Starving Organizer ISO Funds

Thanks for opening up this solicitation! Please send me $35 NOW so I don't die. This is where I attach a photo of me emaciated and destitute. Lying in the street gutter with the rats. And a broken neck. 

I am SO tired of "charities" bombarding my clients with never ending requests for money. I have seen thousands of mailings plastered with graphic photos of the most disturbing matters!! Five different "Save the horse" mailings with five different stories of slaughtered horses from five different outfits. All of them needy, all of them pulling on your heart strings. 

You donate to one company and they sell your name to 10 more. Before you know it you have stacks and stacks of solicitations and can't remember which one you donated to begin with. My Client Roz wrote an article all about our personal experiences with this exact subject matter.

"I get too much mail from organizations with sob stories or worse on the awful treatment of (fill in the blank) dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, dolphins, children, and old people. Of course they ask for money. If I send them $10 or $20, and I usually do, I get on more mailing lists from more heart wrenching organizations. " (See link below for full article).

I love the ones who send money. Yes they send $2 bills, pocket change, stamps.

You can't throw money out so you are compelled to open it. You take out your $2 bill (how do they afford that?!) and a picture of animal testing falls out. You have got to donate to this one! After all they did just send you two dollars. 

Don't get me wrong I strongly believe in donating to charities. I do not believe in organizations praying on compassionate people. I do not believe in organizations selling your information to other companies.

How do you track who you donate to? Are you overwhelmed with abundance of solicitations? Do you have stacks and stacks of mail from charities looking for donations?

Below are three tips to help you manage solicitation mailings.

1. Put all of your solicitation mailings in a box. Go through this box with ruthlessness. Open up each solicitation that you are interested in donating to and do step 2 before you mail your donation. 

2. Create a spreadsheet or list on who you just donated to, how much and the date.

3. Write "return to sender" on ones you just can't stand and put them in your outgoing mail. If that's too mean for you, recycle or shred them immediately.

To read Roz's personal experience on how we handle her solicitation clutter, read here: danvillesanramon.com/blogs/p/2015/06/09/getting-organized

Until next time dear Collectors! As always, please feel free to post a comment with your experience on mail solicitation clutter.

Rachel Seavey, Blogger &
Owner of Collector Care

Do you need help going through your mail?
Not sure who you donated to last or when?
Collector Care Professional Organizers can help you diminish your mail clutter today!

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Caitlyn Jenner – Organizing Trend Setter

Hey Collectors! We are always trying to "Keep Up With The Kardashians" at Collector Care. Ever since Caitlyn Jenner came out I have had an abundance of inquiries from transgender folks in search of organizational services.

Before Caitlyn came out I have had the pleasure of working with 3 transgender Clients over the last five years. I kid you not, I have had at least five phone calls in the last ten days from potential transgender Clients. Leading me to believe that Caitlyn Jenner is an organizing trend setter, and inspiring me to write this blog.

This blog is for people that have closets full of both female clothing and male clothing. Hockey jerseys and platinum blonde wigs on the same shelf. I think you get the picture. You might not have thought about the additional clutter this brings. When you are dressing for two genders, you can have twice the amount of stuff. When you are taking hormones or getting plastic surgery done- your body changes, and you end up with a lot of clothing that no longer fits the same.

So the burning questions is, how do you organize your closet when you are transgender? This blog is full of tips and ideas just for you!

Did you see the episode where Kim wanted to organize Caitlyn's closet? The shoes at the top have been on my mind since that episode aired! I would be in organizing heaven if she invited me over! 

So, where does one begin? Below is a story of one of my transgender clients and some of the tools and techniques that we used organizing her closet. I hope this inspires you.

I have been working with a client we will call Gloria because she wants to remain anonymous. Quick rewind: Gloria was born male, and over the last 10 years has been transitioning into female. She has just come out at work.

When I got to Gloria's house her place was full of items from her past life as a man. She was always big into hockey so there was a lot of sports memorabilia, clothing that she wore when she was a man, and photos and documentation of her being a male. Her goal was to transition her space into her new lifestyle as a woman. Not only had she told everyone at work about being transitioning, she was now living 100% as a woman everywhere else too.

Gloria wanted to eliminate all of the clutter in her home that reminded her of her life as a man. However, she did want to keep some mementos from the past in a box in the way back of her closet.

Rachel Seavey, Blogger
Owner of Collector Care

We started transforming her closet first. We dedicated a side for clothing that made her feel fabulous and beautiful. The other side of the closet was for clothing that might look good after she gets her breast implants. We let go of items that made her feel frumpy or uncomfortable. We made one bag of donation for the goodwill of men's clothing, and we had one bag of clothing for the woman's shelter. One shirt made it's way to the back of the closet to the box.
Shoes were sorted by work-wear and dressy, one side of her hanging organizer had comfy work shoes, and the other had sandals and heels. Boots and sneakers were organized at the bottom of the closet.

Make up organization was a definite struggle for Gloria! Oh was she in luck because I absolutely LOVE makeup organization! We shopped online for some cheap and easy solutions to contain her cosmetics. We discussed proper care of cosmetics and brushes. Good times!

Lastly we organized her purse. Most women get a lot of years in of cramming things in to their small purses or clutches. We have experienced the frustration of dropping something in to the black hole of a giant hobo bag only to search and search for its existence.
So what is the perfect purse and what goes inside of it? This Dolls, you will have to ask yourselves.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you want a purse with short straps? Or have straps that hang over your shoulder? 
• Backpack or fanny-pack? 
• What should go inside of your purse?
• What are things you use everyday? 
• What would you never leave home without? 
• Do you take medication or have daily prescriptions? 

I asked these questions and came up with the following items: (Remember, this is only Gloria's example, feel free to add or substitute as you like).

1. Makeup in a clear cosmetic case. Tip: Bring only what you need to touch up during the day to avoid unnecessary bulk.
2. Small hair brush with scrunchie wrapped around handle.
3. Lotions in a clear cosmetic case. Travel size sunblock, hand-cream, and sanitizing lotion.
4. 2 ballpoint pens and a small notebook.
5. Phone.
6. Gum.
7. Asthma Inhaler.

We even made a copy of this list so that she would not forget to re-stock it. 

 

Thank you to Gloria for letting me share her story. My favorite part of working together was the celebration of self, and the facilitating of helping her be at their organizational best.

Thank you for reading this blog Collectors. Until next time!

Rachel

 

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