Creatively Frugal 
Organization
How do you keep yourself and your family organized without spending a lot of money to do it?

"You'll probably get others with this same response:
I subscribe to FlyLady (www.FlyLady.net). Her philosophy is, ‘you can't organize clutter; you can only get rid of it.’ If it truly is just clutter, chuck it. Toss it. Fling it. Whatever you call it. If you don't love it, she says, get rid of it. Instead of lots of organized, stored stuff in your home, imagine open spaces, free of clutter. Peace. Ahhhh.
You didn't need that stuff anyway. ‘Bless’ someone else with it." ~ Carol

"I tried the Daytimer, calendar, etc. but I was always
frustrated that they were so large and costly. I
finally settled on a 3" x 5" spiral notebook that I
write everything down in--clipped to the inside is a
small card-size calendar. It gives me a sense of
accomplishment to see things crossed off but also acts
acts a diary. At 4 for $1 they are a bargain." ~ Glenda J

"This may be a little different than what you are looking for but it has been invaluable to me and my family. I found Flylady.net a few months ago. She says that, ‘You can't organize clutter!’ I think she is so right. By clearing out the stuff I don't use regularly and that I don't absolutely love, I am finding that there is so much room for everything that matters in my life. My house is more organized naturally because there isn't as much stuff in it. I still have a long way to go, but it is freeing to get rid of stuff rather than trying to keep organizing it. As for keeping organized with appointments, etc., I have a ‘palm planner’ that I keep all of my contacts, lists, dreams, etc. in and a wall calendar with HUGE squares to keep track of appointments and family obligations. If something happens in the morning, I mark it on the calendar at the top of the square so I can see at a glance what time of day it occurs. Each night, I look at the calendar to see what is coming up tomorrow so I can set appropriate clothes and other needed items out the night before. Being prepared the night before helps the morning go very smoothly and when the morning goes so well, the whole day seems to follow." ~ Kathy

"Flylady.com. It is free, motivational, and it works." ~ Jennifer

"I think the biggest thing that has helped me (and it's free) is www.FLYlady.net. This site is about setting routines, getting rid of clutter and C.H.A.O.S., and Finally Loving Yourself. This site has really helped me determine what I need and what I don't need, and while they do have a store, it is not full of products that tell you ‘you have to have this to be organized.’" ~ Becky

"I keep a coupon organizer and add to it every time I find a new coupon (and I clean it out of all expired coupons once a month). I keep it in my purse so it's always with me. Also, I bought The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Daczycn at www.buy.com with free shipping and it only cost me $12. This is the ‘bible’ for saving money. It has the best and most creative ideas for spending less money. It's very well written, informative and even a pretty humorous. I refer to it all the time. I also keep a shopping list for grocery/drugstore items on the fridge. When we are getting low on something I add it to the list. When the list is full I go to the grocery store and then the drugstore (Walmart) and stock up. This prevents running out of most items and making unneccessary extra trips to the store." ~ Suzie

"In my kitchen cabinets I have numerous Lazy Susans. They make it easier and faster to retrieve spices, small cooking gadgets, measuring devices, jars of flavored teas -- whatever is in the cabinets in small containers. Otherwise it would be a scramble, knocking over bottles, searching for something at the back. I also use Lazy Susans in my refrigerator for the same purpose. In my corner upper cabinet, there is much space, but it is a long ways to the back. I use the large Rubbermaid Lazy Susans for this particular area. I have dried beans, jello, various mixes, and tall jars that can all be brought to the front with a slight touch.

It also makes things on the top shelf easier to retrieve. I am 5'2" and can't see what is on the top shelf unless it comes to the front." ~ FayeJr

" Older appliances and kitchen tools may show their dated side with avocado green and harvest gold trim.  I have used contact paper (you know the shelf liner kind) to cover the unwanted colors.  One roll of contact paper will do lots of covering.  It also works to cover scratched breadboxes." ~ Linda 

"Organizing yourself is easy enough. It simply means thinking about how to organize your own things. The thing that I am struggling with at the moment is how to organize sharing the car. We cannot afford to have more than one car but on the other hand, if we did, it would only mean adding to the environmental stress we are putting on this old world. The main car user is hubby of course and I am getting sick and tired of begging and pleading with him to let me have the car at certain times when I need it.

I have tried asking him well in advance i.e. 2 or 3 weeks and having him write it in his diary and then reminding him at least once a day but still I am having problems getting him to remember to organize his use of the car so that I can get where I need to go. I mean today was a classic example. I was supposed to be meeting some people this afternoon but despite constant reminders I still could not have the car when I needed it. This time I did not even get there. Thursday I got where I was supposed to go but ended up walking 8 of the 10 miles home before he met me with the car. I have not walked that kind of distance in a long time so even if I had reached the church in time I would have been too tired and sore to take part in the evening’s activities.

I could not just get the car out of the garage by myself because I have not been able to open the garage door since the springs developed problems about 2 years ago. That job has been added to the hundreds that are already on my ‘honey do’ list that has been going up rather than down since I started it 15 years ago. I don’t expect anything will happen about that situation in a hurry as I have been waiting nearly 10 years for him to make it so that when you use the light switch in the garage something actually happens. I know 8ft fluorescent lights are not the easiest things to put in a little car but he has left the garage in the dark for that long just because he has not bothered to organize replacement lights.

No one knows just how hard it is to live like this. One of my dreams is to be able to sit on the couch and watch TV. He has had so many things on the couch that he has been promising me that he will move for the last 3 years that it is impossible to use it for its intended purpose. There is nothing I can do about it that does not undermine his position as head of the household. Arguing with him does not work, neither does nagging because all that happens is that everyone gets upset but nothing changes. Therefore I just have to learn to live with things as they are until he develops the mental ability to actually get on and behave like a husband should." ~ Susan

"When you put things away, such as clothing or the pantry - even the linen closet, put away from the same side always. I use the left. How does this save time and money? After a few months, you know what you actually wear and don't wear. You know what you need so you will wear the items not being worn, or you know what you really don't like and won't buy them again. Same with children's clothing, and the linen closet. As for the pantry, it doesn't take long to see what the family will not eat, so there’s no point in wasting money buying those foods again. Or perhaps these are foods that require something else to go with them, and you can make a list of what you need to use them up. Once you determine what you don't use, and won't use, you can declutter and give away to someone who will. Time is saved in not dealing with unnecessary items; money is saved in not purchasing these items again thinking that they will be used." ~ Terri

"The best thing I have ever done to help me and my family get and stay organized is to sign up at the FlyLady website. It's free, uplifting and helpful for anyone since you use the advice you need and delete the rest." ~ Naomi Knudsen, editor Money-Wise Newsletter

"I have learned the HARD way:  declutter, Declutter, DECLUTTER!!  Since I have begun culling many items in my house (why do I keep 2 identical skillets with scuffed non-stick coating?) (why do I 'need' so many shoes or Tshirts?) (are we really going to get ____ repaired or make it into a shelf/bookend/picture frame?), my life has definitely become simpler and easier to organize. We also look hard at any potential purchases to keep from bringing in more clutter. Getting rid of unnecessary, redundant, unused, or unloved objects helps a great deal!
(See Flylady.net or read Don Aslett's books on clutter!)"

"I have been organizing the last year and have mixed several strategies to do this.

- First of all, I threw and gave away all (well, almost all) the items we did not use anymore.... but this is a gradual process of letting go more and more over time.
- I bought carton boxes from IKEA, which are relatively cheap and keep well for what I use them for. I use these for children's clothes. I store this in our (very small) storage area at the top of our house, in my daughters room (on top of her wardrobe).
There are four boxes with nice easy pictures I painted on. In other high closets in her room, I store games and other toys she does not play with regularly in boxes.
- I bought a smaller version (even cheaper) to put under the roof in my son's room, also with clothes for coming years. This is under a sloping roof and hardboard in front of it that I can remove very easily.
- In my own wardrobe I use 2 kinds of boxes. One version bought at IKEA, sturdy boxes at the bottom for various clothes items I want to store and would otherwise lay in piles. And behind my clothes I use A4 envelope boxes I got at work. I have 4 in each wardrobe (we have 3) to organize what otherwise would become a mess behind my clothes.
- I bought special clothes bags for under my bed on sale and have saved various carton boxes from work, Mailed to us, small envelope boxes (A5) , boxes from shoes, etc etc to put presents in which fit under the bed as well.
- In our master bedroom we put 35cm deep closets from IKEA together with high CD-racks (also IKEA) where we keep our books, not so often used CD's and videos (fit in there as well) and administration items. One of these closets has drawers as well for underwear, socks, makeup, odds-and-ends
- In my son's room, I also use the A4 envelope boxes for storing toys and big
IKEA carton boxes for Lego's, train set, etc that does not fit in smaller boxes.

I have an open kitchen added to my living room and we put a shelving unit in there and I bought cheap plastic containers without lids for various things: 1 for paper recycling, 1 for potatoes and onions, 2 for toys, 1 for
drawing things, 1 for my recipes and 1 for miscellaneous.

The most wonderful thing I did was making a family binder with plastic leaves to organize medical papers/cards, stamps and info, swimming cards, buscards, checks to pay with in shops, fast food places where I can order pizza, Chinese, etc etc. I can find everything now that was always lost in piles.

I combine all this with found boxes in good sizes and sturdy carton found in stores, at bookshop trash piles and even banana boxes for clothes and present storage.

At IKEA I also bought carton magazine cassettes to organize my desk. I found
out that I make piles as soon as I have to stand up to store something. So I now have these cassettes for everything I need to organize in reach. I found plastic organizer drawers at the thrift shop for 1.13 euro (is approx. same as dollar) per set of 2 and I bought 3 sets. I use this at my desk for financial papers, pens etc

In the attic (where my office is) we also have a metal filing cabinet we got when my husband’s office were throwing them away.

And then I FOUND www.FlyLady.net  and learned about HOT SPOTS (places where
things seems to pile on as soon as you put something there... like coffee tables, eating tables and I learned to clear, clean or organize for 15 minutes at a time. This has had an enormous impact on the way my home looks! I work in 1 zone per week and do extra tasks in clearing and organizing and it works miracles! My house gets emptier, cleaner and I become more organized....
still baby steps.... but WOW what a difference. I now take care of the clutter at hotspots everyday. I clean a little every day, give away my stuff instead of trying to sell it (leaving it in my home for another year). I apply the rule: if it takes less than 1 minute to do it, do it NOW and that works too.

So the best thing for me was to do, organize, clear, clean things NOW and
not delay it. I do net let things I wonder what to do with it pile up in my home. I give
them away as gifts to my daughter’s school, they use small items for kids as gifts for birthdays, use kitchen utensils for play inside and outside, they use recycled materials for art projects. And also important is to give everything its own place in your home. If something has no place, give it one or throw/give it away, because if you don't, it will turn up as clutter again sometime (soon).

Do I look like an organized person ? I am not!!! Or at least I never was. Seven years ago I had PILES of stuff, then my daughter was born and we had to give her my husband’s study room. Then 3 years ago my son was born and we had to sacrifice my study room as well. Oooops...I started to throw away, declutter, give away, organize...... so it is getting better and better..... but I am still an piler and no filer

And now I have to start working on my pantry (small one)." ~ Karin

Editor's Note: Thanks to everyone who took the time to share his or her ideas!

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