Whether you are reading this as a typical consumer or as a bona fide frugalist, one thing is certain: there are parts of your home that are in desperate need of some organization.
It may be your “junk closet” that needs some attention, or your stockpile of free canned goods or toothpaste and deodorant that runneth over and is slowly creeping its way through your bathroom.
Disorganized things tend to migrate; there is often good purpose behind the initial location of something, but items tend to multiply, or get moved to more convenient places, and thus—clutter is born. With a good organization system, all this can change.
You can truly pare down to the essentials, get rid of unneeded space-users (and make some extra cash in the process), and have the ease and peace of mind of coming home to an organized house and finding everything you need easily and quickly.
A favorite organizer of mine, Julie Morgenstern, coined the acronym “SPACE” for her simple system of organization. Every mess needs a starting place, so grab some boxes and let’s learn how to organize on a budget!
The S.P.A.C.E. Method–Frugalized
The first thing to remember is to take your mess one chunk at a time. Start with your closet (or stockpile, or whatever area needs the most attention. Then follow these steps to achieve beautiful organization without going broke doing it.
Sort—First, go through the area and sort things into several different piles. You’ll need some old cardboard boxes or laundry hampers. I like to sort things into four categories: Keep, Toss, Sell (or Repurpose) or Donate. Go through every item in the area with a fine tooth comb to assess whether or not you need that item—or if you’d prefer the few extra dollars in your pocket from its sale.
Purge-Now it’s time to act. Take your Keep items and set these aside. We’ll deal with them later. Take your Sell or Repurpose Items and either list them immediately on Craigslist or eBay, or figure out what their new purpose will be. In the frugal world, many items can be repurposed: an old hat goes into the dress up bin for your kids or grandkids, a shabby old coat even Goodwill wouldn’t want can still have buttons harvested for future use or material clipped for crafting projects. Place the items immediately into their appropriate “new homes.” Put your Toss items into a big black trash bag and either list the entire bag on Freecycle, or toss it in the trash. Put your Donate items into another separate trash bag and put it in the trunk of your car so it’s ready to go to a Goodwill drop-off.
Assign a home-With all your Keep and Repurposed Items, you’ll need to find an appropriate home. Group your items according to like uses: put all your soaps together, all your toothpaste boxes together, etc. A good rule of thumb: If the item is something you use regularly, you should not have to move more than two other items to find it. This rule has helped me numerous times, as I tend to be a packrat and shove things into any little nook and cranny I can find…and then often forget where I placed the item. If the item is in relatively plain slight, it’s much easier to find what you are looking for.
Containerize: This is the step where people tend to spend hundreds of dollars on elaborate organization systems. And this is also the step where I’ll show you why that is not necessary. There are so many items within your house or garage that can be used for home organization when you get to this step. Here are a few of my favorite tools for organizing in the home:
- Milk Crates: These can easily be stacked on top of each other for storing books, sports equipment or more.
- Large Plastic Storage Containers: These can be very pricey, but buy them at the right time (usually back to school time) and you’ll score a great deal. I use these for storing my stockpiled toiletries (visit my blog) to learn how you can score $100s of products for free) and then stack them two high, and throw on a nice tablecloth from the thrift store. Voila. Place a nice candle and sprig of plastic ivy on the table and you’ve got organization plus décor at a bargain price.
- Ceiling Racks: These are great when storage area is minimal. Use these to hang bigger items in the kitchen or pantry, like pots or pans. And think outside the…er…rack. Almost anything can be used as a ceiling rack. Have a piece of sturdy panel fencing hanging around the yard? String it up by some chains and you have a perfect ceiling rack.
- Glass Jars: Perfect for storing crafting supplies, screws and nails in the garage, Qtips and cotton balls in the bathroom. Almost any kind of jam or pickle jar will work; just cover that lid with some cute craft paint or superglue some fashionable fabric on top for storage with a statement!
- Cereal Boxes: Covered with some fabric or wallpaper (even newspaper or gift wrap will work) and cut with an Exacto knife, these make perfect storage for magazines, loose papers, or even tall books or notebooks. Make a few that match and you’ve got a perfect set of bookends for your library.
- Kitchen Items as Storage: Muffin tins and ice cube trays are perfect for storing jewelry or earrings. Keep your eyes out for old bake wear or trays at yard sales and score these for super cheap.
- Smaller Boxes as Desk Organizers: Small boxes, such as the ones checks or jewelry come in, are perfect for organizing kitchen or desk drawers to keep like items together.
- Hooks: Don’t underestimate the power of some strategically placed hooks behind doors or inside wall cabinets. Hooks are cheap, and the payoff of having your screwdrivers neatly organized is well worth it.
- Small containers: Film canisters or old prescription medicine bottles can be great for organizing small things like tacks or brads on the desktop.
Enjoy! Once you’ve put in time to organize on a budget, you should take a step back to enjoy it! Maintain that new organization and your life will run much more smoothly!
by: Guest Blogger Nadia Crum
Nadia is a young Army wife and mother who blogs about her incredible shopping deals and money saving tips at abcfrugality.com. She enjoys spending time with her family and reading as well as researching ways to save her readers $100s of dollars each month.
Further Reading
For more organizing, project management and time management tips visit:
ABC Frugality
In Order To Succeed
Photo courtesy of coco + kelley’s photostream at flickr.com