What's your best FRUGAL organizational tip?

[iluv2digiscrap]

Organizing on a shoe string is what I'm after... please share your CHEAP tips!

[YellowRoseTex]

Check out the dollar store for storage containers. I found some nice sized ones to store our fish food that we buy in bulk. They fit very nicely in the pantry as they have a flat side to them. Takes up much less room than other types would. I have noticed many different sizes and different types to choose from. I need to go looking again as I am seeing lots of clutter developing around here.

[Autumn Moon]

It really depends on what you're trying to organize.
I get friends/family to save shoe boxes for me for wool storage. The boxes stack well, are different sizes, usually come with a package of Silica Gel, and I can write on them.

For small things in your junk drawer, make up drawer or ......
Remember that plastic container you have that no longer has a seal/lid to match it? see if it fits in the drawer.
Quite often, we will buy a large plastic container of lettuce or spinach when having the family together. They also make great storage containers for wool, CD's fit in them quite well, and the mail fits pretty good too.

Have fun with organizing by recycling!
Autumn

[vikingprincess]

Hmm, let's see...
If you drink a lot of coffee - the large tins/plastic containers are great for storing things. i use mine for change, hubby uses them for screws and odds and ends like that. I also use them for small stuff that clutters up drawers. I decorate the outside of the can by using either a paper shopping bag and drawing pictures on it and writing what's in there or if it's for crafts, I go to the thrift store (Goodwill, Salvation Army) and find really cheap dresses or sheets and cut them up for outside.

If you use frozen juices that you add water to, the containers are now plastic and make perfect pen/pencil holders. You can decorate them the same way as the coffee cans.

Another thing is large jars like mayo jars and stuff. You can go around to different sub shops and restaurants and ask what they do with the old containers. They use the really huge ones that hold a lot of stuff. If you ask for them, they'll usually let you have them. All they do is through them out anyway.

I also use wicker baskets. The thrift stores always have nice ones for really cheap and all kinds of sizes. I use these for mail and junk mail that needs to be shredded. The larger ones are also great for magazines. I also use them to hold "bathroom" stuff in (small bathroom with no storage space).

Hope this helps.

[Ginger]

My local dollar store has the high-quality Sterilite bins for a very reasonable price -- for me, they are a godsend for storing toys, home decorations, out-of-season clothing, and craft items I'm not using.

Clean jars (baby food, jelly, mayo, etc.) are fantastic for buttons, screws, nails, and other such items.

I also organize batteries in freezer-strenth ziplock bags. Each size (AA, AAA, C, etc.) gets its own ziplock bag.... no more of those awful plastic/cardboard packages with ONE battery left!!!! (That drives me absolutely nuts.) The ziplock bags go in another small plastic bin.

Store your out-of-season silk flowers in plastic grocery bags, and hang them on hangers right in the closet! That one is another favorite tip of mine.

Happy organizing!

[iluv2digiscrap]

Thanks for all the great ideas! With a 6-person family, there's all kinds of stuff around here that needs organizing, and I need to do it on the cheap so I don't strain my budget too much!

[jcme]

I had an old spice rack that was sort of squarish with snap in bottles that were on their side so you could see the lables on the top. I never really had room for it in the past and now that I do it doesn't fit my decor so it ended in the donate pile when I was purging for moving.

Then one day some organizing TV show or seqment on some talk show (can't remember who to give the credit to) had my same spice rack being used to hold little items in the basement like screws, nuts, bolts, ect. I thought what a great idea since I can never find those things and always end up buying another small package at the hardware store.

I guess you can use any kind of spice rack where you can see in the bottles easily since they all store little bottles very compactly.

[mezzo soprano]

This is one I love: Take one of those Glad storage containers (that you'd put leftovers in) and poke a hole in the top. Voila! You have a string or ribbon dispenser!!! (This is cheap enough that you can have one for every color of Christmas ribbon.) This also works for yarn to keep it organized.

I always organize my Christmas lights by wrapping the strings of lights around my arm (like a hose) and using twist-ties to keep them together. Works like an absolute charm for pennies.

[Crafty]

I usually will go to my $.99 or dollar store for great finds!!

Don't forget about yard/garage sales also!!

[Daisy Girl]

I guess I'm a pretty organized person. But when I see an article in one of my magazines about organizing the home I am excited to read it.

One time I had done all the things they suggested except one - alphabetize my spice rack. This sounds totally OCD but it really helps you find the spices faster. I have a small cabinet above and the left of the oven with three shelves. I have a lazy Susan (by the way, that name offends me!) on each shelf. I use the bottom shelf for the spices that I use most often, the middle shelf for the ones I use some of the time and the top for the ones I hardly ever use. I alphabetize the spices on each lazy Susan and they are very easy to find quickly.

Also, I store all my gift wrapping materials in my laundry room in the basement. There is an old counter in there. I keep the wrapping paper tubes in a tall plastic garbage can. I keep the ribbons, tissue and bows in thecabinet underneath the counter and the tape,tags, pens, etc. in the drawer. Then I just bring my presents down and I have everything I need in one place.

[wondering_what_]

I use binders for all my recipes that way I get rid of the magazine clutter and don't have recipe boxes which seem to tip over and fall all over the place at my house.

I also use binders to keep craft ideas, extra school work or activity ideas for the kids as well as any science fair ideas, etc. They are listed either by alphabet or by subject.