Scattered mail, closets busting at the seams, garages packed so full they can't fit a car: These are just a few reasons why "getting organized" tops so many lists of New Year's resolutions. To find out how to straighten up without spending a fortune, we asked six organized people for neat ideas that cost less than $100.

Peter Walsh

Professional Organizer and Author

Shopping list: trash bags

With his books on clutter control, TV appearances on shows such as TLC's Clean Sweep, and his ongoing "Clean Up Your Messy House Tour" on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Peter Walsh has become America's most famous professional organizer. His aim is to change how people think about what they own.

"The overwhelming problem is not with organization, it's that we do not honor and respect the things we have," Walsh says. "In other words, stop buying and start purging.

"If you really want to get organized, buy a box of trash bags and, during January, have each family member spend 10 minutes a day filling one bag with trash and one with items for Goodwill. By the end of the month, you will have conquered clutter forever in your home."

Walsh covers more organizing strategies in his books, It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life With Less Stuff (Free Press, $14.95) and Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?(Free Press, $14)

Michelle Earney

Professional Organizer

Shopping list: supplies for a countertop paper management station

Unmanageable piles of paperwork are one of the most common clutter problems in a typical home, says Earney, whose Dallas-based business Unhurried Life helps people get organized.

Professional organizer Michelle Earney says unmanageable piles of paperwork are one of the most common clutter problems.

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"A lot of people have a grip on cooking, cleaning and laundry, but they have trouble with incoming paper," Earney says. She suggests creating a household "command central." It's a designated space, usually in the kitchen, where all incoming data (especially paper) gets processed.

The area should include a calendar, basic office supplies, a calculator and a small file box for active, frequently accessed folders. Example folders might include school, coupons or to-read items. She says it's helpful to choose a lidless box with handles so it can be stowed easily. Avoid using hanging folders because they take up too much space. Spend 15 minutes each day processing family paperwork, and the in-box pile will stay neat and tidy.

Gretchen Ratkovic

Wardrobe Stylist

Shopping list: dual-duty hangers, an extra closet rod, a rolling hanging rack and fabric-covered mannequin display parts

When Gretchen Ratkovic started her Dallas-based personal styling business, Style Fab Inc., she had no idea she would spend so much time on her clients' closets.

"People have a hard time letting go. Most have clothes they don't even know about because they can't see them," Ratkovic says.

She starts client projects by sorting existing clothes into usable and unusable items. Next she divides what's left into lifestyle categories like casual and business clothing, and further sorts by color, often assembling entire outfits onto single wardrobe hangers that hold tops and bottoms together for quick retrieval and efficient use of space.

Ratkovic recommends adding a second hanging bar in closets with only a single upper one. Basic bars are available from hardware stores for around $10. She also likes inexpensive rolling hanging racks, which can move into guest bedrooms or utility closets, or they can be folded up as needed.

For accessories and jewelry, Ratkovic likes open display on fabric-covered mannequinlike busts available at Sam Moon that range from $3 to $18.95. Mannequin hands are available online from Trio Display ($18.33 each or $26 per pair. There's a $15 small-order fee for purchases under $100); 1-800-454- 4844 or www.triodisplay.com (From the homepage, click "catalog" then "mannequins" then "hand forms.")

"They're cheap and offer a pretty way to display accessories like they do in department stores."

Callie Micek

Manager, The Container Store

Shopping list: clear plastic drawer organizer boxes with nonslip feet

Over the past nine years, Callie Micek has worked at five locations of The Container Store, from Manhattan to Houston. She now manages the one on Northwest Highway in Dallas.

A Container Store custom drawer organizer can help declutter.

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"It helps to break down any organization project into parts," Micek says. She suggests starting with one small but typically cluttered area: the junk drawer. Tackling that drawer, she says, will result in a sense of accomplishment that will help create momentum for the rest of the house.

After taking inventory of its contents and purging what doesn't belong, she says to bring in the drawer's measurements and choose dividers to fit the space and keep it tidy. Clear plastic drawer boxes with nonslip feet come in at least 15 different sizes ranging from $2.99 to $14.99.

Kelly Moore Clarkson

Organized Mom of Four

Shopping list: calendar and colored markers

Clarkson family activities are not just organized, they're color-coded. Clarkson uses colored markers on a calendar posted on the refrigerator to record everything from rehearsals to school holidays to pet medication reminders. Birthdays are blue, school holidays green, Bunko game nights yellow, and so on.

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Kelly Moore Clarkson color-codes a calendar.

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"I am a visual person, and the calendar is an easy visual reference," she says. She credits the system for helping her go years without ever missing an appointment.

Clarkson says keys to success are recording appointments as soon as you know about them, and starting the new year out right by marking all upcoming activities on a new calendar as soon as possible.

Christopher Lowell

Interior Designer and Author

Shopping list: trash bags, pad and pen for planning, pine wall shelves and paint

Christopher Lowell predicts we are entering a time of purging.

"As the economy gets worse, we're going out less and realizing our space is the only thing we have control over," Lowell says. "Putting stuff in decorative containers only postpones the decisions we need to make about things."

A hallway organized by interior designer Christopher Lowell

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Lowell approaches organization with a psychological bent, digging into the reasons why it's so difficult to let go of things. He acknowledges the anguish and anxiety that comes with purging clutter. He suggests people think critically about how they allocate space. Items one uses most should go in the easiest-to-reach places.

His book Seven Layers of Organization: Unclutter Your Home, Unclutter Your Life (Clarkson Potter, $19.95) outlines specific steps for eliminating unnecessary items and building attractive, space-efficient storage, plus how to do it on a schedule. It also includes before-and-after photos of rooms he's reworked, all of which appear attainable and realistic for homeowners on a budget.

Erin Covert is a Dallas freelance writer.