Finding that magazine article, the easy way.

This next step will take a few extra minutes of your time but will pay off later when you want to retrieve that article you read, somewhere, in one of those magazines.

If you are like me I have several magazines that I order each year that I love. Some of them I buy because I enjoy the recipes, tips and tricks they offer. One magazine I order is very educational and is a great resource for my children when they study history.

It's a pain to sort through every magazine every time you want to find a specific article. So I finally solved my problem by ripping out the table of contents of each magazine, taking the time to write the date on the top and placed it in plastic sleeves in a 3 ring binder. It took a little time to get my magazines in order by date, but now when I know there is an article some where in those magazines I can pull out one book, and look for it. When I locate the contents page with the article I am looking for, I go to my magazine stash in the book case and find the date that corresponds. Not only did I find the magazine in very little time but I even have the page number.

This little job may take you awhile depending on how many magazines you have. Grouping them by magazine if you buy a lot of the same one is the best way to start. If you just buy magazines off the shelf when you walk by, and they are never the same, start organizing by date.

I have been known to get my cup of tea and curl up on the couch with my 3 ring notebooks looking for something to do, instead of 8 magazines.

Cut the magazine Clutter

Magazines can stack up quickly and make your office or living room look cluttered. Cut the clutter bug by organizing them into magazine holders. Stacking them neatly next to each other on a bookshelf not only helps keep them off the desk, but makes it easier for you to sort through them later at your convenience.

Magazine holders are inexpensive ways to create organization. If you are feeling extra creative and savvy try taking a cereal box, cutting it at a diagonal and covering with your favorite scrapbook paper and ribbon. This will personalize your space even more and let your creativity really shine.

Stay tuned, next time I will tell you how to organize those special magazines so that you can find that project or article quickly without searching through hundreds of pages.

Quick and Easy Organization for your craft drawers

A simple way to customize your craft drawers is to add dividers. Here you see 1 1/2 inch by 4 foot piece of wood which we cut to fit the drawer snugly. This allows me to store our paint bushes, glue guns and other craft supplies without them getting lost forever in the "junk drawer".

Another inexpensive organizing tool for the craft drawers or cupboards is clear plastic boxes. Make sure you find some that will fit in your drawer. Grouping like craft items together and labeling will not only keep it organized but aid children in helping to keep them that way. It sure makes crafting much more fun when you know what you have and where it is.

Get that desk cleaned up!

Yes, it's been awhile since I started this blog on getting organized. I have been spending many nights dreaming of how I would organize my desk, my house, my kids, my life. Well, I finally have my first tip ready for you.

At the local office supply store I found a stair step holder for files. One of the things that overwhelms my desk in no time is papers that need filing. I don't always have time to organize and take the papers out to the filing cabinet so I came up with this in between stage to help me. I now have a folder for taxes where I slip all my tax related papers, write offs and receipts into for the current year. Now, when it's time to do taxes I will just pull out my file and I won't be hunting all over the office for those receipts I thought I had.

Another folder holds my address and phone numbers that I use most frequently. This includes, websites and passwords. One of the benefits of this, if my spouse ever needs to pay our bills, or access our accounts he will be able to find everything he needs. For my husband I also set up a folder that he could put any papers that related to his business in. I did include one for my children also.

I also have a folder for current bills. This eliminates the constant archeological dig in order to find the phone bill. After the bill is paid, it goes in the Bills to file folder. The last set of folders I set up was for our health, dental and vision insurance. Now when I need to call to find out if something is covered I have the numbers and the plan right at my finger tips.

By controlling the paper explosion in my office I can finally find the stapler.