Spring is just over the horizon! If you’re looking to set the mood for summer with a clean living space, it’s time to start making your plan. This year I am focusing on digitizing pictures from previous decades, but there are so many ways to boost your sense of organization — so you can concentrate on living your best summer life.

Start with old bills and statements. Certain documents need to be retained, like insurance policies, but monthly invoices and statements from vendors do not. Most vendors prefer online bill paying for more up-to-date statements anyway. If you still like to receive paper invoices, you don’t have to go paperless to scan in your bills and keep a duplicate set of files.. 

As far as I’m concerned, power cords are a form of pollution. I don’t think scientists ever anticipated how quickly cords would spread and multiply. That’s why I gathered all the devices I use and their power cords, and threw out everything else. This could go a long way toward making your place look and feel more organized. I haven’t needed any of those cords yet!

Spice racks are also a habitat for chaos. It was only when I was cleaning my spice rack that I found out my salt expired. I took the expiration dates on the other spices more seriously and it turned out that I had a lot of expired herbs. A lot had to go, but there were also a lot of duplicates that I combined. 

No one knows where they come from, but they keep coming back. I’m talking about odd and mismatched plates, cups, bowls, etc. They take up too much space because they do not stack right, they slowly suck your energy while you are sleeping. No one is going to want them, so you might as well recycle them and liberate your cupboard.

Consult with your financial planner. As someone who works with Certified Financial Planners®, I have clients who see them often, others not so much. CFPs are flexible in the way they can work with you, but I think springtime is an especially useful time to meet with one to review your strategy. 

I expect I’ll be going through photographs for the rest of the month. I’ve been throwing most of them away after I scan them — not without a little guilt. I reached out to my daughter to ask if she had any guidelines for which hard copies to keep. What did she say?

“Keep the good ones.” My reply: “They are all good ;)”.