Monthly tasks to keep me organised

I love planning, to do lists, shopping lists basically any kind of keeping me organised lists. I haven't always been this way though. 
Years ago, I was a mess and I mean that in every sense of the word. My finances were just in a box (no particular order), my house was cluttered and I just couldn't seem to place my hands on anything when I needed it. 
However, over the years, I have learnt to embrace organisation and in turn my productivity levels have increased.
I have tasks that I complete every week and every day but at the start of every month, you can bet that I'm doing the following tasks to help keep myself on top of things.

Organise & clear the handbag

Your handbag is a representation of you. As you are wearing it with you everywhere you go, it should be a pleasure of love. I adore mine but it's a hobo style and it can easily become a place where receipts and change go to die. 
On the first of every month, i take my handbag and i empty all the contents and go through them 1 by 1. Starting with my purse.
I take all receipts and throw any I don't need away. I take my coupons (I'm a coupon queen) and I throw any expired ones away. I also regularly ensure any loyalty cards are put in a box if I haven't used them for a while (it's amazing at how many we collect). I also then put any change in my change jar ready for pocket money for the children.
I then do the same with my make up bag. I clean the bag itself, wipe over any products inside the make up bag. Lastly I give my handbag a good old clean itself.

Clear out the emails

This is a drag as I have so many email accounts - personal, personal/work and 3 work email accounts. It's so easy to let unread emails build up and I don't know about you but it annoys me if my phone has lots of numbers next to the email accounts. Just makes me think 'not another email to action'. So I go through my personal email accounts, delete any unread emails (as they obviously aren't important if I haven't read them in a month) and I use that time to unsubscribe from companies I no longer want to hear from (sorry guys).

Delete the Voicemails

My mobile is used mainly for work so it's easy for me to rack up a tonne of voicemails in a month. Once they're listened to, it's easy to forget about them. So at the beginning of the month, I go back and delete any voicemails that I forgot to delete at the time of dealing with them. 

​Budget for the month ahead

I like to clearly see how much I have coming in, going out and how much I can play around with. The start of the month is a great opportunity to do that and see what you have coming up so you can get saving if you need to.

spring clean the house

Obviously the house needs cleaning more than once a month but at the beginning of the month, I go through everything and I mean EVERYTHING. I open the drawers up and organise them, clean them. I go through wardrobes and sort things into piles of chuck, charity or sell. I dust in places you never knew needed dusting. It's hard work initially but once you've done it for the first time, it gets easier as between the month, not much gets put in the wrong places and you are able to easily keep on top of things on a week by week basis. PLEASE NOTE: If you don't have time to do this every month, then schedule it in your yearly diary for every other month.

Go through the diary for the coming month...

At the first of every month, I go through my diary to see any birthdays/anniversaries that may be coming up and I ensure I bulk buy any cards that are needed. I then write them out in one go ready to post nearer that date.
I also go through the diary to see what reminders I need to be aware of - MOT, Dentist appts so i can then add them to my weekly to do list or make the appointments (hair, beauty etc).

These are such big time savers for me and as I'm a list person anyway, I love keeping to do lists, folders of things etc.
Let me know what tips you have for keeping yourself organised every month

With love
​Ally


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