Some people have an all or nothing attitude.  They feel that if their house can’t be perfectly clean and organized, then there’s no sense in trying.  Rather than taking the clutter one pile at a time, they let it pile up and overwhelm them.  As promised, here are some tips for tackling the clutter.

1.  Commit to 15 minutes. Set the timer for 15 minutes and commit to work for that amount of time.  Give yourself permission to stop working when the timer buzzes.  This will help get you started and the time you’re working doesn’t seem so overwhelming.  This way …read more

Many people don’t get organized because they have an all or nothing attitude. They have unrealistic expectations that if they’re going to get organized, then everything must be perfect. There must be no clutter and everything must have it’s place. This is almost impossible, especially if you have children.

The all or nothing attitude results in piles of clutter throughout the home. The clutter and disorganization leads to feeling overwhelmed and trapped, which is definitely not good for your health. Rather than looking at organization as an all or nothing thing where you see failure try working on a compromise. 
While I …read more

Kitchens tend to be a dumping ground for everything.  We walk in the door and drop our keys, purse, mail, and shopping bags on the counter.  We put away the groceries and somewhere in our subconsciousness find it ok to leave the mail there.  Next thing we know, we have a few little items scattered throughout the room.  

I am guilty of disorganization in my kitchen.  I am trying to get better though.  Here are a few kitchen organizing tips.
1)  Put things away when you’re done using them.  If we did this with everything our lives would be so much cleaner …read more

Some friends of mine have confessed to me that they still have their kid’s baby toys.  Some still have the baby clothes.  These are people whose children are 8-12 years old.  Sure, I can understand hanging on to a *few* momentos.  The key word being “few”.  What I don’t understand is people that are hanging on to stuff just to have it.  It just doesn’t make any sense to me. 

I can hardly wait to get stuff out of my house.  I know that I have way too many posssessions, but if there’s something that I know I’m not going to …read more

After I started teaching school, it didn’t take me long to figure out that kids have lots of little pieces, parts, and do-dads for everything.  Whether it be flash cards, game pieces, craft supplies, or other whatchama diggers, you’ll be needing some kind of organization to keep these little parts from scattering all over the house or classroom.

While I have been fortunate enough to review some plastic organization bags, the cheapest, most frugal and earth-friendly choice is to reuse the plastic zipper bags that we get from purchasing bedding and other home accessories.  I have put to use all of the bags in …read more

Sometimes our houses can be clean, but they just don’t look clean.  Most of the time it’s due to clutter.  This is my issue today.  Does it ever go away?  With three young and active children, it seems I can barely keep up with the daily clutter.

Today it started when I went into the kid’s room to vacuum and tidy up a bit.  Next to my son’s bed was a basket where he keeps his stuffed animals and such.  I picked it up to vacuum and noticed it was mostly filled with small toys and books.  No doubt they were …read more

Long gone are my days of having a clean home.  All is takes is one child walking through the house and there will be scattered toys, dirt and leaves, or crumbs.  We love them all though and must find a way to make life a bit more organized. 
One of our main problem with toys was finding a place for all the little toys.  For a while we tried baskets.  I had a basket of cars, a basket of people, a basket of this and that.  The baskets were driving me up the wall.  I guess it would be fine if …read more

Got a few minutes to spare?  Talking on the phone?  Consider dumping out a kitchen drawer. 

Dump everything out of the drawer and sort it into three piles – throw away, put back, and put away.  Wipe out the drawer.  Come on, get those fuzz balls out of there.  Put back items to keep, throw out the trash, shred any personal papers, and put away things that were out of place.
How long did this take?  Probably just a few minutes.  It’s amazing how we let things go sometimes.  A small project like this one helps keep the house in order and …read more

Do you struggle with the constant clutter in your house?  Are you looking for strategies and tips to help you through it?
Tonight, there is a free teleclass from Messies Anonymous.  You simply have to call in to take part in the class.  Thrifty Mommy has more details.
image by Karen

One of the challenges of decluttering is knowing where to start. Often, the task is so overwhelming that it’s easier to just throw up one’s hands and give up, before even starting.
I have learned that it doesn’t really matter where I start decluttering. The important thing is that I do, one small task or area at a time. I’ve subscribed to the daily reminders from Menus4Moms. The name of the website is a little misleading. They offer help in putting together weekly menus and meal ideas, but the site is not limited to that. One of their most …read more