getting organized :: space savers

One of my biggest issues is organization.  I need big time help in that area.  Organization is one of my main goals on this journey.  I have got to be more organized.  I need to see what we have and what we need.  There have been times when I really needed something that I knew we had, but I couldn't find it.  So what would I do?  I would go buy more.  Big money waster and also a time waster (all that time I would spend looking for the lost items).

Our home is a 1400 sq foot brick rancher built in the late 70's, we have no space.  I am constantly trying to find ways to create storage.  When I saw this on Pinterest, I thought it was genius.  Someone, much more clever than I, put one of those hideous hanging shoe racks in a closet and used it for storage.  I have seen these hundreds of times in the stores and all I ever saw was a shoe rack, which is why I LOVE Pinterest.

I got my hanging shoe racks at Wal-Mart for $5.87 each.  If you are lucky you may be able to snag one at a yard sale or your local Goodwill for less.  I hadn't seen any at our Goodwill and I felt like they were reasonably priced at Wal-Mart.

P.S. - If you noticed I have multiple of one item (I am a former extreme couponer, still have a big stock pile and I would like to get back into it soon)

Happy organizing!

frugal find :: dry erase decals

I was at our local Big Lots store and I completely stumbled across these amazing dry erase decal stickers.  They are completely perfect and a set of 4 was only $3!!  I must admit it was a bit of an impulse buy, however I am really trying to organize my life.  This was a good splurge.

I decided to put them on my refrigerator in place of all those papers and clips I had.  Now I can just write down our grocery lists, meal plans, doctors appointments, anything really.  They erase like a dream too (no streaking or need to use a wet rag).  They claim to be easily removable and safe for painted surfaces.  These are not the vinyl decals, but more like stickers so I'm not sure about the painted surfaces.   They did easily remove from one spot to the next when I was trying out various places on the fridge.

I am new to blogging and I am very much the novice photographer, so I didn't realize how difficult it was to take pictures of a  refrigerator without a lot of glare.  Here is one more shot of the last decal.  They really do brighten up the kitchen.

I tried to find these on the Big Lots website, but I wasn't able to.  Maybe if you have a local Big Lots you can find them.  They were in the section with the spray paint.  I was just so excited to get these since most dry erase decals I have seen are $10 and up.

Let me know if you find any!