Organizational Issues

I have had another recent rash of losing things.  I have recently lost my debit card.  This is pretty much my life line.  It connects me to the world. Without the debit card I was financially crippled for like 5 business days.  I was devastated.  I almost couldn't shop on line during this time.  Luckily a family member, who would probably like to remain anonymous due to the stupidity of their generosity, gave me their credit number.  Let's just call him "Dad".  In this time I did try and limit my purchases.  I only bought one item on line and paid for our Freep Marathon registration.  And now "Dad" keeps asking when he is going to get paid for these charges.  Hmmm....the nerve of him.

I also lost my keys....like permanent lost, not misplaced lost and I will find you later.  Nope those suckers are gone....completely gone for good lost.  These two recent incidents have got me thinking.  I may not be a very organized person.  I know.... hard to believe....Me disorganize.  I juggle 4 kids, a full time job and coach basketball almost year round.  I manage to be successful at work, do a pretty good job coaching, and have never lost a kid.  Well, never permanently lost ....gone for good lost.  But yet some of my personal affairs seem to be quite the mess.  I realize that I need to be more organized but I just don't seem to have the time to do it.  I realize this may be a bit of a catch 22.  If I was more organized I would have more time. 

Let me describe the my personal organizational "problem areas":

1. My wallet - I just cram everything in there cuz I need everything.  I don't really like carrying a purse.  So I gotta have everything in my wallet.  I really would be all set if I could keep my wallet in my back pocket.  However, I have been advised that only men and lesbians keep their wallets in the back pockets...Darn....I am neither.  (And who makes up these rules?) Secondly the weight of said ginormous wallet makes my pants drop to what my children declare is an unacceptable range.
2. My purse - I hate the purse.  If I do carry one I usually end up forgetting it somewhere.  But since I have convinced myself that it is an occasional necessity I have one.  It has a whole wad of junk in it...from medicine to keys to a bunch of misc paperwork.  I usually spend too much time searching through it for something that I don't actually find.
3. My filing system...aka the 1980's Trapper Keeper.  I have all of my important paperwork in here.  I tried a filing cabinet but that isn't easily movable.  Sometimes I just need all the important stuff with me.  Thus the Trapper Keeper... it goes anywhere.
4. My art table - It is basically a great work space with just a bunch of art junk heaped on it.  It is usually full and there is no actual "space".  (My kids are partly / mostly responsible for this mess.)  I need to organize the art supplies and have a nice area for art display.
5. My car - My car is pretty much my catch all.  If I can't find something it is probably in the car.  I keep everything in there - extra clothes for kids, gym bag, purse, wallet, trapper Keeper and anything else that feels important or I don't have the time to put away. My two youngest kids are major contributors to the mess that occurs inside the car.

So these are the major problem areas or at least the ones that I feel I really need to fix and could maybe actually fix if I had some sort of plan.  I won't even begin to discuss my office, the kitchen counters, or the mismatched sock basket. Let's not bite off more than we can chew. 

So how do I get these things organized?  Yes, this is a plea for help.  I need ideas! And I need a good easy system.  I have cleaned and put everything away and it stays like that for maybe an hour and then it begins to spiral back to a level of insanity.  While you think of ideas to make over my life maybe I should describe a little more of what exactly we are dealing with. 

I am slightly forgetful.  OK that may be a bit understated.  I am hugely forgetful.  I leave myself sticky notes everywhere, I set my iPhone alarm all of the time to remind me to do things before it is too late and I email myself reminder messages.  Once I get in a routine or comfortable with something...I am a bit slow to make any changes.  Example - before I recently grew out my hair I had had the same haircut since college.  I have shoes and when they wear out I go and buy the same kind again.  I have had the same kind of shoes for the last decade.  Hey, they are nice shoes!  They work and their purchase requires little to no thought.  I have zero time.  I get up early and get home late.  On the weekends if I am not at a sporting event I spend pretty much the entire weekend trying to keep our household just a notch or two above disaster. I may do some yard work and gardening, catch up on the laundry and enlist the kids to do a few things around the house.  Then presto the weekend is over and it all starts again.  I usually have almost no money.  Pretty much every cent that comes in goes out.

So your solutions need to be cheap or free.  They need to be "mentally" easy.  If it requires too much thought it's not gonna happen or I will probably just forget about it.  They shouldn't require too much time to implement.  But on an up note...if your organizational strategy works for me and I actually start doing it...it may be something that sticks with me for decades to come! Ok blogger friends bring on the suggestions.