A little perspective and a lot of Gratitude for some Gratitude!

Hello Good People of Los Angeles and the World! 

It's been awhile, I've missed you :)

I just had a simple, kind text message sent from a client and it really got me thinking about what things are worth to people, what I feel my worth is and how I want to make sure I am not "taking anyone for a ride" professionally. Although I am one of the lowest cost organizers in town!

Here is the Text:

I overhauled her daughter's closet. She is a young actress and needed all her clothes separated, organized and labeled for call-backs and last minute auditions. And ALL the years of junk in the big walk-in removed. She is on a budget right now, I get it and I appreciate that she considered me a part of her budget last week. 

I love getting texts like this, because (well, because of ego, of course) but also because they are telling me that the money they spend has not been wasted. I have never thought domestic or personal services are a waste of money but we live in a very split culture about it. Especially in LA. I have often said "I'm a luxury for people." BUT if I wasn't me and I lived in chaos? I'd hire me w/o question. I can't do my eyebrows or nails for shit, so I NEED those people and I tip them fat! (I'm Italian, my eyebrows are no joke.)

SO....

I did a little research and I'm reminded of how extremely expensive this service can be - I mean three to four times my rate! I currently charge $35 an hour w/ a 4 hour minimum. Free phone consult, $50 in-home consult. Working lunch on 6+ hours.

These two companies in SoCal & NoCal alone charge DBL/TRIPLE my fee:

Bos Organization     Los Angeles Metro Area - Residential Organizing                                             Fee Structure + Pricing

• Free Phone Consultation
• 2-Hour Organizing Consultation + Assessment: $200
• Half day/3 HRS: $255
• Full day/6HRS W/ 1 HR LUNCH: $510
• Full week (with 2 organizers): $2900

Bay Sage      San Francisco Bay Area - Home Organizing
Fee Structure + Pricing

• Free Phone Consultation
• HALF DAY/4-Hour Session: $375
• 3 Half Days: $1175
•  5 Half Days: $2375

And a co. in a completely different economy is STILL much higher. This Cary, NC business has the following costs:

	LO*	LO + 1 SO	LO + 2 SO	LO + 3 SO	LO + 4 SO	LO + 5 SO
2 HOURS	195	275	375	475	565	665
4 HOURS	315	515	705	895	1,075	1,255
6 HOURS	470	765	1,050	1,325	1,595	1,865
8 HOURS	615	1,010	1,385	1,750	2,105

Most clients opt for our 6-hour package.      LO = Lead Organizer          SO = Supporting Organizer(s)

So, it's always good to do due diligence, but if you check back here once in awhile, I'll probably have done it for you :)

Be well, and as always ~ Thanks for reading!!! xo ruby

Before/After

A simple Before & After job posting. One of my favorite clients, you know who you are ~~ Thanks for letting me post!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

Simple. Easy. Clean. Accessible. 

Visual Calm. 

Hope you're all well, but if you think you could use some Visual Calm, give me a ring!

Cus I'm Not the Tax Man, But he's expecting YOU!

LA Peeps!

Time to get your TAX receipts in order???!!! I can do it FOR YOU! Add them up, categorize and tie them up in ribbons for your accountant! Give me a ring or an e-ing or a t-ing!

"Visual Noise" Quote by Elise M. Wood, Dancing Oaks Ranch, Texas.

I have a very tidy bachelor friend named Christopher T. Wood. He loves to use his full name, and also loves to say his phone number on every single voicemail he leaves (8 years now). That can be 3 messages a month or 3 messages a day (if he's got interesting info or is just driving by your house). I tell him that I and 99% of the people he calls already have his number plugged into our phones, and if NOT, they have it visually on the screen (he doesn't block his number, he's not rude or self important) - yet, he rattles it off every single time, as the hardest working actor of a certain age should. 

The other day I called back that number I have on 47 voicemails, just to chat. I was commending him on being such a tidy bachelor, and he said, "I had a bad habit of filling the sink with dishes, (instead of putting them in the dishwasher every time) then hand washing and leaving them in the drainer. My sister called it 'Visual Noise.'"

I loved that. It sums up what I've been preaching (to myself) for years. Now, Noise is differently defined for everyone. Some "noise" most people disagree on; different music, political yapping, talk radio, tap dancing, drum circles and the like. The last one there makes me want to pull my hair out, but a talented drummer on a street corner makes me want to dance - it's a very fine line. Other noises, many of us can agree on, like what is happening outside my window at this very moment, a circular saw cutting wood planks in my yard. Nail gun to follow. I am mustering through, probably because as a city dweller of 28 years, I've learned to work around it. Also, in LA, we have low-flying Police Helicopters about 200 days of the year, and the obligatory emergency sirens everyday. Dog howls to follow. NY, SF & LA, it's just how it is. The omnipresent Audible Noise. Think about living in it daily, (as you already may & millions do) then think about escaping it by coming home, to your nest, your sanctuary, your respite from the world, and it looks like this: 

It doesn't have to. I know I sound like a broken record (can we still use that idiom? It has actually made it into "Urban Dictionary" :-/ ) 

It doesn't have to look like this and you don't have to feel like this. These photos may be extreme, but they are real. And more common than you'd think. There's no need to feel shame. But there is a need to feel better, about yourself and your surroundings. It's why you shower, it's why you dress well when you need to. You do that for the world around you; why, why, why would you not do that for your self?  

You can do it on your own, or I can help you.  However, 

if you need some more convincing, here's what a UCLA study has found. Also in this article are great tips for getting started on your own!

Clutter & Depression

So, after a day of sirens, horns, garbage trucks, street cleaners,  helicopters, construction, traffic and  barking/howling dogs . . . 

wouldn't you like to come home to this instead?

 

Wouldn't this feel good? It felt good for me to do it, and it felt good for my clients when I left - they've all told me so & I believe them :)  

As Always, Thanks for reading!