organizing your home

When I was a little girl people would give me all kinds of fantastic things that they no longer wanted. Jewelry, trinkets, perfume, knickknacks, you name it. I would hold on to these "treasures" and not even dare to get rid of them. As time passed I ended up with this collection of "stuff". My older sister, who shared a room with me at the time, would tease me about being messy and a pack rat. By the time I became a teenager, I dramatically changed my ways and learned that it's best not to keep things you don't actually use. A few nice decorations are lovely, but not enough for a garage sale. Interestingly enough, I think back to some of those items and can't help but wonder how much I would make on Ebay or Etsy with their now vintage appeal.
By the time I moved to college I was a full-fledged neat freak and rather than annoy my roommates with being messy I'm sure I annoyed them with my cleaning and organizing obsessions. I know I have issues, but hey, at least I can admit to them. But the good part is that perhaps by sharing some of my ideas about organizing it can benefit you or at least give you some ideas. So here goes.


Although home is where the heart is, and also a place to chill and feel your most comfiest, you should also think of it as a place that you manage. If you run your household with this kind of thinking, things will run smoothly and you'll actually find time to relax and truly enjoy that at-home feeling. Here's a breakdown of things you can do at home:

PRODUCTS

do weekly checks for all food items, pantry and kitchen

for regular items have one item that's in use and at least one back-up so that you won't run out

when something is 1/2 full write it on your shopping list to get on the next shopping trip

set limits to avoid clutter (ex: I allow two kinds of chips/snacks at a time, one kind of cereal for my hubby and me and two for my little guy, etc. I will not buy new until at least one of these are finished)

check your fridge every 2-3 days, leftovers shouldn't be kept past that anyway (if you want something to keep longer than that you should look into the freezing option), if you find that you are throwing a lot of leftovers find ways to reduce that like cooking smaller quantities or taking leftovers to heat up at work for lunch the next day.

bread and produce are tricky items because they tend to spoil faster than other groceries, only in the winter can I even think about keeping bread out, here in Saudi it's so hot that it'll grow mold within 2 days so I store it in the fridge, if I feel we won't use that bread within a week I freeze it, for produce I buy small quantities (we're a family of 3, we don't need that much anyway)

cleaning and laundry products should be checked weekly, I always have one in use and one back up, I do this with hand soaps, shampoo, toothpaste, paper products, etc.

for items like contact solution and girly products I stock up, I keep about 2-3 of these items at all times, these are very important things that I can not run out of and besides they will not expire for a long time

I'm planning to start a new idea for my home so I'll share, I'm making an inventory sheet of all the products we need/use in the home, I'm planning to track items bought, the date and quantity, and how long they last, this will help me keep track of how much we use things and how fast/slow we use them, this will hopefully help me with our family budget too

PAPERWORK

buy some accordion files, filing boxes, folders, etc., and organize all your paperwork in a clean, easy to get to space, you want a place that you can easily get to if you need to find a document and also an easy place to get to when you need to file your receipts after a day of shopping, the key is maintenance, file things right away, try not to let piles build up around the house, this is how things get lost and bills forgotten about (btw, I am in no way perfect, I'm speaking from experience).

go through these files at least every 3 months and shred any papers/docs possible, this will help to keep things in order and less cluttered

invest in a paper shredder, we have one of these and we like to shred unneeded docs every few months, we were even able to use the shreds of paper when we moved house one time, (great cushion for breakables).

set up a filing system that works for you and your family, here's an example:

1) Medical File - each family member should have a sub file within this file and all medical related paperwork would go there.

2) Financial File - sub file into bank statements, receipts, pay stubs, investments, 401K, etc.

3) Bills - make a sub file for each bill and file all bills, receipts of payment, contracts, etc. that are related to that particular bill.

4) Extra Stuff - make sub files of all the misc things in your life such as work (resumes, work docs, copies of sick leaves, certificates, letters of appreciation, etc.), manuals (everything comes with one of these so decide which ones are worth keeping and file away in one place, you could sub file into appliances, toys, etc), travel (car rental info, frequent hotels that you stay at, etc.)

important documents should have their own folder/file and be stored in a safe, secure place, these things would include passports, marriage certificate, copies of IDs and credit cards, SS cards, etc.

I also suggest having a folder/file for each child, sub file into important documents such as birth certificate, immunization info, etc. and a school file which would include all school related documents

Household Management

set a schedule for your daily routine including all members of the family (ex: wake up time, go to school/work time, dinner making time, homework time, family time, bath time, bed time, parent's chill out time, etc.)

set a weekly/monthly chore schedule (ex: clean bathrooms on Friday and Monday, do laundry on Saturdays and Tuesdays, change and wash bedsheets every Saturday, wash rugs every 1st of the month, etc.), set this schedule as you prefer and as it best suites your family and lifestyle

I know this is easier said than done, by tidy up several times a day, as my son is playing and has his toys everywhere throughout the day I have to take 5 mins every so often and play "clean-up", this will help keep things maintained and not allow it to all pile up for me later, plus I am teaching my son how to be neat and tidy in the process

try to wash dishes throughout the day (if you have a dishwasher, rinse and load straight away rather than let them pile up in the sink), if you don't have time fill up a tub in your sink with hot soapy water, rinse off your dishes and let them soak until you do have time, this will make washing a lot easier

manage your household with a system and try to be flexible yet stick with a schedule, don't be afraid to delegate (ex: Mom-laundry, Dad-garbage, Kids-bedrooms, etc.)

try to have good time management skills, this will help organize all aspects of your life, allot sufficient time frames for tasks, create deadlines to help you stay on the ball (ex: clean out the attic by May), and multi-task when able but within reason (ex: while your children are playing or doing homework, you can prepare dinner or fold some laundry)

PURSE/HANDBAG

the scariest place of all...hahaha :-)

clean out your bag every week

for all those small items, organize by placing them in smaller make-up sizes pouches, this will help you to find things easily and also make it a lot easier for bag changes

use bags with cell phone pockets inside, you will always be able to get to it

keep your keys in that small zipper pocket inside, they'll be safe with the zipper closure and you'll always be able to find them

organize your money bills in order and if folded, keep smaller bills on the outside of the fold (security tip), I also recommend keeping a few larger bills in a separate place of your wallet or even in your purse (for security reasons and it also helps control your spending)

always carry a mini notepad/book and 2 pens (in case one runs out), I'm always making notes and writing things down, I even write my blog ideas in here...;-)

These are just some of my ideas. I hope you find them helpful. Everybody is different so everybody will do things differently. The key is to find what works best for you and your family. :-)

*all images are from fotosearch.com