42: Don’t Let Your Gift Cards Go To Waste!

Today we focus on how to organize gift cards. These small, thin, and often overlooked items tend to disappear in the clutter or hide between furniture pieces. In this episode, we're going to tackle the issue head-on and give you some practical tips to prevent your gift cards from going to waste. We'll also discuss how to give gift cards in a way that ensures their recipient will actually use them. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and let's get organized and productive with gift cards!

In this episode we talk about:

  • Reasons why gift cards get lost easily
  • How to organize your gift cards
  • Tips on avoiding gift cards going to waste
  • Tips on gifting gift cards so they are used

Mentioned in this Episode:

Episode 029: School Papers: The Sneaky Uninvited Guests in Your Home

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/29-school-papers-the-sneaky-uninvited-guests-in-your-home/

Episode 001: 7 Steps to Organizing (almost) Anything

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/7-steps-to-organizing/

The Organized & Productive podcast is brought to you by The Organized Flamingo and hosted by Stephanie Y. Deininger! For those of you who love the thought of organizing & being more productive, but don’t know where to start or constantly up against hurdles that don’t let you advance the way you want to, this podcast is for you!

Review full show notes and resources at

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Review the Transcript

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:00:00]:

Hey, friends. Welcome to our next episode of Organized and Productive, the podcast. I'm Stephanie, your host. And today, we are talking about an item that tends to get lost but is very valuable, and it gets lost in the clutter or in the in your stuff because it's small enough to get lost and it's thin enough to be hiding between, furniture pieces or your car seat. It's just one of those items that is very it's it's very susceptible to being lost and overlooked because it's not consistently the same for all of the items. And that item, if you've already looked at the title of today's episode, is a gift card. There are many reasons as to why gift cards get lost, but the main one that I have seen from the clients and the people that I work with is because 1, and that this is something that doesn't get talked a lot about, is that they look different depending on the vendor. So, you know, if you go to this 1 store, it might be red.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:01:00]:

If you go to the other one, there might be some graphic on it. In another store, it just looks a little different and has a different shape. They used to all be more of the rectangle style if you had a physical card, and now they just come in all shapes and sizes and they're so cute. But also they're not consistent the same way that maybe cash is. You know, cash is usually at least here in the US. Most of our cash is is green. If you're whatever country you're listening from, your you know what your cash looks like. Right? So you easily will gravitate towards what it looks like and find it when you're looking for it.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:01:36]:

And with gift cards, they're just so different all the time that they can easily be mis, looked when you're looking for them because they're just they they can all look very different. Unless you're looking for a very specific card that is green, that looks like a circle, and then you might be you have better chances of finding it. But outside of that, that's one of the reasons they get overlooked. Another reason why they get lost so easily is because they do fit in between, cracks and behind furniture and in between paper. They're just so thin. They're not just awkward shapes, and they're easily missed that way, but also they can easily flip into something else, and then they just become lost. They be you know, they they get lost in the abyss. And if you're not looking for it, specifically, if you're not on a mission to use that card and then you, you know, it's been gone for a couple of weeks and then months, then it's pretty much lost, you know, and and it just goes into the abyss.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:02:34]:

So that's another reason why it tends to get lost, and it gets refound when you're moving around your furniture, when you're doing a deep clean, when you're decluttering, when you're about to move because you're moving around, all those furniture pieces or your bag, and that's when they get refound again, and then, you know, you you give the expression of, oh my gosh. I forgot that I have this. And, you know, now, yes, you found it, but it may not be worth the same or maybe just so much time has passed that, the value may have gone down. So because of all these reasons I just mentioned, it really kills me. It hurts my heart when we find these valuable I mean, truly valuable gift cards, and they were not used. I mean, it's essentially money. It's it's not essentially, it is money. When somebody gives you a gift card or you purchased a gift card, that is the exchange of money, and it just hurts my heart when we find them and they have not been used or that the, you know, the client or somebody has said, I know that I had a whole lot of them and I never got to use them.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:03:43]:

And then I'm just like, oh my gosh. I I get it. You know, it's you just lost money, and it's hurtful. So that is what this episode is all about, avoiding that hurt and avoiding that pain of losing money in the shape of a gift card. We will touch a little bit about on ecards, but I'm not gonna go too too deep into ecards because it's a little bit different in the way that we organize those, but I will touch upon it so that, at least, you can have some tips on how to organize those if you do receive ecards, instead of gift card, like, the physical gift card kind. Alright. So what I'm gonna do is, in typical fashion of our podcast, I I'd like to give you, like, a table of contents almost because I think it's just easier to navigate some of the episodes. I don't always do this, but I try.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:04:31]:

And this one is no exception, so I'll do a 5 tips of how how to avoid your gift cards going to waste. So I'm gonna give you 5 tips, and then I'm gonna give you about 3 tips on how to gift give these gift cards so that the person that's receiving them will avoid them going into the abyss. So how can you, as a gift giver, avoid that for the person you will be giving it to because I think that is part of the gift giving, trying to get the person to actually use it, use a card. Right? I mean, that's why you're giving it to them. So I'm gonna break it down in that way, and let's go. Welcome to the Organized and Productive podcast with the organized Flamingo. I am your host, Stephanie, a professional organizer and productivity expert. Ready to explore the right organizing and productivity solutions for you.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:05:21]:

Yeah? Well, then let's go. So for our 1st tip on avoiding your gift cards going into way into the waste and the abyss is treat it like money. I mentioned in the introduction, gift cards are money. They are the equivalent of cash because you exchanged cash for this gift card. And the reason that you did not get the cash. Could be many reasons. If you got it as a gift, it could have been, you know, for whatever reason. Maybe your company, you know, that's what they just stuck to 1 vendor and they gave everybody the same gift card or if you got it for a birthday or something and somebody just thought, hey.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:06:02]:

Every time I go to the store, I think of you and, you know, they gave you a gift card because of that. It could have been because they got a discount. Maybe the person giving it to you had this gift card, and they're not using it. And they thought, you know what? This person may like it or they were lazy. Okay. Let's be honest. That is a lot of the the reasons as to why you get gift cards is because gift giver may have found that getting a gift card is just more time efficient. Some people will call it lazy.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:06:29]:

In my experience, I don't I don't see it that way. I just see it as you know what? That is a very efficient way of gift giving, and I understand that it's not always very personal. We won't get into that part of gift giving and gift cards, but I get it. For whatever reason, you got this gift card, but the person, giving it to you or if you bought it yourself, exchange to money, like, real money for this gift card. So treat it that way. Don't forget that this is actual money. So the next couple of tips are going to be centered around that. This is a gift a a a type of gift, like an item that is that is cash.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:07:06]:

That is money. So treat it like money and think of it as, oh my gosh. I just lot I just lost $20. What would you do if you if you knew somebody gave you a $20 bill, US dollar bill, and you couldn't find it. You would go and look for it. You would go and, you know, move all the furniture and try to go look for it. So when you know you got a gift card, make sure that it's in a place that you keep your money, whether it's your day to day wallet, maybe it's a box that you go to whenever you need money, you know, a safe. Wherever you keep your money, that's where I would keep your gift cards because that's what it is.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:07:47]:

It's money. So that's straight off the bat, I just wanna remind you of that, because sometimes you just need that little reminder that this is not just a gift. This is not just like the the gift that somebody's regifting you. This is essentially money that you could be using. So that's tip number 1. Let's head on over to tip number 2. For tip number 2, this is all about getting some kind of way to organize the actual gift cards. Now the difference, like I mentioned earlier, between cash and gift cards is that they come in different shapes and sizes, and they're for different vendors.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:08:18]:

And they're for very specific vendors sometimes. You know, whether it's a store, a very specific store, versus, like, a a regular Mastercard Visa gift card. You know, it could be for a specific merchant, and this is where an organizer comes in. These were really popular more, you know, in the last not, you know, 5, 10 years in the couponing big days even the, like, the last 20 years. Think of those organizers. A lot of people will keep them like a little of a binder, especially if you get a lot of them. Especially true for all of you educators, teachers, people that tend to get gift cards from your communities. So that's if you're wondering, listening to this, like, who who gets gift cards anymore? Or wondering why would you get a binder for a gift card.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:09:03]:

Who is getting so many gift cards? Well, a lot of people do. And a lot of people also have families where they will exchange, gifts, like in gift card ways instead of going out and buying the gifts. So there's a lot of you out there that probably still are receiving receiving gift cards or have them from the the history of gift giving that you've had. So get yourself, like, an organizer, like a credit card organizer, a little mini binder, a little mini wallet that you can keep all of your gift cards nicely organized. I mentioned, egift cards. Egift cards are are tricky because they come in into your inbox, into your email inbox. So your organizer for email or, excuse me, egift cards will look a little different. Most of the time, you will get them via email.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:09:52]:

So put get yourself a folder that's specific in your inbox that says gift cards, egift cards. So every time you get one, immediately put it into that folder. You can also create a rule in most of the email servers, definitely Google, definitely Microsoft Office. Most of the the big email server types, will allow you to do a rule, what's called a rule. So every time there are certain keywords in the title or in the message, they will go into this inbox. And so you can either create a rule that's consistent with what however you you you receive egift cards. Maybe there's a couple keywords. Yeah.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:10:32]:

I would do, like, a egift card. I would do, certain quotes from vendors. Like, they'll say, you just received this. Now, you know, if you're listening, you probably are aware of this already that, there's a lot of scammers out there that send you pretend gift cards so that you will click on a link and then, you know, kinda get you to, like, a bait and switch type of thing. So very be very careful with that. That is why egift cards can be well, all kinds of gift cards can be a little little funny sometimes, but just be careful with that. But you can definitely create a rule so that they go into that. Again, this is especially true if you receive monetary gift cards from your communities.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:11:13]:

Like, if you're an educator, if you are, maybe you're you're somebody that just works with a lot of different people that will give you these tokens of appreciation in the form of egift art. So definitely create a folder for that. Okay. So that get yourself an organizer. That seems to work for a lot of people and this will get you this will lead us into the next tip. So what if you do get yourself an organizer, then you will find this next tip very handy. For our next tip, it's all about keeping track of what how much is the balance of each of the gift cards. And what I've seen work very well is putting either a little sticky note in the front of the gift card or like, tape, like, some like a, removable tape, painters tape or something like that in front of the card and then writing down the balance.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:12:04]:

And then, of course, every time you use it, you write down the balance little by little, and then that way, you know very visually what is left as opposed to having to call or log in to the app every single time if there's a website in the back or calling it in. Now pros and cons to this is, you know, pro easy easy to see. You can quickly look at what you know, how much your balance is, and it's just it's just much easier to keep track of. But, of course, the con is going to be it's a manual. I mean, you have to write it down, bring your pen and paper. And if you're not a pen and paper, oh my gosh, this sounds like a whole lot of work, then you're definitely going to push this habit away. You won't be doing this. Right? And then, of course, it's the if people can see that, you know, susceptible to theft, all that all that that comes with when you're physically putting together monetary items in one place.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:12:59]:

I mean, you have your organizer, and it all says how much is in each card. I mean, that is, like, a red flag for, for, you know, stealing if somebody sees it. But if you're not you if you're you can keep it at home in a safe place, and that way it's more for your internal purposes, that I think it will work. You know? I would not be parading it around, flashing it around. It's the equivalent of carrying, you know, hundreds of hundreds of bill $100 bills in your wallet, and all of a sudden you just get the roll of cash and you just expose it to everybody. I mean, it's probably not the safest thing to do. Same thing here. So I wouldn't be doing that, but I would find a way for you to visually keep track of the balances in what you have that is easily accessible and you can easily see and, you know, just see visually see so that you don't have to create an extra step to find out what you have left, and then that way you know, how much you have left.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:13:55]:

As as part of this org, getting an organizer and clearly writing what is left in each of these gift cards tip. I nowadays, I would suggest, that you also add your gift card to the website if you're like a webs. You're not afraid of, like like, the technology piece, in a lot of the merchants' website, you can just add the gift card to the cart, even even if you're not buying anything, basically, to your account. I'll just name some of the bigger ones like Walmart and Amazon and Target, Starbucks. They all will allow you to add a gift card that somebody gave you and added to your account so that next time you go, next time you check out, next time you order something online, you get it delivered. You can select if you want to add your funds on your account. So that is another way of having an organizer. Some people will do it if they have a especially if you had, like, a a wedding or a baby shower where you got and received a lot of gift cards, then they will have, like, a little folder.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:15:02]:

They'll have their the printouts of the gift cards, and then they will also add it to their account. So it's almost like a double check because, you know, because they they wanna make sure they use it, especially if you wanna accumulate as many of the gift cards as possible for 1 big purchase 1 big purchase. That's where this comes in very handy. Maybe, you know, for graduation. This is very predominant for graduations. Right? You send your graduation invite to all your relatives and your friends, and the gift cards kind of trickle in, not all at once, but maybe in a couple of months. So as you get these gift cards, put them into that account for that merchant and until you reach the goal that you're looking for. So that is another way of adding them to an organizer.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:15:48]:

So it doesn't always have to be old fashioned, like a binder. It can also be a digital version of it if the merchant makes it easy for you to do that, which most of the big retailers do. Okay. So for our next tip, we are talking all about combining your gift cards and selling them. There are apps out there or platforms, I should say, that will buy your gift cards. If you are somebody that has many, multiple gift cards. For whatever reason, gift you know, great again, graduation, celebratory events where you seed in abundance of them or you work in an industry where you receive a lot a lot of them from different merchants that all don't necessarily align with where you go and buy, places that you don't really like or whatever it may be. You do have options to sell them, not sell them back to the merch original merchant, but sell them to a third party merchant.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:16:42]:

I because of when I'm recording this, I I still have not found 1 particular merchant that I absolutely love, but I know many of my clients have used different types of merchants, and I'm happy to discuss those. So if you wanna reach out on Instagram and and, ask for my recommendations, then I will give them to you. And that way, I can give them to you in a little bit more of a up to date basis. So I won't name any right now on the on this podcast, but, basically, your search is going to be centered around online gift card marketplaces. So search for online gift card marketplace or gift card marketplaces or resell gift cards, and then you will come you know, make sure you shop around. Make sure that you, you get maybe some reviews. Test it out with 1 card. Don't just put up all of your cards immediately.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:17:34]:

Make sure that they're reputable because once you put in the number of your card and the PIN number. Then, you know, they they need to check that it's valid, that you're a real person that is giving them a real card with a real value in it as well. So they need to do their verification. But in the meantime, if there is a card if there's a website out there that is impersonating a legitimate online, gift card marketplace and, you know, they try to get your information and you had no idea, then that that would not be good. So I don't wanna this isn't like a scare tactic. This is more of a just be careful and maybe test it out with 1 of your gift cards and then see if it's a reputable company or ask your, your neighbors or your, you know, communities and ask them, hey. Have you ever sold your gift cards. Where where have you sold them to? But those are available to you, and you can just sell them, or exchange them for a merchant that you would use.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:18:28]:

Now this is where I think it's a really good idea to resell them if you have a lot of gift cards, because if you have 1 big purchase that you wanna make at a specific merchant, at a specific, store, then, like, let's say, you know, furniture store, even Amazon or the Targets or the Walmart or the Starbucks or whatever, and it's a big enough item, then reselling all the other $5, $25 gift cards you have received over the last couple of years could potentially be a benefit, in the long run because now you can buy that 1 big piece of item. And, you know, here at The Organized Flamingo, we are all about intentional buying and intentionally intentionally using your stuff with with a purpose, not just keeping it for the sake of it. So purchasing things that you actually will use will become more beneficial then having all these little things that you only use once in a while and are collecting dust. And for our last tip, it actually goes in theme with the last tip, and that is using it to purchase something else, like maybe a favor from a friend. And, actually, it's a favor because you would be exchanging it in a bartering system. So if you have the type of community or friends and family or, you know, Facebook or the neighborhood type of groups where you can put that out there and say, hey. I have this, and I need this. Can we exchange or message somebody or tell them what you're looking for and say, hey.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:19:54]:

I have a gift card, an abundance of gift cards to this one place that I, you know, I received. I no longer need. I don't use it. By any chance, would you want them in exchange for this? So don't be afraid to ask. You never know. I do think that it's all in the way that you ask. You know, don't come in all weird and and spammy. Like, if you've never met this person and you're just cold emailing them or messaging them on Facebook or Instagram and all of a sudden saying this.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:20:22]:

It just might seem a little weird and fishy. So, you know, maybe this is more of a tip for in person relationships or people that you, you know, you you know each other and you trust each other more than just randomly messaging somebody. But then again, you never know. You never know until you ask. So, but I would like to add this as a tip so that if you are coming across many, many of those gift cards that you don't use, then this could be a good way to exchange them for something else. Okay. So I'm gonna leave you off with about 3 tips on how and they're very quick, the way, and 3 tips on if you're the gift giver. So how to gift gift gift cards, well, say that 10 times, in a more thoughtful way so that they're actually being used.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:21:09]:

Right? So the person who you're giving it to doesn't lose them as easily. Maybe, know and actually put something to you. So that's what these tips are coming in for, but also a reminder that depending on your on your country and state in states, there are rules and laws that, have been put in place for gift cards. So please make sure to do a search, read through the fine print, and may and see what, you know, what kind of gift card you're getting, what are the fees, and when they expire. Here in the US, you have 5 years to use them, and then, I believe you know, actually, I don't even wanna go into detail with it because it depends on when you're listening to this pod to this episode. But, basically, we all have states and country laws that are very specific to gift cards, so look those up as well. Okay. So the 3 quick tips are ask the person, the gift the person you're buying this gift card for, where do they shop? You know? That I I feel like sometimes that's obvious, but maybe not.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:22:12]:

And if you're in a rush or it was a last minute decision to gift gift this person a gift card, that's okay. You know? I would rather somebody ask me what where I shop or what I like versus just giving me a gift card that they found, you know, in the bottom of their drawer. Not that there's anything wrong with that, honestly. I'm very appreciative of any gift that people that anybody gives me because I know that that is their hard earned money or they thought about thought about it, and even if they didn't think about it, they obviously gave it to me, you know. And, anyway, whatever. That's that's a different discussion. But the point here is is that, if you're trying to be more intentional, ask the person. You know, go ahead and ask them.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:22:53]:

Where do you shop? What do you like? Tip number 2. Write a note that is with the gift card. It either a note or maybe print out a picture of what you think that they would like or what the gift card is intended for. So let's say that somebody is a painter and you wanted to buy them paints, but you had no idea what kind of paints they liked. So instead you went to the local art shop and get and you're giving them a a gift card. So in the note, say that. Hey. I didn't know what to get you quite frankly, and I think it's better that you pick your own gift.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:23:26]:

Like, what kind of paint? Because everybody, you know, has specific taste. So please accept this as, you know, a token of my appreciation, gratitude, celebratory moment, and go ahead and pick something that you like. Or hey. I didn't know what size you were, but this is the shirt I wanna get you. If you wanna go ahead and buy it, you know, just here's a gift card, but this is the this is the shirt I wanna get you. So something more personable. And then the last is write the instructions on how to do or how to how to access the gift card or how to exchange the gift card or how to redeem the gift card because not all merchants are the same, not all vendors are the same. So especially if this is for somebody who is not tech savvy.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:24:10]:

Write them the instructions. Say, hey. This is what this the gift card is for this or for this place. Go to this website. You'll do this, this, and this. Even if you think it's obvious, even if you think that the back of the card should be enough or that they should do it themselves, I I am of the mindset that if you can help somebody use their gift in and optimize what you're giving them, that is just so much better. So, right directions and make it easy for them to redeem and use. And then if you can, make sure that you read the instruct you know, well, the instructions first, but also anything about the fees.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:24:49]:

Like, anything that might be important to note and to tell the person about. So, hey. You have 5 years to use this. This expires in 2020, you know, 50. So that way they know and it's apparent and it's not just another little gift card that they're going to put, you know, in their drawer, and it's gonna get lost. At least they know that where they can redeem it and how long they have. So write those things down and make it easy for them. Okay, so that is it for our episode this week.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:25:16]:

Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Right? We're gonna go in and get all of our gift cards that you know are in your drawers. Go dig them up, put them in a binder, put them in an organizer, load them up and use them, and make sure you get the most value out of them because it's cash that's just laying around. So head on over, start decluttering those. And if you are so inclined, share your experience with us. Let me know if you found some new gift cards you didn't know you had and you're putting them to use. Share it with us over on social media. We'd love to cheer you on.

Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:25:48]:

Until next time, happy organizing. If you enjoy today's episode, I would love it if you leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps with letting people know that we're here. For full show notes and resources, head on over to the organized flamingo.com/podcast. Happy organizing.

35: Dealing With Gifts That You Don’t Want: Letting Go Without Feeling Guilty

This week we discuss an interesting and relatable topic: what to do when you receive gifts that you don't want or need. Whether it's during the holiday season, birthdays, or any other occasion, we all find ourselves in this situation at times. We are sharing several tips and solutions to help you let go of these items or find a way to actually put them to use without feeling guilty.

In this episode we talk about:

  • The problem of keeping unwanted gifts
  • Practical tips to help you handle those unwanted gifts like a pro
  • Dealing with the guilt that comes with gift-receiving
  • Different guilt-free solutions you can try the next time you receive a gift you are not fond of

Mentioned in this Episode:

Episode 003: Mental Health and Organizing with Suzanne Orlando

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/3-mental-health-and-organizing-with-suzanne-orlando/

Blog Post: Timeless and Tidy – Using Antiques to Organize Your Space

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/timeless-and-tidy-using-antiques-to-organize-your-space/

Blog Post: Virtual Marketplaces

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/virtual-sell-buy-marketplaces/

Blog Post: Creating Your Household Boutique

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/creating-your-household-boutique/

The Organized & Productive podcast is brought to you by The Organized Flamingo and hosted by Stephanie Y. Deininger! For those of you who love the thought of organizing & being more productive, but don’t know where to start or constantly up against hurdles that don’t let you advance the way you want to, this podcast is for you!

Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast

Connect with Stephanie

https://www.instagram.com/theorganizedflamingo/

33: Get Organized for the Holiday Season: Creating a Mindful Shopping Plan

As the year comes to a close, many of us find ourselves going through our closets, basements, and attics, getting out holiday decorations, and doing some much-needed decluttering. This episode marks the beginning of a series of conversations about getting organized during this busy time of year.

Today, our focus is on mindful shopping and how to create a shopping plan to avoid overspending. We'll discuss the importance of decluttering and the feeling of overwhelm that often comes with impulse buying. Our goal is to provide you with helpful strategies to avoid accumulating excess stuff and to be more intentional with your purchases.

In this episode, we talk about:

How to avoid overspending during the holiday show Impulse buying leads to accumulating duplicates how to navigate holiday sales when you are trying to declutter

The Organized & Productive podcast is brought to you by The Organized Flamingo and hosted by Stephanie Y. Deininger! For those of you who love the thought of organizing & being more productive, but don’t know where to start or are constantly up against hurdles that don’t let you advance the way you want to, this podcast is for you!

Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast

Connect with Stephanie

https://www.instagram.com/theorganizedflamingo/

32: From Sun to Cozy: Preparing Your Home for the Fall Season

August is a great time to start decluttering and organizing from Summer to the Fall months.  This week, we're diving into the world of seasonal transitions and taking advantage of the natural changes of the seasons to stay on top of your organizing journey.

In this episode we talk about:

  • Transitioning and Organizing Your Things from Summer to Fall
  • Seasonal Closet Swap and Wardrobe Organization
  • Seasonal Home Decor Organization
  • Seasonal Kitchen Organization
  • Seasonal Outdoor Organization
  • Seasonal Mementos Organization

Mentioned in this Episode:

Episode 004: A New Decluttering Mindset: Seasonal Decluttering

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/4-a-new-decluttering-mindset-seasonal-decluttering/

Episode 022: Reselling Revolution: Weighing the Benefits and Drawbacks of Garage Sales

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/22-reselling-revolution-weighing-the-benefits-and-drawbacks-of-garage-sales/

Blog Post: Virtual Sell & Buy Marketplaces

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/virtual-sell-buy-marketplaces/

Blog Post: Creating Your Household Boutique

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/creating-your-household-boutique/

Blog Post: Clothing Swaps

https://theorganizedflamingo.com/clothing-swaps/

The Organized & Productive podcast is brought to you by The Organized Flamingo and hosted by Stephanie Y. Deininger! For those of you who love the thought of organizing & being more productive, but don’t know where to start or constantly up against hurdles that don’t let you advance the way you want to, this podcast is for you!

Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast

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Review the Transcript:

Hello and welcome my organized and productive community. Welcome to another episode of the organized and productive Podcast. Today we are talking about transitions and more specifically transitioning from the summer months into the fall months, and just how that affects our organizing and our organizing style, and how to transition from one to the other without feeling overwhelmed. So let's go. Welcome to the organized and productive podcast with me organized Flamingo. I am your host, Stephanie, a professional organizer and productivity expert, ready to explore the right organizing and productivity solutions for you. Yeah, well, then let's go.

To get us started, let's talk about what this type of organizing is called. So when you transition from one season to another, we like to call this as seasonal organizing or seasonal decluttering, if you're letting go of things, but it's basically the seasonal transition, right. And it could sometimes be from month to month, it doesn't have to be from a be weather pattern like a summer to fall. But usually it fits some kind of big movement throughout the year, like a big transitional seasonal movement throughout the year. And it's just a natural reminder for us to go from one phase to another. It's just like a natural alarm, if you will. Some of us, you know, we are very diligent about decluttering.

Or about staying organized from month to month or week to week or day to day, at the end of the day, maybe you have a routine, you've created some new habits. So that's amazing. But for some people, it's a little bit harder. And so the seasonal type of organizing is helpful because it's a natural reminder, like you're naturally going to be putting away your summer clothes or your summer items, and then picking up the fall items or the winter or whatever, like the cold weather month type of items. So and that is why seasonal organizing is very helpful for a lot of people and why we're devoting actually four episodes in the next, you know, for the next year for each of the transition. So right now we are talking about tips on how to transition from the summer months into the fall months. In this episode, we're going to talk about the four most common areas that we transition in and out of. The first is your clothing or closet. The second is decor and just like home, like your home area or even your office area, but just more Decor Style. The third is your kitchen. I mean kitchen devotes its own space the same way that your closet and your clothes do.

And then the fourth is outdoor space, or indoor gardening or like the outdoors. Because those four tend to be the ones that most people transition from one season to the other. And my data always comes from what I see being the most popular based on my 20 years of experience for my clients, what we get hired the most to do. And these are the four categories that we get hired to transition the most. So that's why I'm highlighting these four. There are other parts of your space, especially if you you're a business owner is like a either solo solopreneur or you own a big company doesn't matter what size, it's just, there are other types of teams that will transitions for your business. But we are really devoting this for kind of more of your personal space in your everyday space. Okay, so the first is your closet and or your clothing area. So that is a really popular place that gets transition during the summer to fall. Even regardless of where you live in the world. That is usually where the temperatures change from one to the other. Not everybody gets the extreme winters or the snowy type of winter. So some for some of you the fall slash winter is really just like the cold climate. So the summer to fall slash winter ends up being a really big transition for most people. And the first place that gets transitioned is usually your wardrobe or your closet. And so here are some tips on how to swap out your summer clothes to your fall attire without feeling overwhelmed. First if you're following our steps seven of organizing almost anything framework, which is our signature framework here at the organized Flamingo, and we do have a whole episode and actually we have one overview episode and then we have seven separate episodes devoted to each of the steps. So if you want to do that, we will put it into the show notes so you can follow along there. But just in our typical fashion of our seven steps we'd like to analyze and to assess First things first and what that means is in your closet, what are like how do you use your closet is is a capsule stock style of a closet, meaning you have mix and match outfits that they go with each other. Are you more like a capsule right like that? You have pre planned signature statement pieces and then they mix and match. Do you have more of a closet that houses all of your clothing all of the time? And if so, then we will talk about what to do so that you can either minimize The amount of clutter that's in there, or at least strategically fold them or put them in your closet so that it doesn't become overwhelming. So first of all, assess what how do you use your closet, what kind of closet Do you want to have, and then we will go from there.

Okay, the second tip from this clothing and wardrobe organization is the, if you do have a capsule wardrobe style, then this is a good time for you to start transitioning your summer pieces, putting those away. And then as you're putting them away, decide what you want to sell, donate, and or you do want to keep for the rotation for next year. And then you know, go ahead and put put this away the things that you want to sell or maybe give away, put them on a different bin and different bag. And then we will address those at a later time. When you do when you take pictures and post them or do whatever you need to do with those items that are not returning to your wardrobe. If you have a closet that houses all of your clothing, no matter what season it is, right? When you transition from the summer to the fall, this is a really good time for you to determine if your organizing containers are the right containers for you. Because summer from summer to fall, usually the fabrics are much lighter from the summer than they are from the fall, you put those away a little bit differently. So just kind of make sure that, you know you're putting away the things that you want to have long term in the right manner. I'll give you a great example. Okay, so the tank tops or you know lighter style shirts, some people like to hang them, but don't if you're going to be hanging them all year round. At some point they're they start to droop, the fabric starts to droop and then they create this little crease from the hangers. So when you're transitioning from one season to another, this is a really good opportunity for you to determine if those containers that you're utilizing.

And we you know, whether it's the hangers or the bins or the boxes or under your bed or wherever you're storing your your clothing, if it's the right container for whatever it is that you're putting away, especially if you're looking to keep these items long term like I mentioned. So this is a really good opportunity for that and of course is a great opportunity to declutter, let things go the things that you didn't wear, the things that you'd note and don't no longer like, and or maybe they just didn't fit and make you feel comfortable like this is a really good time to let them go and get yourself something that is fitting and you feel comfortable in for the next season. Okay, so now let's go ahead and talk about home decor. So we're switching over from closet to home decor or just kind of your area in general, if your space, this is a great opportunity for you to either sell or donate those seasonal items for next year, and go shop for the items that you do want for the next season. So this is something that doesn't get talked about a lot. But you know, you don't have to keep all of your decorations for the entire year all year long. You can always just sell them on a Facebook marketplace or an online type of marketplace or Craigslist, or whatever it is that you prefer, I have a whole list of those online marketplaces over on a blog post that I will put in the show notes. But this is really a good reminder from me, your professional organizer friend to you that you don't have to keep everything from one season to another put away the items that you are not you know that are sentimental to you. Maybe they were passed on from family to family like for family members or friends. Something that was like the special things and then how boundaries for them maybe how like two bins that you for sure are keeping because they're special mementos because it's things that you know, you can't replace and you just absolutely adore.

And those are stained but the rest, it's time to let them go either. Go ahead and you know, send them to a consignment store, sell them donate them, or put them you know, like I said on online marketplace, and then this is a really good opportunity for you to go to those same marketplaces and acquire things for the for the upcoming fall season. And then that way you don't have it's almost like a rental system that you don't have to keep everything in your possession at all times. This is a really good tip for all of you who have either are trying to do more of a minimalist lifestyle and you don't want to be carrying all these items you know with you at all times you move a lot maybe you move a lot, a great opportunity for all of you who are always traveling and you know you're moving quite a bit and then also for all of you who have smaller spaces and smaller storage spaces where you can't really be keeping you know the holiday tree or the Halloween decorations all year long because you only have one shed or one small area to keep these items in so go you know renting like not renting, but selling the things and letting them go immediately after you use them and then acquiring them as you need them is a really good way to maintain a clutter free storage space. Okay, let's transition over to the kitchen area. And in the kitchen area, it's going to be very similar to the home decor in the sense that you don't have to keep everything all year round. There are the same concept applies with the home decor, where you can acquire what you need as you need it and then let it go once you don't need it, especially during the fall in winter months where most of those cozy cooking type of holidays happen. Because what ends up happening is you buy that one tray for the big family dinner and then you don't use it again for the rest of the year. Now, again, similar to the home decor, you have like maybe a couple bins, one, two bins or drawers or storage areas where you keep your holiday kitchen items that are very special to you. But everything else you technically can, you know sell and then buy as needed versus keeping it just because and then it starts to accumulate a lot of space.

So on that sense, it's very similar to the home decor. But the one difference is going to be the food, the food part of the kitchen, right like the ingredients like the seasonal ingredients, those things you can't really buy necessarily at a at a markup online marketplace. I mean, I guess you can, but it's a little different. So whatever you acquired in the summer, so for instance, you got all your condiments, and maybe you had all the picnic stuff and you know the lemonade, I don't know all it whatever summer ingredients that you have acquired that you you can't really use until next year, this is a really good opportunity to look at the expiration dates and see if any of those summer items food items can actually last an entire year. And that is if you're staying in the same spot. As you know for next year. If you're planning on moving, then maybe this is a really good time to give them to a food bank that accepts them, especially if you haven't opened them or have or ask friends if they would like to have them before they expire.

You know don't be given the expired stuff out there, throw those away. Those are those are gone. But this is a really good opportunity for you to be looking at expiration dates from your summer ingredients and food items and then discarding those so that you can introduce all of the fall and winter ingredients that will be coming in and we know those will start to occupy some storage space in your kitchen. Okay, so now we're heading on over to the outside. And this is all about the outdoor space and gardening transitions. This is the time when we are doing the garden cleanup. I know a lot of our community members and our listeners are gardeners and they love the outdoors. So this is a really good opportunity for you to take a quick check outside in your garden in your patio and do a little a little cleanup obviously let go of the things that are no longer serving you especially if it's items within like your plant and things like that, that will go bad for next year. And that really won't be able to withstand the the winter months in the fall and winter months. So letting go of those items donating them, or maybe you are using them as fertilizer or, or composting or whatever it may be, this is a good opportunity for you to clean that up.

Also, storing outdoor furniture, this is a good opportunity for you to figure out again, kind of like the the home decor items. What is it that you do want to keep versus maybe just sell and just buy again next year from a thrift store from consignment store, you know, or online marketplace like I mentioned, although with outdoor furniture and items, those I tend to see that most people like to buy those locally versus clothing where you can, or even a home decor small home decor is where you don't mind getting it shipped with outdoor furniture and just bigger things like that. I think most people stay local. So check your online local marketplaces and see if it's something that you can just let go off for the season and rebuy next year, because next year, you may not even want it anymore. And so why hold on to it this this entire season or this entire fall in winter months, when you know you're not even going to use it again.

Okay, so those are our four spaces that typically get transitioned from one season to another, especially the big transitions from summer months or warmer months to cooler weather like the fall in the winter. I'm also going to add a bonus tip in here. That is not part of the four most common spaces that get transitioned from one season to another and I'm going to add the picture decluttering from one season to another or really actually just mementos in general, this is a really good opportunity for you to put away those mementos from the summer months, the pictures or maybe the keychain or something that you want to remember from your kids. Some Summer vacation or camp. So this is a good opportunity for that to happen for you to put those away in an open actual you know the book or a box and label them so that you don't forget.

So that years or months, you know, months or years don't go by and you forget why you even kept it like the memento from the beach vacation, right like, this is a good opportunity to like label it. And remind yourself why it is that you want to keep this item. As you go through this step, I'm going to guarantee that you may actually go back and realize that some of the things you acquired on vacation on your trip on your staycation, or just throughout the summer months, you may go and say I don't even know why I kept this, I don't need it. In the moment it felt special. Maybe that's a good opportunity for you to take a picture of it and write some notes just so you remember the memory. But you don't necessarily need to keep the physical item. This last bonus tip was dedicated to all of you sentimental keepers who keep you know things from a season of life and you want to remember long term, I just don't want all of your things to accumulate little by little season by season, and then it becomes overwhelming. And you don't even know why you kept it. So again, good opportunity, good time for you to declutter that stuff.

And or make sure that you know why you're keeping it. Seasonal organizing and transitions are also a really good time to tap into your family and friends, resources and neighborhoods. So this is a really good opportunity to let people know what it is that you have available and maybe what you're looking for and doing slops because people are in the mood for a change, right? So this is a good opportunity for that also for garage sales. Again, like kinda like in the spring fall like the end of the summer is a really good time to break before the fall for you to sell or have like a garage sale for all of your seasonal items that people may want to buy and then just kind of letting go of any of your summer items.

I will link the show notes in the show notes, our garage sale podcast episodes and if you are doing a seasonal decluttering or organizing project, let us know over on social media and tag us at the organized Flamingo. We always love cheering our community on and with that. Happy organizing and until next time. Thank you for listening to the organized and productive podcast with the organized Flamingo. If you enjoyed today's episode, I would love it if you'd leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps with letting people know that we're here. For full show notes and resources head on over to the organized flamingo.com/podcast Happy organizing

Timeless and Tidy: Using Antiques to Organize Your Space

November 2021

As you know, we talk a lot about Organizing that fits YOUR lifestyle here at The Organized Flamingo.  One of the ways you can incorporate organizing that fits your lifestyle is if you have vintage items that you have been storing and don't know what to do with.  

Laura Brock Va Beach and I had an Instagram IGTV session (which you can watch HERE) and talked all about how you can use vintage items to organize everyday items all while adding personality and dimension to your space.  

Laura is based in Virginia Beach, VA.  She has a shop called The House of Hanbury.  She sells vintage and antique items on her website and has two physical shops in Virginia Beach, VA. S he is an avid collector and it's in her genes!  Her mom was a designer, and her father was also an antique shopper, so it’s in her blood.  She loves the hunt and the history of vintage items.  With our lives moving so fast, she wants to show the world how you can use vintage items around your house. 

“Vintage has an emotional connection.”

– Laura Brock Va Beach

Here are 12 vintage Items you probably have around your house you can use to GoSo (Get Organized and Stay Organized).

  • Boxes – vintage wooden/brass/other boxes are great for storing old letters, in your front entry way to hold your mail, keys, bedside tables, vitamins, like a Milk Glass wedding Cake Box.  etc.  Asian Cricket Boxes brass.  Great for desk accessories, like tape.  They are breathable because they are vented.  If you are the type of person that doesn't like boxes because they won't remember what’s in them, what are tips to remember what's in them: painters tape is good to use because it wont leave residue.  Tins are another type of box.  
  • Ice Buckets – great to use to hold items in your kitchen and use for ice when needed.  Multifunctional.
  • Old planters.  Great in the bath to hold the bigger bottles, great for guest buckets.  Great for kitchen towels, wash rugs, brushes, exercise bands, 
  • Turntables – great for corner spaces, bathrooms, shelves that are too deep.  
  • Bowls, great for remotes, towels by the pool, on the way out the door
  • Plate Holder: great for holding magazines
  • Umbrella vases: great for toilet paper
  • Milk Glass ITems: great to display and use for small items like cotton balls, paper clips, 
  • Brass is very popular, durable and beautiful.  
  • Revere Bowl, good for sticky notes,  paperclips, and pins.  
  • Small trays as dish soap containers 
  • Busts to hold your jewelry

“Joy can come from the stories, not just from the physical look.”  

We also talked about the upkeep of vintage items.  Here are some things to consider for cleaning vintage items:

  • Ceramic and porcelain is durable for the most part and easy to watch.  Washed with soap and water.  Brash lids get polish cleaner.  If you don't like polishing, don't use silver or brass (unless you like the patina look on those materials).  If you use wipes, she recommends silver polish wipes
  • If you are storing food in a tin, use a plastic bag or liner. Be cautious of storing food in vintage items.  

“You are more motivated to organize when your storage solutions are pretty.  Pretty and useful is important.”

Remember, vintage items are one of those items that already exist so shop local, think vintage!


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IG: The House of Hanbury

Website: www.thehouseofhanbury.com

FREE Resources: 10 Ways to Decorate and Use Your Blue and White Chinioiserie

Series: Organizing your Holiday Decor (Containers)

You just took out all of your Holiday decor.  Enjoy the happiness that all the merry and bright decorations bring to your home and space.  But eventually, you are going to put everything back, right? 

I want to make sure I help you think ahead and be on the lookout for what you may need to organize your items now and later. Take note that this is a list of items you’ll probably buy, but there are plenty of DIY versions of the following.  I’ll do another post soon on what DIY versions are out there for the following.  In the mean time, keep an eye out for the following sales!

Sales to be on the lookout for:

  • Wreath containers
  • Large plastic bags for wreaths (if you want to hang them vs. in containers)
  • Totes for the new stuff you got
  • Ornament boxes.  Ok, so here are my thoughts on ornament boxes.  They are wonderful IF you get the ones where each layer is separate and you can access each layer separately.  The boxes where you have to take the top layers off before you can access the bottom ones can be a pain in the behind.
  • Garland Storage Bags
  • Storage Reel for lights and garland (think what you put a water hose on so it spins in and out easily)   
  • A big roll of plastic wrap (the kind that professional movers have) to cover your tree with the ornaments OR a BIG bag to store your christmas tree. 
  • Gift wrapping stations

Where can I find these sales?

  • Your local home improvement stores
  • Home decorating stores
  • Facebook Marketplace
  • Craigslist
  • Neighbor-to-neighbor groups
  • Yard and Garage Sales
  • Estate Sales
  • Auctions

Let us know if you have found a great sale for any of the above mentioned items and where you found your deal!

Kindly, Stephanie

Series: Organizing your Holiday Decor (Small Spaces)

This post comes to you as a series. There is no order the series, but each covers a different part on ways to organize for the Holiday Season.

If you live or work out of a small space and looking for ways to maximize that space during the Holiday Season, here a few ideas that I think will help.

  • Hit up thrift stores, FB Marketplace, Craigslist (to keep things off of landfills and support people that are looking to sell their items). After you are done for the Holiday, donate them back.
  • Purchase some cute items that would adorn items you already have such as Santa hats, ornaments, cut up some luminarias – then add those accent items to the doors, tie up your books with holiday ribbon, pictures frames, etc. I would focus on buying the accent pieces so there is less to store and find ways to updo what you have.
  • For a tree, the thinner ones work great for small spaces, a wall tree is super cute and a modern take, or you can get a plant (fake or real) and decorate that and have it up all year. Storing it will take up less space.
  • Lastly, limit yourself ahead of time to a drawer, box, a bag, or whatever your limited space is, and only get holiday decor that will fit in that area 🦩❤️

Kindly, Stephanie

Organizing your Holiday Decor in Small Spaces