There is no time like the present to organize the flow of paper in your house. Not only because you will remove the piles of paper from multiple areas around your home but also because it will save you money.

This is the time of year when tax receipts are sent by mail and they need to be calculated with your taxes. So, how do we organize the paper flow in our homes so that we know where everything is?

1. Create one place to put the incoming mail
2. When the mail comes in determine what can be immediately recycled and recycle it,
3. Determine what is a bill and put it into the household “To-Pay” basket or magazine box – if you take your bills to work put them into your briefcase
4. Separate out what mail goes to whom and create a home for each person receiving mail.
5. Set up a season area for “Tax Related Information”. As important, tax related mail comes in it can be filed away until it’s time to review and deliver to your accountant.

kAos Tip – use a hanging shoe bag (IKEA SKUBB Organizer $7.99 shown above) with insert drawers ($5.00 per 2 pack) in your front hall closet and put each persons mail into each drawer (label each pouch with masking tape or your label maker).

We hear it all the time “why don’t you take some time for yourself?”, and you may think you did that over the holidays but, more than likely not. Taking time for ourselves is what keeps us healthy, energized, focused, clear, and accomplishing our goals.

Here are a few of the little things I do for “Me Time”

• Visit my favorite cafe - I take my "To-Read" material that I need to catch up on or a resource that needs to be edited. I plan what I will need: pens, highlighter, and sticky notes, order my espresso, and I’m ready to relax and tick off an item from my To-Do list.
• I give myself a time period to surf the web for information that I am interested in personally and professionally. It might sound geeky but I enjoy it. This keeps me on track yet still doing the things I like to do.
• I will pick up my kids early and just goof off with them – we play a few games and have some extra fun time together.
• I will make a phone date with a good friend and just chat about life.
• A night off – I plan a night where I do stuff just for me. A favorite TV show, watch an episode or two from the 5th season of Six Feet Under (thank you Santa), get a facial, paint my nails, anything as long as it’s about me.
• And, my all time number one option to reenergize, as most of my good friends know, sleep!. There is nothing worse for me than being fatigued. Sleep allows us to regenerate – literally! It allows us to handle difficult situations better, it helps us process information. Sleep is the best thing that I can give myself.

'Me time' are little blocks of time because I can squeeze them into my daily life. I try to be conscious of my health and overall well being so that I can be the best that I can be and taking time for me allows me to do just that.

Have you decided to schedule in a little time for yourself yet? I sure hope so!

Do you avoid the now and live in the past or in the future?

Future-livers are often Change Junkies. For you organizing will always be a challenge because you can't procrastinate organizing. But if you do get organized, those changes that thrill your soul will happen with less drama or stress.

If you live in the past, you likely resist change and want to hold onto every memory good or bad. You will likely always have to work to keep yourself from being a pack rat.

I recently moved and because it must be done my approach is to unpack everything in the shortest amount of time possible and get back to ‘real living’.

The movers were excellent (Wild West call Paul or Carlos: 416-240-7241) and 90% of the house was unpacked in 48 hours.

Since we celebrate Christmas our the tree was up and decorated the next weekend (as I promised my eldest it would be) and the rest of the month was spent fine tuning the cupboards with the right baskets, hooks, shelves, organizing pictures and paintings, and neatly wiring my office.

There was one area however, that I have been pushing to the bottom of my list for quite some time – it (was) my filing cabinet.

I haven’t purged my personal files in almost 2 years ( I usually do this annually), I needed to start organizing my taxes and set up my expense folders for 2007, and I finally wanted/needed it done - so I booked 6 hours with myself.

By the time the 6 hours were up I was amazed - I felt as good as our client’s say they feel. It’s incredible how much stuff I purged, shredded, & recycled - even for me, an organizer.

We often allow life to interrupt us as we are trying to accomplish difficult tasks. Here are my thoughts on how to stay on track

1. Schedule the time
2. Honour your schedule
3. Don't use the phone as an excuse to stop
4. Have faith and demand results from yourself
5. Don't spend more time than necessary you can go back and fine tune later
6. Start with the supplies you need
7. Bring someone in to help you stay focused if that's what you need
8. Celebrate when done!!!

The end result is worth every focused minute that I demanded of me that day and I am so pleased it's over!!!

Being financially overwhelmed can have side affects such as: insomnia, eczema, irritability, dry mouth, (I'm almost positive there is medical research to support my findings).

Getting organized places 10th in the Top Ten New Years Resolutions according to About.com and getting finances organized is included in that category. We are going to make it easier than ever to get started.

Here are the first steps you need to take to control your debt and begin your adventure to financial freedom: This can be created with pen and paper or in an excel spread sheet

• Figure out how much debt you really have