I was working with a client a few days ago, and she came across her collection of unused gift cards. I suggested a way to use them. She was so excited that I decided to share the idea with you all. Why not send your unredeemed gift cards to the folks on your holiday gift list? If you haven’t been able to use a Barnes & Noble gift card, give it the book lover on your list. Never going to…
Read more →For years, I have been saying that the best gifts are experiences, not things (see Better Ways to Spend and Putting the Holidays in Perspective). Now it seems that the rest of the country has caught up to me. The storage company SpareFoot has just released the results of a survey: “79 percent of the U.S. population, and 89 percent of millennials, say they never use some of the gifts they receive each year.” As a result, “a whopping 81 percent…
Read more →As a Professional Organizer, I find the holiday season agonizing. So much emphasis on shopping — buying things that will be given to people who probably don’t even want them. I love getting my weekly e-mails from the Container Store, but when they sent me one about this year’s collection of “Stocking Stuffers”, I got nervous. Stocking stuffers are the ultimate junky gift — emphasizing quantity and low price over quality. The Container Store offers free shipping if you order $100 worth…
Read more →As I’ve mentioned, I recently returned from the annual conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) in Scottsdale, Arizona. One of the highlights of the conference is the product expo. There were three new products this year that deserve mention due to their creativity and usefulness.
Read more →With Thanksgiving coming up next week, I imagine many of you are in a bit of a panic, looking at your “lived in” home and wondering how you will ever get it into shape in time for next week’s onslaught of guests. (I certainly am!) At a talk I gave earlier this year, a woman asked me how to ensure that she and her husband regularly keep their apartment free of clutter. I advised her to give a dinner party once…
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