Get Organized Pittsburgh

Welcome to May! With May comes many things but one in particular is Garage Sales! I was asked to talk to the crew from the KDKA Radio morning show early this morning about garage sales and I wanted to share a few more tips with you here, whether you’re shopping or selling, here are a few things to help you along the way.

If you are looking for sales in your neighborhood good places to start are the Pittsburgh Post Gazette classifieds, the Pennysaver newspaper, and Craigslist. You can also search sites such as Oodle which syndicates it’s garage sale listings with a handful of other social networking websites and newspapers, as well as Garage Sales Tracker’s Pittsburgh area garage sales section.

If you are already on the road than no need to worry since there are smartphone applications for finding a local sale.  A service called Garage Sale App is available for .99 cents. The app mines data from Craigslist to show you what local sales are in your area. If you want a free app than Garage Sales Tracker also has a free app you can use to map out which sales in the area you want to go to that day and route accordingly. Another fantastic app is iGarageSale where you can search sales for specific items! It’s available on both iPhone and Android smartphones.

Now that you know how to find all of the sales, here are some tips for holding your own garage sale:

• Determine when to have the sale. Summertime and Spring are naturally the best times and being an early bird pays off!
• If you have a lot of stuff you may want to break the sale down into 2 days.
• Advertising is very important. Utilize the resources mentioned above as well as signage that you can pick up at any local hardware store or you can design your own sign just make sure you put the address, arrows in the right direction, date of sale, and time.
• Supplies such as balloons on the mail box, proper change, tables, and tags for pricing.
• Placing the the person in charge of the cashbox in the back of the sale makes people walk through the whole sale and increases the chance that they may buy something else as they make their way through.
• Make price tags big and place them on the TOP of the items.

Most of all, Have FUN!

Did you miss Leslie’s feature on Monday, December 5th on Pittsburgh Today Live? Well you can now watch it here.

Leslie discusses over-shopping and suggests ways to identify why you over-shop and how to control it.

After attending a presentaion given by David Mazza, with the Pennsylvania Resources Council I learned about many new resources for recycling in Pittsburgh. These will all be added to the searchable database on the www.mckeeos.com website. One very interesting point he made that I wanted to share was about recycling plastics. Many local communities have moved to single stream recycling and have opened up their collections to taking plastics from numbers 1-7. David explained that there still is not a market for the higher numbered plastics. The theory is that by opening it up to “all” plastics recycling centers will probbly get more lower number plastics. With that information, consumers should still stay away from the higher number plastics like 5-7 because hey will probably be disgarded like other regular trash.

OK-I am on a GREEN kick! I just think it is so important and I see it as something that will actually become mandatory in our lifetime! So I often think about what is my “green responsibility” as an organizer. Simplifying what clients bring into their homes and finding great resources for the items they no longer want are really at the core of what we do. Organizing is a very green profession overall! I want to formalize a green component to what i already do by adding a green piece to my initial consultation.

Clients I see are usually overwhelmed. They are either recycling already or so overwhelmed they feel like that can’t add one other thing to their to do list! If they are already doing it, I would like to praise their efforts and make sure they have all the local resources they need. i also want to make sure their system is as simple as possible so that they will be able to keep it up without turning their homes into recycling centers by collecting but not having routines in place to get the items out to the places that process them. If they are not recycling at all I want to address that and try to build that component into any organizational system I suggest or put in place. I want to address he all or nothing thinking and get started in some small way.

So if YOU are reading this and needed a little nudge to get started! It is time to take that little step!

The idea of GREEN SHOPPING is really LESS SHOPPING! After putting your thinking through that “filter” if you still decide that you need to buy something-consider these rules of thumb. First, buy quality, lasting products that are not single use. Invest in a great mop or broom instead of a Swifter. Purchase things that are made to last. Consider how they are made and the materials used. I would much rather purchase salad serving pieces made from bamboo than plastic. Heghten your awareness of what is made from recycled materials and it the item can be recycled in the end as well. Look for items that use less packaging and bring your own bags to the store. Is the item biodregradable. A well made wooden toy always seems to be a better choice to me than a plastic one. It is well crafted, often unique and will biodegrade. Buying locally is also key to lessen the environmental costs of shipping and to infuse your local economy.

Again, awareness is key and all or nothing perfectionistic thinking will hold you back. Keep an open mind to green ideas and don’t become overwhelmed with doing too much. Take one step at a time towards lasting, powerful change!

Awareness is the key here. Just tune into ways to recycle things in a simple way. I am in homes all the time that have phenomenal recycling programs yet they don’t recycle. These people are not lazy, they are stuck. They don’t have the perfect place to store items for the week. They don’t have a system in place so they become paralyzed. Ignorance is not bliss in this instance! It is time to be responsible for the items you bring into your home. This doesn’t mean PERFECT. It just means that you need to start somewhere. In my community it is pretty easy. All cans and bottles and glass go in the same container, so we keep one under the sink and take it outside as needed. Paper is a little harder. I have to admit that it took me awhile to get with the program. When I decided to start I simply put a basket under a table in the hall by my kitchen and we simply started with newspapers. We take the basket to a PAPER RETRIEVER when it gets full. YES, there are days that is looks a little sloppy-but for the most part we just take it on our way to other errands and it really feels good! Our trash is truly less than half of what it used to be.

So educate yourself and just start somewhere! You will be glad you did and you can rest easier know that you are doing your part to help the environment and ultimately our global economy.

I am not talking about washing out baggies here! I am just asking you to think about not just putting things out on the curb with out a thought about how things could be used by someone who needs them. Part of the responsibility of purchasing something is to think long term about where and how it is going to end up. Donation is a huge piece of the puzzle here. Just because you have exhausted the possibilities of a perfectly good sweater that may be out of style, there is someone who may simply be cold that can really benefit from that item. I would love to see connecting with resources to get rid of items responsibly in the end become part of the American shopping mindset! When i buy this new blanket, am i prepared to take the old one to the animal shelter. When i buy this new purse, which one could i give to Dress for Success? When i buy this new laptop i will put an appointment to go to the Goodwill Store Computer Center in my calendar right away.

When faced with this little additional responsibility we will often rethink our actual “need” and be aware of our footprint on this earth!

In these economic times, REDUCING should be easy! It is the first step towards making lasting change. When I speak to clients who reference this step as one of their goals, on know that they are going to make great progress. There are many ways to-REDUCE.

First you need to work on your mind set. It is very easy to stop bringing more into your life if you already feel like you have ENOUGH. You need to try to visualize your life as a “cup that is full”. Some of our “cups” are actually spilling over, or bursting and it is time to recognize the burden that places on our lives, spaces and time. So when you are in the store and see that beuatiful vase that is on sale, STOP and think about the abundance in your life. Realize that you can enjoy that vase’s beauty and even it’s bargain price with out owning it. Think of all the vases you have at home and the stories and memories they hold. Are you willing to get rid of one or maybe two of those vases to bring this one into your life.

Reduce by not bringing more into your life, and then take a close look at what you already have. Keep only what is useful and makes you happy. This makes everyday easier to maintain and navigate. Simple systems work because they are not overloaded. Drawers have a single purpose and are duplicated throughout the house. Closets function for the rooms that they were designed to serve. It is amazing how your home will start to become easy to manage because the tools in place to storage now work!

There hasn’t been a better time to really revisit these principle. You will help yourself, your pocketbook and our earth.

We always think of aquiring items as “adding” to our lives, but have you ever considered the cost? Beyond the personal cost of aquistion, what are the other costs? When we “over purchase” there is an obvious strain on our pocketbooks for that temporary “thrill”. Soon if we buy items that we don’t truly need we begin to actually feel bad about that item. the thrill is gone and now we need to take care of the item, we need to store it, we need to make room for it. The party is over! When we are not taking care of it properly the item loses its ability to satisfy us. When we have too much of a certain item and can not use it we also begin to feel bad. It is difficult to feel “fullfilled” by excessive purchases, in fact at a certain point the very activity that brought you joy will make you sad. Choose carefully and thoughtfully about what you surround youself with. The “stuff” won’t bring happiness. Make room for the people and actvities you love.

We help busy people simplify and organize to save time and enjoy life more. I am beginning a dialog about getting and staying organized in Pittsburgh. I want to share resources and ideas with people that want to simplify their lives!