Your home’s entry is the next thing people see after they walk up to your home. Think of it as curb appeal… but for the inside.

This is Lou Manfredini, Ace’s “Helpful Hardware Man,” and if you came to my house about six months ago you would have found a pile of shoes, which my four children seem to think belong right by the door. I found that having a place designated to store things gives you a better chance that they will actually get put away. If you have the space, place a bench that has some shoe storage in it so you can create a safe haven for some of the clutter that comes through the front door. These benches come in many sizes and a range of prices; in my opinion, the smallest size for effectiveness is about four feet long. A unit this size allows you to store about six pairs of shoes and also offers you a place to sit when putting them on. We placed a five-foot unit in my home’s entryway and I have actually seen my children put their shoes back in the cubbies! Our unit also has small drawers where gloves and hats (and sometimes loose change) can also be found.

If you can’t find a unit in your price range that fits your needs, get creative: Convert an old bookshelf – or an inexpensive new bookshelf – into an entryway storage unit by adding baskets or colorful totes to help keep backpacks, homework and other items neatly organized and out of sight. Or add bins below a plain bench, install a few hooks overhead to hold coats and keys and you’ve got yourself a custom entryway! A coat rack or coat tree can also keep things organized and neat. Look for one that also has umbrella storage in the center. Any piece you choose should serve multiple purposes, because the last thing you want in an entryway is too much furniture or too many obstructions.

If you are entertaining this holiday season, consider using foldable coat racks that you can place in the living room for guests to hang their coats on. These racks keep guests from going upstairs to lay their coats on your bed, which means one less room to keep clean.

What inexpensive ways can you make your entryway more appealing?

image Ace Hardware

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

The filing system shown above a great system to use if you’re only using The Grocery Game.  I definitely like the convenience of the system.  The big problem is, I’m missing out on saving money on unadvertised specials, close-outs, and triple coupon sales.  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been in a store and seen an unadvertised special or close-out item.  I know I have a coupon for the item, but since the coupons are not clipped, I have to search through all the inserts and hope to find what I need.

Finally I have switched to a new coupon organizing system!

I am now using the coupon organizer inserts from Smart Spending Resources.  The coupon organizer inserts fit into a regular 3-ring binder which sits on your grocery cart allowing you to flip through the binder and find the coupons you need.  A few things I like about this system from Smart Spending Resources:

1)  The coupons can be easily viewed.
2) The tabs are neat and professionally printed.
3) You can easily find coupons you need for unadvertised specials, close-outs, and triple coupon deals.
4) The system is neat and keeps loose coupons under control.
5) The system is expandable. More pages can easily be added to each section as needed.

A few tips for those who are interested in this system:
1) Be sure to buy an oversized 3-ring binder. I bought a regular binder and I mine is slipping around on the cart. I plan to pick up a larger binder the next time I go to the store. It will make couponing so much easier.
2) I would recommend purchases extra insert pages.
3) You might want to consider buying a zipper pencil pouch for your binder. I purchased one and will use it to put coupons I know that I will be using or to store my pen and calculator.

As always, I try to provide an honest product review, so I will tell you that this system is a lot more time consuming than my previous method.  I feel that the savings will be worth my time though.  As I’ve told you all before . . . Time is Money but Money is Time.

Have you tried the binder organizing system?

top image (c) Karen Weideman, bottom image (c) Smart Spending Resources

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Before

Then I got some help

Then I got heaven on earth!

Hope you enjoyed my conquest! I know I am.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

The place where we will be living will be significantly smaller than the house we live in now.  We don’t really need all the possessions that we have.  It’s just very time consuming and painful (sometimes) to sort through everything and to make decisions to part with items. 

The hardest items for me to part with are my teaching items.  I have taught for about 8-9 years (I’ve lost count, lol).  As you can imagine, I’ve collected quite a bit of curriculum, craft supplies, musical instruments, math manipulatives, children’s books, and other things along the way.  If I go back to teaching, I’m not sure which grade I’ll be teaching.  Some of the items I have are expensive and hard to come by.  I’m determined though to see this through and to make some sacrifices.

The picture above shows the boxes for my moving sale.  Trust me, this is only a small portion of what will be in the sale.  Sad, I know.  I already have about 10 boxes of things ready.  We will be selling furniture, children’s clothes, children’s books, toys, books, knicknacks, and so much more! 

This picture is of the other side of my basement. 

I can’t believe I’m being this vulnerable and showing you my mess!  Notice this picture is not displayed on the front page of Thrifty Mommy.    This mess is a result of being a mom that is stretched thin.  I have a 2 and 4 year old.  Getting down to my basement and working is not easy!!!!  I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I have started sorting through our things to have a kid at the top of the stairs screaming or crying and shaking the gate.  Now we have no gate, so they just come down there with me.  I’ll put stuff in the yard sale pile and they’ll start pulling it back out.  “Why are you getting rid of this?  What’s this for?”  Ahhhhh!  If only I could afford a sitter.  :sigh: 

This messy project is for this coming week.  Wish me luck! What are you tackling?

images by Karen 

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I had my photo boxes and I was all set to go.  But then I saw that tote of photos, the photo albums, the envelopes of somewhat assorted and organized photos and walked away.  I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.  What a daunting task!

Last night, I finally got up enough courage to begin the huge task of organizing the photos.  The thought of moving into another home with this unorganized mess really bothered me. 

I’m on my way to getting the job done, but it’s not an easy one since I have no real work space other than my kitchen counter.  I’m honestly afraid to work at the kitchen table because I have very curious 2 and 4 year olds in the house. 

So, this is what I’m doing – sorting photos, separating doubles to disperse between the grandparents, sorting negatives, and all that stuff.  No more putting photos in bags or leaving them in the envelopes from the store.  What a job it is!!!!!  Thankfully, now that I finally have my own digital camera, I’m just saving the pictures to cd.  I have to wonder though . . . is my second child going to be upset that all of his pictures are on cd and not in print?  Just one of the concerns in the back of my mind.  I’m sure it will be fine. 

What are you tackling?

Tackle it Tuesday is at 5 Minutes for Mom.

photo by Karen

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

•  The foyer as you walk in
• The kitchen table
• The desk
• Your nightstand
• That corner of the kid’s room that never gets played with
• The kitchen counter
• The stair ( I love to put things on the top of the stair that need to go to the basement but never get there)
• The table where you have pictures
• The bathroom counter
• Your car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• The hall closet (OK, I have more than 10)

So go and pick one area today to take care of and clean it!  Hopefully it won’t take you too long.  Set your timer for 15 minutes and then stop.  You will be surprised at how much you will get done.

So what is your hotspot?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Last week I let you in on 10 organizing & decluttering tips, so this week I want to tell you about these great organizing bags by The Lazy Organizer.  There are 5 sizes to choose from, ranging from teeny tiny to extra large.  Each bag has a black handle, strong nylon coil zipper, and durable vinyl window so that you can see what’s inside.  Click here to see Lara’s organizing bag website.

A few weeks ago, I received one of each bag to try.  I have found a great use for the teeny tiny bag.  We have a small hair trimmer with some tiny attachments.  The hair trimmer and all its tiny pieces fit perfectly inside the bag.  I put it away in the bathroom cabinet and now I won’t have to worry about losing all the pieces. 

I really like the size of the large bag.  I am using it to keep coloring books, crayons, stencils, and blank paper.  I keep it in the car and whenever we go into a restaurant we take it with us.  It has also come in handy at church a few times.  No more messing with a tote bag with stuff hanging out or it getting dumped out while sliding around in the car.  (Ugh, that’s bringing back memories!)  My kids can zip and upzip the sturdy bag themselves. 

I was noticing Sunday that my glove compartment in my van has stuff falling of it every time we open it.  I think I am going to use the small or medium bag to organize my glove compartment and help my sanity.  lol

The teeny tiny bag is great for storing receipts in your purse or all those annoying cards you get from stores.  Or store your hair trimmer, like I did.

I confess that these pictures are from Lara’s website.  My camera card quit working.    Check out Lara’s site to see how you can get these cool bags.

Tell me what you think.  Do you think these are neat?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy