Just this morning, I enjoyed making my bed and paused to reflect on the history of the quilt that I use for a bedspread these days. Do you have treasures hiding under your bed or in the closet? If they are your precious memories – why are they hidden under your bed?

By getting this quilt out of the cedar chest and putting it to use – I learned a bit of history about it. When I told my mother I was enjoying using it, she told me she had sent the measurements of their bed back home to her mother in Arkansas so it would be long enough to also cover the pillows.

My parents met during WWII at the Arsenal in Pine Bluff, AR. She worked in the cafeteria and my dad loved to eat – so that was a perfect match. He would come by after his shift and eat a slice of pie and visit. Well, after the war, he brought her home to Waxahachie, Tx.

In a nostalgic moment, I thought about Mother leaving her family and following her heart to Texas. In those days, it was rare to keep in contact by anything other than a letter.  The country was still under rations, so they had to provide the ration cards for the sugar to the lady who made the wedding cake.

Reflecting back on just this simple quilt, brought a feeling of thanksgiving to me as I think about all that we have these days. I don’t want to take so much for granted. For a picture of my heirloom, click here

http://www.breakfreefromclutter.com/buried-treasures/

What do you have hiding out under your bed or hanging out unused in your closet? Do a bit of digging and see if you have a few things you can put into use or at least display to enjoy.

If  you are storing the things for safe keeping and the next owner puts it away for safekeeping – when does anyone get to use and enjoy it? I finally decided it was better to have something in use instead of just passing from one generation to the next without being used and finally disposed of and never used.

I pictured my children backing a dump truck up to the front steps and hauling all the stuff away after I am gone without anyone ever enjoying and loving it on a daily basis. Of course, they would keep and treasure some of the stuff, but then other parts would just be clutter to them.

What could you be enjoying now? Search in the closets and under the beds and pull it out to enjoy. It also teaches your family a bit of history about the items as you see and discuss them.

So go ahead, share a memory today!

Do you ever find fuzzy things growing in your refrigerator?  Do you use what is in it, before things spoil or become out of date. I speak from experience here. I have uncovered almost historic food at times in my mother’s freezer. It is time to organize and clean refrigerator.

Aside from the fact that freezer burn makes it gross. It is a waste of money and resources. It seems that everyone is looking for ways to get more value from dollars spent and making the most of your food budget is a priority.

Here are a few ways you can make your food last:

• Store your lettuce in a crisper. You can buy the container at almost any place kitchen ware is sold. Wash the lettuce and put away when you first get home from the market. It saves time and keeps lettuce fresher longer
• Try those perforated plastic bags for fresh produce. I don’t know how it works, but I do know my fruit and  vegetables last about twice as long.
• Don’t wash the vegetables if you are not going to use them right away. It saves the vitamins and they last longer.
• Use what you have before you buy more. Sounds simple, but don’t buy in large quantity unless your family will actually eat it in a few days.
• Invest in those “green” containers. They have a grid in the bottom that keeps food away from the water that  collects in the bottom of the container.
• Cut the tops off carrots, beets, radishes and turnips before storing.
• Storing fresh corn?  Put it in the refrigerator with the husk still on.
• Store bread at room temperature or in the freezer. It will go stale in the refrigerator.
• Store milk and vegetables on the shelf of the refrigerator, not in the door where it is warmer.
• Put snacks and healthy foods in the front of the shelves. That encourages you to eat the healthy stuff first.
• Separate the meat from the produce when you put it in the refrigerator. Package the meat so that it will not drip on other food. That can cause serious illness.
• Keep an open container of baking soda on the shelf to keep the refrigerator from being smelly. (Ugh!)
• Label and date food before putting it in the freezer.  I really like my vacuum sealer for storing meat or left overs in the freezer. It was worth my investment.
• Store onions and potatoes in a dark, cool but dry place, such as the pantry.

With a little planning, you can stretch the storage time for most of your fresh food. A tip I learned from my daughter in law – she buys fresh vegetables and washes carrots and celery, cuts them into snack sized pieces and places them in see through containers in the front of the refrigerator so the children will see them first and choose a healthy snack.

What is your favorite tip for stretching your food dollar.  You can email me at Cynthia @ breakfreefromclutter.com (no spaces, though)

Organize and save!

Are you open to ideas about saving time and money as your organize your life? It is a frequent topic in conversation these days. Have you considered the Step Down Approach? Let me explain.

The levels of purchases can be arranged in tiers. The first being high-dollar department stores, next discount stores, then factory outlet, consignment store and the bottom tier being a garage sale or thrift store. Imagine your expenses as if they are steps.

If you normally purchase clothing at high-end, try taking a couple of steps down to a discount or consignment store. You can reserve the high-end purchases for times when it really matters and can save money by shopping at consignment stores where you will often find clothing on the racks that has not even been worn and still has the tags on it.

Discount stores are a great place for casual clothes and household goods. The step-down principle will work by applying it to how often you do things. If you eat out five times a week, try cutting down to two. I finally realized that I could stop in for a healthy meal at a fast food restaurant and not always go places where meals were over $10.

Many times, you can reduce expenses by analyzing what is really necessary and think before spending. What is your favorite tip? I would love to have your comments on how you are saving time and money.

Simple Rules Parents Can Use to Minimize Clutter in Bedrooms

They can’t help it; children are clutter magnets. Anyone in charge of themk knows that kids can create lots of mess, but don’t you love ‘em!

A whole lot of it has to do with their young age: kids are still a bit ego-centric (that is, a bit self-centered), and it’s hard for parents to make them notice their surroundings. If you want to raise an organized child, you have to set rules to help them appreciate being organized.

But what rules can you set for organizing children? Consider the following:

            A 1:1 Toy Rule

One reason why toys eventually become clutter in kids’ bedrooms is because there’s just way too much of them.  To control bedroom clutter, start when they are young. At every stage in a child’s development, their interests ch different kind of toy is recommended. So how do you keep your kids from growing a collection? However, children can’t buy toys at this age. Grownups have to buy them and the toys are so precious that it is hard to resist.

Very early on, teach them the 1:1 Toy Rule. That is, for every new toy that they receive, they can share an old toy with another child who may not have as much as they do. This way, the number of toys in the household is at a constant number. You also get the added benefit of knowing you’ve made a difference in another child’s life!

            Tidy up as you play.

This is the toy equivalent of telling kids to “clean up as you go.” If you want kids to learn the value of organization, don’t let them do as they wish on their play space and then spend all your weekend cleaning up after their mess. Instead, instill in them at a very young age the habit of tidying up after they are finished playing. For good measure, at the end of the play day, sing the pickup song and make a game of picking up toys with them so the space is clear in the morning!

There are many varieties of toy bins available in the market nowadays, many of them child-safe, which makes de-cluttering easier. If clean-up is as easy as putting a toy in a basket, then it’s not too much to ask.

            Dirty laundry on the hamper; clean clothes in the cabinet.

Toys are not the only clutter in a child’s bedroom. There are the clothes as well!

It’s not unusual for children to take off a shirt and then leave it on the bed, or remove socks and dump them on the floor. Which is why you should set up a laundry basket in your kids’ room, one that they can easily reach. If you search online, you’ll find that there are many laundry bins available today that are quite appealing for younger kids. One bin, for example, has a basketball hoop on top, so that clearing up laundry becomes fun.

As for their clean clothes? Spend some time orienting your kids on how to organize their cabinets. A simple tip is to label every drawer: “underwear”, socks”, “hankies”, etc. with pictures and words so that your child will know where each article of clothing should go. Use hooks for bags, belts and suspenders. Place hanger racks within reach so that they can hand up their clothes on their own.  And if the they are not able to fold their clothes yet, at the very least give kids a “to fold” bin. You can work with your child on the folding skills as they grow.

Children are like a blank slate that we write on. What we teach them now carries over into how they are as young adults and then grownups. Take a little extra time and encourage good habits today. You will reap the rewards in the years ahead!

Ways to Engage the Entire Family in De-Cluttering the Home

If you want to make organizing your home  stress-free – and even enjoyable, then you can make it a family affair. Not only will decluttering as a family provide an opportunity for bonding, it’s also an excellent way to instill the value of simplicity, organization and responsibility in children.  Taking care of the home is not just a mother’s domain; it’s something that every member of the family – young and old alike – can take pride in.

The following are some tips in engaging family members to help manage clutter in the home:

Assign each member of the family their “zone to defend.”

Divide and conquer is the way to go when going about an extremely overwhelming task such as freeing the home from clutter. Give each member of the family an area of responsibility, a zone that they have to look after and be responsible for. For instance: Joe can be in charge of the garage, Jodie the kitchen. If your family is game for some friendly competition, you may even provide rewards for family members who have consistently and successfully defended their area of responsibility.

Encourage the habit of “raising the alarm.”

Is there a brewing clutter in the living room area? Then it’s best to nip it in the bud! Encourage every member of the family in being vigilant when it comes to watching out for potential clutter magnets. Make them raise the alarm and inform everyone of if they have a discovery and a solution to suggest. This is something that even very young children can take part in – you can give them bright post-it memos to mark the beginnings of a clutter pile. When you have a system to manage clutter before it progresses to problematic levels, then you won’t ever have that problem of “too overwhelming to tackle” ever again.

Start regular feedback meetings.

One effective way of involving everyone in managing household clutter is to conduct regular family meetings devoted to clutter control. The meetings can be the venue for brainstorming for ways to handle specific problems. But more importantly, it is the place where family members can give each other well-meaning feedback regarding the clutter in their life. Because of our emotional attachment to the things that we own, it’s almost always impossible to be objective regarding our ability to let go of clutter. Feedback from the people we love can be a gentle but valuable reminder of the changes we need to implement in our life. Something for members to remember is that someone may find a problem in their territory someday.

Come up with your “Dirty Dozen.”

Lastly, family members can support decluttering in the home by coming up with a monthly dirty dozen – that is, 12 objects that they will dispose of for that month. The manner of disposal can vary; the objects might be sold, given away or thrown to thrash. What’s important is that there exists a regular ritual for purging the clutter in the home. The practice can help family members be more discerning when it comes to their attachment to the objects they own. If everyone knows that they have to let go of 12 things at the end of the month, then the only things that they will keep are the things that really matter to them.

Working together as a team is a good way to learn life lessons and skills. Let members be creative and listen to the suggestions of even the young members. Encourage participation by everyone and start your team building today!