What's In Our Pool Bag

We've been to the pool more so far this summer than we have in summers past. Both kids just completed swim lessons at a local university and we've had a few pool playdates with friends who are either members of a pool or who have a pool. Yay for water fun in this crazy hot weather we've had lately!

To get both kids (and myself) ready for a day of pool fun, it takes a big ol' bag of supplies. Here's what I've been using this summer.

The bag: my trusty Lands End Natural Canvas Tote (medium) and it's only $20 right now! I also use this for some car trips. I still have to carry some a towel or some floats in my arms (or make the kids do it), but I don't want to have a tote that is way to big to handle/store. 

The brush: My little lady has long, wavy/curly hair. I braid it for the pool but it's still an ordeal to get it combed after rinsing. I read about this Wet Brush in two magazines recently and got on Amazon and ordered it right away. AMAZING! No more crying after pool/bath because I'm pulling her hair out trying to get it combed. And I had to get purple, her new favorite color. 

The towels: We use normally just use their Disney towels that the kids received as gifts a few years ago, personalized with their names. 

The sunscreen: We had previously used whatever I could find on sale, since we use so much. But this year, when we first applied sunscreen for a long day outside, both kids broke out in a rash all over their bodies. The same sunscreen we had used last summer without issue. So we switched to Babyganics Mineral-Based Baby Sunscreen and they haven't had any issues yet. 

The goggles: Because what kid likes to swim without goggles? We had some cheap Speed goggles (as shown above) that we got in a two pack at Costco last summer, but both kids wanted swim masks that covered their noses as well. So I found these at Target this week and they love them. The fit is great and they are easy to adjust. 

There are a few other things I always pack in our swim bag. I always pack a big water bottle full of ice water, a pack of gum (for me), and their Puddle Jumpers even though I'm trying to get my little lady confident enough to swim without hers. 

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How do you enjoy pool time with the kids? 

(*This post contains affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.) 

Thoughts on Daily Rituals and Containing Chaos

I just finished reading Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey last night. It was a fun and easy read consisting of one to two page articles on different creatives (architects, writers, painters, composers, etc) and how they work.

Did they sleep in or get up early? Did they nap? How did they eat? Who was involved in their creative process? Where did they work?

The last artist featured was Bernard Malamud. I haven't read any of his works. From all accounts, he was disciplined and developed rituals that enabled his creative work. When asked by an interviewer about his rituals, he explained that discipline is key, but that you are who you are, even developing the best of habits won't turn you into someone else. What struck me was this:

"Eventually everyone learns his or her own best way. The real mystery is to crack you."

These words have been sitting with me. He was specifically referring to writers, and possibly other creatives. While I have always enjoyed creative pursuits, I am far from an artist. I dabble in hobby crafts. At best.

But when am I going to crack the mystery of me?

What I am trying to find my best way in is my home and my family. In being a better person. Since the beginning of the school year this year, I have felt off, run ragged, like I'm failing. I can't get up early enough or stay up late enough to do X or Y. My house is always a wreck, and my kitchen counter always covered by a mountain of paper and random items left, en route to another location. Eventually.

Projects left half finished, stuff piling up everywhere.

The mystery I'm trying to crack is me. What am I doing to make this better? Make it worse? What is making me tired? Is it me? Is the problem me? Is the solution me?

Is the self-centered nature of my inquiry the problem? ...

The few disciplined actions that I do engage in have helped with the feeling of chaos.

Using a planner helps. I have to write it down or I will forget about it, and I prefer paper. For a few weeks, I was forgetting to turn in library books on time. A minor thing, I know, but it was making me crazy to fail at something so small. Our library even sends out email reminders before the books are due. No reason to ever forget. And the library is conveniently located between our house and the kids' school. No reason to not return them. I just didn't. Now I write in my planner on the day books are due "X books due". Then I can look on the app or on my email and see which ones. Hooray for progress, albeit tiny.

Getting up earlier than everyone else helps. If I can start the day prepared, then I feel better. (See my post on managing mornings with kids for more tips on being prepared for the day ahead.) But with darker and colder mornings, I'm pretty much kissing that goodbye until spring.

Not procrastinating helps. I am the queen procrastinator. When I was a kid, I would clean out individual drawers before cleaning piles of clothes or toys covering my bedroom floor. Surprisingly, not much has changed there. So now I try to act the first time. Open mail and shred, recycle, pay the bill. Move an article of clothing not from one chair to the next, but from a chair to a hamper or a drawer or the closet. On a hanger. I'm not doing this 100% of the time, but when I do it even some, it helps so much. Touch it once.

I'm trying not to panic before the holiday whirlwind starts, but every day life feels like a lot right now.

Does everyone feel this way this time of year? Most of the time? How do you manage the chaos? What daily rituals do you have to help make your day and your work-- creative or otherwise-- better? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

(*This post contains affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.)

Organization: Managing Mornings with Kids

Internal dialogue before 2 pm yesterday, my girl's first day of school: What on earth was I thinking getting back into blogging NOW? It's been a long day and it's not over yet. 9 am carline, errands with my sweet boy, 12 pm carline, home for lunch, 1:30 nap for sweet boy, 4:15 dance class (why did I schedule anything for Monday?), home for dinner (which I have to make so we can eat)... eat dinner, clean up dinner, kids to bed... Whew.

The only way to manage the chaos is to be organized. I'm good at planning and I'm fairly good at execution-- with the assistance of my little friends, caffeine and chocolate.

Five tips for an organized before-school morning 

1) Clean up the night before. (I do this 20% of the time. Goals, people.) If you're anything like me, you're physically exhausted by the end of the day. I'm moving most of the day, cleaning, picking up toys, going up and down the stairs half a million times. By the time the kids are all cozy in their beds, I am DONE.

But I'm trying to be better about picking up before we go to bed. Load the dishwasher, clear the sink, wipe the counters. I try to think of it as minimizing chaos for myself in the morning by setting the stage for breakfast and final school preparations.

2) Use a planner or some other calendar (like the one on your phone or Google Calendar) and record every school date as soon as you get notice of it. (My Type A self is all over this one.) Then you can toss the original sheet and cut down on all of the paper that comes from school. Or if you're slightly OCD like me, you can keep it just in case you wrote down the wrong date or time, and store it in your home management binder.

3) Wake up early. (Really bad at this one, I'd rather stay up until 3 am than get up at 6.) I know it doesn't sound fun, especially if you're a night owl like I am, but it really does help. Yesterday morning, I was showered and dressed, had a little time to myself, and had everything ready before I woke up the kids. Such a game changer.

4) Plan meals and lunches ahead of time. (I don't like to stress about food so I do this nearly 100% of the time.) I always pack snacks and lunches the night before and just toss the bag in the fridge. The real trick is to remember to put it in the backpack before you leave.

As I'm eating breakfast each morning, I figure out what we're having for dinner and check to make sure I have the ingredients. I start thawing meat or other items in the fridge as necessary. Adding that to my morning routine definitely reduces stress at 4 pm when everyone is starting to get hungry. I used to plan meals out monthly, but that got to be too much for me. This method works better for our family.  

5) Lay out clothes for the week. (100% for this week! Bonus points for me!) If this is too much for you, do it at least every night for the next day. No more "where are my pants? I can't find any clean socks!" at 7:30 am. I can check the weather on my phone and then select outfits based on the forecast. Anyone remember when you actually had to dial a phone number, most likely on a rotary phone, to hear the time and temperature? I'm dating myself...

I have enjoyed not stressing about clothes for my little lady this week, so I made a printable for you too. You can print and laminate or just glue/tape to cardboard and then slip it over the hanger. So easy and all of my daughter's clothes are ready to go each morning. Next week's plan: let her choose them. I see lots of mixing of prints and clashing colors in the future, like only a 5 year old can do.


How do you organize to minimize school day stress?

My third child, my coupon binder

The running joke is that my husband makes the money and I spend it. Actually, it's mostly true. I don't bring in much money through my various efforts (surveys, Swagbucks, eBay, consignment), but I don't run around spending his earnings carelessly. I believe it's my responsibility to try to stretch our dollars so that we can put more in savings and have more fun with our money.

One of the major ways I stretch our budget is coupons. So far this year, I've saved over $700 with coupons. (Yes, I've got a spreadsheet for that too.) We use coupons on everything from groceries and eating out to tree trimming services and clothing. I'm constantly saying, "Oh, I think I've got a coupon" or "Let's eat at ___, I've got a coupon." If we're heading out for a day of errands, we pack up our two kids and my third child, my coupon binder.

Goose, who is 3, recognizes coupons, and asks to hold them and use them. I couldn't be prouder. 

I've seen some beautifully organized coupon binders on the internet. This is not one of those posts.

No extra efforts to pretty it up for the blog. It's tattered well-loved and needs some better organization (pretty tabs), but I know it and put the coupons in it every week so I know where the coupons are.

But my husband sometimes gets sent to the store and doesn't know where the coupons are. So I thought I'd use supplies that I already had around the house and make some dividers for the different sections.

I had a stack of scrap paper that Goose uses for her artwork. I found 10 pieces of somewhat coordinated colored paper, and pulled out some page protectors. Using Microsoft Word, I whipped up 10 section labels: Pantry Goods, Paper Products, Misc (things like cat food/treats, light bulbs, candy), Frozen/Dairy, Personal (feminine hygiene, dental, shampoo, makeup), Cleaning, Baby, Target, Drug Stores, and Whole Foods. I could sub-divide several of the sections even more but I decided not to take up any more space in the binder with non-coupon pages.

Not beautiful, but better organized, easier for everyone to use, and I was able to use supplies we already owned.

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How do you organize coupons? 

Organization: Pantry

I am blessed to have a good pantry in my kitchen, but it's not always as organized as I would like.

My pantry before March's monthly grocery trip.

No changes for the blog post, no attempts to hide the cookies or other "bad" foods we have in there. I threw open the door and snapped the pictures. I know where everything is, but my husband does not. Or at least he pretends not to know... I'm not sure sometimes.

What do I have in there to organize items? I'm a big believer in trying to use what you have to organize. Here's what I have.

-A lazy susan for spices, finally sorted in alphabetical order with a list of what we have posted on the wall.
-A bin that we had for miscellaneous items-- bouillon cubes, sugar, random dry goods.
-A container from Target, originally purchased for Cheerios, now holds all of the random condiment packets that make their way home.

-A few other baskets and bins
-The ice bin from our old refrigerator to hold chips
-This amazing (and cheap) piece from IKEA (frame and 4 baskets) helps with organization and utilizes the space below the shelves.

The piece from IKEA is great but it could easily be upgraded to look a bit better and be better organized for others in our home.

I decided to make labels. They need to be strong-- Goose is a bit of a brute and I have no doubt that Baby Boy will follow her lead. I printed some labels for my baskets (Bags, Breakfast Bars, Sides, Pasta) and mounted them on coordinating scrapbook paper. Then I ran each label through my beloved laminator.

I used some of hubby's zip ties to fasten the labels to the wire baskets. Sturdy and so simple!

I punched two holes in each side of each label and fed the zip tie through the holes starting in the back and ending in the back, so the tie is concealed and looks nice.

I roughly centered the labels and fastened the zip ties, cutting off the excess tie. 

Ta-da!

So my pantry looks better, but the rest of the kitchen looks like this... 

A random basket, a box, a bag of rolls... I think I see brownies... receipts, mail, toys... oh, and Baby Boy.

It's the little projects and successes that keep me sane.

Purging

I'm having a wardrobe crisis.

Yes, I've just had a baby and my body is not quite back yet, but I'm only 9-10 lbs heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight and I'm back in my old jeans. I think 5 lbs is stretched out skin on my stomach. Really. I thought it was bad after the first. I went to my 6 week postpartum checkup and my doctor looked at my stomach and (well-intentioned) said I would be a good candidate for plastic surgery when I'm ready to "close up shop." That was hard to hear. He went on to say that the muscle tone will eventually come back, but all the loose skin... nip and tuck. I'm still processing my thoughts there... 

And I'm coming up on a big birthday this year-- 30. I feel like my style should be a tad more advanced than t-shirt and jeans. Wait, who am I kidding? T-shirt and sweats. Jeans are for looking nice, for leaving the house, for wearing makeup. For days when I've showered or can at least remember when the last shower was.

So this week I'll be going through clothes and donating everything I don't love and don't feel good about wearing. I may be down to just a handful of things by the end of this week. Or nothing. But that's not so bad, is it?

Wish me luck! And hope I have the strength to do it and not end up in a heap on the bed, crying and overly criticizing my body. I know I'm not 20 anymore, and I've had two large (9 lbs +) kiddos in the last few years, and I've fed those kiddos with this body. That takes a toll. This body has been amazing and can do amazing things, I need to be a little easier on this body. It's been good to me.

Now to dress it better.

Organization: Home Management Binder (UPDATE)

I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that I don't open my binder daily. I was so excited to get organized when I first put it together but that excitement fizzled a bit when I couldn't get things exactly as I wanted and really, life got in the way of best laid plans.

Here's what I regularly use:
-monthly menu plan
-home maintenance contacts (came in particularly handy when we were refinancing our mortgage and making a list of the updates we've done to the home)
-ideas (for things to blog about, pages I rip out of magazines)
-front pocket

Here's my binder-- just a plain metallic binder I found on clearance at OfficeMax a while ago.

Here's the front inside of my binder. I got this cute pencil pouch at Target during the back to school sales. I use it to keep a pair of scissors and extra pens. 

Here's the table of contents for my binder. I have numbered tabs dividing each section. I daydreamed that J-bird would consult the binder from time to time instead of asking me. Why must I be so silly?

The monthly menu plan. So important in our house as we go to the grocery for our main shopping trip once a month (we do have to go in between trips for things like produce, bread, and occasionally organic milk). I got the printable from this fabulous website.  

Looks a little crazy, huh? That's because I used the same sheet for two months instead of printing another. Sometimes I just do what I can. I number the days between grocery visits with the date and fill in what we'll be eating, thinking about our regular weekly plans (for example, I try to have something leftover for music class night so we can come home and eat within 10 minutes) and adding in a bit of flexibility for playdates and other things that we schedule throughout the month. If you see FFY on the menu plan, that's a throwback from my childhood. Fend For Yourself, meaning "eat what you want/can find" but we do provide food for Goose. If she did FFY for herself, it'd be oreo cookies and french dressing.

And my fantasy weekly cleaning schedule. I couldn't find what I wanted online so I just made one in Microsoft Word. It could very well be on a piece of scratch paper. In a perfect (not hugely pregnant) world, these are the things I (or J-bird and I, or better yet a free maid) would do around our house to keep it clean and sparkly. Ambitious but not kill-myself-crazy. Just enough to keep the place from being too dirty.

It never happens, but I'm not feeling too bad about it. I can barely move my body + Baby Boy through space let alone clean the whole house and chase after Goose daily. I'm doing my best and it's good enough for now.

So the home management binder project didn't go exactly as I had planned but it has helped to declutter our counter in the kitchen and keep me organized as far as my household tasks go. I regularly refer to the menu plan and place all of that month's recipes in that section so I can just look in one place when preparing dinner-- not digging through recipes trying to find the one I need. I check the monthly schedule and write things in. I daydream about having the energy to get all of the cleaning schedule completed. Some day.

It's a work in progress that will constantly change and evolve as my needs (and time) change. I enjoy using my binder and while it is far from perfect, it has helped me to focus on what I need to do around the house and feel more on top of my tasks at home.

Try making one for yourself and your home. Don't fret if it's not perfect and you don't use it every day or even every week. It's a process, moving you towards a more organized life.

Organization: Hoarding

If you haven't noticed, I have a strange fascination with hoarders. I think that's because I am one. 

It's disturbingly true. I'm an organized hoarder, if that's even possible. I fill our house to the gills with food and household supplies, all acquired through sales and other deals.

In preparing for J-bird's recent surgery (and in combination with the nesting instinct kicking in at this stage in the pregnancy), I ran around town and hoarded (more) food, diapers, and other household supplies. It has already been helpful during his recovery, and will help when Baby Boy arrives this fall. Yes, that much stuff.

Guess how many rolls of toilet paper I have in my house right now? 100. That's ballpark but there are at least 72 unopened rolls in the garage, and each cabinet under the sink (x 3 bathrooms) has several rolls.

Boxes of Kleenex? At least 20. 

I ran out of deodorant this week. Or rather, I finally used up one stick. I still have 4 sticks left, along with a handful of free samples.

Shampoo and conditioner? I've limited myself. I have room for one more bottle on my shelf in the hall closet. Once that space is full, no more. Unless it's free, and then I have to give it away. (There is a little method to my madness.)

J-bird and I got new toothbrushes this week. No, we "shopped" from our supply closet and got to pick which kind and color we wanted. 

I have a problem...

Or do I?

I was talking to J-bird about this very issue after a recent Target run (where we acquired the 72 rolls of toilet paper and another 120 diapers for Goose). I'm really conflicted about A) using what we have so that we don't have so much around, and B) keeping a small supply so that I almost always get to choose how much I will pay for an item. If I always have some shampoo and conditioner on hand, I can wait until I find a deal for $1 or even free. If I always have a few toothbrushes, I can choose to wait until I see a free deal to get a new one.

Am I justifying my kind and level of hoarding? Maybe, but at least I get to choose when I have to buy something and how much I spend, most of the time.  

Organization: Home Management Binder

I've been looking for a system to keep our home running smoothly for a few months now. Goose is at an age where she will go off and play for a bit independently, allowing me to do things around the house in more concentrated bursts. Of course, I'm usually standing at the kitchen counter so her sticky little hands can't grab whatever it is I'm working on, but still...

I recently stumbled upon the concept of a home management binder, or control journal. I'm amazed. It definitely appeals to my OCD/organization side and my longstanding love of office supplies. I made it my project of the week and decided, after looking at several sites (links below), what I would need in my binder. I also used the kitchen counter as inspiration. It has become my desk and is usually covered in papers. Not conducive to having guests over, preparing large meals, etc without significant work beforehand (read: shoving it all in a laundry basket and stowing it away on top of the washer).

Here's what I have so far.

At the front of the binder, I have a pencil pouch for pens, highlighters, and scissors. I have a pocket divider with "Action" items-- mail to discuss with J-bird, bills to pay, things to do that week. I also have a weekly to-do that includes space for each day for what I need to do that day around the house (laundry, etc) and dinner plans for the week.

Following those two important items, I have an index for each of the sections so that J-bird can just as easily refer to the binder as I can. It's for the home, and primarily but not exclusively mine.

Section 1: Calendars, Schedules, and Birthdays 
-printout of monthly Google calendar
J-bird and I started sharing one years ago and it's really helped our marriage. No, really. Each person can add appointments and each person can view it anytime they're connected to the internet. So simple.

-copy of Goose's music class schedule and contact info

-a year-at-a-glance calendar

-a birthday list with a pocket divider to hold birthday cards to mail.

Section 2: Meals, Grocery List, Freezer Meals Inventory
-printout of our monthly grocery list
I can highlight items as we run out so I know how much to buy for the following month.

-recipes that I will use that month (on loan from recipe binder)

-freezer meals inventory
Freezer meals save us on busy nights and will undoubtedly keep us from starving when Baby Boy arrives. 

Section 3: Cleaning
I've never really had a cleaning schedule. I've just cleaned as I've needed/had the energy. I've also struggled with not having a schedule because I don't want to be a slave to the schedule. Crazy. So I worked on a weekly list and added some monthly items to the list as well. I think this will help us when Baby Boy arrives so that whoever is doing the cleaning on that particular day will know what tasks need to be completed. And maybe my toilets will finally be clean all the time. Maybe.

Section 4: Financial
In this section, I have a printed copy of our monthly budget from YNAB and a pocket folder to store receipts that need to be entered.


Section 5: Contact Info, Other Information
-Frequently used numbers

-business cards in a baseball card page

-quick CPR reference

-newsletter from Division of Waste Management about what is recyclable and make-up trash days

Section 6: Goals
For something as important as our family goals for the year, this deserves its own section. We've written out our goals in three categories: Financial, House, and Personal. Working our way through them all, together.

Section 7: Home Maintenance, Auto Maintenance
-home maintenance checklist

-coupons for oil changes, etc and schedule of when cars are due for maintenance so we can plan/budget accordingly

Section 8: Projects, Ideas, Blog
This section is a random smattering of items, ideas, research for future home purchases/projects, pages ripped from magazines. My own little crazy section.

For inspiration/information, I referred primarily to these sites:
A bowl full of lemons (what a beautiful binder!)
Love to Save
IHeart Organizing 
I'm an Organizing Junkie
life...your way 

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Do you have a system to keep your home/life running smoothly? What have you found that works?

Yard Sale Preparations

I've been pricing stuff to sell in our upcoming yard sale all morning. What a mess. Our neighborhood has an annual yard sale every spring. Last year was our first year to participate and we made around $300. Pretty good for junk that was sitting around.

We've decided (well, really I've decided but J-bird goes along) to participate every year as a way to get rid of junk in our house. We have no plans of moving from our home in the foreseeable future so to be able to keep our spaces functional, we have to purge as we bring new things in. We've also been working on bringing in fewer and more meaningful items at the same time.

My yard sale philosophy (That sounds a little silly, doesn't it? I mean, it's just a yard sale.) is that the goal is to get rid of the stuff, the added benefit is any money we make.

Goal: Get rid of stuff
Bonus: Money made

Some tips for a successful yard sale (from my limited experience)

1) Safety
Always work with another person. It's easier, more fun, and safer. I'm the person who holds onto the money and I just wouldn't feel safe without J-bird or my mom out there with me. Also, as you get big bills, move them into the house. I don't think everyone is out to cheat and steal but it's better to be cautious. Keep an eye on buyers. It's also not a bad idea to keep smaller, higher priced items closer to where you will be stationed and farther from the exit.

2) Pricing
It's a giant pain but cuts down on questions. Especially important for multi-family sales. I have a different color sticker for each family's items. Also, be reasonable on the prices. It's a yard sale-- people expect cheap prices.

3) Merchandising
Arrange things in some sort of reasonable way-- seasonal items together, books together, etc. Make sure everything is clean and works, if it doesn't work, note it. Hang clothes if your space allows. If you can, use hangers that you would recycle/trash anyway so that people can take hangers. I had several people last year ask to take our good hangers. Um, no, sorry. You're already taking 3 shirts and a few books for under $10.

4) Money
Have lots of change. I tend to get more than I really need because I do not want to run out of small bills and not be able to make a sale. Accept cash only. Price things so that you don't need smaller coins, just quarters.

5) #1 Rule
Nothing goes back in the house. Nothing. NOTHING. You've decided to put this stuff in the yard sale because you've already checked out pricing on eBay, checked to see if you can sell the books elsewhere, like Cash4Books, and considered whether the clothes are consignment-worthy. Whatever doesn't sell goes to Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. The goal is to get rid of the junk cluttering up your current life.

I'll let you know how our upcoming yard sale goes, and maybe I'll even remember to take a few pictures to post.

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What are your tips for a successful yard sale? Do you participate in annual neighborhood sales? Do you shop at yard sales? What have been your best finds?

Organization: Mail Management

Last week, I conducted a little study of our mail and wrote down everything we received Monday through Friday. Ready for a voyeuristic view of our mail life? Here you go.

Monday
real mail (3): existing credit card info, financial services newsletter, magazine
junk (5): donation solicitation, magazine solicitation, store coupon, catalogs (2)

Tuesday
real mail (1): electric bill
junk (3): catalogs (2), store flyer

Wednesday
real mail (5): check from survey company, letter from doctor, Netflix!, student loan statements (2)
junk (4): Redplum mailer, donation solicitation, credit card offer, magazine renewal bonus offer

Thursday
real mail (3): coupons requested from P&G, letter re: auto accident, local publication
junk (3): local gym flyer, store flyer, offer from More Magazine (apparently my mail suggests I'm much older!)

Friday
real mail (2): magazine, rebate check
junk (3): catalog, lawn service solicitation, credit card offer

Weekly Tally
Real Mail: 13
Junk: 18

I really don't think those numbers look too bad.

What do I do about it all?
We recycle and I think that a lot of our weekly recycling is mail garbage. Opting out and going paperless can make a big difference in how much waste your family has every week. We've done a lot of work lately to cut down on our mail. For the catalogs we're not interested in receiving, I email to unsubscribe when I think of it. This really helps cut down on the paper waste and, really, the temptation to buy more stuff. You can also check out services offered by Catalog Choice. We've also both renewed our opt-out status on pre-approved credit offers-- I recommend you do the same.

The things I mentioned help with the amount of mail, but how do you manage the mail that isn't junk, the mail that you need? I can't really say I need my student loan statement or bills, but I guess I have to pay them.

I process our mail as soon as it comes into the house. There are 4 options for our mail: 1) action items that get attention after Goose goes to bed, 2) items that are informational and need to be filed, 3) items that need to be shredded immediately (credit card offers, anything with our names and addresses that we won't file), 4) items that go straight to recycling after they're read. Without curbside recycling and my trusty shredder, I don't know how I would process our mail. 

How do you handle your mail? Are you trying to go paperless on as many things as possible? 


(Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.)

Organization: Toy Storage

Before:

Chaos.
Imagine it piled in a giant basket in the corner instead of in front of the chair. The basket was a good short-term solution but as Goose got bigger and pulled out her own toys, she needed something that was easier to access.

After:

Zen.
I am in love. Now all the bins need are some Goose-friendly labels. I think this is a solution that will grow with Goose. We can add more shelves in the tracks for books, and trade out the larger bins for small ones for art and craft storage as she gets older.

1st column: 1) shelf for her dogs, 2) bin for balls, 3) big bin for her purse, backpack that holds doll clothes and accessories, and doctor kit
2nd column: 1) big bin for stuffed animals, 2) big bin for cars and other hard plastic toys
3rd column: 1) bin for Duplo blocks, 2) bin for small toys-- figurines, small cars, wooden clothes pins (the really random little stuff that always made it to the bottom of the old toy basket)

If you think a similar solution will work for your home, check out the Trofast toy storage series from IKEA.

IKEA isn't paying me for this post, though I wouldn't mind if they did.

Organization: Once-A-Month Grocery Shopping

Yesterday, I mentioned that we do once-a-month grocery shopping. We go to Kroger on senior citizens day, and we use coupons and the senior discount (borrowing a friend's card) to maximize our savings. We wouldn't be able to do this without serious organization.

Like this craziness. When you buy 99% of your food only once a month, you buy a large quantity. J-bird eats three of these Kroger Fruit & Grain Bars every morning for breakfast. So we get 12 boxes of 8 bars = 96 bars. That's a lot of pantry space.

I have a word document that is our monthly list. I go through the list, and modify depending on what we need to restock in the pantry and what meals we're having for the month. I list the meals at the bottom of the list and then after the trip, cut out this portion of the list and tape it to our monthly calendar that is posted on the refrigerator. As I make the meal, I mark it off the list. This method helps me know which meals have more perishable ingredients, and what meals we can have. I can plan ahead to have leftovers on nights when we have other things to do.

Here's a glimpse of a portion of my most recent grocery list.

I list quantities next to items, sometimes noting what meals the items are for. I note coupons with (C). Some people like to pull the coupons they know they will use and put them separate, but I prefer to keep them in my binder, in baseball card pages. The coupons in my binder are roughly sorted by how we encounter the items in Kroger. I like to pull the coupons out of the binder in the store so then I can quickly scan similar coupons to make sure we're getting the best possible deal. I pull the coupon from the binder and then put the coupons in my pocket, to pull them all out at once when we get to the register.

It's easier to do this sort of shopping with another person. I carry the binder, with the list clipped to the front, and my trusty pen to mark through items as we get them. J-bird pushes the cart, which takes significant engineering and creativity to get everything stacked so we can even make it to the checkout. Sometimes we need two carts before we get to the end, normally around frozen food and before we get dairy and meat.

We usually need two carts because of this.

Yes, that's my refrigerator right now, not the dairy case.
I drink a glass of soy milk (or coconut milk-- it was on clearance!) every morning with breakfast, and Goose drinks her whole milk all day long. To maximize our savings, we try to buy all the milk we will need for the month on senior day. I normally go through 5 cartons, and Goose does around 8.

And this is our freezer right now.

(Ignore the Ben & Jerry's and Girl Scout cookies.)
J-bird takes Healthy Choice meals for his lunch and we try to have meat 5 of 7 nights of the week. Again, we try to buy all we will need on senior day to maximize our savings.

Once-a-month grocery shopping isn't for everyone, but it has worked for our family for several years now. We have the pantry space and time to plan for the epic trip. And the savings are worth every bit of time spent planning. Fewer trips equals fewer impulse buys.

We also have a great friend that frequently watches Goosie while we go. It's really the only way-- grocery shopping with a toddler is sometimes rough. Goose went with me on Wednesday while J-bird was away for work, and while she was pretty good, we had a fight in the frozen food aisle because she tried to bite through a bag of frozen peas, and she threw my onion overboard more times than I could count, laughing every time.
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How do you save at the grocery? How frequently do you shop?

Old books to unload? Here are some ideas.

Over the last few months, I've really gotten serious about trying to declutter our house. With Goose's growing toy collection, I realized it was essential to get a handle on our STUFF. J-bird and I have struggled with saving every book we ever bought or were gifted. We were mentally tying our knowledge to the books on our shelves. Like most of you, we didn't have the room to keep all of the books, and wanted to free up space for other things. So we've sold or donated many books over the last few months.

Here are some options for unloading unwanted books:

Donate

Make sure to ask for a tax receipt. The Salvation Army has a valuation guide that may be helpful for your tax preparation. If you have any questions for tax purposes, please review IRS publications or consult a tax professional.

Goodwill
We normally take donations to Goodwill, mostly because it's convenient for us.

Salvation Army

Habitat ReSale
Though they are mostly for furniture and building supplies, our ReSale also takes books and some other smaller household items.

Your Local Library, Children's Hospital, or Domestic Violence Shelter

There are numerous other options for donating books, but in my experience, if it takes a trip to the post office and calculating/paying for shipping, it's more unlikely it will ever happen. The goal is to declutter, the path should be simple.

Sell

The goal is to get rid of STUFF that's keeping you from living the life you want, the bonus is any money you make. 


Yard Sale
Prices typically aren't that great, probably topping out at $1. A yard sale is a great option for books that other sellers won't accept, but that you still want to try to sell for a bit of money. Yard sales take a lot of preparation and significant time commitment during the actual sale, but if you have several items to unload and a good location, it's a great option. (More on yard sales in a future post.)
If the books don't sell at the yard sale, then you can load them up with everything else that doesn't sell and donate. 

Cash4Books.net
I recently sold two books to Cash4Books and made around $16. Pretty good for two old books that I didn't need anymore. Easy shipping, similar to Amazon, and I received a check in the mail within two weeks. They will also pay via PayPal. (Disclosure: I am affiliated with Cash4Books.) 

Half Price Books
In our area, we have Half Price Books. We've sold a lot of books to them. Probably more than we should have. When they first opened in our area, they were paying great for books. Lately, their prices seem to be extremely low. I guess everyone got the same idea to unload old books. Half Price Books will also buy recent issues of magazines in good condition. 

eCampus
I've sold several old textbooks to eCampus over the years, mostly during college. Free shipping, prompt payment. Again, it's for selling textbooks.

Amazon Book Buyback
I recently sold some textbooks back to Amazon and got $15 in Amazon credit, and just sent off a box of two other non-textbook books for another $13. You print out a prepaid label and send the books on their way. When Amazon gets the package, they put the credit in your account. Easy and quick!

Amazon Marketplace
We've never sold on Amazon Marketplace, but it appears to be similar to eBay. This is not an ideal option if you're just looking to unload unwanted books with minimal time commitment.


Remember, just because you donate or sell a book doesn't mean you didn't value it or remember the lessons it helped you learn. You're not running a library. Good luck with getting rid of your books and decluttering your life!