Being organized saves you money (and so much more)

It is good to be back. I was out for a month because our family took that long-delayed Nordic vacation that was supposed to happen in 2020. Message me if you want me to write about the trip. But for this week, we will discuss the benefits of organizing.

I hope you have watched our FQwentuhan with the professional organizer of celebrities, Issa Guico-Reyes of Neat Obsessions. If you haven’t, here’s the link to part 1.

As I mentioned in the video, I got overwhelmed with the task of moving back to our renovated house in the middle of many things happening last year – my son’s wedding, my class, construction delays and many more. So, I decided to seek professional help and I was so pleased with the services of Issa and her team at Neat Obsessions. 

If the professional fee is out of your budget, you can read her book and do it yourself. Being organized is one of the best things that you can do for yourself, promise. There are at least a dozen of reasons why you should start organizing now.

1. The most obvious is you know what you already have. How many times has this happened to you: After buying groceries, home items or clothes, you find out that you already have that item(s) buried somewhere in your house. When it comes to our closet, we complain, “Wala akong masuot!” while we stare at our crowded closets. How ironic! Our overburdened minds need help to remember what we already have. Having all our things organized in an easy to remember fashion will help us avoid this waste of money.

2. Having your items organized in beautiful way makes you enjoy what you have. I swear, I love getting ready in my closet now, it’s a joy to see my things easily and appreciate their aesthetics. Then add playing your favorite music while you dress up and you will be in a great mood when you’re done. (Hmm… I think I will share a video on this one of this days.)

3. It saves you time. And time is gold. Sometimes it’s really a bummer when you’re in the middle of doing something and then when you reach out for that item that you need, let’s say your pair of scissors, it’s nowhere to be found. You interrupt your work and look for it all around the house. You don’t just waste time but lose your momentum in whatever you’re doing. Argh! Oh, by the way, for not so expensive items like scissors, consider having multiple pieces around the house. I now have scissors in our home offices, kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, closet, etc. This way, it will be easy to grab the item not lose your momentum.

4. You can turn your clutter into cash. You will find a lot of items that are not used anymore – unnecessary duplicates, clothes that no longer fit you, gifts that you’ve never used, books that have served their purpose, and other forgotten items. Why not have a garage sale? And these days, you don’t even have to have a garage to do it. Just sell online. You’d be surprised that even if you sell your items at a small fraction of their costs, you’ll still be able to earn something. 

5. You can donate. If you’d rather just give them away, this is also a great option. Studies show that giving gives us joy more than receiving. In the US, they can even get tax credit out of similar donations. By the way, we at Zonta have a fund raising project called the Little Vintage Shop, where you can donate items that we can sell to fund our projects. (More on this in future article and video. For the meantime you may visit the shop’s IG).

6. You save on storage. Some who have gone beyond being a normal “kalutit” (that’s the Ilocano word for packrat), can also be spending on storage for items that they actually don’t need to store anyway. Even if you’re not renting a place for storage, check out your house, do you have items that are using up valuable space? Treat every space in your home as prime real estate property and ask yourself, “Does this item/clutter deserve the space it’s now occupying?” Strive to have “negative space.” That’s a term I learned from our Interior Designer, Rod Lascano, which means empty space that we should have in the different parts of our home. It makes your home look more high end instead of filling up every square inch.

7. You don’t waste. Having an organized system in your pantry, refrigerator, kitchen and even in your dresser will avoid throwing a lot of expired items.

8. You feel lighter. Knowing that you’re not wasting what you have, that you’re not guilty of keeping forgotten items all over the house, you feel lighter because you’re not weighed down by kalats and clutter.

9. You feel in control. When you know where things are located, when you know what items to consume first, when you know what needs replenishment, when you know what to wear especially during the morning rush, or where those scissors are, you feel in control and more confident to face your to-do’s every single day.

10. You feel less stressed. Okay, if the daunting task of organizing will initially stress you, I promise, the end product is a stress-reduced everyday living. You can do it in stages so you take out the overwhelm factor.

11. You increase productivity. You save time, money, feel lighter, in control, with less stress and your mind is clearer, so your work is enhanced and made more efficient.

12. You are healthier. Organization goes hand in hand with cleanliness. I can’t imagine it any other way. If you allow clutter and disarray to be part of your everyday life, you also allow all the dust and germs that go with them.

13. You can focus more on relationships and other important aspects in life. It’s hard to focus on your relationships, let’s say with your children and husband when you get home from work and you don’t know where to find things. 

14. You have a higher FQ. Yup, chances are, if you are organized with your things, you are also organized with money matters. For starters, you will not buy things you already have because you know where they are, or you know you don’t have the space for. You’re not wasting money on expired items and you’re not wasting time looking for things, so you can devote that saved money for investments and saved time for productive activities.

15. You are a more joyful person. If you get all the 14 items above checked, then it’s impossible for you not to be joyful.

There, I hope I have convinced you to save yourself from stress, waste, and a not so joyful life. Start organizing your home, your finances, your life now. Cheers!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you haven’t seen our latest FQwentuhan with the organizer of celebrities, please click here. Part 2 is coming on Friday May 12, 2023

This article is also published in FQMom.com.

Attribution: Images from HGTV, Homedit, Womens Day, Cuba smart, SkinnyTaste