One local website shops the sales flyers for you, making it easy to find the best deals.  SouthernSavers.com posts weekly ad prices and rebates from office supply stores, big box retailers and drugstores.  You can even create a printable list to make your shopping trips more efficient.

Getting organized is more than eliminating clutter and creating neat storage systems. One of the most important areas of organizing is task management. It's never too early (or too late) to teach kids how to get and stay organized with schoolwork. The skills they learn now will carry over into high school, college, and ultimately, their careers and home management as adults.

Establish a great homework routine. With your child, determine the best time for daily school work and stick with it. For some kids, it will be right after school. Others may need some downtime to play, and then it's time to hit the books. The most important thing is to stick to the schedule so your child knows what's expected.

Set up the space. Have a designated study area, such as the kitchen table. But for unique assignments, allow for some flexibility such as moving to a rocking chair for reading chapter books. Create a school supply box and keep it well stocked with supplies (paper, pens, pencils, crayons, scissors, glue, ruler, sticky notes, calculator, etc.) so kids don't have an excuse to get up.

Make sure you know what's going on at school. Instruct children to unload their backpacks as soon as they come home. Have them hang up their bags in a designated area (try a coat rack, pegs on the wall, or a wicker laundry basket near the front door). This allows for easy access the next day. They should bring homework to the designated study area. Check in each day so you're aware of their workload and take special care when they seem overwhelmed.

Encourage the use of lists and planners. The older kids get, the more homework and activities they'll have. Teach them to manage their tasks with the use of simple lists or a planner/calendar of some sort. Office supply stores sell ones with cute kid-friendly designs and schools often provide or sell them. Use computer lists or PDAs for techie kids. When they learn of upcoming assignments, tests, or events, they should write them down in their planners.

Encourage color coding. Color affects our mood and memory. Let kids pick the colors of their folders and notebooks to correspond to different classes. If green reminds them of science, then they'll know instantly to grab the green notebook when looking for their science notes.

 

What does it really mean to simplify? Do you have to give up all of your worldly possessions and move to a hut in the woods? Not exactly. Simplifying is about having enough without having too much - cutting back on unnecessary spending, slowing down, and focusing on your true priorities. For one person, this means working fewer hours, a cut in pay, and more time with the kids. Another may choose to move closer to work, buy a smaller home, and clean out some unused junk. And a third person might just start saying no to the daily barrage of requests from other people.

 

 

Take a look at your life. Where do you see excess around you? Is your life cluttered with things you don't need or use? Is your schedule so full that you have no free time for yourself? These are a few good places to begin purging and simplifying.

Try to simplify one area of your life - your job, your home, your spending - at a time. If you do too much at once, you'll just be overwhelmed. And tackle the biggest thorn in your side first. Then you can move on to the next item.

Make a list of small changes that you can immediately put into place. If you want less stuff, clean a few things out of your junk closet. Then, you can consider bigger changes, like trimming down to one car or moving to a smaller house.