Money Saving Mom®

Guest post from Andrea of Simple Organized Living.

As the name of my website suggests, I’m all about keeping things as SIMPLE as possible — especially when it comes to getting organized.

Getting {and staying} organized might not be “easy” but it is relatively “simple”. However if you are still feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, I have a few SIMPLE tips that might just help!

S = Start Small

Even if your entire house is in disarray, there is still hope… I promise! Just pick one small area in your home {one cabinet, one drawer, one basket, one file of papers, etc} and start there.

Set a timer for 15-20 minutes and don’t do anything else except work on organizing that one small area. When the timer goes off, you can quit. Then do the same thing again tomorrow.

Almost everyone I know has an extra 15 minutes each day, and if you apply that time towards an organizing goal, your home and life will be organized in no time.

I = Immediate Action

Stop procrastinating and just get started. Keep striving for progress {not perfection} and do something today.

In my experience, just crossing one thing off my to-do list motivates me to keep going… and before I know it, half my list is crossed off and I’m making tons of progress, all because I took immediate action.

M = Make a Space for Everything

If you don’t have a designated space for something, it’s going to sit out. If it sits out, it becomes clutter. And if you don’t have space for specific items in your home, then you should get rid of a few things to make room.

Also, the next time you are trying to decide whether to buy something or not, first ask yourself if you do or do not have a space for it. If not, are you willing to get rid of another item to make room for the new item?

Chances are that by pausing to ask yourself those questions, you’ll probably decide you don’t really need it and you’ll save yourself the space and the money!

P = Plan Ahead

I think it goes without saying that anything you can do now to plan ahead for later will benefit you in your attempts to be more organized.

Pack lunches and pick out your clothes the night before. Plan your meals for the week, plan your grocery shopping list, make tomorrow’s to-do list, and so on. Planning ahead not only helps you to be more organized, it also alleviates so much stress from your life.

L = Leave Emotions Out

One of the biggest causes of clutter is our emotions. We are emotionally attached to so much of our stuff — the wedding gift from our best friend that we never use, the baby clothes we no longer need, our “skinny clothes” from before we had kids, every art project our children made us, pictures, pictures, and more pictures. It’s all emotional clutter!

I’m definitely not saying you need to get rid of it all; however I am encouraging you to be honest with yourself and leave your emotions out of your next organizing project. {Yes, this will be difficult to do!}

E = Enlist Accountability

If organizing is a challenge for you, consider asking a friend, neighbor, coworker, or relative to help keep you accountable.

I guarantee the whole process will be faster and easier if you have a “partner in crime” who is willing to walk with you every step of the way, keep you accountable, ask you the tough questions, and force you to be honest with yourself. Plus it will just be a lot more fun!

Getting more organized is something we can all improve on… and hopefully these SIMPLE tips will motivate you to do something today!

What is your biggest organizational challenge?

Andrea Dekker is a professional organizer, motivational speaker, and the founder of Simple Organized Living. Her goal is to motivate and encourage others to “create their best life” through simplicity and organization.

Guest post from Jenae of I Can Teach My Child

Doing the laundry is one of my most loathed household tasks. Actually, I don’t really mind doing the laundry… it’s the folding and putting away that I especially dislike!

Laundry is also an ongoing task that never has a definite ending. By the time you have all your loads folded and put away, there will inevitably be another few garments waiting for you in the hamper.

However, laundry doesn’t have to be as complicated and time-consuming as we make it out to be. Here are three simple tips that have helped me streamline the laundry process in our home.

1. Find a laundry schedule that works for you.

I do laundry one day each week. I’ve found this works much better for our family to get it all done in one day rather than doing multiple loads throughout the week. Plus, since I need the dryer to do the next load and get it all done in one day, this holds me accountable to putting the laundry away immediately instead of letting the loads sit in the dryer for a few days!

I know many people who prefer to do a load of laundry once a day. If that works for you, great!

2. Use mesh bags for socks, underwear, etc.

More than any laundry-related task, I dislike pairing and folding little-kid socks! I began using mesh wash bags this fall with the advent of sock weather and it has revolutionized my laundry-doing life!

Now, I hang a mesh bag for each child close to his hamper. Instead of throwing the socks in the hamper with everything else, I put them in their mesh bag. When laundry day arrives, I secure the drawstring, throw it in with the laundry, and dump it into the sock drawer when clean. No pairing or folding needed!

3. Ditch the laundry basket.

When you remove clean laundry from your dryer and put it into a laundry basket, you are creating one more potential place for laundry to sit before it gets folded and put away.

Instead of using a laundry basket, grab the load with both arms and move it immediately to either your bed or the children’s beds. That way, the laundry must get folded before bedtime. Obviously, if you have to climb a flight of stairs to put laundry away, you’ll need to use a basket. Just make sure to dump it onto a bed once you get up (or down) the stairs.

These small, simple changes have made a huge impact towards my productivity when it comes to laundry.

What are your favorite laundry tips or shortcuts?

Jenae is a Master-degree holding former first grade teacher turned stay-at-home Momma. She loves finding creative ways to save money, spending time with her family, and sharing fun activities on her website I Can Teach My Child.

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