I purchased this plastic cart at WalMart for around $12.  I think it’s designed with scrapbookers in mind.  It has several small drawers on the top and three larger drawers below.  I keep it stashed in my front closet – just around the corner from the kitchen table where most of our homework happens.

The smaller top drawers are dedicated to housing school supplies (I labeled them with my P-Touch labeler).  The first holds scratch paper and lined writing paper.  The second and third hold random school supplies like pencils, markers, crayons and erasers.  I also keep a few teaching aides in there such as timers, dice and post-its.  The fourth drawer holds all my dry-erase supplies because I love using dry erase boards to help my kids practice math and spelling.  I bought each of my kids a small Expo dry-erase board at WalMart for around $4 each.  I love them because they’re small enough to fit in the drawers and they’re lined on one side for easy handwriting practice.  You can find them near the Crayola stuff in the office supplies area.

The three larger drawers are the kids’ “homework boxes”.  They each have their own and it’s labeled with their name.  Inside I have them keep their reading logs, spelling lists, library books, and any homework supplies that are specific to them (for example, they each have a set of math flash cards that are specific to their grade).

I love the homework boxes because they’re so easy for my kids to work with.  Everything is at their height and it’s all in one place.  When they’re scrambling in the morning to find their library books my first question is always “Did you check your homework box?”  When it’s Friday morning and I’m trying to give my son a quick spelling refresher before his test, I have him grab his list from his box.  When I’m trying to get dinner going and there’s a mess of homework covering the table, I have them bring their boxes to the table and dump their stuff in.

I can’t say it’s the prettiest system in the world, but it works!  Remember, the goal of organization when it comes to family life is not to achieve perfect order.  The goal is to teach your kids to keep track of their own stuff and to see the benefits of staying organized.  In my opinion, it’s our job as a parents to provide the tools and training.  It’s their job to do the rest.  This inexpensive homework box is a great example of how you can do just that.   Just thought I’d pass it on.

I hate that feeling so I use a very simple trick to combat key loss.  When I come in from the garage, the first thing I do is flip on the light in the kitchen.  It’s also the last thing I do before I head to the car.  So, naturally, the light switch seemed like a great place to store my keys.  I placed a few peel n’ stick hooks on the switch plate of the light switch by the kitchen door and a few more on the plate near the front door.  Now no matter which door I enter, there’s always a spot to stash my keys.

I added a few more hooks to the inside of a cabinet near the back door as well.  I store all my spare keys there…just in case my regular keys have wandered off the hook.  (I learned this one from my brilliant Mom who managed to get all 10 kids out the door on a regular basis – I love you, Mom!)

As a side note, I also use a similar trick for my purse and mail.  I bought a heavy duty removable hook and used a left over plastic inbox from my Family Big Board project and mounted both on the back of the kitchen door.  When I come in from the garage, I add my keys to the switch plate, toss my bag on the hook, and throw the mail in the bin.  Within 3 seconds I have my hands free and nothing gets dumped on the counter.  Plus, when it’s time to head out again, everything I need is right there waiting for me.  It’s a really simple strategy that saves me tons of time.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

So how can you give yourself this mental break when most of your tasks can’t be done from the comfort of your living room couch?  It’s simple, get yourself a laptop and a great website called Hulu.  Hulu is a free service that allows you to watch TV shows, video clips, and movies all in one place.

Setting up a free account is quick and easy.  Once you’re in, you can choose to watch back episodes of all your favorites TV shows, or you can add shows to your queue and Hulu will capture the new episodes as they come available (usually within a day or two of when they aired on TV).

They don’t have everything I like, no Lost, for example.  But they do have tons of great options like 24, Chuck, Project Runway and The Office.  They also have entire seasons of good shows that are no longer in production, like Studio 60 and Arrested Development.

When I need to add a little background entertainment to my day-to-day routine, I just grab my laptop and log in to Hulu.  It’s a great way to catch up on TV and chores at the same time.  I even installed a little laptop shelf above my treadmill so I could watch The Biggest Loser while I run.  Talk about a great motivator.

Once my husband and I got in the habit of using Hulu on our computers, we found we didn’t really need the TV as much.  We were able to downgrade our satellite package and cut our DVR service completely – which saved us about $60/month.   So, whether you’re looking to save a little cash or simply save your sanity, Hulu is a great option.  I know I sound like a commercial but I promise no one is paying me to say this.  I really do love it.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

When it comes to Christmas, most professional organizers recommend setting up a wrapping station – some little corner of your house that can be devoted to ribbons, bows, and everything that comes with them.  I have two basic problems with this plan.  First, I don’t really have a corner of my house that can be devoted to wrapping stuff.  Secondly, if I did, it would have to be under lock and key so my kids wouldn’t be able to unwind the colorful spools of ribbon and mess with the much-too-tempting rolls of scotch tape.

So, since creating a lockable wrapping station was out, I opted for a more portable option.  I found this organizer a few years ago at Bed, Bath & Beyond for around $20.  I love it for lots of reasons.  For starters, it has loads of pockets.  In addition to the obvious spots for wrapping paper and bows, it also has dedicated spots for tape, scissors, gift tags, gift bags, and tissue paper.  I also love it for its portability.   When my wrapping-paper-loving kids are around, I can hide it under the couch, tuck it under my bed, or hang it in a closet.  Then, when bedtime hits and the coast is clear, I can pull it out and wrap at the kitchen table, on my bed, or on the living room floor in front of the TV.

If your budget has a little wiggle room, I recommend getting two of these handy caddies.  Buy one for your Christmas wrapping supplies and another to house all your non-Christmas stuff.  That way you can stock up on clearance wrapping supplies at the end of season and store the whole organizer with your Christmas stuff.  Come next year, you’ll be ready to roll…literally.

If you can’t find this at your local Bed & Bath store, you can also find it online at sites like Organize.com.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

This year, as I face another school year (and all the chaos that comes with it) I’ve decided to try a new approach.  Instead of making loads of different charts to keep track of my kid’s jobs, schedules and misc. details, I’ve opted for a more streamlined approach.  We’re calling it the “Big Board.”

To create it, I purchased a big, magnetic dry erase board and divided it into three sections (one for each of my school-age kids) with adhesive ribbon.  Within each section I created general categories with clear alphabet stickers (you could also use a label maker or write them with a dry erase marker).  At the moment, my categories are Jobs, ToDo, Bank and Notes.  Each of my kids have three main jobs, one post-dinner kitchen job, one house job, and one big Saturday job – I keep track of all of those in the Jobs area.  The To Do category is pretty self explanatory – all the non cleaning jobs go here.  For example, you might see ”write thank you note to Grandma” or “20 min piano practice” in this area.  The Bank area keeps track of their current balance (click here to read my family bank post) and keeps track of any savings goals.  The Notes category offers reminders for everything else like “give talk in Primary on Sunday” or “bring class snack on Thursday”.

Unlike a standard chart that confines you to specific details, the big board is easily adaptable by simply changing the categories.  For example, as the school year begins I will probably add a homework category to keep track of things like reading minutes as well as a calendar category to replace their weekly fridge planners (click here to read the kid planner post).

I posted ours in the kitchen right next to the back door so it would be impossible to ignore or neglect.  I also added two clear file boxes below it.  The inbox holds papers that come home in backpacks as well as a temporary stash spot for the mail.  The outbox is used for anything that needs to go out – like signed permission slips, lunch money, movie rentals and library books.

The entire project took me about two hours to create and cost me less than $50.  I purchased the white board at Target for $17.  The in and out boxes were $8 each at Staples.  The colorful sticker letters I used for the names, the tiny black letter stickers, and the adhesive ribbon were all purchased from Michael’s for about $10.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

That’s when I remembered an idea I read about in Family Fun Magazine.  One clever Mom suggested using Priority Mail boxes to store kid art projects.  I use Priority Mail to ship all my MeckMom Etsy Store orders, so luckily I had a pack of these flat rate boxes sitting in the garage.  I pulled out three boxes and labeled them with each child’s name, teacher, grade, and the year.  Next, I started sifting through their stash and pulled out my favorite pieces.  Then, I let the kids choose a few of their favorites.  After that, I went through their family inbox (that’s where I temorarily store stuff I want to keep) and added a few more items to their box (like school pictures, awards, mother’s day cards, etc.).

My plan from this point is to take a video of each child going through and describing the treasures in their box.  Once that’s done, we’ll pack everything up, seal the box, and move them to the big, plastic  container in the garage.

It’s not a permanent solution – eventually I hope to make DVDs of each kid’s photos, art, and videos.  It’s just a great way to keep everything organized (and off my floor) until I have time to take on the bigger project.  The flat rate boxes are available for free at your local post office or online at usps.com.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

Recently I got a great question from April regarding my many charts.  She wondered where I stash my charts in order to keep them accessible without making things look cluttered.  Although the fridge is a tempting solution, I like to reserve it for things like my Kid’s Weekly Planners and their current homework.  Consequently, I have to stash my other charts and lists elsewhere.  My favorite stash spots?  The inside of my kitchen cupboards and doors.

For example, the picture above shows the inside of the cupboard door nearest to my fridge.  On it I keep my Mom Game Plan, my Stash Box Challenge sheet, a pack of post-its and a clip of quick-reference school sheets (like the lunch menu, and the school calendar).  I’m not crazy about taping things to the inside of my cupboards and doors, so I use removeable hooks to hold things in place instead.  When used in combination with small binder clips they’re an inexpensive, flexible way to keep everything close at hand.

I use the same basic solution on the inside of my pantry door as well.  Here the clips and hooks hold things like this ziploc bag of clipped box tops, the kid’s lunch boxes, and my Reuseable Grocery List.  As for your question regarding the Picture Job Chart, April, I keep that one on a similar hook inside the hall closet door.  When Saturday morning rolls around I grab the chart from the hook, adjust the jobs, and then post it on the outside of the pantry door for easy viewing.

So there you have it, April.  By keeping my charts and lists in these hidden stash spots around the house, I’m able to keep everything accessible without adding clutter to the public areas of the house.  It’s a simple, cheap and easy way to keep things organized and out of view.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

This file-folder holder, designed for offices, sits on my kitchen counter. I purchased both it and the folders inside for less than $10 at WalMart a few years ago. It’s divided into three sections each with two labeled file folders. The first section handles bills, both paid and current. The middle section handles coupons & receipts. The last section handles misc. mail and mailing supplies.

When I bring in the mail, I dump it on the counter in front of this sorter. Any junk mail gets tossed in the trash (it’s nearby). Next, I open all the remaining mail and throw away all envelopes. Any bills go into the ‘Current Bills’ folder. Coupons I think I might actually use I put into the ‘Coupons’ folder. The magazines that require reading I toss over to the basket near the couch. Catalogs that I want to flip through, but don’t have time for at the moment, are stashed behind the misc. folder. Whenever I’m stirring something or listening to messages, I grab one of these catalogs from the folder, flip through it, and then toss it.

On Sunday nights after the kids go to bed, I pay my bills. I grab the ‘Current Bills’ folder and pay all my bills online. Once I’ve paid the bill online, I write a slash across it, circle the amount (or write it in, if it’s different), and jot down the date. When I’ve paid all the bills in the pile, I add them to the ‘Paid Bills’ folder. Generally these hard copies stay in this folder for around 3 months and then get shredded.

The ‘Receipts’ folder holds any receipts I dig out of my purse at the end of the day. Every month or so, I go through the receipts and pitch those that don’t have any return potential. Those that have an item over $100 I add to the receipts binder (mentioned in a previous post) in the cupboard nearby.

The ‘Misc.’ folder holds any mail that doesn’t fit into the other categories but that I want to hang on to, like invitations, credit card offers, and return addresses from envelopes I want to keep. I also have a blank folder in the back that holds mail supplies. In it I have a few blank thank you cards, various envelopes, and stamps.

Again, this isn’t the prettiest system, but it works. It keeps my counters clear while saving me time and late fees…in my book, that makes it worth it. Just thought I’d pass it on.