Maybe you used to work in an office and had tons of professional clothing. Then, you had a baby and decided to leave your job. Or, you lost a few pounds and some items no longer fit you. Maybe your style has changes or your office dress code has been done away with.

Regardless of the reason, today is the perfect day to purge your closet of any professional clothes that you no longer want or need.

Why? Well, it’s for a good cause.

Dress for Success is an organization that encourages the self-sufficiency of women and helps them enter the work force and take charge of their lives. They are partnering this weekend with Dressbarn to collect new and gently used professional clothing for women.

So, I am asking you to go into your closets and look for blazers, skirts, dress pants, suits–anything a woman could wear to an office. This is the perfect time of year (being so close to Spring Cleaning time) and the perfect cause to ‘let go.’

The Send One Suit drive began yesterday and continues through Sunday, March 4th. Besides a tax deduction receipt, I hear you get a 15% off coupon from Dressbarn when you donate. Don’t usually shop at Dressbarn? Offer that coupon to a woman looking for a job. Chances are she’ll be looking for a way to save money on her interview clothes. That’s two good deeds in one day–hurray for you, early Spring Cleaning, Dressbarn and Dress for Success!

I don’t want you to sort your sock drawer. No, I’m not sending you to organize your garage in the middle of winter.

Your first organizing project of the new year is to: Get Organized for Tax Season.

We’ve all heard about the person who walks into an accountant’s office with a shoebox full of receipts. It’s a stereotype, but if I polled a bunch of accountants, they’d probably tell me that the stereotype is more of a truth than an exaggeration.

If the thought of getting organized for tax season makes you start to twitch, not to worry. I’m going to use a few basic organizing principles to guide you through the process and put a smile on your face and your accountant’s.

Break a Large Task into Smaller Tasks
Prepping for your tax appointment can seem overwhelming. I’ll tell you that a task becomes less overwhelming once it is broken down into many smaller tasks. Do a brain dump of all the things you need to do to prepare for a tax appointment. Then put those tasks into priority order and create a check-off list for you to follow until the last step has been completed. Here’s a helpful checklist for you to download (courtesy of the A Bowl Full of Lemons blog).

Create a Home
In the next few weeks, your mailbox will be stuffed with W-2’s, 1099’s, statements from financial institutions and other papers necessary for filing your taxes. In order to keep track of them, you’ll need to create a place for all of these papers to ‘live’ before they visit the accountant. Normally, I advise people to use shoeboxes an an inexpensive organizing tool but in this case, I’d prefer not to feed the shoebox stereotype. Take a large poly envelope, preferably see through, and place all tax-related documents in there. Have a file drawer or cabinet? Create a hanging file with a tab that says ‘TAXES.’ As they come in the mail, place the tax papers in the file.

Don’t: procrastinate. This is one of the worst things you can do at tax time except for showing up with that shoebox (see above).  If you’re doing your own taxes, it won’t be much fun if your version of Turbo Tax unexpectedly quits at 10:30pm on April 15th. You’ll never get your accountant’s full attention if you procrastinate–in fact you might be put on extension. And by then, you’ll be talking to the secretary if she hasn’t fallen over from working overtime for the past three months.

Don’t: arrive at your accountant’s office with your statements in their sealed envelopes unless you want to see his/her head pop off. If your accountant’s head does not pop off, it’s because they have already decided that they will charge you for having to open all of your envelopes.

Do: take the Social Security numbers of all family members you are filing taxes for. If you or a member of your family owns a business, bring the tax ID number with you as well. Your accountant will thank you a hundred times for being prepared with that vital information.

Do: collect all proof of donation papers (thrift stores, schools, great causes, etc.) throughout the year and keep them in the poly envelope or tax file discussed above. You’ll need them to get that tax deduction!

Tax season does not have to be a painful time of year. With some preparation and organization, you’ll be on your way to a less stressful and more relaxed way to pay Uncle Sam.

Let go of those lace-ups. Say ‘so-long’ to those slippers. People need them.

The National Association of Professional Organizers has partnered with Soles4Souls to collect new and gently used footwear for those in need.

According to their website, Soles4Souls, “collects new shoes to give relief to the victims of abject suffering and collects used shoes to support micro-business efforts to eradicate poverty.”

On Sunday, December 4, 2011 donate your new or gently worn shoes to Soles4Souls at Sports Authority of East Hanover or Clifton, NJ between the hours of 11am and 3pm.

Sports Authority
Location #1: 142 Rt. 10, East Hanover
Location #2: 415 Rt. 3 East, Clifton

Besides knowing that you’ve helped someone in need, what else do you get from donating your shoes on December 4th?

• Receive 20% off your entire purchase at either Sports Authority store that day.
• Receive a $10 off coupon from 1-800-GOT-JUNK?.

You can’t go wrong–especially if you have some shoes in your closet you don’t want anymore. Get 20% of a new pair of sneakers and consider using that $10 off coupon to haul away other items in your home you no longer need. It’s a win-win if I ever heard one…

It’s rare to find a Professional Organizer that doesn’t follow their own advice…

I’m always saying to clients: “When it comes to your closets, get rid of/donate the old to make room for the new.” I help people (mostly women) clear out torn and stained clothes, too-small clothes, clothes with bad memories attached to them to make room for clothes that make them look and feel fabulous.

But, yet another saying comes to mind: “The shoemaker’s son has no shoes.”

You see, although I dispense this advice, lately I have been the shoemaker–too busy to tackle my own closet. My closet has been a hodge-podge of what I wore before I got pregnant six years ago, what I wore between my first and second pregnancies, what ‘kinda’ fits me now and what I’ve bought even though I’m hoping to drop another five pounds. This closet even has some clothes that pre-date my wedding day eleven years ago!

A few weeks ago while the rest of my family was out, I took an hour to sort through and purge my closet. What did I do?

• I took out anything I hadn’t worn in years and yes–literally dusted the items off.
• I made four piles: donate, throw out, keep, laundry.
• I tried on items that I thought might not fit me anymore.
• Anything that I was keeping (that had pre-pregnancy dust on it) I threw in my laundry basket.
• I counted all the empty hangers and made an appointment with myself for a little shopping…
• I donated items that were tight, that I no longer liked or suited my lifestyle.
• I wrote down what items needed replacing (white blouse, green sweater set).
• I created a drawer I call ‘Another Five Pounds’ which means, try these on again in a few months to see if they fit (mostly pants).

I bagged up all purged items and took them to Goodwill.

And I’m not done. I need another hour when the kiddies aren’t home to keep purging. Those winter clothes that didn’t fit me last year will be tried on in the next few weeks and ruthless decisions will be made. I took a quick look in that closet last week. I have a feeling I’m going to have more empty hangers…

Every Friday on my Facebook Fan Page I offer my fans an organizing tip based on a monthly theme. September’s theme is Decluttering.

Decluttering is about sorting and purging your belongings, creating a logical home for them and letting go of the items that you no longer want. Sometimes those items will go in the trash. Sometimes they’ll end up in the loving arms of a friend or family member.

Sometimes, they’ll end up in the loving arms of a stranger. A stranger who has been looking for that item you are giving away. A stranger who cannot otherwise afford to buy that item new.

As the saying goes, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”

Before you begin the decluttering process in your home, think about where you would like to take your donations to. This prevents the donated items from lingering in your home too long. Either…

Bag ’em up. Put them in your trunk.  Drive to a donation center.

or

Bag ’em up. Call for a pickup. Place bags in front of your door.

Below is a short list of organizations that accept donations. Some have freestanding stores and some will pick up at your home. All will give you a tax deduction form for your records.

Vietnam Veterans
Goodwill
Lupus
The Salvation Army

These are the biggies, but don’t forget your local thrift shops and donation centers, too!

Where do you usually donate your unwanted items?

Friday, June 3rd is National Donut Day–I’d probably be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t want to celebrate that day!

You may be asking yourself, ‘So, what do donuts have to do with organizing?’

When I work with a client, I always end the session by reminding them to reward themselves in some way for a job well done. Can you think of a more yummy reward than sinking your teeth into an ooey-gooey, or chocolatey, or sprinkly donut? If you’re planning on doing any organizing on Friday hop on over to a participating Dunkin Donuts after you’ve finished your task. They’ll give you a free donut with the purchase of a beverage (while supplies last).

Now for a little history: According to the Entenmann’s website, National Donut day was created to honor Salvation Army volunteers who served donuts to troops in World War I. The Salvation Army takes donations from thousands of people a day who are purging through their belongings during the organizing process.

See? Organizing and donuts–it all leads to The Salvation Army.

Saturday, May 14th is the National Association of Letter Carrier’s ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ Food Drive–a perfect reason to purge your pantry.

Wake up early. Have a protein-packed breakfast. Take a bag to the spot in the house you keep food. Be ruthless. You bought 10 boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese on sale. Can you donate one or two? Thought you were going to make that cake but didn’t? Donate the mix. On a diet? Donate the foods you’re now avoiding.

PURGING is a WIN-WIN situation. You get rid of things that are cluttering your home and others get things they truly need. In this case–food.

My bag is filled and we’ll be putting it on our doorstep a few hours before the mail carrier arrives. My bag has pasta, canned vegetables, and baby food in it. What will you put in YOUR bag?

How’s that Winter Cleaning comin’ along?

The guys at Goodwill were happy to see me and I was happy to see more of my garage.

But what if you have more Winter Cleaning donations than your vehicle can hold? What if you don’t have the time during the holidays to deliver them to the thrift shop yourself?

Certain organizations will pick up donations from your doorstep–rain or shine. Many of them place postcards in your mailbox a  week or two before they will be in your neighborhood. I just received a postcard from Big Brothers Big Sisters with the tag line: ‘Yes. We want the shirt off your back.’ I thought that was pretty clever…

Here’s a short  list of organizations that offer free pick up of donations at your home:

Big Brothers Big Sisters (Northern New Jersey)
877-336-8828
www.njpickup.org

Vietnam Veterans of America
www.clothingdonations.org/service.htm
(Most US states)

Lupus
1-888-44-LUPUS
www.lupuspickup.org
(Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia)

The Salvation Army
1-800-SA-TRUCK
www.satruck.org/donate-goods

Keep cleaning. Then pick up the phone and set up a time for a pick up. You’ll be glad you did.

I took my own advice and met a goal I had set for my second year of blogging.