Trying to decide if you need professional help in your spring cleaning? Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

Have you recently had to buy something because you couldn't find the one you already own?

Are you late paying household bills because they are lost?

Do you have a "junk" room in your home?

Do you feel that your house is hopelessly cluttered and you don't know where to begin?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, seriously consider outside help.

Local professional organizers have differing opinions about when it is time to call in the cavalry.

"When you feel completely overwhelmed and frustrated, then you need someone," says Nancy Scott of Mt. Lebanon, who calls herself Your Personal Organizer (www.nspersonalorganizer.com).

Leslie McKee of McKee Organizing Services (www.mckeeorganizingservices.com) says the time is when you feel it in the wallet.

"Disorganization costs you money. When you begin to realize that, then you need to spend money to fix the problem."

To further illustrate this point, consider this: You're paying mortgage, heat, etc., on that "junk" room that doesn't get used. If you own a small three-bedroom house, that room is easily costing you $1,000 a year. If you clean it out and give all usable items to charity, you can take a $500 standard deduction on your taxes and reclaim use of the room, too.

The bills that are getting paid late have a serious impact on your credit rating and insurance rates. Set up a mail basket where all important mail goes. Spend an hour a week writing those checks. Better yet, try online bill paying and get it done even faster.

Scott says she is getting more and more calls from clients who are just overwhelmed with paper. They just don't know what they should be keeping and discarding anymore. Clients want help setting up systems for everything from the monthly bills to the kids' homework.

Another important thing disorganization costs you is time. McKee points out that "if you spend 10 minutes a day looking for something, you have spent the equivalent of two weeks of vacation just searching."

Scott says that getting organized helps you spend more time with the ones you love and that is reason enough to get started.

If you still want to try and conquer it yourself and your time is limited, where do you start? McKee advises that if she only had three hours in a room, she would ask herself:

"Where does it hurt now? Worrying about filing those bills from 1998 when this month's are unpaid is fruitless. Look at things that are at eye level. The things that bother you the most are the things that you use and need every day.

"Focus on a small area (like a desktop) and use the 'half-time' rule. Spend half of the time tearing apart and de-cluttering, the other half putting it back together."

A lot of people can't bear to get rid of things, so McKee suggests that you find a new, more "useful" home for it instead. Her book "Get Clutter" is an excellent resource for recycling, re-using and reselling your items in Pittsburgh.

Scott likes to donate items to the clients' favorite charity and go from there.

Ultimately, only you can decide which is the best route to go. But, it never hurts to call a few professionals and talk about your particular problem. A complete list of local professional organizers can be found at www.pghproorganizers.org.