Cost of Ownership

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September brings colder nights, and soon we’ll be turning on the heat.  We received the depressing news from our plumber that our furnace should be replaced this year or next.  Oh, the joys of home ownership.  What about the joys and cost of owning any item?

Costs of Ownership

Do you agree that it’s easy to accumulate belongings, especially if you have children?  Things, stuff, and junk seem to multiply at a very rapid rate.  Have you ever asked yourself what is the cost of owning all these things, all this stuff, all the junk?  Just like home ownership, I bet it’s not always pleasant to own things.  In fact, just like home ownership, it can be costly.
What is the cost of ownership?  To figure out the cost of ownership of an item consider these 5 factors:
1.  Purchasing it
     A.  Time – going to store or ordering
     B.  Effort  – researching and comparing products
     C.  Money – cost of item and cost of gas or shipping
2.  Time and effort exchanging it if it’s not the right item
3.  Real estate required to store it
4.  Effort to organize, clean, repair, and update it
5.  Stress of loosing or ruining it

Are the things, stuff and junk you have in your space worth the cost of ownership?  Answering this question can help you determine what is worth keeping and what isn’t.

Try it and share with me what you discovered.  If you’d like assistance with the process, I’m at your disposal.

Organizing Photos

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Tip:   Organized photos, whether they’re digital or actual prints by theme.  First gather them up, purge the blurred and oops ones, and then sort and store by theme.  Organizing photos by theme is much easier than trying to determine the chronological order of each individual picture.  Some themes may be birthdays, holidays, school events, weddings, anniversaries, and family vacations.

 

 

Organizing Manuals

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Tip: Store product manuals and instructions in one file with three subcategories, kitchen, children and other.  Be honest with yourself when asking if you’ll ever reference this information again.  If not, don’t keep the manual or instructions.  Manuals often come in more than one language, only keep the language you reference.  Sort through this file every year and recycle all that you can.

Organizing Paper

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Tip: Store papers, files and information vertically.  This prevents piles from forming, growing and taking over.  It also allows easier access, with less frustration when returning and retrieving papers, files and information.

Organizing Incentives

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Tip: Incentives work!  Give yourself an incentive for each scheduled organizing session you put on your calendar and keep.  Give yourself an incentive for each target area you tackle and make progress on.  Give yourself an incentive for each flat surface you organize.