{P&G} A World Wide Web of Deals

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I like shopping online. I'd say at least 60 percent of the Christmas gifts I bought this year came from online shops. I took advantage of deals and cash back opportunities. Plus, I didn't have to drag my two kids through toy aisles or the couple local stores in my small town as much as I would have had to otherwise.

But in the spirit of full disclosure, I buy more than gifts online. When my favorite local grocery store stopped carrying our favorite marinade, I ordered a case online. More than once. Big boxes of diapers and wipes have been delivered to my front door many, many, many times in the 5 1/2 years I've had a kid in diapers. {No, not the same kid!} And just last week I ordered the laminate floor cleaner I've found most reliable. I'm waiting on the last Christmas present to arrive this week.

With the unwrapping of these online-ordered gifts quickly approaching, a stash of batteries would be good to have on hand. Luckily, P&G eStore has a deal on its Duracell products. You can get 28 AAA or AA batteries delivered right to your door. Perhaps you should even enter the Duracell sweepstakes and possibly win a bundle of batteries worth $100.

Regardless of what you order, you'll get free shipping when you spend more than $25, free samples with every order, and 15% off your first order with the code A9Z-MN5-KY3-ISA.

And while you're there, go ahead and stock up on Pampers or Luvs diapers, Downy and Tide laundry products, Gillette shaving accessories, Olay and CoverGirl beauty products, and Oral-B and Crest teeth care products. Because, really, the only thing better than having one box arrive on your door step is carrying two inside your house.

Happy shopping!
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This post, for which I'm being compensated, is sponsored by BlogHer and P&G, but I really do love online shopping. My experiences are true and will continue to happen. Want more? Subscribe to get "Insights" in your inbox. Or follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

{Life Well Lived} So long, Clutter!

I do not like clutter. Piles of paper on the kitchen counter drive me nuts. I don't understand why people won't carry their belonging up the stairs if I put them on the bottom step for them. And I like my email inbox to stay cleaned out.


I do like shelves, closets, filing cabinets, digital folders, the paper recycling bin, and scrapbooks.

So when I saw the prompt: How do you organize paperwork both online and off? Share your tip(s) to managing physical and digital clutter! in my inbox, I had no trouble thinking of a few tips to share. Your counters will thank me.

• Touch the papers once. Papers may mean the mail, the kids' papers from their backpacks, or anything your husband brings through the door and right to the counter. If it's trash, toss it in the recycling bin. If it needs to go to the office, take it to the desk. If it needs to be signed and returned somewhere, put it by your purse. You get the point. Look at it. Decide where it needs to go. And put it there.
• Don't try to save every piece of artwork your child brings home. My daughter is only in preschool. And yet saving every ABC practice sheet, counting worksheet, and cute stick people drawing she brings home isn't going to happen. Some pieces of art work make it onto the fridge and then end up in a binder full of 8 1/2-by-11 page protectors that I plan to keep for her. Others just go to the recycling bin. 
• Recycle. I keep a plastic tub in my laundry room, which is right off the kitchen, that allows easy access for the junk mail and other unnecessary pieces of paper that clutter my counters and my life.
• Create a photo/documents filing system on your computer. It took me some trial and error to figure out what I liked best, but I file my photos {and I take many photos ...} by month. If I take several photos of one event, I'll create a photo for that event within the monthly folder. All the monthly folders are stored in a folder labeled by year. This entire system is backed up on the external hard drive and also burned onto DVD at the end of the year. I also have a folder called "To Print" where I save copies of any photos I want to print. Then they're all together when I see a good deal from Snapfish or Shutterfly. Likewise, in "My Documents" I have folders for areas of my life that will produce multiple documents. Other documents are saved loose in "My Documents." And when I'm done with them and don't expect to reopen them {say, my daughter's party invitation that has been printed and handed out to friends} I move them to a "USED" folder. 
• Buy a filing cabinet. Yes, it's a tad nerdy, but it's so practical. You can have folders in there for insurance, medical information, and whatever other papers you may need to locate at some point in the future. My husband has a mostly paperless filing system at his office, thanks to a speedy scanner. Truthfully, I'd like for that to happen at home at some point.
• Use labels on your emails. I love Gmail. The label system in there works great for me to keep my inbox from being cluttered with emails I may not need. But it's so easy to store them, so why would I want to delete them all? I also like the priority inbox feature that organizes my messages into unread, starred, and then everything else. It's visually organized and practical. Go, Gmail!

Visit Blogher.com for more tips on how to rid your life of clutter. You can even enter a sweepstakes while you're there.
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Only joy, please ...

The holidays make me so anxious! How can I stay organized this year?

This question was posed by Blogher's Life Well Lived. And, honestly, for me, it's too late in the Christmas season to implement any new strategies. The fact I start early keeps the anxiety away from this first-born, stereotypical perfectionist.

I stay organized by starting early with a list of what I want to do, for whom I want to buy gifts, where Christmas photos and letters are going, food and gifts needs for various parties, babysitters required for adult-only dinners, and travel plans to visit my out-of-town family. If often also shop throughout the year and store up presents in a closet. And I remind myself of what's most important for our family {celebrating Jesus with people we love and teaching our kids about generosity and the savior of the world}.

I get it all on the calendar and on the grocery list and just dive in. With my camera, of course.

{Read more ideas at Blogher.}

We have something planned every evening from now until Dec. 27. And I'm not stressed. It's taking me awhile to get here. But I'm glad to be here, aiming to soak in everything I love about this season. The songs. The smells. The people. The places. The food. The meaning.

Starting early and making a plan keeps me from letting anxiety steal my joy.

Join in the conversation! How do you keep from getting anxious in December? Have you thought of something you'd like to implement next year?
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