Laundry Room Before and After

Beware! It was really bad!!! Look at your own risk. (before)
(after) I use the racks for drying clothes

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my shoe bag for organizing different items

the battery organizer behind the door

Cleaning out update

I planned to organize the garage yesterday so that I could spend the rest of the week going through each room and have a place in the garage to put everything I plan to sell. I didn't go out there because it was cool and I didn't want to get cold. I shopped and cooked so just didn't ever get to it.

Today, I have gone through my closet, which is the dump place for everything that I want to hide when we have company. Well, I am going to try to sell two evening gowns that don't fit and I have held onto so that when I lose weight I can plan parties with other friends that have evening gowns and want to play dress up. I know, my husband is a Marine and gives me those looks, too. I have also gone through under my bed, my desks, and the entertainment center in my bedroom. I had planned on going through those areas today but then I kept going. I went through the coat closet and found a few that will be too small next year. It is the closet that I store extra food in on the top shelf so Iwent through all the food and checked expiration dates and organized it. I then went through all the medicine above the refrigerator. I have a bunch of Robitussin and Dimetapp that I got paid to buy and some of it expires in July or September so I only kept ones that expire later and am selling the others. I then went through the laundry room. I have extra toiletry items like toothpaste and I had too many cleaning products and am selling some of them. All the cleaning products were free after coupon/ rebates. I am selling any toothpaste that expires before December. I only have about 10 tubes now, and they all expire in December or later.

In a moment I am going to go through magazines. I recieved some trial issues of some that don't really interest me. I am going to look through the others and only keep ones that have a lot of inspiration photos that later I can pull and file. I will have to keep myself from trying to tackle that today or I will find myself spending hours pulling and sorting. Do you find yourself becoming distracted during a project? I have had to train myself to stay focused on one thing. For example, I decide to pick up all the trash, then I will put everything that goes into another room in a basket or box, then I will start organizing and cleaning shelf by shelf. By breaking down the tasks if something comes up I have not created a total mess and can easily have a stopping point. I used to go into a room and make much more of a mess cleaning and then tire about halfway through and be left with a big mess. It made me not want to start a project because I knew I wouldn't have time to finish it. I was all or nothing. It has really helped me to learn to break down the projects.

How I Organize All Our Stuff!

Are you ready to join the party? Show us all ways you organize your things around your home and link to your blog at Thrifty Decor Chick.

This half bath had no storage at all- it even has a pedestal sink. We added a wall cabinet and the floor cabinet that fits behind the door. It stores hair accessories, cleaners, and toiletries.

I store our medicines above the refrigerator in clear shoe box size boxes. They are seperated and labeled by cough and cold, aches, and first aid.

My munchkin pantry. It is in the space under the stairs. Every inch is covered with shelves.

I buy the Sams animal cookies for the containers. They fit perfectly on the floor under the lowest shelf. I store flour, sugar, and rice in them.

I have a battery organizer mounted behind the laundry room door. It has a battery tester. I bought rechargeable batteries so we would not have to keep buying batteries.

My husband made a pedestal for the washing machine and dryer. I put my baskets under them. Dirty clotes go under the washer and the dryer basket is empty until you unload the dryer.

This used to be in our family room to store our tv. Now it is in our bedroom for a tv and craft supplies. I have organizers in the drawers for office supplies.

I store table linens and candles in my buffet that sits in the foyer. I stand trays and platters in the side cabinets.

My office nook area. I used stackable drawers and a door to make a desk. I then have the yellow desk that has two huge drawers. I put craft items in the stackable desk: gift bags, ribbon, paint, material, patterns, my pleater for smocking, etc.

I use the top shelf in the closet by the garage door to put extra food . A little messy at the moment.

I put all our hats and mittens in a door shoe bag.

This is one of the sections of my desk. See the paint and ribbon? The paint is in a shoe box so you can grab the whole thing and go somewhere else out of my room to paint.

Our kitchen table has four drawers for napkins.

Mack's toys are in this basket by the fireplace.

I cut out magazine inspiration photos and file them in folders. I have decorating by catagory of the room like Family room, kitchen, bedroom, bath. I have one for craft projects, clothing, gardening, parties, recipes, etc. I have a three ring hole punch that I make holes into the cutout then put in a binder so that I can flip through them like a magazine. If they rip I repair the rip with those sticker like hole thingies.

I have drawers for school supplies under the cabinet near the fireplace.

Buy furniture with storage. Our daily school books and teacher's manuals are in this big drawer.

I took all our movies out of the cases and put them in this so we can take them in the car when we travel.

I think the biggest thing is not to waste room or have rooms that you do not need. We have our son in the "dining room" of the house. I have a huge foyer so we moved my table and buffet into the foyer. I can pull the chairs in and use it for dining if I need to. But, it is not sitting the rest of the year taking up space we needed.

We had five kids in two bedrooms until this house. In the boys room we had bunk beds with a built in chest and desk and a captains bed with drawers underneath. The girls used a daybed. Add double rods in closets. Use door shoe bags for things. Put big baskets in closets for toys or things. Use small chests as nightstands. Put boxes under beds. Think vertical- buy a chest of drawers over a dresser. Add shelves above their beds for trophies or their collectables. Add bookshelves in a dining room for a library feel. We have a bench on the window side of the table and can seat an extra kid instead of having two chairs. I had a coat hook shelf with 5 pegs in our bath and had the kids names monogrammed on Ralph Lauren white towels - they kept their towel hanging on the wall. Now, those stinkin shoes!

How to organize all those coupons!

I have had multiple people comment lately that they are looking at my blog trying to figure out how to use coupons and it is all so overwhelming. I really hope to be able to express how to do things so that it does not seem so intimidating. I am an organizer. I also am the weird person that absolutely loves to make budgets and balance the checkbook. I love to sort it by the month and into catagories and play with the numbers. So, when I started really couponing it was along that path of going headfirst into it for me. It is really hard for me to understand the feelings a lot of people describe about it all. I don't know what people know as far as the lingo and understanding all the rules and stuff so I may know something and forget to mention it because I forget that everyone doesn't know some of what I am talking about. So, please, if you are ever scratching your head wondering what the heck I am talking about ask a question. Apparantly, YOU ARE NOT ALONE, more people are like you and just feel like they are drowning with paper all around them- little bits of paper that say 25¢ on them:)

I take the insert from the Sunday paper and punch holes in it with a three ring hole punch. I put it in a binder and mark the date on the front section. I have a few dividers where you mark the date with a grease pencil, but not enough. (If you look at the inserts the date is written very small on the binded edge...just in case you throw them all in a drawer to do later and later have about 3 weeks worth there)

When the coupon matches are made you will notice that beside the amount of the coupon match up everyone always has a date and symbols there. The date is the date of the insert section- when it came out, and the symbols are for which insert section. There are Red Plum(RP), Smart Source (SS), Proctor and Gamble(PG) which are the suppliers of coupons for the paper. Everyone lists the date and which insert so that when it matches a sale you go to that date and know the coupon is in the Smart Source and can just cut it out then. No clipping all the coupons.

Now, I have regular envelopes that I use when shopping. I wrote the name of the store on the outside and make a list. I put all the coupons in the store envelope. I don't like to write my list on the envelope because I reuse it. I actually use the center strip of paper left after printing coupons to write my list. On my list I write it like this:

Domino sugar 5 lb. $1.99- $.40 Q= $1.59
3-Pillsbury Sweet Rolls 8ct $1.66 ea; 35¢Q=70¢,$1/2Q

I list the product, what size is required or on sale, the sale price, then each coupon amount. That way I can just shop with my list and not have coupons in my hand. I have the size required so I don't have to search for the coupon. If it specifically says any size on the coupon- I put AS so I know to get the smallest size.

I keep my CVS card and all my ECBs in my envelope for CVS. I usually put the ECBs where the first to expire is on top. I put my gift cards for Walgreens and Rite Aid in that store's envelope. I put all my receipts in the front pocket of my purse. It is really easy to lose those little bugers.

Don't let all this overwhelm you. Find the coupons and immediately put them in an envelope. I make my list by putting the item on my list as I put the coupon in the envelope. That way I only have items that I have the coupon for. If i have a really good coupon that I think may be a free or cheap item I note it at the bottom of the list. I still specify the item, size and coupon amount. I can then check the price of the item and whether the price is good enough after the coupon.

Find a quiet out of the way spot right before checking out and go through your envelope to sort out any coupons that you are not going to use because it was out of stock or for whatever reason. Go wow them with your savings. Watch snotty cashiers roll their eyes when you hand them your stack of coupons. Hear the sighs from the people behind you- especially the guys with a bottle of wine and some flowers. Really, most people are so fun and really like to see how you lower your bill. And, because you are prepared the people behind you don't realize anything. Try not to actually skip out of the store chanting, " I saved 50 dollars, I saved 50 dollars!"

WFMW- Expiring coupons

Around the beginning of each month I go through my coupons to weed out expiring coupons. I pull out the ones that will be expiring for that month and put them into a business size envelope. I then make a list of the items that are either a high value coupon or a coupon that when doubled would be a good deal. I also note items that are for basic products that we would need to buy anyway. This leaves a lot of coupons that I do not note on my list. They are things that I would only buy as a money maker or if almost free, not my normal products to buy. Then, I take this list and envelope shopping and from the list check prices at the stores when I shop. Since they are expiring I am trying to benefit from the coupon, but only if it is a good deal. At the end of the month all the coupons that you didn't use are already in an envelope to send to overseas military. Overseas military bases allow members to use expired coupons, so they love to get them.

Rocks in my Dryer has more Works for me Wednesday tips here.

My coupon organizer!

A couple of weeks ago I won a coupon organizer from 3 Princesses momma and it arrived a couple of days ago. I am excited to see if this way of organizing and storing my coupons will speed up the time that I have been spending getting ready to shop. It has a pouch to keep your scissors and other items, then it is divided into sections that you just file each weeks circulars and only cut the coupons when you need them. Not only did I get the notebook and tools I got 3 weeks worth of coupons! More deals for me.