1. You don’t have duplicates of the same item.
Do you have more than 2 or 3 pairs of scissors in your home or office? How many pairs of black pants do you own? Do you really need that many? Whether its clothes, coats, books , crafts, or sports equipment, evaluate what you need versus what you have and determine if some of the extras can be donated, sold, or given away. Less stuff offers you more space in your home, closets and garage!

2. You can sell the things you no longer need to cash in on what you have!Once you realize all the extra things that you have in your home or office that you really don’t need, you could consider sending products back for a refund, having a yard sale, selling items online, or getting a tax break on your itemized donations. Eliminating the extra stuff in your life will be worth it once you realize the value of all the superfluous items that have been crowding your space☺.

3. Properly stored items last longer.I was recently working with a client to organize a storage shed and several of the items had become ruined because they weren’t stored properly. An expensive life vest had some unknown chemical spilled on it. Who wants to wear that again? Rodents had gotten into cardboard boxes and created nests so that almost everything in the box was ruined. This could be happening to the items in your garage or closets too. If you have important documents stored in cardboard boxes, small insects commonly known as silver fish eat paper. So store your precious items in tightly sealed plastic containers so that they are more protected from rodents, insects and moisture.

4. Never pay late fees or overdraft fees again.Have you paid late fees because you didn’t open your mail? If you have a mail-processing center set up, then it’s easy to open and sort your mail while standing or sitting in the same place. Your mail-processing center may consist of a letter opener, trashcan, recycling bin, and shredder. Ideally you would want this area right next to your computer so you could pay your bills as they come in or, if you pay bills by mail, then have envelopes, stamps and return address labels at your mail processing center as well.

5. You will have easy access to all the details of all your accounts and finances.When you have your papers organized, it’s easy to keep track of your accounts and financial details. If an automatic debit seems incorrect, you can quickly contact the company when you know right where your papers are for that specific account. Enjoy knowing that being organized saves time and money!

© 2008 Organized 4 Success, Inc.

Author's Bio: 

Written by Shannon McGinnis, Santa Cruz's only Certified Professional Organizer, and the founder of Organized 4 Success, Inc.™ Shannon publishes the monthly "Strategies 4 Success Ezine" which offers free tips, articles, and advice on how to be more organized. If you enjoyed this article, you can receive your FREE Strategies 4 Success newsletter from Shannon now at: www.Organized4Success.com . She is also the author of The 10-Minute Tidy™: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly. The 10-Minute Tidy provides easy to implement organizing solutions for every area of the home. www.10minutetidy.com