| Home Management Tips "Organizing" "Order is the beauty of the home." Our God is the God of order. So, we in creating our homes should employ order in all we do. That may seem like a monumental task. Perhaps one that you may have given up on! Well, let us break it down in small steps... This week: TIP #1 (if you have not already)- Take down all of your holiday decorations. Some of you may celebrate the traditional holiday of Epiphany and may want to wait until after January the 6th. Now I know that you most likely will be doing this anyway (unless you are one of the few that keeps Christmas lights displayed year round or maybe does not get to the Christmas decorations until Easter time). But this year, act with a fresh perspective. Make yourself an enjoyable drink and play some fun music during the task. As you wrap and pack remember the sweet moments of your holiday, try taking your time (I say this because before I would always rush to just get it done), carefully mark the date on any new or newly made tree ornaments (you will appreciate this in a few years when you can read which child made THAT ornament when), vacuuming and dusting as you go (those pine needles get everywhere! I try to be thorough and still find a few under rugs in July.), marking the boxes for storage by room placement and/or contents. When you are finished, enjoy your clean home (remember you vacuumed and dusted as you went?) Enjoy the barrenness of the SPACE. Do not look at those now seemingly bare walls as bleak but empty with room for possibilty....maybe a space for a new picture this year that you will paint or perhaps remaining bare to give your eyes a needed rest. Enjoy the completed work. Rest a moment and think of the possibilities of the New Year ahead. |
Tip #2- Tame the Paper Beast
Go through ALL paper piles that have accumulated in your home! Does this seem like
a monumental task? Select one area (such as your bill file or magazine rack) and do that
one area. Every day pick another one until the Paper Beast has been reduced to a docile,
manageable pet. This is the perfect time of year as you will have to get your tax info in
order anyway.
I have found the best way to keep the Paper Beast at bay is to open my mail beside the
garbage can! That way I immediately pitch any unwanted catalogues and solicitations. I
DO enjoy buying from catalogues. The marketing companies try to take advantage and
must put me on their mailing lists. In one day I have received 12 catalogues! Do you
realize the space that takes up (including garbage space)? So when I am standing by my
garbage I pitch the ones that I do not want or do not want to be tempted by. The others
are saved for later perusal.
I also keep a decorative wooden box on my counter (near the garbage) which holds files
in which I can immediately place sorted mail. Each file is titled something as "Bills for
Home", Caleb's school info, Hannah's dance info, "Important Papers", also files for our
other businesses. After the bills are paid the receipts are put into another filing system.
This has been a great way to keep these papers organized; as long as I do it!
Magazines are another wonderful commodity of information, encouragement and
entertainment but can metamorphose into a dormant Paper Beast overflowing baskets,
racks, or wherever you place your magazines. Monthly or seasonally I sort through my
magazines; keep only the ones that especially of value to me. A note here: I have kept
magazines in the past because there was ONE recipe or web-site that I wanted to use as a
resource later. The mishap is that I would forget that resource was in that particular
magazine and it would never get accessed. So now when I read through a magazine I clip
recipes and write any web-sites or companies that I want to research in a notebook.
I imagine that bills, junk mail, catalogues, and magazines make up the body of the Paper
Beast in your home as well as mine. Besides these you may also find that your
sentimental articles such as your children's drawings, cards, notes, your daughter's dance
recital program, the Funeral Service Memorial of a loved one can also be WANTED
paper articles in which you are at a loss of where to place them. An idea is to purchase
those pretty decorative paper/cardboard boxes at your local craft store and use them
solely for these sentimental treasures. Another idea is to have a "Scrapbook" folder or box
in which everything gets placed until your are able to place them in.
Be brave! Taming the Paper Beast takes consistent effort. But the pay back is amazing.
You will be able to think more clearly and FEEL more at ease knowing that piles of
unsorted papers are not beckoning your attention!
Go through ALL paper piles that have accumulated in your home! Does this seem like
a monumental task? Select one area (such as your bill file or magazine rack) and do that
one area. Every day pick another one until the Paper Beast has been reduced to a docile,
manageable pet. This is the perfect time of year as you will have to get your tax info in
order anyway.
I have found the best way to keep the Paper Beast at bay is to open my mail beside the
garbage can! That way I immediately pitch any unwanted catalogues and solicitations. I
DO enjoy buying from catalogues. The marketing companies try to take advantage and
must put me on their mailing lists. In one day I have received 12 catalogues! Do you
realize the space that takes up (including garbage space)? So when I am standing by my
garbage I pitch the ones that I do not want or do not want to be tempted by. The others
are saved for later perusal.
I also keep a decorative wooden box on my counter (near the garbage) which holds files
in which I can immediately place sorted mail. Each file is titled something as "Bills for
Home", Caleb's school info, Hannah's dance info, "Important Papers", also files for our
other businesses. After the bills are paid the receipts are put into another filing system.
This has been a great way to keep these papers organized; as long as I do it!
Magazines are another wonderful commodity of information, encouragement and
entertainment but can metamorphose into a dormant Paper Beast overflowing baskets,
racks, or wherever you place your magazines. Monthly or seasonally I sort through my
magazines; keep only the ones that especially of value to me. A note here: I have kept
magazines in the past because there was ONE recipe or web-site that I wanted to use as a
resource later. The mishap is that I would forget that resource was in that particular
magazine and it would never get accessed. So now when I read through a magazine I clip
recipes and write any web-sites or companies that I want to research in a notebook.
I imagine that bills, junk mail, catalogues, and magazines make up the body of the Paper
Beast in your home as well as mine. Besides these you may also find that your
sentimental articles such as your children's drawings, cards, notes, your daughter's dance
recital program, the Funeral Service Memorial of a loved one can also be WANTED
paper articles in which you are at a loss of where to place them. An idea is to purchase
those pretty decorative paper/cardboard boxes at your local craft store and use them
solely for these sentimental treasures. Another idea is to have a "Scrapbook" folder or box
in which everything gets placed until your are able to place them in.
Be brave! Taming the Paper Beast takes consistent effort. But the pay back is amazing.
You will be able to think more clearly and FEEL more at ease knowing that piles of
unsorted papers are not beckoning your attention!
Tip #3- Clean out your refridgerator, freezer, and
cupboards
The tip for this week is really a great one! It is to use up all of the food in your
cupboards and freezer. Do you do this? Or are you like me and tend to leave a turkey
breast forgotten in the back of my freezer? About once every season I like to go
through my pantry and freezer and take stock....I then plan our meals to use everything
up. It is such a great feeling that the perishables are being consumed. I have a girlfriend
that especially loves empy cupboards that she fills weekly. Her frugality prompts her to
only buy what she will use that week. I am of the sort that if I see something on sale I
grab a couple for future use. Having two refridgerators/freezers plus a full size freezer
lots of goods can get stored away. However, I do try every season to go through my
stuffs as I am suggesting to make sure everything gets rotated and consumed.
This week I found that I had five bottles of Chili sauce! There is one
particular chicken recipe that my family enjoys in which the chili sauce is
crucial. When I see that item in the grocery store I pick one bottle up so that I
have it on hand if needed. But I don't need five at once! (I also found 6 cans
of mandarin oranges, three bottles of A1 sauce and 4 bottles of chili sauce. It
is fine to stock up on items but it would take a while for our family to go
through these.)
So grab a notebook and pen and head to your kitchen. Make a list of
what frozen meats that you have. Then go to your cupboards and make a list of
canned and dry goods that you use to make meals and desserts. Use this list to plan
your future meals. You will be so happy that your food stuffs are getting eaten!
cupboards
The tip for this week is really a great one! It is to use up all of the food in your
cupboards and freezer. Do you do this? Or are you like me and tend to leave a turkey
breast forgotten in the back of my freezer? About once every season I like to go
through my pantry and freezer and take stock....I then plan our meals to use everything
up. It is such a great feeling that the perishables are being consumed. I have a girlfriend
that especially loves empy cupboards that she fills weekly. Her frugality prompts her to
only buy what she will use that week. I am of the sort that if I see something on sale I
grab a couple for future use. Having two refridgerators/freezers plus a full size freezer
lots of goods can get stored away. However, I do try every season to go through my
stuffs as I am suggesting to make sure everything gets rotated and consumed.
This week I found that I had five bottles of Chili sauce! There is one
particular chicken recipe that my family enjoys in which the chili sauce is
crucial. When I see that item in the grocery store I pick one bottle up so that I
have it on hand if needed. But I don't need five at once! (I also found 6 cans
of mandarin oranges, three bottles of A1 sauce and 4 bottles of chili sauce. It
is fine to stock up on items but it would take a while for our family to go
through these.)
So grab a notebook and pen and head to your kitchen. Make a list of
what frozen meats that you have. Then go to your cupboards and make a list of
canned and dry goods that you use to make meals and desserts. Use this list to plan
your future meals. You will be so happy that your food stuffs are getting eaten!
Tip #4- Clean out and organize your lazy-susan, corner
cupboard, or that area in which you keep spices and baking supplies.
Winter is the best time to saturate your home with the fresh, delicious smells of
baked goods. Having your spices where you know you can access them is essential.
Dried spices last a long time but not forever; so be sure to pitch any that you think
may have lost their potency. Arranging them alphabetically may make them easier to
find. But if you think that thought is too over-the-top just sort them out!
cupboard, or that area in which you keep spices and baking supplies.
Winter is the best time to saturate your home with the fresh, delicious smells of
baked goods. Having your spices where you know you can access them is essential.
Dried spices last a long time but not forever; so be sure to pitch any that you think
may have lost their potency. Arranging them alphabetically may make them easier to
find. But if you think that thought is too over-the-top just sort them out!
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TIP #5- As I think about what to suggest with you more and more ideas of
organizing keep coming to me. Just as I was pondering the amount of areas in our
homes that need organizing I had a conversation with a friend. She said that after
having a baby three months ago she has found it helpful to keep order in her
home by concentrating on one small area a day. Maybe it is one drawer in her
kitchen. She may only accomplish getting that one drawer of utensils sorted and
cleaned out but she nows that she is one drawer closer to her goal! (Though we all
know that just when she gets everything in order she will have to begin again!) But we
want to keep our focus on small, consistent accomplishments.
So for the next several weeks I am going to suggest some areas that I find seem to
clutter quite quickly and some never regain order except with conscious proactive
effort.
This week's TIP- Clean out your medicine cabinet. Has flu season hit your
house? If so you may find lots of half used bottles of cough syrup lying around your
house. We keep that medicine in our kitchen but inevitably some bottles travel to
the upstairs for "before bed" dosages. When I went through and actually found what
we had I was shocked. Besides cough syrups we had many almost empty boxes of
decongestants, etc. that I was able to combine, not to mention pitching the expired
medicines. All of this sorting made for much more space. Wipe the inside of your
cupboards and medicine cabinets while you are sorting too!
organizing keep coming to me. Just as I was pondering the amount of areas in our
homes that need organizing I had a conversation with a friend. She said that after
having a baby three months ago she has found it helpful to keep order in her
home by concentrating on one small area a day. Maybe it is one drawer in her
kitchen. She may only accomplish getting that one drawer of utensils sorted and
cleaned out but she nows that she is one drawer closer to her goal! (Though we all
know that just when she gets everything in order she will have to begin again!) But we
want to keep our focus on small, consistent accomplishments.
So for the next several weeks I am going to suggest some areas that I find seem to
clutter quite quickly and some never regain order except with conscious proactive
effort.
This week's TIP- Clean out your medicine cabinet. Has flu season hit your
house? If so you may find lots of half used bottles of cough syrup lying around your
house. We keep that medicine in our kitchen but inevitably some bottles travel to
the upstairs for "before bed" dosages. When I went through and actually found what
we had I was shocked. Besides cough syrups we had many almost empty boxes of
decongestants, etc. that I was able to combine, not to mention pitching the expired
medicines. All of this sorting made for much more space. Wipe the inside of your
cupboards and medicine cabinets while you are sorting too!