Organize an item a day

This is a strategy I have been following for a while and it works.

You don’t realise until you organize and de-clutter how much you accumulate.

My husband and I are in the process of moving, just waiting for it to all all go through and then hopefully we will be moving into our new place, in a about 4 weeks.

We aren’t moving to far from where we are now but moving into a bigger place and more of a house than a flat. However I still wish to keep things organized and keep things minimal so we still have a lot of space.

As I have been sorting threw things I saw that I have a lot of bags and so rather then spend money on boxes, use the storage bins we have and the bags I have to put things into that I don’t need right away or that I don’t use all the time.

I have done this with my toiletries organizing them first into toiletry bags and my hair care items, my hair dryer, straightener, my husband clippers and my curlers into a bag.

I have also gone through my receipts which I do twice a month and keep those that are for electrical equipment or housing maintenance for warranty purposes. Any receipts that are shows I paid by cash I instantly throw away, but the ones that show purchases made by credit or debit card I pass to my husband to shred.

My current document organizer
This is my Paper Desk tidy in it’s current spot.

I sorted through my paper desk tidy and all is clear and tidy, and what I used for receipts is now going to be for furniture and household magazines and catalogues that aren’t too heavy and for ideas on projects.

The space in which my desk tidy is situated is not ideal at the moment and am planning on having proper work space for my computer desk, printer, folders and

other related items to be built or at least created by new furniture in once place much better situated and tidier.

Once I complete my recipe book I will either do a video or photograph to show.

I have sorted through my recipe folder and arranging them in category which took two days and still to be finished by good to get started. Again when we have our new place this will be stored even in our new kitchen with my recipe books or in the work space on a bookcase or cupboard.

I then needed to sort out my kitchen and cupboards as we seemed to have a lot on the work tops and so cleared this by making more space in the cupboards, and so my food processor, blender and vegetable steamer are all neatly been put away in the cupboard and will get them out when we wish or need to use them. I also went through our baking ingredients as now and again I do like to bake, but some ingredients were out of date and so had to be thrown away. By doing his I now have one shelf completely clear which will again make it one less shelf for us to clear when it comes to putting these items in containers when moving.

My kitchen was already built when we moved in and not allowed to alter it, but there is not a lot of cupboard and storage space so it is about using what we have to making space.

This is my current kitchen in the flat my husband and I are living.
This is my current kitchen in the flat my husband and I are living.

The next thing will be my storage bin and folders in the living room, and so doing a bit as you go is really great to stay on top of things.

So clean as you go it makes life so much easier.

I love to clean and organize because it just feels better when all is clean and tidy, and not cluttered.

Many thanks for reading.

Carrie X

Organize your shopping

I organize everything from my laundry to my groceries, to unpack I put them into categories and then it is easy to put each item into the place where it should be, fridge, dry foods, fruit and vegetables etc, and the takes less than 5 minutes to put away.

Before you make your shopping list make a list of the meals you can make out the current groceries you have, so this will mean checking the fridge and cupboards to check on the items you have, and this will help minimise your wastage and you use what you have and the amount you spend as for example I know I can make at least 5 meals out of the groceries I have so I know I don’t need any more shopping until Friday or so.

I always as mentioned in my past blogs plan my meals in a week or two weeks in advance.

Making a list of the meals you can make on what you currently have and what ingredients you need to help create a meal from the items you already have will help to reduce the list and you buy items on what you need to add, to make those meals a week.

So don’t waste money on groceries think about how much you can save on the groceries and spend and save money on other things.

Many thanks for reading.

Carrie X

Quick Organising Tips

You don’t have to spend all day organizing but break it down so you get a bit each done each day and as you go.

Here are 10 tips that will help you,

1. Do short cleaning and organizing as well as setting aside a day or an hour to do it. It is amazing how much you get done in 10 minutes.

2. Tidy as you go, if you know that there is an item that you need to take into another room, and you are going into that other room, take that item with you and put it in its rightful place.

3. Create two baskets and inbox and outbox, for the main room that you use, so if it is living room, create a basket to bring stuff into the room, and one to take items out of the room and put them into their correct place.

4. Create a bin, basket, shelf or place if you have a cupboard or bookcase where you can keep all the items you use on a daily basis, so you can easily access them and you do not have to remove loads of items to get to them.

5. Remote controls: keep them near the TV, in a remote control organizer or put them on the coffee table neatly lined up so there is no chance of them falling down the side of the sofa.

6. Keep any fitness equipment near your Living room so you can easily access them and work out in front of the TV whilst watching your favourite TV programmes and also keep the workout DVD’s you use in the living room too, so they are not gathering dust and you can use them  whenever you want (there are 10 minute DVD workouts available which I will do a separate blog about). If you don’t use the fitness equipment or the workout DVD’s, then donate them and give them to a friend who might use them if you know they are into exercise or take them to a charity shop.

7. Open the post as soon as it arrives and then create a “Take action” pigeon hole using a desk paper organizer.

8. Any odd socks create an odd sock box and use them for quick dusting of the furniture9. Recycle envelopes for keeping receipts, especially electrical products for the warranty. Some manufacturers do offer a 2 year’s guarantee on some products such as Philips offer a 2 years manufacturing warranty on all domestic and personal appliance; some retailers offer extended warranties on electrical products and on furniture so do keep hold of these details, should anything go wrong.

10. Use storage boxes for storing food in the kitchen such as teabags, pasta, baking ingredients and shelf organizers to help create space and de-clutter your kitchen cupboards

Organizing affectively

Organizing affectively is easy by learning what you have and you don’t need, then creating homes for each categorized item.

Set a budget if you need extra storage in catalogues, online, on the high street.

Go through everything you have first and create three sections or use 3 storage bins and separate the items into keep, donate and dispose.

Start with paper work first, kids toys, then books, magazines and newspapers, these are the main culprits when it comes to clutter. You end up collecting and buying so many that it can become overwhelming.

Once you have separated the items you wish to keep, donate and dispose then dispose what you don’t need, bag all the items to donate and then go through the keep items.

Create categories and sections for the items you have chosen to keep, such as finance papers, toys, notebooks, stationary, online receipts and high street receipts are an example of how to do this.

Create one area and you can use a suitcase or toy bag for all the kids toys so you can zip them away when not being played with.

You will have to be strict with yourself and say to yourself “Do I need this” “Is this going to change my life if I keep or destroy”?

It will help have another person to help, who has ruefulness.

To donate or dispose worn unusable toys do it whilst the kids are at school so they don’t think you are getting them out to play. Do it whilst they are sleeping or at nursery.

Once you know what you have in terms of paperwork then you can workout what space you have and use a ring binder for separating your finance papers, into statements, invoices, letters and household bills. I keep my household bills and online receipts separate in a ring binder; my bank statements, mobile phone bills and bank letters all in a file box.

I will take photos of the items I use currently to give ideas by creating an organization gallery.

For notebooks (new ones) they are all in a box in my storage unit,in the living room as I use them for journalling, everyday notes and lists and for my projects such as my blogs. Partly or complete used notebooks I keep only with important information for my websites, blogs and study notes.

The stores I like to buy from for stationary, storage and organizers are from Amazon as items are more cost effective, but be careful always read the reviews first; On the high street I use Paperchase, Argos, Works, Whsmiths and Wilkinsons.

There is a lovely online shop called notonthehighstreet.com:

http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/?gclid=CM-IgYeL1rUCFW_KtAodGhsA3A

Whsmiths and Works do regular deals when the schools restart in September, so always investigate and learn when certain sales are on.

There are certain times of the year, such as just after Christmas to spring where people will start to change their homes and the best time is from December to May as this is when lots of the sales are on for home improvements, sales on kitchens and sofas, Argos do clearance sales regularly, and have sales around Christmas time.

Visit the Ideal Home Show in Earls Court, London which starts this year:

15 March – 1 April 2013 

The tickets are selling now please see link, which shows great gadgets for the home and ideas for your home and will inspire to create that ideal home make over.

Thanks for reading.

Carrie X

Organised4TheBetter

Blogging has now become a passion for me, and passing on my advice to others is great.

When it comes to passing on my organization, my fitness tips and helping people to build better self confidence I am also learning new ideas myself and it is finding out what works for you, as a person and finding out who you are.

I love being organized now and having a plan and list of tasks, and challenging myself to get the shopping bill down. I like having things to look forward to and having an idea of what is going to be happening the week ahead and the weekend.

Being organized is a learning process and it worth getting tips and advice from others, I did via books which I will do a blog on on sources of information and YouTube videos (I will feature this in my favourites list). Planning ahead gives you a direction and it does help the mind and anxiety, and knowing I don’t have to rush in the mornings to make sure I catch the bus on time for work.

Also being a Volunteer as a Football Coach and running a youth team and being an Avon Representative you have to plan and be organized to make sure you plan for the unexpected, and make sure I have my Avon orders processed and sent before deadline day.

Please see my other blogs posted on google blogspot, I do two one is related to my wordpress blog (see below) and the other blog is in regards to helping people who may have self confidence issues    like I have had and how they can overcome them.

http://organize4thebetter.blogspot.co.uk/

http://beingconfidentwithyourself.blogspot.co.uk/

I also have two websites one for my Avon and the other is sharing my passion in Sports and Fitness.

http://www.exclusive4himandher.co.uk

http://www.sportsandfitnessaction.com/default.html

Many thanks for your time.

Regards,

Carrie Challoner