One of the most common questions I get asked about organizing is “Where do I start?” or “How do I get started?” Depending on your state of clutter, organizing can be quite a task to take on.

Start by making a list of all the organizing projects you want to complete. Do a walk-through of your home and write down ideas you might have or spaces you could improve.

Then, commit to doing SOMETHING once a day, or even once a week. For instance, if you want to organize your desk but the whole desk overwhelms you, then just commit to one drawer. One small step can motivate you to take many more steps.

Start small and allow yourself the chance to check off those small tasks on your to-do list. The feeling of being overwhelmed will start to fade once you do SOMETHING!

Magazines can be a dreadful cause of clutter. They end up stashed around the house, including the bathroom! After, they often just sit there collecting dust. Gather them all up and get them organized!

If you have magazines from 2003 and haven’t looked at them since then, don’t waste your space anymore. I know you tell yourself “there is one article I need in there” but if you haven’t had to reference it in 7 years, you don’t need it. Recycle it.

Now take a good look at what you have left. Perhaps you have magazines geared to a hobby you picked up but didn’t stick with. Know when to let these types of special interest magazines go. If you are no longer loving them, it is time to unsubscribe.

I suggest subscribing to only your favorite three magazines and keeping two months’ worth. Weed through them regularly. If there is a particular article that you want to save, tear it out then send the magazine to the recycle bin.

Store the sheets you tore out in an inspiration binder that you can flip through when you need fresh ideas. This is a great way to save decorating ideas!

What types of articles do you like to keep? Or do you just read and toss?

Are you one of those people who have little containers flying out at you when you open a cabinet door? I know you’re out there but don’t fret because I have a few tips to help you get your food storage containers under control.

1. Gather all of your containers and get them into one location so you can see what you have.
2. Match each container with its respective lid. If you have lids or containers without mates, toss or recycle them!
3. Did you just realize you have 50 containers? You might want to purge some. Keep a realistic amount.
4. Perhaps you didn’t have 50 but you noticed a few containers you don’t like or don’t use. Purge them!
5. Now, take a look at your collection and your storage options and see what will work best for you. Here are 3 ways to think about storing these containers.

- Stack like-sized containers inside each other with the lids stacked nice and neat in front of the container.

- Keep lids on containers and stack them on top of each other. (You must be blessed with ample storage space for this to work.)

- Nest your containers and store the lids vertically by size next to the containers. (This works best if you have a container to store your lids in. I know, I know: you’re thinking a container for your container lids?!)

And, last but not least, if you are using the cheap stuff for everyday use, you might want to think about upgrading because some of the new containers have been designed to make storage easier.

Meal planning is a great way to cut out some of the chaos in your week. There is nothing worse than trying to figure out what to make for dinner at 5pm. And when you do finally decide on something, you realize you don’t have a key ingredient!

You can save money with meal planning. In order to save money while meal planning browse the weekend sale flyers before planning your meals. Base the plan on what is on sale instead of picking random recipes from a cookbook. Maybe there is a great deal on chicken this week. Once you discover that, then see what meals you can make with chicken.

Another way you save money with meal planning is by making fewer trips to the store. If you’re constantly running back to the store for that key ingredient you are most likely picking up other unnecessary items along the way. If you meal plan you won’t be tempted to spend extra money during the week.

Meal plan weekly or monthly. There are people that successfully meal plan for the week and the month. If you are a buy-in-bulk shopper, you may be able to pull off making a meal plan monthly. Just imagine, a whole month of meals laid out in front of you! Perhaps you are a weekly shopper and prefer to do a weekly meal plan. Either will work; it just depends on what works best for you!

Many thanks and a big Mabel smile to everyone who was brave enough to enter our My Messy Room Contest!

It’s not often that messiness has its rewards but in this case one lucky winner is receiving:

An online consultation with Tanna Clark, our in-house organizational expert and owner of Complete Organizing Solutions.

PLUS $250 in Mabel’s Labels products, including our complete line of fabulous Household Labels.

All the entries were awe-inspiring and choosing just one was very tough. After sorting and categorizing and even a little labeling, we worked our way through the entries and are excited to announce that the winner is…Laura Schultz.

This photo of her daughter’s bedroom (possibly) was one many of us could relate to at one time or another. Thanks for sharing Laura! We’re sure that with Tanna and Mabel’s Labels alongside, you’ll be a neat freak in no time!

Didn’t win (or enter) this one? Check out our Bright Idea Contest, and you might win a set of Label Out Loud™ Sticky Labels to light up your wintry days.