How to be more organized - Adulting 101

For some, organization skills are like a foreign language. For others, it’s like second nature. I tend to find myself closer to the second nature side. There are areas in life that’d I’d like to think I’m pretty good at being organized in. When it comes to my finances, balancing the kids schedule, and planning out the meals for the week, I do pretty well.

But if I can be honest, I don’t have it all together. I sometimes struggle with organizing my paperwork and emails. I do well initially, but as I add more and more paperwork, it gets to be a bit much, and I let it pile up until I can “get to it later”.  And let’s not even talk about personal emails…Currently I’m showing 9,462 unread just in one account lol. Someone help me clear these out please!  

Now that we’ve gotten some of my struggles with being organized out of the way, let me give you some tips on the areas that I’ve mastered. 

My finances – 
There are several methods that I use in order to help me stay organized.

• Each month, I create a budget. I write down how much my bills are, how much cash I need to withdraw for my envelopes, and any miscellaneous expenses. Once the bill comes out of my account, I highlight it in green. 
• I keep a planner with a monthly view. This helps to give me another visual into my finances. Sometimes it’s easier to see things in as a picture view opposed to written. So I ensure my bills are written down there so that whenever I pay them I can check them off. 
• I mentioned withdrawing cash for envelopes. In order to hold myself accountable, I withdraw enough money to distribute across several envelopes. I like to use a groceries, household, gas/car, and self-care. Each pay period can vary depending on whether or not I need more or less of something, but I do try to keep the amount set each time. This has helped me tremendously because it keeps me from touching my checking account. And I live by the mantra that if I don’t have it in my envelopes, then I cannot get it (most of the time lol). 

Balancing the kid's schedules - 
Lucky for me, my kids are still fairly young, so their schedules aren’t too filled with activities. During the week, I mostly have to ensure I’m getting them to and from school on time.

• I also try to schedule in fun random things for us to do as a family throughout the week—like go to the park, library or see a movie. On the weekends, we have sports and church.
• If need be, I create a calendar with all of our activities listed on it as well just to have a better view. Knowing your schedule ahead of time can really help you to stay organized and figure out where your time and energy is going and how to shift things around if needed. 

Planning out the meals for the week - 
This has been a huge life saver for me during the week.

• Every Sunday, I decide what we will have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner Sunday-Saturday and create a menu. This helps me to make sure we’re getting in healthy meals. From that list, I can create the grocery list and go shopping after. Once I'm done with my shopping, I like to post the list on the refrigerator. By doing this, I’ve been able to stay within budget each time I go shopping. It also helps to eliminate those “What are we having for dinner?” questions. 

 
The key for me was figuring out the areas that I was most disorganized in and starting there. If you struggle with finances, balancing your scheduling, or just choosing your meals for the week, I encourage you to pick one and see how you can incorporate the suggestions into your life. And do what works for you. Feel free to tweak any of them to better fit your lifestyle.
 
Can’t wait to hear how you’re getting more organized in 2020!
 
XoXo 
MilanMonet Luxe

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