Got a stash of old cellphones, video game players, cameras, e-Readers, laptops or other electronic devices cluttering up your space? If you do, then now is a great time to do some Spring cleaning & decluttering and get cash for your stash at the same time. Online companies like NextWorth and Gazelle make it easy and convenient for you to get additional value out of your used electronics equipment, while being environmentally responsible by keeping them out of the landfills.

Here’s how it works. Go to the website, list what you have to sell and receive back an offer. If you like the price you’re offered and accept it, you’ll receive a check, a Pay Pal credit card or a gift card and your electronics will be refurbished and resold or recycled. Warning: remove all of your personal data from any devices you sell before sending them on their way to new users.

Getting – and staying – organized don’t happen overnight and they aren’t always easy to achieve, but they can be well worth the effort. Almost everyone has his or her own reasons for wanting or needing to get organized. If, however, you fail to see why getting organized is so important, perhaps one, some or all(!) of the reasons on this list will enlighten, inspire and motivate you to bring more order and organization to your life.

11 GREAT REASONS TO GET ORGANIZED

• Reduce stress – A clean, clutter-free, organized space helps to lower stress and generally improve your health.
• Save time – You won’t waste valuable minutes or hours searching for lost or misplaced items. You’ll have more time to spend with loved ones or doing things you really want to do.
• Save money – No more late payment fees. No more purchasing duplicates of items you know you have but can’t locate.
• Regain your energy – Clutter is a drain on you physically, mentally and emotionally. Clearing it out helps you to regain your vitality and enthusiasm.
• Increase productivity and efficiency – You’ll meet deadlines, keep appointments and be able to devote more time, attention and energy to the things you really need or want to do.
• Make money – Sell your clutter and turn it into cash. Save or spend it on something you truly want or need. At work, you’ll do your job better if you’re organized and will be more likely to get a promotion.
• Be a good influence – Children learn what they live. Set a positive example by modeling good organization for them and you’ll impart a valuable life skill.
• Be proud – A clutter-free space is something to be proud of so invite people over. Share it with them and enjoy!
• Increase your self-confidence – You’ll feel better about yourself because you’re able to function at a high level.
• Eat better – Planning meals and grocery shopping are easier when you’re organized. Cooking is more enjoyable – and more likely to happen – in an organized kitchen.
• Safety – Removing unneeded and potentially dangerous items will help to create a safer environment for everyone using the space: yourself, a child or other loved ones, a person of limited mobility, a pet or a co-worker.

As you can see, the benefits of living an orderly life are many. Get organized now and experience them for yourself!

Here’s what InStyle Magazine had to say in their November 2009 issue about My Style Fashion Assistant, an app for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch.

“Macworld.com’s App Guide reviews more than 73,000 iPhone apps now available to download on iTunes. We’ve combed through them to find the best ones for shopping, saving and amping up your style.

We love this app, which acts as your very own stylist. It keeps track of what you have, what you wear, what you want, and it allows you to mix and match it all. It even helps you plan for trips – it’s the ultimate fashion organizer!”

Features include:

* Take Pictures Of Your Clothing, Shoes, Accessories & Bags
* Add Items To Your Closet Or Personal Fitting Room
* Mix-&-Match Items With The Revolutionary 3-Panel Slider
* Create Outfits For Every Occasion
* Window Shop Online
* Item & Outfit Calendars
* Get Fashion Feedback From Friends
* Take Your Wardrobe With You Everywhere
* Organize Outfits In Specific Lifestyle Categories
* Plan For That Upcoming Trip, Event Or Special Occasion
* Get Expert Fashion Tips
* Receive Savings From My Style Retail Partners

If you’ve ever stood in front of your jam-packed closets wondering what to wear or bought the same item multiple times because you couldn’t find the original one, this app is for you. Save money and reduce the clutter in your closets by making the most out of your wardrobe with My Style Fashion Assistant. You’ll never had to say “I don’t have anything to wear!” again.

If you don’t already know about RetailMeNot.com, trust me, you’ll want to. RetailMeNot provides 400,000 online and printable discounts for 100,000 retailers and manufacturers; more than all the other top coupon sites combined. I have personally used them and been very pleased by the money that I’ve saved. Here’s a sampling of the companies they offer discounts for:

• Barnes and Noble
• Amazon
• J. C. Penney
• Papa John’s Pizza
• Victoria’s Secret
• L. L. Bean
• Toys r Us
• Babies R Us
• Bloomingdale’s
• The Limited
• Drugstore.com
• Kohl’s
• Target
• Gap
• Urban Outfitters
• 1-800-Flowers.com
• Old Navy
• Macy’s
• Walmart
• Pizza Hut
• Sears
• Bath and Body Works
• Best Buy
• Domino’s Pizza
• Go Daddy
• Turbo Tax
• Walgreen’s
• Zale’s
• Saks Fifth Avenue
• Home Depot
• Blockbuster

Need I say more?

Bricks & mortar and online stores are both hoping you’ll spend more than you meant to and they’re expert at making it easy for you to do just that. BEFORE YOU GO SHOPPING, make a list of what you need to buy and stick to it. Watch out for the following traps:

* Free gift with purchase. If you’re spending more than you had intended just to get a “free” gift, then it’s really not so free after all, is it? Think about it.

* Free shipping. Ditto.

* It’s on sale. If you didn’t plan to buy it in the first place, it doesn’t matter what the price is, it’s not a bargain! Stop clutter where it starts…at the store!

* Bigger is better. Not if you really don’t need it in the jumbo size! And not if it takes you two years to go through a package of twelve and you really can’t afford to spare the space for them for that long!

* If one is good, two is better. Don’t buy an item in every color unless you really will use them all!

We live in a consumer society and

• You use shopping as “recreation” and “retail therapy” without a budget or limits on what you spend.
• You have several items in your wardrobe that still have labels on them after a year.
• You are afraid to look at your credit card bills and total up your credit card debt.
• You’ve been borrowing from one credit line to pay back another.
• You frequently pick up the check and/or buy things for people even though you can’t really afford it.
• You have more supplies for your hobby (i.e. scrapbooking, fishing, etc.) than you will ever have time enough to use.
• You hide your spending / purchases from people you live with.
• You worry constantly about whether or not you can pay your bills.
• You rarely, if ever walk into a store without buying several things you didn’t intend to buy.
• When your spouse or partner disappoints you or hurts you, you get “revenge” by shopping or spending a lot of money.
• You think about shopping and spending money even when you are not shopping.
• You have tried to limit your shopping, but can’t.

If your clutter issues stem chiefly from shopping, here are a few helpful tips to change that reality so you can conquer your clutter once and for all.

1. Be aware of how you feel. If you use shopping, and specifically BUYING to alter your mood, notice it! If buying something new gives you an emotional high that temporarily takes you away from your troubles, makes you feel safe, worthy, loved, or gives you some other rush, it’s important to be aware of it. Once you’re aware of why you’re buying, you can take other steps to make yourself feel better besides buying. I would recommend a few sessions with a counselor, a hypnotist, or therapist to get to the root of your buying.

2. Imagine yourself at home. When you’re OUT of your cluttered home and inside the gorgeous four walls of Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel, it’s easy to forget how stressed your home makes you. Again, that’s the idea. They WANT you to forget about your house and just open your wallet. And listen, when you really need something, great. Go buy it! But before you do, vividly imagine yourself back at your house with your new “thing”. Where in your already cluttered home will your new thing live? Who will clean it? How much space will it consume? What will it give you back? How long will it be valuable? Asking yourself these questions will help you make better buying decisions.

3. Calculate the TIME cost. If money isn’t a motivator for you, and unnecessary spending doesn’t inspire you to reduce your shopping, think of how much TIME your new “thing” will cost you. Let’s say you make $20 per hour, and your new “thing” costs $100. In time currency, your new thing will cost you FIVE HOURS of your life. Thinking of new purchases in this way will help you decide if you REALLY need it or if you just want it to make yourself feel better.

The next time you’re out shopping, try these simple tips and see if it doesn’t help shift your shopping mindset so you can make better, more powerful choices and reduce the clutter in your life.

This past weekend, The New York Times ran an interesting article on how the downturn in the economy is affecting the self-storage industry. Not surprisingly, it confirms what I and my fellow organizers already know: the vast majority of storage units contain mostly clutter.

Since the start of the recession, occupancies at storage facilities nationwide are down 2-3%. While not a big drop, apparently it has shaken an industry that has always thought of itself as recession-resistant, if not recession-proof.

Here are some quotes from the article:

“After a monumental building boom, the United States now has 2.3 billion square feet of self-storage space. (The Self Storage Association notes that, with more than seven square feet for every man, woman and child, it’s now “physically possible that every American could stand — all at the same time — under the total canopy of self-storage roofing.”)”

“A Self Storage Association study showed that, by 2007, the once-quintessential client — the family in the middle of a move, using storage to solve a short-term, logistical problem — had lost its majority. Fifty percent of renters were now simply storing what wouldn’t fit in their homes — even though the size of the average American house had almost doubled in the previous 50 years, to 2,300 square feet.”

“Human laziness has always been a big friend of self-storage operators,” Derek Naylor, president of the consultant group Storage Marketing Solutions, told me. “Because once they’re in, nobody likes to spend all day moving their stuff out of storage. As long as they can afford it, and feel psychologically that they can afford it, they’ll leave that stuff in there forever.”

If you rent self-storage space, I dare you to multiply what your storage space costs by the number of months you’ve been renting it. Okay, now that you’ve picked yourself up off of the floor, do you even remember what you have in storage? Think about what you could have done with that money instead of lining the pockets of the storage industry with it.

I urge you to read the entire article. It’s fascinating and may provide just the inspiration you need to go clean out your storage space! Hire an organizer to help, if you need, too, but get it done!

The simple yet effective design and unique combination of water resistant backing, super soft front fabrics and sewn on ribbon ties of Rain or Shine Kids 5-in-1 WooBee protective blankets allows parents to use them seamlessly for 5 major everyday functions: attach to the stroller, secure to a carrier, tie to infant car seat, tie around to use as a nursing cover and use as an outside play mat/changing pad. These blankets are a perfect gift for the new family on the go.

Classic series – Thick plush fabrics in baby soft pink, sky, lilac and cream with a classic chocolate water resistant backing.

Print series - These fun, funky and cool prints are a favorite of parents and children. The ranch, camouflage and leopard prints make rock stars and cowhands out of your favorite baby. This fabric is virtually impossible to stain and super smooth to the touch.