Living On A Dime

Category: Organizing Ideas

  • Cheap Paper Towels – How To Save Money On Cleaning!

    Cheap Paper Towels – How To Save Money On Cleaning!

    Cheap Paper Towels? Using a lot of paper towels can get expensive, but it’s easy to save money on paper towels. Check out our head to head paper towels test to see which one was the cheapest and learn to save money and clean better with fewer paper towels!

    Cheap Paper Towels? Using a lot of paper towels can get expensive, but it's easy to save money on paper towels. Check out our head to heat paper towels test to see which one was the cheapest and learn to save money and clean better with fewer paper towels!

    Cheap Paper Towels! The Great Paper Towel Test For The Betterment Of Mankind!

    I often get asked how to get cheap paper towels, so I tested these 10 paper towels to see which ones saved the most money. I don’t use all that many paper towels, so it never occurred to me that it might be a big part of a family budget.

    In my test, I discovered that the paper towels that many people expected to be cheapest were not. It was especially important to note that when you’re looking for cheap paper towels, the bulk size packages were almost never the cheapest.

    If you use 1 roll of paper towels per day, it works out to $365/year!
    If you use 1 roll of paper towels per week, it works out to $50/year!

    Here is how I calculated the cheapest of the cheap paper towels:

    I did this test to compare how well different brands of paper towels work, along with how well different kinds of rags and cleaning cloths work. I also compared the cost of each of these cleaning solutions.

    Conclusion: If you switch from Bounty Full Sheets to Great Value Everyday Strong you would save 50% on paper towels.

    Here is how I evaluated the cheap paper towels

    I counted the cost of a roll of paper towels. Then I determined how many of each kind of paper towels it took to clean up a typical spill and divided the cost of a roll by how many sheets it took for each use.

    I also included the cost to use various cleaning rags, towels and cloths for the same spills.

    Rags – Free – Save $365/year

    Wash Rag – 1 rag – $0.50/rag – $.0016/use – 300 uses/rag minimum
    Dry 20 seconds completely dry
    Wet 24 wipe once, wring out, wipe again dry.

    Shirt Rag – Free – 300 uses/rag minimum
    It took 45 seconds and didn’t get completely dry.

    Towel – $0.50/towel – $.0016/use – 300 uses/towel minimum

    Regular Towel – It took 30 seconds to clean and got most moisture but didn’t completely dry.

    Flour Sack Towel, Regular – Took 30 seconds to clean and got most moisture but didn’t completely dry.

    Multipurpose Cloths – $5 for 10 – $.50/cloth
    Dry 20 seconds completely dry
    Wet 25 seconds wring out once dry

    Skoy Cleaning Cloth
    It took 24 seconds. I had to wring it out once and wipe again to completely dry.
    $1.39 per rag – 200 days – 6000 uses minimum – $0.00023/use

    Great Value Everyday Strong Paper Towels, Split Sheet = 1 1/2 regular rolls 1 pack – 140 sheets/roll – $.98/roll
    30 seconds – 7 sheets/use – $0.048

    Great Value Ultra Strong, Split Sheets 2 pack – 168 sheets/roll – $3.64 – $1.82/roll
    30 seconds – 5 sheets/wipe – $0.054/use

    Black White Paper Towels – 88 sheets/roll – $0.50/roll
    10 sheets – 55 seconds/wipe – $0.056/use

    Great Value Ultra Strong, Big Sheets – 2 pack Double rolls – 96 sheets/roll – $3.64 – $1.82/roll
    33 seconds 3 sheets/ use $0.056/use

    Brawny Pick A Size 3 large rolls – 92 sheets/roll – $4.97 – $1.65/ roll
    35 seconds – 4 sheets/use – $0.071

    Bounty, Select A Size, 2 Bulk Rolls = 4 rolls 142 sheets/roll – $4.97 – $2.48/roll
    28 seconds – 5 sheets/use – $0.073/ use

    Viva Choose A Sheet – 102 sheets/roll – $1.98/roll
    25 seconds – 4 sheets/use – $0.077/ use

    Scott Choose A Sheet – $2.98 – 102 sheets/roll – $1.49/roll
    46 seconds – 6 sheets/use – $0.087/use

    Bounty Basic Full Sheets – 44 sheets/roll – $0.98/roll
    40 seconds – 4 sheets/use – $0.089/use

    Sparkle Pick A Size – 2 pack giant Rolls – 102 sheets/roll – $2.77 – $1.38/roll
    40 seconds – 7 sheets/use – $0.094

    Bounty Full Sheets – 45 sheets/roll – $1.97/roll
    28 seconds – 3 sheets/use – $0.13/use

    So I determined that if you switch from Bounty Full Sheets to Great Value Everyday Strong you would save 50% on paper towels.

    If you look at the cost of using towels, rags and cleaning cloths, you could also save a lot of money if you used those items at least some of the time instead of using even the cheap paper towels.

    If you’d like to see some of my tests in my search for cheap paper towels, here is our show where I’m demonstrating how well each kind of paper towels cleans up spills.

    Of course, rather than just looking for cheap paper towels, you can save a lot more if you simply use fewer paper towels! I know many people are afraid of certain kinds of messes and I admit that I have my limit, too, like pet messes and such, but many spills can be easily accomplished with cleaning rags instead of paper towels.

    One thing that leads to spending too much money on paper towels is leaving them out where a family can easily reach them. Often minor spills, like water, juice, soda or Kool Aid spilled on a countertop doesn’t really require paper towels to clean up, but if the roll is on the counter or underneath the cabinets, husbands and kids especially will simply yank a big wad of them off the roll rather than using a rag, simply because they’re within view. Even when you buy cheap paper towels, the cost will add up if your family is wasting them.

    You can save a lot if you keep the paper towels underneath the kitchen sink in a cabinet and put rags in a more convenient location so the family is inclined to grab them first.

    We will be sharing more later in this post about how to spend less on paper towels by using rags more. Some people are afraid of using rags, thinking that they’ll be spreading germs around as they clean, but as long as you wash them regularly, and be cautious about not continuing to clean with one that has been in contact with raw meat or something, you’ll be fine and you’ll be able to save a lot of money.

    Which Paper Towels Are The Cheapest And How To Save More And Waste Less! We tested 10 paper towels to see which ones saved the most money and you'll be surprised at the result!

    How to Save on Paper Towels – Paper Towels vs. Rags

    I do love paper towels – there’s no denying their convenience. But I don’t use them often, so hunting for the best deal has never been a priority for me. I once had a friend who seemed to use nothing but paper towels. And not just one or two – she’d rip off three or four at a time for a job that only needed one! It was clear she needed to rethink her paper towel habit. In most cases, a rag can get the job done better, faster, and without all the waste.

    That said, I do still use paper towels on occasion – mostly for draining bacon or lining my fruit and veggie drawer in the fridge. When the bins get dirty, I can toss the paper towels and wipe them down in a snap. They also come in handy under my spices and containers to catch spills, making cleanup way easier.

    But after seeing so many people buying them in bulk, and even one woman’s shower stall filled to the brim with them, I began to wonder: Do most people use paper towels the way I do? I’ve realized that many people not only skip using rags, but they may not even know how or why they’re useful. And that’s where I hope these next few paragraphs come in – to rethink how you use them and and help you save money on paper towels.

    [organizing]

    My Rag Background

    Yes, you read that right. I have a background in rags – something not many people can say. And no, it’s not as strange as it sounds, I promise! My grandmother was a true rag expert. In fact, she built her whole life around them. My family didn’t throw away fabric – we turned it into art.

    My grandmother wove rag rugs for a living. She did it all of her life and her mom did it before that. They made unbelievably beautiful rugs, completely different from the ones you see sold now. The colors and designs she used would make any artist break down and weep and she made them all with rags.

    I remember as a child going to her house where she would have huge appliance boxes full of carpet balls. These were balls of fabric (from rags) that had been torn into strips, sewn together and rolled into balls. My brother and I had great fun rolling and playing with all of those fabric balls!

    Nothing went to waste. Every button, zipper and piece of trim was carefully cut off and saved. I guess frugality must be in my blood. : ) And over the years, I learned a lot about rags – knowledge that I’m excited to share with you so you can see rags (and paper towels) in a whole new light.

    Cleaning Rags – A Great Way to Save Money On Paper Towels

    One of the main complaints we get against using cleaning rags to save money on paper towels is that people don’t like to wash them because they get so nasty sometimes. I don’t like to wash them either, so I don’t. My cleaning rags fall into two categories: rags to toss and rags to wash.

    Rags to Toss

    paper towels on a roll

    The cleaning rags I toss are the ones I use for the nasty jobs:

    By the time a rag gets to my “use and throw” pile, it is already pretty far gone. I have probably used it for many other “clean” jobs and it is on its last leg, so I have no qualms about tossing it. I use it just like I would a paper towel.

    Rags to Wash

    These are my studier cleaning rags. They are usually old tea towels, wash rags, etc. I use them to:

    • Wipe fingerprints off of the wall
    • Wipe mildly sticky things from furniture
    • Wipe the spray starch off of my ironing board
    • Shine my mirrors
    • Wash the insides of my windows
    • Wipe my bathroom faucets and wipe dry everything in the bathroom

    Now here’s part 2, we’ll look at where to get cleaning rags and ways to make the most of them to make your life easier and save money on paper towels and cleaning in general.

    For even more tip to save money on organizing, cleaning and laundry, take a look at our How To Organize And Clean Your Home e-books.

    [organizing]

  • 13 Cleaning Tips To Make Cleaning Easier! Save Time and Energy!

    13 Cleaning Tips To Make Cleaning Easier! Save Time and Energy!

    Are you doing too much work cleaning? Do you wish it was easier to keep everything clean and tidy? Here you’ll find some inspiration along with 13 quick cleaning tips to save time and energy so you don’t have to spend as much time getting it all done!

    Are you doing too much work cleaning? Do you wish keeping everything clean and tidy was easier? Here you'll find some inspiration along with 13 quick cleaning tips to save time and energy so you don't have to spend as much time getting it all done!

    13 Cleaning Tips To Make Cleaning Easier!

    Are You Choosing a Dirty House? Could you be making more work without realizing it?

    Sometimes, we create our own cleaning and organizing problems when we refuse to change old habits and try something different. Often our habits create stress and steal valuable time, without really improving our lives. If we can identify and change these obsolete habits, we can make life a lot more pleasant for ourselves. Here are some examples from people I know of habits that created more trouble than they solved. After you read through them, think about the areas in your own life where you feel overwhelmed. Would it help to change your thinking in that area and change the way you do something?

    A woman with four children under the age of six decides she wants beige carpet throughout her house. She then spends the next few years nagging her family to be careful. A portion of every day is spent cleaning spots off the carpet. Then she complains to a friend that her husband and children are slobs because they make a mess of her carpet every day.

    The reality is that her family is unusually careful when it comes to making messes and if she had a twill-type darker carpet with a small pattern you wouldn’t be able to see any spots.

    Do you REALLY need to do so much laundry?

    A friend of my daughter’s was complaining about how many loads of wash she had to do every day for her small family. When my daughter suggested that she have her family wear the same pair of jeans a second time if they were clean, her friend became angry at the very thought.

    The reality is that if clothes still appear clean and don’t smell, there is no harm in wearing them again. I have never heard of anyone dying or getting some exotic disease from wearing their jeans a second or third time or even for a week, but I have known of children who have been needlessly mistreated by grumpy, angry and overworked moms.

    Do you insist that everyone get a clean towel every time he takes a bath? Why? Assign each person a towel and have him use it two or three times. When you get out of the bath, your body has just been scrubbed down and cleaned (we hope!). You’re getting less dirt and germs on that towel than you are on the sheets that you have slept on for a week or more.

    One interesting observation about people who are obsessive about one-use washing: It’s not really about the dirt. I have noticed that women who insist on washing everything after one use often allow their children to wear their winter coats and tennis shoes until they are so grungy that they aren’t sure what color they once were.

    If you let yourself be obsessive, you will drive yourself crazy.

    We knew a woman whose children would come in from their swimming pool every day all summer long and drip pool water on her good hardwood floors. Each time it happened (several times a day), she would scold them and then mop up the floor.

    The bathroom where the children changed out of their swimsuits was against an exterior wall right next to the backyard patio. The reality was that for a small amount of money– which this family could easily afford, she could have put a door leading from the pool to the tiled bathroom, but she refused to have it done because she insisted that they learn not to walk inside while dripping. Just like anything in life, to stay sane, you need to choose your battles.

    In case you think I exclude my own habits, I too have had this problem. I used to iron everything. With my first child, I even ironed my baby’s little t-shirts and pajamas. (note from Tawra: I knew something went wrong in my childhood :-) )

    When my second baby came, he had very bad colic followed by pneumonia. (It took many weeks and four pediatricians to find out what was wrong.) I had walking pneumonia for three months, but I was still trying to iron everything.

    There were days I would only get up long enough to take care of the kids and then would collapse on the floor because I didn’t have the strength to make it to bed. Well, one day a little light bulb went off in my head– Maybe I should stop ironing (at least for this season in my life). Duh!

    Simplify your cleaning and organizing!

    Don’t get me wrong– If having beige or white carpet inspires you to clean, puts a song in your heart and gives you warm fuzzies then by all means choose the beige carpet. Carpet your walls if it makes you feel that good. The same goes for the laundry. If it fills your heart with pride to see your children in freshly washed clothes, then let them change their clothes every hour.

    The easiest way to keep your sanity is to reduce the things you do to the simplest process that gets the job done. If you want to be especially picky about one thing and you don’t mind spending the extra time, go ahead and do it. Just don’t neglect to maintain your home by becoming obsessed with it and, most importantly, do not blame your family for the extra work it causes you. It is not fair to them for you to take your anger out on them because you choose to do more work than necessary.

    There is a verse in the Bible that says “Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.” (Proverbs 14:1) Measure everything you say and do by asking yourself this question: “Is it going to be for the good of my family and build it up or is it just the way I want things done even if it tears down my family?”

    Here are some quick cleaning and organizing tips to start saving time and energy by changing habits:

    • If clothes are clean, hang them up and wear them again.
    • Spot clean clothes – If they have just one dirty spot, take a wash rag and wash it off. Then wear it again.
    • Let each family member use one towel per week. Gasp! It won’t kill them to use a towel that has only touched their clean body after getting out of the shower! But it will cut down on your work!
    • When remodeling or replacing items, get things that will make cleaning easier. Get carpet that will conceal dirt. Don’t put in tile — The grout is horrible to clean.
    • Put down inexpensive throw rugs under tables if a vinyl floor is not possible in the dining area.
    • Allow the family to eat only at the table to avoid food messes in the rest of the house.
    • Make toddlers wear a bib or oversized t-shirt when eating.
    • Serve only light colored drinks if you have light colored carpet such as white grape juice, lemonade and of course water.
    • Don’t overdo it when buying clothes. A four week supply of clothes isn’t necessary for every member of the family. Ten days’ worth of clothing is plenty for most people. Unless you work outside the home, five dresses for church, two pairs of jeans, two pairs of dress pants and some blouses are more than enough.
    • Buy clothes that don’t need to be taken to the dry cleaners.
    • Don’t clean it if it doesn’t need it. Who says you have to vacuum everything every week? For a seldom used room like a guest room, don’t waste time vacuuming it every week.
    • Don’t dust until you see dust.
    • If there is something that continually frustrates you, fix it. If you can’t find your keys, hang them by the door. Put them there as soon as you walk in and you will know right where they are when you leave. If the door knob doesn’t work properly, fix it. Sometimes we think that we are too busy to take care of these things, but eventually, the hassle of working around something exceeds the time necessary to fix it. I once heard someone refer to this as being “too busy driving to stop for gas”.

    For more easy cleaning and organizing tips, check out our How To Organize And Clean Your Home e-books, which are full of easy tweaks to make cleaning and organizing easier.

    [organizing]

  • 10 Organizing Secrets – Easy Organizing Ideas You Can Use Today!

    10 Organizing Secrets – Easy Organizing Ideas You Can Use Today!

    Have you ever wondered why organizing seems so easy for some people but not for others? Discover the top 10 effective and easy organizing ideas that will transform your cluttered space into a tidy and well-organized one. Learn the secrets of highly organized individuals and start implementing their tried and true methods today! Say goodbye to chaos and hello to a stress-free environment with these expert tips.

    Discover the top 10 effective and easy organizing ideas that will transform your cluttered space into a tidy and well-organized one. Learn the secrets of highly organized individuals and start implementing their tried and true methods today! Say goodbye to chaos and hello to a stress-free environment with these expert tips.

    Easy Organizing Ideas

    Organizing idea #1: Never stop picking up.

    • Try picking up during TV commercials or while you are waiting for something to boil on the stove. You will be amazed how much you can get done in five minutes.
    • Have the entire family spend five minutes picking up the family room or living room before they go to bed. Set a timer for young kids so they don’t get overwhelmed.If your family members go to bed at different times then have each member pick up his or her items before bed time. Once this becomes a habit, you will be amazed how much easier organizing becomes.

    Organizing idea #2: Stop making messes.

    • Keep a trash can in every room. No one likes carrying one small piece of trash from the family room to the kitchen so it usually ends up on the floor. Keep small trash cans everywhere. In our office we have two trash cans, one next to the desk for throwing away regular office trash and one next to the shipping table for throwing away envelope tabs, extra invoices and other shipping trash. If you need two trash cans in a room put them in there. Make it easy to keep things clean.
    • Throw that sticky food wrapper straight into the trash. Don’t lay it on the counter to make another mess that needs to be wiped up later.
    • Don’t lay that dirty spoon on the counter. Rinse it and put it in the sink or dishwasher.
    • As you’re undressing, don’t throw your dirty clothes on the floor or on the furniture. While they are still in your hand, put them in the hamper or if they’re still clean, hang them up.
    • Keep the hamper close to where you undress at night. If it is convenient, you will be more likely to use it and it’ll be easier to stay organized.
    • Before you leave the bathroom, hang your wet towel on the rod. Don’t drop it on the floor or leave it in a pile.

    Organizing idea #3: Think ahead and organize for the future.

    Organizing idea #4: Never, Never Procrastinate.

    • Keep straightening and organizing things all the time. For example, when you put away groceries and you see that the cans of soup have fallen over, take two seconds to restack them.
    • When you put linens or clothes in their drawers, make sure everything in those drawers is neatly stacked.
    • Pick up as you go. Each time you walk through a room, pick up something.
    • Stop thinking about it! Just do it.

    Organizing idea #5: Don’t give up. Practice makes perfect.

    • Train family members to rinse their own dishes and stack them in the sink (or better yet to put them directly into the dishwasher). It may take a while to develop this habit. For kids, you may want to do something like charge each member a dime for every dish not rinsed or make them responsible for doing all the dishes for a week.
    • Remember Thomas Edison? What if he had given up after his first 5, 10, or 100 light bulbs? Where would we be now if he had thrown up his hands and quit at his first failures? The same is true with getting and staying organized. Keep practicing and you will create a productive new habit.

    Organizing idea #6: Attitude, Attitude, Attitude.

    • Stop dreading getting organized and taking care of your home and start taking pride and pleasure in it. Think of an organized home as a special gift of peace and pleasure that you are giving your family. A disorganized one causes turmoil and frustration. Besides — You probably spend more time worrying about it than it would take to clean it.

    Organizing idea #7: Use rooms for their intended purposes.

    • Don’t let kids get undressed in the family room – that’s why they have bedrooms.
    • Eat food at the kitchen table or bar, not in bed. This alone can save a huge number of messes.
    • Fold laundry in the laundry room immediately after taking it out of the dryer and put it away immediately.

    Organizing idea #8: Be a wise steward of your time.

    • If you see something that needs to be clean, clean it as soon as possible.
    • If something doesn’t need to be cleaned, don’t waste your time. If there is no dust, don’t just dust because you dust every Saturday.
    • Don’t overbook yourself volunteering at schools, churches or charities. Learn to say “no”. Notice that I didn’t say don’t do these things at all, just control how much you do so they don’t take over your life.
    • Don’t overbook your children with their activities, either.
    • Get rid of fruitless activities. Many of us spend way too much time talking on the phone, watching TV, shopping unnecessarily or killing time on the computer. These are all time robbers when you devote a lot of time to them.

    Organizing idea #9: Keep on top of things.

    • If you do small cleaning and organizing tasks every day, you’d be surprised how much you can accomplish. In ten minute increments, you can do each of the following: wash the dishes, vacuum, file a pile of papers or clean your purse. It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes for each child to pick up and organize his room before bed and to lay out his clothes for the morning.
    • Don’t let the laundry, dishes, toys and paperwork get out of control.

    Organizing idea #10: Don’t be afraid to let go.

    • Don’t become so emotionally attached to your stuff you can let it go when it is no longer useful and not needed any more.
    • The less mounds and piles of things and stuff you have the less time you need to spend organizing it, finding a place or it and taking care of it.

    [organizing]

    [dining]

  • How To Clean A Burnt Pot Or Pan: The Easy Clean-Up Method!

    How To Clean A Burnt Pot Or Pan: The Easy Clean-Up Method!

    Here’s how to clean a burnt pot or pan. Cleaning a burnt pot can be tough, especially when it’s very burned and greasy, but this method makes the job so much easier!

    Here's how to clean a burnt pot or pan. It's not easy to clean a burnt pot, especially if it's very burned and greasy but this method should help.

    Mary asks:

    “Can you tell me the quickest way to remove years of burned on grease on the bottom of my flat pan.“

    I’ve used Awesome, Scrub Free, and Dawn Dish Detergent (the one used for cleaning oil from the birds during oil tanker spill from the Valdez that ran aground in Alaska).”

    “With the combination of the three, and a lot of elbow grease, I’ve removed some of it, but I’d really like to find one product or method that makes it easier.”

    Tawra: I am the queen of burning things. One time I even melted the tea kettle to the burner! No kidding, Mike and mom still tease me about it. I have tried over the years many things to save my pots and pans. Here’s what I do.

    I wasn’t clear if you meant the bottom of the inside of a pan or the outside, so I’ll address both.

    For Cleaning the Inside of a Burnt Pan:

    • Place a generous amount of baking soda (about 1/2 cup) in the bottom of your pan. Make sure it covers the bottom of your pan. Fill the pan with water and then simmer for an hour or so. Most of the burnt-on stuff should come right off. You can do this more than once if needed.
    • If the grease doesn’t all come off the burnt pan with the first method, then take a razor blade and scrape off the last of the burned on food. Follow up with an SOS pad to scrub away the rest and after that the pans are usually good as new!

    For Cleaning the Outside Bottom of a Pan:

    If the burnt on grease is on the outside bottom of the pan, then go straight to the SOS pad and scrub hard. Unfortunately, for years of baked-on grease, this method takes elbow grease—but it’s the most effective option I’ve found. The only easier way we have found to deal with this is to buy a new pan, which was the first thing Mike recommended when he noticed “quickest” and “easy” in your question ;-).

    These tips have saved many of my pans over the years, and I hope they work for you too, Mary. Let me know how it goes!

    Tawra

    [organizing]

     

  • Get Organized and Get Out Of Debt – Where Do I Begin?

    Get Organized and Get Out Of Debt – Where Do I Begin?

    Some of the most common goals people have are to get organized and get out of debt but it can be difficult to know how to start. These easy tips will help!

    It’s almost New Years Day and many of us are already starting to think about making resolutions. Most resolutions sound something like: “I’m going to eat healthy and lose weight“, “I’m going to get out of debt” or “I’m going to get organized.”

    These are great things to WANT to do but I’m afraid that about 90% of us won’t keep these resolutions. Here are a couple of things to think about that will hopefully give you greater success in keeping your resolutions.

    I can’t, in this one sitting, give you all the details about how to handle every situation but I can give you some things to think about that will help you in all of these areas. Then for more details check out LivingOnADime.com, or our e-books to help you in each specific area and to give you practical ways on how to accomplish what you want to do.

    It helps to understand why we do the things we do. Most of us want to lose weight and eat healthy on New Year’s Day because we have just spent the past month gorging ourselves so that we now feel bloated and sick and can’t fit into our clothes anymore. Like a pendulum that swings from one extreme to another, we think that the answer is to eat carrot sticks for the rest of our lives. That usually lasts about 3 days and then we give up.

    The same applies to the idea of getting out of debt. Most of us have just spent the past few weeks spending more money than we had planned and now we feel guilty. We’re determined that we are not going to spend a penny on anything. Then we will panic every time we have to buy something like food or gas because the price is so high.

    Then there is the thought of getting organized. Right now you are probably surrounded by a Christmas tree and decorations that are starting to accumulate a thin layer of dust, which is giving a dingy look to everything. The once bright and cheery look of the Christmas lights have dulled. The candles on the mantle have burned down to nubs and look more like they belong in a haunted house or in a horror movie.

    There is leftover wrapping paper strewn here and there. Piles of Christmas dinner platters and dishes sit on every counter. You close your eyes every time you open the fridge so you don’t have to look at the piles of leftovers inside it. Then there are all the mounds of new toys, clothes and gifts. How do you stuff them into the already full closet? No wonder you have the urge to clean and get organized. You wonder, “Where do I even start?” Getting organized is a way to give yourself a fresh start.

    As I’ve said before, too much of even a good thing can make us sick and frustrated.

    Here’s my point: You can get organized and do everything you resolve to do, but you need to pace yourself. It’s like running a long distance marathon. You don’t just shoot out of the starting line going as fast and hard as you can. You will never make the distance that way, so you pace yourself. In the same way, pace yourself in everything and do a small amount at a time, breaking things into manageable pieces.

    Have a plan, whether it is writing menus for good balanced meals for each week, making a budget or, even more important, being bold enough to write down and acknowledge what your debts are.  Make a plan. Plan where to cut your spending or to start to get organized, try making a list of 1-2 areas of your home you are going to organize each day.

    Next prepare. When you are preparing for a race, you would ask yourself, “Do I have the right shoes”, “Are there water stations?”, “Have I slowly worked my muscles into shape?”, “Am I prepared for some pain?” and “When it hits, will I not be afraid of it but keep going in spite of the discomfort?”  In the same way, you may have to spend some time preparing things like planning good meals or making sure you have cleaning supplies and boxes for when you start to get organized.

    Pace Yourself
    Plan
    Prepare

    One thing you must remember – discouragement and a sense of being overwhelmed will hit most of us once we start. Pacing will help but it is especially important to have a plan and be prepared when discouragement sets in so you can overcome it and keep going. Here are some things to think about when you start feeling discouraged:

    Have you ever looked up the definition of resolution? I did. It means to have firm determination, to be bold and steady and to reduce something to a simpler form. You need to be steady and pace yourself. Little by little and piece by piece, reduce your mess to something simpler and more manageable. You can’t accomplish any of it in a week or two. You took a long time to make the mess and you may have to take just as long to clean it up but like the tortoise in the tortoise and the hare, keep a slow but steady pace and you will win the race and succeed.

    Lastly, get up and do it. Stop blaming everyone and making excuses. You won’t even get out of the starting gate if you spend all your time standing there telling everyone why you can’t run. Even if you have a real excuse for not running then at least start taking baby steps and walk. You’ll at least be getting somewhere but if you just stand bemoaning your lot in life and how miserable the world is in these hard economic times, you will get nowhere.You may fall (or eat that piece of chocolate cake, spend more than you should have or leave dirty dishes in the sink one day) but pick yourself up, brush yourself off and keep going. The only thing that will keep you from getting there is if you stop (quit and give up), so keep at it.

    We will try to do the same and keep plugging along with ideas on how to accomplish all of the above. Now I must quit because I have a messy room that I really need to deal with today! : ) : )

    For more help with organizing, cleaning and laundry, take a look at our How To Organize And Clean Your Home e-books.

    [organizing]

  • How Much Is Clutter Costing You?

    How Much Is Clutter Costing You?

    Living with clutter can have serious financial and emotional costs many of us might not have considered. Here are some thoughts about the cost of clutter and ideas about how to get it under control.

    How Much Is Clutter Costing You? Living with clutter can have serious financial and emotional costs. Here are some ideas about how to get it under control.

    How Much Is Clutter Costing You?

    We live in a society of extremes. People seem to be extremely in debt, extremely overweight and extremely disorganized. People everywhere are trying to come up with newer and better solutions to solve these problems but not many of their ideas are working.

    The solutions aren’t working because they are focusing on the wrong problem. For example, if your child comes to you and says “I have a drug problem.” You don’t sit them down and say, “Well let’s work on a way to get your grades up and then we’ll work on your drug problem.” How foolish that would be. The real problem is not the grades but the drugs. You take care of the drugs and the chances are pretty good that the grades will come up.

    For some of us, instead of focusing on getting out of debt or losing weight, we need to first give more serious thought to becoming organized. Does that sound crazy, almost laughable? Before you start laughing too hard, look at these examples and see if you can relate.

    How often do you go out to eat because your kitchen is a mess? If your kitchen is clean, chances are you would not only be more willing to fix dinner at home but in the morning you would fix breakfast and pack yourself a lunch, too.

    Here are some benefits of getting your kitchen organized:

    Organizing can reduce your wardrobe and laundry costs.

    • Do you keep buying more clothes because you are gaining weight from fast food or from the stress of your clutter?
    • How big is your wardrobe? Do you or your children own 30 pairs of jeans at $60 a pop because you don’t keep up with the laundry or because your closet is so stuffed you can’t find anything? That adds up to $1,800 worth of jeans. If you cut it down to even 10 pairs you would save $1,200. How many tops do you own? How about those shoes? Before you say, “There is no way I have that many jeans, shoes, or tops!” go count you clothes. You may be surprised…
    • How often do you toss a suit jacket on the floor or on the furniture and then later have to have it dry-cleaned because it’s wrinkled? Just think about what you could save on your dry cleaning bill if you kept a little more organized.

    Organizing can save you money in every aspect of your life.

    • Do you buy new items because you can’t find something? The cost of things like tools, glue, tape, ropes, garden tools, kitchen items, light bulbs, batteries, office supplies and other things really adds up.
    • How much do you pay each month in late fees on your bills because you can’t find them, your checkbook or even a stamp to mail them?

    Who is taking care of your home?

    Often, we think that the solution to our debt problem is for both spouses to work outside the home. At times we even compound the problem when one or both spouses take a second job.

    When both spouses work out of the home, who takes care of the house? Frequently, there is a constant battle between them about whose job it is to take care of some element of the housework. After all, the husband has been out working all day, so he doesn’t feel like it. Oh, but the wife has been working, too, so why can’t she take a break?

    Imagine if your boss at work decided to work a second full time job. How would this impact your workplace? Who would you ask if you couldn’t find products for your customers? What if there was no change because your boss was at his other job until after the bank closed? What if you needed help or advice from your boss, but he said, “Not now… I’m too tired from my other job?” How long would that company last? The same thing happens in many homes every day.

    Try something different!

    Would your family be better served if one spouse stayed home? Someone needs to be responsible for the bulk of the care and maintenance of the home and family. Ideally, everyone will share the work, but like in any other business, there has to be one person in charge. Otherwise, everyone will avoid the work and everything will descend into chaos.

    If this sounds like your home, you might sit down with your spouse and seriously consider whether one of you might take off work to try to get your home in order. Instead of thinking of staying at home as a prison sentence, think of it as another job to help save you money, reduce family stress and add more family comfort.

    If you’re considering staying home, get rid of the emotions and, with pen and paper (hopefully you can find one) in hand, write down the ways that being disorganized is costing you money. Be honest and try to cover even the small things. You might find that the money you are spending dealing with disorganization is equal to or more than one spouse’s take home pay.

    Organization has nothing to do with what is politically correct or what the media or other people tell you you need to do. It is a practical choice that you can make. I am NOT saying that you can’t work doing something that you love. I am saying that regardless of how your family handles it, the work of keeping the home has to get done.

    But we both want to work outside the home…

    If you feel that you and your spouse have to or both want to work, then try to come up with other ideas.

    • Would spending your vacation organizing things and deep cleaning give you enough of a jump start to help keep things organized? Maybe once you organized everything you could consider hiring someone to clean your house once a week. Before you say you can’t afford it, think about this: Which would cost less? Paying someone $50 a week to clean your house or paying for all the things that cost you money because you are not organized?
    • Consider whether it would be worth one spouse working part time instead of full time.
    • Try one simple thing like hanging up your clothes so you don’t have a cleaner’s expense or getting the whole family to pitch in with cleaning the kitchen at the end of each meal.

    What if you don’t know HOW To get organized?

    Maybe you do have the time, but you just don’t know how to get organized. If that is the case, then learn. Check out books at the library or search for help on the Internet. Better yet, find someone you know who is organized and ask them to teach you. Don’t be embarrassed to do this. Most people are more than willing to show you how to do things. Remember, those older women (and men) that seem to have it all together now didn’t start out that way. They’ve had 20 years or more practice and they remember what it was like to not have a clue where to start. Just ask.

    Instead of wasting your time and energy trying to bail the water out of your sinking boat by bailing faster or using a bigger bucket, fix the hole. CLEAN UP THE CLUTTER AND SAVE.

    [dining]

  • How To Clean A Stainless Steel Sink

    How To Clean A Stainless Steel Sink

    Here’s an easy 4 step process to clean a stainless steel sink, with a video demonstration. We also share what cleaners to use and include natural options.

    Here's an easy 4 step process to clean a stainless steel sink, with a video demonstration. We also share what cleaners to use and include natural options.

    How To Clean A Stainless Steel Sink

    Keeping your stainless steel sink clean isn’t as difficult as it seems. It does seem like it can be intimidating when you aren’t sure what products to use. Below, you will find 4 simple steps to get it clean and keep it that way.

    You can see our video demonstrating how to clean a stainless steel sink here:

    4 Steps To Clean A Stainless Steel Sink

    1. Get the gross OFF! Use a solution of dish soap and water to wipe down all the food and grime. Do not rinse. Just let it soak for a minute until it loosens all the stuck-on food. When everything is softened, wipe out the sink with fresh water.

      You can skip this step if your sink isn’t too bad but it’s a good idea to do it if you have a lot of stuck on food.

    2. Scrub it! Use either a stainless steel cleaner or baking soda and vinegar. (Bar Keepers Friend is a good inexpensive stainless steel cleaner brand, which does not contain bleach.)

      • You can use a product like Comet with bleach if you want. I prefer to use the Comet but YOU CAN NOT LET BLEACH SIT IN THE SINK. If you use a cleanser with bleach, you must rinse it off right away as bleach can pit and stain your sink. Also, if you use this kind of abrasive cleanser, use a lot of water to prevent scratching.
      • If you use stainless steel cleaner, just rub on with the grain of the sink and rinse.
      • If you decide to use baking soda and vinegar, then scrub the sink with baking soda first. When you’re finished scrubbing, leave the baking soda on. Then pour some vinegar over the sink and let it bubble. Rinse with water. Vinegar is somewhat useful in disinfecting, but the vinegar will not disinfect as well as bleach.

      • IMPORTANT: When you’re cleaning the sink, make sure you wipe around the edges and the back of the faucet. (See our video.) A lot of people miss this area. This is where a lot of gross stuff can collect, causing unpleasant odors, and the grime can build up over time so that you will have to scrape it off.

        If you have missed this area a lot and you have a big build up, you can take a plastic scraper like a pot scraper or a plastic knife and scrape away the build-up.
    3. Dry the sink: Wipe down the clean sink and counters with a dry cloth. This makes the sink look shiny and extra clean.
    4. Shine It! To add even more shine to your stainless steel sink, wipe down with a small amount of olive oil or mineral oil and shine with a dry cloth.

      To freshen your disposal, you can put a piece of lemon or orange peel in your disposal and run it. The lemon will help clean and freshen, so if you have odors you might try this.

      Here’s my #1 Tip for keeping your sink looking good: WIPE IT DOWN IMMEDIATELY AFTER EVERY LOAD OF DISHES!!! Seriously! It takes about 30 seconds to wipe and dry your sink and if you do this every time it will keep the grime from building up. While you’re at it, make sure to wipe the counters, too, and be sure to dry them as towel drying makes counters look shiny and extra clean just like it does with the sinks.

      That’s it! As you can see in our video, it really doesn’t take much to get it clean. Once you know what cleaners to use, you can scrub away and have a fresh clean sink in just a minute or so!

    1. Homemade All Purpose Cleaner Recipe – My #1 Go-To for Cleaning!

      Homemade All Purpose Cleaner Recipe – My #1 Go-To for Cleaning!

      This homemade all purpose cleaner recipe makes my absolutely favorite cleaner for my house! I pretty much use this cleaner for 90% of the cleaning done around my house. I just use the Dawn but if you need something a little stronger you can use ammonia.  It’s in volume 1 of our cookbook and I just love the way it makes everything from windows to sinks and toilets shine!

      This homemade all purpose cleaner recipe makes my absolutely favorite cleaner for my house! It is quick and easy to make with ingredients you have at home!
      Print

      Homemade All Purpose Cleaner Recipe

      This homemade all purpose cleaner recipe makes my absolutely favorite cleaner for my house! It is quick and easy to make with ingredients you have at home!
      Print Recipe

      5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

      5 from 2 reviews

      Ingredients

      1 gallon water
      1 cup ammonia or 2 tsp. Dawn dishsoap
      1/2 cup vinegar
      1/2 cup baking soda

      Instructions

      1. Combine all ingredients.
      2. Put into a spray bottle to clean showers, toilets, sinks and counters.

      This homemade all-purpose cleaner is great for most cleaning needs. Use all-purpose cleaner to clean your floors. Just spray on and wipe off as you would counter-tops.

      This is not a disinfectant. To make it a disinfectant, too, add about 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol to the bottle.

      All Purpose Cleaner Recipe #2 – (My newer version.)

      This disinfecting cleaner is the one I prefer and use most often. It is the same as the all purpose cleaner above except that it includes alcohol for disinfecting.

      Print

      All Purpose Disinfecting Cleaner Recipe

      This homemade all purpose cleaner recipe makes my absolutely favorite cleaner for my house! It is quick and easy to make with ingredients you have at home!
      Print Recipe

      5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

      No reviews

      • Author: Tawra Kellam

      Ingredients

      Units
      1 gallon water 1 cup ammonia or 2 tsp. Dawn dish soap 1/2 cup vinegar 1/2 cup baking soda 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol

      Instructions

      1. Combine all ingredients.
      2. Put into a spray bottle to clean showers, toilets, sinks and counters.

      This all-purpose cleaner is great for most cleaning needs. Use this all-purpose disinfecting cleaner to clean your floors. Just spray on and wipe off as you would countertops.

      Notes

      This all purpose disinfecting cleaner is a disinfectant because it includes the alcohol.

      [organizing]

    2. 10 Spring Cleaning Tips To Make Things Easier!

      10 Spring Cleaning Tips To Make Things Easier!

      Try these 10 easy spring cleaning tips to help you keep your home in order without going crazy! They are short tips for quick things that need to be done but are often forgotten.

      Try these 10 easy spring cleaning tips to help you keep your home in order without going crazy! Quick things that need to be done but are often forgotten.

      Spring Cleaning Tips

      • Clean your coffee pot and sink drain. Pour 1/2 cup to 1 cup of vinegar into the coffee pot and run it through as if you were making coffee. Repeat a couple of times using the same vinegar.

        Pour 1/4 cup baking soda down your drain. Then pour the used vinegar from the coffee maker down the drain. Let it sit for a minute or so.

        Next, pour 1-2 pots of water through the coffee maker to wash out the vinegar. When each pot of rinse water from the coffee maker is done, pour it into the drain. You now have a clean coffee pot and a clean drain.

      • Clean and take care of all your small appliances. Cleaning and caring for them really does make them last longer.

        Toasters – There is a little door on the bottom of your toaster that catches the crumbs. Open and clean out the crumbs once in a while. (UNPLUG THE TOASTER FIRST!)

        Hand mixer – Wipe down your hand mixer after each use.

        Iron – Run your iron over a dryer sheet to remove anything gummy, including fusible web or spray starch. I also keep a couple of packages of alcohol hand wipes by my iron and use them for an instant cleaning (after it cools).

        I iron a lot so I use the small tubes of iron cleaners that Faultless sells. I do this about twice a year. In most places, it is found by the irons, cleaning products or where ironing board covers are found. More often than not, they are displayed hanging on a plastic strip.

      • Blow the dirt off of your fans, computers, or air purifiers. (You can buy cans of air for use with computers at office supply stores. These can be used to blow dirt off of other hard to clean items, too. I used to use an air compressor to blow the dirt off of house fans and heating grates.)

      • Two weeks before Christmas and birthdays, go through and remove several of your children’s toys, since they will soon be replaced. Let the kids play with only half of the new toys each holiday and save the other half for them to play with later.

      • If an old porcelain sink is marked with metal scratches, use 400 grit wet/dry sand paper and lightly sand the markings out. I also love using Comet on my old porcelain sinks on a regular basis. This usually keeps the scratches down. Of course, prevention is the best. When you are scrubbing a pan or something metal, lay a dish rag down to set it on first.

      • Save brown paper bags and use them for trash sacks, wrapping paper, drawing paper for the kids, oil leaks under cars, etc.

      • If you have a sisal rug or one like it that slides all the time, use rows of acrylic chalking about 6 inches apart on the back of it to prevent it from moving around. Let it dry then flip over.

      • To repel mosquitoes, stuff a dryer sheet in your back pocket.

      • Replace the glass or plastic pitcher part of your blender with a mason jar.

        The bottom part of a blender pitcher unscrews (the part with the blade, the rubber gasket and the screw on base). If you remove these parts from the glass jar, you can screw on a mason jar, in the blender pitcher’s place. If you do this, make sure you use a larger mason jar than your contents require — like a 1 quart jar if you’re going to be blending a pint to a pint and a half.

        You would just put it on there and and turn the blender upside down to blend. Then everything is in the jar after it’s blended. Turn the jar back right side up when you are done and unscrew the blender base, and put a regular mason lid on your jar.
    3. Foaming Hand Soap Refill Recipe

      Foaming Hand Soap Refill Recipe

      This easy foaming hand soap refill recipe is a quick and simple way to save on hand soap. You can refill your soap for just pennies a bottle!

      This easy foaming hand soap refill recipe is a quick and simple way to save on hand soap. You can refill your soap for just pennies a bottle!

      Vickie asked:

      I really like the foaming hand soap; do you have a foaming hand soap refill recipe for making it at home?

      If you love foaming hand soap but hate paying for those pricey refills, you’re not alone! Many of us have fallen for the convenience of foaming soap—only to realize the refill bottles are ridiculously expensive for what’s basically watered-down soap. I forked over $1.67 to buy one of those new foaming pump hand soaps just to see if it would last longer. Interestingly it only lasted 1/4 of the amount of time that normal hand soap does.

      After some experimenting, I found a super simple way to refill your foaming soap dispensers for just pennies a bottle! It’s quick, easy, and just as effective as the store-bought stuff—without the extra cost.

      Whether you’re using a store-bought foaming pump or a reusable dispenser, this DIY foaming hand soap refill recipe will save you money, reduce waste, and keep those hands clean without breaking the bank!

      Here’s how to make a foaming hand soap refill for just a few pennies per bottle!

      Print

      Foaming Hand Soap Refill Recipe

      This easy foaming hand soap refill recipe is a quick and simple way to save on hand soap. You can refill your soap for just pennies a bottle!
      Print Recipe

      5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

      5 from 3 reviews

      • Author: Tawra Kellam

      Ingredients

      2 Tbsp. of regular liquid hand soap or bubble bath enough water to top off the bottle

      Instructions

      1. Pour the liquid hand soap into the bottle.
      2. Fill to the top with water.
      3. Swirl it around gently until it’s mixed and you have foaming hand soap!

      I figured that the store-bought soap lasts about the same amount of time as regular liquid hand soap but costs twice as much. Isn’t that nice of them? :-)

      [dining]

    4. Easy Countertop Disinfectant Recipe You Can Make in Minutes!

      Easy Countertop Disinfectant Recipe You Can Make in Minutes!

      This easy countertop disinfectant recipe is a great disinfectant that can be used for most cleaning needs and it will save you a lot of money over buying it at the store!

      This easy countertop disinfectant recipe is a great disinfectant that works for most cleaning needs and will save you a lot of money buying it at the store!

      Here is our easy homemade countertop disinfectant recipe. This recipe works well as an all purpose cleaner and I use it for lots of cleaning applications in my home. The alcohol is a disinfectant and the ammonia is a disinfectant and also a degreaser.

      You can save a lot of money making your own cleaning products instead of buying the expensive ones at the store that have the same ingredients.

      When you use this or any kitchen and bathroom cleaner, it is important that you NEVER mix any cleaning product that has ammonia with any cleaning product that has bleach. If you use bleach and ammonia together, it creates a poisonous gas. This applies to all cleaners, not just homemade cleaners. This countertop disinfectant uses ammonia, so you would want to avoid using it with any cleaner that includes bleach.

      Here is our countertop and all purpose cleaner recipe. Mix some together and keep it in a spray bottle wherever you need quick clean-ups and disinfecting.

      Print

      Easy Countertop Disinfectant Recipe

      This easy countertop disinfectant recipe is a great disinfectant that works for most cleaning needs and will save you a lot of money buying it at the store!
      Print Recipe

      5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

      No reviews

      • Author: Tawra Kellam

      Ingredients

      Units
      2 Tbsp. ammonia 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol 1/4 cup vinegar water

      Instructions

      1. Pour ammonia, alcohol and vinegar into a spray bottle.
      2. Fill with water.

      This works especially well for countertops but may also be used to clean showers, toilets and sinks. Great for most cleaning needs.

      Important tip: NEVER mix ammonia and bleach.

      This Homemade Countertop Disinfectant Recipe is from the homemade cleaning products chapter in volume 1 of our cookbook:

      [dining]

    5. Homemade Outdoor Window Washer Recipe

      Homemade Outdoor Window Washer Recipe

      Tired of spending money on expensive outdoor window cleaners? This simple and budget-friendly homemade outdoor window washer recipe works just as well—without the high price tag! Made with just a few everyday ingredients, it’s perfect for reaching those high-up windows without needing a ladder. Clean your windows with ease and save money in the process!

      Why spend a fortune on a specialty cleaner for your outdoor windows? Here's an easy homemade outdoor window washer recipe you can make for a lot less!
      Print

      Homemade Outdoor Window Washer Recipe

      Why spend a fortune on a specialty cleaner for your outdoor windows? Here's an easy homemade outdoor window washer recipe you can make for a lot less!
      Print Recipe

      5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

      5 from 3 reviews

      Why spend a fortune on a specialty cleaner for your outdoor windows? Here’s an easy homemade outdoor window washer recipe you can make for a lot less!

      • Author: Tawra Kellam

      Ingredients

      3 Tbsp. liquid dishwashing soap
      1 Tbsp. anti-spotting agent (Jet Dry)
      1/4 Cup ammonia (Optional for extra cleaning power and degreasing)

      Instructions

      1. Put soap and anti-spotting agent into a spray bottle attachment for your garden hose.
      2. Add ammonia, if desired, for extra cleaning power and degreasing.
      3. Fill the bottle to the top with water.
      4. Attach sprayer.
      5. Spray upper windows and let them dry.

      This outdoor window washer recipe is for cleaning the higher windows on your house that you can’t reach except with a ladder.

      For more easy homemade cleaner recipes like this, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks!

      [dining]

    6. Clean Your Kitchen in 7 Easy Steps

      Clean Your Kitchen in 7 Easy Steps

      Many of you are focused on deep cleaning right now, but there are still all the everyday jobs to keep up with. Here are some ideas about how to do your daily jobs quickly (starting with easy steps to clean your kitchen) so you can get on to the big stuff. Some people do things differently and in a different order. This is just a suggestion to help you get started. Feel free to modify it.

      Try this easy step by step guide to clean your kitchen quickly. These ideas will help you get in and out of the kitchen quickly! It really isn't hard!

      Clean Your Kitchen In Seven Easy Steps

      Are you tired of looking at a messy kitchen and don’t know where to start? Cleaning your kitchen doesn’t have to be a daunting task. With these seven easy steps, you can quickly get your kitchen clean and sparkling in no time.

      Start by picking up any items that don’t belong in the kitchen, like mail, newspapers, and other odds and ends and quickly putting them away. If there is a lot of this kind of stuff on the counters, gather it and place it in a box to deal with when the kitchen is clean. Don’t waste time sorting through it until after the kitchen is clean.

      1. Gather all dirty dishes and load them into the dishwasher. If the dishwasher is already full, start it immediately to get it done as soon as possible.

        Fill the sink with hot soapy water and put the dishes that must be washed by hand in it to soak. This will help loosen any dirt or grime, making them easier to clean later.
      2. Wipe off countertops and tables with hot soapy water. (This way, if you have unexpected company your table and counters are clean. They will think you have been cleaning all morning.)

        If you have a spot with stuck on food, lay a wet washcloth on the spot for a few minutes while you work on something else. This will help soften the stain, making it easier to clean off.
      3. Sweep the kitchen floor and shake out any throw rugs if needed. This will ensure that your kitchen looks clean and tidy.
      4. Wash the dishes that have been soaking. As you go, place them on the drainboard to dry. Once you finish, put all of the dishes away in the cabinets where they belong. If they have not completely dried, grab a dish towel and quickly dry each of them as you put them away. Don’t be obsessive about the drying. Quickly wipe each one dry and move on.
      5. Wipe down the faucets and dry with a towel. Drying with a towel prevents water spots and makes the fixtures look shiny and clean. (Be sure to wipe any sticky appliances, too. Don’t forget to wipe the door handles, especially on the back where you grab to open them.)
      6. Put out a clean dishcloth and towel.
      7. Take out the trash.

      If you have a lot of kitchen items on the counter that you rarely or never use, find a place to store them that is not on the counter. If you occasionally use something, see if you can find a place in a cabinet to store it. If you never use it, get rid of it.

      By following these seven easy steps, you can quickly get your kitchen clean and sparkling. Don’t let a messy kitchen stress you out. Try these steps today and enjoy a clean and tidy kitchen every day!

      -Jill

      For more easy tips and tricks to make it easy to clean your kitchen and keep your whole house in order, check out our How To Organize And Clean Your Home E-books.

      [organizing]

    7. Does Vinegar Disinfect As Well As Bleach?

      Does Vinegar Disinfect As Well As Bleach?

      Does Vinegar Disinfect as Well as Bleach? Some people are afraid of bleach and prefer to use vinegar as a disinfectant but is it as effective?

      Does Vinegar Disinfect as Well as Bleach? Some people are afraid of bleach and prefer to use vinegar as a disinfectant but is it safe to use vinegar as a disinfectant?

      Does Vinegar Disinfect As Well As Bleach?

      When mom mentioned that you should disinfect your countertops with bleach we received a lot of comments about how great it is to use vinegar instead of bleach.

      So, let’s set the record straight.

      We do not want to knowingly put incorrect or dangerous information on our website. so in situations like this we will refer to the best places we know to get the correct information. That’s why, in cases like this, we look to trusted sources—usually government health agencies. Also even the sites who recommend the use of vinegar admit that the testing for it is very unclear because it hasn’t been thoroughly tested like bleach.

      Regarding vinegar working as well as bleach, vinegar is NOT as effective as bleach and does NOT kill as many germs. While vinegar does have some disinfecting properties, it is only 90% effective against bacteria and 80%-83% effective against viruses and mold/mildew. This means when you use vinegar as a disinfectant, you are putting your family at risk.

      Bleach kills 99.9% of bacteria, viruses and mold/mildew. This information came from the health department. I encourage you to contact your local health department to confirm if you don’t believe these statistics.

      There are a lot of rumors and conspiracies about bleach that people worry about, but isn’t it wise to really look at the facts rather than using products that are unsafe as disinfectants? Don’t let emotional fear from people spreading rumors online cause you to make poor decisions.

      Another thing to consider is that using soap and water kills more germs than vinegar so, unless you are trying to get rid of soap scum, residue or mineral build up in laundry, why are you even messing with vinegar?

      We are not suggesting that you use an entire gallon of bleach every day to clean your home. I wash whites two times a week using bleach. I generally disinfect every few days to a week or once a day when there is sickness in the house. A gallon of bleach lasts me 3-4 months! People say they can’t clean with bleach because the fumes take their breath away. If this is happening, it is usually not the bleach. Many people simply use way more bleach than they should. I also have to ask– Has no one smelled vinegar lately? The smell from it really takes my breath away and burns my nose.

      I know there are people who believe that illnesses have increased because people are using products line bleach and other disinfectants. I have to say that I do not agree and think that we should be thankful that we have products that kill life threatening bacteria and viruses now.

      I once heard a person from Africa say, in response to people who want to ban pesticides, “You rich Americans want to try and force us to stop using pesticides, but you aren’t dying from the diseases that these bugs carry.”

      I think the same is true with the use of bleach. It has been 60-70 years since a lot of people were dying from major illnesses that are preventable. This generation has not had to go through the pain of losing family members to these diseases so many people haven’t heard the stories and aren’t often reminded about how very lucky we are to have things like bleach and pesticides.

      Find our easy Homemade Clorox Disinfecting Wipes Recipe Here!

      If you are concerned about bleach and the environment, you might want to check out these facts from Clorox.com:

      • Household bleach is derived from sodium chloride, also known as common table salt.
      • Clorox® Bleach begins and ends as salt water: 95–98% of household bleach quickly breaks down into salt and water, while the remaining byproducts are effectively treated by sewer or septic systems.
      • No bleach gets to the environment. Studies have shown that dioxins are not produced when sodium hypochlorite bleach is manufactured, used in laundry or in household cleaning.
      • The main ingredients in Clorox® Regular-Bleach are sodium hypochlorite, a form of salt, and water. There is no free chlorine in Clorox® Regular-Bleach.

      Most people simply use too much bleach when cleaning. Here is the proper way to clean with it:

      If you are going to use bleach in your dishwater, make sure that your soap can be mixed with bleach. Look on the back of the bottle to make sure it doesn’t say “Do not mix with bleach.” Some of the new scented dish soaps will set off toxic fumes if mixed with bleach.

      To disinfect correctly, follow these directions from Clorox:

      • To Disinfect Surfaces: Use 1/4 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water, or as directed on the label, to disinfect hard, nonporous surfaces in your home.
      • To Disinfect Water: If you need to purify water during an emergency, (and don’t have the means to boil it for 3–5 minutes), you can disinfect your water using bleach:
        • For clear water—add 8 drops (1/8 tsp.) of bleach per gallon of water
        • For cloudy water—add 16 drops (1/4 tsp.) of bleach per gallon of water
          Mix the solution thoroughly and let it stand for about 30 minutes before using it. Properly treated water should have a slight chlorine odor. If it doesn’t, repeat dosage and allow water to stand an additional 15 minutes. The treated water can be made drinkable by pouring it between clean containers several times.

      [dining]

    8. How To Clean A Front Load Washer And The Secret Trick I Use So I Never Need To!

      How To Clean A Front Load Washer And The Secret Trick I Use So I Never Need To!

      Many people experience disgusting mold in their front load washing machines but I don’t. Here’s the secret trick I use so I never have to clean mine!

      [dining]

      (more…)

    9. Room By Room Spring Cleaning Checklist – Speed Cleaning Ideas

      Room By Room Spring Cleaning Checklist – Speed Cleaning Ideas

      Use this easy room by room cleaning checklist to make cleaning quick, easy and efficient! By organizing your cleaning supplies efficiently, keeping cleaning equipment where it’s easy to access and having a plan to get it done efficiently, you’ll be able to get the cleaning done fast!

      Use this easy room by room cleaning checklist to make cleaning quick, easy and efficient! By organizing your cleaning supplies efficiently, keeping cleaning equipment where it's easy to access and having a plan to get it done efficiently, you'll be able to get the cleaning done fast!

      Room By Room Spring Cleaning Checklist – Speed Cleaning Ideas

      Once you have your home organized and you have gotten most of the major deep cleaning done, you’re ready to start speed cleaning your home. I also call speed cleaning your home maintenance cleaning because it is more of a maintenance routine than the deep cleaning and organizing.

      • Each family is different so you decide how often you need to do your speed cleaning. You might choose to do it daily, once a week, twice a week, etc. depending on your family size, number of pets and other considerations.
      • If it isn’t dirty but is on your speed cleaning list, don’t clean it. Only clean something when it is dirty.
      • You can use a special apron or plastic container of some kind to put your cleaning supplies in to make it easier to carry from room to room. There are so many options that I could do a whole article just on how to store and transport your cleaning supplies. Find something that works well work for you.

        I don’t carry most of my cleaning supplies and tools with me from room to room. I prefer simple– very simple. I keep my rags and 2-3 cleaning products in the bathroom and I do the same in the kitchen.

        When it is time to clean the living room and bedrooms, I grab a dust rag from the kitchen, spray it with my Pledge (if you use microfiber, you don’t even need to do this.) and take it along with the damp cloth diaper I used to wipe the faucets in the bathroom. The only things I use to clean the living room and bedrooms are the dust rag sprayed with pledge and the cloth diaper. I dust with the rag and then use the diaper on mirrors and glass surfaces. When I’m in a big hurry, I will use a feather duster too.
      • I clean the living room first. That way, if unexpected company shows up then it is ready for them. Next I clean the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms.

      Speed Cleaning Living Rooms Or Family Rooms

      Clear clutter
      Straighten pillows and throws
      Clean glass, mirrors and tabletops
      Dust furniture and mantle
      Vacuum and damp mop the floors

      Speed Cleaning The Kitchen

      Wash the dishes
      Wipe counters and items on counters (toaster, coffee pot)
      Wipe table
      Wipe the outsides of appliances that need it.
      Empty trash and clean the trash can if needed*
      Sweep or vacuum. Then damp mop the floor.
      Shake throw rugs*

      Speed Cleaning Bathrooms

      Clear clutter from the vanity and tub.
      Place dirty towels in the laundry.*
      Vacuum or sweep the floor.
      With a damp piece of toilet paper, wipe up any loose hairs in the sink, tub or toilet.
      Spray down the sink, tub and toilet with cleaner.
      Wipe and rinse the sink, tub and toilet.
      Clean the inside of the toilet.
      Dry the sink, tub, and toilet with a rag or cloth diaper.
      Empty the waste basket.
      Mop the floor.
      Shake and replace throw rugs* and towels.

      Speed Cleaning Bedrooms

      Clear clutter.
      Straighten anything that is out of place in the closet or drawers when putting away clothing.
      Change linens.
      Clean mirrors and glass tables.
      Dust.
      Empty waste baskets.*
      Vacuum or dust mop.
      Shake throw rugs*

      * To save time and to keep your momentum when speed cleaning, always place things like throw rugs, trash cans, dirty laundry or things that need to go into another room just outside the door of the room you are cleaning so they’re out of the way. Then, when you are finished cleaning the room, take the throw rugs out to shake and then return them to where they belong. Empty the trash and replace it and put clothes and linens in the laundry.

      Cleaning List For Occasional Things


      Here is a list of home cleaning tasks that can be done less often.       These things don’t really fall under speed cleaning. They’re more like occasional deep cleaning. You can pick one thing from this list to do each time you clean a room or do them all on one big cleaning day. Once again do them weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or on whatever schedule it takes to fit your needs.

      Here’s an example of what I normally do with an occasional task: I automatically dust window sills each time I do my speed cleaning because, as I walk from one side of the room to the other, I run my rag along the sills and call it good. At times, I just dust the sill when I clean the windows. Do what works for you.

      Once In A While Cleaning List

      Dust baseboards, moldings, lamp shades, pictures and areas behind furniture.
      Vacuum upholstered furniture.
      Vacuum or wash curtains and drapes.
      Carefully clean knick-knacks.
      Clean inside cabinets and drawers as they need it.
      Wash throw rugs.
      Scrub tile and grout.
      Wash the shower curtain.
      Clean the stove and oven.

      You may want to add other things to the list of tasks for speed cleaning your home. The things that I listed above are a few basics to get you started. Now go get it done!

      For more easy cleaning, laundry and homemaking tips to make your life easier, check out our How To Organize And Clean Your Home e-books.

      [organizing]

    10. 10 Tips To Save Money On Clothes

      10 Tips To Save Money On Clothes

      Learning to save money on clothes is one significant way to cut your spending and get out of debt. These easy tips will help you reduce your clothes budget!

      Learning to save money on clothes is one significant way to cut your spending and get out of debt. These easy tips will help you reduce your clothes budget!

      10 Tips To Save Money On Clothes

      We get so many questions about how to save money on groceries but very few about how to save money on clothes, even though many people spend two or three times as much per month on clothes than they do on their groceries.

      I was talking to a woman recently who was bemoaning the fact she had just lost her job and didn’t know what she was going to do for medical insurance. Then she started talking about how much she loved her clothes and couldn’t give up buying them. She had a large collection of shoes, purses and tops. She owned over 150 pairs of pants.

      It hadn’t even dawned on her that if she had taken the money she had spent on all those clothes she could have easily paid for many years worth of insurance. It’s time we start rethinking our clothing budgets.

      Try these tips to save some money on your clothing budget:

      1. Stop shopping for clothes because of the “high” it gives you. When you use shopping as a drug, you no longer think rationally about how much money you’re spending.
      2. Stop shopping for clothes because it builds your self esteem. Yes, clothes do make us feel good about ourselves and there is nothing wrong with that, but you don’t need 150 pairs of pants to do that. Shopping for self esteem is trying to fix an emotional problem with a physical solution and that will get you nowhere. That makes as much sense as discovering that your car ran out of gas and trying to solve the problem by washing it to try and make it run again. You’re working on the wrong problem.
      3. Plan your family’s wardrobes. Don’t just buy a cute top and take it home hoping you’ll find something to go with it. If you need a suit jacket, get one you can wear to the office or that you can wear casually with jeans. Do you really need five pairs of black pants? Instead of buying another pair of black pants, why not buy a white blouse that will go with that pair of pants and skirt that you already have but that doesn’t match anything else?
      4. One way to save money on clothes is to take care of the clothes that you do have:
        • If things aren’t dirty, wear them again. The less you wash things the longer they last. (Of course, I don’t mean underwear.)
        • Hang up the clothes you can wear again when you take them off. So many kids and adults just drop their clothes on the floor when they take them off and later throw them in the laundry so they don’t have to hang them up. Not only does this cause you twice as much work, It puts unnecessary wear and tear on your clothes.
      5. Learn basic sewing. Basic sewing is easier than you think. Don’t get rid of that shirt because it is missing a button. Don’t throw out your daughter’s jeans because they have a hole. Take two minutes to sew a button on the shirt or an appliqué on the jeans. (Yes, it really does take two minutes to sew on a button. Time yourself next time. You’ll be surprised.)
      1. Use the clothes you do have well. If jeans have a hole that can’t be fixed then have the kids wear them for play clothes or cut them off for shorts. If that dress of yours is getting outdated, take out the shoulder pads or add shoulder pads (depending on the style),or take up or let down the hem. Update your outfits with different accessories.
      2. Hang clothes on the line or rack to dry when possible. Dryers create a lot more wear and tear on the fabrics and usually destroy all elastic.

      I do live in the real world and know that most people, like me, love clothes so I’m not saying don’t ever buy anything new. If you’re serious about controlling your spending or reducing debt then don’t let your clothes shopping get out of control. You can save money on clothes and still buy clothes.

      Remember: Stop buying clothes to satisfy your emotional needs. This will save you not only money, but also time, energy and the stress of taking care of all the clutter those extra clothes will cause.

      Additional Tips To Make Your Clothes Last Longer And Save Money:

      • If you are having a hard time removing the stains around collars and cuffs, try using abrasive hand cleaner or shampoo.
      • When dealing with stains, try using the same product on your clothes that you use to clean the part of your body adjacent to the stain. For example, use shampoo to remove collar stains, use your face cleanser to remove make up stains or use the soap that your husband uses on his hands after working on the car to remove grease and oil. Of course always spot test everything first so that you don’t ruin the garment with the cleaner.

      -Jill

      [organizing]

    11. Storing And Organizing Clothes – Make Laundry Easier

      Storing And Organizing Clothes – Make Laundry Easier

      Try these easy ideas for storing and organizing clothes. They’ll save you time and money and make it easier dealing with your laundry!

      Try these easy ideas for storing and organizing clothes. They'll save you time and money and make it easier dealing with your laundry!

      Storing And Organizing Clothes

      It’s that time of year when we are hauling out the winter clothes and putting away the summer ones.  Trish submitted the following question so I will try to give you some pointers and at the same time I answer her.

      I have 4 small children and am always way behind. Do you have separate bins for each child and wash each person’s pile separately? Do you limit clothes for each person?

      Another is storage of clothes… I try top separate clothes by size but find myself finding a dress at goodwill for the winter and it gets thrown wherever. Should I have a misc bin to organize clothes to put away for later? Thanks sooo much!

      -Trish

       

      I usually wash everyone’s clothes together. If I am washing dark clothes that day, I gather up everyone’s darks and wash those. It seems like if I do just one person’s clothes at a time someone else is running short by the time I get around to them. You shouldn’t have so many clothes for each person that you are able to wait until it is that person’s time for darks, lights, etc. If you do, you have way too many clothes to be dealing with. Cut back on the clothes and wash everyone’s clothes together.

      For a family of your size you should be doing about 2 loads of laundry every day (weekdays). That should more than help you keep up with it. If you find it isn’t, then you need to get your family to cut back on the amount of clothes they are wearing each day.

      Check out my list here regarding how many clothes each person should have. Each person can wear the same pair of jeans a couple of times at least and if an item isn’t dirty don’t wash it. Of course, the exception is if you have a bed wetter, a baby in cloth diapers, or someone who has been ill. Those circumstances might cause you to have to wash a couple of extra loads of laundry a week.

      Storing Clothes

      • Sort through one person’s clothes each day. If you sort more than that, you can easily get overwhelmed.
      • Be ruthless. Get rid of as much as possible. Toss or use for rags clothes that are in poor shape and give the rest away. Don’t keep your five prom dresses, your fat dresses and your skinny dresses. By the time you get into them again they will be out of date so toss them.
      • You can keep 2-3 “memory” dresses and get rid of the rest. That goes for baby clothes, too. If you still can’t bring yourself to get rid of them at least make them into a quilt, pillows or something useful. I had a favorite formal dress that I loved but it was outdated. I made throw pillows for my living room and a cover for my Bible out of it. I enjoy it much more now than when it was in my closet collecting dust and I still have the memory.
      • Limit everyone’s clothes. No child needs more than five pairs of everyday shorts, four church outfits, etc. The same goes for moms. You don’t need 5 pairs of black pants. If you are doing laundry the way you should, you won’t run out of clothes and you will find that you will keep up on the laundry better because it is not so overwhelming and out of control.
      • Let the clothes go. Make a list of what each person really needs. If you have 4 church outfits, that means that you could wear a different dress for a month and not wear the same thing. Two pair of black pants should be enough, one to wear while the other is in the wash. Five pairs of pajamas is more than plenty for an older child. They could really get by with fewer if they wear the same pair for 3 nights in a row.
      • Once you have reduced things down to as small an amount as you can, you can figure out the storage situation. Keep your winter clothes separate from your summer clothes, especially for kids. A little girl will grab her red velvet swirly dress when the temperature is hitting 100 but if it is stored away it is out of sight, out of mind.
      • Regarding storing children’s clothes: It is better to store kids’ clothes by sizes or, if you only have one boy and one girl, you can store by gender. The miscellaneous box is the way that Tawra does it. She has a box and sometimes a shelf where she stores the new finds and then when that box gets full she sorts them into their proper sized boxes.At one point, Tawra had a large laundry room. She kept 3 large plastic storage containers in the laundry room by the washer and used one for each child. Then, the clothes could just be put into their bins as they were washed fresh from the garage sale.You could also keep a box or things stacked on a higher shelf in the child’s room. That way, when you put away the child’s regular clothes, you can lay the bigger size or garage sale find on the high shelf. Just try different ways and see what works best for you.Again, keep the number of clothes you save to a minimum. No little girl needs 10 summer dresses stored away. And unless you have your clothes and the space super well organized, it isn’t always best to store all of your 11 year old’s clothes for 10 years waiting for his one year old brother to grow up. Considering the fact that I can outfit a child for a whole season for $10 – $15 or less from garage sales, it really doesn’t pay to store these things that long, especially if I don’t have the space.

      There are a few exceptions, like a special heirloom item, an extra expensive piece of clothing, things like little boys’ expensive suits or a special something handmade by auntie or grandma.

      Be ruthless. If you need even more help dealing with laundry, organizing and cleaning, you might want to check out our How To Organize And Clean Your Home e-books, which include an entire e-book just dealing with clothes and laundry, which includes many more tips like this in it.

      -Jill

      [organizing]

    12. How Many Clothes Do I Need? Do You Really Need So Many?

      How Many Clothes Do I Need? Do You Really Need So Many?

      If you’re wondering, how many clothes do I need, this easy clothing list and organizing ideas will help you reduce clutter and reduce stress! If you keep a reasonable number of clothes you can do less laundry, have less of a mess and have a lot less stress in your life!

      If you're wondering, how many clothes do I need, this easy clothing list and organizing ideas will help you reduce clutter and reduce stress!

      Too Many Clothes? How Many Clothes Do You Really Need?

      One thing that costs many families a lot of extra money and causes lots of stress is having too many clothes, but many people never ask, how many clothes do I need? Besides the cost of buying more clothes than you need, storing clothes, caring for them and trying not to constantly trip over them can be overwhelming.

      When you have more clothes than you need, it takes longer to find something to wear because you have so many options. The laundry seems more daunting because you are more likely to wait until there is a huge pile to get to it. Storage spaces can easily fill up and if you are like many people, it is hard to ever sort through everything you have.

      Save yourself time and trouble – Make sure your wardrobe fits your needs!

      How Many Clothes Do I Need?

      If you’re wondering, “How many clothes do I need?” we’ve put together a general list of how many of each type of clothing we recommend. This is a general guideline and you may need to modify it depending on your own circumstances. When my granddaughter was born she had a stomach valve problem and we had to deal with non-stop throwing up. She needed 3-4 times as many sleepers as a normal baby and more burp rags than usual. Additionally, my daughter and I had to change our own clothes more frequently during this time so we had to adjust the clothes list to the circumstance.

      It takes just a couple of minutes when you are organizing your children’s clothes to really figure what they need. Do they wear 7 t-shirts a week and you wash t-shirts twice a week? Then 7 t-shirts should be more than plenty. If they wear 7 pairs of socks and underwear a week and you wash twice a week, 10 pairs of everything is more than plenty. Why put 15-20 pairs of clothes back into the drawer, especially if you don’t have a lot of room?

      Be sure to go through and weed out too small or worn-out clothes in your children’s drawers every couple of months. Children easily become frustrated trying to put their clothes away into drawers that are already full of clothing they have outgrown. Sometimes when this happens, they get in trouble for not putting everything away properly. Don’t make it too hard on your kids. There’s a scripture that says “do not provoke your children to anger”. This is one of those cases where parents do it all the time.

      Plan how many outfits each member of your family needs. Most families wash the laundry once a week or more. You don’t need 15 pairs of jeans for each child. Three or four pairs will work just fine. A newborn may need 10 pairs of pajamas since the newborn lives in them and spits up on them, but a 10 year old only needs three or four pairs.

      Here are a few guidelines to help you get started. As I said, feel free to adjust this to best fit your family. Hopefully, by following these guidelines you will be able to cut back on your clothes budget and get more use out of what you do have.

      Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers

      9-10 everyday outfits
      3-4 dressy church outfits
      3-4 casual dressy outfits
      4-5 pajamas
      2 pairs play shoes
      1 pair dress shoes
      1 pair casual nice shoes (optional)

      School Age

      (including teen boys– If your teens complain about the clothes, make them responsible for their own clothes, including paying for the extras that they want.)

      3-4 pairs of jeans or school pants
      7-9 school shirts
      1-2 pairs dress pants
      3-4 dress shirts
      1-2 casual dressy outfits
      2-3 pajamas
      1 pair school shoes
      1 pair casual shoes or 1 pair of shoes for dirty work
      1 pair dress shoes

      Women (stay at home)

      5-7 everyday comfortable attractive outfits
      1 outfit for dirty work such as painting
      4-5 casual dressy outfits (depending on your social life)
      4-5 dressy church outfits
      2 pairs of comfortable shoes (one for painting and one for wearing every day)
      2-3 pairs of casual dressy shoes like loafers
      4 pairs of dressy shoes for church (black, navy, white and tan pumps or flats)
      Adjust shoes for your wardrobe.

      Women (who work outside the house)

      7-9 work/dressy outfits
      5-7 casual outfits
      2-3 outfits for relaxing at home
      3-4 pairs of work shoes (depends on your work. Only 2 if you wear tennis shoes or similar shoes to work)
      3 pairs of casual shoes

      [dining]

      Men

      Without knowing a man’s weekly work schedule and exact type of work this list will have to be a little general. This is mostly based on only doing laundry once a week. If you wash the laundry more often, you can cut back on this list.

      If you work in an office with air conditioning you will need:

      2-3 pairs of “casual” dress pants like Dockers
      5 button down “casual” dress shirts
      2 pairs of jeans
      1 pair of grunge jeans
      1 pair of sweat pants
      3-5 t-shirts
      2 pairs of shorts
      1 pair of really nice dress pants
      1-2 ties
      1 pair each tennis shoes, casual dress shoes and dress shoes.
      Most men used to have 1 black suit but so many things are casual now that you might be able to get by without one. Once again, that depends on your lifestyle.

      If you need to dress in a suit and tie for work, you will need:

      2 neutral colored suits
      4-5 dress shirts
      3-4 ties.

      Make sure you can mix and match the ties and shirts and that they can go with both suits because you can get more variety that way.

      If you wear jeans to work, you can get by with 1-2 pairs of “casual” dress pants and 3-4 pairs of jeans.

      Of course, this is a general list to get you started and you can add take away where you need to. Men generally need more tops than women because – well how do I say this delicately?? Men tend to sweat and get their shirts dirtier than women. There’s an old joke about why this is true and also why men get ring around the collar more. It’s because God made Eve from Adam’s rib and He made Adam from dirt. : ) : )

      [organizing]

      Everyone needs these items if you have any kind of winter:

      1 winter coat
      1 dress coat
      1-2 pairs boots, short and long

      Remember, these are just the bare bones of a wardrobe. Add or subtract according to your needs. The main thing is to be ruthless. Most women wear only 20% of the clothes 80% of the time. Get rid of everything else! It is just clutter that takes up too much storage space and causes too much stress!

      You can get most children’s clothes at garage sales for a fraction of the new price. Be picky and only buy the few things you love. By spending one morning going to garage sales, I found all the clothes I needed for my 3 year old son. We usually receive enough clothing as Christmas gifts, but this year he didn’t get everything that he needed. I spent three hours and $5 buying everything from shirts to shoes. I got 10 shirts, 5 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of shoes and 4 pairs of pajamas. I saved myself $225. That is $75 an hour I “earned” by going to garage sales or 24 hours (3 days) less my husband would have had to work to buy the clothes.

      Linens

      Sheets – 2 sets per bed. You can get by with one set if you wash and put it back on the bed the same day.
      2 towels and washcloths per family member
      5-6 hand towels
      4-5 towels for guests
      10-12 dish rags
      10-12 dish towels
      10-12 kitchen hand towels
      Shoe box of small rags
      Small box of large rags
      Stack of old towels for large emergencies like the toilet overflowing

      These are minimum suggestions. Adjust according to your needs.

      Laundry and Children

      I am probably the only mom who would not allow my children to put their clothes away until they were older. Why? Because, by the time I had carefully washed, beautifully folded and ironed everything, I didn’t want it to be dumped, wadded, smashed and mooshed between the laundry room and my children’s bedrooms. It’s amazing what a husband and child can do to a clean pile of laundry!

      Even though I say that, children do need to be taught how to do laundry from beginning to end. From the age of four or five, I would have the kids help me fold wash rags and underwear. Once they succeeded in those things, we moved on to other things.

      As soon as they were tall enough, I had them help put clothes in the washer, then move them to the dryer to fluff and finally take them out of the dryer. Young children seem to love doing this, so let them.

      By the time they are old enough to start cooking simple things on the stove, they are old enough to start ironing with supervision — This is just as important for boys, too.

      Once kids reach high school, they should be able to take care of their own clothes from start to finish. Until I had them very well trained, I didn’t expect them to do the laundry alone. This wasn’t a bad thing. I enjoyed visiting and learning about their day while we folded clothes together or while I was ironing.

      Jill and Tawra

    13. How To Organize One Small Closet

      How To Organize One Small Closet

      If you need to know how to organize a small closet, these tips for organizing clothes and linens when you only have a small amount of closet space will help!

      If you need to know how to organize a small closet, these tips for organizing clothes and linens when you only have a small amount of closet space will help!

      How To Organize One Small Closet – Make One Small Closet Work

      Do you have any ideas for organizing clothes when the closet is too small in an apartment, but one cannot afford a larger apartment?

      -Virginia

      Virginia, I am in the same boat as you. One of my houses was a 750 square foot log cabin that came with no closets at all and it was tough to get the closet organized. The house I live in now has two small closets, both of which are 18 inches deep and four feet wide and I have no chest of drawers for clothes. That’s it. I have no linen closet for sheets, blankets, towels and only a small medicine cabinet in my bathroom.

      Here are some things I do or have done to organize a small closet and make it work better:

      • To organize the closet most efficiently, get rid of as much as you can and, after you do that, get rid of some more. I once read where someone had written that a good way to decide whether you should get rid of or keep something is to ask yourself, Would you like your boyfriend to see you in it? For some of us, that goes way too far back but, essentially, do you feel really good or beautiful when your wear it?
      • I have a shoe bag I hang on the back of my bedroom door and I only allow myself to keep as many shoes as will fit in it.
      • Keep seasonal clothes under the bed in narrow boxes. All my winter clothes go under the bed in the summer and vise versa.
      • Measure the amount of space you really need in the closet for your hanging clothes. I found that I only need eight inches for my long dresses and pants, which I hang by their cuffs on small wooden hangers.
      • I fitted a small open back shelf underneath where my tops hang. It has 4 shelves so I can get quite a few things on it. I store my t-shirts, pajamas, shorts and sweaters on it.
      • I have a long shelf going across the top of the closet. On it, I keep a small basket of belts, a hat box to hold all of my purses, my one set of extra sheets and then a couple of large totes at the end.
      • Don’t forget to use the inside of your closet door to hang things. I have a divider bag hanging on the inside of my closet door, which has my scarves and some jewelry on it. You can also put your underwear in one of these bags.
      • In one small closet I had, there were hooks across the back wall behind the clothes. I was able to hang things that I didn’t use often on those large hooks including some things on clothes hangers.
      • Find other places in the room to store things. For example, blankets can be stored under a bed or in between the mattress and box springs of a bed in the summer when they’re not being used. I have a tall skinny coat/hat rack I can put in one corner of my room to store my cuter purses scarves or necklaces.
      • Towel rods are great for organizing. Use them in the closet to hang scarfs, belts or put S-hooks on them to hang purses.
      • Go up. If you have room, buy a tall cabinet with doors to place in your room for storage instead of a chest of drawers. Because it is taller, it will hold so much more and I find the things easier to get to, too.
      • Keep it neat and organized. You really can get twice as much into any space if you fold and stack things neatly instead of smashing and stuffing.

      These are just a few of the things you can do to organize your small closet, but I hope this helps to get you started.

      -Jill

      [dining]

    14. How To Recover From Hoarding – Preparing To Get Organized

      How To Recover From Hoarding – Preparing To Get Organized

      It can be difficult to recover from hoarding because of the emotional reasons for hanging on to all your stuff. Try these tips for preparing to get organized.

      Struggling to let go of clutter? It can be difficult to recover from hoarding due to the emotional attachments we form with our belongings. Try these practical tips for preparing to get organized.

      How To Recover From Hoarding – Getting Organized

      Thank you so much for your blog! I have already learned some helpful hints. I am such a messy housekeeper, always procrastinating because it seems so overwhelming. I tell myself, “Oh, it’s too much to start today. I’ll do it when I have more time.” My parents are big hoarders who never part with anything so I never really learned how to keep a clean home. I do keep the dishes and clothes washed and I make sure things are sanitary.

      I just have too much stuff. I’m a pack rat. There is stuff everywhere in plastic containers and in drawers. I have enough clothing to dress all of the neighbor women for a couple of weeks each. This stuff is mine and I see a use for all of it. I just can’t bring myself to throw away any of it. I like it all!

      I really wish every space in my house wasn’t a collect-all. We don’t even get to sit at the table as a family. My husband complains, we hate to have unexpected family, we eat out because there is no space on the counter to cook, important papers get lost and we buy more stuff because so many things get misplaced. Everyone passes the blame on someone else. To top it all off, we live in a small ranch home with little closets.

      How will I ever overcome all of this hoarding? I want to live like the normal tidy person– Stuff is ruining MY LIFE. Can you give me any suggestions about where and how to start?

      It’s challenging to provide a precise answer with limited information, but I’ll do my best to guide you in the right direction. Since I’m addressing the entire group, some points may not apply to your specific situation, but I’m including them in case they’re helpful to others.

      How to Recover From Hoarding:

      1. If you’re dealing with hoarding tendencies, try approaching organization as a team effort. While hoarding often stems from one person’s challenges, it impacts the entire family—making it an issue everyone can help address. Consider holding a family meeting to discuss the situation and explore how everyone can contribute to creating positive, lasting change together.
      2. Address the emotions behind hoarding. When people do anything extreme, including hoarding, there are often unresolved emotions manifesting in the extreme behavior. Many people turn to “stuff” as a way to feel better, more secure, or more loved, but this approach can backfire. In some cases, there’s a history of serious emotional trauma, leading people to try to fix emotional pain with physical possessions. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work and often creates more problems. In your case, you have to go out to eat, can’t have people over, can’t find your bills and so on.

        If you came across a man dying of thirst in the desert you wouldn’t hurry over to him, give him a great big hug, tell him he is loved and expect that to fix his problem. His problem is a physical one – he needs water.

        People often have an empty emotional gap in their hearts and they think “stuff” will help fill that emotional gap. It just won’t work. You need to solve emotional problems with emotional solutions, just as physical or spiritual challenges require their own specific remedies. We often mix these up so take an honest look at your life and identify the real root of the problem.

        Sometimes people are angry or rebelling because their parents were too strict about keeping the house clean. For others, the issue may simply be overwhelm—feeling stuck and unsure of where to begin. Acknowledging what’s driving your clutter is the first step toward meaningful change.
      3. Our site is packed with detailed, step-by-step articles about how to get organized and clean and also how to tackle the overwhelming feelings, and find the motivation to start. I’ll include two helpful articles at the end of this post to get you started. Take an hour to read them, along with a few other recommended resources on our site—but don’t spend too much time just reading.

        It’s easy to fall into the trap of over-researching, which can create a false sense of progress while actually delaying action. Remember, reading is a starting point, not a substitute for taking real steps toward change. Stay focused, and don’t let preparation become procrastination! Be careful not to get caught in that trap.
      4. Consider asking a friend or family member who is naturally organized to help you tackle the clutter. Don’t be afraid to reach out—if you’re serious about getting organized, it’s important to set aside emotions like fear or embarrassment and focus on the task at hand.

        You might be surprised to find that many organized people genuinely enjoy helping others get organized. Speaking from experience, when I walk into a messy room, my fingers practically itch to start tidying up! It’s not about judgment—I just want to help. You may find others feel the same way, so take that first step and ask for support.
      5. Put on some comfortable clothes and some pleasant music and get started. After you have finished reading this article and the others you will hopefully be mentally and physically prepared to just get up and do it. You may want to spend a day getting yourself and the “troops” ready or you might clean off just one section today, like your kitchen table. The important thing is to get up and move.

      Getting Motivated

      There is more detail about this next point in the articles linked below but I will briefly mention it here. One thing that helps me get rid of things is to know that there are people out there who really really need the things I am just storing.

      I have been on the other side. When I had my second baby I only had one dress to wear and it wasn’t even a maternity dress. I had to wear a dress four or five times a week and it was embarrassing to have to wear the same thing over and over. I had a neighbor who decided to get rid of some of her stuff and she gave me a whole wardrobe full of clothes. It meant so much to me that I wanted to sit down and cry. This has happened to me many times over the years.

      Now I look at my closet full of clothes and, even though I do wear most of them, I ask myself, “Do I really really need that many clothes? Maybe someone else could use them more.” Even though we do wear that pair of black pants once every six months, do we really need to keep it when we have five other pairs of the same type?

      You mentioned that, as a result of your hoarding, you often eat out, lose important papers, and struggle with other issues that end up costing you money.

      Imagine how much of that wasted money you could save—and even use to help someone else—if things were more organized.

      I don’t mean to sound harsh, especially since it’s clear you’re really trying. But consider this: If a child was clutching an armful of toys in a room with another child who had nothing, what would you think if the first child said, “I want all of my stuff and I don’t care that the other child has nothing. I’m not going to share or give up my toys because they make me happy and feel good.” That might seem selfish, right? Yet, we often practice a grown up version of this without thinking about it.

      Sometimes, the little girl clinging to her toys might give away one toy — but the sad thing is she doesn’t realize that clinging to that many toys is not giving her the true happiness she thinks it is. While she is holding tightly to the armful, she can’t really play with any of them or enjoy them properly.

      She hasn’t learned that by sharing, giving and sacrificing she will step into a whole new world of joy and happiness that giving and sacrificing brings, not to mention the relief she will feel when she gets rid of the heavy burden that comes from carrying around and managing all of those things. How much easier is the little girl’s burden if she only has one toy to hold instead of juggling an armful.

      Many people who declutter say they didn’t realize how much of a burden their stuff had become until they let it go. They describe it as having a heavy weight lifted off their shoulders. You said it yourself—your stuff is overwhelming you. That’s not a good feeling.

      Now it’s time to get up and, with a little discipline and work, get it done. Do it in stages if that helps but get it done. Discipline and effort might seem hard at first, but ask yourself: Are they really harder than living with the overwhelm you’re feeling now?

      You can do this! You sound like you are now at the point where you really want to get it decluttered, organized and cleaned up — and that is half the battle! Read these articles for extra motivation, and before today ends, get up and at least clean off your kitchen table.

      A Most Wonderful Treasure – This is more of a motivational article you might want to read first.

      The Basics of Organizing

      How To Start Organizing

      For lots of helpful tips to make organizing, cleaning and laundry easier, go get our How To Organize And Clean Your Home e-books now!

    15. Clean and Organize in Five Minutes!

      Clean and Organize in Five Minutes!

      Using these tips, you can clean and organize your house 5 minutes at a time! You’ll be surprised how much you can get done during time you already have!

      Using these tips, you can clean and organize your house 5 minutes at a time! You'll be surprised how much you can get done during time you already have!

      Clean and Organize in Five Minutes!

      I have always dreaded cleaning and organizing. I was not born organized so I have really had to train myself to do it. Often, my problem staying organized is that I think so much about the thing that needs to be done that I begin to dread it. Here are a few tips I used to change my attitude about the things I dreaded:

      Time yourself to see how long it takes to do a chore.

      • Two days ago I cleaned the fridge. It took me two minutes to clean off one shelf. After a child meltdown, I came back and finished. It took me 10 minutes to clean the entire refrigerator and that included three minutes cleaning up a mess from my two year old “helping” by dumping something on the floor.
      • I used to hate to make the bed. Then I timed myself. It takes me exactly 1 minute. Now that I know that, it doesn’t seem difficult at all.
      • It took me five minutes to clean out my “plasticware” shelf.
      • To clean the bathroom sink and toilet took me just five minutes, including wiping down the floor. Cleaning the tub (removing the contents and cleaning) took another 5 minutes, so it took only ten minutes to clean the entire bathroom!

      It really doesn’t take as long as you might think to get cleaned and organized. When you realize it only takes one minute or five minutes or ten minutes to do something, the task doesn’t seem so bad!

       

      Do one thing for five minutes and see how far you can get.

      Identify the thing that is bugging you the most and do it first!

      Often, we have lots of little things that need to be cleaned, repaired or organized, but we don’t want to deal with them right now. Sometimes it pays to just make the time rather than to keep putting it off.

      cleaning and organizing

      Our front door is mostly glass and the fingerprints on the front door were driving me crazy! While David was eating, instead of doing the dishes, I ran over and wiped down the door. (It took 3 minutes.) It has been bugging me for days. As soon as I took the three minutes to do it, it was off my mind and I could go on and do the dishes.

      I have always dreaded unloading the dishwasher. One day, I timed myself and it takes only three minutes for me to unload the entire thing. Keeping that in mind, it doesn’t seem so bad.

      Mike wanted to change the door knob on our front door. It didn’t work correctly and we kept getting locked out. He bought a new door knob, but he was in the middle of another project and didn’t change it right away. One day, after sidestepping it for a while, he decided to stop everything else and change it. It took five minutes. He said if he had known that’s all the time it would take, he never would have waited so long to do it.

      Most of the time we spend more time thinking about these things than just taking the time to do it and get it over with! Now walk away from the computer and take care of that thing that is bothering you! ;-)

      -Tawra

      For more easy cleaning tips to make your life easier, take a look at our How To Organize And Clean Your Home e-books.

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    16. Easy Spring Cleaning To Do Lists And Schedules

      Easy Spring Cleaning To Do Lists And Schedules

      These easy spring cleaning ideas, along with free printable to-do lists and schedules help you get organized and make your daily routine more efficient!

      Easy spring cleaning ideas and free printable to-do lists and schedules help you get organized and make your daily routine more efficient!

      Easy Spring Cleaning To Do Lists And Schedules

      Over the years, we’ve received countless emails asking for advice on to-do lists, cleaning schedules, day planners, and getting organized. That’s why we created our e-book, How To Get Organized: Plan It, Then Do It! —a comprehensive guide that covers everything under the sun to help you stay on track.

      This post features a brief excerpt from the e-book, along with a bonus: free printable spring cleaning to-do lists and schedules you can download at the end.

      How To Get Organized

      I used to struggle with scheduling—sometimes I couldn’t even plan an hour ahead, let alone a day, week, or month in advance. Like many of you, I tried everything, but nothing seemed to stick—until I discovered a few key strategies that made all the difference.

      Here are some examples of what worked for me—and what didn’t.

      1. I made my own plan. It wasn’t perfect at first, but I kept tweaking it over the years and now it works great for me. Figure out what, when, and where works best for you and then do it.

        For example, Monday is the best day for me to clean and pull the house together after a busy weekend. Tuesday and Thursday are my “appointments and running around” days. Wednesday is odd jobs and catch up day, and so on.
      2. Before I go to bed each night, I look at my calendar and see if I have any appointments for the next day.Then I open my little notebook (We include examples of my notebook in the e-book) and write down the five or six things I either need to do or really want to get done the next day, other than my normal activities (making breakfast, washing dishes, doing laundry).
      1. Work the schedule. The issue often isn’t the schedule itself—it’s actually using it. The same goes for meal plans. Many women say, “I need help making a menu,” but think about it, how hard is it, really, to write down a list of four or five foods to eat? It’s not. The real challenge is that we don’t want to do what goes along with the menu – going grocery shopping, putting the food away, cooking the food and cleaning up afterwards. These tasks can feel overwhelming and create mental blocks around meal planning. The same kind of resistance can show up when it comes to sticking to a schedule.

        Often, once we write something down, we feel guilty for not doing it. It’s easier to say, “I don’t know how to do it,” or, “I tried, but it didn’t work.” By doing that, we are not really giving ourselves a fair chance at making a schedule work.

        Have you ever told a child to complete a task only to hear the child say, “But I don’t know how!” even though you have shown him 100 times how to do it. What he is really saying is, “I don’t want to do it.” We do the exact same thing when it comes to schedules.

        The truth is, the hard part isn’t making a schedule or writing out a menu—it’s doing the tasks we’ve written down. Recognizing this is the first step to overcoming the resistance and making real progress.
      2. I don’t write everything down. I have a problem with schedules that say, “On the third Monday of each month, wipe the fingerprints off the walls.” First, I don’t want to have to look at those dirty fingerprints for a month while waiting for it to show up on the cleaning schedule. And next month I may have no fingerprints at all, so what do I do with my day then?

        For the amount of time I spent telling myself why I couldn’t do something, or for the time I took to write it on a schedule, I could have quickly cleaned and gotten it done. This is especially true with small daily tasks. Time yourself. Most things take very little time. In the amount of time it takes for me to think and write down, “I need to clean off those fingerprints,” I can have it done.
      3. I discovered I didn’t need a schedule for most things. I don’t really need to write down on my schedule to:

        Everyone knows they can’t walk around naked all day and since I love my food there is no way I would forget to eat breakfast, so why write it down? I do realize that when you first attempt scheduling, you may have to write down the order in which you want to do things. I’m merely warning you not to over-complicate things. Don’t allow your schedule to become a crutch.(I also know the “get dressed” is for those of you who would stay in your pj’s all day, but that’s a whole different book!)


      4. Try different things. My poor daughter has struggled like I did trying to find a plan she could follow. Some friends suggested she vacuum the whole house on Monday, dust on Tuesday, etc. but it just wasn’t working for her. She finally figured out that what works best for her is to pick one room or two small rooms and clean one room really well each day of the week. Of course, she does the usual “daily things” like dishes, laundry, and making the beds, but she adds one room for each day. It isn’t as overwhelming to her.

      These tips just scratch the surface of what is in our How To Organize And Clean Your Home e-books. The e-books include charts and schedules for those who love them and alternative suggestions for those who hate them. Hopefully, no matter who you are, it will help you to get one step closer to getting things under control.

      -Jill

      [organizing]

      Here are some free printable spring cleaning to do lists and schedules you can download and use:

      Free Printable Spring Cleaning To Do Lists And Schedules

      Easy spring cleaning ideas and free printable to-do lists and schedules help you get organized and make your daily routine more efficient!

       

    17. Get Organized Now! Motivation And Practical Tips To Get Organized!

      Get Organized Now! Motivation And Practical Tips To Get Organized!

      Here’s some motivation to help you get organized now including a look at how getting organized today will dramatically improve your life and tips to organize better!

      Motivation to help you get organized now including how organizing will dramatically improve your life and practical tips to get organized!

      Get Organized Now! Why It’s Important to Get Organized

      I’m not sure if it is because I’m taking down the now very dusty and sad looking Christmas decorations or because it is the beginning of a new year when we all want a fresh start, but I always get the urge to clean and get organized in January. I love to get organized. Just ask my kids. As a matter of fact, I drive them crazy trying to organize everything. That’s a mother’s job isn’t it? (Not to organize but to drive your children crazy. HA!HA!)

      I have even started writing a book on how to get organized but, ironically enough, I can’t seem to finish it because I can’t get the material “organized” :-). Well, I guess you win some and you lose some. (Update: We did finish part of it here. :-)

      At this point you are probably wondering what organizing has to do with saving money. Lots. Being disorganized is not just frustrating, but expensive.

      Hopefully you have read my article, Dirty Dishes Cause Debt. So often we go out to eat because our kitchens are such messes it is impossible to cook in them. Keeping in mind that going out to eat is one of the leading causes of debt, you can see how just having a clean organized kitchen can help save a lot of money.

      Have you had to pay a late fee on a bill because it was buried under a pile of papers and you didn’t find it until 2 weeks after the due date? How often do you have to pay fines on your taxes because your paperwork is so disorganized? Are fines on those late or lost library books adding up? Have you bought something very expensive and used it once, only to have it break, but you couldn’t find the receipt to return it?

      I frequently hear people say they have to buy a larger house because they need more room. Big expense. But often it isn’t a bigger home that they need. They need to organize what they have and get rid of some stuff.

      I could make a list a mile long explaining why it pays to get organized, but I think you are getting my point.

      I know you are dying to get to the part that says “101 easy steps to getting organized,” and it is coming later in this article. For many of us, it isn’t so much that we don’t know how to get organized, but that we are discouraged or can’t seem to get motivated to start. Knowledge is worth absolutely nothing if you don’t use it. I can tell you 101 ways to get organized but if you don’t get up and do it, it will have been a waste of my time and yours. So here are some things for you to think about and hopefully help motivate you to get started.

      Getting Organized Is Important For You And Your Family

      One of my pet peeves is how little importance we put on our homes and taking care of them and our family compared to how much importance we put on the outside world. We get all up in arms about air pollution, yet most homes have more polluted air inside them than the air outside.

      What causes the air pollution in most homes? The garlic, onions or fish stuck on the dirty dishes piled in your sink and all over your counters. If the dishes have been there several days, there’s probably mold in the water, too. Then there’s the mold growing in those towels that are piled on the bathroom floor and, by the way, could all that stuff on a dirty toilet be making the house smell bad? Did I mention the dirty laundry piled everywhere, the neglected cat box and the piles of smelly diapers that haven’t made it to the trash can?

      Most of us wouldn’t dream of throwing our trash out the car window. When we buy a home, one of the first things we look for is a nice, well kept neighborhood. But all too often, we think nothing of leaving empty food wrappers, pop cans, and assorted papers everywhere at home. Many of us also leave piles of old newspapers and magazines laying around from one end of the house to the other.

      We worry so much about recycling to spare our landfills (we used to call them “dumps” but I guess to be politically correct I have to call it a landfill). I think one woman I knew, decided to make her home a landfill to save the city’s landfill. She was very excited about recycling but had no place to save anything, so she just “dumped” it on her kitchen and dining room floors. She had no less than twenty milk jugs and piles of empty cans and cereal boxes thrown on the floor.

      Before we start puffing up our chests with pride because we aren’t that bad, consider how many of us have trash cans full and running over or desks and tables piled with junk mail and magazines that should be thrown out? There are times I stand guilty as charged, too, I’m afraid.

      We protest and carry on about how we are destroying the environment that we will be passing on to our children and grandchildren, but what about our children’s present environment? I’m not saying that we shouldn’t think about their future but, like so many things, we get lopsided and unbalanced in our thinking. It is so much easier to think about the future than to deal with the reality of the present.

      We get overly involved in church, community and things outside of our homes because they provide great excuses for not taking care of our main responsibility — the care of our families and homes. Have you ever noticed how, if you ask your child to do something, he moans and groans and makes all kinds of excuses, but if a neighbor or a friend asks him to do the same job he willingly does it? Adults are guilty of this, too. It is so much easier to do things for “others” and for what the world considers a “noble” cause than it is to do things for our own families. We need to get serious about making our family’s well being at home our top priority.

      Often, we hear how our children are under so much more stress than earlier generations. I don’t totally agree with that but I do know that every generation of children has its own different kinds of stress. Ask yourself this: Is your home adding to or taking away from that stress? Is your home one of order and peace? Are you keeping it as orderly and clean as the environment outside? People get angry at the president because there isn’t world peace, but how can you expect there to be peace in the world if your own family is living in conflict and chaos all the time.

      Once again, we have the cart before the horse. Instead of concentrating on teaching our children so much about the environment and world peace, we should work harder at giving them a loving, orderly and peaceful home to grow up in. Home is still a child’s main world. If a child is raised in this type of atmosphere, he will have a better chance of growing up to be an unselfish, loving and responsible adult who will naturally be concerned for the world outside of his home, too. Children can much more easily deal with what happens in their outside world if they have comfort and peace at home.

      Kids get frustrated when they can’t find their coats or shoes and mom or dad keep yelling at them, “Hurry up we’re going to be late.” Then, when you are late, they feel guilty. They get frustrated and overwhelmed when mom says, “Go in and clean your room.” Like you, they don’t know where to begin. To make matters worse, they have been allowed to have mounds and mounds of toys and clothes — so many, in fact, that mom doesn’t have a clue what to do with them all, but expects the kids to know.

      To add to their confusion even more, they are told to pick up after themselves as they watch mom and dad leave their own shoes laying in the living room where they took them off, along with empty pop cans, dirty dishes, and magazines. The kids are told to clean up the mess they left in the kitchen when, right next to it, are the things dad left out when he fixed his sandwich and the pile of un-rinsed dirty dishes mom left on the counter.

      Is it any wonder that so many kids are so full of anger and frustration? They have nowhere orderly, peaceful and comfortable to go. Kids love order in their lives. It gives them a sense of security. We can’t always have control over the world outside of our homes, but we can make their lives easier by giving them positive environments inside our homes.

      One time when my daughter moved, we really got to see how getting organized can make life a lot more pleasant. Moving, in and of itself, is a chaotic mess but, to add to the chaos, their septic system failed the week they moved in. We are talking major chaos. I thought we were never going to get organized. Finally one day, trying as hard as we could, we got the living room pulled together. We were able to get the pictures hung, the furniture arranged and some knick knacks in place. When the grandkids came home from school that day they were in awe. With a sparkle in her eye, my granddaughter said, “Oh mom! It’s sooooo beautiful!”

      [organizing]

      You can do it!

      Don’t panic and get overwhelmed or discouraged. I don’t expect you to be Martha Stewart. I heard about a woman once who read an article on how to be a good homemaker. After reading it, she decided the best thing she could for her family was to put them up for adoption. HA!HA!

      Don’t get extreme and think that if your house is not spotlessly clean 24/7 that your children will grow up to be total failures as adults. I’m just saying be careful not to make your home and the care of your family a low priority on your list. Don’t be too hard on yourself. There is a season for everything. If you are ill, if you have a new baby or 4 children under the age of 5, if you have a child or spouse that is ill or if you are in the middle of moving, your housekeeping standards cannot be as high as say a woman who lives alone with no children. Be kind to yourself and set up reasonable standards but do your best to get organized.

      Anytime you try to improve yourself there is the chance that, at first, it will not come easy and you will be tempted to throw up your hands and quit. Do the best that you can and press onward. Even if you can only do one of the things I suggest at the beginning, that is fine. Do what you can, improving slowly if you need to. Just be careful that you don’t allow yourself to use different excuses to keep from doing it.

      You may be tempted to say, “I’m just too busy to get organized. Moms are so much busier now than years ago with working and such.” Don’t even go there. Years ago most moms had to work in the fields or factories for 12 hours a day 6-7 days a week with no paid vacations or holidays. Then they had to come home, do the laundry with no washer and dryer, prepare 3 meals a day from scratch and clean and sew most of their family’s clothes.

      Being too busy for your family is never an excuse. You are in control of your schedule. You can say no to all those extra kids activities or to the extra things that others ask you to do. Just say no. In the same way that you expect your kids to just say no to drugs, you also need to refuse to give in to peer pressure. Just say no when others ask you to do something that you know you don’t have time for.

      One of the main excuses we use for not getting organized is we don’t know where to start. We can become so overwhelmed that it can actually paralyze us mentally so that we can’t figure out what to do. I was at that point myself the day after Christmas this year. Boy did I have a mess, plus my CFS was really bad. I was caught in a vicious cycle. I was too sick to clean, but sitting in a mess was making me worse.

      Finally, I decided I needed to practice what I preached and, using sheer grit, I made up my mind to clean off just my fireplace mantle. While I was doing that, I noticed some other things in other areas that I didn’t want to forget to box up, so I started gathering those things together. Then I figured I might as well bring in the boxes for the things I had just gathered. One thing led to another and before I knew it I had cleared most of my living room.

      Hopefully this has given you the motivation to get organized and cleaned. Next, I’ll give you some specific tips to make your cleaning and organizing efficient and painless!

      -Jill

      Read Get Organized Part 2
      Tips to Make Organizing Easier