Shopping | Organizing Goddess - Part 3

Better Ways to Spend

I was intrigued by a book review in the weekly magazine The Economist, since the book in question delivers the same message that I have been telling my clients: spend your money on experiences, not things. According to “Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending”, by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, behavioral research indicates that the excitement brought on by material purchases wears off quickly.  A much better strategy, the review states, is “to spend money on experiences, like interesting trips, unique meals, or even going…

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One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure

You know that item that you bought a long time ago but you never used it and now it just clutters up your closet?  Yeah, that one. We had a closet full of those.  Well, not a whole closet.  But what we had was bulky, so it seemed like it. A few weeks ago, I decided that the large unused items had to go, and  I made some plans for them.  One item, a full-sized piano keyboard which connects to…

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In Praise of E-Readers

In many ways, I am very tech-savvy, but in other ways, I’m an old-fashioned girl. So when e-readers came out a few years ago, I was not the least bit interested.  I love books.  I love the look of them and the feel of them.   I love bookstores and libraries.  The idea of reading a book on a skinny, slick device did not appeal to me. But over time, I found that I was not reading that much, even though I…

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Putting The Holidays In Perspective

Every year, from Thanksgiving until New Year’s, the business pages of the newspaper are filled with prognistications of whether holiday retail sales will meet expectations.  In 2011, holiday sales represented 20% of total retail industry sales.  For some retailers, holiday purchases represent 40% of annual sales. Those people are allowed to stress out about the holidays.  But why are the rest of us so stressed out?

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Getting Help When You Need It

Closets / Clothing / Exercise / Jewelry / Shopping / 

It’s hard to ask for help, especially if it’s something that you feel you should be able to do on your own.  “Why can’t I do this?” you ask yourself.  “Everybody else can.  What’s wrong with me?” This feeling often prevents individuals from contacting a Professional Organizer, even when clutter is bringing down the quality of their lives.  So I’d like to share with you my experience with two professionals that I hired to do something that “everyone else” can seemingly do…

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