The Joy of Organizing

Do you clip coupons to save you money? Or do you find it is too much work to save a few bucks? There has been a lot of buzz about couponing lately, with many people who are really passionate about it walking out of the grocery store with a treasure trove of goods, sometimes for free. This week we welcome mompreneur Michelle Morton to the show to talk about extreme couponing and how you can get started.

School is ending, and many are getting prepared to move the family to a new place with new beginnings during the summer. Getting settled before school begins again is the goal, but there is a lot of work to do before September. This week we welcome Jill Banks to the show to talk about making moving and relocation a much less stressful process. We also talk a little about our all-inclusive book with tips and tricks for a successful relocation. Check out The Joy of Organizer's Guide to a Joyful Move on our website or Amazon.com

There are many reasons to "go green" and also to get organized. But why not achieve both goals at the same time? Julie Siebert talks with us about combining green techniques with home organization. Simple things such as repurposing items, and using services like freecycle to keep discarded items out of the landfill are some of the easy tricks to eco-organizing.

Paperwork is one of the most frequently asked about topics by our listeners. Why? Because it impacts so many people. You would be hard pressed to find someone who does not have to deal with some type of paper at home or at work on a daily basis. Everyday, the piles of paper are constantly growing the way you wished the money did in your checking account! Sara Long is a professional organizer in the Philadelphia area who has shared her best paper organizing tips with us.

Getting your kids organized is tough work! They are constantly growing, they are constantly bringing things into the home from a new rock for their collection, to a parade of papers that come home for over a decade of schoolwork. Even the most organized people can fall off the wagon when they have kids. This week we are joined by Stacey Crew, a professional organizer and mom of two tween girls.

The average size of the American home has increased in size dramatically over the past few decades. However, there are still many people that live in small homes or small apartments. These are the most difficult types of spaces to organize, as every decision you make is critical to the success- there isn't any "room" for error. This week we welcome Beth Brodsky to the show. She will share her best home organization tips to help our listeners organize small spaces.

Everywhere you go, people are always trying to add to your paper clutter. Whether it is at work and people put paper in your in-bin, the mail that comes everyday adds paper to your home, or handouts and flyers at your child's school, paper is everywhere. If you don't cut the sources of paper entering your life, and deal with the paper you already have, you will have a mass of paper that is constantly getting bigger. Liz Jenkins joins us this week to give us her best paper taming tips.

This week we welcome Mike O'Mary of The Note Project to the show. It is all about making the world a better place by telling someone you appreciate them by a handwritten note. Mike tells us about what inspired him to start the Note Project, and how you can participate. We are all about making the world a better place her on The Joy of Organizing. Telling someone you appreciate when they mean to you will make their day, and in turn make the world a better place. Coming on April 18, 2011, the Note Project is a global movement to make the world a million times better by inspiring people to share notes of appreciation. Our goal is 1 million notes! The project was founded by Mike Oâ??Mary, and was inspired by the reaction of people to The Note gift book and video.

This week we are joined by DIY Network, and HGTV's Karl Champley. He joins us to provide his expertise in the garage, with out Garage Takeover show. Karl shares some quick tips to help our listeners take a do-it-yourself approach to taking back their garage so that they can actually fit the cars back into it. He is a familiar face on the DIY Network and HGTV and has hosted over 200 episodes viewed in over 95 million homes around the world. Episodes have also been aired on US Airways, American Airlines and United Airlines and his shows have received Telly and Aurora Awards. Karl has also been the expert, host and consultant to many specials including the International Builders show in Orlando, Florida which is the worldâ??s largest builders show. You can catch Karl's expertise currently on Wasted Spaces, DIY to the Rescue, DIY Inside: The Builder's Show and many Habitat For Humanity specials on DIY Network & HGTV.

This week we are following up with a recent article in our local paper which Bonnie was used as a resource. The Danbury Newstimes ran an article called "Top Students Give Tips on Getting Top Grades" Bonnie shares some of her power tips for diagnosing your child's organizing challenges, figuring out where all the time in the day goes- ans how your kids re using it, and a fail proof homework system that make sure kids are always prepared to do their homework, with the books and required items they need to get it done right. Take a look at the article here: http://www.newstimes.com/default/article/Top-students-give-tips-on-getting-top-grades-1042898.php

This week we continue our theme on the blog about how to organize your pets. As new dog owners, we have found that there are unique organizing challenges that occur with another being in the home. In speaking with Julie Bjelland, we found that there are a lot of parallels between organizing and obedience work with your dog. Take a listen and see what we mean!

This week we continue our focus on office and paper organization as we are approaching tax day here in the United States. Judith shares some of her organizing ideas like the "real estate value" of space on you desk and work area, and some acronyms to help you get organized in general. Also be sure to listen to our advertisement from Sentry Safe company, and their offer for money off tax services with purchase of Sentry Safe products.

It's tax time again, and where do you start? Often the preparation begins in a cluttered home office. Elizabeth gives us the tips and tricks that help you break that clutter so that tax time is a breeze.

Patty Ross, owner of Clutter Consignment in Boulder, Colorado gives us the ins and outs of consigning your clutter and making money off of your seldom used stuff. She gives out listeners tips and tricks to get the most out of your consignment experience, how to choose a consignment store that is right for you, and how to find out the fees associated with this method of removing clutter from your home. Consignment stores are a great resource when tackling a home organization project.

This week we welcome organizing guru Peter Walsh to the show. Peter just launched his new book, Lighten Up. He also has launched his new show Enough Already! on the new Oprah Winfrey Network. We talk about the roots of disorganization, and how to conquer it for good! About Peter: All of these past experiences came together when my training experience and interest in organizational change in the workplace and in homes caught the attention of the producers of the hit TLC show 'Clean Sweep'. We ended up making more than 120 episodes and helped thousands of people get excited about decluttering and organizing their homes and their lives. Helping people live rich and full lives without drowning in their stuff continues to be the focus of most of my work. I'm lucky to now be working on The Oprah Winfrey Show helping people declutter their homes, their heads, their hearts and their hips. As well as my work on TV I've written a few best-selling books about clutter and organization. My first (and favorite) is "It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff". I'm now also designing some cool organizational products and hosting a national radio program. This all keeps me busy when I'm not traveling or helping people turn their clutter and chaos into calm.