoy the “Green” life!

Angela

Copyright (C) 2008 Angela Ploetz, POSH Space  www.theposhspace.com. 

Tick, tock!!!  Did you know the cost of stamps is going up again?!  That’s right on May 11, 2009 the United States Postal Service will raise the cost of a standard First Class Mail stamp from $0.42 to $0.44.  So what does this mean? 

Be prepared.  Don’t get caught empty handed on May 11^th by placing the wrong amount of postage on an envelope that will end up coming back to you.  You don’t need to do a mundane task twice.  You can start by purchasing some one cent stamps now and beat the mad rush.  You can also buy the “Forever Stamp” before it’s price goes up too.  Yes, I spoke with my friendly Postal worker just today and asked if I would really be able to use the “Forever Stamp”, well…forever.  She assured me that I would be able to use this stamp at any point in the future as First Class postage on the standard 1 ounce First Class mailing.  This is amazing!  So buying a forever stamp now will result in not needing one cent stamps in the future!  Hooray!  No more extra stamp clutter!  This is great for those people who don’t use stamps that often.  You can also keep a book of these “Forever Stamps” in your car, your purse, at the office wherever you may need a stamp.   

In case you find this “Forever Stamp” business hard to believe, like I did, you can click here on a direct link to the US Postal Service website to read more about it. 

Knowing my stamp will work when I need it, that’s the good life!   

Enjoy!

Angela

Stamp photo from USPS.com

Are cords from your lap top, crock pot, flat iron just getting in the way and causing more of a mess?  Here is one of my all time favorite MUST HAVE products and something I keep in my bag to use with clients all the time!  They are Velcro ® Reusable Ties (I call them cord wraps)  To use these; bundle up your cord and then wrap the cord wrap around the cord to keep it together.  Sounds simple enough? 

The reason I like these over other similar products is because they have a slit at one end so you can slip the smaller end through it.  This allows you to attach the cord wrap to a cord and it will stay in place even when you unwrap your bundle.  Unlike a twist tie, you will never lose these wraps because they are attached to your cord.  I use these EVERYWHERE for my laptop, iron, blow dryer, camera charger, the list is endless.  They are eight inches long and a packages contains 25 black and 25 gray ties for about $4.47.  Larger sizes available for outdoor use.  You can find these little gems at your local hardware stores like Lowes and Home Depot.  

Say good bye to tangled up cords! 

Enjoy the good life! 

Angela 

Copyright (C) 2008 Angela Ploetz, POSH Space  www.theposhspace.com. 

They just don’t make things like they used to.  But how do you know when you should give something a second chance or when it’s time to invest in something new?  A few things to factor in when determining if something is worth repairing or if it needs to be replaced are:  the cost of the item and the cost of the repair of the item and the life expectancy.  Needs to be replaced are:  the cost of repair of the item and the life expectancy of the item.  From your lawn mower to your mascara and your blender to your leaf blower, the Today Show brings in a team of people to help answer these questions.  Click here to watch the video. 

Enjoy!

Angela

Often times people ask me “is this the worst you’ve ever seen”?  When I am consulting with them on getting organized.  My response is usually “no”.  What many people don’t realize is that there is a difference between being disorganized and being a hoarder.  Hoarding is something real and in many cases results in working with a therapist along with a Professional Organizer.  If you are interested in how one hoarders lifestyle can affect their life and their entire family you may want to watch the powerful documentary My Mother’s Garden which airs on MSNBC April 5, 2009 in the evening.  The movie’s web-site states that it will run at 10 PM, but does not indicate a time zone so be sure to check your local listings for exact time.  This is a powerful movie documenting how one family dealt with their mother’s dangerous hoarding disorder.  Set your DVR or watch it live to get an insight into what the families of hoarders are going through.

You are probably not a hoarder, but this movie may help to give you a new prospective on your relationship with stuff.    

Read the film synopsis below:  In the suburban setting of a quiet tree-lined street in Granada Hills, California we see a 61 year old woman pushing a grocery cart to her front door. We watch her climb through a window covered in ivy and cob webs into her house, stepping on top of stacks of newspapers, piles of debris, rotting material, clothing, and toys; a living mass of waste that has literally pushed her out of the house and into her garden.My Mother’s Garden is the story of Eugenia Lester whose hoarding disorder has entered a dangerous and life threatening stage. Directed by her daughter Cynthia, it documents how one family comes together to cope with their mother’s disorder and rebuild a lost sense of family. My Mother’s Garden was an official selection of the 2006 New York IFP Market and was a finalist for the IFP Socially Conscious Documentary Award. The film has also received support from the 2007 New York State Council For the Arts and the 2007 Pacific Pioneer Fund.