Organizing For 2011

I have been doing a lot of catching up since I haven't been blogging everyday and it has shown me where so much of my time has been tied up, thus freeing me up for other things!

One of the things I have been working on, on a daily basis has been a home inventory and let me tell you, it isn't as easy as it sounds. I have taken the smaller areas first, taken pictures and then made a data base for each room.

Let me tell you people, even if you don't thing you have to much stuff, don't have any junk, everything you own is precious...yes you do and no, its not.

Are you looking to beef up your music collection next year at a decent price? Contact me, with over 300 CD's like new from meditation, country, rock, oldies, reggae, etc. I am sure I would have a title you are looking for and I am going to be selling them for $5-$8 each.

Exercise videos? I have a ton of exercise VHS tapes that I can no longer do. If you are wanted to get into shape and looking for great videos and even better prices $2 each plus shipping...

Doodads and whats its are scattered all over the house and my quilting friends, I don't even want to go there with how much of a stash I have and that is after participating in Destash 2010, making baby quilts, orphan quilts and teacher gifts!

This doesn't touch the surface of all the bins and containers in both the attic and the basement...that many things I haven't seen since moving into our home over 3 years ago, so if I don't know it exists, I don't need it right? Unless I have already replaced it.

My planner is sitting neatly on my desk all ready to go for 2011 and this year I hope to use it even more than I did last year and of course I use it religiously for things that have to do with our taxes and without it, I forget appointments all the time.

Hubs and the kids know that every year in January...beginning the eve of the first, I started purging stuff from the year before:

1. Bathrooms & Medicines...great time to go through old medication and get rid of them either by returning them to a pharmacy that will take them or contacting your local household waste facility and see what they recommend (You are welcome John!). Also any cleaners you no longer use, old towels that are frayed and falling apart or so thin you can see through them and don't forget Loofah's or those mesh scrubbers....if they are several months old, get a new one!
2. Kids rooms....drawers and closets for old clothing which also includes old sock and undies (please don't donate these things if they are used, toss them), old toys, broken toys, etc. If they are things I want to keep, each child has a large bin in the attic marked with their name and these things go in there.
3. Master bedroom same way and yes, I get rid of shoes that I have to admit I will never wear again due to my ankle and back surgery! But also, check the tread wear on your tennis shoes, running shoes, crocs, flip flops, slippers, etc. if there is no tread, toss them or you asking to slide and fall!
4. Living Room is constantly changing, but these is where lots of junk gathers....old vases filled with rocks, kids toys, scraps of this fabric and that...
5. Kitchen and Dining Room....if those plastic containers don't have lids now, in 3 or 6 months, they still won't have them, fill them with left overs, cover with plastic or foil and while still hot, give them to a homeless person that needs a home cooked meal. In our home this year, measuring cups has multiplied...the big glass ones, I now have 4...I don't need that many, 5/1 qt. pans...you get the picture
6. Carport...giving props to hubby because he started cleaning this area out this week, now we will be labeling the interior shelves, tool boxes and placing hasps and locks on all the doors....we also have a fence company coming out to give us a bid on enclosing the area.
7. Car...what a great time to clean the glove box, empty all the trash and take it to someone for a yearly detailing, check the spare tire for air and damage and replace if necessary.
8. Attic and Basement are last.

I take plastic bins (found on sale in January every year) and label them:

• Yard Sale
• Donation
• Trash
• Kids
  

I donate the tote when it is full as well.

With all this going on, I go through labels like crazy and many of them just don't stick. So, I was ecstatic when Bzzzz Agent contacted me to see if I wanted to try out the new Dymo 260P label maker that doesn't use batteries, but has a rechargeable battery and cable, comes with not the small labels, but 1/2" label cartridge, a large screen and easy to figure out keypad.

I am going to Staples today to pick up some more labels as this label maker uses 1/4',3/8" and 1/2" labels and you can get white, black or blue tape as well as a nylon or poly tape for great durability and stick to itness! These will be great for storing things in the attic and basement.

Lastly this year am going to use the labeler for my quilt scraps!

**************If you would like to purchase a Dymo 260P label maker, they run about $70, but for the Bzzzz Campaign, Dymo has given me 10 $25 off coupons for the purchase of one of these and that makes it around $45 and honestly, you will probably save more when you aren't having to replace the batteries all the time.**********

Just drop me an Email and the first 10 people will get a $25 off coupon for this awesome product!