Disorganized? Frazzled? No time to spare? Making even the smallest changes in your daily routine could make a big difference in your life (and put extra cash in your wallet!). Organizing expert Regina Muster shares her favorite simple yet effective organizing and time-management techniques.

• Plan your weekly meals when preparing your grocery list. By planning what you will be serving for the week, you will know exactly what you need to buy and can check off what you already have. This can prevent you from buying items you do not need. Then you don't have to think about what to have for dinner every night when you arrive home, just glance at your weekly menu.


• Grocery shop only once a week. Keep a list handy for what you need. If you run out of an item, place it on your list. Review sales at your local supermarket when you are preparing your grocery list, not while you are walking down the aisles. Keep supplies on hand so you do not need to run out for one item at the last minute.


• Always carry a shopping list. When you go into a store, you are at the advertiser's mercy if you do not have a plan. They aim to get you to spend money and to entice you to buy things you probably do not need. Following a well thought out list and not deviating from it should keep you from straying too far off your budget.


• Do shopping on your way home from work. Grocery shop, pick up a birthday card or hunt for that special outfit on a weeknight on your way home from work. If you make it part of your route home, you do not have to go out of your way. By doing this, you are saving the time of making a separate trip. Stores are generally less crowded closer to dinnertime and on days at the beginning of the workweek.

More Helpful Hints:
• Errands
• Paper Pileup
• Daily Activities
• In the Car

Excerpted from Don't Agonize, Organize! by Regina Muster. © 2006 by DNA Press, LLC.