Get Organized For Less

by Christine Vick

Don't despair if you can't afford a professional organizer. Our editors tested workshops, organizing websites, and the best books to give you the help you need, for a lot less money.

Online Workshops

Enrolling in an online workshop is a cost-effective way to meet your organizing needs. Courses vary in quality, usability and price, so get a reference before enrolling.

• Simplify 101 This workshop, offered by professional organizer and productivity expert Aby Garvey, was our hands-down favorite. Her programs are well designed and easy to follow, and the site and materials are visually appealing too. The courses include downloadable lessons and and an online forum where class members can post questions and pictures. Our research editor Heidi Benjaminsen (who is incredibly organized herself) was surprised at how many of Garvey's ideas she put into practice. "Nothing was overwhelming," she says, "it felt like a fun girlfriend was helping me organize my home."

Prices range from $50-$75 for a six week session.

Organizing Websites

Though a Google search will net you hundreds of organizing websites, you may not find the specific tips you're looking for. Here's where we found the best information:

• onlineorganzing.com This website offers comprehensive organizing resources, including products and services. The most useful links are buried a bit (click the "get expert Advice" link at the top of the page, then click "find the best tips in our Organizer's Toolbox"). This opens to a list of twenty categories, with four to five articles on how to organize items within that category. If you're looking for tips on how to better manage a part of your home or life, you're likely to find it here.
• organizedhome.com The ads on this website are a bit distracting, but it contains a wealth of information. The "browse this site" box on the right side of the page is key; click on any of the topics and you'll access thoroughly-written articles by editor Cynthia Townley Ewer (though you'll have to scroll down to see them all). Learn how to spring clean, get your family organized and manage your time more efficiently.

Books

It's hard to know what organizing book to purchase; there are narratives, workbooks, checklists and page after page of humorous anecdotes (though we found the methodologies to be quite similar). Here are two that stood out:

• Organizing Plain and Simple, by Donna Smallin (Storey 2002) Smallin's book is thorough and well put together. The sections and subsections are clear, so you don't have to read the entire book to find help with a specific topic. Though her voice is personal, it's not annoyingly so, and she provides helpful hints and clear direction about managing your home, life, finances and time.
• Eliminate Chaos: the 10 Step Process to Organize Your Home and Life, by Laura Leist (Sasquatch 2006) Leist's book tackles one room at a time, with pictures to illustrate each step in the organizing process (she uses real-life examples from clients she's worked with, which makes it more interesting). If you need help taming a specific area in your home, this book is a helpful step-by-step guide.

A Fresh Start

If the very basics of cleaning and organizing elude you, don't worry, help is available. The following resources are practical and written with a lot of empathy--you won't be intimidated by the suggestions, and you may just get motivated.

• The Flylady (Marla Cilley) and her team provide a zone by zone management system for your home, as well as daily emails to encourage and inspire you. The system is the result of Cilley's own struggle to get organized, and her program can help you overcome personal roadblocks, such as perfectionism and procrastination.
• The Messies Manual: A Complete Guide to Bringing Order and Beauty to Your Home, by Sandra Felton (Baker Books, 2008). Felton brings compassion and humor to the topic of getting organized, again drawing on her own experiences. She also has a website to offer advice and support, messies.com