Honest - you too can be more organized than Martha!

Yup, the t-shirt says it all. I am lazy so I am organized. It also saves me a wad of cash. And this is how.....

What good is a great deal if you forget that you have the item and go buy another one? Or it gets ruined awaiting to be liberated into use? Or worse - clothes that get out grown before kids have a chance to wear them? You have just thrown away money which is strictly forbidden. Seriously, break this rule and the Frugal Gods will make you pay full priced retail for years.

So how do you avoid this from happening? You get organized sister! (Or brother...)

In my dream life I throw open the doors to a perfectly organized airplane hanger sized storage area. Birds sing, beams of light cut through pristine windows and everything is labelled with sub-labels. In reality I have built a system that I can work with and won't break the bank. Each person has their own way of doing things but the concept is the same. Everything has a place and everything in it's place.

First thing to do is find space. Many of us would look around and say I just don't have the space to store all the wonderful things I want to stock up on. But you do....you are just not thinking outside the box. Great places to 'store' stuff is all around you...just plan and it will show itself!

Great places for storage:

- under the bed. This is an excellent place for canned goods, toilet paper, diapers and other things of similar heights. Rubbermaid and the various knock offs make large, low containers great for under the bed. Perfect in a kids room because it stops things from getting kicked under the bed saving you time. Tell the kids it is keeping the monsters in and they will never touch it. Use all the money you save for their therapy in later years!

- closets - but not like you are thinking. If you have the average closet chances are you have quite a bit of headroom above that top shelf. You can't pile stuff too high because it falls over so a lot of it is wasted space. Either invest in an additional wire shelf to make an addition shelf or if you have a handy person around (you are too busy clipping coupons to do it) use some L brackets and cut some plywood (which you got off of freecycle for free right?) and make an additional shelf. All of a sudden you doubled that space. This place is great for extra blankets, Christmas gifts you don't want the kids to find, light items like towels, paper goods etc. If you have very deep closets chances are you have those black holes at either end - that dead space. Great to put more shelves. Use for shoes, toiletries like shampoo and toothpaste, sweaters etc. By getting this stuff out of the way you now have room to reorganize other parts of the house

- kid's closets. A waste of space when they are little and we know that teens have a severe hanger allergy which is why they are terrified to hang anything up. The ends of a teen's closets are great for stacking cases of canned goods, cleaning supplies ('cause you know they will NEVER touch those) and other items that stack well. With little kids store on the upper shelves keeping in mind anything left on the floor is going to be investigated. Safe bets on the floor are totes of clothes for them to grow into.

- people abuse linen closets. They cram it full of linens. A real shame. That mini closet screams out, 'Please stuff me full of things you go for nearly free.' Everyone in our house stores their towels and sheets in their room, in the closet. A couple sets of sheets and a few towels do not take up space and leaves me that closet to do with what I will. This is the gift cupboard and yes, I did put a lock on it. In here you find gifts for birthday parties, wrapping paper, tissue, bows, tape etc. This is also where I store all the craft supplies for the ankle biters. Last time my mini Picasso awoke at 3am and did a wonderful mural I decided to get that stuff under lock and key!

- the laundry room is an important part of your life! And not because of laundry either. You can freecycle it into a storage paradise with shelves, free standing pantries or recycled kitchen cupboards. Use this for soap, fabric softeners etc. This is also where I store things like candles, batteries, rags etc. Only because these things aren't overly heavy and I can cram a lot into a small space. This is also where I store all my extra mop heads, vac bags, rubber gloves and all those girly needs. (And by girly needs I mean mop heads, vac bags and rubber gloves.)

- tops of bookcases are neglected storage. I took a bunch of shoe boxes with lids (not the flip lid style) that I got for free from Payless. I covered them in maps and wrapping paper and stacked them on top of the bookcases. They look cool and they store all sorts of bits and bobs in them. Cookie cutters (these only come out once maybe twice a year - only when trying for the Mother of the Year Award), bills I have to keep for taxes, film negatives...stuff that you don't need to pull down much. Great thing is that it is all sorted so you only have to grab the box you need. I printed off small labels from the Queen of Organizing - Martha. http://www.marthastewart.com/

- the guest room, if you have one, is storage central. Sturdy boxes with things such as clothes or extra sheets/blankets can be stacked on either side of the bed and covered with vintage fabric. Or you can get suitcases at second stores, older and funkier the better - fill them up with what you are storing and stack in graduating sizes. Old trunks can be spray painted or faux painted...couple pillows on top and you have a nice little bench for the end of the bed.

- things like hat boxes are great and can be tucked away or into all sorts of settings. So can some of the high-end gift boxes that places like Winners will sell for a few dollars in the off season. I bought a great set of nesting boxes at Winners with Japanese cherry blossoms on them for $1...when I got it home I was thrilled to find five inside. They sit on the floor beside the computer. They hold extra cables, stickers, discs, extra parts etc.

- if you have a couch or chair that has the skirt style bottom these are great for sliding things under. I store all my serving platters under there as they only come out once or twice a year (when trying for Hostess of the Year...) I wrap them in a shopping bag and label. Just make sure that you are sitting in the spot when you slide it under, that way you know it is safe when the seat is in use.

- many people no longer have a finished attic or even a crawl space. And this is very sad. All that storage and no way to use it...oh wait you can. I hoisted up a couple sheets of plywood (well, okay I didn't do it, I told others how to do it) and just sat it on the rafters. I double checked before doing this with the guy putting my insulation in and he said it was fine. I had the blown in type as well so baled is definitely fine. I store boxes of things I want to have on hand but not sure when I will getting around to using. Up there right now are cases of canning jars, old toys I can't part with yet (do not put anything soft up there...getting to that) and several boxes of nylon cording (somebody gave it to me and I can't get rid of it yet). NOTE: do not store anything up there that would not respond well to temperature change. So this place is a no-no for clothes, canned goods etc.

- if you have a finished basement and have space try putting the TV or stereo on a dresser. If you plan on buying foot stools make sure they have storage inside, use bookcases...even better if you can find bookcases that close...oh the storage possibilities. If your basement is unfinished you are a lucky one. First, less rooms to clean. Second - a vast storage playground. Simple shelves can be built, bought or trade for. If your basement is dry you could have a monster pantry. I have one in my back room in the basement. I collect those white press board cubicle modular system thingies at garage sales. I stacked them against the wall so I have a series of cubby holes. Each hole is dedicated to one food. One holds jams/jellies, another tuna, another coffee/tea etc. Since they are small spaces they suit well to this purpose. One cubby hole holds 6 small jars of peanut butter which is all I need/want to ever have on hand at any given time. It holds 3 cans of coffee and 3 boxes of tea....you get the idea. Since I have a max. number that I can stock up on I know how many to buy when something is on sale. It is also great because I hardly ever run out before an item goes on sale. Even better is the fact I don't worry if bad weather hits us, somebody is sick etc. I know that I can easily feed us for over a month on what I have stocked up. NOTE: have everything at least 6 inches off the floor in case of flood. Don't waste that space though, splurge (even better freecycle) some tall rubber totes. I store things that are either cheap to replace or things I secretly wish would get destroyed. Also allow for room for air to circulate around things. An entire floor to ceiling wall of baked beans is like, a really bad idea.

-baskets are your friend! I am always on the hunt for vintage baskets, I really like old wicker picnic baskets. We each have one by our beds to throw in books, magazines, Kleenex, the remote etc. Keeps the room looking tidy. I also use them for knitting supplies and because 10 years later I am still learning to cast on they just look nice. They also hold magazine collections, one by the downstairs bathroom holds nothing but toothbrushes/dental floss and the one on top of it holds deodorant and hand cream. I have one in the kitchen with all the tea towels I grabbed for .05 each when Eaton's was closing (um, like, yeah over 10 years ago...but hey they were reg. $6 each...so for the price of one I got well, a lot...okay truth be told I bought about $10 worth...you do the math :) ) Great to have something at your finger tips when needed but you don't have to look after it or dust it.

- backs of doors are great places to hang stuff. I get over the door hooks at the dollar store and hang cloth bags from them. I store extra pillows, extra towels etc. I also keep stuffed animals here...which I hate. My daughter knows they have to go back in the bag at the end of the night and only one can go to bed with her. (Which Mommy helps fall on the floor after she is asleep.)

- I have a lot of doors in my basement that hardly ever get opened. I also have a lot of funky purses that were my grandmother's. I hang them on door knobs and keep things I have to attend to in them. Bills to be paid, things I have to mail. library books I have to return. Then when I go to do the task I just grab the bag and walk out the door.

Storage solutions is now this handy catch phrase you hear thrown around. It is just a gimmick to get more of your money. I mean come on - a wrapping paper caddy? If you are frugal you have about 30 rolls of the stuff and probably would have to buy 6 to store it all! Ever seen the price of some of these custom closets? Had a quote done for fun - $5000!!!!!! Designer Rubbermaid totes in fashion colors etc etc etc. Okay, the idea behind storage is to have a way to store all the great deals you get. Not get great deals and use all the money you saved on storage totes. So how do you do it? The cheap way....

- milk crates, if you can find them, are great. They stack well, allow whatever is inside to breath and are extra strong. But they have gotten wise...the are now too small to hold records. Guess too many people were stealing them.

- laundry baskets are great for items that don't stack well, these can be had at the dollar store. (They are too flimsy to use to do laundry but are just fine for sitting on a shelf with stuff in them)

- old or mismatched pillow cases are great to store platters, non-stick bake ware etc. Snip a small hole along the top where it doubles over and thread some cord through, hang on the back of a door or hook in the basement

- large bags that onions come in (the 10lb or greater size) are great for putting sand box toys in, gardening tools, rolls of wrapping paper etc, hang on a hook

- baskets are excellent for out in the open storage as are trunks, suitcases, coffee tables with lift-able tops

- store sheet sets in their pillow case, you won't misplace anything and you can wrap them up so they take up little room, I store these in the top dresser drawer

- dressers are easy to get on freecycle. But they are not pretty as a rule. Still great in garages, basement storage rooms etc. Dedicate each drawer to a need.

- look up and down...what can you stick there?

- Wal-mart carries totes that are pretty cheap, though they all come in this ugly blue green color. But very sturdy. I use these for clothes.

- cardboard boxes are excellent. I go to the pack your own grocery stores like No Frills and look for 4 or 5 boxes the same in good shape. This way I know they will all stack on top of each other neatly. I use these for Christmas decorations, toys, shoes, games etc. They are free, easily replaced and all you need to label them is a marker. If you are just starting to organize use boxes. They are free so you can start tackling it now.

So now you think, you have made me read this really long post and because of you I have stuff stored all over the house. I won't be able to find anything! Easy way to do it is one of two ways. Either by grouping - all baby stuff in one spot, all food in one spot etc Or you have a cheat sheet that lists where the item is i.e. - Christmas decorations - green tote in attic.

And when it comes to food I would recommend the following site : http://www.trackmyfoodstorage.com/ Run by a couple LDS ladies it gives you a way to plan for long term food storage but even better it has printable blank sheets for what is in the pantry. Even though they have a paid part to the site, these templates are in the free section. With the economy getting a tad rocky I am hoping to buy a little extra food. This will allow me to see just what I do have and when it expires. You can use these sheets as well to post inside of a closet door etc to list what is in there.

Once you find what works best for you happiness is your's young grasshopper. Not only are you saving money but also a lot of time. Which can be used for far better things like sticky hugs and cuddles.

Next up - Dollar Stores - Friend or Foe