Seriously, three color-coded folders? (No offense to the dollar store.) Most of my mail is just junk ads and takeout menus anyway. I just open it over the trash can, shred the bad stuff, and the rest goes in a drawer until I have to deal with it. It's just paper, not a big project.

And you really can't beat the value they provide financially—they save you an additional $2K on title fees!

Sometimes the messy tries teach you more than a perfect guide ever could. I messed up my first coffee table three times before the legs stayed on. Now I just laugh when I see that wobbly thing in the corner.