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Sisters,

I have compiled all the organizing ideas and have put it into handout form for our homemaking mtg.  I have edited some of the ideas because of duplicates.  Wish me luck with my lesson tonight.  Thanks for the help with ideas.   Elaine

Organizing Ideas:

I recommend investing in a good four drawer filing cabinet.

Bills and Papers:

  Use a file drawer with hanging files.  Have folders that are color coded:  blue folders are labeled  with the numbers 1 (incoming bills go), 2 (pay stubs), 3 (bank statements), bills paid, discover, visa, receipts, phone; red folders are insurance auto, insurance home, medical, personal (which has social security cards, birth certificates, baptism papers, etc.; orange folders are set up for each person to put papers in that they want to keep, but don't want to take time  to put away.

This system works well if you empty out the files every year and file them away in a box for later reference with taxes (if necessary).  Or you can index the folders and include various schools, church organizations, sports, music, etc.  All papers when they enter the house can quickly be slipped into the right place.  When I need to find out school Info, I just flip it open to the school section.  Soccer phone tree is right there in the soccer section.  Scout stuff has it's section.  It is quick and easy to use.

At the end of the year you gather all info. from each folder and file away in a separate place and mark the year on it.  I have a plastic box I keep all the kids papers in.  I have one for each child.  I then bought shirt boxes and put 1 school years worth of papers in the shirt box and marked the year.  ( bought the shirt boxes on sale after Christmas)  With kids  papers I go school year to school year not Jan. to Jan.  Then you can start fresh with the folders for the new year.

  I keep all current unpaid bills and miscellaneous mail in a basket.   Every 2 weeks I go through the basket, pay bills  and file whatever needs to be filed and throw away any junk mail.  I then put the paid bills in an envelope, mark the month on it and file it away.

 Magazines:

When reading through a magazine, I tear out the articles that I want to keep.  You can buy those accordion files that go from a-z at an office supply store for around $7-8; file the articles in there.  Saves room from having all of these magazines around because there are a few good articles in them.  Then take the  rest of the magazines to nearest nursing home, to work or pass off to friends and family.  Or if you don’t want to tear out articles you can file each years worth in a Magazine box.  Mark it with the name and  year.  I keep only 10 yrs. worth.

Kids Ideas:

If what I keep is kid related (craft or fun activity idea) and will fit on 3x5 card, either glue it on or write it down on a card.  This goes into a 3x5 file box that is the "What Can I Do" file.  This file has crafts, physical activity food, newspaper list, writing, research, science.  Most of which they can do by themselves or with a little help from an adult.  I also keep 2 kitchen drawers with kids craft items in it.  Crayons, glue, glue sticks, tape, kids scissors, coloring books……...  It’s right at their finger tips and ready when they want something.  They also know where it goes when it is time to  put things away.

Schedules:

Everything that is happening is written down on the calendar in the kitchen and in my planner. Mine is on the cabinet next to the dining room.  It is at a glance.

Documents:

You can use a binder that is specially designed to hold top-loading sheet protector pockets.  I have indexed them:

PERSONAL:  has pockets for birth certificates, marriage license, social security cards, immunization records, etc.

FINANICAL:  has pockets for bank information, wills, etc.  HOUSE:  has mortgage, insurance, deeds, etc. CAR: has insurance , titles, maintenance, etc. I figure in an emergency I can just grab the binders off the bookshelf and go.

Kids Stuff:

Something that works fairly well with  children as they are  growing up is to collect everything that was out of place and put it in a big trash bag.  Sometimes they notice something was missing and could "earn" it back.  If they didn't notice for a while you can safely make the assumption that they have way too much and appropriately dispose of your collection!

 You can  use boxes to store your children’s  toys, instead of buying a toy box.  I also use those gallon ice cream containers for toys with a lot of pieces.

Kids Documents:

 Get a loose leaf binder and a bunch of top loading sheet protectors.... have one for each child.  Put all immunization records, birth certificates, blessing, social security cards, anything at all to do with this child.... this is not a scrapbook....this is what you grab when you must register him in school or go to the bank, doctor's office etc.  everything is in one place and waiting for you on the shelf...  When the child leaves home, just hand it to them.... really a great way to keep stuff together and not have to go to a file before leaving the house for school registration, doctors, etc....

Kitchen:

  Everything should have a specific place in your kitchen.  Things  that are like items should be grouped together.    I have 2 shelves for cups.  Kids cups on the lowest shelf and glass cups on the next shelf higher.  When the kids were littler I had a shelf down low with cups on it, that way they could get a drink without my help.

Food stuff: Keep  a permanent marker in the pantry and mark all items with the purchase month and year.  You can  even mark laundry products.  It helps rotate food storage and accurately gauge the time a product has been on the shelf.

I mark items with #1 or #2 so I know what items I purchased first and can use them up before I open a new item ie:  If I have a  carton of  eggs left from last week and then purchase another one this week I mark last weeks with a  #1 and the new one with a #2.  You can do this with other items that you might purchase weekly when you still have some left from last week.

Color code items:  One friend of mine has cups, plates,  bath towels, storage bins…that are different colors for each family member.   When she finds a cup, plate……left where it doesn’t belong she knows who it belongs to  and can tell that child to put it in the right place.

* Brigham Young once said that we should be so organized that you could get up in the middle of the night, in the dark and find a pair of scissors!!  My  advice is touch it once!! Don't set it down on the counter if you have to pick it up again to actually put it where it belongs.  Touch it once!

 *It is a truism that you always have the time to look for something when it becomes essential, so why not take the time to put it in the right place and save all that time searching for it later.

 *Inventory all of your belongings and keeping this in a safe place in case of insurance claim.

*Always buy the best storage container you can afford whether it is for pictures or papers or whatever.

*Make shrunk down copies of the work and church directories and keep in cars and at work.

*Also take  a copy of the ward directory and put each page in a plastic sleeve and then put in a bright red binder.  When it "walks" away from the phone, it is easy to find.  You can also keep a current copy of the temple schedule book in the pocket.