Article by Mitz Photo by popkaren

I don’t know what your life is like, however mine is an everyday rat race. Running around like an idiot, working, taking children here and there, cleaning, cooking, and volunteering. If you organize your life you will breeze through all your daily chores, save money, and be much happier!

There is no doubt that being unorganized causes unnecessary high stress levels and always definitely costs me money. The first and simplest way to save money for everyone is to make your lunch to take to school or work. With a household of 2 adults and two children, bought lunch can cost at least $30.00 a day, and that’s cheap! If you spent even just $10 during the week days on takeaway food all year it would cost $2,600.00. If you were organized you could save that money and use it more wisely.

My top tips for organizing your life

• Unclutter your house. Is anyone really ever happy to live in a pig sty? I don’t think so. If your house is a mess your life will become one too. Start on one cupboard or one room at a time. It really does make you feel good!
• Create a checklist of jobs and work your way through them. Don’t let unfinished jobs keep you awake at night. By the time you say you plan to do something, you probably could have already done it by now.
• Delegate a small job to each member of the family. Let them know why you are organizing your life and let them know the benefits to this. If they start to see a change and they like it, I am sure they will join in.
• Always have food in your fridge. Even if you have to freeze some meals.
• Throw out any papers that you do not need. Why have you got a household electrical bill from the year 2000. I am sure they know that the bill is paid by now. If you think you definitely will need that piece of paper, then keep it. A maybe is not a good reason to hold onto unnecessary paper.
• Help other family members to get organized in their own lives and then set rules for them to stick to. I have a simple rule for my children. If your room is clean you can have friends over, however if it is not clean, don’t even ask.
• Make work and school lunches the night before. That way you won’t be able to use the “run out of time factor” when you have to buy your lunch.
• Have a place for everything. Just think. Your family will never have to run around the house at the last minute looking for something important because they will know where it is. If my child brings something new into the house I always ask them where they are going to keep it? Everything has a place!
• Organize your wallet, handbag, and purse. This is a dead giveaway that you are an unorganized person.
• Organize your time. Time is money, and having no time will always cost .
• Clean your desk! Albert Einstein said “If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”

Feel free to comment and add your own organizing tips!

Mitz Pantic writes articles for various sites including Fill Your Money Box, Free Computer Help, Tips4pc, and more.

Businesses that are making more than enough money ignore the areas where savings can be made. They are often too busy to think about saving a mere dollar here and there. In this case you should delegate. You could almost employ someone like me just to do this job and I guarantee that I could pay my own wages with the savings.
Here are some of my money saving tips for a business

• Reduce waste. You would be amazed at what staff call rubbish. Do not let them decide what to throw out because they do no care. People are very careless and wasteful with items that they did not personally pay for.
• Organised roster – Overstaffing accounts for a huge waste of money in almost every business. Its all about knowing your business and understanding what is needed.
• Offer staff a chance to buy your product wholesale plus costs to reduce theft. Make your staff feel like they are privileged and let them have an unbelievable discount, therefore increasing the guilt factor if they do decide to steel something. The item was so cheap anyway!
• Ask your bank for a discount on merchant fees. If they say that they cannot do this then try another bank. After you have a few firm quotes in hand go back to your bank and see if they can beat it. Try and stay with the same bank, as changing can cause delays and problems that your business can’t afford! A small discount of 1% on merchant fees can add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars in savings.
• Hold a meeting with your staff and ask them for ideas on how to save your business some money. Give them an incentive. Shout the winner to out to lunch. This is a great way to get your employees to think hard and even sometimes realise what they are doing to waste money. You also get some great ideas to use and put to action.
• Don’t keep staff on when they are not doing their job to your standard. This is the biggest waste of money. Half a good staff member is worth two of these ones in a bush, doing nothing. I cannot stand people that conveniently avoid actually doing anything too strenuous. This is just as bad as steeling, because they are blatantly accepting wages for doing nothing at all.
• Monitor internet and phone usage in office situations. I must have spoken to at least 200 people over the years that use the bosses phone to call long distance relatives and friends. Most people also use work time to read emails and chat online. Just make sure you let everyone know that these are being monitored and then they cannot accuse you of spying or eaves dropping.
• Office supply stock. It really pays to have an office supply manager that is responsible for ordering and distributing office supplies throughout the office. You would be surprised at what staff will take home and waste at work. Unnecessary or mistakes with printing can cost big dollars.
• Employ your own computer geek. Do you know how much it is to pay a computer technician to fix a computer in your business. They cost a fortune. And everything is so much more expensive through them. I would hire a computer geek of my own. This way you know how much he costs because you already employ him. Computer geeks can usually do an array of other jobs as well.
• Free Advertising. One of the best forms of free advertising is word of mouth. Don’t ever let a rood or uncaring staff member ruin you reputation. The customer is going to remember the business name, not the person who was rood to them in the first place. One bad word can turn into 20 lost customers.
• Setup remote access for your staff. You would be amazed at how many people will complete work outside of working hours. Then they will be free for the next project.

I would love to here some of your ideas? There must be a million ways to save a dollar in business.