It’s January! It’s a new year! It’s a great time to make new habits, complete things you’ve been putting off and start the year more organized! Whether you made a concrete list of goals you plan to achieve for the year or not, here are 10 things to do in January to kick off the year on a positive, organized note!
- Back up your photos. I mentioned this at the end of the year on Instagram, but the beginning of a new year is a good time to back up all the photos from the previous year. PLEASE don’t put this off and regret not taking the time to set this up! Learn how I organize my digital photos, along with the external hard drive I use.
- Print some photos. Seriously when was the last time you printed some photos and updated those picture frames hung on your wall or sitting on your desk? Pick out some favorites from last year and give these frames a fresh look! Image above from our new gallery wall I completed this summer!
- Unsubscribe from all those email newsletters you signed up for to get holiday shopping coupons. Spend some time on your email inbox. Are there newsletters you delete EVERY TIME they come in and you don’t even read them? Why waste the time to click and delete the newsletter when you can just get removed from the list? You can always reapply when that item is of interest again. (PS here’s one newsletter you’ll want to stay on..MINE! Choose to get a new email every time a new post is live or choose to receive one monthly as a recap and list of seasonal content)
- Clean out your coupons! If you’re like me and have a stack of coupons or a coupon wallet, it’s time to dig through and remove all those that expired in 2016. And if you’re looking for new ways to save on groceries, make sure you check out this post on 10 ways our family does!
- Clean out the pantry and make note on your stock! Chuck any expired items living in the back corners and make note on what you’re low on. Many grocery stores have winter stock up sales so you’ll be ready to keep an eye out for a good deal!
- Roll and deposit coins in the bank. Empty the piggy bank, wrap the coins up and deposit them. Start the year with an empty jar and work on filling it up with pocket change.
- Clean out your phone. First, back up the photos and videos then delete tons of them, only leaving your favorites if you feel the need. You don’t need 12 version of that time you got all the cousins together. Oh and you already own that rug you took a photo of in Target so why keep that pic? Next review your app list and uninstall those that you haven’t used in the last 6 months. Come on, no one is playing candy crush anymore, are they?
- Take stock of your gift cards. You might have gotten a good amount of gift cards from the holidays or still have some left over from LAST Christmas. Grab a sharpie, look up the gift card balance sites online and make a note ON the giftcard for how much it’s worth. Make an effort to use these to stop spending your own cash and get rid of this useful plastic pile that you left in the drawer. This is found money, people!
- Walk your house and make a wishlist of things you want to do or buy. This might seem daunting at first but having a list to look at will help you focus down the road. Make note of that picture frame you bought 6 months ago that you never hung up. Get rid of those curtains you’ve always hated and start looking for ones you like.
- Reassess your home’s organizational weaknesses. What cabinets are always a pain for you to find things in? Where do you need a better solution for their toys? What type of organization items can you get to make your garage space work for you? Decide which to focus on and find a better way to make these spaces work to your favor!
Looking for more tips to get organizing and be efficient with your time? Check out this post!
What else are you looking to achieve this January?
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Get to work on that shutterfly (or whatever site) book you’ve been meaning to keep up to date on this year but then you left it off until the end again. :)
I find that coupons now seem to expire within a couple weeks so I don’t even bother anymore. I just use cartwheel and sometimes I find coupons at the supermarket. Ours tapes them to products they want to feature or new stuff.
Good one! YES! My shutterfly code for a free 12×12 book (the size I use for our yearly one) expired end of this month! Need to get one that. Think I left off on October :)
Ok – I’m saving my list going to work on it!! Will start with finding a backup for my photos, etc since I have 0 memory on my phone! Second IS to print out some pics and get them ON the wall. .. then I’ll work on the rest. FYI. please don’t insult those STILL playing candy crush–while there is something wrong with us, we are still good people.
LOL glad I can motivate you Allison! Check back in the end of the month and let me know about your progress! The photo backup is a MUST!