1, 2, 3 Tidy! Quick Tips For an Organized Home

It doesn’t matter if you are a working mom or not, organizing your home can be a daunting challenge.  Whether daily or weekend cleaning is your strong suit, it seems the harder you work, the more clutter you find, especially if you have children. Here are some quick tips for an organized home.

1. If your children attend school, prepare their lunches at night. This will save lots of time in the morning rush.
2. Use a magnetic board; place it on your refrigerator, and list the food items you will need for your next shopping trip to the supermarket.
3. Buy some jumbo storage boxes to organize your closet. Add some additional hangers that support more than one piece of clothing. Some of the home shopping clubs offer space saver hangars and storage units which are affordable, and can turn any closet into an efficient space-saving unit.
4. Get rid of the piles of magazines, newspapers, and advertisements which have been accumulating in your home. Keep the current issues, and throw out the rest.
5. Organize your kitchen cabinets, and line them with Con-Tact paper.  Your cabinets will be easier to clean by simply using a damp sponge.
6. Throw out anything outdated from your medicine cabinet. If you also have a bathroom cabinet, line it with Con-Tact as well, and re-arrange the items inside.
7. Do you have jewelry scattered on top of your bedroom furniture. Purchase a jewelry box containing several drawers. You’ll never lose that earring again!
8. Encourage your children to clean their rooms.  Develop a reward system which will not only give them an incentive, but will teach them to be responsible for their clothes and toys. Buy different colored storage boxes for their toys!
9. Arrange all of your cleaning supplies in a closet or basement. Use hooks to hang brooms, dusters, and mops. If you have a few shelves, place all of your cleaning detergents, light bulbs and other household items on them.  This is not only a good organizational method, but you’ll find everything you need in one place.
10. Buy a CD rack and place all of the scattered CDs into one space. Perhaps a unit combining CDs and DVDs would be more suitable.

When your home is organized, you not only feel better but seem to be able to accomplish more, right?

Learn to Cook for the Week Ahead and Save Both Time and Money

Okay, so you’ve worked hard to get your home organized and you’ve developed some strong skills to use at the office as well.  You might be thinking you have it all covered at home since your pantry is organized immaculately and everything in your kitchen has its place.  It doesn’t change the fact that you’re still busy working all day and driving kids to practice, running errands or taking care of your household in the evenings.  Another thing you can learn to do to simplify your life is to plan your meals and cook in advance.

Meal planning and bulk cooking are both wonderful techniques you can utilize and modify to fit your families needs. The idea behind this is simple. The principle is that you cook and or prepare your meals ahead of time and then preserve them by either freezing refrigerating them. It can also help stretch your food budget dollar further, since you can cook one large meal and get two or three other meals from it with the proper planning.

Start by writing down a list of your favorite meals and plan on preparing a grocery list that will coincide with your menu. Since you’re learning to cook in bulk, your shopping list will have to change accordingly so you’re sure to have enough ingredients on hand when the time comes to do the cooking.

The most important tool in meal planning and bulk cooking is your freezer. Freezer bags are a great space saver if you have a small freezer.  You can fit many in the same space of a few storage containers.  Be sure to incorporate lots of quick and easy meals that your family can warm up and serve themselves in the event you’re not able to be at home for dinner or you just need to grab something that’s quick.

You’ll also learn to love your slow cooker.  Experiment with different recipes and variations on your favorites.  They also make easy work of cooking whole chickens or roasts which can be frozen or refrigerated for later use very easily.

You’re only limited by your own imagination when cooking in bulk for the week ahead.  Factor in the time you save by not having to do a lot of after dinner cleanup or dishes, and you’ll be glad you took the time to master this important organizational skill.