Best Organization Tricks

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Today's Topic: Best Organization Tricks

I love organizing things!  I just recently purged every closet in my house of items no longer needed and organized everything.  I have a few tricks for keeping things in order.

1. Use containers.  I use a variety of sizes and shapes to organize everything from craft supplies to bathroom toiletries to food items in my pantry.  They are great at keeping small items corralled.  Everything in its place! 

2. Have a good filing system.  To keep a handle on paperwork and bills, we use an accordion file folder and label each section by month.  We put all bills and important paperwork in the corresponding month.  Once the year is over, we store them by category in a large file cabinet.  We pay most of our bills online which cuts down on the paperwork.

3. Create a place for "stuff".   Select a spot to store items like keys, cell phones, etc... so they don't get lost!  We have a hanging organizer near our front door that holds keys and has slots to hold stuff.

4. Plan ahead.  Get clothes, bags, purses, etc... ready the night before so that mornings go smoothly.  As a mommy, this is critical.  I actually plan menus, get outfits ready for the entire week, etc... on Sundays so I'm ready for the week.

5. Invest in a day planner.  I would be lost without my planner.  It helps me keep track of important events and obligations so I don't miss them.  I also keep a planning calendar in my kitchen so that I see everything in two places.

Those are my tips.  Can't wait to see what everyone else suggests!



Family Notebook

I am always searching for new ideas to stay organized and to keep track of all the paperwork that we seem to accumulate.  About a year ago, I came across the idea to create a family notebook from THIS website.  I made ours several months ago and it has been a blessing!  I thought I would share my notebook with you. 

I used a three-ring binder, a pack of dividers with tabs, and some pretty scrapbook paper and embellishments. 

Here is the front cover.  My binder has a spine and front label holder so I can simply slip the page in. 

I added the spine label just to jazz it up a little!

I added a zippered pencil pouch to hold pens and notepads.  I also keep a spiral notebook in there to scribble ideas and lists on. 



I have 10 dividers in my notebook.  You could use as many or as few as your family needs.  I put several sheet protectors behind each divider to store the paperwork in.

Medical & Insurance divider.  I use this to keep track of any pending medical insurance claims, prescriptions, doctor referrals, etc...

Forms divider.  I use this one to keep track of passwords and any other paperwork that needs our attention. 

Schedules divider.  I keep a copy of the current month's calendar with each family member's activities listed on it.  I also have a weekly schedule for each person and a daily to-do list.

Address Book divider.  I have a page for emergency numbers, all of our doctors, dentists, etc... as well as the "Family Yellow Pages".  This makes life so much easier when addressing Christmas and birthday cards!  I also keep a phone log in there to keep track of messages.

Menus divider.  I plan menus a week at a time.  I keep a running grocery list here as well and update it as we run out of things.

Cleaning divider.  I need to do a better job with this area.  I have a weekly cleaning schedule with specific tasks listed for each day.  For example, bathrooms and dusting on Mondays, Floors on Tuesday, etc...  Life usually takes over during the week and then I'm stuck doing everything on Saturday.  I'm going to really try and divide the cleaning up during the week so it won't be so overwhelming.

I also have dividers for each family member.  I keep all of Abby's school "stuff" in her divider: permission slips, notes about upcoming activities, PTC meetings, etc... 

Here is my divider.  I keep a master list of sewing/craft projects I want to make, templates, Christmas lists, etc...

Organized Home.com has a lot of free printables to complete your notebook plus lots of household tips.

Linking up with Skip to my Lou

Happy Monday!!