Let's Get Organized

I am an organizational freak. So is my husband. We really do make the perfect pair of nut balls!

I thought it would be nice to share some of the things that keep us organized. I know that a lot of people have resolutions or goals to become more organized this year and if I can help just one hard working Mom get things in order in their house, then my goal of being helpful is achieved!

We have things color coded. We have spreadsheets. We have bins and baskets and drawers of where things should be. We want things to be easy to find and accessible because we work a lot and hard. The last thing that I want to have on my mind all the time is where is ______ ? Or what should we do for dinner? Or the worst thing, we need ______ but we already spent our entire budget! (Disclaimer that it does happen, even when you are organized. Things come up! So please do not think that I am wonder woman of organizing things and that nothing bad ever happens because MAN it does.)

Here is an example of a spreadsheet that we use to know how much debt we have and when it will be paid off. (loans, credit cards) (disclaimer this is not our actual bills, I made up the debt!)
The first column is where the money is coming from. The second one is the bill. The third is the amount owed. The fourth is the date of pay off. The fifth is what was being paid on monthly prior to paying it off. The sixth is the amount of money a month that is now extra income. The seventh is the total amount of debt owed when the spreadsheet was made.

Here is an example of a monthly bill spreadsheet (again, did not use our actual bills or our actual income!)

After you get your bills all squared away, you can then start to organize your menu's/shopping lists.
I make a calendar for each month and write down what we are having. I usually try to do one left over night and one breakfast for dinner night a week to keep costs lower. I also try to keep meals that lap over fresh veggies in the same 2 week span so that we do not waste. A whole sale store is a great way to save money and to stock up on things that are needed for an entire month (toilet paper etc) You can also research Amazon to see if having these items shipped to your house on subscribe and save might be the way to go.

After making the monthly menu, I would write out shopping lists for every week/every other week. (depending on how you do your shopping) I also have a list of items that we always have to buy (tp, napkins, paper towel, juices, milk, water etc) I combine the two lists into one but separate them out into the stores that we purchase them at. You do not need to know the prices, however, I know a lot of what we buy because my kids like the eat the same things. (cheese sticks for lunch etc)

So there you have it.....these are my go to things to keep me organized. If you have anything that helps you, please comment and leave a link to your site. I would love to get some new ideas that would help our family!