Organization Quest

Back on Track: The Great Makeup Re-Org

So with the little drama of my (failed) attempt to craft drawer dividers now firmly in the past, it's time to pick up the pace and get on with organizing the makeup drawer, already. 

This project was so out of control, with makeup piled on the bathroom counter, makeup toppled on the vanity and crammed in the drawers, makeup stacked and tucked and jammed in any number of places, I wondered if a person in the midst of organizing their makeup had been the one to coin the term "driven to drink." Because that's pretty much how I was feeling.

Instead, I decided to push my dread aside and Just Start Somewhere.  Here's some techniques that helped get me started and to build up some momentum:

Decide What Will Make The Biggest Impact and Start There

This is related to the Ground Zero approach of deciding what bothers you the most and tackling that first.  Normally in a project of this type, I like to tackle a drawer first, which in turn makes room for more things to be put away, but the vanity top was so chaotic, I decided to start there.

Decide on the No-Brainer Throw-Aways

Some things are harder to get rid of than others.  Whether going through paperwork, clothes, books, or cosmetics, I find the job is easier if I establish a few ground rules about things I know I don't want.  In the case of cosmetics,  here's my short list of No-Brainer Throw-Away items:

• Anything that has a weird smell = serious microbial infestation.  This isn't up for debate, folks.  Get rid of it. 
• Strange textures: eye pencils that have dried up or hardened, gummy lip glosses, foundation that has developed a sludge-like quality.  
• Containers that have just a teeny-tiny bit of product left to them so that using them is an unpleasant or otherwise frustrating experience.  If you like the product so much, write down the manufacturer and the color for future reference.
• Just-in-case supplies I actually don't like and have never used.
• Packaging of all types:  cosmetic boxes, tissue paper, advertising materials, and package inserts.
• Old eye makeup applicators.
• Sad, worn-out little freebie bags.
• Brushes that come free with blush.
• Fragrance samples (I'm often allergic and have to be careful about what I try on).

 
My enormous throw-out pile. And this was just from the top of the vanity!

Separate out into Piles

At first I keep it simple, with three piles:  throw out, keep, and "maybe".

Decide How to Deal with the "Maybe" Pile

The rejects and the keepers are easy to deal with; it's the "maybe" that tends to cause problems.  Here are four ways I deal with my "maybe" pile:

• If I just can't force myself to toss a particular product, I give in and keep it--but with a caveat:  I make myself wear it.  Sometimes I'm surprised and re-discover an old favorite.  Other times, I can't wash my face fast enough.  And in this way, the "maybe" is quickly re-assigned as a reject or a keeper.
• Second-string cosmetics--not favorites but useful in their own right--make great little "kits" to store in an office drawer or purse.
• Any season-specific cosmetics--i.e. bronzing powder, the lip gloss or nail polish that looks great when you have a tan, etc., get put in it's own little season-specific bag.
• Any other cosmetics that I want to keep but I'm not currently using get assigned to group-specific bags:  eye shadows, blush/power/and foundation, and lipsticks/gloss, and lip liners.

My "After" pix of the top of the vanity: So much better! (Note: the "keepers" seen here are actually going to make their way into the vanity drawer, when I get to that part of the project.)

How Being Cheap Got Me In a Whole Lot of Trouble

All right: those of you who've followed the Quest know that there are few things I love more than saving money.  "You could make a penny cry," is what my office mate says, which I thought was a compliment until he advised me otherwise.  Anyway. 

So this week was slated to be Makeup Drawer week on the Quest.  I make up my list of posts and rounded up the usual suspects:  expiration guidelines for cosmetics, blah blah. Links to the Center of Disease Control on the dangers of using old mascara (pink eye) and sharing lip gloss (herpes).  Before-and-after pics of my makeup drawer makeover, complete with the O-Quest pig scale and as an extra special treat, pix of the enormous pile of junk I threw out.  How to part with that jet black (or blue, or pink) eyeliner you'd never, ever wear again, never mind that it was your favorite product when you were 14.  Good, substantive topics for the Quest, but something was missing.  And then inspiration hit:  what was really needed was a makeup organizer--something cute, cool, and totally customizable, and what's more:  something you can make yourself!  At home!  For, like, a dollar! 

And before you could say "wouldn't it be easier to just buy something at the Container Store?" I was digging out the foam core left over from my design school days, along with rubber cement, cutting mat, ruler, and craft knife.  Because I had been taught that Using a Dull Blade Can Be Very Dangerous, I inserted a new one, so, you, know, it would be really, really sharp.  Because apparently a really, really sharp blade is much safer than a dull one, or at least that's what I tried explaining to the  ER doctor in-between stitches. "I'm not sure I understand," the doctor said, "what was the Xacto doing in the makeup drawer?"

"Not in the drawer," the nurse corrected the doctor and sighed while I yet again described how to make customizable drawer inserts with foam core.  In the end, I got four stitches, but at least I de-junked my make-up drawer first, nevermind nothing is in it because, well, I didn't get to that part yet.  Maybe I'll go to the Container Store this weekend, after all.  Even the fanciest drawer inserts have gotta be cheaper than a trip to the ER.

Not for the faint-hearted: scroll (way) down

 

 

The Quest Temporarily On Hold Due to Minor Injury

Hi everyone!

Just a quick post as I have to type one-handed at the moment.  I injured my hand yesterday (yes! in service of the Quest! which will make a most excellent post in the near future!) but hope to be back on the Quest in a day or two.  In the meantime, wishing you a happy and productive week--

Anne-Marie

This Week on The Quest: The Makeup Drawer

Okay, I know some of you are thinking:  an entire week?  on a drawer?  Truth be told, I don't have a makeup drawer--cosmetic vault is more like it, including but not limited to an old-fashioned, five-drawer vanity big enough to store several thousand lipsticks.  What else?  Three medicine cabinets.  Two hatboxes. A few drawers here and there in my study.  The counter in the master bath.  The top of a chest of drawers and the top of the aforementioned vanity. A couple large ceramic pots. Some storage boxes.   And still I run out of room and have to steal space in Alpay's closet.  "You can have half the shelf back if you start buying eye shadow," I'll say, but Alpay remains unmoved by the promise.

While so many areas have improved since I started my Quest to Get Organized last summer, the state of not just my cosmetics but all manner of cleansers, lotions, haircare, pharmaceuticals, and personal grooming supplies has gotten much, much worse, especially in the last few months, when I've essentially given up any semblance of putting such things away in favor of heaping supplies willy-nilly on any available flat surface.  It's been bad, folks.  There's a reason the house-painter hasn't been invited back after painting exactly one-half of the bedroom.  Because look what I would have to move in order for him to finish the job:

Obviously, things are out of control. 

So that's what's up this week: I've decided to give my cosmetics a super-thorough shake down and encourage you to join me.  In the process, we'll review storage guidelines, expiration recommendations, and safety tips, as well as strategies to nudge you along in keep-or-toss decisions, products to help organize and corral supplies, and techniques to restore and maintain order. 

Lickity Split is Glad File Week is Over

 
My ferocious kitty (actually, I just caught him mid-yawn!)

Paperwork Associated With Tasks: An Alternate Approach

Last night I outlined the new process that I've been using that seems to  work in terms of getting things done and not losing paperwork associated with tasks.  While I stand by my new system of keeping a limited number of unlabeled files with the thought of going through them regularly (i.e. at least three or four times a week as time permits) one of my goals with this blog is to try to generate additional approaches or ideas that might be useful to others. 

I can definitely see the appeal, for instance, of creating permanent "to-do" folders with set categories that are labeled accordingly.  I've tried this approach myself a number of times, but for me what happens is that as soon as I've "filed" something in that way, I experience it not as a "to do" but as "done".  What I like about  my new approach is how the striped-pattern folders hold a special meaning for me, specifically, "this is something you need to do."  And I like going through the folders often--at least every other day--and seeing what I can do in the time I have available.  This is altogether a different approach than the old "standing folders" strategy, which I'll outline below.

The idea of "standing to-do folders," is to identify those categories that you often encounter in terms of tasks or to-dos.  You then make folders accordingly.  One advantage of this approach is that since these folders are permanent--unlike my new system where the content of the folders is undergoing a constant turnover--you can actually label the folders, which is nice. 

To help you get started, here's a list of categories I might use, if I was using the standing to-do folder approach:

• Calls
• Correspondence
• Events
• Files to Make
• Numbers to Input
• Review
• Read

Even with this list, however, it's interesting to note that several items mentioned in yesterday's post don't really fit in any of these categories (i.e. the need to enable a PIN or to order airline tickets).  The refusal for such tasks to fit into easy categories is another reason why I think the standing to-do folder technique failed for me.  If any readers have had success with this technique, I would love to hear your story.

Task Files In Action: A Demo

When I went through the piles of papers on my desk, on my hatboxes, and tucked in three boxes this past weekend, I discovered a mountain of coulda-woulda-shoulda's; some, like filing my '08 flex spending claims by the April 30 deadline, weren't too late to do.  But the close call got me thinking about how I need to come up with a better way to manage my tasks so that they actually get done.

Yesterday I wrote about  the importance of separating out paperwork associated with tasks from that associated with archival records, and that I decided to use a limited number of pretty folders to help me organize the tasks at hand. To give you an idea for what kind of tasks I'm referring to, here's what ended up in the first round 12 task folders:

1. An explanation of benefits spanning February through March of this year, detailing a service I didn't recall getting.  I also had a question about the dates of coverage for the particular insurance.
2. A phone number to call to provide a reference.
3. A PIN number sent some time in March with instructions on how to enable it.
4. Paperwork that reminded me that I'd intended to write a thank you note to someone in early April.
5. An outdated list of my planned vacation days for this year.
6. A few numbers I intended to record regarding a goal.
7. A business card, several phone numbers, an email address, and two holiday card envelopes with return addresses, all of which all need to be written into my address book.
8. A scrap from an old notebook with information about an old  account I'd been wanting to check but forgot how to access.
9. A credit card bill from March that I'd been meaning to look over.
10. Things for which permanent files need to be created.
11. Notes on airline tickets I need to get.
12. An invitation to a charity event, a brochure from the ballet on next year's program, and a brochure on a summer outdoor concert series.

These are the items that I came across first when going through the stacks of paperwork.  I actually ended up with perhaps 30 more tasks that do need to get done at some point, but none of these other tasks were particularly pressing, so I kept to the first 12 folders I created.  In each, I added a piece of copy paper and wrote a quick note as to what, exactly, to do, (i.e. for #5, I wrote: "print updated list and input dates in planner." I then set aside some time after work on Monday to devote to the task pile.

In a little less than an hour, I called my insurance company (task #1, above), provided the promised reference (task #2), enabled the PIN (task #3), wrote and sent the thank you note (task #4), checked the old account (task #8), and decided which events I was interesting in going to (task #12) so I could hand the event file to Alpay for him to look at. In all, I completed items in half of the folders, which I then cleared out and filled with the paperwork associated with other tasks that were in danger of being overlooked before I had a system in place to capture them.

 
I actually decided to keep the files on my desk, in the place where I used to jam paper without first looking at it.  The difference:  this area is now reserved for task items, with priority to those in the folders (task paperwork not yet assigned to a folder is tucked behind the folders, as seen in the picture, above right).  As I make my way through the tasks in the folders, the paperwork is either tossed/shredded or filed, making room for new tasks to be transferred into folders. 

Filing Strategies: Separating Tasks from Records and What to Do With Each

Yesterday I wrote about filing strategies that just don't work. One common mistake is the habit of mixing paperwork associated with tasks with paperwork kept for archival or record-keeping purposes. Other efficiency-busters: "pre-filing" paperwork in a temporary file box instead of filing it straight-away in its permanent file; "stash-and-dash" filing, in which paperwork is not dealt with or processed but stored in attractive files or other containers with the vague, optimistic intention of getting to it, eventually; and "non-filing," or letting piles creep up to the point that  your entire desk reassembles a gigantic in-box. Happily, there's a solution for every problem, at least when it comes to organizing.  Here are some techniques that have been working out well for me:

Separate Tasks from Filing

Basically, there are three types of paperwork:

1. trash: envelopes, advertisements that come with bills, fliers for events you're not interested in, coupons for products you don't use or stores you don't frequent, duplicates, old or outdated materials, numbers or notes you no longer need, manuals, receipts, or warranties from products you no longer own, etc. 
2. things to file: receipts and records associated with taxes, warranties and owners manuals, notes and research for projects, account information, financial records, significant correspondence, appraisals, product information, insurance policies, cv or resume, benefit information, dental, health, and immunization records, etc.
3. things to act on: names, numbers, and addresses to input; accounts to reconcile; calls to make; correspondence (rsvps, thank you notes, job applications, birthday cards, recommentations, invitations) to write; numbers to check; questions to ask; decisions to make; products to register; policies to review; things to return or exchange; taxes or claims to file; new files to make.

Group Like with Like

As you separate the things you need to act on from that which you need to file, go ahead and make loose groupings of categories--all banking stuff goes together, as with work-related stuff or things associated for a particular class or hobby.  I stop processing paper once I have a good-sized pile--about 2" or 3"--that needs filing.  Because everything in the "file pile"  has already been vetted and confirmed (i.e. it's not trash and it isn't something that needs immediate action), I know what to do with it and where it will go.   (Note:  if I don't know what to do something or if I need to make a new file for it, the item goes into the "action/task" pile, instead.)  I then start digging through the file pile, pulling out five to ten items at a time to file so as to break the project into manageable chunks. With like items grouped loosely together in the pile, the filing goes even more quickly.

Stashing leftover unfiled items in a box or "to file" file doesn't work for me; I just end up forgetting about the stuff.  So I try to go through only the amount of things I'm able to process/file at any given time.  If I don't have the time to file everything I've processed, I've been leaving the pile on my desk to process as I have the time.

Put Grouped Action Items In Their Own Folder

This was the real toughie:  what to do with the stuff you need to do something with?  David Allen in his book, Getting Things Done recommends putting "action items" in their own separate folder, but I balked at the details: Allen recommends having unlimited (i.e. hundreds) of plain manila folders on hand, each containing their one designated task, the name of which you print with the aid of a label-maker.  Folks, this is just too much work.  Plus:  plain manila envelopes are ugly.  And:  wouldn't most people be overwhelmed with so many folders in front of them?

And yet: the system has its advantages.  To-do's are often associated with paperwork--numbers, receipts, notes, bills, proof of purchase, service records, etc.  And so it makes sense to have a file for to-do's, in addition to the more familiar to-do list.  But surely you don't need hundreds of files? Especially ugly files?  With computer-printed labels? 

As I made my way through my own piles, I decided I would: 

1. Group actions items like-with-like (i.e. numbers to file; files to make; concert tickets to order), one group of actions per file.
2. Use pretty files; in my case, I had some wonderful striped files I'd been saving up.  The smooth texture and lovely colors give a little lift to task-list chores, and they are pretty enough to store on or near my desk. I decided to use "interior" file folders for tasks, while archived information is stored in hanging folders in a nearby file cart.
3. Limit the number of action files.  In my case, I limit my action files to the 12 pretty ones that came as a set. I find this keeps me focused and prevents me from feeling overwhelmed.  Once the 12 files are all used, I set aside some time to do the tasks at hand, which assures things gets done and provides a steady turn-over for the task files. 
4. Skip labels.  Since I only have 12 action files open at any given time, I save time and don't bother with labels.  After I complete the task at hand, I either toss/shred the info in the task file, or I file it away permanently in a hanging file.  I then re-use the task file for a new task.
5. Drop a piece of plain copy paper or organizer paper in each of the task folders and quickly jot down the task, i.e. "Call insurance agent about rate increase."  I've found this helps immensely, as it's easy to forget what task, exactly, I intended to do.  In the above example, for instance, an insurance bill in a task folder could mean anything from asking about a good driver's incentive to arranging for more (or less) coverage, adding a driver, or clarifying a policy.  By writing the task out, you make it easier to delegate the task to someone else;  you also create a designated place to take notes and capture key information that may arise in the process.

Tomorrow I'll demonstrate task folders in action to provide a few examples and help you brainstorm ways you can use task folders to help get things done.

Processing Paper: What Hasn't Worked in the Past, and Why

This past weekend I decided to Get Serious about the paper mess that has yet again accumulated on and around my desk.  As I made my way through pile after pile, I realized the papers represented two main categories:  things to toss-or-file, and things to act on or do.

In fact, this distinction is a key point in David Allen's book, Getting Things Done, a fact that went over my head when I first read the book in the fall.  This time in dealing with my (considerably less supreme) paper mess, I could see the difference between the owner's manuals and tax receiptsand health records--archival information, in other words, that merely needed to be put away--and the flier from the ballet, an invitation to an event, a scribbled phone number, and the explanation of benefits from my insurance for a service I didn't recall having.  These were things that required action--to decide whether or not to get tickets, to RSVP, to input the phone number in my address book, or call to investigate the claim. 

Seeing both the archival information and what Allen calls "actionable items" jumbled together, I began to see the mistakes I've made in the past when it comes to processing paper.  In doing so, I could better understand how to apply some of the tips and techniques Allen proposes.

Mistake #1:  Jamming files willy-nilly with paperwork of all types, subjects, and purposes, in an effort to reign in paper mess.

This was bad, folks.  It's the paper equivalent of the stash-and-dash: just grab anything and everything and stuff it in these cute folders.  In my defense, I did not delude myself into thinking things were actually "filed" in this way.  My delusion was that "at least this looks a little better--and I'll eventually get around to filing this!"

What's the problem with this approach? What's right about it?  What needed to get tossed never got tossed, the archival information never got filed, and the to-do's never got done. 

Mistake #2: (semi) filing items in a temporary "holding" box after making the original keep-or-purge decisions.

 

 

I know:  some people can fit their entire filing system in such a box.  And if I could fit all my files in this box, there'd be absolutely nothing wrong with storing my archival information in it. But I am not one of those people, folks.  This could hold six months worth of files. Maybe.

What's the problem with this approach?  In this case, the problem is two-fold:  yet again, I have tasks intermingled with archival information.  The other problem is the rather pointless and time-consuming half-measure of semi-filing items under the letter in the alphabet, before transferring them to their proper/permanent file. 

Mistake #3: Treating the entire desk top like an enormous in-basket.

I have all this stuff to go through, where should I put it?  Oh, there's a place here!  In-between these two boxes!  Perfect!  I'll never find it now!

This approach begs two questions:  What am I thinking?  and: Will I ever learn?

 Tasks undifferentiated from archival information--is there a pattern here?  As we saw in Mistake #1, undifferentiated piles = to-do's not done, and files not filed.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see the three techniques that are helping to turn my paper mess around.

Fighting The Paper Monster

Since starting my Organization Quest last July, I've made great strides in some areas, which I've been able to maintain and keep up easily enough. Take the medicine cabinets:  once organized they've pretty much stayed organized.  Same with the cabinet underneath the sink.  The craft closet needs straightening every now and then, but mostly just the lower drawers the kittens still get into.  The clothes closet is mostly organized, while my shoe closet is a study in precision.  But the one area I can't seem to get--and keep--a grip on is the never-ending paper piles.

Why, exactly, is paper such a problem?  Unlike craft items, or clothes or shoes or medicine cabinet supplies, paper in all its permutations--receipts and catalogs, junk mail, bills and fliers, coupons and notices, statements and policies--keep coming at you, with nary an effort on your part.  You don't have to go out and seek paper; it will find you.  And then it's those endless decisions:  do I need this?  What should I do with this?  How should I file it?  How long should I keep it?  How will I know when to get rid of it?  etc. etc. etc. It's questions like these that drives a person to snack cakes, nevermind that the word "creme" is a synonym for motor oil.

In spite of this, I decided last weekend that  I needed a "desk day" to take care of outstanding paperwork and file some things away. Three hours into the project, I changed my mind:  forget a "desk day," what I needed was a "desk decade" to go through all the piles of $#!& that have accumulated in  the last few months alone.  Still, I re-committed this past weekend and logged another 5 hours, not counting the time wasted trying to fix the unfixably broken shredder.  I'm not out of the weeds yet, but at least I've cleared a bit of space in which to work. 

The Shredder Died Tonight

Sometimes when faced with some tedious task or chore, I like to make a list of Worse Things I Could Be Doing Right Now. It's a win-win technique, because in the end you'll either feel lucky or you'll have something new to add to your list for the next time.

Tonight I had a mountain of paperwork to go through.  After an hour or so, the shredder started making a wheezing sound, then stopped altogether.   I spent the next two hours attempting to dislodge the piece of junk mail that caused the jam in the first place.

Once I'd completely dislodged all visible paper--a process that required tweezers, pliers, a can of compressed air, and a bamboo skewer intended for shish kebabs--the shredder still wouldn't shred.  It was exactly like when you're stuck on the interstate for hours, with a line of cars backed up to the horizon, and when you finally get to the crest of the hill yourself you discover the cause of the hold up isn't some gosh-awful accident or an exposition of naked skydivers, but a mandatory seat-belt check by state troopers. 

At this point,  I decided to take matters into my own hands and take the machine apart. Nevermind that we have a second shredder and I could have just given up and used that.  I wasn't about to let  junk mail win so easily. 

Before the end, I'd impaled a finger and some kind of viscous goo had smeared all over the place.  Nevertheless, I successfully liberated the shredder of the last determined bit of junk mail, put everything back together (ha! and Alpay said it couldn't be done!  or rather:  that I wouldn't be able to do it!) plugged it in, and lo!  It turned on!  And then a spark flew, something popped, and I was left sitting in the dark while Alpay made his way to the fuse box.

I still have a pile of paperwork to go through tomorrow, but at least it won't be as bad as it was tonight--unless, that it, I end up burning out the second shredder.

The Cat Hair Problem

Our Mau-Mau

A few years ago, the division of the company I work for moved from one suburb to another, and so my manager at the time called a meeting to announce the office assignments.  The good news, she said, is that we'd get a real office with a door and everything.  This was just wildly exciting, as we'd all previously worked in cubes.  The (semi) bad news was that the offices were semi-private, meaning there'd be two per office.  Before the manager had finished pairing us off, the man assigned to share the office space with me was shaking his head while mouthing "no, no, no."

"Is there a problem?" the manager asked my office mate, who has indicated he'd like to be  called Gustavo, or, alternately, Rinaldo, in this blog.  He's promised if I do so, he might take before-and-after pictures of his study makeover and let me post them on the Quest.  So Rinaldo or Gustavo it is.

"I'm allergic to cats," Gustavo said in answer to the manager.

The manager leveled her gaze at him and waited.  "So?" she finally said.

"She. Has. A. Cat," he said, emphasizing each word by raising and lowering his eyebrows. 

The manager's expression didn't change.  The manager was seated to my right, Gustavo to the left; I was in-between the two.  Gustavo, for his part continued staring at my manager in return, coupled with a strange head-tilt in my direction.  At first I thought he might have a creak in his neck, but then I realized there was a deliberate direction to the thrust of his head, which I followed in spite of myself.  And that's when I saw it:  an enormous, knotted tangle of downy white cat fur, wedged in my crotch.

I plucked the tangle from its ignoble position and held it in front of me, unsure what to do with it.  Gustavo stared at it.  My manager stared at it.  Across the table, another colleague stared at it.  For a long moment, it was as if time itself had stopped so we all, my colleaguess, manager, and I, might examine this artifact from Mau-Mau Kitty, our long-haired, Maine Coon cat.  "We'll get her a lint brush," my manager said then.

Look at that furry tummy!

After Mau-Mau Kitty passed on our bed last June, I washed the sheets.  As always, little balls of fur covered the freshly-cleaned sheets, requiring an extensive plucking process to (more or less) remove all the fur-balls.  The next time I washed the sheets, I noticed that there wasn't nearly as much fur.  The third time I washed the sheets, there was virtually none.  By this time, we'd adopted the kittens, but being relatively short-haired, combined they didn't shed a fraction of what Mau-Mau Kitty had.  The day I realized this, I cried and cried, because I realized anew that Mau-Mau was gone.  Even the physical evidence of his existence--the ubiquitous cat dander floating in the air--was slowly disappearing.  It made me very sad. 

Every once in a while, when I vacuum under the bed or move a piece of furniture, I come across a bit of downy white fur. "Kitty tumbleweeds" is what Alpay calls them.   Alpay has kept a tangle or two, which he keeps on his desk as a kind of talisman. 

A few weeks ago, I came home from work and found a little knot not under but on the bed.  And stranger still:  it wasn't white, but a darkish brown. And I realized that it came from Snapdragon.  "Look!" I said showing Alpay.  "A kitty tumbleweed!" Alpay said.  We were excited and very proud.  Since then, I've noticed more tumbleweeds: on the chair in my study, on the floor by the bed.  When I washed the sheets, I had to once again pluck fur balls off it, as I've done for the past 19 years.  Gustavo may not be happy about it, but really, I'm delighted.  What's a home without a little cat fur?

Our two boys: Lickity Split and Snapdragon

 

Store Credit Card Discount Could Cost You in the End

"Just about every time I check out at a department store, a friendly clerk asks,'Would you like to save 20 percent today?'" writes Kayce T. Ataiyero in the Chicago Tribune. The catch, of course, is opening a store credit card. Ataiyero consults with credit experts as to whether this a good deal or not--and why the answer in most cases is no.

read the complete Chicago Tribune article

Reminder: File Your '08 Flex Spending Expenses While You Still Can

This weekend I was in desperate need of a "desk day," as the cache of papers on, around, and yes, under my desk were of such quantity and proportion that I was sure something was lurking there that I'd Be Plenty Sorry About if I didn't find and deal with it soon.  And what do you know?  I was right!  There among a cascading pile of receipts, fliers, piteous solicitations, alumni magazines, and fountain pen catalogs was a reminder to file my '08 flex spending expenses before the end of the month. After making good and sure I used up my flex spending money before the end of last year, I hadn't followed through with submitting the actual paperwork.  Oops!

No harm no foul: I gathered up my receipts, went to the web site, found the applicable forms, printed them out, filled them out, and faxed them in less time than it took to write this post.  With all the tax-time excitement, it's easy to overlook end-of-April financial to-do's, but claiming your flex spending expenses is one deadline you don't want to miss. 

Saving Money Saving Taxes

I thought with T-day coming up, a post on saving taxes might be apropos.  Not saving on those taxes, unfortunately--but sales tax.  Not everyone can live in (sales) tax-free bliss like they do in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.

While researching tax-free, free-delivery options for my beloved Atkins bars, I was astonished not only by the prices drugstore.com offers--$6.15 for what my local store charges $8.49--but that it was, indeed, tax-free (for Illinois) and offered free shipping to boot. In addition, they offer great sales, specials, "deal of the day" promos, loads of coupons, and 5% back on "eligible products" which pretty much covers everything except prescription drugs, magazines, and gift cards. 

Between my Atkins bars, paper products (napkins, paper towels, toilet paper, etc.), hygiene products (soap, toothpaste, mouthwash, anti-persperant, shampoo, conditioner, razors, lotion), feminine protection, laundry products and cleaning supplies, over-the-counter stuff like cold medicine and pain reliever, sugar substitute, and kitchen foil, wrap, and baggies, I figure we burn a hundred a month, easy, which means a savings of $10 a month/$120 a year just on not paying sales tax.  Add an additional $60 for the 5% "drugstore dollars" cash-back program, and we're looking at $180 annual savings, not counting any specials or coupons or savings due to lower-priced items.  In the order I placed, I got an additional $6.00 off in coupon for the products I was buying. There is also a promotion to receive a $50 credit when you use drugstore.com's pharmacy to fill prescriptions.

Price is one thing--but what about customer service? I got my delivery within days, nicely packed and nothing was damaged.  I was however, unhappy with two items I ordered--through no fault of drugstore.com.  One was a razor that would be quite effective as a torture device; the other was a hereto untried Atkins bar.  "It made me retch," I told the customer service agent, after debating whether or not "gag" was a more delicate word choice.  No problems--drugstore.com immediately emailed me a label for free shipment and return of the noxious bars and torture device, thus earning top billing on my hero list this month.

Find the Kitty

 
Guess the closet is due for tidying . . .

How To: Eliminate Cord Clutter

Overwhelmed with out-of-control cables,cords,plugs,and wires? Check out this video from realsimple.com. It provides strategies for keeping kitchen cords tidy, dealing with bulky-headed/over-sized plugs, managing extra-long wires, color-coding cables for easy identification, and transforming unsightly cord-nests into a cohesive, streamlined system.

See the video/read the RealSimple article

Safe Storage for Flash Drives and Camera Cards

While Lickity Split maintains a stable of "girlfriends" including  a sheepskin throw, my most expensive water color brush, and a fuzzy beige pillow whose corner he nibbles while compulsively kneeding with all four paws, Snapdragon prefers light-weight, aerodynamic projectiles he tosses in the air and bats around with abandon. Which is exactly how Alpay's flash drive got smashed to smithereens last fall.

 
The culprit, and for once it's not Lickity Split. 

It would be a funny story if Alpay still didn't feel the ramifications of the lost data, which included project work, valuable correspondence records, and a spreadsheet of our checking account transactions.  It took hours upon hours to untangle the account information, but what really hurt was the significant amount of creative work forever lost.  While there are data retrieval services available--OnTrack is one with a solid reputation--the cost can be prohibitive.  In the case of our flash drive, for instance, the quote ranged between $2,300 and $2,800 to retrieve the data on it--needless to say, well more than the $60 or so we paid for the actual flash drive.

Alpay made the painful decision to let the drive go and rebuild anew. The take-home message:  back up your data, of course. But we also learned the importance of safe storage for electronic data devices.

We no longer leave our flash drives--or our camera cards, for that matter--laying about, where they are vulnerable not only to the whims of kittens but to beverage spills, misplacement, and our own clumsiness.  Keeping the principle of scale in mind, a former pen box provides just-the-right-size storage for our small data devices. 

 

Computer Cleaning FAQs

Is it okay to use glass cleaner to clean monitors?

Um, no.  I know it's tempting.  The problem, however, is that LCD monitors are not made of glass but plastic--a material for which alcohol or ammonia-based cleaners aren't recommended.  Using glass cleaner on LCD monitors can result in discoloration and hairline scratches on the screen surface. 

Best bet: use a lint-free cloth and specifically-formulated screen cleaner, like ikear or klearscreen, which in fact, appear to be the same product, the distinction being that the former is marketed specifically for apple products.  You can also get convenient cleaning wipes at office supply stores.

How often should you clean your keyboard?

Jamie Bsales, at computershopper.com, suggests cleaning your keyboard once a week.  "Studies have shown that more bacteria live on each square inch of a typical office desk than on the same area of a typical office toilet seat," Jamie write in the article, Clean Your PC Inside And Out, noting that bathrooms, at least, get cleaned on a regular basis. 

So how do you clean a keyboard, exactly?

Jamie recommends holding a the keyboard over a wastepaper basket while using a can of compressed air to clear out the crumbs, followed by swiping the keyboard's surface with antibacterial towelettes.  This one-two punch works great for your mouse, too. 

Can I actually wash a keyboard?  Like, in the dishwasher?

Perhaps.  Certainly I wouldn't recommend it, but to my amazement when I googled "washing keyboard in dishwasher" just for giggles, there were "about 349,000" results.

The reigning expert on the subject appears to be Scott Moschella of plasticbugs.com, who wrote an article ("You CAN Put Your Keyboard in the Dishwasher") in which he provides step-by-step instructions on the procedure.  The article was picked up by National Public Radio's Nell Greenfieldboyce, who conducted her own keyboard-dishwashing experiment ("Are Computer Keyboards Dishwasher Safe?")  While her experiment, like Scott's, appears to have been successful, she notes that experts at Microsoft and keyboard manufacturer Logitech strongly advise against the procedure. As Scott points out in his article, "This ‘hack’ is not for the weakhearted."  Call me chicken, I think I'll stick to the compressed-air-and-antibacterial-wipe strategy for now.

This Week On The Quest: Organizing Technology

If there's one thing I hate, it's people who pretend to be more organized than they are.  You know the type: I'm talking about the person who looks around your (mostly clean) place and proclaims it an utter mess, but then when you go to their place and catch them off-guard, you discover processed cheese in-between the sofa cushions.  Not that I'm one to throw the first can of Cheez Whiz here, folks.  No one I've ever lived with has ever accused me of being a neat-freak, that's for sure.  But you can trust I won't get all holier-than-thou on you when I still have my own organization issues I'm dealing with.

Which bring us to Technology Week here on the Quest. How can 8 months go by without once delving into cable- and cord-management, safe storage of digital equipment, email organization or how to clean computer equipment?  Several readers have written to me wanting to know.  The truth is, I haven't gotten the whole technology thing quite figured out.  Up until now, if my keyboard or mouse has gotten soaked with coffee or jammed with crumbs, my strategy has been to get a new one.  This is basically a riff off my old strategy of getting a new email address when the old one is maxxed out, or getting a new cordless phone when I can't figure out how to replace the battery.  In other words, I'm not convinced I'm in the position to give anyone technology advice, even if all we're talking about is cleaning your keyboard or clearing out your email.

But what the heck, I'll try.  Luckily I have some techno-savvy friends who've clued me in and pointed the way to some helpful products, sites, and techniques to get and keep you organized on the technology front. So that's what's on the agenda this week.