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?
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.
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.
This easy pound cake recipe is a quick and easy way to make a classic pound cake at home! It makes a perfect snack as-is or topped with strawberries, whipped cream or vanilla glaze! This pound cake is so delicious and moist, you will wonder why you ever bought it at the store!
The Best Easy Pound Cake Recipe – Moist, Buttery & Delicious!
This easy pound cake recipe is the perfect way to make a classic, homemade pound cake with minimal effort! It’s rich, buttery, and incredibly moist, making it a go-to treat for any occasion. Serve it as-is for a simple, delicious snack, or top it with fresh strawberries, whipped cream, or a drizzle of vanilla glaze for an extra special dessert. Once you try this quick and easy pound cake recipe, you’ll never want store-bought again!
This pound cake recipe makes a tasty and moist cake with just a hint of vanilla.
Why Is It Called Pound Cake?
The traditional pound cake recipe got its name because it originally called for one pound each of butter, flour, and sugar. This recipe makes the same rich, moist and delicious cake that makes pound cake a timeless favorite, just not as much of it!
Serving Ideas for This Quick and Easy Pound Cake Recipe
One of the best things about this easy pound cake recipe is its versatility! Here are some delicious ways to enjoy it:
Keep some pound cake pre-sliced and ready to grab for a quick snack. It makes the perfect snack for kids after school.
Serve it plain with a hot cup of coffee or tea.
Top with fresh strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries for a refreshing twist.
Add a dollop of whipped cream for extra indulgence.
Drizzle with a simple homemade vanilla glaze for a sweet finishing touch.
Toast a slice and spread with butter or jam for a delicious breakfast treat.
How to Keep Pound Cake Moist
The key to a perfectly moist pound cake recipe is to avoid overbaking. Here’s how to keep your cake soft and fresh:
Bake just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Wrap the cooled cake tightly in plastic wrap or store it in an airtight container.
If storing for more than a couple of days, refrigerate it to extend freshness.
Need a Gluten-Free Option?
If you’re looking for a gluten-free version, check out our gluten-free pound cake recipe here! It has the same rich, buttery flavor without the gluten.
With this quick and easy pound cake recipe, you’ll have a bakery-quality cake ready in no time. Whether you enjoy it plain or dressed up with toppings, this classic dessert is always a hit!
This easy pound cake recipe is from volume 1 of our cookbook:
Starting seeds indoors is a great way to start your garden plants early so you get the longest time possible in the growing season. I have lived in a number of cool climates and I have been able to add weeks or months to the growing time.
For food crops like tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, this means the plants will be mature enough to produce food closer to the beginning of the season. You will get a lot more food in one season if you can start the plants early and then transplant them when the weather is suitable for planting outside.
Starting seeds indoors is not rocket science so don’t be afraid of it. You will need enough containers to start your seeds, potting soil and whatever seeds you want to start.
Containers for Starting Seeds Indoors
I prefer using deli containers with clear plastic lids to start seeds because you can make what is essentially a small greenhouse. This will help the seeds to sprout faster and give them more even growing conditions so they are more likely to survive.
You can plant the seeds directly in the deli containers or if you would like them to be more organized, you can plant the seeds in individual containers that can fit into the deli containers. I like to use dixie cups because they’re the perfect size, they are cheap and they are easy to manage.
The Best Potting Soil for Starting Seeds Indoors
Potting soil from the store works best for starting seeds indoors since it is sterilized and it won’t have bacteria and fungus that can contaminate your seedlings.
Any soil that has not been treated with a chemical herbicide would probably work, but if it is contaminated with something like a bacteria or fungus, it might kill your seedlings before they mature, so I personally always use potting soil from the store. That way I don’t waste all the effort to end up with dead plants.
To Plant The Seeds
If you’re using dixie cups, fill the dixie cups with soil. Put in a couple of seeds and pat down the soil gently so they are slightly covered with soil. Water. Continue doing this until all of the seeds have been planted in the dixie cups. Then place the cups into the deli container.
Put the top on the deli container and you will have a mini-greenhouse. This provides a nice environment for little seedlings with a more even temperature and humidity. As long as you see condensation, you don’t have to water them. If they dry out and you no longer see the condensation, it’s time to water.
Place the container in or near a window where the plants can get sun and check on it every day.
As soon as you see little green sprouts, take the top off the mini-greenhouse and watch carefully to make sure they don’t dry out. Check the soil every day by sticking your finger in it. If it is dry, add a little bit of water. Don’t water the little plants too much or the roots will rot.
I place my seedlings on a bread rack by the window. If some of them are shaded, I move them around to make sure they all get plenty of sunlight.
If you don’t have dixie cups for starting seeds indoors, you can just plant the garden seeds directly in a deli container. I usually just fill the deli container with soil and sprinkle a few seeds into it. For larger deli containers, use more seeds and for smaller containers, use fewer. You don’t have to be too precise about this.
All of the seeds may not sprout, especially if the seed packet is older, so keep that in mind as you are deciding how many to plant.
Even though I like to use them, you don’t actually have to use a deli container when starting seeds indoors. You can use any kind of open container, but the deli container makes the seedlings sprout quicker because it is like a little greenhouse. If you use an open container, you will need to check more frequently to make sure the soil is not dry and you will want to be a little more careful that the location where you place the seeds has a consistent temperature and is not too cool.
When I’m starting seeds indoors, I like to put them in containers and then stage them on a bread rack by the window, where they can get plenty of sunlight.
When To Plant The Seeds Outdoors
Plants should have 8-10 sets of leaves before transplanting into the ground. If the plants are big enough to go into the ground, but it is still too cool to plant them outside, they can stay in the pot longer. Just keep checking the soil and watering as necessary.
Frost will kill plants, so be sure not to plant them until you are past the last frost for your area. Google the last frost date for your area. If you do plant them outside and discover there will possibly be frost one night, cover each plant with a milk jug or put a lightweight sheet or blanket over the top of them. make sure the covering is lightweight enough not to break the plant.
If there is frost, but it is not too cool, this will protect the plants. If there is a hard freeze, the plants will die even if covered, so be sure to wait to plant them until the last frost date in your area.
Here you can see how I went through this process in the past and then after that, you’ll find a video and some helpful tips for starting seeds indoors!
Starting Seeds Indoors With My Son
(Here is my step by step process starting seeds indoors with my son that I originally posted on my old blog in March 2008.)
We started planting seeds for the garden the other day. I like to start my seeds indoors so that I have plants that are ready to go as soon as the garden season starts.
I used an old cake pan to set the little cups in. I put a piece of cardboard down so the cups wouldn’t tip over on the grooves.
Since we had recently moved, I didn’t have a huge collection of covered deli trays like I usually use for starting seeds, so I bought some little Dixie type cups. It cost $2 for 100 cups so it wasn’t a bad deal. I punched a hole in the bottom of each cup to give drainage for the plants.
Note the ice pick sticking up out of the top of the cups. I put a bunch together and just jammed it down through about ten of them all at once to punch the holes.
I planted things like tomatoes in the Dixie cups. That way I don’t have to move them to larger containers before I put them in the ground in my garden.
I put the rest of the plants in the ten or so deli trays I did have. My lettuce is already up and ready to go outside! Yeah! At $1.39 for a head of lettuce, I’m happy about that!
I forced myself to sit up and get it done even though starting seeds was the last thing I wanted to do that day. I’m glad I did it because now I have some great starts going and my garden is going to be happy!
Happy Planting! -Tawra
Here’s a video we made showing an easy way to recycle using free containers for starting seeds indoors!
Here are 5 easy ways to start seeds for your garden that will help you save money and have fun gardening. Our readers weigh in with their tips!
Here are some of our readers tips on starting seeds…
Egg Carton Starters For Starting Seeds Indoors
I save money at the beginning of the year by seeding a lot of my plants and veggies in clean egg cartons, which I save during the winter season. I also place a pin through each egg placement for drainage when watering. When ready to transplant, you just pop them out of the carton with a spoon and place in the ground. Works terrific!
I also save coffee cans to cover fragile young veggies in the spring in case of a freeze which could kill them! Hope this helps! Thanks, S. Hendrick
Warm Spot for Seedlings
When you’re starting seeds indoors for your garden, place the trays on top of the refrigerator. That nice even warmth will help them germinate. When they’re about 1″ tall, move them to a sunny spot. Louise Reilly Sacco, www.FrugalYankee.com
Note from Tawra: I do this all the time and it works great.
Grocery Store Seed Starting
I buy a vegetable at the store and plant the seeds. I have so many papaya plants from one fruit. I am now taking the seeds and roasting them and then grinding them into a “pepper” for salad dressing.
I cut the eyes off of a few potatoes. I took large old plastic pots and put a shallow layer of soil and the eye cuttings into the pots. As the plants grow, I keep adding soil. This makes the plants stronger and grows more potatoes, and all for free.
I took cloves of garlic, broke them apart, and have lots of new garlic plants growing, also almost free.
Cuttings of tomato plants grow very well. I dig a small ditch and lay the stem into the ditch, leaving only a few leaves exposed. The roots develop rapidly, and new plants grow. I do not buy seeds or plants: I simply dry the seeds from a few tomatoes, and then plant them. The same goes for peppers!
I bought coriander seeds at the spice section of a grocery store, and I sowed them, a few at a time. Much cheaper than buying seeds, and the plants are wonderful.
I love ginger, and I did not know what it would do, so I bought a few roots at the grocery store. I now have about 12 ginger plants. They have not flowered yet, nor do I know how the roots will taste, but at about 40 cents, I am having fun watching them grow, and I am very hopeful.
I bought some dried beans in the grocery store, and ended up with wonderful bean plants around my fence, and a whole lot more dried beans, and the ones I cooked were delicious.
I also have about 15 banana plants that came from one small plant someone gave me. I freeze the peeled bananas, and eat them year round.
I grow all kinds of spices and herbs, and some of these reseed themselves. I divide my plants at the roots to make new plants. This works especially well for my lemon grass and tarragon.
My gardening area is rather small, at most 400 square feet total. I sure do love eating the fruit from it. I tried Nasturtium this year, and the flowers are plentiful and delicious along with my mesclun salad plants.
Oh, I live in Miami, Florida, Dade County. We have extreme heat and dry spells, along with rainy seasons.
Rosemarie Bailey
Landscape Fabric
I loved your gardening tips, especially using milk jugs as greenhouses for young plants that prefer to be warm, and the ideas for kids.
My vegetable garden tip is to lay down landscaping fabric and then plant. I start my own seeds so this tip is easy to use, I just cut an ‘X’ in the fabric but it could be used for direct planting of seeds too. Using landscape fabric saves me from having to weed, which I dislike, especially in the middle of summer when everything seems to be growing green and fast.
And since it doesn’t break down, you can use the fabric for years. -Paige
Note from Tawra: You can find landscape fabric for really cheap at yard sales. I got some free landscape fabric from a rebate at Ace. I have to say this stuff has changed my life! I used to use newspaper but now if the soil is good I will use landscape fabric instead. It is much easier to handle than blowing newspapers all over Kansas! hehehe
If you can’t find landscape fabric for cheap then just use newspapers. I would wet them, lay them down and then put mulch on top. You only need to wet them if it’s windy out.
Cheap Way Of Starting Seeds Indoors
Hi Tawra!
I have a frugal gardening tip for you to use or pass along. I came across an easy, cheap and reliable method of starting seeds indoors, called winter sowing. It involves recycling milk cartons or other containers and using them as starting containers and mini-greenhouses for your seeds.
-Sara R.
Note from Tawra: This is the way I sow my seeds. I use all the deli contains, pie containers, milk cartons and other similar containers that I can find for starting seeds indoors.
This easy chocolate lava cake recipe is a chocolately sweet treat that your family will LOVE! If you have been missing your favorite desserts, this chocolate lava cake recipe is gluten free that actually tastes GREAT!
Easy Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe – Gluten Free!
This chocolate lava cake recipe is a tasty dairy free and gluten free hot fudge cake that is quick and easy to make! It tastes so good even our family who do not need to be gluten free love it!
All of us love this gluten free chocolate lava cake recipe! It’s usually gone within about 10 minutes after it’s made because the kids love it so much. You can serve it with whipped cream or ice cream on top. There’s no need for chocolate sauce since it makes its own!
This is sometimes called molten lava cake or hot fudge cake. I usually make it in a square casserole dish, but you can also make it in a single serving mug or as a crockpot lava cake!
The mixture of rich tasty cake with the yummy decadent fudge sauce makes it the perfect sweet treat when you’re having a chocolate attack!
This chocolate lava cake is so easy to make that our older kids sometimes make their own. It’s easy to adapt if you want to make it in a mug in the microwave or a crockpot!
This rich, moist Double Chocolate Cake is the best chocolate cake recipe you’ll ever try—made with a genius 1940s twist! It uses mayo instead of eggs for the softest, fudgiest texture, and the old-fashioned chocolate frosting takes it over the top. Perfect for chocolate lovers and incredibly easy to make! With just 5 minutes prep time and then baking, you can be enjoying it in under an hour!
The BEST Chocolate Cake Recipes!
This rich and moist Double Chocolate Cake recipe is truly the BEST chocolate cake recipe—and it comes with a surprising (and genius) twist! Adapted from a clever 1940s wartime recipe, this cake uses mayonnaise instead of eggs, creating an incredibly soft and delicious texture that chocolate lovers will go crazy for. Back during World War II, when ingredients like eggs were hard to come by, home cooks got creative—and this cake is one of those brilliant solutions that’s stood the test of time.
With just a few pantry staples and a few minutes of mixing, you’ll have a decadent chocolate cake that’s perfect for birthdays, potlucks, or anytime you need a quick dessert. Topped with a rich, old-fashioned chocolate frosting that soaks into the cake, every bite is pure chocolatey bliss. If you’ve never tried mayonnaise in cake before, don’t worry—you’d never guess it’s in there. All you’ll taste is moist, fudgy, homemade goodness!
These chocolate cake recipes are from Volume 1 of our cookbook:
(The first recipe is called Sinful Double Chocolate Cake in the book.)
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This chocolate oatmeal cake recipe is one of the BEST chocolate cake recipes! It makes a rich and delicious chocolate cake your chocolate lovers are sure to love! You can find this recipe in volume 1 of our cookbook.
Here are some of our favorite Valentine’s Day candy recipes and other tasty treats! Most of these recipes take just a few minutes to make and they are all sure to add that special romantic touch for your Valentine!
10 Easy Valentine’s Day Candy Recipes And Tasty Treats
Our number one treat for virtually any holiday is candy. Here are some of our favorite Valentine’s Day candy recipes along with a few other tasty Valentine’s Day treats. Most of these Valentine’s Day candy recipes take just a few minutes to make, so you’ll have plenty of time to smooch with your honey! ;-)
This easy 2 ingredient fudge recipe is one of my favorite Valentine’s Day candy recipes! OK, it’s one of my favorite recipes for ANY holiday! Nothing says I love you like rich, decadent chocolate and this fudge is super easy to make with only 2 ingredients and just a few minutes preparation!
This easy chocolate covered pretzels recipe makes a wonderful salty and sweet Valentine’s Day treat for the special Valentines in your life! You can use white, milk or dark chocolate and sprinkle with Valentine colored candy sprinkles! This recipe is a great way to get candy shop quality, starting with just 2 ingredients!
This easy strawberry mousse recipe makes a super yummy and creamy strawberry flavored mousse! Light and fluffy, it’s perfect served as-is, but if you like you can top with more whipped cream or swirl it together with the chocolate mousse recipe below!
This sugar cookies recipe makes the very best Valentine’s Day cookies! If your Valentine has a particular love for cookies, this easy Valentine’s Day recipe is perfect! Cut into heart shapes, frost with your choice of red, white and pink frosting and be creative with your patterns!
This easy chocolate mousse recipe makes a super yummy and creamy mousse dessert perfect for any chocolate lover! Light and fluffy, it’s perfect served as-is, but if you like you can top with more whipped cream or swirl it together with the strawberry mousse recipe above! Get this and more Valentine’s Day candy recipes and treats here!
This chocolate covered strawberries recipe is one of those easy Valentine’s Day candy recipes virtually everyone loves! This recipe makes a professional quality Valentine’s treat just like the chocolate dipped strawberries at the expensive candy shops, but for a lot less!
Dip in white chocolate, milk chocolate or dark chocolate or a combination of your favorite ones! If you like, you can add red food coloring to some white chocolate to make red or pink chocolate and pipe it onto the dipped strawberries for more creative patterns!
This chocolate covered strawberry hot chocolate is an easy but delicious variation on hot chocolate perfect for Valentine’s Day! Top with colored marshmallows or the pink heart marshmallows for a sweet and warm Valentine’s Day treat!
These chocolate cherry truffles are one of my husband’s favorite Valentine’s Day candy recipes! Starting with tasty chocolate and cherry flavors, you can modify this recipe to suit your own taste! You can roll the truffles in coconut, sprinkles, powdered sugar or dip in melted chocolate for a firmer outer shell!
This raspberry cake recipe makes a light and fluffy cake style dessert with a delicious raspberry flavor and the perfect colors for Valentine’s Day!
This easy gumdrops recipe makes tasty homemade jelly candies in your choice of flavors!
For more easy recipes like these Valentine’s Day candy recipes, check out the candy chapters in our cookbooks:
Would you like to have a nice Valentine’s Day Dinner without blowing your budget? This delectable gourmet Valentine’s Day dinner for two costs just $6!
$6 Gourmet Valentine’s Day Dinner for Two – Recipes and Meal Plan!
Going out to eat costs a lot and we try to give people other options besides eating out. Valentine’s Day is one occasion when it is nice to go out with your sweetie (and okay if you can afford it) but if you are serious about getting out of debt, don’t feel like going out or just plain don’t have the money, you can still have a special dinner at home. Here are some tips and a menu to give you some ideas.
You can add a little romantic ambiance with a nice place setting. Fancy napkins, tapered candles, china place settings and a lace tablecloth add a nice touch.
It is relatively easy to find one or two nice settings of china for 50 cents each at thrift stores or garage sales.
You can also purchase red napkins, lace tablecloths, and red ribbon after Christmas for .50 – $1.00. If you didn’t do it after last Christmas, try it after next Christmas.
You can also purchase things on sale 50% or more off after Valentine’s Day and keep them for other holidays throughout the coming year.
Of course if you’re with the one you love, who needs food for Valentine’s Day! ;-) …But man can not live on love alone, so here is a delicious Valentine’s menu you’ll love!
The Valentine’s Day Dinner Meal Plan: ( $6.41 for 2 people)
French Onion Soup Tomato Basil Salad Maple-Glazed Chicken Glazed Carrots New Potatoes With Parsley Red Velvet Cake Water With Lemon Slices Tea Or Coffee With Dessert
French Onion Soup ($1.15)
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine (.10) 2 onions, thinly sliced (yellow onions work best) (.25) 2 cups beef stock (made with bullion cubes or beef bones) (.10) 1 bay leaf 2 slices day-old French bread (.20) 1/2 cup Mozzarella or Swiss cheese, grated (.50)
Instructions:
Melt butter in a skillet.
Saute onions until slightly brown.
Pour beef broth into a saucepan.
Add onions and bay leaf to beef broth.
Simmer slowly for 10 minutes or simmer overnight in the crockpot on low.
Pour into bowls.
Place bread on top of each bowl of soup, and sprinkle the cheese on top.
Then set under the broiler and cook until the cheese is melted and brown. Careful! The broiler will make the bowls very hot!
Tomato Basil Salad($1.44)
4 large peeled tomatoes (.79) Salt and pepper (to taste) 1 Tbsp. wine vinegar (.10) 2 Tbsp. olive oil (.05) 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped into small pieces (.50)
Instructions:
Dice tomatoes.
Combine diced tomatoes with salt, pepper, vinegar, oil and basil.
Serve.
If desired, you may also add cubes of mozzarella cheese.
Maple-Glazed Chicken ($2.15)
1/4 cup maple syrup (.05) 4 tsp. lemon juice (.05) 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine (.05) Salt and pepper (to taste) 4 pieces chicken ($2.00 purchased on sale at $2.00/.lb)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450°.
Mix maple syrup, lemon juice, and butter together in a small saucepan to make the glaze.
Simmer 5 minutes.
Spray a baking dish with oil and place chicken in it.
Add salt and pepper to the chicken.
Bake 10 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the oven and pour on the glaze.
Cook 10 minutes in a small amount of boiling water or in the microwave, just until tender.
Melt the margarine in a large skillet over low heat.
Add brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Cook 1-2 minutes.
Add hot drained carrots, stirring well to coat.
Remove when shiny and well glazed.
New Potatoes (.75)
6 new potatoes or 2 medium potatoes, cut in halves or quarters (.50) 2 Tbsp. margarine (.05) 1 Tbsp. parsley, or to taste (.10) 1/4 tsp. salt dash of pepper
Instructions:
Clean potatoes.
Steam or boil potatoes 20 minutes (until tender).
Toss with the remaining ingredients.
Red Velvet Cake (.50 for 2 servings)*
*Or purchase a box mix on sale .79 and canned frosting on sale .69. plus .50 for eggs, etc. to make the cake $1.48.
3/4 cup butter 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 tsp. cocoa 1/4 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. vinegar 2 tsp. vanilla 1-2 oz. red food coloring 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Cream together butter, eggs and sugar in a bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients except the flour and buttermilk. Mix well.
Add flour and buttermilk alternately. Beat until all the lumps are out.
Pour into a greased and floured 9×13 inch pan.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Frost with Red Velvet Frosting.
Red Velvet Frosting
2/3 cup milk 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla
Instructions:
Cook milk and flour until thick, stirring constantly.
Cool thoroughly.
Beat milk and flour for one minute until fluffy.
Beat butter and sugar until creamy.
Add to milk and flour and add vanilla. Mix well.
Frosts one Red Velvet Cake.
For more quick and easy recipes like this, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks!
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Do you have a good recipe or tip to share? Post it as a comment below!
Here are some creative Valentine’s Day Ideas and recipes for an extra special and memorable Valentine’s Day without spending a fortune!
Valentine’s Day Ideas To Have More Fun And Save Money!
Using a little imagination, you can make your Valentine’s day a little more fun and a lot less expensive. If you want to add a little personalized romance or if you don’t have the time or money to buy all the pre-made things in the store, here are some Valentine’s Day ideas to help you make the day special.
Valentine’s Day Ideas For The Kids:
My mom always made a great but inexpensive Valentine’s Day treat for us. She would take construction paper and cut a big heart out of it. (About 8×10 inches). She would staple the edges together and write our names and an I love you on the outside. Then she would fill the heart with candy, purchased on clearance after Christmas.. It was very inexpensive but we loved it!
Have a Valentine’s Day treasure hunt. Leave little notes around with the last one leading back to the kitchen table with a heart full of candy.
Leave sticks of red gum in their Valentine’s Day cards.
Valentine’s Day Ideas For The Lunches
Make heart shaped Valentine’s cookies. Cut the kids (or hubby’s) sandwiches with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Add a few Valentine’s chocolates and put a note in red with a big heart on their napkin.
Serve anything red for Valentine’s Day. Serve red Jello, red pudding, red apples, toast with strawberry jelly, tomato soup, red applesauce, red Kool-aid, strawberry milk, or red frosted cookies. Use powered food coloring from the cake store to get the deepest shade of red. Serving all red things at a meal will really have wow factor even if it is something as inexpensive as red jello and tomato soup.
Make red heart shaped cupcakes. Make cupcakes as usual but place a marble down the side of the muffin tin between the muffin tin and each cupcake cup. This will make heart shaped cupcakes.
Make hearts out of chocolate chips in each of your pancakes.
Valentine’s Day Ideas To Do With Or For Your Honey
Mail your pre-addressed and stamped Valentines to Loveland, Colorado and they will postmark them and mail them for you. Send them to: Postmaster, Valentine Re-mailing, 446 E. 29th St., Loveland, CO 80538-9998.
Make a treasure hunt for your spouse. Start by mailing or e-mailing him the first clue. Then leave clues all over the house, yard, car or his office telling him where to find the next clue. End the hunt by making a picnic in the back yard or going to a park for a picnic. Use your imagination and have fun. The simple things are the ones people remember.
Go to a bookstore together and enjoy the silence and browse. Get a cup of coffee and make a date of it.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day AFTER Valentine’s day. Everything is half off.
Mail a love letter to your hubby’s work.
Send your spouse a sexy email or text message.
Leave “Why I love you” message all over the house. Buy a package of the cheap Valentines. Leave a message on each one and hide them all over the house for your honey. They will get to enjoy the gift for months!
Use lipstick to make hearts and love notes on the rear view mirror, car windows, bathroom mirror or windows of the house. Leave a kiss on his napkin for lunch or dinner.
Make a bunch of hearts out of construction paper. Put a love note on each one. Paste them all over the front door or car before your hubby or kids come home from work.
If you don’t have money to go out, have a picnic on the floor. Use some candles and lay a soft blanket on the floor. Put on some soft music and have a romantic Valentine’s dinner on the floor. Use some white Christmas lights for additional romantic lighting!
Delicious and Easy Valentine’s Day Recipes!
Try these yummy and tasty Valentine’s Day recipes that will make a sweet treat for your family and friends!
For more money saving recipes and tips to save on your grocery bill be sure to check out our cookbooks!
This steak and mushroom gravy recipe is an easy and delicious comfort food recipe you can make fast! It’s an easy and tasty meal your whole family will love and a great way to use leftover steak or roast!
This Steak and Mushroom Gravy Recipe is from volume 1 of our cookbook:
For many of us, heating our homes in the winter can become very expensive. Here are 8 ways to save money on your heating bill and save that money for something else!
8 Ways To Save Money On Your Heating Bill
We’ve all heard the usual 5-10 standard tips to save money on heat: “Make sure your windows are caulked,” or “Turn down the thermostat.” But let’s be honest—deciding to crank the heat way down often lasts about an hour before the cold wins, and the thermostat creeps back up.
This winter, take a deep breath, and try some of these practical, creative tips to keep your home warm and lower your heating bill. Some of the tips may seem a bit extreme, but even small adjustments can make a big difference!
Dress appropriately for the season. So many people wear short sleeve t-shirts around their homes in the dead of winter. Swap your short sleeves for warm, layered clothing. A flannel shirt, a sweater, or even 2–3 layers (think tank top, long-sleeve t-shirt, flannel, and sweater) can make a world of difference.
At night, ditch the summer pajamas for flannel ones (your husband will love you anyway), or layer up with a long-sleeve t-shirt underneath. Feeling extra chilly? Wear a stocking hat to bed—it helps retain body heat.
If you have babies or elderly family members you may have to set the heat a little higher but you might not need it as high as you think.
If you have babies or small children, dress them in layers, too. Start with a onesie or t-shirt, add thick pajamas, socks, and booties, and finish with a fleece sleeper or a wearable blanket. A warm cap can also help keep them cozy through the night.
Wear socks and slippers. Cold floors can make you feel colder overall. Double up on socks and wear warm slippers to keep your feet toasty.
This may seem obvious but use throws and shawls. Sitting in the evening, I can get chilly. Just laying a throw over my lap and feet can instantly warm me up. This works better than using snuggies. For added warmth, keep a zip-up hoodie nearby for anyone in the family who might resist the idea of shawls (we’re looking at you, teenage sons!).
I love wearing mittens without the fingers. When I first started doing this, I was surprised how something so small could warm me up so much. Mittens without fingers may look quirky, but they’re surprisingly effective at keeping your hands warm while leaving your fingers free for tasks like typing, sewing, or reading.
Drink a warm drink. Holding a hot cup of tea, coffee, or cocoa does wonders for warming your hands—and your core. Sip something warm when the evening chill sets in, and you’ll feel more comfortable without touching the thermostat.
Close off rooms. If there are rooms that you really aren’t using, you can close off those rooms so you use less heat. Be careful about closing off bathrooms, or other rooms where there is plumbing on an outside wall because if your house isn’t well insulated the pipes in that room could freeze.
Also, if you have forced air heat, where the warm air blows out of air ducts, it is best not to close off too many rooms. At one house, our heater stopped working. The repair man said that closing off too many rooms caused the system to overload and blow a breaker. We re-opened some of the vents and re-set the breaker and then it worked fine.
Decorate for Warmth. Adding cozy, heavier fabrics like fleece or wool to your décor can make your home feel warmer. Use fuzzy throw pillows, thick curtains, and warm-colored accents to create a snug environment. While these changes don’t raise the temperature, they have a psychological effect that can help you feel warmer.
By experimenting with these strategies, you can lower your heating bill and stay comfortable all winter long. Start small, adjust as needed, and watch the savings add up—without the misery of shivering through the season!
What Not To Do: Beware of Small Electric Heaters
Using small electric heaters to warm specific areas may seem like a money-saving trick, but it can backfire depending on your circumstances. The cost-effectiveness of this approach depends on several factors: the price of electricity versus gas in your area, the efficiency of your heater, and how often you use it.
For example, when I lived in Idaho, electricity was relatively cheap, and I could heat my entire house affordably with a small electric heater. However, when I moved back to Kansas and tried the same strategy, I was shocked when my first electric bill arrived—it cost me significantly more than using my gas furnace to heat the whole house.
Before relying on electric heaters, do a little research. Compare your local utility rates and calculate the potential costs. In some cases, what seems like a simple way to save money could end up costing you more in the long run.
Besides the cost and energy savings, there are a few added bonuses when lowering your heat:
Reduced Static Electricity: Lower temperatures mean less annoying static in your clothes and hair.
Less Need for a Humidifier: A cooler house often retains more natural humidity, eliminating the need for extra appliances.
Better for Your Nose and Throat: Cooler air that’s not so dry helps prevent dryness in your nasal passages and throat, potentially reducing the risk of sinus infections and respiratory issues.
Healthier Skin and Lips: Lower heat reduces the drying effect on your skin and lips.
Happier Eyes: Dry, heated air can wreak havoc on your eyes. During one family visit, my eyes became so red and irritated that I thought I needed to see a doctor—until I realized they were simply dried out from the warm, dry air.
While humidity and dryness vary by region, I’ve found that wherever I live, keeping the heat lower has helped me avoid these issues compared to friends and family in the same area who set their thermostats higher.
-Jill
Here are some other similar articles you might like:
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!
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:
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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!
Too Many Clothes? How Many Clothes Do You Really Need?
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.
(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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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! ;-)
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 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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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!)
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
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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
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!
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.
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.
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!”
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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!
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!
One of the easiest ways to save money and reduce stress is to stay organized. Here are some easy organizing ideas to get the most benefit for the least work!
10 Easy Ways to Get Organized and Save Money
Hang up your keys. (Preferably by the door.)
Find a place for your purse, coat, gloves and other frequently used items and always keep them there.
Make your bed each day as soon as you crawl out of it.
Get dressed. Even if you are a stay at home mom or a mom who works from home, get dressed. Clothes really do make the man or woman. You’ll be just as productive as you are dressed which means if you are dressed for sleep (pajamas, sweats or a robe) then you will get about as much work done as you would when you are sleeping. That may be stretching it, but you get my point.
Wash the dishes and wipe the counters after each meal. No matter how large or small the meal or how tired and in a hurry you are, do the dishes. Even if you are hurried or late in the morning you wouldn’t dream of leaving the house half dressed. Make leaving your kitchen clean as important a priority as getting dressed for work. This may seem impossible at first but once you are on top of things it should only take five or ten minutes to clean your kitchen.
Get rid of trash. About 50% of what unorganized people have in their homes is trash or stuff they will never use again. Stop wasting time taking care of it, moving it or stepping over it. As you walk through the house, pick up garbage and toss it.
Control your laundry. Don’t let it control you. Follow these simple steps to help keep your laundry from taking over your home and you.
Place a hamper or basket for dirty clothes in each bedroom and/or bath. Make sure that everyone’s dirty clothes are put in the hamper before bed and in the morning. Laundry laying around is the second biggest cause of clutter after trash, so arrange things to prevent it!
The laundry isn’t done until it is put away. Get out of the mindset that if it is washed and dried it is done. Folding and putting it away is equally as important.Some of us think that if we get the laundry washed and dried that’s all we need to do and it’s okay for the family to just pull stuff out of a pile. That makes as much sense as cooking a meal and expecting everyone to stand at the stove and take turns scooping the food out of the pan and eating it one spoonful at a time. You wouldn’t dream of doing that. Yes the food is cooked, but the meal is not complete until the table is set and the food is put on plates. Do the same for your laundry. Put it away.
Pick up continually. This may seem like a pain to do at first but if you stick with it, it will become a habit. I didn’t realize how much of a habit it had become for me until I was visiting my daughter’s the other day (Hey! That’s me! ;-) -Tawra). As I was walking into the kitchen, I picked up empty glasses and odds and ends on my way. Then when I walked from the kitchen to the bedroom I picked up toys as I went in there. It wasn’t even my house but I had seen something out of place and out of habit picked it up.
Read and dispose of newspapers and magazines. There are usually two reasons people have stacks of newspapers and magazines piled around:
They want to save one article from it. If that is the case, then cut the article out as you are reading the magazine and file it. Trust me, you not only won’t cut that article out at a later time, but you probably won’t remember what or where it is.
They don’t have time to read them. If you aren’t going to read the magazines, the why are you subscribing to them? You’ll never catch up later if you’re not reading them now. Stop your subscriptions. This doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. If you can’t keep up with the daily newspaper, then just get the Sunday paper. Most people usually have more leisure time Sunday to read it. Pick out one or two of your favorite magazines and stop subscribing to the rest.
With any item, if it is broken or you don’t use it anymore, get rid of it. That includes clothes, toys, furniture, decorations, dishes and exercise equipment ;-). If it’s not important enough to fix right now, you don’t need it!
Decluttering your home is an important part of reducing the stress in your life and it can save you money, too! These easy tips will help you get started!
In this post, we look at some of the common reasons people put off decluttering and help you get the motivation to get going! We also share a list of easy things to do in each room to clear out the clutter and have a more relaxed life!
Decluttering Your Home Room By Room – A Time to Cast Away
“To every thing there is a season… a time to keep and a time to cast away.” –Ecclesiastes 3:6
Our emotions are so wrapped up in our stuff that decluttering your home can be a stressful task. One might think we’re being asked to throw out a child instead of just tossing a book, blanket, can of paint or some old spices. I say this halfway joking but decluttering your home really can be serious for some people – no, for most people. We come up with all kinds of excuses and explanations about why we need to keep these things:
Grandma gave it to me.
If it isn’t an important family heirloom or you don’t use it or like it then toss it. It isn’t as if you are tossing out grandma or that you don’t love her. Stop dealing with these things emotionally and be practical. Don’t you think grandma loves you enough that she would rather you get rid of something that is simply cluttering your life than be miserable having to store, clean and continually rearrange something you don’t use? Trust me, grandma is wiser and she would toss the things she didn’t use or like in a heartbeat.
You can see our full Decluttering Your Home Room By Room video series here:
I paid good money for it.
We hate to throw things away because we paid so much money for them and we feel like we are wasting money. Please! We don’t give a second thought to buying another drink from that convenience store, having our hair done, going to a movie, playing golf, paying unreal amounts of money for a smartphone to play and text with and on and on.
We waste a lot of money on things we really don’t need without batting an eye but when it comes to tossing something we never use or that is worn out, we suddenly become so noble and frugal that we refuse to toss it. Decluttering your home often involves letting go of past mistakes.
I might need it someday.
Really? You are 60 years old and you’re saving the bikini you wore at 20? What about those jeans you wore pre-baby 10 years ago? If you ever get into them again they will be too outdated to wear. What about that coffee pot you got for your wedding? No one in your family drinks coffee, and you don’t know how to make coffee so exactly why do you think you will need it some day?
I once knew a woman who had gotten a coffee maker 10 years earlier at her wedding and kept it sitting in a box on the counter of her very small kitchen. This may seem like irrational behavior but look around you. Most of us do this all the time with our own “coffee pot” things.
Here’s a list to help you get started decluttering your home room by room. Either toss or give away things but get them out of the house. Start with one shelf, closet or room at a time and just do it.
It will be hard but once it is decluttered it will feel so much better. I have never heard one person who decluttered tell me they wish they hadn’t done it and their life is so much worse with the clutter gone. It is always the opposite and they usually say “Why didn’t I do it sooner?”
Small appliances you never use or use only once a year. Why keep a blender you only use once a year when you could make that same recipe with your food processor or hand blender?
Cabinets
Extra dishes you never use. I kept 25 Christmas glasses thinking I would use them one day. I have good crystal I could use if I needed it and for the past 10 years we have either used Christmas paper cups or not had Christmas at my house. Why am I saving them?
Casserole dishes and plasticware. How many 1 1/2 quart dishes have you ever used at one time? 4-5 tops? Maybe you could get rid of the other 5. Get the plasticware under control. You really don’t need 10 containers of one size for an average family.
Junk drawer. Most of us can get rid of half of what lives in the junk drawer and we don’t usually use the half we can use because we can’t find it in the mess.
Cleaning supplies. Toss anything old. If you have 5 cans of furniture polish, each of which has only been slightly used, quickly use them or get rid of them. Consolidate containers of things and boxes of things when you can.
Sort through your kitchen linens. We are so fussy about not wearing ratty or torn undies which, more often than not, nobody sees but we don’t hesitate to have dingy, torn dish towels and dish rags on display in our kitchens. I really hesitate to eat off of some people’s dishes when I see the nasty dish rags they have used to wash their dishes.
Get rid of anything that is broken, chipped or doesn’t work.
Decluttering Family Rooms and Living Rooms
Get rid of old magazines and newspapers. Not only do they clutter your home, they are a fire hazard!
Knick knacks and odds and ends that don’t add to the beauty or use of the room but only clutter it.
Get rid of DVDs, video tapes, CDs and other collections you rarely use or don’t work. If you listen to it once every 5 years, toss it. You can download it or borrow it from somewhere if you really need to see or listen to it later. These are some of the hardest things to toss because we have spent so much money on them. Many of us felt a little guilty when we bought them knowing they weren’t something we needed. Now, 5 years later, we feel even worse because they have become so unimportant we forgot we even had them but we still want to keep them. Learn from your mistake, move on and think twice (ten times?) before you buy the next time.
Decluttering Bedrooms
Be ruthless with your clothes. Toss anything that is old, torn (and you aren’t going to mend), you don’t wear, is outdated or too small. (Here’s a cute way to reuse old sweaters and pillows)
Do the same with accessories like jewelry, purses, shoes, scarfs and ties. Be ruthless. So many of these things are outdated or just not “you” anymore. Move on. Many of them don’t fit my lifestyle anymore so I need to face that fact and toss them.
Get rid of anything in your bedroom that you don’t use for sleeping and dressing. Don’t use your bedroom as a spare room or catch all room. Your bedroom is especially important when decluttering your home.
Toss old bedding, pillows and towels. Get things down to a minimum. You don’t need 6 towels per person or 5 blankets for each bed unless you live in Alaska or only do laundry once a year. Why are you saving that comforter you used in your bedroom 15 years ago? Even if it wasn’t so outdated, it doesn’t fit any of your beds now. (By the way, if you want to know how to fold a fitted sheet to make them look neater and fit into the closet check out our video on How to Fold A Fitted Sheet.)
Decluttering Bathrooms
Toss outdated medicines. This could be dangerous if you don’t. You don’t need 6 half full boxes of band-aids. Put them in one box or container together. Try to put all like items together in the same area or container: first aid items, stomach medications, pain medications, etc.
Toiletries. Be realistic. Do you have 25 bars of soap when you might use one a year? Get rid of a few. Once again, consolidate partially full bottles of things. To make life easier, start using shampoos and soaps the whole family can use when possible.
Make up. Oh boy, this is a fun one. We pay so much for makeup and when we don’t use it, we feel so much guilt about tossing it. Toss outdated things and things that look awful on you. Do you really need 20 different tubes of lipstick? Do you know how much simpler you life would be if you looked in your drawer each morning and only had to make the choice between 5 lipsticks, rather than digging through the clutter of 20 tubes all mixed together to find the right one?
Decluttering the Garage, Basement And Attic
Toss excess tools or tools you don’t use. This is hard for most men to do but when was the last time you used 5 of the same kind of pliers at the same time? Half the time you can’t find your tools because you have so many tools you don’t really need cluttering your space. Make a small tool bag for the car, one for the junk drawer in the house and then carefully weed out things to keep on your work bench.
Toss old paint, cans of oil, containers, newspapers and boxes. Out town has a place that accepts donations of paint, oil and chemicals that they check and then give away to someone else who might actually use them. Keep only a small number of boxes and newspapers if you use them for projects or packing. Once that area or shelf is full, don’t keep more than your allotted amount.
Sell that old exercise equipment. If you haven’t used it by now, you won’t use it. Just go for a walk. That will help you get some exercise and give you a nicer looking basement that isn’t cluttered with unused equipment.
Go through those boxes of memories. Sure, those old tintype pictures from the 1800’s look cool but if you don’t have a clue who those people are get rid of them. (These might be good items to sell on eBay.) Do you really need the ticket stub from the first play you went to see in the 5th grade? It must not mean that much to you because you have kept it stored in a box for 30 years and have forgotten all about it.
Oops! I just saw the time! I really must go and start practicing what I preach. : ) I hope the sun is shining where you are and the spring cleaning bug has hit you, too!
Here are some decluttering ideas and tips to help you get motivated to start decluttering. Don’t make it so complicated and get organized today!
Decluttering Ideas And Tips
I was thinking about writing something new this year about decluttering, so I started researching the topic. To my disappointment, I found there is almost nothing new under the sun and what I wrote 10 years ago still seems to be the best way to do things. Instead of repeating what I have already written and what is still being repeated out there, I thought I would share some thoughts for you to think about and to help you get motivated to start decluttering and getting organized.
I’ll start with a couple quotes I found so funny:
I found this quote on Pinterest but I took some liberties and changed a few words. It shows a woman with her head down sobbing and saying:
I love it. Most of us really know the basics of decluttering but we keep researching and looking for “new” ideas because researching is another way of procrastinating and putting off actually doing the work.
I was watching my 4 year old grandson clean his room one day. He said, “Nan, I don’t need this anymore” and he tossed the item out of his bedroom door. “This doesn’t fit me anymore” and, once again, out it went. “This is broken.” Again, into the trash it went. You see, he knew the basics at four years old. We just need to get up and do it.
“I don’t clean clutter for security reasons… If someone breaks in, I will hear them coming.” : )
I had to laugh at this one because I always said exactly that and it turned out to be true for me. My husband was a pack rat and, after he left, I still had piles of his things in our basement, which only had an outside entrance. One night, I heard someone crashing around down there, followed by police running down my driveway with rifles. Someone had robbed the convenience store behind my home.
I told them I heard something in my basement. They checked it out but, since the light wasn’t on and there were many places to hide, they couldn’t see anything. After they left, I heard more crashing in the basement again.
There are two things you need to know to really appreciate the story. The basement was full of clutter, hardware and heavy machinery and there was no light down there at all unless you knew where the hidden light switch was. All night long I heard crashing and banging. The poor guy (I was actually feeling sorry for him at this point) could not find his way out and was really hurting himself.
The next morning I heard the basement door slam. I guess there was enough sunlight filtering in that he could finally see enough to make his way out. So this quote is not too far from the truth even though it was meant as a joke. ;-)
We can take the simple and make it so complicated.
While researching decluttering, I found 101 ways to clean your bedroom. Seriously? Do we really need to be told that those dirty undies need to go into a hamper and how to put them in there or how to put your shoes away in your closet? I’m not talking about those of you who truly don’t know how to do these things because you have never been taught and really want to learn. That is why our website is here.
Still, it baffles me that so many of us spend so much time studying the pros and cons of the best cleaning product to use in our bathroom instead of taking 5 minutes to wipe it down each day. We spend hundreds of dollars on fancy closet systems, bigger closets and fancy storage containers instead of purging our closets of those clothes that are too small or outdated or scaling down our kids’ toys from 50 cars to 5 cars.
Practical Ideas To Help Get Organized
1. Get help.
Many of us hire people to do our yards, wash our cars, fix our cars and handle many other tasks but most of us can’t bring ourselves to hire a professional to organize or clean our homes. We act like we are failures if we have to hire someone to help get our home back in order. Even though it may cost money up front, it is one of those things that can save you money in the long run.
They do things like sit and take off their shoes in the living room instead going straight to their bedroom to slip off their shoes or leaving them by the door.
They place dirty dishes on the counter or in the sink instead of rinsing it and slipping it in the dishwasher or stacking it neatly in the sink.
They may toss the mail on the counter instead of going through it or neatly placing it on the desk or in a basket for later.
Watch yourself. You will be shocked at how many bad habits you have gotten into and how your children are following suit. Exchange one bad habit at a time for a good one. Once you have a new habit in place, move on to the next.
3. Use each room for the purpose for which it was intended.
Eat in the kitchen or family room, not the bedroom.
Get dressed in the bedroom, not the bathroom.
Keep papers and office work in the office.
4. Get rid of as many horizontal surfaces as you can.
Horizontal surfaces are clutter catchers. Get rid of things like coffee tables, benches at the end of the bed, long TV tables and large desks if they are getting piled with things all the time instead of being used for the purposes for which they were intended.
Wisdom is knowing what to do next. Skill is knowing how to do it. Virtue is doing it.
How to start organizing – Getting organized can be a big job but these easy steps can help you get your clutter under control! Don’t put it off anymore!
How to Start Organizing – Easy Steps To Get You Started!
Where do I begin to explain to you where to begin organizing? :) :) When it comes to organizing, the first question I am always asked is, “Where do I begin?” followed by, “How do I do it?” Hopefully I will answer both of those questions for you today.
I will try to give you hints and ideas about how to do things over the next few weeks but that will take time. For those of of you who read the story, “When Queens Ride By”, I am sure you are all excited to jump in and start cleaning right now. (Well, maybe you are at least thinking about it.)
To prevent you from committing organizing suicide and to keep you from crashing and burning, here is “Organizing 101” in a nutshell.
Stand Up and Move Toss and Store
These two things just about cover it. It is so simple it can be confusing, so let me explain. First you just need to make yourself do it. Stand up, move and start to work. Don’t keep sitting there thinking someone else is going to wave a magic wand over everything and it will get clean. Don’t think that after weeks of debating the details of this cleaning product and that one you can now pick one, spritz it in the air and miraculously everything will get clean.
Don’t be deceived. Spending hours studying and talking about the best cleaning products or the best ways to clean is not actually cleaning. It is just another excuse to keep you from cleaning. I once read a quote that said, “Ideas are funny little things. They don’t work until you do.”
I hate to break the news to you, but you are going to have to work. It’s like our grandmothers said– You will have to use good old-fashioned elbow grease. We have yet to invent anything to replace it. I’m sorry but that is just the way it is. We have got to stop being mentally and physically lazy and get busy– busy taking care of your home and family, not busy doing anything and everything to avoid the difficulty of taking care of your home.
Mentally, you will have to think and plan. Do I need this or not and if I do where do I put it? You can’t have your mind wandering, thinking about what you are going to wear to so and so’s wedding, what you are going to have for dinner and how are you going to fix Bobby’s bed. Keep focused on the job at hand.
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you clean:
1. Recruit help if you can. A friend, spouse, aunt or mother… Someone who will be a help, not a hindrance. No help is better than bad help.
2. Envision what you want a room or area to look like and then proceed to make it look like that. For example, when you stand and look at your dining room table, is it piled high with papers, dirty dishes and junk? In your mind do you see it with a pretty table cloth and a vase of colorful flowers? Then make it so.
Here’s the more practical version if you’re like me… My kitchen table is the hub of my home. I would have to take the tablecloth off every five minutes and the vase of flowers would surely get knocked over at least once or twice a day. Knowing this, I would instead keep the table clear with a pretty bowl of fruit with a doily under it. Then, at dinner time, I would pull out my tablecloth or place mats.
What about your bedroom? Do you see your bed neatly made with a warm throw laying across the foot of it instead of the rumpled smelly mess it is now? Then make it so. Move from room to room doing this, starting with the areas that are driving you the most crazy.
3. Start small with one little area. It could be a closet, cabinet, table or coffee table. It will amaze you how good you will feel getting just one little area done and how it will invigorate you to do more.
4. DON’T QUIT. If our kids come in from a job that they have only half done or not done well and moan and groan, “It’s too hot, I’m too tired, it’s too hard,” or there’s too much to do, we are usually all over them to get the job done anyway. I wonder where they learned their work ethic from when mom or dad is cracking under the pressure of just cleaning a dirty house.
We expect kids to do their homework on a daily basis whether they want to or not, whether it is easy or not, whether it is boring or not and we become very frustrated with them when they want to shirk it, yet we are even more irresponsible when we shirk taking care of our homes. We are adults and should know better.
5. Work quickly. This is a job that needs to be done and not a time to walk down memory lane. Looking through vacation pictures and reading every bit of paper you pick up is a no no. Glance at it and toss or store it. Don’t forget that you don’t need 10 pictures of the same pose of a dolphin jumping in the air. It is not a sin to throw out a picture. If you must, keep just one picture or better yet throw them all out and when you want to see a picture of a dolphin in the air go to the library or find one on the Internet.
6. When the trash is full, take it outside to the trash can or at least set it outside of the room you are cleaning. This is not the time to recycle. I knew a woman who could have had a clean house but it was literally filthy with a year’s worth of milk cartons, cardboard boxes and newspapers all over the house that she was “one day” going to recycle.
7. When your give away box is full, take it to the car so you will be forced to get rid of it immediately. I hope this box contains a lot, too. No child needs 75 little cars or dolls. No woman needs 10 pairs of black pants and 15 eye shadows. No man needs 8 pairs of pliers.
8. Wipe and clean shelves, drawers and cabinets as you put things away.
9. Keep your eyes on what you have cleaned and not what still needs to get done or you will become discouraged.
10. When you have worked hard, sit back and admire your work with a hot cup of tea or a cold glass of lemonade. You can even have a cookie because think of all the calories you have burned! Pat yourself on the back now and say, “Job well done.” Or better yet, comment on the blog when you complete something so we can pat you on the back too!
-Jill
P.S. Play some music while you work if it helps. There really is a reason why the seven dwarfs whistled while they worked!
