January is #GOMonth, designed to help you connect with organizers in your area - like me!
Remember how excited you were when you were little and something with your name on it arrived in the mail? Whether you were expecting mail (usually a card from a relative … hopefully with money in it!) or not, there was a certain thrill that came when you found mail that was for you.
That was me, then and now. I have the same enthusiasm for checking mail that Ralphie had in A Christmas Story when he went to see if his Little Orphan Annie Secret Society decoder pin arrived. Even when I check my company and personal email each morning, and even though most of what has landed in my inbox gets trashed within seconds of seeing it, my excitement is there, nevertheless.
I do enjoy seeing ads, though only a few. The ones I like flood our inboxes and mailboxes this time of year, showcasing all the savings we could enjoy on storage and organizing products. In the past 24 hours, for example, I got emails from Bed Bath & Beyond, Michael’s, and The Home Depot, telling me how I should take advantage of the “biggest storage event of the year” or something to that effect.
January is a prime month for storage and organization product sales, since retailers know that people typically make getting organized one of their New Year’s resolutions. It’s not just retailers who know this. I’m a proud member of NAPO, and January is NAPO’s Get Organized and Be Productive Month, or GO Month to be short. GO Month is designed to help our communities understand the value of what we professional organizers can bring to their organizing projects. (Check out www.napo.net/gomonth 2022 for more details.)
Just because we get flooded with promotions doesn’t mean we should dismiss them out of hand; some deals are definitely worth exploring. Before you get that credit card out, however, there are a few questions to consider before taking advantage of any deals.
What Exactly is Your Project?
There are a lot of great organizing solutions out there for whatever project you decide to undertake, whether you buy from the aforementioned stores or other go-to stores for such products. (See Walmart, Amazon, Target, and The Container Store for more examples.)
However, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of products you could buy. I’m a professional organizer, and whenever I check out all the deals this month or any specials throughout the year, I go down the rabbit hole and lose hours exploring all the possibilities. And often, I have nothing to show for it except for strained eyesight.
Before shopping for any storage and organizing products, identify the project(s) that you plan to undertake and the products you will need to get the job done right. If you’re not sure what you might need, talk to someone in your life who is well-organized for advice on some good things to buy. You also could talk with a professional organizer to get some helpful tips as well.
What Do You Need?
We’re going to pretend that you decided to take me up on that last sentence and talk to yours truly about what you should get (I am truly touched – thank you!). I will tell you that there is no definitive list of must-haves when it comes to storage and organizing products. Decisions on what you will need are often based on numerous factors, such as space availability, price, functionality, as well as personal preference.
However, there are general “go-to” storage and organizing products based on the stuff and the rooms you have. The following is just a sample:
· Clothing – Stackable small and large storage totes and bins, matching hangers, drawer organizers, shoe boxes cubes/cases;
· Toys – Stackable small and large storage totes and bins, stackable drawers, cube organizers;
· Photo prints – Acid-free metal or cardboard boxes, acid-free paper, PVC-free photo albums;
· Holiday decorations – Stackable storage totes (usually the larger, the better);
· Kitchen – Clear food canisters, food storage sets, expandable cabinet shelves, spice organizers, drawer organizers;
· Office – File organizers (desk, drawer, and wall hanging kinds), file cabinets (that lock), file folders, letter-size archival file boxes, horizontal and vertical paper dividers, shredders;
· Garage – Stackable mid-size and large storage totes, durable garage shelving units, wall organizers;
· Closets (all rooms) – Storage bins and totes (various sizes), expandable cabinet shelves, stackable drawers, closet systems.
What’s Your Budget?
Unless you’re Elon Musk, you don’t have endless funds to buy the seemingly endless amount of storage and organizing products on the market. Determine how much money you want/need to spend for your project(s). You may need to shop around to see what’s out there to get an idea of what items cost to help you set up your wish list and budget.
Shopping around is particularly important. Say you want to buy some 30-gallon storage totes. Do a price comparison using the current deals at the aforementioned stores or any place you like to shop that offer storage and organizing products. Investing time into comparing prices will help you save money and find true values. If you prefer to shop in person vs. online, you may be able to get a store to price match a better sales price at a competitor’s store.
If your project requires that you buy a significant number of totes, look for places where you can buy in bulk. Doing so can save you money, which you can use on other items you need.
One last thing to consider on this point: You don’t necessarily have to buy brand-new organizing products. You may already have plenty of available storage solutions in your home, but they’re just cluttered with things you no longer need or want. Take the time to go through your current collection of totes, bins, boxes, shelves, and the like and remove any and all clutter. You’re likely to find newfound space and empty storage containers – and fewer things to spend your hard-earned money on.
Now that we’ve asked the right questions before purchasing storage and organizing products, there’s one thing left to answer: How excited are you to get organized?
While you answer that, I have to check my mail and see what surprises await me. Ralphie would be proud.
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Tom Harper is owner of Tom’s Organizing Made Simple LLC, a Bethlehem-based company dedicated to helping people declutter and organize their space, stuff, time, and/or tasks. Follow TOM’S on Facebook or Instagram.