Generally, we have an easier time buying new clothes and putting them up in the closet than going through our old ones and throwing them out. It’s amazing how attached we can become to an old shirt we haven’t worn for years. Or perhaps you think that someday you’ll fit into those old jeans you looked so great in when you were 20.

The closet also usually has the advantage of a closed door to hide the mess and clutter. If your friends or family stop by for a quick visit it’s easier to just throw your things under the bed or into the closet to worry about later. Unfortunately, it’s not always to easy to go back and straighten up the mess.  Out of sight, out of mind, right?

This is really an unfortunate way to treat your space, especially when there are closet organizers available that will allow you to completely redefine the storage for your clothes and shoes. You can then create a space that you can really be proud of, and you might even rediscover some clothes you forgot you had!

The first step to really get you started is to be honest with yourself about what you truly need to keep.  This de-cluttering process can be quite liberating after you’ve eliminating a lot of the excess stuff that’s crowding you out of your closet. Don’t be afraid to throw out that 10-year-old sweater just because it cost you $100 on an impulse buy.  If you haven’t worn it in a few years you likely won’t anytime soon.  Pass it along to someone else you know who might like it or donate to your local charity.

Next, seriously considering getting some professional help from a company like California Closets. You can get a design consultation from someone who is trained to help you develop an organization setup that is custom to your specific space and needs. If you have a terrific new layout that completely fits your situation and looks great, you’ll likely have a much easier time keeping it clean and organized.

As your child gets older you might even find yourself struggling to remember some of your math and history facts. In other cases, your child might not respond as well to your help.  He or she perhaps works better with a trained teacher or tutor.

If this is the case, you might have to face the fact that your child could use either a tutor in your area or you could try to find a qualified tutor online.

Consider a site like Tutorhub.com where your child can get help with homework by asking questions from trained tutors and you only have to pay for the actual time you need help. You can choose the tutor that is most appropriate for your situation and get a face-to-face type experience online using the tools your child is already comfortable using.

Getting a family organized and effectively managing your day doesn’t have to be an unnerving and stressful ordeal. With a lot of tools and checklists we have here as well as the resources available online, you can easily get your household under control.

BlackBerry Facebook is one great application for socializing via a BlackBerry phone. Facebook is used across the world by all sorts of people, including business people, students, parents, and many others. With BlackBerry’s Facebook application, Facebook users can message one another, update their statuses, upload photos, share videos and music, and many more things. This is a great source of fun for BlackBerry users, and it is easy to use and free to download.

There are many BlackBerry apps that are related to fun and games, too. People can play a wide variety of games on their BlackBerry phones, including Solitaire, Hangman, jigsaw and puzzle games, chess, and even games for young children. Many BlackBerry games are free to download, and simple games do not take up a lot of memory in a phone. These game applications are a perfect way to have fun and relax after a long day of work or between important events.

It is true that BlackBerry phones are great tools for people who work hard, but these phones are also great for people who enjoy playing, socializing, and having fun with their smart phones.

There is certainly no ONE card to suit everyone’s needs, but it is possible to find a great card to suit your specific needs. At SunriseFinance.com you can choose different and assorted criteria based on factors that are more important to you and reflect your current financial position and future goals.

Here are some different choices that might be important to you and are able to be selected from the comparison site:

Interest Rate ~ If you really want a low APR because you link you might be carrying a balance on your card for awhile, you want to get one with a good interest rate. A lot of the cards here offer a very low, 0% initial APR and a low ongoing rate to carry you forward with your balance.

Rewards ~ Perhaps you’re more concerned with getting a little something back from your purchases in the form of cash rewards, points, airline miles or other incentives. This can be very important if you use your card to make a lot of your purchases, and those rewards you accrue can really pay off in the end.

Business Card ~ You might be on the hunt for a good business card. It’s a great idea, especially for sole proprietors, to keep your business expenses separate from personal ones and an easy way to accomplish this is with a Business Credit Card.

Balance Transfers ~ Sometimes you can get kind of stuck in a rut with an old card and a good way to really jump start paying down your balance is to transfer it to a new card. You’ll almost always get a nice incentive to do so in the form of a low initial rate and ideally a lower ongoing rate than your old card.

All of these options are available at SunriseFinance.com using their handy comparison tool as well as a few more like selecting your specific credit score range. Spend a bit of time there and see if you can find a new card to meet your needs.

Post brought to you from your friends at SunriseFinance.com.

There are so many things to love about spring. The warm sun, the singing of the birds, the smell of freshly cut grass and blooming flowers all draw us out of winter hibernation and into the outdoors.

However, there is one thing that we all dread as spring arrives — spring-cleaning! All the scrubbing, dusting, sweeping under your kitchen rugs, vacuuming and wiping make us want to go back to bed and throw a duvet over our heads, once and for all.

As the weather gets warmer, the scum on our windows, floors and walls become obvious. Sadly, there’s no other way to get around them but to resort to some elbow grease.

While spring-cleaning make our homes livable, getting rid of some of our old stuff means adding waste to landfills. Here are some ways on how to spring-clean your home without adding to your carbon footprint.

Salvage old stuff.

Clearing clutter is the first step to having an organized home. If you have plenty of clothes stuffed in the closet, now is the best time to sort through them. Anything you haven’t worn in the last six months to a year should be placed in a box and donated.

Worn out clothing can be recycled by sewing them into new clothing or accessories. Use old neckties as belts. Cut the sleeves of an old T-shirt to create a sexy halter top and reconstruct the sleeves into a headband or pillowcase. You can also recycle an old pair of jeans into a purse. For clothes beyond repair, you can cut them up into smaller pieces and use them for cleaning windows and floors. That way, nothing goes to waste.

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Create treasures out of junk.

If you have a keen eye for details and a good hand for designing, why not put your creativity at work and make your own craft projects? Make tote bags out of newspaper, a clutch out of candy wrappers, and earrings out of soda cans. You can even make money by selling them online or locally. Etsy is a good place to start if you have a knack for creating handmade goods out of recycled materials, but you can sell your masterpiece anywhere on the Internet these days.

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Recycle e-waste.

Being good stewards of the earth means thinking of smart ways to recycle waste, including electronics. As new gadget designs come out practically every quarter, we need to come up with ways on how dispose our old contraptions without dumping them in the incinerators. Unfortunately, not many people see direct returns for all the efforts they put into recycling, which is why some companies offer cash in exchange for old electronics.

Cell for Cash and Gazelle are two companies that pay for every cell phone you turn in for recycling. For other items that you may have already been recycling, RecyclingBank gives incentives like food and pharmacy gift certificates.

Trade your old stuff.

Give your old items a new home by swapping them for something else you need. This will help you clear your home without adding garbage to the landfills. Several non-profit organizations encourage individuals to place their items on the list and another person will take that item free. The same rule applies if you need something and don’t want to shell out money for it. Hold a garage sale if you want to make some money. If you find that physically exhausting, list your items in Craigslist and wait for some DIY-ers to haul your old stuff into their homes.

Refurbish your furniture.

Tired of looking at the same old sofa you’ve had since your college days? Why not refurbish it and give it a new life instead of turning it into firewood? Many upholsterers and antique dealers would gladly salvage old pieces of furniture and transform them into new works of art. Revamp your furniture by having them upholstered. If you have the skills, create your own slipcovers to extend the life of your furniture. Not only do you save money, you also get a new look for your home.

Clean your lighting fixtures.

Save money on lighting by wiping them clean. Dirt that has accumulated over the months on light bulbs lessens the illumination they bring. Use a dry cloth or an old handkerchief to wipe the fixtures. This way, you lengthen the cycle of your bulbs and you save money by not buying new ones.

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Use recyclable storage boxes.

Storage boxes come in different styles and sizes. For something that truly never goes out of fashion, use empty old boxes in keeping clutter out of sight. Get your old TV box and fill it with old magazines, clothes and whatever old stuff you have at home. Plastic storage boxes may look pretty with all the sweet colors they come in, but they also add to landfill waste once disposed.

Green spring-cleaning your home is possible by looking for creative ways on how to dispose old stuff without necessarily throwing them away. Reduce your carbon footprint by recycling most of the items you have at home.

Jessica Phan is a designer for Balsamhill.com a purveyor of high-end artificial Christmas Trees. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area is perfect for her because she has a wide range of interests, including Art & Design, Fashion, Photography, Painting and Thrift Store Shopping.

You should never judge a book by its cover. But is it possible to judge a person by his pantry? Well, I’m not normally one to judge anybody. But I’ve found that when I walk into someone’s home and look at his or her pantry, a mental image of the owner instantly takes shape in my mind—and I am amazed at how accurate that mental image usually turns out to be!

No, I’m not just talking about the difference between a neatnik and a slob—that can be pretty obvious to anyone. I’m talking about more fundamental character traits—what the person is like, how he/she approaches life, and even sometimes what he/she does for a living.

You can tell a lot about people by how they organize things. And very often you need to look no further than their pantry to get all the clues you need. Here are some common personality types and the kinds of pantries you most likely will find in their homes:

• The leaders (generals, CEOs): This pantry has all the little guys in front and big guys in the back. In fact, it almost looks as if all the cans, bottles, jars, and boxes were told by a photographer how to pose for a group picture. At first glance, the arrangement seems super-organized—until you notice that boxes of the exact same cereal are scattered everywhere, on different shelves and in different parts of the pantry, only because the boxes happen to vary in size. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that the owner can enter the pantry at will and instantly survey the battlefield in front of him. Everything is visible, all the requisite data is at hand, and therefore vital decisions can quickly be made.

• The clerics/scholars: This type of pantry needs to be looked at closely. At first it can seem totally disorganized. Then you begin to notice that the apricots are way to the far left and the beans are right next to them. Next in line is the canned corn, and so forth. You soon realize that this pantry is a glorified file cabinet, where everything is arranged alphabetically. If you are the right type of person, you will find what you want in here in a jiffy!

• The craftsmen (chefs, cooks): I can always tell when someone is a serious pantry user. The spices are with the other spices, the oils are with the oils, and the juices are with the juices. Not only that, but there is a wide variety of brands, styles, and types within each category. And the next time I visit, I always see new items—but everything is still organized the same way. These are the folks who make optimal use of their pantries.

• The logical thinkers (engineers, scientists): OK, let’s look at the dates! Everything in the back is brand new. Everything in the front is relatively old. Looks a little like a high school yearbook, right? But logically, it makes all the sense in the world. First use the stuff that will expire soon. And save the newer stuff for later. As time goes on, the items in the back slowly inch forward. And the cycle of pantry life continues…

• The survivalists: Eighty-four cans of SPAM, you say? OK, I think we all know what type of cat we are dealing with here. At least you know who to call if you ever run out of something.

• The “look at me” types: This is the kind of pantry where as soon as you walk in, the first thing that hits your eyes is a jar of expensive caviar and a container of rare Matsutake mushrooms. The stuff that people actually eat is stashed out of sight, way in the back. The owners of this pantry harbor no qualms about guests poking their heads in and looking around. In fact, they welcome it.

• The penny-pinchers: Instead of noticing the containers themselves, look at what is inside them. The boxes are half full. So are the jars—and the bags. Most of the containers have been re-used…and very often will be re-used again. Frugality is the order of the day! In this household, you can rest assured that sure that no scraps will ever be thrown away.

• The free-spirits: This pantry tends to look very similar to the penny-pincher pantry, but with one notable exception: the half-full containers have no completely full containers to back them up. In fact, the owner of this pantry won’t realize he is low on supplies until the last flake of cereal finally disappears from that well-worn box.

Pantries don’t talk but they don’t have to. Without saying a word, they speak volumes about the people who own them and organize them. You should never judge people—but if you want to learn a little about them, just peek inside their pantry.

Tim Eyre works in the self storage industry, regularly traveling to see locations like a self storage facility in Peoria. In many locations, like the Brooklyn self storage units yard, Tim helps his customers store seasonal equipment when it is not being used for outdoor activities or home improvement projects.

Photo by Claudia Snell

It’s back to school time again, get your family organized and ready for the new school year!!!

The summer is a great, great time of year and I’m sure we all have fond memories of our own summer vacations.  Our children, too, surely look forward to summer and spending days at the pool, trips to Disneyland or the zoo and lots of fun and games.  But alas, summer must come to an end, and that means it’s time to get ready to go back to school.

Getting you and your family organized for a new year of school fun can be a daunting task. Each year presents new challenges and old routines are just not going to accommodate the changes that happen every year.


Routine is your friend.  Establish a clearly defined, easy to follow routine as soon as possible.  You might have gotten a little lax with some of your usual practices…perhaps chores are ignored and overlooked, computer time is stretched out a bit, bedtime has gotten a little hectic, and so forth.

Now is a great time to get back on track and get everyone back in the school year groove.  And don’t wait until the first week of school either…there’s enough to worry about.  Start with earlier bedtimes and earlier mornings, have a nice printed chore chart ready to go and in use.  Your kids might resist these rules and routines, but they really do need this structure and almost always respond quite well when they know exactly what’s expected of them and when.

Get a Good Organizer.  Get a good schedule book, family organizer or a good family tablet app to get everything clearly laid out and ready to go. Once you’ve written something down and can easily find it again you’re much more likely to remember what needs to be done and follow the plan.  And don’t just put down to-do lists and appointment times.  Organization books and calenders are great for this, of course, but also use them to record emergency phone numbers and other important phone numbers like the school attendance office, the doctor and dentist, babysitter, play dates, etc.

MomAgenda has some nice planners that I’ve used in the past and recommend. You can also get 10% off orders over $65 with the coupon code MOM10OFF65 or $10 off order over $75 with the code MOM10OFF75. Check them out HERE.

Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute. Make sure you have all of your back-to-school supplies in hand a month or at least a few weeks before opening bell. You don’t want to be one of the hoards of people shuffling around half-empty shelves during the evening of the first day of school.

Get those school haircuts done a week or two before school starts as well.  You want to give your children a little chance to get used to a new hairdo before school starts.

Plan Ahead.  You’ll want to get into the habit of planning ahead for the entire school year, and what better way to start than the first week.  Have the week’s meals all planned and the shopping done.  If you can, get the lunches made the night before. Have all the laundry done and have the next day’s school clothes laid out and ready to put on.  And, don’t forget to set your alarm clocks!  Allow yourself some extra time the first day or two so you can avoid any last-minute problems and have plenty of time to take care of unforeseen delays.

Remember, This is Fun!  You want to give your children good memories of school and need to make absolutely sure that you make going back to school a great experience. Don’t stress them out freaking out about the little things.

Get your organization hat on and say goodbye to any last minute back-to-school jitters.

Here are 7 awesome family tablet apps that you can download that support family life:

Daily Living Apps

1. GPS Tracker

If you want to know the whereabouts of everyone in your family, installing GPS Tracker is one of the best things you can do. With this tool, you will be able to know the location of your family and friends, as well as share your whereabouts as well.

2. Grocery iQ

Grocery iQ is probably one of the best of its kind. This grocery helper will enable you to create a list of groceries and estimate the total amount of the product so you can keep your list within your budget range. The perfect app for an organized family!

3. Epicurious

Dinner is an important time for families. It is the time when everyone bonds and shares one another’s story. Of course, if you want to make the meal time better, make sure you have yummy delicacies on the table. That is why Epicurious is a great app that can give you some new and delicious recipes to try.

Fun Games

4. Angry Birds

Angry Birds is probably one of the most popular applications on tablet PC’s and smartphones. Tablet PC users from all around the world uses this game application. It is a simply game that everyone can surely enjoy. Adults and kids alike will have fun playing this game while they learn some physics mechanisms together.

5. Scrabble Words Finder

Scrabble Words Finder is an educational game that can be a great past time for families. Divide your family in teams and start twisting those letters and race to get the higher score.

Educational Tools

6. The Lorax

Dr. Seuss is always a family’s favorite that is why The Lorax application is a great app for families. It is actually an eBook that is great for past time and bed time stories.

7. Park Math

Park Math is an award winning application. This app enables learning math easier and more fun. If you have a little child who is preparing to go to school, this app can help give him a start with basic math.

These are just some of the many helpful applications out there to help organize your family life, keep you and your children entertained, and help your child with reading and math.

This guest post was written by Danny who  likes to write from  http://www.androidtabletfanatic.com/.

They’ve just released some interesting new products recently with some pretty good discount codes available. Their NEW 2012 Personal Portfolios are now available.  These beautiful books are made out of Italian faux leather, and feature side pockets and a snap closure.  According to their site, they are the most luxurious of all momAgenda day planners and they come in a variety of colors like Shimmering Berry Pink, Shimmering Spring Green, & Shimmering Smokey Gray.

 Take 10% off all orders of $65+ at momAgenda! Code: MOM10OFF65 Offer Expires 7.31

Take $10 off all orders of $75+ at momAgenda! Code: MOM10OFF75 Offer Expires 7.31

Also, just in time for another school year, momAgenda.com offers some very nice School Years books–as seen on the Today Show!  These let you track your child’s progress throughout their school years.  There is a section for each grade with notes available like height, weight, friends, favorite subjects, and so forth.

Remember you can get 20% Off a small School Years book with code SCHOOLYEARSMOM at momAgenda.com!

1. Remove Distractions

Keep kids focused on the cleaning. Don’t turn on the television – it’s an invitation for distraction. Turn on the radio if the kids need some noise while helping.

2. Make The Process Organized And Easy

Set aside a day to get organized before cleaning. Buy or compile attractive storage containers, small object caddies, drawer organizers, and safe cleaning items. When everything has a place, it’s easier to keep everything neat and tidy. Organize your kids’ rooms, the bathrooms, the living room, the kitchen, and any other room your kids will help you keep clean. Label storage containers and boxes so children can easily see what goes where. They’ll be more likely to keep everything effortlessly tidy. Also keep recycling and trash bins available so that toy and food wrappers and drink containers will go into it instead of being left on counters or tables.

3. Set Schedules

Keep one day a week for more major cleaning, but also set aside small cleaning times each day. In the mornings, have a few minutes before breakfast for children to make their beds and clean up their morning bathroom mess. Before bedtime, put away any toys, clean up bathtime messes, and put homework and school items in backpacks to cut down on panic time the next morning. On your major cleaning day, keep in mind that kids, especially smaller children, have short attention spans. It might be easier to conduct cleaning in 15 to 20 minute periods throughout the day.

4. Make Sure They Know What’s Going On

Give your children tasks that are age-appropriate and go through the cleaning methods very clearly, step-by-step. A five-year-old is more able to help you make his or her bed and put away clothes and linens, while a toddler is more suited to running around picking up toys and putting them in their boxes.

5. Find Out What They Like To Do

Make a chart to keep track of which tasks children enjoy most. Some will hate vacuuming or sweeping, while others might love to straighten shelves, put away books, or dust tabletops. Figure out which activities they enjoy and they’ll get the task accomplished more easily. It can also be helpful to give children choices. When they choose their own tasks, the interest makes them more likely to complete the job.

6. Give Them Safety Tips

Teach kids how to clean safely. Show older children – 12 years and up – how to use cleaners such as dusting spray, anti-bacterial cleaners, air fresheners, etc. Keep anything that might be toxic well out of reach. There are now non-toxic, environmentally friendly cleaners that make it easier to let children help with cleaning.

7. Don’t Overcomplicate Things

Keep it simple! Don’t start out by expecting your children to scour the inside of the fridge, clean toilets, or mop the kitchen floor to a spotless shine. Find jobs that they can do easily and that won’t have to be completely re-done if they aren’t done perfectly. Sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, and wiping doorknobs with anti-bacterial cleaner are great jobs for kids. Older kids will be great at cleaning the insides of windows, cleaning bathroom counters and sinks, and organizing their closets.

8. Make It Fun

Make cleaning a competitive game. Set up some tasks as a race or give each child a list of tasks and see who can finish their list first. Let them know that there will be a quality check, though, so everything is done correctly. When you have a winner, give a small prize or some kind of recognition within the household. Print out your own ‘tickets’ and give one for each task accomplished. You can cash in tickets for a prize or fun activity, such as a trip to the zoo, library, park, or movie of the child’s choice. The option to choose a favorite dinner or dessert is a great prize, as well. For older children, when simple prizes cease to have meaning, making their allowance dependent on having their chores and cleaning done can be an incentive.

9. See What They Think

Ask your kids for their opinions. Children are smart and have great ideas. When you listen to their ideas and put those ideas into action around the house, it can make things easier for everyone. Ask the kids where to put the items they use the most in the refrigerator. Ask what utensils should be put in the kitchen drawers that are on their height level, where their items should be placed around their bathrooms, or how to rearrange the living room furniture so everyone can enjoy family time.

10. Set An Example

Leading by example is important. If the parts of the home that belong to adults are a mess, kids might not see a reason to keep their own areas cleaned up. Keep your own bedroom and living room nice and tidy, and your children will have a role model to follow in tidying up their own areas.

(A Guest Post by George Baker)

George whiles away the time working with hoover bags and writing about things like Numatic hoover bags on the internet.