Vacation is not always a destination.

When we think of the word vacation, it sometimes conjures up the memories or fantasies of a cool breeze blowing through a Caribbean cabana. Perhaps the joy of coming back to your hotel room with the beds freshly made with a new set of clean towels. Maybe the joys of not having to prepare not one.single.meal.

But actually a vacation doesn't have to be a destination. It can be a state of mind. In fact, with a little preparation and medication (oops typo) *cough* meditation, you can have a relaxing and great vacation right at home and save some $moolah$ for the rest of the year. What do you have to do to enjoy this "stay-cation"?

Let's start with preparation:

Your house maybe doesn't feel like a home if it's messy and cluttered. As a professional organizer – you guessed it…I prescribe that your home (or at least a few major rooms) get organized. If you've been "meaning to get to that" for a while, why not hire a professional organizer? It will save you time and frustration of trying to find the time to get it done all by yourself and once it's done you can enjoy the proceeds and your new organizing systems for weeks, months, and (with consistent effort and tweaking) even years to come.

Let's do the comparison of getting out of Dodge vs. Staying in a newly organized home?

• 5 nights at a hotel in a prime vacation spot @ $300/night = $1500+


• 
  
  Airfare or Gas to travel = $200-$600
  
  
  
  
  • Total = About $2,100
  
  
  
  

VS.

• 2 sessions with a professional organizer to organize and bring peace of mind to your home (for more than 5 nights) = anywhere from $500-$900


• 
  
  Supplies needed to organize and contain = $50-$300
  
  
  
  
  • Total = About $ 1,200
  
  
  
  

Savings of stay-cation prep = About $1,100

Not coming home to a cluttered home and have the stress all come rushing back to you after you've brought your beautifully-tanned-self through that threshold (not to mention no unpacking. Winning!)

What to do with your hotel and travel savings to help you enjoy your vacation at home?

Here are some suggestions:

• Buy some new loungewear


• Eat out every day and not cook (or get your food delivered)


• Turn off your phone or work e-mails all day or part of the day


• Hire a maid service for one or two days of your vacation


• Go get a massage or look into bringing a masseuse to come to you


• Make a relaxing play list of music to listen to (get imaginative and make the play list something you'd hear at the spa or the beach)


• Get a list of your favorite books and plan to read


• Get a list of movies you'd like to catch up on and plan a movie-a-thon.


• Visit a park or local free or cheap places (library, pool, movies-on-the-lawn)

With a little planning and ORGANIZATION (wink) you can have a great stay-at-home vacation and save a little money. For more great tips on planning a great Summer stay-cation visit Real Simple's article: How to Kick Back, Relax, and Vacation at Home.

Yard Sale!

One thing that normally doesn't come to mind when you think of a professional organizer is a yard sale organizer but many of us are! For anyone who has the privilege or heartache (depending on how you look at it) of hosting or working on a yard or garage sale knows it's a lot of hard work. Many people prefer or don't have the time to deal with the gathering of items for sale, organizing them, pricing them, and being the cashier involved with a yard sale. Let's not even mention the ADVERTISING of the yard sale! Are signs enough? Well in this day and age we have the internet on our side. There are a plethora of internet sites that post and host yard sale ads FOR FREE! For an example of one visit: yardsalesearch.com

What B Dexterous offers to prep and host a yard sale

• Advertise the Yard sale (date, time, and place)


• Organize the items for sale


• Inventory the more expensive/profitable items (so you know what sold and for how much)


• Tag items for sale (I do not price valuables or antiques but can recommend services that do)


• Manage the sale the day of


• Orchestrates the pick-up of the non-selling items to charity

If you didn't sell items at the yard sale that you really think you could get a good price for elsewhere, I do sell things on eBay for a small percentage + any incidental costs for listing and shipping the item.

For a yard sale I'm hosting next weekend visit Manassas Yard Sale for yardsaleserach.com's posting of this event!

How to Remember Online Passwords

This clever idea from Securita CEO & Founder Sherie Dodsworth :

This idea is quite cleaver - since I can always remember a lyric or two of a song.  To make unforgettable high-security password, make an acronymn out of a line or two of your favorite song.  For example, the Beatles "Will you still need me, will you still feed me/ when I'm 64 becomes "wysnmwysfmwi64". Using songs or poems helps your brain make memorable connections to the information, you've linked the password to something you're already familiar with. If you are required to use a symbol in your password just pick your favorite one.

I PortaVault® ! Do You?  If you'd like Dexterous Organizing to show you how and help you organize your important estate documents in a portable, secure manner e-mail me at andrea@dexterousorganizing.com

The Vital Records PortaVault, is an easy-to-use, comprehensive system that IDENTIFIES, ORGANIZES, STORES and TRANSPORTS all of the important records and documents commonly found in a home.

How To Use Freecycle

What is Freecycle?

Originally started on Yahoo Groups, freecycle is an online posting for items people are giving away -- for free!  You can also ask for things you need.

Here's how it works:

1. Go to Yahoo groups. --> http://groups.yahoo.com/

2. In the search field type in "Freecycle {your city and state}" and hit enter.

3. A location close to you should pop up.

4. Go to that location and click "Join this group".  You then have to be accepted.  This is usually a time to enter your zip code in order for the manager of the group to know that you are actually local.

5. Once you are approved, you will be given instruction on how the freecycle community works.

Here are some basics:

• EVERYTHING IS FREE! You nor should anyone else ask for money.


• It is the recipients' responsibility to pick up the item(s).


• No services or living things (only tangible non-breathing items...plants are usually okay though)


• Nothing should be left in public. (i.e. "I will leaving in a brown paper bag by Wal-Mart entrance" = no. no.)


• Lingo: OFFER = I have something I want to give away, and I'm located near [area near your pick up location] NOTE: If you are uncomfortable letting stranger's know where you live, most people hide in the house and leave items tagged with recipient's name/e-mail on their front porch and/or doorway to eliminate the waiting for the recipient or an awkward recipient/stranger meeting...


• Lingo: WANTED = I really need this, if you have it lying around in your home I'll gladly come by and pick it up.


• Lingo: PPU = Item I offered is pending pick up but if the person doesn't show, I'll offer it again soon.


• Lingo: TAKEN = My item is bye-bye to its new home! (and out of my house/garage/life).


• Lingo: RECEIVED: The item I wanted, I got it. Yay!

Remember to be safe! You don't have to give your phone number if you don't want. Schedule pick ups when you know someone will be home with you or when you can leave items at your door without having to open the door to strangers.

I've used Freecycle now for about 4 years and I love it.  Hopefully you will have the same great experiences of giving and receiving and keeping things useful out of our landfills.

Happy Freecyling!