Capsule Wardrobes, Closet Cleanouts, and Pre-holiday Decluttering

This article was first featured in InRegister. Original Source.

Despite Louisiana feeling like an actual oven, summertime is nearly over. The days are getting shorter and schools are back in session. However, there is no need to succumb to summertime sadness, because fall is only a few short weeks away. Ah, the season of pumpkin spice and sweater weather. Well, not really the second one. The temptation to break out a cute sweater is almost unbearable, at least until you step outside. The South has no understanding of fall weather. So what do you do when it’s mid-November and still 90 degrees outside? 

“Have a capsule wardrobe,” says Martha-Carol Stewart, founder and CEO of Chaos Organizing. The versatility of classic, staple pieces will make seasonal transitions easier, while also creating more closet space. A win-win. 

Stewart, who started Chaos Organizing with a mission to help people organize their homes so that they could live efficiently, shares a few tips on how to calm your closet no matter what the wardrobe demands of the season require. The key, she says: Define your goal and then ask yourself if each item is helpful or hurtful toward your goal.

“You want your closet to feel like a happy place,” she says, not a room filled with clothes you no longer fit into. Create a pleasing aesthetic by using matching hangers, and organize by labeling and having a home for everything. “It simplifies life.”

Decluttering our homes is especially important during the fall as we prepare for the upcoming holiday season, Stewart notes. The holidays, she says, have a reputation of unforgivably filling homes with chaotic clutter. 

After all, tis the season of decorations, cooking, candy and, of course, presents. Yes, holidays mean peace and joy, but let’s be honest, they can be stressful. Think endless trips to the attic for decorations, desperate searches for the perfect presents, and wrapping paper everywhere. Basically, a clutter nightmare. How to ease the pain? Organize it.

“Your home needs to be a place of calm, peace and fun,” Stewart says. “Focus on more of the family, and less on the stuff.”

To avoid losing your sanity searching for Christmas presents, Stewart recommends gifting “experience gifts” like concert tickets, spa days and gift cards, instead of tangible items. This no-stress-needed method takes the worry out of shopping, and prevents the possibility of Christmas presents becoming clutter. 

“Emotions are more attached to experiences,” she says. “My son’s 18th birthday present was tickets to Paul McCartney, and he’ll never forget that.”

These types of experience gifts are about the gift of time, and creating memories that will last much longer than a scented candle or clothing.

Since spending time with family members is a staple of the holidays, Chaos Organizing is hosting a clinic to share their favorite holiday-decluttering tips to ensure that the season will be centered around family, not stress. The clinic will be held Tuesday, October 1, at The Royal Standard from 10 to 11 a.m. Stewart and her team of professionals will cover tips like decorating without clutter, organizing gift wrap and clutter-free gifts.

“My goal for this class is to each people how to find peace,” Stewart says. “My Christmases are so special now, and not anxiety ridden.”

Every day during the month of December, Chaos Organizing will post clutter-free gift ideas on its social media and blog posts. For more information about Chaos Organizing, and tips on how to create an organized home, click here.   

How Anxiety Rules Your Wallet

Written by: Ann Marie Stewart

I am an anxious person who thinks in circles like a dog chasing its tail. Just today, I had a near panic attack on posting for my blog because it was Wednesday and my post would run on Monday. I hadn’t written a word and so here I am, trying to write out my feelings. I have a litany of First World Problems like this that I subdue through various methods. I’ll get to that in a bit.

These heart-palpitating moments did bring up an opportunity for me to write about anxiety and money, so it wasn’t all bad. After all, who hasn’t felt anxiety over money? If you haven’t, you are missing out of some sweet lessons on how fear can simultaneously be your concierge motivator and paralyzer. Fun stuff. Hey, have you checked your credit score recently?

Money Anxiety Disorder

First of all, I guess there is a thing called “Money Anxiety Disorder” so let’s get comfortable with naming the beast. 

It was not without a bit of irony that the best information I got on the disorder comes from an article in Psychology Today (circa 2010) and a more recent one published by Experian (the credit score company). 

Bob Sullivan, a writer for Experian, and who has no degree in Psychology that I can tell, lists out habits that people with money anxiety disorder have such as hoarding money or things, overspending, being frugal to a fault, financial incest (sounds gross but it’s just controlling others with money), financial infidelity (saving or spending without your partner knowing about it), financial enabling (giving others money in a way that leads to dependency), and anxiety. 

Anxiety causes financial anxiety. Yep. I had to read that again too. 

What Sullivan explains is that in a Cornell University study (the link to this in the article led nowhere), people who suffered from anxiety and depression were less likely to put away for retirement. The darker side of this, it is explained, is that they may feel they aren’t going to live long enough to enjoy retirement. 

Now We Can All Feel Alone, Together

According to the Psychology Today article by Brad Klontz Psy.D., three out of four people will name money as their number one stressor and according to information cited by Bob Sullivan in the Experian article, 57 percent of people report that if they were asked to cover $500 unexpectedly that they would have to go into debt to do it. As an added bonus, in case you haven’t been told time and time again, having a problem with finances is one of the leading causes of divorce. So great, now you have more to be anxious about. 

How Stress Takes Money

I don’t know about you, but my former coping mechanisms all involved money. Retail therapy, a hefty gym membership, diet plans, late-night Amazon purchases, a long commute to a job that hired me first so I stopped looking for anything closer, and Diet Coke and the occasional bottle of wine all cost me money and gave back guilt with interest.

We didn’t have overdue bills and it wasn’t like I woke up one day, not knowing beforehand that we were $20,000 or so in debt. I had my excuses: not being able to work full time during student teaching, the cost of having two babies in less than two years, and getting a newer car than was necessary to fit two child seats. These were all choices, however. When we did come out of our fog of terror, we got real about our mistakes and our situation.

How We Conquered Our Finances and Our Stress

You know what we had to do to pay off our debt? We had to stop contributing to our retirement accounts. That was painful. It felt like we were admitting we weren’t quite ready to be adults yet. We then had to use all the money from our tax returns and extra income to pay down our debt. My husband worked a lot of overtime. I had to learn to cook more at home. We had to make a budget, cut up our credit cards, and get ready to stop having any fun. Two out of three ain’t bad.

During the two years it took to pay off our debt, we had so much fun. We minimized and made room in our home, we got really comfortable with the library, the children’s museum, and the zoo through the memberships we were gifted during Christmas. We biked to every park within a five mile radius, we played at free outdoor pools, and treated ourselves to 50-cent ice cream cones. I filled the calendar with every free kids event our city had to offer. It was beautiful.

Taking care of our finances is just a part of our daily life now. I use Dave Ramsey’s EveryDollar app and it has made budgeting and planning SO much easier. It’s worth the $9.99 per month. For some added incentive, listen to or view Ramsey’s podcast.

If you are interested in getting out of credit card debt and you aren’t sure about going down the rabbit hole that is Dave Ramsey, you might want to read this article by LendEdu on “How to Pay Off Credit Card Debt Fast.” This is honestly one of the fastest ways to gaining wealth. 

Ways to De-Stress That Don’t Cost Anything

When I “found minimalism,” I had to change my spending habits and this took some time. There are still some areas I can improve upon but here’s some things I do when I am anxious.

I Give Myself a Time Out. 

My children get a time-out when they are having issues with coping. Why shouldn’t I get one too? I tell my kids that mommy is taking a timeout and I go into my room, listen to music or read a bit of a book or an online article. 

I Take Our Dog for a Walk

Nature is the most wonderful space to get away from it all. Most respected geniuses took regular walks or runs in nature to help gain back their center. You and your dog will be happier for it. Granted, I only get to do this when my husband is at home because it wouldn’t be stress free if I took my children along. 

I Literally Tell My Negative Thoughts to Shut Up

Recently, while reading a book A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti, I was inspired by the protagonist’s practice of saying the word “Stop” to herself out loud to stop negative and harmful thoughts from taking over her consciousness. It works and it’s a relief.

I Listen to Music and Cook or Clean

This is something you do not because it is expected of you but because you WANT to do it. It’s like the errands thing. When someone suggests you run errands to take time for yourself, they are assigning work for you during the time when there should be no expectation of work. 

Your Challenge for This Week

Identify one financial struggle or insecurity you have. Do you spend too much on food or clothing? Are your bills piling up because you don’t have a budget? Do you spend when you are stressed?

Take this challenge and plan your attack. Can you scale back to eating out once a week or go clothes shopping once a month? What bills do you have and what is your game plan for paying down debt? Develop a budget. Where do you go when you are stressed? What might be a better, non-spend substitute?

Want to see more from our awesome guest blogger, Ann Marie Stewart?

For more on the topic of mental health and debt, check out this article by creditcards.com.

Tailgating Essentials to Start this Football Season Off Right

It’s the sweltering dog days of summer when cicadas sing lullabies and we watch the weather channel like crows watch the hen house, but we are excited because the new year is starting.  For us in the south, our new year starts on August 1st. Come August 1st, families start kissing the lazy days of summer goodbye as they become mindful of bedtime routines and getting children back on school sleep schedules.  Everything feels new at this time of year more so than January 1st ever could.

 The children are starting a new grade in school with new teachers and classmates. Many of our friends have moved into new homes over the summer break just to be ready for the start of the new year. And nothing is more refreshing than a new football schedule. Past losses are wiped free and anything is possible. There is a powerful feeling of hope at this time of year. It’s contagious and this is our South.

“College football is not like religion, it’s more important than that.”

-      Unknown

 We are not sure who coined that phrase, but it certainly goes a long way in describing how southerners feel about football. We absolutely love our football! Perhaps it’s the spirit of competition or the need to belong to something greater than ourselves, regardless the reason football is king in the South. From Friday night lights to college tailgating and NFL teams, we love it all.

 If there is anything to know about football in the South it’s that tailgating is serious business steeped in long traditions that vary by school. Whether you are at The Grove at Ole Miss or sailgating with the VOLS Navy on the Tennessee River before a game you are sure to discover the regional flavors that make these traditions so special.

To prepare for the start of this football season…

Here are some tailgating essentials:

• A perfect outfit in your team’s colors!

• A clear purse

• Sunglasses

• Sunscreen

• Bug Spray

• A hat

• Tent

• Folding chairs

• Folding table

• A wagon- to haul the goods if you are walking around

• An ice chest filled with your favorite beverages and lots of water because it’s HOT!

• Ice chest with (already prepared)food to grill.

• Bottle opener/Corkscrew

• Coozies

• Snacks

• Battery powered fan

• Hand wipes

• Hand sanitizer

• Small first aid kit

• Phone chargers

• Small bag for trash

• Tailgate grill (Fire extinguisher)

• Propane or charcoal

• Utensils/BBQ tools

• Paper goods (Plates, napkins, paper towels, cups)

• Speakers or entertainment system

• Games

• Extension cords

• Décor-flags, rugs, pom-poms or anything else needed to make your tailgate look like home!

• YOUR TICKETS!!

To pack an ice chest:

• Stack bottles and cans at the bottom of the ice chest.

• Pour fresh ice over cans and bottles

• Put tailgating food on top of ice in air tight containers

•  Large plastic tubs are great to store the non-perishable items throughout the year. Be sure to restock before putting them away so they are ready to go for the next home game.

Game day is almost here!  Check our Facebook and Instagram pages for pictures of our tailgating adventures and please share your tailgate pictures with us! 

 What would you add to this list?  Let us know!

And last but not least…Geaux Tigers and Geaux Cajuns!

There is Always Time for a Party in the South

And to close out our guest blogger series, Amber is talking about another favorite topic of ours, PARTIES!

Living in Taiwan has really been eye-opening. Particularly about how southerners truly do focus their lives around their homes and entertaining in their homes. In the south we love to entertain in our homes. However, in Taiwan it is customary to invite people out to a restaurant. The person who invites typically pays for the meal. This is largely due to the fact that many people live in apartments.

This has been a huge adjustment for my husband and I as we really love to entertain in our home. In the past when we purchased a home, one of the main features we considered is how well the house will work for entertaining.

I come from a really large family that celebrates everything together.  All of the parties throughout all of the years and all of the expected parties to come have contributed to my extensive collection of serving wear. Plates, bowls, wine buckets, candle holders, cake plates, you name it. I have all the holidays covered. Christmas, Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Easter, Derby, Summer parties, fiestas and so many other theme events contribute to these items I use once a year.

Years ago, I learned to purchase mostly white serving wear so I am able to use my fundamental pieces throughout all the seasons but let’s be real, even with these root pieces my collection continues to grow yearly.

The real challenge of owning all of these items is in how to store them. It’s a struggle because there are so many different shapes and sizes. Many pieces are downright bulky and hard to organize. They are sparsely used and take up significant space but bring such joy.

In my last home, I had a wonderful area under my staircase to store these items. Unless there is a designated place in my new home when I return to the states, I will definitely need the assistance of a professional organizer to help me in this area.

Sometimes knowing what to do isn’t enough. Sometimes we need a little help with the things we are really good at doing.

There are reasons superheroes have sidekicks. Sometimes we just can’t tackle the world alone and that is ok. So even if organizing is your superpower there will be times and areas where you will struggle and can benefit from some help. These are the times to consider the value of hiring someone to help bring peace to your family. Life is easier when everything has a place. Find that peaceful easy feeling by hiring a professional organizer.

Holiday Time

Amber is back and talking about one of our personal favorite organizing topics!

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Do your organizing superpowers leave you on January 6th as quickly as Santa passing on his sleigh Christmas morning?

We are so eager to put out our Christmas decorations. The Thanksgiving turkey has barely cooled when many of us start displaying every Santa we own. We decorate beautiful trees with ornaments we’ve collected over the years. We adorn our mantles and doors with garland and wreaths. We light candles to make our home smell like gingerbread and Christmas trees. We shop for the perfect gifts then wrap them in beautiful paper with coordinating bows. Some of us go so far as to coordinate the wrapping paper and bows with our home décor. We plan. Oh, how we plan and it brings us such joy! We love everything about this holiday…

Until the beginning of January when all that planning and care goes straight out of the window!

Insert images of moving into your home here! Boxes, attics, yes, images of moving can quickly cloud our organizational sensibilities. Just get it put away, right? The holidays are exhausting and a new year is upon us. It’s time to move on.

Most of us are guilty of getting our boxes out of the attic and literally filling them with whatever fits into whichever box. We put things in spare shopping bags or leftover gift bags and haphazardly haul it all back into the attic vowing to reorganize everything “when we have time” so next year will be the first year of blissful holiday organization. It will be another piece of the holiday magic. Toy soldiers lined up waiting to be displayed.

The problem is we never find time to haul that stuff back down from the attic. The cute red and green containers we dream about are gone from the stores along with the holiday decorations and once again we say “next year”. “Next year” we are greeted with a hurricane of mismatched, unorganized boxes, crumpled bows, broken ornaments, etc. Wouldn’t it be great to schedule time after the Christmas rush to have a professional organizer come in and help?

A professional organizer can help you get your holiday decorations organized into the proper containers and label everything. A professional can help you create a system to keep track of what you own and what areas you might wish to enhance so when the new decorations arrive in the stores you won’t be tempted to make that impulsive buy and will actually purchase the items you need.

This is the gift I wish to receive!

Get a hard start on your gift giving this year and give the gift of a professional organizer to your loved ones! They’ll be grateful you did!