GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Let's face it, most of us are not "Marie Kondo" kind of organized, and some of us could use a little help. But are professional organizers worth the cash? The folks at Consumers’ Checkbook set out to find out. They hired organizers for six different people, with six different situations.
“Their projects ranged from a messy garage, to a really cramped kitchen, to a friend of mine who is blind, and just has piles of paperwork everywhere, and needs help kind of sorting through them,” says Kevin Brasler with Consumers’ Checkbook.
Brasler says the projects ended with varying degrees of success.
"If you're really disorganized, and you're really having trouble keeping up with things, then yes, an organizer probably will help you. If it's that you're procrastinating, but you're generally an organized person, then organizers probably won't be so much helpful to you,” he says.
And when it came to cost, that varied too.
"Some demand these really big outrageous fees, retainers up front. Some of them want $1,000 or more as a retainer for a simple project. Fortunately, most of them are quite reasonable, they charge anywhere between $75-$100 an hour — somewhere in there," Brasler says.
So when you're looking to hire, think about these things: Can you do this on your own? Does the cost of hiring someone fit the scope of the project? Do you like the person you're hiring?
“This is somebody you're going to want to be able to get along with. This person, you're going to want to be able to get along with them in a positive way. You don't want to feel like you're being judged by the person as they sort through your mess,” says Brasler.
And even for the most organized folks, they did find that having an unbiased opinion helped them say "so long" to things they didn't really need. And having a deadline helped them tackle the project.
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