7 Days to an Organized Home

I love organizing however, it takes a backseat to family vacations, family time, exercise fun, ball games, mom's taxi service and volleyball games. Not to mention all the normal mom things we do like fix meals, laundry, volunteer in school, church service and callings, run things to school when we get that "I forgot"... phone call, the list goes on and on.

I like flylady at flylady.com, but her method is very slow and methodical. I don't work that way. When I make up my mind to do something I want it done now, not over the course of 3 months. That is me and I know a few others who would agree. Here I present Day 1 of my PRE-flylady 7 day challenge to organizing the home. After I finish with this I feel I can keep up on everything following a plan like flylady.com.

Organizing is like a fresh spring breath after a long winter. It rejuvenates me and makes me feel so much better. Those of you who enjoy organizing know what I mean.

Why organize?
     1. To dejunk: Old clothes, shoes, craft supplies, bikes and papers add up quickly to extra junk without a place if we don't manage it. Always organize with a donation and throw out garbage bag near. My personal rule is if I haven't used it in 18 months it goes.
     2. To find space: As more stuff accumulates we have less and less space in which to put it. Our homes become crammed and cluttered until we organize.
     3. Mental wellness (this one is for me): Just knowing that everything is clean and has a spot helps me sleep at night.
     4. To gain time: This is such an important reason. When everything has a spot and we know where that spot is, we are quickly able to pull out needed items rather than searching for what we need. Camping? Biking? School Project? Birthday? No problem. We pick up precious time this way.

DAY 1

Today start with your filing cabinets, budgets and paper areas of your home. In preparation for today be sure to have a shredder near by and a garbage bag (or 3 in my case). Open up a filing cabinet and go to town. I went through all my receipts, papers, bills, taxes, feel good things I was holding on to, everything paper. Shred sensitive documents that are no longer needed and throw away anything else that is there without a specific purpose.

There are many apps that allow the user to snap a photo of the receipt and store it digitally. What a wonderful thing. No need to hold on to those receipts any longer. Some of these apps are: Receipt Organizer for $0.99, and Foreceipt Daily Expense Tracker for FREE. Many different apps are available. Do a simple search for receipt organizer in your app store.

After throwing everthing I don't need away, I went through my filing cabinet and saw that I had a working folder for budget, taxes, receipts, insurance information, important papers, each child, on-going projects and so on. I have a space near the back door for the kids homework papers and those that need immediate attention. (Photos of that to come later this week) File your papers away in the appropriate files. Done for today.