Christmas Break Bucket List

Remember to take time this holiday season to enjoy simple things.

This year I started a "Christmas Break 2012 Bucket List" in the notes feature of my phone. This includes things we must do (renew kid #1's passport) and things we want to do (visit area museums). 

Every year my husband and I look forward to the long break between Christmas and New Year. We have grandiose plans of how we will spend the time. And every year on January 2nd we look at each other and wonder where the time went.  

While I doubt we will accomplish everything on my list, my hope is that we can use it to prioritize our precious time with our family. My idea is to balance the "have to's" and the "want to's" by alternating our activities for each day. 

When the children go back to school in January, I can rename my list "Spring Break 2013 Bucket List" or slide the items to the list I have started for Summer 2013. 

Here's to being intentional in the way we spend our time this holiday season and every day.  

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Would you like to learn 5 simple strategies to keep your New Year's Resolutions? Carolyn will be presenting "Simply Organize the New Year" at this year's Women's Health and Fitness Day, a free healthy lifestyle event on Saturday, January 12, 2013. Register at the Women's Health and Fitness Day website.  

Clearing Kid Clutter

Telling Santa Christmas wishes. 

Back in February I provided some basic tips on the Simply Organized Life blog to Cut Kid Clutter. 

Here are some additional tips that are being employed in my household (see also last week's post) as we approach the holiday season.

1) Talk to Your Kids

For most kids, more is more. However, as parents or guardians, we know that a clean uncluttered environment is important to our kids' physical and mental well being.  

My children are quite young so we keep it simple. For example: "We need to let go of some stuff you no longer use to make room for new things." I hate to admit it, but we have also mentioned Santa in our conversations. 

2) Involve the Kids

Now that your children are aware of the fact that they cannot keep outgrown clothing or toys they no longer play with, involve them in the process in age appropriate ways. 

Because some items are sentimental to me too, I like to pick out things that I feel are ready to leave the home and give my kids a choice of what they want to sell or give away. They enjoy giving things to younger extended family members or earning some of the proceeds from the toys we sell. 

3) Set Clear Limits

Only you can decide how much is too much in your home. Setting clear limits (for both your kids and yourself) is a great way to keep clutter from taking over.

Most of us do well with some sort of container to limit our possessions. For example: Only own as many books as will fit in your bookcase or as many clothes as fit in your closet or dresser. Even very young children can understand that the toy box is full and there is not room for anything else. 

Sometimes kid clutter (and adult clutter) can be overwhelming. If you need help with the clutter in your life, please contact Carolyn to schedule a complementary telephone consultation. 

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. To receive a free copy of Carolyn's "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life"and a monthly subscription to the e-newsletter "Your Simply Organized Life" sign up here. 

Preparing for the Holidays

Bringing out the Christmas decorations. 

In my home, we are busy preparing for the Christmas holiday. This year we have chosen to take a slow and steady approach in order to involve the kids as much as possible. Every weekend, we pick a small decorating project and have one outing.  

Along with the traditional holiday preparations, I have been focused on clearing clutter in our home, particularly kid clutter. Last year, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of our family and friends toward our children. Even after taking care of holiday returns, we still had a lot of new stuff.

What does clearing clutter look like in a professional organizer's home? Any outgrown clothing or toys have been passed on to the younger child, given to extended family, taken to a local resale shop or donated to charity.

I have also been letting go of my unneeded clothing and household items, such as those blankets we never use and excess belongings stored in the basement. The website www.donatestuff.com is so easy to use that I have scheduled Purple Heart to come out twice in the last  three months.

All of this clutter clearing has been enriching my life, and I hope, that of my immediate family. 

If you are preparing for Christmas, in the midst of Hanukkah or celebrate another winter holiday, my wish is that these tips will help you be just a little more organized and a lot less stressed.

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. To receive a free copy of Carolyn's "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life"and a monthly subscription to the e-newsletter "Your Simply Organized Life" sign up here. 

Guest Post: Prioritizing You! (Part 2 of 2)

Last week, guest blogger, Anna Mae Trievel from Ann Arbor with Kids and Fun with Your Kid, shared her tips to make sure moms remember to make themselves a priority. Here is part 2 of 2. 

Based on the success of the coffee group mentioned in last week's post, I want to setup a regular event with another group of friends from my daughter’s school. 

I have talked with another mom about twice a month meetings: one week doing coffee and one week doing lunch. So far, we have not organized anything official, but have done coffee a few times, lunch once and a movie once. We also had an after-school outing with the kids.

My husband and I are fortunate to have family in the area who like to watch our daughter (and where she asks to sleep-over) so we are able to have date nights without arranging a babysitter. 

Date nights are also something that can be scheduled to make sure you have your own time. If finances are tight, you can arrange a routine trade-off with a friend so that you each get a date night once a month and once a month you watch the friend’s child(ren). 

Another option is to look for places that have a regular kids' night out event. Plan to take advantage of those when they are offered to have your regular date night. I have seen them offered at gymnastics centers, inflatable bounce places and my daughter’s school.

So when organizing your schedule, don’t forget the importance of scheduling your “me time”, “date night”, or even family game night.

Anna Mae Trievel writes the blog Ann Arbor with Kids about family events and activities in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She recently launched Fun with Your Kid to provide information about events happening across the country or region, product reviews, travel experiences and more.

Guest Post: Prioritizing You! (Part 1 of 2)

Guest blogger, Anna Mae Trievel from Ann Arbor with Kids and Fun with Your Kid, shares her tips to make sure moms remember to make themselves a priority. 

Our back to school schedule is finally set. The teacher has the classroom volunteer schedule completed and I have helped a few times. Soccer is nearly over, Girl Scouts has started and other after school activities have begun. Even if your child is not yet in school, back to school heralds a shift of weekday activities to focus on toddlers and preschoolers instead of kids home from school for the summer.

When setting your schedule, the required items always seem to make it on the calendar: school, sports, work and other commitments. But how often do “me time” events make it on the list? This is even more important when your me time activities include others or require child care, such as date night, mom’s (or dad’s) night out or lunch group.

  

Before my daughter was in kindergarten, we belonged to a twice a month playgroup for many years. Since she attended afternoon preschool, we were able to continue with the group until last fall. Last year, many of us had children headed off to school and were leaving the playgroup. We switched to a twice a month coffee group on the alternate weeks of the playgroup so that those who still had younger children could attend both coffee (with the younger kids) and playgroup. 

After taking a summer hiatus, we started back up in September. Our group is very casual in that you make it when you can. People drift in over the course of an hour and come on the weeks that they can. I love having this time on my calendar and knowing that we will get together regularly....unlike the hypothetical Mom’s Night Out that we have been discussing since our last one 15 months ago.

Anna Mae Trievel writes the blog Ann Arbor with Kids about family events and activities in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She recently launched Fun with Your Kid to provide information about events happening across the country or region, product reviews, travel experiences and more.

Organizing Mish Mash

Carolyn Presenting at Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor

Today's title is a bit of an oxymoron, but perfectly suits what I have been up to the last few weeks and why I missed posting to the blog in October 2012. 

Here's what has kept me busy in the last month and a half. I have included some tips for you to conquer your own organizing mish mash. 

Meeting with Clients:

Since founding Simply Organized Life in 2005, I always expect the month of September to be really busy with clients whose children are back in school. Realistically speaking, it takes folks a good month to get back into their new routines. Be aware of this trend when starting any new routine. 

As for the work accomplished with clients, we cleared out a long abandoned storage area, revamped a guest room full of clutter, tackled a shared girls' room and conquered lots of paper clutter. I also had the pleasure of visiting a client who hired me over a year ago as a consultant on her office remodel--before any demolition took place. The results were amazing!

Seminars and a New Product:

Preparing for and presenting several seminars also kept me busy this fall. My first on-line webinar titled "Tame the Paper Monster" took me outside of my comfort zone. In addition, I developed a unique routine worksheet for purchase and download on-line. For a replay of the webinar and to purchase the routine worksheet click here. 

On a Personal Note:

My life outside of Simply Organized Life is busy too. In October I chaperoned two field trips, one for each of my children. I have also been clearing some of my own clutter. My kids' art clutter all over the kitchen counter started to drive me crazy, so I cleared out two drawers in my kitchen for  their supplies. Habitat for Humanity's ReStore and Purple Heart came to take away some items  we no longer need. I organized my medicine cabinet, taking the expired items to our local pharmacy and went through my cleaning supplies. My unneeded cleaning supplies need to be taken to  the local home toxins collection center. 

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting the hands on workshop "Tame the Paper Monster" at Ann Arbor Rec & Ed on December 7, 2012. Register with Ann Arbor Rec & Ed and bring your paper piles. 

Pesky Paper Clutter

Speaking at Multiple Births Canada National Conference, Oct. 2011

Since founding Simply Organized Life in 2005, the question I am most asked is "What to do with all those pesky paper piles?"

After a busy summer filled with lots of activities outside the home, I found myself with some sizable paper piles in my office. I made the piles go away and am only left with my current project folders on my desk. Here's what I did: 

1) Set Aside the Time

Being a professional organizer, I know how to handle paperwork and (gasp) actually enjoy it. However, several rounds of house guests and our busy summer schedule kept me away from my home office where the paper piled up. At the first opportunity, I scheduled time in my calendar to deal with the paper on my desk. 

2) Just Do It

Paper piles can be pretty intimidating. It is much easier (and more fun) to check your e-mail, surf Facebook or do just about anything other than sorting through the papers. What I find works for me is to set a timer for a short amount of time (say 15 minutes) and just starting dealing with the paper pile top down. If a bill appears, I pay it. If project papers appear, I schedule time in my calendar or create a project file. Most people can handle those types of action papers, but what about those pesky papers that you *might* need to refer to in the future? 

3) Put it Away 

Everyone needs a system for those little bits of paper that we want to refer to in the future. The thing is that if we cannot retrieve those papers when we need them, what is the point of keeping them? 

I utilize a combination of paper files, like the family binder I referred to in my "Get Organized for Back to School" post, and am slowly shifting to a paperless system for other things. For my children's artwork I either take a photograph or scan the items. These things are stored by month and year with our digital photos. For other things, like interesting magazine articles or websites, I scan and save to Evernote, which I can then search at a later date.  

Source:  www.evernote.com

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting "5 Habits for an Organized Office" at Ann Arbor Rec & Ed. on October 12, 2012. Register now with Ann Arbor Rec & Ed. Please note that Carolyn was not compensated by any vendors for this blog post. 

Zero Waste Lunch

My child's zero waste lunchbox. 

When you are organized you can do so many things that you might not be able to do otherwise. One of the things that being organized allows me to do is pack zero waste lunches for my kids. It is a small thing that makes me happy. 

My main goal for my children's lunches is to have everything together in one package, so that they can focus on eating the (mostly) healthy food that I pack. 

The photo above shows the insulated lunchbox loaded up. The ice pack (on the left) is tucked in the pouch so it can stay put at lunch and not get lost. On the other side my child has a cloth napkin, a Nalgene bottle (BPA free and made in the USA), utensils and a two tiered bento box I found on sale at Old Navy last September (also BPA free).  

Of course, an organizer's kid has to have everything labeled. This is a great example of good, better, best labeling. I used a combination of Sharpie pen, Brother P-touch and Name Bubbles labels. Except for the napkin, everything has a label, even each individual utensil. 

Bento box using silicon cups to separate food.

The second photo is an example of a lunch I packed for my kids this summer. I use silicon cupcake cups to separate the food in the bottom tier of the bento box. The top tier is just thick enough for a sandwich. This lunch contained cucumbers, tomatoes and basil from our vegetable patch. The fresh mozzarella ball is store bought. 

Last week I volunteered at the school during one lunch hour. The parent volunteer's role is to help the young kids open containers, clean up trash, keep things together and on the particular day I volunteered, it seemed that half the class had to use the bathroom during lunch. 

Even if your goal is not a zero waste lunch, make sure your kids can easily open the containers or packages in their lunchboxes. While it may seem easy for us, I opened a lot of cheese stick packages last week. 

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting "Easy Organizing for Busy Families" at My Urban Toddler in Saline, Michigan on September 26, 2012 (childcare is available, check with My Urban Toddler for details). Register with My Urban Toddler by Wednesday, September 19, 2012. 

Get the Garage in Order

Source:  http://magazine.ucla.edu/features/the-clutter-culture/index1.html   

If you cannot fit your car in your garage, you are not alone. A full 75% of families in an anthropological study at UCLA could not park a car in their garages. If a similar study were conducted in the Midwest, the numbers might be slightly lower due to our cold winters and the fact that most Midwestern homes have basements.  At any rate, I am sure we can all find unwanted clutter in our garages after a busy summer. Here are a few quick tips to get your garage in order before the weather turns cold: 1) Start with the Big Stuff Take a look around your garage and see what are the largest items taking up space. Determine if these items deserve their own zone (see below) or if the items need to move on. Unwanted items can be sold, donated, recycled or trashed as a last resort.     2) Create Zones Creating zones in your garage--or any area of the home--is a great way to reserve space for big items (like your car) and to be able to find those small items when you need them.   Some common zones found in garages include a place to park cars, a gardening bench, tool storage, bicycles and kid stuff. The key to keeping any of these zones tidy is to only allow related items in each zone.  3) Utilize Wall Space One of the best ways to keep an organized garage is to utilize the wall space. This gets things off the floor and out of the way. While expensive garage systems with slat walls and cabinets are nice, there are a lot of cheaper options that will not cost you a bundle.  One of the cheapest and easiest ways to utilize the wall space in your garage is to hang items by two long nails. I learned this trick from my Grandfather and Father, who were quite organized in their day. Another "old timer" favorite is the peg board utilizing hooks and other accessories. Just remember to thoroughly sort and purge your items before buying any organizing tools.  Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting "Easy Organizing for Busy Families" at My Urban Toddler in Saline, Michigan on September 26, 2012 (childcare is available, check with My Urban Toddler for details). Register with My Urban Toddler by Wednesday, September 19, 2012.

Storing Manuals

Photo Source: Carolyn Anderson-Fermann

When it comes to getting and staying organized there are no hard and fast rules. 

Take today's subject of storing manuals: you can store manuals with the product, in a box or in a file folder. These are just three options and they are all correct. 

And, if you want to think out of the box completely, who says you even have to keep a paper manual? Some new products, such as the iPhone or Kindle e-reader, do not even come with a manual. It is all on-line if you need it. 

The important thing to remember when storing manuals, particularly for big ticket items, is retrieval. Will you be able to find what you want, when you need it? 

While it was not very fun at the time, I recently had a great opportunity to test my method for storing manuals. In February of 2008, I wrote a blog post about storing the manuals for our home water pump and tank. The photo above shows the water tank for our home and the manuals in a plastic sleeve taped to the wall. 

A couple of weeks ago, my family awoke to no water. It was a good thing that I had the manuals for the pump and tank taped to the basement wall. The manuals included the following information: the well company's contact information, installation dates and warranties for each item. 

It turned out that our tank had failed and was still under warranty. Our water was running again by 10:30 a.m. that morning. 

The thing about being organized is that it makes our busy lives just a little bit easier. Are you tired of living in clutter and chaos? Of not finding what you need when you need it? Let me guide you on what I like to call your "organizing journey". 

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. To receive a free copy of Carolyn's "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life"and a monthly subscription to the e-newsletter "Your Simply Organized Life" sign up here. 

Planning for International Travel with Kids

Photo Source: List Mama, www.listplanit.com

Do you have family overseas? Do you dream of expanding your vacation horizons, but worry about traveling internationally with your children? 

Check out my guest blog on planning for international travel with kids over at ListPlanIt, a membership based website full of any list you could imagine. Why reinvent the wheel?

My guest blog is a time-line based list of steps for any family planning a trip overseas. Many of the steps can apply to domestic travel as well. Enjoy!

Get Organized for Back to School

Photo Source: 
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/08/01/frugal-back-to-school-shopping/ 

I love the idea of a fresh start. If things have gotten cluttered over the summer, back to school is a great time to make a fresh start in your home. Why wait until January 2013? Here is what I am doing with my children to prepare for back to school before Labor Day rolls around: 1) Update the Family Binder If you do not have a family binder, or even know what it is, now is a great time to set one up. The family binder functions as one place where you can store all of those important papers that you will need to refer to in the future.  My family's binder is simply a three ring binder (that I already had) filled with babysitter information, school class information and information related to activities such as swimming or soccer. I like to use and reuse Avery's erasable tabs, so it is easy to switch from year to year. Take the time now to clear out the old and make room for the new.   2) Update the Calendar By now most schools will have their annual calendars posted on-line. While more detailed calendars are forthcoming, take the time now to post all those holiday breaks and random days off into your personal calendar.  Transferring the school, church or activity calendar into your own calendar as soon as it is available is a great habit to get into to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.  3) Start the Schedule Shift Most of us let our schedules slide a bit in the summer. If your kids have turned into night owls over the last two months, now is the time to slowly shift bedtimes earlier.  Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting "Get Organized for Back to School" at My Urban Toddler in Saline, Michigan on August 17, 2012 (childcare is available, check with My Urban Toddler for details). Register with My Urban Toddler by Friday, August 10, 2012.

Travel Tips

Carolyn in Torun, Poland, circa 2005

Today's post is an oldie, but goody, originally posted on this blog in May 2006. 

Having left a corporate career in sales and lived overseas, I have traveled a lot. My last trip as a corporate road warrior had me off to Japan with all of four days notice. When I showed up at the airport my male counterparts were surprised that my only luggage was an 18 inch Travelpro carry-on and a purse large enough to hold my computer.

With a little bit of organization, you too can be jetting off to far flung places at a moment's notice. Here are my tips for packing light and enjoying the ride:

1) Pick your bags---Try to limit yourself to one small sturdy bag per person. This can even save you money with the airlines’ nickeling and diming for baggage charges these days.

2) Pack your bags---If you travel frequently, keep small sample sized toiletries in your travel bag at all times. This saves packing time and avoids forgotten items.

3) Start with your itinerary---For business or pleasure, you should have an idea of your daily travel plans. This will help you pick out the necessary clothes and shoes.

4) Get back to the basics---When traveling, stick to easy care mix and match separates or suits in the same color palette. I always try to limit myself to two pairs of shoes of the same color: one casual and one dressy.

5) Use every nook and cranny---Rolling knit items can save space. You can also pack socks and undergarments inside of your extra pair of shoes that are covered with plastic bags. Neatly folding dirty clothes inside of plastic bags saves space on the way home.

6) Relax---Don’t worry if you forget something. Unless you are traveling to a very remote part of the world, you can almost always buy what you need or wash clothes at your destination.


Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. To receive a free copy of Carolyn's "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life"and a monthly subscription to the e-newsletter "Your Simply Organized Life" sign up here. 

Avoid Organizing Mistakes (Part 3 of 3)

Source:   http://tracys-day.blogspot.com/

For the past two weeks, I have been writing about how to avoid the most common organizing mistakes. 


The last and most common mistake of the three is trying to buy our way out of disorganization. 

Purge First, Buy Later

I strongly believe that organizing is about what you do, not what you buy. While it is tempting to head out to your nearest big box store when you are ready to get organized, hold off on buying new organizing tools until you are near the end of your journey. 

About 90% of my clients never need to buy any organizing products while we are working together. When you let go of the excess in your life, you no longer need so many containers to hold your stuff. 

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. To receive a free copy of Carolyn's "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life"and a monthly subscription to the e-newsletter "Your Simply Organized Life" sign up here. 

Avoid Organizing Mistakes (Part 2 of 3)

Last week I shared the first of three ways to avoid the most common organizing mistakes. 


Today, we are going to talk about moving forward without regret when it comes to organizing. 

Keep Moving Forward

It's no surprise that many clients feel shameful of their past mistakes that have lead to disorganization. It is really difficult and very important to let go of the past. Let's call this mental clutter.

Maybe you overstocked your pantry, indulged in retail therapy a bit too much or let the mail pile up for weeks. Holding onto mental clutter can be a real roadblock to getting organized. 


We all make mistakes. Just moving forward a little every day can open up wonderful clutter free possibilities.     

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. To receive a free copy of Carolyn's "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life" and  a monthly subscription to the e-newsletter "Your Simply Organized Life" sign up here. 

Avoid Organizing Mistakes (Part 1 of 3)

Summer is a busy time. 

With all the activities on the calendar and less structure, I find it more difficult to stay organized in the summer months. Does this hold true for you? 

That being said, I believe even a little organization can take us a long way in the busy month of July. 

Today I am sharing the first of three ways you can avoid the most common organizing mistakes. 

Follow these tips and you can take in all those activities guilt free, without worrying about disorganization.

Do a Little at a Time

Many of us think that if we just had one weekend (or if you're a Mom, maybe one hour) we could really get things organized. The problem with this thinking is that for most of us these large chunks of time are few and far between.

While spending a weekend on organizing can lead to amazing results, if you do not have a plan to keep the area organized, it won't be long until you are in the same predicament again. Taking baby steps when it comes to organizing is the long term way to keep clutter at bay. 

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting the hands on workshop "Tame the Paper Monster" at My Urban Toddler in Saline, Michigan on July 20, 2012 (childcare is available, check with My Urban Toddler for details).

Kitchen Organizing Tips

Enjoy Summer's Bounty with a Tidy Kitchen

 

Summer is officially here! My favorite thing about summer in Michigan is our abundance of fresh local produce. With an organized kitchen you can enjoy the foods of summer even more.

 

Here are some quick and easy ways to keep your kitchen organized and clean:

 

1) Clean Up After Every Meal

Organization breeds organization. You (and hopefully, your family) will be more likely to keep a tidy kitchen when you clean up after every meal. Wash or put dirty dishes in the dishwasher and wipe down counter tops.

 

2) Know What You Have

Before heading out to the grocery store or local farmers' market, check your refrigerator and pantry. Base your meal plan and shopping list on what you already have on hand. This will save you money and eliminate food waste.

 

3) Wipe Down Your Refrigerator

A 2010 Wall Street Journal article reported that most Americans clean their refrigerators only once or twice a year. Why wait until it gets gross? If you shop weekly your refrigerator should be nearly empty the day before. This is a perfect time to wipe down your refrigerator. An old rag with vinegar and water works great.

 

4) Put Paper in its Place

It is a fact of life. Paper is going to end up in the kitchen. Find a designated place for papers to land in your home away from food preparation. I have a desk in my kitchen where papers land temporarily. In addition, I utilize a 3M Command spring clip on the wall for papers related to upcoming events or deadlines.

 

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting the hands on workshop "Tame the Paper Monster" at My Urban Toddler in Saline, Michigan on July 20, 2012 (childcare is available, check with My Urban Toddler for details).

Guest Post: Moving with Kids (Part 2 of 2)

Mommy blogger, Allison Stanton, of Ally's Helpful Hints for Mommies, recently moved with her two preschool aged children in tow. Ally shares her moving experience and organizational tips to make moving with kids easier. 

Thanks to Carolyn for letting me guest post!  She asked me to share some tips with you on moving with small kids. Check out last week's post for tips on preparing for moving day. 

The last couple of days before moving I packed up everything except what we would need for a couple of days. It was like staying in a hotel. I had as much as I could in our dining room after moving our table out of the way and stacked it all up in one spot so it was easy to get at.

This made room in the bedrooms to take apart the beds as much as we could before our help showed up to load it all up. We allowed several hours to disassemble beds, to pack up bedding and to pack last minute items before our help came.  

We also sent the kids to the grandparents house the morning we moved and the first night in the new house so we could get everything set up. If Grandma and Grandpa can take the kids longer than that I would recommend it!

To save the cost of a moving company, we got help from our church. The volunteers did a good job with minimal damage on the big items.  Make sure to have a small treat and drinks for your helpers. :)

One tip I have for unloading is to have one person telling everyone where to put the boxes.  It can be overwhelming with them coming in two doors or a bunch at once, but this way 80% of your items will be in the right room. I stood and told everyone where I wanted items and the boxes that were not labeled well I made a pile in our living room and went through it right away and put things where they needed to go.  

I am still going through things and giving items away to downsize pots, extra bowls, decorations and the like. It really helps to keep things simple. I still have a room that has some boxes in it but we are slowly organizing and putting things in place.  

The biggest thing that has helped me is to not hold on to items thinking "I may use this one day". If you haven't used it in awhile and do not think you will use it again soon, get rid of it! You can find yard sale groups on Facebook and Craigslist in your town. 

Happy moving!  What is your biggest tip when it comes to moving?

Who is Ally? My name is Allison Stanton and I am a stay at home mom of two boys: 5 and 2 years old. We live in Ormond Beach, Florida. I love connecting with other mommies and helping each other out. I pass along hints for mommies and I receive help at the same time.  You can find me at my website at http://www.allyshints.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/allyshelpfulhintsformommies.