How to Plan an Organizing System Before Starting a Project

Although this article really has nothing to do with saving money, it does have a great deal to do with effective housekeeping. I believe that if you're organized, you'll be more efficient. If everything has a home and you routinely place things back in their home, you'll spend less time looking for things and wondering where they are.

I stumbled upon this article for planning an organized space. I've done something like this before, especially with planning organization for my dorm room in college. I also did this when organizing our home office, as there were lots of things that had to be put in. It was very important that they were all able to function as well.  Most of the time I just think  through something in my head instead of actually jotting all of this down.

It's funny because I'll be sitting in my living room and instead of watching T.V., I'm considering ideas for moving furniture around and where things will go. I'll do this for a few weeks until I'm set on it, and I pretty much know exactly what I want. Then one day, Justin will come home and everything's different. It's amazing how much strength you find when you really want to do something.

I did this with our bedroom also... before I would fall asleep or when I would wake up before getting out of bed, I'd think about our room arrangement. Then one day I decided to move it all. Justin had to help me with the bed, but I put everything else on those slider things and moved it all around myself! Yep, in the past month, I've re-arranged two rooms in our house!

Happy Organizing!
-Laney

Money-Saving Monday

Each Monday, we'll offer a "Money-Saving" Tip to help you and your family. This week it's something practical that we've all heard of. We believe this Money-Saving Tip will be the basis of all your other Money-Saving Ideas.

We also want to encourage you to pray about this before you put it to action. Ask God how much you should budget for different areas in your finances. I dare ya! It may be hard to submit, but I promise it will be worth it. He sees the "big picture" of our finances, where we can only see "today's picture".

The Budget
An important money-saving tip that we'd like to share with you is a budget. It's important to give each dollar of your income a job & reduce impulsive spending.

Find your Cash Flow
Look at trends from your previous months of spending to see your cash flow in certain areas. How much have you been spending on gas? How about groceries? Add each of your bills to your budget as well as your other expenses & discretionary money. Discretionary money is the leftover money that you choose how it it spent whether it be for haircuts, retail shopping, travel, etc.

Make it Work for You
Give each dollar a job, and stick to it. Make it your goal to spend LESS than what you've budgeted. Set financial goals like buying a new vehicle and start budgeting for that car note now while your car is still running smoothly and paid-off. Imagine how awesome it would feel to pay cash for your new car once you've saved enough and be able to give your other car away and bless someone big!

Give Yourself a "Buffer" or "Cushion"
Another idea for a budget I learned at a Financial Stewardship Class is to keep the same budget, even after your income increases. Better yet, budget for only one income, and save the rest. With this, you'll have a "buffer" or "cushion" of money in your account. Build your "buffer" or "cushion" amount up to a week's worth of salary, a month's worth, two month's worth, a year, etc.

The Goal of a Budget
Your goal is to be able to pay for things on a cash basis in full and not ever owing anyone anything. You won't be in debt or behind on a payment. And when you have your "buffer" or "cushion", you'll also be able to give abundantly to your family, missionaries, and those in need. You'll be able to give offerings above your tithe and be richly blessed in return, without ever having to worry about your monthly bills & expenses. 
What an incredible feeling to really be financially free!?!

So I personally think these are all great ideas to think about when considering a budget.
To put it simply, you'll be saving money by limiting your spending in every area of your family or personal budget!

Do you have a tip for Money-Saving Monday? Let us know at sistersandsavings@gmail.com!

Managing Our Household with a Few New Tools

Guest Post: Laney at The Barretts' Blog

   Well, my favorite hobby, and stress-reliever I think too, is organizing. It allows me to feel "in control" of whatever I am working to organize at the time. I'm constantly organizing something, and it makes me feel really good and really productive.

   There's nothing else that I feel I can organize at work with my lesson plans- I've got that almost down to a science. Yay, me for keeping it up! Our house is pretty organized also since I'm constantly organizing some area of our home in my free time. It also helps that we have more room here to work with so our kitchen table can actually be used for eating instead of eating, homework, paying bills, lesson plans, art projects, meal planning, and everything else you could possibly use a table for. We now have a functional office space, an organized kitchen, living room, utility room, bedroom, and bathroom. So, for the most part, everything is organized. (Just don't look it my car or purse- I allow those two things to remain chaotic.)

   So what else could I do? With every space around me completely organized, why was my house so messy when I came home each day? I'll let you in on a little secret and give you my confession...

   With a physically demanding job (chasing 3 year olds for 8 hours a day), I would spend my time doing nothing important- which to me is un-productive - or organizing that space that's now finished. I would not spend hardly any of it actually cleaning our house. Yes, I would let the dust bunnies throw parties & invite friends to the floors beneath our couch in the living room. The laundry was a never-ending cycle that never EVER got caught up. The pile of dirty dishes in the sink could probably have set a new record for the tallest sky scraper in the country. But probably the yuckiest thing was the inside of the microwave which was supposed to be white in color. Instead, it was yellowish, orange caked-on food particles - really gross!

   I'm really hoping at this point that you keep reading so I can at least tell you the good part, the part that lets you know I'm really not "that" kind of wife & home maker. I want you to know that I really do want my house to be clean and inviting. It's really important to me actually. In fact, I'm hoping there's at least one point that you could maybe relate to... maybe?

   Okay, so the last paragraph or two just goes to show that you can have every space organized - every nook & cranny. Being organized doesn't mean everything is always clean. It is possible to be organized (every object has a home), and still have a mess.

   So, now (finally!!) I've learned what I've gotta have, and it's "Time" Management & a Plan for actually cleaning my house. I actually didn't think of this on my own. I very seldom think about organizing my time, but I happened to stumble upon an article from one of my favorite blogs, Money Saving Mom. She had written an article to answer a question from a reader about managing her home & kids while being a stay-at-home mom who home schools. She shared her Household Management Forms that she uses to keep herself on task throughout the day and keep her house in order.

   I've, since then, customized her forms to fit the needs of our home and our family. I've found them to be quite helpful. Just by spending less time in the mornings "piddling" as I call it (taking my sweet, precious time), I've found that I can actually be really productive and get lots of  things done. It's an amazing feeling. It's also really nice to come home to an empty sink and home that is pretty darn tidy.

   I've taken advantage of a few tips that I'd like to share as well...
  *Add "Relax" to my To-Do List - It's really hard for me to relax if there's still things left to do. I can't cross
     this off my list if I don't get to it, so I just had to add it to the list. So far, it works!
  *5-Minute Clean Up - Instead of fretting over every single little thing that's not in order or where it should
      be, I'll just set a kitchen timer and put things away for 5 minutes. It's really productive!

   It also really helps to have a husband who (although not a list-maker), can be a BIG help in getting things done around the house. Often, I will come home to the laundry already completely done or all the dishes washed. Today, he mentioned adding something to his list... then quickly added "the list in my head". He has a list too- I just can't see his.

Happy Home Managing to You Too!