I knew I had issues when I casually mentioned to Roger, “I wish they had purses with wheels on them.” His reply, “They do. They’re called suitcases – and you have a problem.”

I would love for you to have the feeling that wherever you go, you are not weighed down by “stuff”. (See Monday’s Post about Why Your Bag is a Reflection of Your Spiritual Life.)

Here’s my super-speedy way of cleaning out my bag. I simply take my purse and dump it out into a plastic grocery bag. I sort the dump into Put Away, Put Back, and (in this case) Throw Away.

Put Away

Anything I want to keep that doesn’t belong in my purse gets put away. This is also when I go through receipts I’ve carefully placed in my wallet (or, more likely, the ones I’ve quickly thrown into my purse…) and random notes or other pieces of paper. If you’re away from home while you’re sorting, just put these items into another bag to put away when you get home. And when you get home, put them away in the right spot.

Put Back

If it belongs in your purse, go ahead and put it back into your purse.

Throw Away

Anything that’s left over in your plastic grocery bag (food wrappers, cash receipts you don’t care about, and so on,) is now garbage that gets recycled or thrown away.

The beauty of the grocery-bag organizing system is that you can do it anywhere, anytime. Just grab a grocery bag and start sorting while you’re waiting for your kids to get out of band practice or while you’re on the phone with your mom.

Clean it Up

Give your purse a good shake and get out any stray bits, crumbs etc. I’ve even used a hand held vacuum to really get the bag clean.

Label It and Put It Away

Assign a spot for everything that belongs in your purse, bag, or backpack. I use three zippered pouches. Everything goes into one of those three pouches or into your wallet (or in rare cases, onto your key chain). The fewer items you place in your purse, the easier it is to know what’s in there.

Wallet. I recommend you keep in your wallet only cash, receipts, checkbook, and credit, debit, and gift cards.

Pouch 1: Makeup bag

• Lipstick and gloss
• Eyeliner
• Powder
• Sunscreen stick
• Blush and brush
• Eyeglass cleaner wipes
• Hand sanitizer

Pouch 2: Emergency kit

• Fashion tape
• $20
• Needle and thread
• Nail glue
• Advil
• Couple of adhesive bandages

Pouch 3: Change

Other Things to Keep in Your Bag

• Sunglasses case
• Cell phone
• Keys

Keep It Up

If I sort through the items in my purse once a week, it really is easy to stay on top of it. It takes only a couple of minutes to keep it up.

Do you have to do it exactly like this? No. I just want you to have a clean purse that is functional and doesn’t give you a hernia. So tell me here in the comments that you cleaned out your purse by May 18th (and I’d love to hear what the strangest thing you found in there was!), and here is what you could win:

The Grand Prize winner will receive this Belvah Quilted Damask Print Large Tote Bag – Black & White (18 x 14.5 x 7)
with a copy of all 8 of my books (for all that beach reading!)

Five runners up will receive a copy of The Get Yourself Organized Project (for you or a friend.)

Just comment below and you’ll be entered to win!!!

National Clean Out Your Purse Day

When I’m feeling overwhelmed, overtired, and stuck, I tend to let the “stuff” (or whatever word you use when you are feeling overwhelmed, overtired and stuck – don’t worry – I won’t be offended…) build up in my life. I don’t deal with problems in my relationships, I don’t deal with the piles in my house, and I don’t do the self-care that is needed (reading my Bible, praying, hanging our with people who fill me up,) to stay healthy. Instead, I put things off until I feel like dealing with it.

It’s the same with my bag.

When I feel crazy busy, I tend to let the junk build up in my purse. Instead of dealing with the receipts, returns, broken pens that are leaking, melted lipsticks that are staining, I just pile more stuff on top of it all, waiting for the magical time I’ll have to deal with it all.

Heavy bags lead to sore shoulders, lost time looking for things, and a sense of feeling out of control.

Heavy lives lead to brokenness, sickness, and feeling out of control.

When I’m feeling that way, I need to take small steps to get back to healthy. I know that cleaning out your bag may seem really, really small, but it can help.  You can go change the world when you can find your car keys on a regular basis.

So join me, this Wednesday, and clean out your purse. For a little extra incentive there is swag (good swag):

The Grand Prize winner will receive this Belvah Quilted Beach Tote with a copy of all 8 of my books (for all that beach reading!)

Five runners up will receive a copy of The Get Yourself Organized Project (for you or a friend.)

Why Your Bag is a Reflection of Your Spiritual Life

1. Get All Your Jewelry Together-  This is where you go through your bathroom, your closet, your jewelry box, your purse – everywhere that jewelry hangs out and hides. Get it all in one place so you and deal with it.
2. Use the 3 Boxes, 2 Bags System Start to sort through your jewelry using the 3 Boxes 2 Bags System. As you go through your jewelry put every piece in one of the three boxes or two bags: Perfectly good jewelry that you don’t love anymore can go into the “Give Away” box. Everything you love and wear can go into the “Put Back” box. Buttons, prescriptions, receipts, lip glosses and other things that are hanging out with your jewelry go into the “Other Rooms” box. Broken jewelry that you won’t repair goes into the garbage (unless you have a crafty friend who can turn all those crafty beads into something amazing – and is willing to pick them up so they are not around your house for the next month, then put them in the recycle bag.) Put all the Put Back jewelry, back.
3. What to do with the Leftovers? OK be honest – there were a couple of necklaces you love but never wear. Or that broken owl necklace that you love, but needs a clasp? You don’t want to throw it away, but you don’t quite know what to do with it. Here are some ideas:

• Figure out why you aren’t wearing that necklace you love,or the earrings you adore. If the necklace is too short (which is a common problem for taller girls and those of us that shop in the plus-sized department,) or your bracelet doesn’t fall right on your wrist, get a set of Necklace and Bracelet Extenders: Necklace Bracelet Extender Set – 1″, 2″ & 4″ – Gold & Silver Tone ~ 6 Pcs in Total (FB210)

• If you avoid wearing a pair of earrings because you lost the back, you can order backs on Amazon. Here is a nice assortment to keep on hand: Six Pairs Assorted Gold and Silver Tone Earring Backs Bullet Clutch with Plastic Pad 18k White Gold Plated Butterfly Ear Nut Push Friction Back

• I keep some Jewelery Repair items on hand. This has kept some of my favorite pieces from languishing in a drawer for months (or years). Here are a couple of things that have helped with this: Findings: Cousin Precious Accents Jewelry Findings Collection 158/Pkg, Silver and Gold and a tool kit – this one for eyeglasses works great:SE Eyeglass Repair Kit, Compact Boxed

Here are a couple of other things that have helped me: This is the best thing you can do for your jewelry – Only keep what you actually use, make the pieces that aren’t working for you, work.

• Have a necklace that feels a little “Lightweight” for your outfit? Stack it with another necklace. I do this a lot with a chunky gold chain with a couple smaller gold chains, or chunky long turquoise with chunky short turquoise.
• Turn your long necklace into two short ones by looping, or into a bracelet by looping four or five times.
• Have a single earring that you love, but can find it’s friend? Can you turn it into a pin?

Do you have any great ideas for organizing you jewelry that have worked for you? Please share in the comments below (and if you have pictures, send them to info@kathilipp.com – we may do a future blog post sharing your great idea!

3 Simple Steps to Organize Your Jewlery

I recently received the message below from a reader and I thought as a community we could offer some constructive ideas on how to teach our children help out around the house.

I am greatly struggling with chores and responsibility with my 3 kids.

My 3 year old son is hot and cold with behavior and attitude so one never knows if he will help or fight.

My 6 year old daughter flat out refuses to clean anything “that’s not my mess” yet won’t even cleanup her own room.

My 9 year old son reluctantly helps me out in picking up the slack.

I am a worn out mom in need of new routines and rewards. What kind of charts, rewards and chores can you offer for a challenging group of kids that tend to walk all over an overwhelmed and exhausted mom. Please help.

 Need help keeping your kids on task? Download these free chore charts for your kids! In addition, I’ve created a Pinterest board full of ideas on making chores fun for all ages.

Plus, leave a positive idea about how you successfully get your kids to help with chores and you could win a copy of my book, 21 Ways to Connect with Your Kids. 

Help a Mother Out…

1. Clean out your handbag

2. Clear out your phone of email

3. Clean your keyboard

4. Take unused keys off your keychain

5. Match all your unmatched socks

6. Go through a stack of magazines and recycle anything older than three months

7. Check the balance on a gift card online and write the amount on the front with a permanent marker

8. Put bookplates in your books

9. File Recipes

10. Shred documents with personal info on them (only during commercials)

11. Make a meal plan for this week

12. Go through all your pens and throw out the ones that are dried up

13. Go through your DVDs and put any in a bag that you don’t watch anymore so you can give them away

14. Sort your mail

15. Clean out your diaper bag

16. Answer 10 easy emails

17. Grab a kitchen drawer and sort through it and wipe it down

18. Address and send birthday cards for the month

19. Write 3 thank you notes

20. Start a shopping list

21.   Fix a button on a shirt

22.   Fold three loads of laundry (and put them away during the commercials)

23.   Cut out coupons and put them in your wallet

24.   Gather up any business cards and put them in your computer contacts

25.   Take pictures of your kids artwork before “thinning it out” (throwing it away)

26.   Clean out your child’s backpack

27.   Make sure your family calendars match

28.   Download photos from your phone to PC (or set up for it to be done automatically through Facebook)

29.   Order supplies online (ink, batteries, craft supplies, specialty foods, vitamins, etc.)

30.   Download movies, audio books or music for your next flight or road trip

Q4USo tell me – what do you like to get done while watching your favorite TV show?

30 Organizing Projects You Can Do While Watching a 30 Minute TV Show