Financial Clutter

October 28, 2008 by Nikki 

I am a big fan of Suze Orman, in the last few weeks she has been on the Oprah Show talking about the financial crisis our country is facing.  Explaining the crisis in simple terms and breaking it down to make it easier to understand.  

On a recent show she says, “When somebody doesn’t have debt they also keep everything in order.  Clutter = debt. Order = No Debt.  When you respect what money can buy you, you respect money itself.”  

Maybe you have debt, maybe you don’t.  No matter what, you have a choice on how to keep your life in order.  We do not have control with what happens to the stock market, but what do we have control over?

We have control on how we organize our financial papers, our home office, our bills, etc.  Now is the time to get these papers in order.  We may not like what we see on the statements, but at least we know exactly what we have.  

Some tips to get you started:

  1. Filing your financial papers-  Buy a large three ring binder with tabs.  Label the tabs with each different financial account you have.  Keep all the statements in one place.
  2. Know what statements to keep and for how long.  Email nikki@takecontrolorganizing.com for a complete list of items. 
  3. Re-evaluate your home office or financial organization system.  Is it working?  Make necessary changes.
  4. The general rule is we use 20% of what we have.  Look at the other 80% whether it is in the home office or somewhere else in the home, start analyzing what you have, what you need, and what you want.  Everything else? Let it go.  
  5. Think before you buy, how does buying it make you feel?  Any buyers remorse?  Maybe now is not the time.  Make the right choices for you and your family.
During these hard economic times, it is easy to feel out of control with your finances, but being organized and clearing out the clutter you do not need, can take some of that control back into your own hands again! 

October 28, 2008 by Nikki  · Filed under: Home Organizing · Tagged: ,

Comments

One Response to “Financial Clutter”

  1. maryhenderson on October 30th, 2008 10:21 am

    I bought one of your gift certificates for a gift but I’m really wanting to use it for myself. I just moved and I’m setting up everything, all fresh & new. I pride myself in being organized but I must admit I could use some objective help. So, I’ll be calling for a time soon. And still, such a great gift idea for the holidays and any day. I’ll probably buy more.

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