Organizational Tips and Treasures

These were compiled before the night of the meeting and then distributed at the meeting:

• To eliminate school paper clutter from your kids, get a 10 cent spiral bound notebook. Write the child’s name and what grade they’re in on the front. Then as they bring home pages and pages of cuteness just glue them into the notebook. You may want to pick and choose your favorites. You may need to cut the paper down to size before pasting it in or paste it in and then fold the edges in a little.
• Do small cleaning whenever you are in a certain room (example: do a quick floor mop with a baby wipe when you are in the bathroom getting ready each day).
• To eliminate clutter, keep things you do not need daily access to in storage
• If you have to clean vomit smell off of anything - clothes, carpet, couch, whatever – here’s a way to get the smell out! Rinse out the chunks (ugh.) Add a cup of salt to a couple of gallons of water and soak the soiled laundry for a couple of hours. Then dump the whole bucket into the washing machine and run a regular cycle. It works great!
• Hire a professional. Can be the best $300 you’ll ever spend. Getting organized saves money in the long run (no need to purchase items you can't find, etc, not to mention the sense of freedom it gives you!)
• Pair up with another sister and schedule a visit to one another’s home to help for an hour. Sometimes you just need someone to give you permission to toss the junk you have laying around, to affirm that those jeans ARE dated and need to go, etc.
• For paperwork, use the Freedom Filer system. Costs money to set up, but a complete no-brainer and within 2 hours, you'll have a system set up that works on its own - no more paper problems, for real. They have a website to access if interested.
• “Whose day?” My kids were always arguing over who got to sit next to mom, who got to pick the TV show, etc. so I read in Family Fun magazine to give each kid a day. This is how it works: I have 4 kids and they just rotate, Emily is always 1, Allyson is 2, etc. So if it's the 12th of March it is Katy's day because she is kid #4. This means that she controls the remote (Dad always overrules), sets the table, does the dishes, gets the front seat of the car (if she's over 12), and is 'on call' for any odd job that needs doing like garbage. So the benefits are balanced with responsibilities, but this is how we do it. Emily will point out though that being first means she often gets double duty (if the month ends on the 31 and then again on the 1). But hey, I figure the eldest should have more work. This has greatly eliminated those arguments.
• Chore jar! Instead of mom assigning jobs to everyone (I found that I assigned the same job to the same kid every week because they were best at it), I have popsicle sticks in a jar with the usual Saturday morning jobs in them(vacuuming, dusting, mopping, bathrooms, windows, garbage cans, etc.) I also have 2 sticks with "Freebie" written on them. I go through the jar and decide which jobs need done and determine how many sticks they each need to pull that day. I also have some seasonal chores to throw in to balance the number. The kids pull their chores and get to work. I try to discourage trading because I think that all of them need to learn how to do everything. Now this took some getting used to. First of all, it means that my bathroom may not be as clean as I may want it every week(some kids are better/older than others) but if one of the younger ones do it this week, chances are that one of the older ones will get it next week. Secondly, the younger ones sometimes feel that they get jobs that are too hard for them (like vacuuming the stairs with a heavy vacuum) so I make sure either I or dad is around to help. But I really think this is making all of my children better housekeepers. And of course they love pulling a "Freebie" out of the jar and getting away with doing less than their siblings!
• Use bath and shower sprays after showering. Eliminates build-up.
• Keep any type of collecting you do in a collector’s box. Collect postcards of places you visit and write on the back when you went there, who with, and what you did. Keep the entire collection in a small brag book to look back on.
• For a craft room, use tins to collect buttons, fabric scraps, etc.
• Go through kitchen cabinets twice a year.
• Share with others what you haven’t used in over a year. Someone else might be able to use it.
• Keep an empty box or shelf in the laundry room where you can immediately place any item you find around the house that is no longer needed/useful and you would like to donate. Empty the box/shelf regularly via the Kidney Foundation pick up or stopping by a V.O.A. box on the way to the grocery store.
• Whenever you get a new item, like a cooking utensil, wash cloths, or lamp, donate or repurpose the old item immediately.
• Remember that over 80% of all saved paperwork is NEVER looked at or needed again. Most utilities and credit card companies keep your archived statements on line. You only need to keep one old statement on file for access to contact info and account numbers.
• When it comes to memories; save the best and pitch the rest. A couple of your best pictures in a book are more inviting than a box full of 100's of not so hot, unlabeled snapshots collecting dust under the bed.
• Keep a recycling bin in the coat closet to immediately throw junk mail and already-read newspapers and magazines in.
• Reduce knick-knacks to just one or two. Having less to clean under and around makes dusting and straightening go quickly. Consider using small memorabilia (that you can't part with) as Christmas tree ornaments instead of year-round clutter.
• Keep a note in your e-mail inbox as your TO-DO LIST. It's always there, you can update it anytime, and it doesn't clutter up your real desk or your refrigerator door.
• Remember; if you haven't worn it in a year, you probably never will. The advantage of getting rid of the clothing you never wear is that you'll more easily recognize your wardrobe needs so you can shop more effectively.
• Don't shop for recreation. You'll always find something you like (but don't really need or have room for.) When shopping, make a list and stick to it!
• Do one load of laundry every day.
• Use craigslist and freecyle for de-cluttering.
• Make it a habit to clean the kitchen after every meal.
• As you go through your stuff, have three things available: the trash, a donate box, and an “I'm not really sure if I want this” box. The first two are obvious but the third is for things you would hesitate on but ultimately keep because you aren't sure whether you will use it. Then, after you've finished, put the box in the basement or under your bed for 3 months. Write the date on it so you know how long it's been. Then if you haven't pulled the box out in those three months, you can donate the whole thing.
• Keep the cleaning supplies in the room in which you use them.
• Clean the bathroom while your children bathe at night.
• Spend a little more money on organization tools. It will make you want to keep it nice.
• Play music while working.
• Start each day with an empty dishwasher. It makes it so much easier to keep the kitchen clean. Then run it every night before bed.
• As you plan for Christmas each year, also plan for storage. Knowing how you are going to store the newly-acquired toys and items (and buying plastic storage bins as needed) reduces much post-holiday stress. The beginning of December is also a great time to go through toys and donate old and no-longer-used toys to charity, thus making more room for those new Christmas treasures.