Tag Archives: organization

May 15 2012

It’s National Clean Out Your Purse Day!

National Clean Out Your Purse DayToday’s the big day! It’s National Clean Out Your Purse Day, brought to us by Kathi Lipp and The Get Yourself Organized Project: 21 Steps to Less Mess and Stress

Unless you are a super-organized neat freak, you could probably use some help getting your life organized. Kathi’s book is aimed at helping you do just that, with practical solutions for home, family and personal life.

Kathi has a fun and encouraging writing style that will get you ready to get things in order. She doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but shares what has worked for her family. The book is packed with a variety of ideas that you can put into practice right away.

Today I’m sharing my purse organizing project. Here’s what you need to do:

Dump it out. Yep, just dump it all out on the table.

 

Sort the mess into three piles: Put Back (in the purse), Put Away and Trash

 

Add some organization by using zippered pouches. Here’s the finished product:

Now, it’s your turn.  Dump, sort and organize. If you want detailed instructions go to Kathi’s blog for a list of ideas for what to keep in the pouches.

Now, how about that giveaway?

  1. Clean out your purse and then go to Kathi Lipp’s blog and let her know you did it. And share the strangest thing you found!
  2. Go to Kathi’s Facebook Author page to post about it.

Do both on May 18th and you will be entered to win some fabulous prizes! One person will receive a Vera Bradley tote (left) filled with Kathi’s books, and 5 more will win a “My Husband is a Hottie” tote filled with all five of Kathi’s books.

 

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Apr 22 2012

Look what came in the mail!

This is Kathi Lipp’s latest book. I’m about half way through it. I’ll be writing a review and challenging all of you to join me on May 15th for National Clean Out Your Purse Day!

I’ll also have a copy of the book to share with one lucky commenter. There will be additional prizes available on Kathi’s site as part of the book launch and blog tour!

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Mar 7 2012

Home Organization: Controlling Paper

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I’m very excited to be starting the paper clutter portion of the organization challenge. I’ll admit it, I’m a pile maker.  I partially sort though and stack the “for later” pieces into piles and that’s where it stops, until I need something in a pile… I know I have it somewhere…no, not there…oh, where did I put that?

This week’s task is to set up a system to manage mail coming into your home.  Since we moved in three months ago patterns of life have started to develop so I can actually begin organizing in the new house.  Our mail gets dropped on the kitchen counter by myself or my husband.  Then it sits there until I decide to deal with it.

I started a good habit a couple of years ago reduce paper clutter. First off I sort as much of the mail as I can right when it comes into the house. I toss anything I don’t need into the recycling bin right away.  That goes for things like clothing catalogs and grocery ads.  If I’m not in the market to make a certain purchase I throw it out right away.  Why have the temptation of browsing the Lands End catalog when I really don’t need to buy anything, even if it’s on sale?

To help take action on incoming mail I purchased a small desk organizer to keep in the kitchen.  It’s Real Simple brand (LOVE that magazine) and it was on clearance for $10, down from $24 originally. In it I have placed stamps, paperclips, rubberbands, scissors, pens and highlighters.  It has two slots for papers, so I will put the incoming mail there, in an “action” group and “to file” group.

The instructions in the challenge suggested to set up a time and place to deal with action items and filing each week. For me, that will be downstairs in my office.  That’s where I have the rest of my desk items and files.  Now I just have to get into the habit of actually processing the paper every week.

 

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Feb 13 2012

Organized Home in 52 Weeks

As I was browsing Pinterest and came across this cool organizing blog Home Storage Solutions 101. The writer has set up a list of small organizational projects to be done one week at a time.  Small projects spread out over a year – this I can do!

I’ll be following along with the 52 Weeks To An Organized Home challenge and posting the results here. I invite you all to join me.  You can jump in any time – you don’t need to wait for January 1st .

My first week starts today: (it’s week 7 since the plan starts January 1) Organize Coupons

I have to say this is an easy one for me to start with since I already have a coupon binder. I’m actually on my third incarnation of the binder.  My first was too small so I moved it to a much better binder – a nice one with zipper around the side. Alas, that binder got lost on a shopping trip. So then I made my current binder, which is 3″ and lime green.

My original binder had about 30 categories, but I’ve found over time that I really don’t need that many. I’ve tried to move away from packaged and processed foods, so I really only need the following categories:

  • Dairy
  • Refrigerated & Produce
  • Freezer
  • Canned
  • General Grocery
  • Baking
  • Personal Care
  • Household
  • Target

Yes, I have a separate category just for Target coupons. I shop there for most of my household items (detergent, hand soap, etc.). I get a lot of those coupons from the register and also in the mail, so I like to keep those separate.

I also have started meal planning and bulk shopping, so I’m doing a lot of shopping at Costco, which doesn’t take coupons other than their own flyer.

The key to making couponing work is to spend the right amount of time on it. For me, that means an hour a week updating coupons and planning my shopping. I don’t use a lot of coupons, so time spent clipping a ton of coupons is not going to pay off at the store.

 

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Dec 27 2011
Pinterest_logo

Pinterest – A Distraction to Rival Facebook!

Have you heard of Pinterest?  It’s an online pin board where you can keep track of things you like from all over the web.  Instead of making endless folders in your browser favorites list, you can pin thumbnail size photos with links back to the original webpage.  You can customize the categories and add as many “boards” and “pins” as you like.

The fun of Pinterest comes in following other pinners. Much the way you “follow” people on Twitter, you can follow other pinners that you like. In the set-up process a new user chooses which topics to follow.  Things like arts and crafts, art, design, food & drink, gardening, cooking, etc.

Photo by: Taste of Home Acorn Treats Recipe

I have been thrilled with all of the ideas shared on Pinterest. I have found tons of fun recipes, craft ideas and DIY projects. I used an idea I found there to make candies for Thanksgiving that looked like little acorns.  They were fun and easy to make.

Photo by: The Farmer's Nest

The next projects I’m thinking of trying is making my own liquid hand soap. I love the smell of Mrs. Meyers products and this project allows you to make a gallon of it ($50 retail) for about $5. What a great savings!  I probably would have never found this blog if I hadn’t been for Pinterest.

I find that I’m spending less time on Facebook and more time browsing Pinterest.  At least it feels like I’m doing something productive when I’m gathering new ideas for recipes and crafts.

The one thing that is a bit irksome about Pinterest is that you need to be invited to join (kind of like Google+) or you go on a waiting list to be added. If you are interested and want an invite just email me at kerry@lesserhomesandgardens.com and I’ll invite you!  Happy pinning out there!

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