Stay Organized —If you’ve ever spent several frantic minutes searching for your keys on your way out the door or looked everywhere for that hammer just to hang up a few pictures, you know that being disorganized can eat up a lot of your time. Clean out closets, under sinks, and even your basement and put items you want to keep in boxes or bins with labels so that you’ll be able to find the items when you need them.

  Get Rid of Unwanted Items —Inevitably, we all collect "stuff" as we go through life. But sometimes this stuff simply becomes clutter and we need to figure out what is worth the effort to keep and what is simply crowding our space. Go through your old items and get rid of anything you don’t want or things that you haven’t used in the past year. You’d be surprised how little you miss these things, and there will be much less sitting around gathering dust.

  Plan the Night Before —Tame your hectic mornings by taking a few minutes before you go to bed to lay out the essentials for the next day. Pick out your clothes, fix lunches, and put your important things in one place. It will only take a few minutes and you’ll help to make starting your day much more relaxing.

  Don’t Let Things Pile Up —It’s easy just to throw all the mail into a pile on the table to take care of later but this process can easily get out of hand and before you know it there’s weeks worth of papers. You can save yourself time and trouble by creating a sorting system to manage your incoming papers, deciding what’s important to keep and what can go to the recycle bin before it becomes an unmanageable clutter.

  Fix-Up or Rearrange Your House —Sick of your same old living room or the squeaking screen door? You don’t need to move. Sometimes just fixing up or rearranging things around the house can make your space seem like new. Take pride in your home and fix up little things around the house. Embrace your inner interior designer and try moving your couch to the other wall, or changing out the curtains. Have some Feng Shui fun and discover the "lucky places" in your home. Improving your surroundings can often have a big impact on improving your mood.

  Cook Ahead — If you find yourself constantly eating out because you don’t have the energy to cook every day after getting home from work, then you could save money and eat healthier by cooking meals ahead of time. Take one day a week and cook several meals for teh week ahead and freeze them. That way, you’ll simply have to take dinner out before you leave for work and it will be waiting for you when you get home.

  Schedule Time for Projects —There are always lots of little things that need to get done around the house, but finding time to do them can be hard. Schedule a specific time to do these kinds of tasks so they don’t pile up and stress you out.

  Clean House Bit by Bit — Cleaning a messy house can be a big task. Help yourself out by cleaning your house bit by bit. You can start by cleaning one room at a time, or to be more proactive, always take a few items with you each time you leave a room to put away. You’ll save time, and won’t feel overwhelmed by cleaning the whole house at once.

  Program Your Thermostat — You can save a lot of energy and money by getting a programmable thermostat. Adjust the settings so that the heat goes down when you leave for work and comes back up shortly before you get home. There is no sense in paying for heat that you aren’t there to enjoy. This is not only greener, but can also save you quite a bit in utility costs.

  Sun Dry Clothes — While this isn’t a year round practical option for many people who live in colder climes, in the warm months sun drying clothes can be a way to save on the energy that would have been used by your dryer. Instead of paying for your dryer to do the work, let the sun do it instead completely free of charge. Plus you can enjoy some fresh air in the process!

  Make Your Own Cleaning Supplies — Cleaning supplies can be expensive and many are filled with chemicals that are harmful to the environment and potentially to your family. Fortunately, you can make many of the same cleaning solutions at home for a fraction of the cost and with things you might already have around the house. For example, you can make a simple glass cleaner from ammonia, rubbing alcohol and water. Always make sure to follow a tried and true recipe, however, as some combinations could produce unwanted reactions.

  Do Less Laundry — Do you really need to wash the shirt you wore for 2 hours at dinner? Before you throw that shirt into your laundry hamper, take a second look. Does it really need to be washed or could it go for another wearing? This little action will save time, energy, and help your clothes to last longer.

  Wash Your Car — Skip the trip to the carwash and wash your car at home. Get some helpers and this can be a great way to bond with family and get you outside for some good clean fun.

  Recycle — One of the easiest ways to live greener is by recyclinginstead of simply throwing everything away. Many communities have curbside recycling programs which make it no more difficult to recycle than to take out the regular garbage. If your community doesn’t offer this service find out where local recycling centers are located. For some recyclables, such as aluminum cans, you can actually get money back for the items you recycle. Find a local Freecycle so that you can recycle locally and save on gas!

  Maintain Your Car — Keeping your car well maintained not only increases its life, but can also save you money on gas and repairs in the long run. Make sure to monitor your tire pressure, under filled tires can cause your car to use more gas and be less efficient.

  Start a Compost Pile — Recycle your kitchen and yard waste by making a compost pile. A compost pile not only provides you with a means to throw away less, but also is a great source of fertilizer and mulch for the rest of your yard. With a small investment in time, you can contribute to the solution to the problem of overfull landfills, while at the same time enriching the soil and improving the health of the plants on your property.

  Get a Water Filter — If you’re worried about the quality of your water, get yourself a good water filter. Bottled water might seem like a good solution, but it’s considerably more expensive and also creates a lot of waste. So get your water from the tap (you’re paying for it anyway) and the filter will take out any impurities you might be worried about.

  Bring the Outside Inside — Nothing spruces up a room like bringing in a few plants. Find plants that won’t aggravate any allergies or that may be poisonous to any humans or pets. They can add life to a room and provide you with a little bit of nature even when you can’t get outside.

  Repurpose Old Items — Just because you’ve lost a use for an item in it’s original purpose doesn’t mean it’s garbage. Experiment with using items around the house in creative ways. Turn your old ice cube trays into places to store jewelry. Have a wine rack you don’t use? Turn it into a magazine rack. Look around your house to figure out your own solutions for reusing items and creating less trash.

  Plant a Garden — Having a garden can be a very rewarding experience. You don’t have to go full scale. You can begin with just a few plants in pots if you don’t have the space or time to maintain a large garden. Packets of seeds or young plants cost very little and can produce lots of fresh fruits and vegetables for you and your family. Tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce are great plants to start with.

  Learn to DIY — Almost anything you can pay a service person to do you can learn to do on your own. Hemming your own pants, changing your own oil or doing your own taxes can all be things you can learn to do on your own. Not only does this save money, but you will gain the confidence and satisfaction of knowing you did it all on your own.

  Bring Your Own Bags — One way to start living greener is by bringing your own bags, preferably canvas, with you when you go shopping. This way, you won’t be bringing home a bunch of plastic bags with you, and cloth bags can often be much more comfortable to carry.

  Use Less — The easiest and most simple way to save money and resources is simply to use less. When you brush your teeth, make sure to turn off the tap. When you leave the room, turn out the lights. These are simply solutions that will reduce your monthly bills and save energy.

  Take Care of Your Things — So you’ve finally found the perfect sweater/couch/pair of shoes, don’t let your intrepid purchase fall apart before its time. To make sure your purchase lasts as long as possible make sure to take care of it appropriately. Mending holes, taking care of stains and putting things away where they belong will help prolong the life of your favorite things.

  Stock up With Bulk — Buying non-perishable items in large quantities can be a great time and money saver. It’s more difficult to run out of toilet paper or paper towels when you buy in bulk, and you won’t get stuck running to a more expensive corner store to pick up a last minute necessity.

  Buy Classics — One way to reduce the stress of what to wear is to buy simple, classic clothes that you can mix and match. Classics are also an investment, as you won’t have to get rid of them before they wear out because they’ve gone out of style.