April is Financial Literacy Month.

Every Wednesday this month I’m going to share a quick tip to help you organise your finances.

Did you know that being organised saves you money?

• You waste money buying duplicates of items you didn’t know you had
• You waste money on late charges because you can’t find the bills you need to pay, or you forget to pay them on time
• You also waste money not deciding in the store where you should store the item you’re thinking of buying, and then not using it

So now that you know why you should get organised, let’s discuss some practical tips to show you how you can get your finances organised.

It’s a big myth that organising is difficult and time-consuming.

Yes, you do have to take some time initially to set up your system but unless you want to make things really complicated, it’ll only take you about 15 to 30 minutes.

1. Put all bills to be paid in a specific folder

When you bring in the mail, throw away the junk mail and envelopes immediately and only keep the actual bill in a dedicated plastic see-through envelope in a specific place. Arrange the bills in order of when they have to be paid so that the one facing you is also the most urgent bill.

This way you and the rest of your family always know exactly where to find all the bills.

Where do you store your incoming bills?

If you need help getting your finances organised, check out 10 steps to your financial freedom now.

We’re having a clearance sale of some products to make space for the babies

Check it out

This is a picture of my memory box.

It’s slightly bigger than A4 (printer paper size). I have an A4 folder in there with my goals from every year since 1998 (nerdy, I know, but that’s me!), which is when I started setting goals properly.

I have some birthday, Christmas, and anniversary cards, notes from people, etc. in there. Of course I don’t keep everything and when the box starts getting too full, I go through it and see what I can let go of.

This works for me because I’m restricting my memories to a container and creating a physical boundary.

How do you store your memories?

So who of you participated in the Earth Hour project?

We did.

I lit candles all around the house and we had supper and some lovely conversation by candlelight.

What did you do?

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Join me on Saturday 28th March for Earth Hour.

The idea is to switch off your lights for just one hour (and we can all do one hour, right?) at 8:30 pm, local time, no matter where in the world you are

Here’s the link to sign up if you live in South Africa.

So are you in?

Today we’re decluttering files and document folders.

I have three tips for you today:

1. Keep it simple

Make folders in your My Documents folder.

BUT please don’t make too many folders so that you have to click through lots of layers to get to your documents.

2. One in, one out

Declutter regularly. If you know you download documents like PDFs and audios on a weekly basis, then you need to declutter those (or others) on a weekly basis.

Just this weekend I listened to a 60-minute audio while I decluttered some files in my study. When I was done, I deleted the audio. There didn’t happen to be anything that I needed to action but if there had been, I’d make a note in my spiral-bound notebook and then still delete the audio.

3. Make your system work for you

My filing system may not work for you and yours may not work for me.

Ask yourself, “where would I look for this document if I had to find it in the future?” That’s how you name your files.

I have household forms and business forms. You might file them together but the way my brain works, I think of business forms with business, and so on.

This week, your challenge is to

go through at least 5 folders in your My Documents and declutter …

• any duplicate documents
• documents you no longer use or need
• audios you’ve already listened to and actioned
• PDFs that no longer serve you (forms you’re not using, etc, etc.)

To get you inspired, read how Anne organised her document folders when she did the Office Organising Makeover.

Share in the comments how you did!

On this 75-minute teleclass, you’ll learn:

• Where to start organising your computer
• My DREAM method of organising your computer
• How to keep control of all the audios, PDFs and ebooks you get for free off the internet and how NOT to let it clutter up your hard drive
• Exactly how to label and store your documents and files so you can find them
• How to organise your contacts and all those business cards
• How to cut your computer time in half
• How to organise tasks and projects
• How and when to do a proper, thorough back up of your files and how to know when to do it so you don’t lose your work
• And much, much more

Check out Everything you EVER wanted to know about organising your computer

files and document folders

Get ready because I want you to post your intentions… and then how many documents you manage to declutter tomorrow.

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On this 75-minute teleclass, you’ll learn:

• Where to start organising your computer
• My DREAM method of organising your computer
• How to keep control of all the audios, PDFs and ebooks you get for free off the internet and how NOT to let it clutter up your hard drive
• Exactly how to label and store your documents and files so you can find them
• How to organise your contacts and all those business cards
• How to cut your computer time in half
• How to organise tasks and projects
• How and when to do a proper, thorough back up of your files and how to know when to do it so you don’t lose your work
• And much, much more

Check out Everything you EVER wanted to know about organising your computer

I’m fast realising that not everybody thinks like me.

Well, I’ve known that for a long, long time but this baby business has made the whole thing glaringly obvious once again.

Let me tell you what’s been going on…

1. There’s a baby expo happening in Jhb soon (I think it’s within the next week or two) … and the ladies at work have been very keen for me to go because “you get all this FREE STUFF” LOL

I’m really not into getting stuff just because it’s free. If I need it and don’t have to pay, great. But I don’t just take things because they’re free.

They looked at me like I was cuckoo

Please tell me there are more of us out there!

2. Then my sister (who is so excited) wants to know what we’ve bought.

Um, nothing.

“but you do know what you want?”

Um, no. Not at all.

“Okay, have a look at all these websites”

No, thanks, that’s not our style.

You see, I believe that when you look at too many things, you (1) get overwhelmed and (2) start thinking that you need all those things.

But they’re not needs, they’re desires.

So my thinking is to first consider carefully what we actually need, and then make a list and go shopping.

Am I crazy, or is there method in my madness?

P.S. We received a baby bag from our medical aid (insurance) and some more free stuff from a Multiples Seminar we attended which is why we have a few things.

P.P.S. We have bought them matching “what happens at Granny’s house stays at Granny’s house” babygrows (onesies) in green because they were cute and not expensive!

Oh, by the way, am 16 weeks now and at the doctor’s on Wed, one baby showed us what we wanted to see …and one didn’t … so we wait for the 20-week scan. If that one is naughty again, I’m going to “cheat” on my doctor and go see others until I know!

Why this teleclass?

If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably inundated with messages from all over the internet.

And all the social media’s not helping either – should you facebook, should you twitter, what should you do?

You’re overwhelmed with everybody telling you what to do and and which system is the Next Best Thing to follow to make a gazillion dollars in a month

Instead of moving forward though, you feel so overwhelmed that you become totally paralysed with indecision.

On this teleclass you’ll learn…

• how to recognise the symptoms of overwhelm
• what type of organising personality you are…and how to work with your style to get your focus back
• some of my favourite tools (practically free) that help me focus
• how to break out of overwhelm (when all the noise in your head gets too loud) by doing the absolute minimum you need to do to get you moving forward again
• how to eliminate info product overwhelm… so you know which ones to follow to get the results you want
• how to get your mojo back (in other words, get the confidence to quickly get you back on track)
• how to go from just a lovely idea to a project actually done and off that eternal to-do list

“I used to spend my days always working on email and never getting anything done. Thanks to Marcia’s suggestions, I now can’t believe everything I get done in one day!

It’s allowed me to have a very successful business while working only 15-20 hours per week. I love that her techniques have given me the freedom to spend time with my sons and husband.

Thanks to her business organizing strategies I have doubled my productivity which has in turn doubled my business income. Thanks Marcia for all that you do!”

Jennifer Haubein

www.BestBizWebsiteSolutions.com

The nitty gritty details

Date: Tuesday 24 March

Time: 12pm EST/ 6pm South African Time (GMT+2)

Your time: click here for your time zone

What do you need: Pen and the handout I’ll be sending you

Format: Simulcast – both by webcast and telephone – so if you have a computer and internet, you can participate.

Investment: $37

I loved the clarity of your teaching and you have given me confidence that I can do more. You helped me realise my potential and the timing and ease of use worked very well.

The info you suggested was new to me as before, I’d only picked things up from others as I needed.

Tina Hodges
Sheffield, England
http://creatingwholeness.org

So how does this work?

• Once you register and pay, I’ll send you the access information and the handbook for the day.
• On the day, either call in on the phone (it’s a US number) or wait and download the link afterwards.
• If the time doesn’t suit you, register anyway because I’ll send you the recording within an hour or you can listen in via the replay link.

Let’s recap. What do you get …

• LIVE teaching from Marcia Francois, time management and organising expert
• LIVE group coaching
• Handout
• MP3 audio download after the live call
• this is part of your Gold VIP Inner Circle membership. Try it for a month and if you don’t like it, you can always cancel

All this for only $37

Here’s what people (just like you) are saying …

Your system helped me realize those places where I could streamline my processes even further to help increase my productivity and give me more time.

Thanks, Marcia!

Sincerely,
Teresa Morrow
Online Promoter for Authors, Speakers & Writers
www.keybusinesspartners.com

Today we’re decluttering email.

I’m going to give you just one tip today – make decisions. Don’t just read your email and close it again without making a decision as to what to do.

Here are some previous posts that deal with email:

• An empty inbox is like…
• Anne’s post on dealing with her e-clutter
• 5 ways I deal with email

This week, your challenge is to

1. find out your email comfort number
2. declutter your inbox until you’re there
3. build in daily maintenance time to keep to that number

Share in the comments how many you decluttered!

If your email is out of control, Conquer your email will get your email organised and under control. Someone went from about 3000 mails to less than 100 in just days.

This is a comprehensive handout plus an hour-long audio. I teach you every single secret and tip that I use to help me manage my email in only 15 minutes a day.

email

Get ready because I want you to post the number of emails you start with, and how many you manage to declutter tomorrow.

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If your email is out of control, Conquer your email will get your email organised and under control. Someone went from about 3000 mails to less than 100 in just days.

This is a comprehensive handout plus an hour-long audio. I teach you every single secret and tip that I use to help me manage my email in only 15 minutes a day.