42. Organize Your Music CD's

Music CD's can take up a lot of space. Most people have converted to mp3's but can't part with their precious CD's. You have several choices on how to organize your music.

1. Gather all of your CD's and alphabetize them to store in a wall CD organizer. This will give you quick and easy access to your music if you still plan to play the music off of your CD's. You can find several different styles to choose from ranging in price of $15 to several hundred dollars.

2. Download all of your music onto your computer and purge the actual CD's. Of the purged CD's you can sell, trade, or give them away. There are multiple onlines choices for you to list and sell your music online including amazon.com, eBay, craigslist, cashforCDs.com, secondspin.com, etc. Also check with local music stores in your area to see if they have a buy back program. Trading your CD's is another great option that can be done

at swap.com. You list the CD's that you have available and the items you are wanting. Once they find a match for your swap, you are given instructions on where to mail your CD. Very easy.

3. Organize your music in a CD binder and recycle the jewel cases if you choose to hold onto the CD's but do not want to look at them every day. They will be neatly stored and take up less room.

41. Organize Your Medication

With cold and flu season approaching, it is time to purge and organize your medication.

Gather all of the medicine and vitamins around the house. Check the expiration dates on everything and pull out expired medication.

The Center for Disease Control has a list of list of medications recommended for disposal by flushing. Do NOT flush all medication. The FDA suggests most medications can be disposed of in the trash after mixing them with an unappealing substance (ex. kitty liter, coffee grounds) and sealing them in a container.

September 25th, 2010 is Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Take unused and expired medicine in all forms to a collection site near you. The DEA will later incinerate the medicine.

Medicine and Vitamin bottles can be recycled with curbside recycling, but make sure you remove all labels and the lids. Hot soapy water will help in removing the labels.

You can also check with veterinarian offices to use for animal prescriptions or animal shelters may take them to help with their operating costs.

Now you can store your medication.

-Store all medication in a dry place out of sunlight unless noted otherwise on the bottle.

-Make sure you keep medication in it's original container.

-Store OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.

-Find a container that would be easy for you to reach and carry.

- Determine if you need a locked or unlocked container.

40. Keeping Medical Records Organized.

Keeping accurate records for family medical care is essential. This will help you keep track of appointments, financial information, personal information and needed health updates. I have found several tools to make this much easier to pull all the information into one place rather than using bulky binders. Each one is customizable for each member of the family.

-www.AboutOne.com: this can be accessed from anywhere and is easy to print out reports on vital information to give to new doctors.

-www.carebinders.com: has features to remind you of appointments, keep track of visits, medication, health history and information. Also tracks insurance claims.

-www.911medicalid.com. Load information and store on the USB drive. Carry in your wallet, purse or on a hang on a lanyard around your neck.

Don't forget to keep all receipts and financial paperwork including insurance EOB's.

39. What To Do With All Those Stuffed Animals??

Kids (and some adults) LOVE stuffed animals. Before you know it, your collection can take over a space. Over time, they can accumulate dust mites and can be harmful to people with allergies or asthma problems.

Organizing your stuffed animal collection is easy. Purge, Purge, Purge. Donate your purged stuffed animals to the following locations:

Stuffed Animals For Emergencies

Project Night Light

Local Goodwill or Salvation Army stores.

Please check with their requirements before sending stuffed animals.

Once you've settled on the stuffed animals you would like to keep, determine the best way to store your collection that would be easy for you to maintain. Some of my favorite options are:

- Hang a shelf on the wall to display your collection.

-Store in a toy chest, Rubbermaid container, or over the door plastic shoe racks.

-I found this Animal Bag storage chair online. It is like a bean bag but is sold without the stuffing. You fill it with your own stuffed animals. Your stuffed animals are gathered all in one location while creating some extra seating your room at the same time. I think this is a perfect solution for the stuffed animals that your children just can't seem to part with right now.

I also suggest, purging the stuffed animals when the kids are away. You will be able to get rid of so much more without any distractions or someone throwing a tantrum because they want to keep Pooh Bear.

Good luck!

38. Purge Your Keys

Are you afraid to throw away old keys for fear you may need them? If you haven't used the key in a few years, chances are, you probably won't. Time to purge those keys! I bet you have keys on your keychain right now that you have no idea what they open. Or maybe you have the keys to an old car, house or locker thrown in a drawer somewhere.

Check in drawers, the garage, the basement, your keychain and collect all the old keys in your house.

You can recycle the keys at most recycling stations in their mixed metal bins, place an ad on craigslist and give them away, donate them to Key For Hope. You can get creative and use the extra keys to make a wind chime, decorate a picture frame, or any other craft project you come up with.

37. Purge Your Bath Towels

We all seem to have an abundance of towels. I'm going out on a limb here, but I would say 3 towels per family member would be plenty. While one is in the wash, you still have a supply for use. Imagine all the space you will create once you purge all the extra towels out of your linen closets. I'm positive most of your towels need purging anyway......starting to fray, fade, have holes?

You can donate the purged towels to homeless shelters, animal shelters, your church may have a family needing help setting up a household, a young couple starting out, or a student going off to school in the Fall.

36. Go Paperless

Take a look around you. Most of the paperwork that surrounds you can be found online. Not only will it be eco-friendly to rid yourself of unnecessary paperwork, but it will free you of unnecessary clutter.

Set up an online bill paying system with your bank. You can receive your bills online and then turn around and pay the bills online. Wa-La! No more paperwork. Plus you don't have to buy a stamp. Link this to your Quicken account and you rid yourself of having to keep track of a checkbook.

35. De-clutter your pens and pencils

For some reason we all have an abundance of pens and pencils. Seriously, how many does one person need? Take some time today to purge your pens and pencils.

First start by discarding pens that no longer work. Simply scribble on a piece of paper with each pen to test it. Second go through your pencils and discard ones that have dwindled down to short little nubs or have lost their eraser.

Go through the remaining stash and purge again. Many of us are particular about what types of pens we like to write with, so go ahead, purge the rest.

After the purging process you can sharpen the pencils you have decided to keep.

Donate all of your purged pens/pencils to The Pencil Project or your local school.