Organization 102

Well... I wrote this post back in July I think when I did a series on Household Organization and then because I wanted to find a name to give credit to someone in this post and I kept forgetting to do it (I must not have put it on a list). So now that it is a new year I am trying to tie up loose ends so without further ado...

This is the final post in my series on Household Organization. I have really enjoyed writing this, it served as a constant reminder of my plans and goals.  Some days I didn't want to do what was on the list for the day but I did it anyway cause I was being reminded that I have just told the world (or the handful) reading this that I do this so I guess I better do it. I can say I do always try to do my best on the follow-through.


So where does that leave us, we have talked about having a plan in Organization 101, Laundry 101, and Cleaning 101. So what is the need to Organization 102? Well I have a list of tools of the trade that I can't live without so I thought I would share some of them with you.


1. Keeping the list....
I use a white board on my fridge to keep my lists in order. What do I put on the board?

This is the board today

- Grocery list (actually it is just a piece of paper that magnetically stays there)
- Weeks schedule (each day has a number of things on it like the vacuuming, what laundry needs doing, errands, what's for diner, meeting/appointments, workout schedule....)
- Up Coming Events (parties, appointments, meetings etc....)
- Dinner Ideas (what items we typically eat or ones I want to try so I can get dinner ideas quick)
- To do list (make baby food, prep foods, project list, big cleaning projects)

Before a Mommy Binder (this is Dads pile)

2. Mommy Binder: This is not my idea but I got it from a lady who spoke at my MOPs group named Dawn Fiorillo so I give her credit.

This is a 3 ring binder that I keep on the table that has clear, tabbed folders inside that I use to organize all kinds of things. Basically this organizes that pile many people get on their table or counters. I have a folder for...

- each of the girls where I put Drs info, school info,  growth charts etc..

After Mommy Binder

- my All Cozy business (receipts, notes etc...)
- coupons
- personal stuff (letters I got, cards whatever really)
- recipes
- random stuff
- preschool info (class lists, phone numbers, calendars, helper mom schedules...)

A look inside

3. Meal Planning/Perp
We pre-make a lot of foods and keep them in the freezer so diner during the week is just a matter of thawing something and putting it in the oven or on the grill.
Ideas we love:
- Meat Loaf (we make 4-6lbs at a time and freeze it 1lb per container so we only make the big mess of mixing it up once.
- Apricot Chicken Glaze (again 4-6 batches made at one time and frozen so all we do is thaw and put on chicken)
- Chicken Rollatini (I do a double batch and freeze individually so I take out and cook what I need)
- Pork Chop spice (mix it up and just have to sprinkle on the pork)

We also plan our meals a week ahead (and write them on the whiteboard) so there is no need for the questions "What's for dinner" when my husband gets home.

My last notes on the subject of household organizations....

 Our house runs on lists if it doesn't get written down it doesn't get done. I really don't know who said this but I feel it is so true "If you fail to plan you plan to fail." Well here we plan to succeed so we do a lot of planning.


Notice I have used a lot of the word "We," that is because even though I am a stay at home mom I'm not the only person around who can help to keep our house organized. My husband is aware of the plan, helps create the plan and helps carry out the plan. We are a team and as the kids get older they too will help with the plan to make our house organized and run smoothly.

I hope you have enjoyed this series. If you have questions or thoughts on anything you read in the series please let me know. Thanks for reading.