Organized for the New Year

Last year at the beginning of the year I mentioned one of my goals was to become more organized.  I made great strides during the year but I have a long way to go.  I wanted to share two great resources with you that have helped me this year and will continue to help me next year.

* One thing that I discovered towards the end of the year was Motivated Moms.  They have a printable calendar that tells you what to do each day to stay on top of keeping your house clean. The calendar does cost $8 for the year but it is well worth it.

I've only been using it for a few months and several of those weeks I was very sick but the weeks I've used it have been wonderful.  I feel like I have more free time because my time is now scheduled instead of randomly picking a few chores and hoping I got them done that day.  I keep the calendar on the fridge and mark off as I go so my husband can see what still needs to be done. Click here to visit Motivated Moms.

* Another resource I wanted to share is a new bible study from Christie Love.  You might remember that I won a organizing phone call from her earlier this year.  Starting this Sunday evening, she will be holding a time management bible study via Facebook and Twitter.  It is free to join and if you RSVP for Sunday night's Twitter party you will be entered to win prizes.


Feel free to share any other great resources you have for getting and staying organized. 

Tickler File Tames The Paper Tiger

A few weeks ago I wrote about winning a phone consultation from Simple Organized Sanity (SOS) and I promised I would share some tips as I put them into practice. The first tip I want to share she actually mentioned the day before at our MOPS group but we talked about it in a little more detail on our phone call.  


Christie talked about using a tickler file to organize everyday paper that tends to clutter our house.  The basic concept is to fill a file box with 31 files - one for each day of the month.  Feel free to add more for special items as needed.  For instance, I have one for items that need to be filed as my office is in my basement and my life happens on the main floor.  I also keep a file for coupons.  Whenever a bill, permission slip, or any other item that needs action comes into your house, file it on the day that action needs to be taken.  An example is a bill that is due on the 24th - if I am paying this online I would file it probably on the 22nd so I would know it would be paid on time.


Each day, open the file for that day and take action on everything in the file.  As that paper is taken care of, if it needs to be filed in your office, move it to the To Be Filed folder.  Then, designate a time each week to file that folder.


This simple filing system has saved me time and is helping tame the paper tiger that exists in my house.  My house is still a disaster because I have not had time to completely clear all of the piles sitting on my counters but all new paper that enters my house is promptly filed.  I have high hopes that one day the remaining piles will be gone and you will be able to find my kitchen counter again.  I also like that I can tackle a task or two at a time instead of waiting until I have an overwhelming amount to do and trying to accomplish it all at once.  It has taken a lot of stress out of my daily life.

Saving Money With Tupperware at Thrifty and Chic Mom

This weekend I have a guest post up at Thrifty and Chic Mom.  Ellen is going room by room through her house and sharing tips and items that work for her. This past week she has been in the kitchen.  Check out my post on saving money with Tupperware and then visit the rest of this series to see what room she is going to next.

Organizational Help Is Just A Phone Call Away

A month or so ago I was hanging out on Facebook and noticed that several of my friends had become fans of Simple Organized Sanity (SOS). Knowing I have organizing issues and want to reach my goal of a better organized house, I decided to become a fan too.  There was a mom survey on the site so I filled it out.  Lo and behold my name was drawn from the survey and I won a half hour conference call with Christie from SOS. As the date of this call came closer, I realized she was in my hometown.  Then, the day before our call, she came to talk to our MOPS group.  I'm on steering team and knew what we were discussing that day but had somehow missed who our speaker was.  In other words, I received a double dose of organizing help.

I made sure my husband was on the call as I wanted us to work together on getting our house in shape.  He is much more of an organizer than I am so I needed someone to help push me.

Christie emailed me a few questions ahead of time so that she would be ready with help for my biggest needs.  After our call, she sent me a synopsis of our call so that I would have a plan of attack.  A week later, she even followed up.  

SOS has many great services and I highly recommend you check them out.  For those out of town, phone coaching is a great option to get help with all of your needs. For those in town, she offers coffee clinics where you can meet her at a coffee shop and have a one on one conversation. 


I recommend you subscribe to her blog, SOS Organize, as she posts some great tips each day. Also, check out her website for a complete list of services she offers. On her site are some great products too for items such as menu planning, everyday checklists, babysitter trackers, and much more.

Stay tuned as I plan to post a few of the tips she gave me and then let you know how I'm doing.  We are about to enter the worst part of my husband's school semester so it won't be easy, but we are both working hard on getting our house in order.

Organization 101: Laundry

Last fall I started a series on organizing and shared many tips I have learned over the years.  I'm going to bring that series back as I need help keeping on track.  Sometimes this will come in the form of a quick tip and sometimes I will have more in depth articles.  Today is a quick laundry tip.

Last week on Facebook, I was commenting that I have problems finishing laundry.  I have no problem doing laundry, it is folding it and putting it away that is the issue.  A friend suggested never letting the laundry touch the laundry basket.  Once the dryer is done, fold and put away the laundry right then.

I have a very small laundry room and do not like folding laundry in there but I am putting this into practice.  I've done a ton of laundry today and I'm doing my best to fold and put it all away as I go.  It is freeing as I don't have huge piles of unfolded laundry hanging over my head and when the kids need clean clothes, I don't have to dig through a laundry basket to find some.

Birthday Presents Without Breaking the Bank

Now that my son is in preschool, we are getting more and more birthday party invitations. This could easily break the bank but I'm trying to be smart about it so today I'm going to share a few tips on how to buy presents without going broke.

Set a budget. It is way too easy to try to "keep up with the Joneses" so avoid this by setting a budget early. For kids gifts, I try not to spend more than $10.

Shop sales. The end of the season is the best time to buy gifts. You can pick up items for next to nothing and it will look like you spent way more than you really did. Right now, Target has clearance toys 75% off.

Swagbucks. An easy way to shop for free is with Swagbucks. You earn bucks for performing online searches and can redeem these for gifts. My favorite ones are for Amazon or Starbucks gift cards. I always keep a decent amount of Amazon in my account so I can snag a good deal for free when I see it. Starbucks cards make great gifts for adults too and they will never know you didn't pay a penny for it.

Reuse gift bags. I save all the decent gift bags from every occasion and reuse them. Very rarely do I need to buy wrapping or gift bags due to this. If I do need a bag though, the dollar store has some great ones.

Designate a gift area. It does little good to buy ahead and reuse items if you cannot find it when you need it. I have an area in a basement closet where I keep gifts and wrapping.

Feel free to share other ideas on how you save on buying gifts.

Organizing with Modular Mates

With this month's Eat from the Pantry Challenge I've been going through my kitchen cabinets to see what I have. I'm finding them horribly disorganized despite the fact that my husband organizes them several times a year. There is a lot of odds and ends food that I forgot were in there. It just so happens that Tupperware is having their annual Modular Mates sale right now. These are wonderful at organizing your cabinets and helping you find space you had no idea was there. It also helps you waste less as you can easily see how much of a product you have.

Last year when they went on sale, I was still pretty new to Tupperware and not really sure this product was for me. I bought a few samples though so I could display them at my parties and figured I would try them for awhile in my kitchen and see how I liked them. Once they made them into my cabinet, I was quickly sold. My husband and I decided to save up some money and buy more when the sale came along this year. We plan to add a few each year as finances allow.

This is a picture of our snack cabinet before my husband and I attacked it. I was taking pictures with a crazy kid running around so I didn't get a picture of the whole cabinet - the other side has spices and cooking supplies. The multiple boxes of brownies are thanks to Nana - she spoils our oldest with them but once a new box arrives he just "has" to open it instead of finishing the old one. I usually combine them when there is enough room in the new box but I hadn't in awhile.


This is the after picture. The majority of the items on the bottom shelf were in other cabinets or on the counter because there was no room. The sugars were in my baking cabinet and way up high where they were hard to get too. There is still room for more in this cabinet which excites me. We would like a few more Modular Mates in there too but have to wait until finances allow.

I do not have pictures of the other cabinets as they are not done but I do have a few Modular Mates in them as well. Through a sales challenge last month, I won the Large Carry-All Container. I was excited for it and was thinking it might be good for toys but really had no idea how I would use it. While organizing the kitchen I realized I had coffee supplies tucked here and there all over my kitchen. I rounded up the filters, different coffees, and creamers and put them in this container. It now sits in an unused cabinet just below the coffee maker. I love knowing where everything is now and I'm more likely to actually use all of those samples I have as I can see them. Plus, the lid is too hard for my kids to take off but easy enough for me. This cabinet is not used much simply because the kids take everything out of it.

This little project has me excited to work on other parts of the kitchen and I will as time allows this week.

Organization 101: Children's Artwork

Now that I have entered the world of a child in school, I'm starting to see how my child's artwork could easily take over my house. I'm trying to reign it in though by only saving a few items. Each day, when he comes home from preschool, I pull out all of the papers from his backpack. If something is special to him, we hang it on the fridge. The rest we save until daddy gets home to see it. Then, if it is not important to him, it goes into the recycling bin (this usually happens after he goes to bed as he would pull it out if he noticed it in there). We rotate out the pictures on the fridge often as to keep it from getting cluttered.

My plan for the special papers is to have two plastic tubs. One will be to store everything from this year that is keepsake worthy. At the end of the year, I will go through it and weed it out to a more manageable size. The second tub is to keep what I weed out. My plan is to add to that second tub each year for several years and reuse the first tub each year to store a year's worth of work. Growing up, we each had a special drawer to keep our artwork in. Once the drawer became full, we had to weed it out. This one drawer lasted us from preschool to high school so I know it can be done.

How do you keep up with all of the paper and artwork from school? Feel free to leave a comment and let my readers know so we can all keep up with the endless paper coming through our doors.

Organizing 101: The To Do List

First of all, sorry I did not get Food Friday up on Friday. I went out of town with my husband and the baby (the older one stayed with grandparents) and planned on blogging while hanging out in the room. We were there for my husband to attend a conference and I knew I had a lot of dead time. Turns out, it was $10 a day for internet access!!! Everything was expensive at the hotel and it quickly reminded me why I'm not a fan of the higher class hotels - give me a Comfort Inn or Holiday Inn Express any day and I'm much happier. At least the room was nice.

Now, on to the weekly organization tip. If you are like most people, your to do list is much longer than you can ever accomplish. Back when I had my first child, I read a book (sorry, I can't remember the name of the book) that said to pick your hot button item of the day and do everything in your power to accomplish that one item. This is the one thing you have to get done or something that will make you feel like you accomplished something. Then, prioritize everything else on your list and see what truly needs to be done. Many times, several items on the list can actually wait a few days and by taking them off, you can remove some of the stress from your life.

The idea behind the hot button item is that you accomplish something important each day and you have that sense of finishing a task. As a mom of young children, some days, my hot button item is as simple as getting the dishwasher unloaded. Other days, it is getting a project completed, paying the bills, etc. I do feel good though when I get something marked off my to do list each day. It feels like a bonus when I get a few more items marked off as the day goes on. I try my best to get my hot button item finished early on so as the day goes on, the craziness of life does not get keep me from accomplishing something.

Organizing 101: Mail

Mail can easily take over your house if you are not careful. The best tip I have ever heard is to open your mail over a trash can. I open my mail into 3 piles: trash, recycling, needs further action. Since I'm opening the mail directly over the trash can, the first pile is already taken care of. I then put the items that can be recycled into my recycling bag. Finally, anything that needs further action goes into a file sitting near the trash can. Every few days I sit down and go through that file and take action on as much as possible. Ideally I would take care of things as soon as I opened it but with two kids, that isn't always possible. The idea is to handle mail as few times as possible and get rid of the junk as soon as you can so that it does not get mixed into the important papers.

Organization 101: Plan Ahead

I hear people complain all the time about how hard it is to get ready and out the door each a morning with children. I agree, it is not easy, but if you plan ahead, it can be easier. On days we know we need to someowhere by a certain time, we do as much prep work as possible the night before. I lay out the clothes for everyone. Pack diaper bags, backpacks, etc. Set out the breakfast dishes. Find any coats or jackets if necessary. Then, I set everything I can inside the car so I'm not frantically trying to grab it on the way out the door. The days I plan ahead, life runs much smoother. The days I try to wing it, I'm a mess by the time we get out the door.

My organizing challenge for you this week is to plan ahead and see what a difference it can make in your morning.

Organization 101: No Need to Reinvent the Wheel

As I mentioned last week, I'm going to share some organizational tips each week for the next several weeks. Some tips will be for organizing the clutter, while others will be for organizing your life.

This week's tip came from a friend who is a professional organizer. A few years ago, I was complaining to her that my house was a mess and never organized. She pointed out that it was actually very organized, just not in the way I was wanting it to look. She showed me areas she could tell that I use every single day and told me to simply clean up the areas and find pretty baskets to store things in. She explained that we have habits where we sit things every time and there is no need to reinvent the wheel by trying to move where we put those things. For instance, my husband and I always put our keys in the same place every time. Instead of trying to make a new place, we simply made a nice area to put them. We also found our coats and bags always landed in the same place so we bought a decorative coat hanger and put it right where everything always landed.

This week, look for the common areas you use daily in your house and see how you can make them look more organized.

Tightwad Tuesday: 15 Minutes to a Clean House

Does it feel like your house is never clean and organized? One of the best tips I learned years ago is to set a timer for 15 minutes and clean as much as you can in that time. In our house, we set the timer once dinner is cleaned up and everyone is involved. It is so easy to tell my oldest to go play in his room so we can clean, but that is not teaching him anything. I usually pick an easy task for him such as picking up his trains and then if he gets done before the timer goes off, I will find something else for him to do.

You will be amazed how much you can accomplish with as little as 15 minutes. On good days, I will set the timer of a morning too but that doesn't always happen. I also find that sometimes I get in the groove and just keep going once the timer goes off. On days I do not want to pick up the house or get out the cleaning supplies, I remind myself that 15 minutes is such a small portion of my day and I will feel so much better when it is over because I have accomplished something.

This week, try to dedicate 15 minutes every day towards cleaning your house. Come back next week as I am starting a new mini series on organizing your house and life. Early in the week each week, I will post a new tip and challenge you to implement that tip that week.

Organizing Series

First of all, I apologize for a very quiet week around here last week. I was sick with a nasty cold all week. I was feeling better this weekend and planned on catching up but my husband hijacked the computer in order to get some homework done. He went to bed early tonight so I've reclaimed the computer for now.

I've decided to start a mini series on organization. For those of you who know me, you may be wondering why I'm qualified to write on this topic. My house is a wreck most days thanks to my wild and crazy preschooler. I know the concepts to get the house in order and some days work hard to get it there, but most days our house very much has the lived in look. If you will look close though, you can see where I've been trying hard to stay organized.

In the first few weeks our youngest was around, I had a lot of time on my hands while feeding him. I picked up a few organization books and I learned a few new tips, along with being reminded of some oldies but goodies. I plan on posting one tip a week that either I've been using or I've recently come across and plan to implement. Some will be quick and easy and some will require a little more effort.

I challenge you to work on the tip that week and eventually, we will all have a more organized home and life. Along the way, feel free to share your tips and tricks so we can all learn from each other. Stayed tuned as the first tip will be in tomorrow's Tightwad Tuesday post.

Tightwad Tuesday: Coupon Organization Tip

People tell me all the time that they would like to start using coupons but it is just too much work for them. The best tip I can give is to organize your coupons weekly, instead of letting them pile up. When I do this weekly, it usually takes less than 30 minutes to clip the coupons, organize them, and pull together my grocery list. The times I put off my coupon organization for a week or two, I really regret it because it takes a lot longer.

Also, once a month I clean out my coupon binder and get rid of anything that has expired. It is much easier to find what I need when I'm not searching through a bunch of expired coupons.

Hosting a Garage Sale: Part 1

Garage sale season has already started in some parts of the country and for others, it is just around the corner. Garage sales are a great way to clean the clutter from your house and make some quick cash at the same time. This series is going to break down how to hold a successful garage sale into manageable steps. We have a sale every year or two and I constantly hear that it is too much work for the money but hopefully this series will help you see otherwise. I'm not saying having a sale is for everyone, but it can be easier with a little planning. Today's focus is on cleaning up the clutter.

First, designate a place in your house to hold garage sale items. I keep a bag in my bathroom closet for garage sale items. Once it is full, it gets moved to a shelf in the garage. Keeping it in a handy space allows me to get rid of items as I come across them instead of waiting and forgetting about them.

Next, set a date for the sale. If you are like me, you will say you are having a sale but never actually get around to it. I find if I set a date, it is much more likely to happen. We put a date in May on our calendar months ago and it has really helped me prepare for the upcoming sale.

Then, start cleaning up the clutter a little at a time. Earlier, I talked about simplifying by reducing clutter and this is the same concept. We've been going through every single room in our house in order to rearrange it for a new baby. You do not have to go to such extremes, but find a problem area or two and tackle them. You might just be motivated enough to keep going. When the clutter is gone, you will feel better, be more organized, and have some great items for an upcoming garage sale. Feel free to put anything and everything into your garage sale pile as you will be amazed at what will sell. Usually what I think is junk sells right away and I'm always surprised.

Your challenge this week is to tackle one area in your house (it doesn't even need to be a whole room) and start cleaning it out in preparation for an upcoming garage sale.

Stay tuned as I continue this series with topics such as setting up the sale, advertising, etc. If there is a particular area you would like me to cover, feel free to leave a comment or send an email. As a final note, check out this newly redesigned site all about garage sales. You will find some great features including a listing of garage sales in your area. I will also be guest posting on their blog in the near future so check back often.

Simplify: Part 2 - Decluttering

During the Christmas season I discussed how I was simplifing my life for the holidays and I promised to show later how I was simplifing my everyday life. This is another installment in the series and I will periodically post more throughout the year.

This time I'm focusing on cleaning out the clutter in our house. I'm a natural born pack rat but I'm doing everything I can to overcome it. If you look at my grandparents on both sides of my family, you will know where it came from. After cleaning out two of their houses in one year, I realized it was amazing I'm not worse. I've known this has been an issue for years and have been slowly working on improving my habits. I know it will be a lifelong journey but I can say I've greatly improved over the years.

With a baby coming, we have decided to move our toddler to the room next door. The baby will get his room since we have never redecorated it from the nursery. He is excited for the new room but it is taking forever because this was our catchall room. It started as a scrapbook room and a guest room but quickly became the dumping grounds for anything we needed to keep the toddler out of. I would work on cleaning it out a little at a time but never did that great of a job. Now that I'm trying to completely clear it out, I'm realizing just how much junk is in there and wondering why I've been keeping some of it all of these years. Of course, there are some things I want to keep and now I have to find a new home for those items. Needless to say, the majority of our house is being cleaned out at the moment. And the best part....it is very freeing.

We decided a while back to have a garage sale this spring. I made myself set a date on the calendar so that I have deadline. I've already filled an entire shelving unit in my garage with sale items and I have several boxes tucked in corners all over my house (I hope I remember where it all is when the sale comes). As I get little parts of my house cleared out, it feels wonderful. Just this weekend I commented to someone that it was nice to have cabinet space in my kitchen again. (Side note: we have a ton of cabinets but most of our stuff is only in the high cabinets due to a very curious child). I felt like I was bursting at the seams before but now I have room to grow. The amazing part is that I really only got rid of a few coffee cups and random wedding presents that hadn't been used since we moved in to the house 4 1/2 years ago.

My biggest tip for simplifying by removing the clutter is to take it one area at a time. If the kitchen seems overwhelming, start with just the junk drawer. If your child's room is too much, just go through their closet. Once you get one area done, it is much easier to keep going.

What are you doing to simplify your life? I would love to hear your ideas.

Very Full Freezer

Our Christmas present of 1/4 of a beef arrived this weekend. Above is a picture of our very full freezer. The middle shelf is beef only and there are various steaks and roasts tucked in on all of the other shelves. It took some work, but we were able to fit it all in. It was kind of fun eating out of my freezer for a few months trying to make room for the meat. I plan on taking at least one week each month and only eating things in our pantry or freezer. I used to do this but stopped for some unknown reason. It really helps the budget by only buying fruit/veggies and milk one week a month.

By the way, don't forget to enter my coupon giveaway below. I'm giving away two sets!

Guest Post

I recently wrote a guest post on Moms Rules about planning ahead in order to save time and money. Please check it out and the rest of the site while you are there - Mina shares some great insight on money and being a mom.

Organization

How many times have you dumped the house looking for a certain item? I'm horrible about knowing I have something but can't quite place it. Because of this, I'm working on organizing our house and keeping it that way. With a toddler, it is a constant battle, but I will never win the battle if I don't start.

I find I also save a lot of money by being organized because I know what I have. For instance, last time I cleaned out my pantry, I found duplicates of several spices. I'm sure I bought them for a certain recipe thinking I was out of that spice. If only I had dug awhile, I would have saved a little money. I make it a goal to clean out my pantry once a quarter. It is on my to do list this week. When I do it often, it doesn't take as long but when I wait, the task seems overwhelming. I challenge you to pick one area of your house that needs to be organized this week and start there. If the task is too large, break it down. Some weeks, I'm doing good to get one drawer cleaned out. If you work on one or two things a week, your house will never get too out of control.

Feel free to share your organizing tips or what you organized this week.