Homework Help
As I mentioned last week, it's Back to School time! Is your child already struggling a bit with remembering to bring his or her textbooks home and then back to school? Many of the newer textbooks come with automatically (or are offered as an option) a full version of the book on CD. Ask your child's teacher if there is a CD version available. If there is, ask if you can make a copy of it and return the original. With the textbook CD version always stored at home, that will eliminate one more excuse from your child about why they couldn't do their homework!
Mirror Messages!
Ah, my favorite time of year...Back to School time! My teen daughter is a Freshman this year! I can't believe it. Of course, order and schedules went out the window all summer long so now it is a bit of a shock for her to get up early, get ready for school and leave the house with her responsibilities and duties done. I have found it helpful to take a wet/dry erase marker and write her responsibilities directly where she spends the most time in the morning...that's right..DIRECTLY ON HER BATHROOM MIRROR! Since she will be staring at them for over an hour there will be no excuses such as "I didn't see them!". And, the marker of course is cleaned off easily with windex or just a sponge (I am partial to the Mr. Clean brand's Magic Eraser).
Fridge Organizing
Wasting energy by having to stand in front of the open fridge looking for the leftovers or a specific condiment? Why not try putting like things with like? Create zones just as you would any other organizing project. Put all the condiments in one door bin. All the vinegars together. Put the jellies and jams all together. Designate a shelf for leftovers. Maybe one for dairy only items. Label the shelves and bins to help family members know where to return an item (it doesn't always work to just say "put it back where you found it!).
Remember, the back of the fridge is the coldest so it is best to keep the milk and other quick to spoil items in the back. It is also a good idea to periodically check the temperature of the fridge. The ideal refrigerator temperature is between 35 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit.
Organizing the Green Way
Looking for additional motivation to de-clutter your space? How about considering the "doing your part to be green" factor! The less you buy and bring into your space, the less that will eventually end up in one of our landfills. All the no longer wanted but still useful items that are taking up precious, productive living space can go to someone who can use them, thus preventing that person from purchasing things that will eventually end up in our landfills!
Try posting your items with:
Grocery Timesavers
Are you at work and you know there is nothing in the house to make for dinner? Instead of stopping at yet another fastfood drivethru (that could take at least 20 minutes), take a moment before you leave work and check out if your grocery store has an online purchase service. You simply log onto their website, choose which groceries you want, pay for them by credit card and then just swing by the store's Parcel Pickup area on the way home and pick up your order! Fast, efficient and better for your family's health! Our local grocery, Reasors, now offers this service at most of their locations. Check them out at
www.Reasors.com
Also, remember these great new meal assembly services. You can make an appointment or simply walk in and prepare a meal with fresh ingredients or pick up one of their pre-assembled frozen meals. Pass Your Plate is one that comes to mind.
Manuals
Yikes! The refrigerator is on the fritz and you can't remember if it is still in warranty. Heck, you can't even find the manual!
DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!
When you get a new appliance or piece of electronic equipment, immediately staple the receipt and any other pertinent warranty information to the inside of the manual and place the manual in a pocket folder that is dedicated to manual storage. Store this folder in a kitchen drawer, a shelf in the laundry room or home office filing cabinet. Next time something isn't working, simply pull out the applicable manual and you have instant, worry-free access to the date of purchase, warranty and part replacement information.
Those plastic storage containers are very handy and now that so many brands of deli meat come packaged in them, they seem to really clutter the cabinet fast! Our first inclination is to store them nested inside each other with the lids somewhere else, right? We think we're saving space by nesting them inside each other but here's the problem with doing that.
1) It is difficult to keep track of how many we have when we can't see them individually and let's face it...we ALL have too many!
2) We tend to keep taking only the ones on top of the stack, thus using the same ones over and over without rotating them.
3) The proper lid is often missing or we take too much time searching for it!
Consider storing the containers WITH the lids on them and then stack them on each other that way. It might seem like it is taking up more space at first but you will soon realize that it only takes about 3 or 4 each of various sizes to accommodate your food storage needs and you won't have to go searching for the matching lid!
Junk Mail
Are you inundated with junkmail? Do yourself (and your post deliverer!) a favor and sign yourself up at one of the online junkmail elimination websites:
Or, to stop those pesky (and identity theft risking) credit card solicitations, visit: