Category: Organization

Organization

Secret Places to Clean More Often

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Secret Places to Clean More Often

Have some extra time to tidy up? Here are a few places that I like to clean that can make a big impact. These are typically the most neglected areas so be prepared to really dig in.

  1. Buttons in the Car
  2. Behind the Sink Faucet
  3. Handrails
  4. Cosmetics
  5. Baseboards
  6. Hair Brushes
  7. Toothbrushes
  8. Shower Head
  9. Under the Faucet
  10. Ice Box
  11. Computer
  12. Lightswitches
  13. Doorknobs
  14. All the nooks and crannies in the stairs
Organization

Keeping a Simple Home

by MinutewithMandyLeave a Comment on Keeping a Simple Home
Keeping a Simple Home

I like simple. I don’t like clutter. Here is my list of things I think you should have in every room of your home along with a few room decoration rules that I try to follow.

Rules:

  • Make it cute, but functional
  • Have a focal point
  • Hide the icky, the extra and the sticky (meaning messy)
  • Carry through color
  • Make it you, let your personality show
  • Always have extra… but don’t let it perplex ya (I know, I’m a dork)
  • Large trashcan on each floor
  • One “donate” container on each floor
  • One portable cleaning bucket/station

In every room you should have: 

  • Plants or fresh flowers (or you can settle for fake flowers)
  • Special memory
  • Book
  • Clock
  • Candle

Entry way / mud room

  • Keep most worn shoes and coats in a warm room no matter what

Living Room (where your main TV is located)

  • Adjustable lighting options (twinkly romantic lights, blinds to open, floor lamp and ceiling light)

Bedrooms

  • Sheet sets that match (then get rid of all the other random sheets)
  • Nice matching hangers
  • Blanket boxes/bins

Bathrooms

  • White towels
  • White shower curtain

Storage

  • Family yearbook
  • Matching waterproof containers with easy to read labels

More tips to come!

  • Garage
  • Basement
  • Office
  • Emergency Kit
  • Kitchen
  • Dining Room
Organization

My Everything Binder

by MinutewithMandyLeave a Comment on My Everything Binder
My Everything Binder

I have one binder that I keep all of the important paper items I need in that stays out, Everything else gets sorted, filed, or trashed.

Here is what I keep in my “Everything Binder”

  • Birth Certificates
  • Social Security Cards
  • Most Recent Bills
  • Titles
  • List of All Addresses (if someone moves and gives me their new address, I stash it in the folder and update my master list once a year)
  • Stamps
  • Grocery Coupons
  • Retail Coupons
  • List of Passwords, Usernames and Bank Accounts

What do you use all the time that you would include in your binder?

Organization

Lazy Girl Cleaning Routine

by MinutewithMandyLeave a Comment on Lazy Girl Cleaning Routine
Lazy Girl Cleaning Routine

I am crazy when it comes to keeping a clean home.

Here are a few of the super-easy tips and tricks I have tried and loved!!

  • Clorox Toilet Bowl Gel Cleaner: I use this stuff all over the place
    • Around the edges of the tub (I let it sit for a while on really icky spots)
    • In the toilet… duh!
    • Around the edge of the sink where all the nasties like to hang out
    • In my mop water
  • Have Big Storage Containers. Never Small.
    • Big storage containers are great because you can shove the big clunky items in them along with the little stuff. If you start getting a lot of little storage baskets, you start to get clutter.
  • Give This Minimalism Thing a Try.
    • Go through your entire house top to bottom, don’t skip a drawer, closet, bin, envelope, nook or cranny and get rid of anything you don’t use at least twice a month. Every item you don’t have is an item you don’t have to clean, sort, organize.
  • Mix Dawn Dish Soap and Jet Dry and use it to clean:
    • Shower (no more water spots)
    • Faucets – look SO shiny
    • Mirror in the Shower
Organization

Master Planning Calendar

by MinutewithMandyLeave a Comment on Master Planning Calendar
Master Planning Calendar

I have what I call a “master calendar” that I use when I update my calendar from year to year. This saves me hours of time when compiling information for my calendar for the next year.

It also takes away the anxiety of facing the day to day “we forgot to…insert random monthly chore here”. 

When I first realized that having to pull everything together every year was repetitive, annoying, and preventable – I decided to take action.

For one full year, I kept a calendar and wrote down all of my to-do’s, Birthdays that showed up in conversation, or on Facebook. Below is a list of all the items that I included in my date journal. Each year, I use my master calendar from the year before to write in all of the following information so I know when it needs to get done.

  • Anniversaries
  • Bill Due Dates
  • Birthdays
  • Car Maintenance
  • Dates my Company is Closed
  • Dates of Fun Family Traditions
  • Dates that Important People Passed
  • Dentist Appointments
  • Doctors Appointments
  • Eye Appointments
  • Haircuts
  • Lease Renewals
  • License Plates
  • Monthly Goals
  • Monthly Home Maintenance
  • Pay Check Dates
  • Paycheck Dates
  • Prescription Renewal Dates
  • Tax Due Dates
  • Vacation Dates
  • Vet Appointments
  • When to Plant Items in My Garden