Make A Difference

The start of school brings a brisk new tempo to the household, sweeping away the sweet leisure of summer–and the first day of school can bring an unwelcome splash of busy reality.

Will you be ready? Get organized now to sail into school with ease!

On Day 3 of the Back-to-School Countdown, we focus on information, contacts and appointments. It’s time to gather paperwork, start a school-year contacts list, and schedule any needed appointments in good time for the first day of school.

Getting ready for back-to-school with the Organized Home Back-to-School Countdown? It’s Day 2 … and time to hang on to your wallet!

No doubt about it, outfitting the family for a new school year can be a pricey enterprise. Shoes, clothes and school supplies are only the beginning of the financial outlay.

Welcome to Day 1 of the Organized Home Back-to-School Countdown!

In spite of long and lazy summer days, a new school year is on the horizon. To be ready for the first day of school, there are lists to make and appointments to keep, paperwork to be processed and shopping to be done.

Track them all with this ultimate back-to-school checklist! Free for the printing, it’ll help you tick off back-to-school tasks and get organized for a new school year.

Move over, summer–a new school year is coming! With the start of school, families face new organization challenges.

School bells ring–and so do early-morning alarm clocks. Paper piles swell as hand-outs and homework stream into the house. Shorter autumn days bring a hectic round of sports, activities and events, and calendars fill with cryptic notes. Can the holidays be far behind?

Get organized now for the best school year ever! Use these ideas to prepare your home and family for the busy days ahead.

What’s for dinner? It’s the question of the hour!

Too many home managers look for answers in the supermarket at 5 p.m. Harried from the day’s work and harassed by by hungry children, they rack their brains for an answer to the what’s-for-dinner dilemma.

Three meals a day. Seven dinners a week. From supermarket to pantry, refrigerator to table, sink to cupboard, the kitchen routine can get old, old, old.

No wonder we hide our heads like ostriches from the plain and simple fact: into each day, one dinner must fall. What’s the answer? A menu plan.

A new school year is on the horizon! Time to prepare for back to school, with the Organized Home Back-to-School Countdown.

Beginning Monday, July 30, we’ll take two weeks to get organized, gear up and get ready to send the children back to school from an organized home.

Following an ultimate back-to-school checklist, the Back-to-School Countdown includes weekday reminders, free printables and inspiring articles to help you prepare for the first day of school.

Think Christmas … when it’s summertime? Sure–if you want to be prepared for a stress-free holiday season.

Starting holiday planning now makes sense … and cents! Saving ahead for holiday expenses spreads the financial demands of the Christmas season over several months–and being prepared with a cash budget means you’ll be less tempted to put holiday spending on credit cards.

Sister site Organized Christmas has some clever ways to start now to save money for a debt-free Christmas celebration:

Cash In! Do-It-Now Ways To Save Money For Christmas

Taking aim on the household clutter problem, you’ve resolved to work slowly and steadily, and you’ve carved out blocks of time to declutter.

Now what? And how?

Time to consider weigh in with specific methods and strategies for decluttering.

These tried-and-tested methods bring different strengths to the fight against clutter. Choose the one that’s right for you and your family.

Looking for Cynthia? Hang in there! I’m under the hood and working hard. With back-to-school on the horizon–and autumn holidays close behind–it’s time for site updates.

Please pardon our dust! As we work behind the scenes, there may be periods when the site is offline, or when certain features don’t work correctly.

We appreciate your patience while we create a new, more organized home on the Web.

–Webmistress Cynthia

The tax man cometh … and you need to respond! Do you know where your tax records are?

Chances are, they’re swimming in a stack of paper … somewhere.

Rafts of paper flood into the average home each day. The mailbox discharges letters and bills and bank statements. Briefcases explode with professional journals, pay stubs and calendars. School backpacks unload children’s artwork, meeting notices and sports schedules.