The Challenge is Complete!!

During the month of February I have been participating in an organizing challenge. Thank you to Organizing Junkie for putting this together. First, I will show my "after" and "before" pictures. I know that should be "before" and "after", but I didn't load the pictures correctly. Oh well, the show must go on! The challenge also has the participants answering five questions about the process which I will answer at the end of this post. I have to say, this was a great challenge! I had been putting off organizing this room until the whole thing was just out of control and the room was not being used for its intended purpose. I feel soooo much better now! The room I chose to organize is our school room/ craft room. A few months ago, this room flooded and we had to remove carpeting and take everything out. Well, what happened after that was that everything just got thrown back in, with no order or organization. So, all of our school materials have been carried all over the house as we use them and that in itself is exhausting. So, to say the least, I am super excited about the new, improved room! I hope you enjoy the pictures! "After"

"Before"

"After"

"Before"

"After"

"Before"

"After"

"Before"

"After"

"Before"

"After"

"Before"

1. The hardest part of the challenge for me was to actually follow through and complete it. I was able to overcome this, because of the accountability to the other participants! (Thanks everyone!)

2. In order for the room to maintain its new order, I am putting everything back in its place at the end of the day. Also, this room is for school materials and craft items--nothing else ( sports equipment, cleaning supplies, etc...) I want to enjoy this room, not dread going in there. I love the room now and want to be in there!!

3. The "stuff" that I purged from the room was mainly thrown away. It was either torn up, didn't work properly and could not be fixed, or the parts were missing. A few items are being donated ( some movies ) and some other items are being sent back to their rightful owners :)

4. A few storage solutions that I employed was to move my desk. It was up against a wall, so I moved it out a little. This helps out alot because our dry erase board is right behind the desk. It just flows much more smoothly. I also took out a cabinet that really did not do much in the way of storing items and I moved a bookcase to an opposing wall which opened up wall space for my maps.

5. Why do I think I should win this challenge? This is really a hard question because I know everyone worked hard on their spaces and overcame obstacles in the process. I already feel like I have won, whether or not I actually win the challenge, because I followed through on this and now I have a space that I love. Also, I proved to myself that I could do this on a shoestring budget. I took items that I already had, but was not using, to help out in this room. Also, now I have the confidence to tackle some other much neglected areas in my home. I am so ready to make this house a comfy, cozy, organized home.

Thank you for the challenge. Congrats to all who entered and now have new and improved spaces!

Kim

Mondays Musings, Challenge Update

Lately, we have had some fun playing board games. Most recently we have been enjoying Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit. I absolutely love board games. I think they bring the family together to talk and share memories. Also, the games we play on the WII are fun. These are also great to get us physically active as a family!I don't know what is happening here in the South, but we sure are enjoying it!! Once again on Friday, we got the white stuff!! The snow has been so beautiful!! The boys had some good friends over to spend the night. I watched the Olympics. It was a great evening!

Sunday we went to Atlanta to go to church with my oldest son. We went out to eat afterwards using a certificate that I bought at Restaurant.com. I bought a $25.00 certificate. They normally sell for $10.00, but they were 80% off, so it was only $2.00!!! I just gave it to the server before we ordered and everything went great. Our family of 5 ( all adult eaters!!! ) ate, now this is including the 18% gratuity, for $27.00. Not too bad! I will definitely use these when we choose to eat out.

Our weekend and week's beginning was great. Good friends, lovely snow, worship and eating with my son===Wonderful!!

UPDATE ON CHALLENGE: The challenge I posted about, going on at Organizing Junkie, is going well. I did get the room cleaned and have been taking out what no longer belongs in there. This week I plan to put the items that will go in the room in their proper place, buy some files for my desk and get those organized, put a rug in the room, and finish organizing the bookshelves in the room. We are getting close to the finish date, so I better put high priority on this! I really want to have it all finished by the end date. I will say that in participating in this challenge, I am now pumped to tackle those other "undone" projects. This has helped me to put a plan in place and move forward, which I think has been the hardest part for me. Onward with organizing!!!

Have a super week!

Kim

February Organizing Challenge

Welcome to the 28 day organizing challenge, hosted by Organizing Junkie over at www.orgjunkie.com . I am going to be organizing our schoolroom. My oldest son is a freshman in college this year and my other two sons are in 10th and 9th grades. This past summer our schoolroom became the "junk room". Everything got thrown in there, to be put away at a later date. Well, that date never came and, especially after Christmas, the room just looks like a tornado went through it. So, this challenge was very timely. The boys now do most of their work in their rooms, but I feel that we still need our schoolroom to hold all of our supplies, books, and such. Also, I like having a place to keep our maps and timelines up. Right now, I feel that I am carrying our school supplies all over the house, which at times is exhausting. I am embarrassed to show these pictures, but to make progress, I have got to be accountable in this area. Hopefully, you will come back to see the "after" pictures at the end of February. So, here it goes...(please no uncontrollable gasping at the horror you are about to see!!)

Notice the books on the floor. I had started to organize papers, then who knows what happened?????

Some of the items in the green box are things that I had to move a few months ago when our downstairs flooded. I know, excuses do not count:) If you notice, the window needs love and care. Our cat, who passed away a couple of months ago, would climb up there and rest. In doing so, he tore up the old blinds. I did come across some great curtains that I plan on putting up.

Okay, I have to say that I was trying to move the table when it collapsed. I am not sure why I just left it that way. Also trying to figure out what possessed me to take a picture of it that way.

This is my desk. I believe the tornado started right here:)

Well, I feel better that all that is out in the open. I feel like I can go and conquer this!! I believe my biggest challenge will be to stay on track with completing this project. I hate to admit it, but I have not always been the best in completing household projects. That is why I thought this challenge would be good for me and for my family. Hopefully, they will see how good it feels to complete a rather daunting task!!

I will post my after pictures at the end of February, but I will be updating the progress of this project every Monday. I feel that if I don't, my accountability goes out the window with the project.

Be sure to check out the other participants. It will be interesting to see what areas others are organizing and if you feel so inclined, join in the challenge with me!!

Happy Organizing,

Kim

Eat From The Pantry Challenge, CVS Savings

I apologize for the very fuzzy picture, but I want to show my CVS savings from this week. I was able to get Listerine Mouthwash, 2 boxes of Imodium, 2 bottles of nail polish, lip gloss, 2 compartments of eye shadow, and makeup foundation, all for $14.96 out of pocket. It should have been even less, as I noticed later that one of the nail polish bottles didn't ring up as discounted. Lesson learned, keep better track of it while checking out, but even so, it was a really good savings. This would have cost $62.05 without discounts and coupons! The make-up was 75% off and I had coupons for the Imodium. Also, if you bought 2 specific SC Johnson products you got the Listerine free ( $4.99 value ).

I also wanted to post my menu for this week of the pantry challenge. This is turning out to be a really great challenge. It challenges me to organize my pantry and freezer, but also to get a little creative with some meals.

Monday- Breakfast night- Scrambled eggs, bacon, chocolate chip muffins, juice, tea

Tuesday- My mother-in-law called and wanted to take us out to eat!!!

Wednesday- Vegetable beef soup in the crock-pot topped with shredded cheese, tea, water

Thursday- Spaghetti, garlic bread, green salad, tea, water

Friday- Homemade pizza, chips & salsa, tea, coke

Saturday- Chili in the crock-pot, crackers, tea, water

I will give my weekly grocery tally on Saturday. So far, this week has been good in the fact that most of the menu I was able to make from pantry/freezer items. I will be checking the sales to see what is at rock bottom prices and stocking up on those items, as well as getting some eggs and milk.

Have a super Thursday!

Kim

Eat From The Pantry Challenge

Today I am linking up with www.moneysavingmom.com and www.LifeasMom.com for the Eat From The Pantry Challenge. Since I am cleaning and organizing today, I thought this would be great! For the month of January I will be planning our menus mainly from our cupboards and freezer. What I really like about this challenge, is that it is not about NOT spending any money at the grocery store in January, but about seeing how you can save this month by cutting back at the store and making creative meals from the pantry.

Okay, my goals for this challenge are:

1. To spend no more than $75.00 per week on groceries- I have three teenage boys that eat alot!! Now, my oldest will be back at college next week, so he will be eating off of his meal plan. But, my other two and my husband can go through alot. This will be a real challenge, but I think we can do it!!

2. If a really good sale happens on something we use, I will stock up on that item. I am really trying to build my stockpile, so if something is at rock bottom price, I will get as much of that item as possible.

3. I will get my pantry better organized. I will also come up with a system for keeping track of what is in my freezer.

4. The last three Sundays of the month we will be going out to eat after church. This will come out of our "eating out budget", not our usual grocery budget.

I am looking forward to seeing how others are coming up with meals to meet the challenge. I will post our menu for this week tomorrow after I have worked on our pantry and freezer today.

I'm excited!!

Kim