No More Streaking!!!

While I'm a firm supporter of clothing at all appropriate times, take heart...this post has nothing to do with THAT kind of streaking :)

With the cool weather coming in rather quickly this year, it's time to start spending parts of the mornings and afternoons with the windows and doors open. There's really nothing like cool, crisp fall air filling your home! This time of year is a reminder to me to clean the windows. (I would be the one to associate a cleaning task to this time of year!) Is there anyone who actually enjoys cleaning windows? Probably not, not even me. However, there is a certain sense of satisfaction that comes from standing back and looking at a spotless pane...even if it's a pain to get it done. And while clean glass is certainly satisfying, hard work and elbow grease that only produces nasty streaks is less than awesome. Then, you have to figure out which side is streaking and wash it again, which usually results in washing both sides again and total exhaustion before you're finished with the first window. Anybody feelin' me here?

First, let me say that I don't have a favorite cleaner or mixture to use that yields a streak-free window. Some people swear by foams or homemade mixtures or a good solid name brand. I, however, have found that any cleaner, even water, paired with a really good microfiber cloth works wonders. I use 2 cloths...one for washing and one for drying.

Cleaner talk aside, this oh-so-simple tip has saved me many times in this window washing woe. Wipe the window in one direction on the outside and in another direction on the inside. For example, I generally wipe top to bottom/bottom to top on the outside windows and left to right/right to left on the inside. If you do this, and the window streaks, you'll be able to tell which side the streaks are on in a flash! No need for washing and rewashing until you get it right. One more tip for making a not so fun task a little easier. Now, open those windows and let the sunshine in!

-Sarai

The Magic of Mother Nature

See that adorable onesie on my sweet little six-week old??? You know it has to be courtesy of our own Whatta Cute Baby! creator herself. It's adorableness just screams it at you, right? :)

Well, wanna know what is NOT adorable? When it gets stained by one of those poop-up-the-back numbers. Nope, not cute at all!

For all those who may not know this sunshiny trick, have I got some glorious news for you! To get out poop stains simply rinse the soiled garment in water and then put it in the sun to dry. Somehow miraculously Mother Nature gets rid of the stain better than any commercial brand stuff ever thought about.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway below for your whatta cuteness. I know you'll love the sweet baby line as much as I do!

~Katrina

My Dirty Little Secret

If you know me personally or have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I'm an organizer. I can't help it...it's just what I do. Everything has to have a place and everything has to be sorted by color or alphabetically. Well...almost everything.

It's about to be confession hour here at Three Simple Girls and I really can't believe that I'm about to spill my dirty little secret. The information I'm about to divulge is mildly embarrassing, quite comical and strangely ironic.

I have an obsession.

I am an container hoarder.

I have a problem.

Don't believe me? Check out our hall closet...

Other than a vacuum cleaner, a drying rack and a few cans of spray paint, the entire closet from floor to ceiling is packed full of organization containers. Folks, we've got wicker baskets, lidded containers, plastic bins, drawer organizers, buckets and photo boxes. Yes, most of them were purchased for a clearance price. Yes, some of them are still covered in the original packaging.

I'm not exactly sure what it says about a person who is very organized yet hoards organization supplies. I do know that I'm past the first step (admitting that I have a problem) and maybe, just maybe exposing my little problem will bring the motivation and accountability I need to take this closet from that to something a little more like this:

(www.allthingsgd.blogspot.com)

Here's to more organizing and less organizing containers!

-Sarai

Money Saving Madness

Welcome, friends, from Kelly's Korner!

Being a stay-at-home-wife, I feel that it's part of my job to save our family money. We have been abundantly blessed, but by no means feel like we're rolling in the dough! The primary task I use for saving us money is Couponing. This term means different things to different people. For me, it simply means using coupons (of many varieties) combined with sales prices to achieve the cheapest possible cost for a given item. I had used coupons since we got married and, sure, I saved some money here and there. It wasn't until I started Couponing in the fall of 2008 that I really began to see a difference in how much money we were spending and saving on groceries and common household items.

I know that this concept isn't for everyone. So rather than try to pressure you into believing that Couponing is the only way, I'll simply tell you what I do and what works for me.

A common misconception about using coupons is that it takes too much time. Recently, I figured out that the total time I spend each week on clipping and sorting coupons/meal planning is around 60-75 minutes. The bulk of that time is spent clipping and sorting, but is usually accomplished while watching tv. I'm able to catch up on a favorite show and mark a big task off my weekly to-do list.

Last year alone, we saved nearly $2,000 on groceries and household items. Yes, nearly TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS!! If I consider that total with the amount of time I spend each week on this task, I'm "earning" about $35 an hour for my time. As a stay at home wife, I believe this is the least I can do to contribute to our monthly budget!

Here's my step-by-step plan.

First, I collect my coupons. My coupons come from the Sunday paper, friends and family and online sources such as coupons.com. I also subscribe to several bargain blogs where I find shopping lists for the stores I shop in, extra coupons and even online deals (you can find these blogs on the right side of the page under "links").

After that, I cut my coupons. I ONLY CUT COUPONS FOR THINGS I KNOW WE WILL BUY. I found that cutting out every single coupon takes a lot of extra time. Throwing away a big stack of unused coupons at the end of the month is very frustrating. As I cut the coupons, I separate them into "Food" and "Non-Food" stacks.

Next, comes the sorting. I have found that an initial sort like this saves TONS of time when I am looking for a certain coupon. I have 2 coupon folders...one for food items and another for non-food items. Each folder has several files. In each tab, there are envelopes to break down the sorting even more. For example, (below) the laundry tab contains envelopes for detergent, stain treater and fabric softener. This method allows me to search through a few coupons for detergent rather than rifle through a whole stack of coupons that may or may not be for detergent. My tabs and envelopes are based on things that we use and buy. Yours may or may not look like this.

I have a basket that looks like the one below to house all my couponing supplies. In the basket, I keep scissors, a Sharpie, a note pad, both coupon files, sales flyers to take note of and coupons that need to be cut/sorted/filed.

Now, it's time to make my shopping lists. I have a Grocery List template on my computer that I print once a week. This allows me to make my shopping list based on certain departments and aisles in the store. Under each department/aisle, I also have a column for coupons. This allows me to make note of the coupon(s) I have for the item listed. Then, when I'm shopping I know exactly how much my coupon is for and can compare costs without having to dig through my coupon folder for every single item.

The note pad I keep in my Coupon basket allows me to make smaller lists for other stores (like Target, Wal-Mart or CVS).

Once I've created a menu for the week (using as many food items as I can from the pantry, fridge and freezer), I peruse the sales flyers. I look for items that are on sale and that I know I have coupons for. I circle all the things I might be interested in buying with my Sharpie. Then, I match up coupons with sales items to see if the final price of that item is reasonable (once you've done this for a while, you'll start to see patterns in prices and know when something is really on sale). I add those items to my list and I'm off to the store!

Here are some things to remember when adapting a Couponing method:

*Get over brand preferences.
The key is to buy what you can get at a super cheap price, rather than to buy items that you might normally buy. I'm not gonna lie, I love Angel Soft toilet paper. But, if I can get a pack of Cottonnelle for 5o cents, you better believe I'm gonna go for it! I've found that, the majority of the time, I end up liking a new brand better than my old stand by brands.

*Buy items based on price, not necessity.
Obviously, things come up and last minute trips to the store are a must. The object, though, is to plan ahead as much as you can to save the most money possible. I've begun planning a week and a half in advance, and that seems to work pretty well.

*Save your coupons & watch for sales.
These two kinda go hand in hand. Some sites suggest that you do a month's worth of research on your most purchased products to figure out the lowest sale price for those items, and then only purchasing them at that lowest sale price. While that totally works, I've adapted my own little system. Instead of doing all the research, I simply wait for the sales ads, check out the items that are on sale and match them up with my coupons. The majority of the time, the items that are in the sales ads are near their lowest price.

*Stock up.
If an item is on sale and you have 4 coupons, use them and stock up!! It's better to keep 3 extra bags of frozen vegetables on hand and get them for 50 cents a piece than it is to only buy 1 bag at 50 cents and then have to pay full price for the other 3 bags later. This goes for items that you might not have coupons for, too, like meat. If a meat item is on sale, we buy enough to make 4 or 5 dishes.

I know all this looks intimidating. I can tell you that it WILL take some time to adapt to your liking, but by taking it a step at a time, it's a lot easier than you might initially think. Just remember that your pantry/fridge/freezer WILL be stocked and you WILL save money!

If you have questions about the process I use or would like for me to e-mail you with the Grocery List template I use, contact us at threesimplegirls@gmail.com .

Happy Saving!

-Sarai

Whistle While You Work

Welcome, friends from Kelly's Korner! Today for the Show Us How You Live Series, it's all about getting down to the nitty gritty...cleaning, that is.

I grew up in a home where the house was cleaned once a week. The rooms were tidied daily. Toothbrushes and Q-tips were frequent cleaning assistants. If it was a surface (baseboards and windowsills included), we dusted it. If it was a linen (curtains, bedding and pillows included), we washed it. Our house was always clean, always smelled fresh and was ready to visitors at any given time. And that's how, I thought, everyone cleaned.

Imagine my horror when, for the first time as a young adult, I walked into a home with un-dusted baseboards. Or when I realized the "spring cleaning" for most people just meant to clean the house a little more than normal (for us it always meant cleaning EVERY SINGLE surface of EVERY SINGLE room, then cleaning the carpets and walls and the whole nine yards).

Don't get me wrong, I loved growing up in a clean house (note: I said growing up in a clean house...I did NOT say cleaning the house). There was a sense of comfort in it. And then I got married. And then we moved into our 3 bedroom, 2 bath home where the majority of cleaning tasks were left to me, the stay at home wife (another note: hubby helps, I promise!). I realized very quickly that Mom's style of cleaning was not my style of cleaning. I really WANTED my house to be clean all the time, but I was also very realistic in my expectations of time management. Contrary to my belief, sleeping is not as important as wiping every single mini blind with a damp cloth. it didn't take very long at all for me to wake up and realize it just wasn't going to work...but it did take a little longer for me to be ok with it. You see, the OCD part of me really wasn't ready to let go. (If you question whether or not the OCD part of me still wins, checkthis out!)

So, I was ready to move past the perfectly clean, 24 hours a day home and move into a mind set of priorities and reality. At the time, I was working 2 days a week outside the home (cleaning, no less) so I really had to figure out a good system for making it all happen on a regular basis without killing myself. The result of that is a list of cleaning tips. Now, I realize this is not for everyone. I know I'm still a little (a lot some days!) OCD when it comes to home management and chances are that most of you are not. That's ok! The bottom line is to decide what works for you and go with it! You're probably gonna read this list and prepare an intervention and I totally get that. Just know that when you come to take me away, my house will more than likely be clean :)

*Have a (flexible) plan.

For me, it was important to decide just how often I would need/want to clean. Cleaning the entire house every single week wasn't an option. But I also know that waiting more than about 2 weeks to clean led to some pretty scary situations in the toilets. While I wanted to have clean curtains, it was neither feasible or necessary to wash them every other week.

I started with a master list...I listed every single cleaning task (divided by room) that I'd like to accomplish over the course of a year. Then, I marked each according to how often the task needed to be completed (every week, every other week, monthly, every other month, every 3 months/4 months/6 months, once a year). I assigned each task a month for completion while considering how weather may affect completing a task (it probably makes more sense to wash windows when it's warm sunny, rather than snowy).

For me, having every possible thing on the list was important. Even things like change the sheets and water the plants on my list. Granted, those are things that I probably wouldn't need a reminder for, but I'm all about marking things off of a list :) I typed it all up, using cute fonts, of course, printed it and hung it in my office. At the beginning of each week, I decide which tasks need to be completed and add them to my planner.

The best part is this...if it doesn't get done, it just doesn't get done! (Yes, mother, I'm finally in a place where I'm ok with that!) I'll just bump it to the next day or week or month. As with any plan that's any good, flexibility is a must!

*Store cleaners in a sensible manner.

I've found 2 solutions for cleaner storage that seem to work better than anything else:

*Store cleaners where you use them.

I have cleaners stored in my kitchen and in both the bathrooms. The little pull out drawer pictured above is in the kitchen where it holds all the general household cleaners and things that I use to clean the kitchen. The bathroom baskets contain things like toilet and shower cleaner.

*Have a cleaning supply bucket.

Choose 4-5 cleaners that will cover just about any surface/problem throughout the house and store them in a bucket with a handle. When you start cleaning, you can toss in a few cleaning rags and tote the bucket from room to room with ease.

*Whistle while you work...

...or dance or sing. This tip is non-negotiable. I find that I clean much quicker and and am in a much better mood while doing so when I have some good tunes playing. Feel free to pause mid clean to bust out some mean dance moves while singing into the duster...not that that's what I do...

*Top to bottom...Right to left.

It's important to start cleaning up high and end with the floor. Dusting at eye level will cause dust to fall to the floor so clean the floor last. I'm prone to get distracted while cleaning (any excuse to get out of it, right?!), so I force myself to take one room at a time and use a right to left method. When I enter a room, I start on the wall to my right and work my way around the room. I also start on one end of the house and work my way to the other end. This helps to keep me focused and I don't have to wonder if I've missed something along the way.

*Take a break.

I always take a break (or 10) while cleaning my house. It takes me several hours to do so I make sure to stop for lunch or a snack to break up the monotony.

*Be realistic in your expectations.

If you know that you only have 3 hours a week to devote to cleaning, decide what's most important and stick to it. Don't expect to get it all done every single time. Also, know that the world will not end if your to-do list isn't completed. I promise :)

*Reward yourself for a job well done.

Whether you cleaned a picture frame or your entire house, you should reward yourself. It's amazing what a little promise of ice cream will do :)

Do you have any cleaning tips? Share them with us!

Happy Cleaning!

-Sarai

Changing Seasons

This is one of the most simple tips I've ever learned. With Spring officially rolling in tomorrow, I thought it was the perfect time to share it.

When season's change, it's a great time for a fresh start. It's a great time for fresh decor changes, a good deep clean...and new toothbrushes.

Yep, that's what I said...toothbrushes. I've been told that your toothbrush should be changed every 3 months (read more about it here). Since the season's change about every 3 months, it's the perfect reminder to make a change.


Simple Tip. Fresh Start.

Happy Spring!
-Sarai

I'm an Organizing Junkie...

...but you'd never know it if you'd seen my guest room a week ago! Let me explain...

About 3 months ago, our guest room became our junk room. In the winter, we use the gas logs in our living room as our main heat source to cut down on heating costs. Because we don't have guests all that often during the winter months, we close the heating vent and door to the guest room so that we're not heating unused space. So, not only is that room about 15-20 degrees colder than the rest of the house, it's also the place where things get dumped. After all, I'm not about to go spend any length of time in there to put things away!

Over at I'm an Organizing Junkie, there's a 28 day organizing challenge going on for the month of February. There are some prizes and stuff, but I simply used my "enough is enough" mentality to motivate me to sign up. Here we are at the end of the month and I'm proud to say that our guest room is officially a guest room again!

Over the past couple of months, I've been doing some serious purging in order to create a simpler environment and also to get ready for an upcoming yard sale. I didn't have enough boxes to store all of the "get rid of" things, so our once somewhat inviting guest room became this...

(before)

It's ok...you can cringe (I did every time I opened the door to throw something else in there!). Those big piles are yard sale/to be put away/don't know what to do with you items...and yes, there are even some Christmas boxes and decorations still couped up in that room. Ugh. I knew it was pretty bad, but when my husband walked by one day when I had the door open to throw something on the pile, his I didn't know it was THAT bad! remark confirmed my deepest fears!

So, after acquiring some boxes, I began the daunting task of battling the piles (and the cold!) in order to restore some sanity in this room. You can kinda see that the room had some pretty good 'bones' already...decent furniture, nice curtains and linens and tons of organizational containers. After about 3 hours of boxing up, dusting, organizing and cleaning, that horrendous mess turned into this...

(after)

A little more inviting, huh?

I didn't get a chance to paint and I need a few more photos or artwork to complete the space, but I'm extremely pleased with the results! A few candles, photos of friends and family, magazines and extra towels make this room super cozy. This is finally a room that I'd be comfortable inviting guests to stay in.

Here are some alternate before and after views from the 4 corners of the room.

(before)

(after)

(before)

(after)

(before)

(after)

Now, we come to the closet. Before the guest room became a junk room, this closet became the place to dump things and shut the door so no once can see them". Then, the closet overflowed and...you know the rest of the story. Here's a glimpse at the before:

And thanks to some old bins, boxes and space bags (storing extra pillows under the bed!), here's the after:

I've stored like linens in containers (twin sheets, duvets, etc), have all of my gift wrapping items stored according to type (extra gift boxes, tissue paper and gift bags and a gift wrap container back in the corner of the closet) and there are a couple of crates on the bottom shelves that contain items purchased to give as gifts.

No, it's not my most spectacular organizing transformation ever, but for a few hours of work and no additional money spent, I'd say I pulled it off!

Here are some questions posed by the gals over at I'm an Organizing Junkie to help summarize the whole experience.

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?

The hardest part, for me, was getting started. I knew it was going to be a huge project and I had a hard time finding the motivation to get going. Obviously, I was able to overcome it...thanks to some help from Diet Coke and the new Lady Antebellum album :)

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?

I was able to implement containers for like items...such as like linens, gift boxes, guest towels, etc. After purging a great deal of things, I was able to store most of the rooms extra items in the closet...and was still able to shut the door!

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?

I have about 10 boxes of items ready to be sorted and priced for a spring yard sale! I love when organizing projects yield money!

4. What creative storage solutions were you able to introduce in order to create additional space as well as establish some limits and boundaries?

I used an old white plastic shelving unit in the closet. With a closet rod and simple eye level shelf, the closet doesn't lend itself to storage of any sort (except clothes!). By adding the shelf, I was able to create multiple levels of storage. In using the containers to store linens and gift wrapping/giving supplies, I'm able to have a set boundary for how many of each item to keep on hand. When the bins get full, something's gotta go! Overall, I believe keeping the main surfaces and floor space of the room clear, will allow me to see any little thing that's out of place and cause me to take immediate action.

5. Why do you think you should win this challenge?

I believe I was able to clearly define the space for its intended purpose (a guest room) and create adequate storage for items overflowing from other areas of the house (such as linens, gift wrapping, etc). The room is well organized, allows for easy up keep and is, overall, a welcoming space.

-Sarai

Welcome Mat ReDo

Most of us are experiencing winter weather like crazy these days. This kind of weather makes me want to do 1 of 2 things:

*Curl up on the couch and do nothing.

OR

*Redecorate and reorganize the whole house.

A few weeks ago, I was feeling a little of the latter coming on and decided that I'd tackle a small project during an afternoon. During this particular afternoon, it was sunny (gasp!) and above 50 degrees (gasp again!), so I felt like doing something kinda spring-ish.

A few years ago, we bought a welcome mat for our main entrance. It was all cute with flowers and bright and colorful and it was made from recycled materials which meant it was eco-friendly and it would last for a long time...oh and it was on sale! Perfect! However, like most things that get a lot of foot traffic, it began to show signs of wear and our once cute and colorful mat all of a sudden looked like this:

So, I decided to give it a little face lift. I used a couple of small paint brushes, some craft paint and turned it into this:

We wondered if it would wear off quickly, but so far, it's showing no signs of wear! And the recycled welcome mat lives on!

-Sarai

Linking this project up here:

ps... Be sure to scroll down for more of this weekend's lovely tips and ideas! :)

Christmas Planning Binder

I know what you're thinking...She's one of THOSE crazies who thinks about and plans for Christmas all year long. And you'd be right! And you're probably also thinking Christmas was over a month ago! Let it rest for the next 11 months! And sorry, I can't! Go ahead and throw things at me if you wish, but I promise this post can make your life easier!

So, it's January and I'm already thinking about next Christmas. (I've even bought a couple of gifts already! Please don't hate me!) I know it sounds incredibly crazy. However, by planning for one of the craziest times of the year during one of the least crazy times of the year helps me to really focus on what I can do to make it as seamless as possible. During the first few weeks of the near year, I update my "Christmas Planning Binder", which is code for simple 1.5" notebook with dividers and is labeled appropriately.

You don't have to have a cute page in the front like I do, but I'm finding that the cuter I make things, the more likely I am to use them. So, thanks to some free digital scrapbook downloads and about 5 minutes of my time I have a nice little cover for my binder.


Inside, I keep all the Christmas planning/event supplies organized with labeled dividers.
In the Gift Ideas section, I keep tutorials for how to make homemade gifts and also magazine and catalog tear outs that contain items I might be interested in purchasing for a friend or family member.

In the Gift List section, I have a handy chart complete with the names of everyone that we purchase gifts for. This helps me to make note of ideas for that specific person, items already purchased and any type of budget for that person. This is just a simple chart I've made with the help of Microsoft Excel and can be done in a matter of minutes. Each year, I just print out a fresh copy.

The Cards S/R section contains a list of all the Christmas card recipients on out list. I have another handy Excel chart here to help me keep track of the cards we send and receive each year.

In the Addresses section, I have an address database containing all the names and addresses for the cards we send. In this section, I also keep a tutorial (thanks, Mom!) for how to properly complete the Mail Merge Action for Word/Excel so that I can print mailing labels to slap on the cards. This saves me TONS of time!

Under the Games tab I keep, you guessed it, games! I have copies of a couple of different Christmas themed games that I can use for parties or family gatherings. Games are a HUGE deal with our family at Christmas, so this section has proved to be helpful.

In the back of the notebook, I have several clear dividers to help keep something wrangled together. I have a divider for receipts that correspond with the items we purchase for gifts. I have a couple of dividers for Christmas letter stationery and mailing labels.
I also stash a little notebook paper in the back for note taking along with an ink pen.

I know this system won't work for everyone, but nearly every woman on my mom's side of the family has a binder like this and it's worked for us for years! So, take this time when Christmas isn't being jammed down our throats to thoughtfully plan and prepare for the most wonderful time of the year!

Do you already have a notebook of your own like this? How do you keep your Christmas plans and ideas organized? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

-Sarai

Files Are Fun...

...or something like that.

I understand that most people don't get quite as excited as I do when it comes to alphabetical order and everything having it's own place and label. And if I'm really honest here, I can admit that even with all the labeling and alphabetizing and cute file folders, I really dread anything that has to do with filing cabinets. With all the sorting and upkeep, it's always one of those things that I don't like doing, but am really glad to see the end result.

Chances are, most of you feel the same way. So, I thought I'd share my system for file upkeep. It's taken me a few years to get a hold on the best and easiest way to take care of all the papers, but I'm really pleased with what I've come up with. If you choose to adopt all or some of these ideas, you should know that it can take a little time to get it all set up, but it will be worth it in the end.

Even though I try to add new papers to their appropriate files about once a month, I only clean out and really organize my filing cabinet once a year (in January). In case I don't have time, or simply choose not to (which is usually the case!), I keep a couple of file folders on my desk labeled "Needs A File" (for papers that don't already have a corresponding folder in the cabinet and "Items To Be Filed" (for papers that already have a folder and just need to be filed).

You'll want to gather your supplies: hanging file folders, paper clips, binder clips, post-it notes, pen or marker, stapler and label maker.

It seems that I always have a pile of papers that need to be filed, so I start by sorting them. No fancy pants way to do this...I usually end up on the floor with the piles all around me.

All of our files are in alphabetical order. This makes them easy to find and takes the guesswork out of returning a file to the filing cabinet.

In each individual file, I have the papers in chronological order (oldest in the front, newest in the back so that when I take a stack of papers out, they are in order of bill date or appointment). Also, I have each year clipped together (either with a binder clip or paper clip). On the top paper in each year (usually the paper associated with January), I've attached a Post-It Note that contains the following information: The year of that stack's contents and the year that it can be destroyed. For example, in our electric bill folder, I know that I like to keep bills only from the past year (we don't need them for tax purposes). The Post-It Note says: "2009" and then "keep until January 2011".

Even though it takes some time, I try to go through every single file. When I take out a file, I see automatically if items are ready to be destroyed. When I do a clean out, I also make sure that the current year's files have been clipped together and labeled appropriately.

I can never remember how long I should keep things, but found this handy chart in an organizing magazine (I recommend making a copy or typing the information and placing it in the front of the filing cabinet for easy access.).

*TAX RECORDS: Copies of returns-forever; Supporting tax documents-at least 4 years.
*CHECKING ACCOUNT STATEMENTS: 1 month or until checks clear; Keep statements that support tax deductions with your tax records for the year.
*UTILITY BILLS: 1 month (unless you deduct for home office expenses; file with tax records).
*PAYCHECK STUBS OR DIRECT-DEPOSIT STATEMENTS: 1 year.
*CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS: 1-2 months or until charges are reconciled;Keep statements that support tax deductions with your tax records for the year.
*MORTGAGE INFORMATION: For as long as you own the property, plus 4 years for tax purposes.
*RECORDS FOR HOME IMPROVEMENTS, SALE OR PURCHASE OF PROPERTY: 4 years after the sale of the home or property.
*MEDICAL RECORDS: 4 or more years.
*INSURANCE POLICIES AND BILLS: Keep current policies and bills; discard canceled policies.
*INVESTMENT RECORDS: Keep initial purchase and year-end reports indefinitely.
*RECEIPTS FOR PURCHASES: 1 month, except for big-ticket items requiring proof-of-purchase for insurance.

After I've finished sorting through all the old files, I clean out that "Needs A File" folder from my desktop. I make labels for the new files needed and organize them alphabetically.

The last step is always my favorite: put on a great movie or your favorite TV show to watch while I shred the old documents :)

There are countless options for ways to organize files, and this is just one of them. Do you have a system that works for you? We'd love to hear about it! Leave a comment and share your ideas!

-Sarai

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Let me start off by wishing you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR from Three Simple Girls!! We hope that 2010 has treated you well thus far and that you're looking forward to all that this year holds!

Here, in our neck of the woods, we've seen quite a few VERY cold days in a row with wind chills in the NEGATIVE degrees!! And this all falls on the heels of one of the worst snow storms we've seen in several years. So, needless to say, our days are filled with fires in the fireplace, big hooded sweatshirts, hefty jackets and an extra blanket on the bed and lots of warm cups of coffee. This has also put us in the mood for big batches of homemade soup. Soups are great because you can make them in HUGE quantities, you can freeze them, you can make them in a relatively healthy manner and they are perfect for a chilly winter night.

We spent about 2 hours yesterday afternoon making 2 soups and committed to doing the same for the next few weeks. We've picked about 7 different soup recipes to use to avoid getting tired of eating the same type of food for the whole month! Pairing the soups with salad, crackers, cornbread and grilled cheese sandwiches should give us enough variety. We figured we'd eat the soup for a meal, leave enough for a night of leftovers and freeze the rest. Depending on the recipe, we could end up with several nights of leftovers!! Spending 2 hours on day to have dinner for the entire week is a pretty good trade off, if I do say so myself!

Here are the 2 recipes we used for this week. First up is a healthy take on a Broccoli Cheddar Soup. It was actually pretty good!! It didn't make as much as we thought it would, so we'll probably eat it all before we get a chance to freeze it!

Broccoli Soup

*1/2 Tablespoon olive oil

*Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

*5-8 cups Broccoli Florets

*1/2 cup Finely Chopped Celery

*1 Large Onion, Chopped

*Salt

*Pepper

*1 Small Potato

*1 Bay Leaf

*1/2 Teaspoon Dried Oregano

*1 quart (about 32 ounces) Chicken Broth

1. Cook celery and onion, seasoned with salt and pepper, in olive oil at medium heat for about 10 minutes.

2. Peel and slice potato and at to the pot. Add the bay leaf, oregano and broth and bring to boil quickly over high heat.

3. Simmer until vegetables are completely tender, about 15 minutes.

4. Add broccoli and simmer until tender, about 5 minutes.

5. Remove bay leaf and puree the soup in a blender.

**You can place pureed soup back into pot and stir in 1 cup of cheese while hot. **

6. Serve topped with cheese.

Serving Size: 1.5 cups Serves: 6

104 calories, 3 g fiber, 3 g fat

This next recipe filled a 6 qt. crock pot, so be prepared for LOTS of leftovers!!

Crock Pot Potato Soup

*5 lbs. Potatoes, Peeled and Cubed

*1 Small Onion, Chopped

*8 oz. Cream Cheese, Softened

*3-14.5 oz. cans of Chicken Broth

*2 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

*1/4 Teaspoon Pepper

*Bacon, Cheese, Sour Cream and Scallions for garnish

1. Put potatoes and onion in crock pot.

2. Combine cream cheese, chicken broth, soup and pepper and add to crock pot.

3. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

4. After cooking time, mash potatoes for a thicker soup.

The best way I've found to freeze soups is to put them in gallon or quart size storage bags. Lay them flat on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer until frozen. Once they're frozen, you can stand them up or move them around as needed. When they thaw, you can easily pour them into a pot or bowl to reheat.

I'll try to post the recipes we use for the next few weeks. Does anyone have any great soup recipes you think we should share? Anyone want to join us on this soup for a month plan?

Stay warm!!

-Sarai

Thinking Outside the {Plastic} Box

I have nothing against those big plastic containers. They come in handy for all sorts of storage issues, like for all those clothes your babies keep outgrowing. Sniffle.

But, these days it's been fun to repurpose stuff all over the house as more creative storage. Here are a few examples to get your wheels turning. Mine are all used for the various things our children collect, but hopefully it can inspire beyond that.

I'm a big fan of wicker baskets (shoot, just about any baskets) and chests (especially when the chest was someone else's trash turned my treasure-- which, by the way, I semi-recently spray painted back to life!) These help out by housing books and toys.

These are more baskets, but I added some letters picked up for fifty cents at a funky old shop. We keep these in the family room for each of the girls. Items like magnetic letters with a tiny baking pan to spell on, ABC and shapes flashcards, playing cards, books, and crayons are inside.
Also in our family room is this old crate. I scored it from my Mom's house, since she didn't have room for it, and used it to store the girls' collection of hand-me-down and Goodwill videos. Or, at least, I did until a certain little someone was in it all the time, so now it holds some of my fave magazines I just can't part with.

Right near the kitchen we have a number of art and other special supplies on hand for keeping little fingers busy while I cook, try to make phone calls, or when we want to do an impromptu project together. My solution for storing it all is in these cheap-o cardboard photo boxes.
Lastly are traveling cases like old suitcases, trunks, or this little thing. It holds about a gazillion tiny pieces to our wooden game sets.


Take a look around. Bet you have something out of the ordinary to repurpose too!

Happy Hunting,
Katrina

Fabulous Folding

I don't know what it's like in your neck of the woods, but fall is definitely in the air here in the mountains! We've got cool mornings and nice days and the sky is that brilliant shade of blue that only comes around in the fall months. And I'm loving it...except that I have to change clothes several times a day.

Most people I know have to give their closets a big shift when the seasons change. Thankfully (even though we have a smaller house) our master closet is the perfect size for us. Whether you're changing the tank tops for the sweaters or just picking out your clothes from a different portion of the closet, this tip is for you!

I once heard someone say that each time you pick out an outfit for a new day, you should feel like you are "shopping" in your own closet. Even though I have to go straight for the clearance racks, one of my favorite stores is The Gap. Yeah, they have great clothes, but I think the thing I love most about it how organized and presentable everything is. So, with those thoughts in mind, I went to work in my closet. Once I had all my hanging clothes sorted by color (yes, I am THAT girl!), I had to tackle the folded clothes....the major culprit: sweaters.

You can't hang sweaters because they get those annoying little dimples in the shoulders and folding them seems impractical because they just fall over and then it's an even bigger mess. But The Gap does it...and it works. I wasn't about to run out and buy one of those expensive folding things like they use, so my Simple Girl mentality kicked into high gear and came up with a solution...a cutting board.

You heard me right...a cutting board. Thanks to IKEA, I found this one in a set of 3 for less than $6.

(I've taped a laundry label reminder sheet to mine for easy reference. Thanks, Real Simple!)

And here's how crazy easy this is:

Start with your sweater face down (you should be looking at the back of the sweater).

Place the cutting board in the center of the sweater and line the top of the board with the very top of the collar.

Then, you start folding. I start with the left side, but it really doesn't matter which you choose to start with. Basically, just fold the side of the sweater over the board, then fold the sleeve back.

Then, fold in the other side.

Next, you flip the shirt. I place my left hand on the back of the sweater (across the sleeves) and use my right hand to flip it. It should look like this:

You can see that the cutting board is still in the sweater.

I really like this cutting board because of the notch cut out of the top. It makes it easy to grab and pull out of the folded sweater.

And now, you have a perfectly folded sweater!

And here's my favorite part. All my sweaters are folded the exact same way and to the exact same size, so they stack perfectly. They're easy to pick up and move and look so nice and neat on the shelf. They're fun to look at and it makes laundry just that much less of a pain!

*sigh* Pretty :)

-Sarai

(in)couragement for the moment

I will admit, I am not a domestic diva. As a single gal, it becomes easy to put off the cleaning of my house because it is just me here. This weekend I decided that it was time to tackle the dreaded bathroom. I know you are probably thinking, wait a minute, this was supposed to be about what encourages you, and you are right it is. But trust me, it will all make sense.

As I was cleaning the bathroom on Sunday afternoon, it seemed that every time I turned around there was another mess to be cleaned up. I spent a lot of time scrubbing the shower only to turn around and notice all the dust bunnies behind the toilet. I had to pay attention to the details, the nooks and crannies of my space. It required getting down in the muck, into the mess in order for it to get clean. It was hard work. Not fun work. But the end result was a super clean bathroom.

This is what encourages me. The bathroom seemed overwhelming when I was in the middle of it. Life can feel that way too, busy and messy and sometimes a little scary. But God is willing to get dirty with us and do the hard work to help us become what He wants us to be. This brings me great hope and encouragement that the work is worth it. I tend to get so caught up in all the ways that I have messed up or how inadequate I am, but the hope comes in a God that looks past that and sees the final product. And along the way He fills our lives with countless other ways that we are encouraged on the way.

So from now on that task of cleaning the bathroom that seems so daunting will be a gentle reminder of the promise that has been made to me and you too!

Need a little more (in)couragement...check out the new blog (in)courage.

encouraged in this moment...
Brooke