Important Papers/Tax Prep

The new year means it's the start of tax season. I do our taxes here (well, Turbotax helps a little..) and it is so helpful when it's time to get that done if I have prepped ahead of time throughout the year. Even if someone else does your taxes, this little filing system helps you find important papers much easier than thumbing through desk drawers. We do have a safe deposit box where birth certificate copies, SS cards, etc are stored. This box is more for things that don't need the security of some documents and that need to be quickly accessed..

I picked up this file box at Target several years ago. It is very sturdy and cute, so it met my needs.

Since it's been a few years they did not have the exact one anymore, but here were some great options in my local Target last week. I will also include links at the bottom.

I use the labels (I should use my label maker to make it even cuter! Soon..) and have folders for Bills, Pay Stubs, Cars, Dogs, Each Child, Other, and Tax Stuff.

• Bills - I keep the paper copies of all our bills. I know that is not necessary, and many things are done electronically, but I just keep them, ok?! I do take them out of the envelopes and unfold them so they take up less space in the file box. And eventually I get rid of them.
• Pay stubs - same scenario with the bills
• Cars - I keep the receipt and information from when we have car work done, as well as any paperwork involving our cars and the purchase of them. This helps me if I need to go back and look at the last time we had any kind of belt replaced/tires rotated/etc. because I have a bad memory.
• Dogs - obviously, vet visits and things pertaining to our puppies are filed here
• Each Child - each child has a folder that holds their blue immunization form, and the extra copies of their birth certificate. This is not where I store their keepsakes.
• Other - there are some things that just don't fall into another category, so that goes in this file
• Tax Stuff - this is my most helpful folder this time of year. Throughout the year, I put papers that I know I will need when it's time to work on taxes into this file. This includes receipts for medical expenses, donation receipts, and since we are diligent about tracking our checking accounts, the hard copies of our account registries are filed in there. It's so nice to just grab that file out when the W2 and other tax papers are available and get to work.

I have a separate folder that holds things that have to do with housework, like garage door work, painters, tree trimmers, estimates, so I can get to those numbers and receipts easily when we need work done around the house. It is stored on the shelf next to this file box. It's blue and I should turn in around so it looks a little neater :).

Alright, this is my technique:

I keep all these papers for an entire year. I keep it in a place that is easy to get to, but obviously out of children's reach.

When it's time to start working on taxes, I put all my papers that have anything to do with taxes in an accordion folder. It takes me a few sessions of sitting at the computer for 20 minute intervals to actually finish. Also I have to print some forms online and some papers come in the mail. The accordion folder makes it easy to just grab and store in a drawer without the risk of someone (a mischievous two year old) getting his hands on it and me losing something. I keep all tax related papers in this folder while working on taxes. Once I'm done filing, I print a copy of what we filed, and add it to this folder.

Once taxes have been filed, I take my little folder upstairs to the guest room closet and put those papers into my long term tax box. Remember when I talked about my plastic boxes here? This is what one of them is used for. Our tax papers since 2002 are in there! Once condensed, they don't take up too much space.

That's when I purge out my important papers box and shred the papers from the previous year that I won't need anymore. Most everything is cleared out, but I just go through each section and decide what I need to keep and shred the rest.

I know it seems tedious, but we've been doing this for five years and the little bit of effort on the front end has proven to make life much easier for me. And if something happens to me, I know my husband could pick right up and find what he needed in there. This is obviously not the only way to store your papers, and if the box was fire proof that would be wonderful, but it is a suggestion that hopefully will help someone come up with a system that works for you!

Here are link to some file boxes. Anything that makes doing your taxes less tedious is nice! Have a wonderful weekend!!

 

Nate Berkus Hanging File Box ($19.99 Target)

Vaultz Locking File Chest Storage Box ($39.87 Walmart)

Staples® Large Open Top File Box ($8.49 Staples)

Bigso John Canvas Paper Laminate Desktop File Box ($27.99 Amazon)

Cargo Atheneum File Box ($20 Amazon)

Realspace™ Hanging File Basket ($29.99 Office Max)

Espresso Parker Desktop File ($29.99 The Container Store)

Bigso Kate Stockholm Desktop File ($19.99 The Container Store)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plastic Bags

Plastic bags (also usually referred to here as "Wal Mart bags", haha) are something I used to struggle with. I would love to be good and take reusable bags to the grocery store, and maybe one day I'll get me act together and start doing that, but I don't right now. I get 417 plastic bags every time I go to the store and then I want to keep them, but I don't want plastic bags all over my house! I finally figured out something that has been working for us for a while.
I like for our spaces to be pretty, yet functional. The picture below is in our laundry room. The nice basket was a gift from my mother-in-law when I graduated high school {almost 14 years ago! My husband and I had just started dating..}. That's where I keep our plastic bags now. They are easy for adults to reach, but not children. They are in plain sight, but, at the same time, you can't actually see them. It makes me happy.

This is what the bags look like all shoved down in the basket.

My mom used to always fold her bags like this, so I guess that's why I do it now. They take up less room than just shoving them down, and I believe they are not nearly as dangerous for little ones when folded like this. It would take a special child to undo a bag and put it over his head if it was tied this way.

You basically just make a slip knot.

I still have the issue of having far too many bags to fit into my nice basket, but I don't want to just throw them out. I have tried to put them in our recycling bin and they don't accept these bags - seriously!? So, here is what I do with extra bags that I don't want all over our house:

• I keep several bags in the trunk of my car. Wet clothes, dirty diapers, just gathering trash on a road trip...it seems like I am in need of a plastic bag fairly often while in my car. I do shop at Aldi occasionally and since they do not have free bags, I carry some in with me then as well.
• I drop some bags off at the recycling area in my grocery store. There are usually specified areas to recycle these plastic bags.
• I put these bags in our small garbage cans in the bathrooms and the kids' rooms.
• On a daily basis, I usually have a bag hanging from a doorknob both upstairs and downstairs. I use it as a trash bag and between diapers, junk mail, and dryer lint, I usually fill two of these up each day. I take them outside to the trash can when they get full and hang another up. This keeps stinky stuff out of our house and it also keeps me from buying big trash bags nearly as often. It also seems like these smaller bags fit better in the large outside can, so it doesn't fill up before trash day as often. It's my personal form of recycling and it works quite well for us!

(Like you don't know what a plastic bag hanging from a doorknob looks like! I took a picture anyway... :)

 

Here are some other neat ideas for storing those plastic bags:

Soho Sonnet: DIY plastic bag storage box

Embroidery Hoop and Pillow

Plastic Grocery Bag Folding

 





More smart storage

Yesterday I wrote about my desk area (I forgot to mention that it is in our bedroom), and I am sharing today about where some other things are stored in our bedroom. We got this big 5 drawer bookshelf from Target several years ago. I think it was way too expensive for how cheap it actually is made, but we are still using it anyway and it stores lots of our books and other things.

The box on the left came from Target a few years ago. It stores our important papers, and I will share all about that next time. My tiny little weights that I lift occasionally are also on that shelf.

Most importantly, we have a specific shelf to store our Bibles and Bible class materials. With little ones, it is sometimes hard to keep up with binders and Bibles and make sure we aren't going to class unprepared. Since we were having a hard time keeping up with everyone's books,  I decided to make a specific shelf just for that. We pull out the kids' class work often and make sure to go over their Bible verses frequently, and we all talk about what the other is studying in class. I am amazed at the effort our Bible class teachers put into teaching these children. They learn so much, and the studies are not shallow, which I love. I appreciate so much how our children are getting from their weekly Bible classes, but it is our job to really teach them about God and the Bible at home. Having God's word in a spot that is easily accessible will encourage us to open it more often and learn more and more!

This shelf also holds most of our old lessons from Bible classes and some spiritual books. I am also going to post a copy of the kids' Bible verses on the back of that shelf so we can all learn them together. I keep a copy on the fridge, but that will be a great spot, too.

Our Bibles, learning about God and having a great relationship with Him are the most important things in our home. Any way we can be better at those things is worth the effort!

Mama's Workspace

I am a full-time stay at home mom/wife. My priorities and needs on a daily basis obviously will not be the same as every other woman out there, but this space is working for me in this stage of my life, so I thought I'd share.

Part of my role in our family is to keep up with the bills, appointments, groceries, etc. Something helpful and downright important to keeping schedules straight for me is keeping my "mama workspace" organized. My husband will read this and chuckle because sometimes it gets very, very Unorganized, but I try. I definitely dusted and cleaned up my area before taking all these pictures, so it does not always look quite this nice!

First off, I love a physical planner to write things down.

The past two years, my mother in law has gotten me an Erin Condren planner and they are soooo nice!

It comes with this tiny little ruler -- fun! -- and I move it each week as a new one begins. It sticks up just enough out of the top to be able to find the current week easily.

I also find a particular pen that writes well on the paper, doesn't bleed through to the back side of the page, and fits into the spiral part. It makes me happy to have a specific planner pen and it goes right back to its spot each time I update.

That being said, sometimes I'm at the receptionist's desk at the ENT and two little boys are putting their freshly sticky fingers from a sucker they just received on the windows, so I need to move fast! That's when I pull out my iPhone and use the calendar there. On a regular basis, I link the two (my paper planner and my iPhone calendar) by just looking at them at the same time and making sure I have them both updated and have the same things in each. I typically leave my paper calendar at home on my desk, although I do take it in my purse occasionally. I know it may seem repetitious to have two calendars, but I love physically writing down things and I do not love setting reminders on my phone.

Second of all, I keep a couple of boards hanging up to look at pictures of my family (because you can never have enough of those) and also to tack up papers or receipts I don't want in the reach of little hands.

Each year for the past several years I have printed a wall calendar with photos of our family from month to month from Shutterfly. I have enjoyed looking back at pictures from the previous year, and it's easy for my husband to glance up at each morning when he's getting ready to see what all we have going on. He keeps up his work calendar, which is plenty for one person to maintain!
This year I didn't get around to printing one, and since we now have our beautiful large chalkboard in the kitchen, I thought it would be a great place to keep a big calendar for everyone in our family to see. We're just the first week in, but it's been fun so far!

 Let me talk about our desk. My husband and I both use this laptop, but I definitely use the whole desk more than he does, so I have it set up for my needs since he does most of his work at his actual office. I keep a little pillow in the chair because it keeps my back from hurting.

I think I got the pencil cup from Target and the wire basket came from WalMart. Obviously, I keep pens in the pencil cup, and the other basket holds papers I intend to deal with in the near future. The other is a candle from my sweet man.



The three drawers on the sides hold mah stuffs. The top drawer holds my planner, coupon book, and little notebooks.

The middle drawer is my note-sending drawer, full of notecards, address book, envelopes, stamps and also my label maker because there was room for it.

The bottom drawer holds computer paper and lined paper, extra ink, as well as staplers and a three hole punch.

Occasionally, little people get into these drawers and wreak havoc, but not often. I have several other areas in our house that are kind of "my spaces", too, but this one is where the important stuff happens. Keeping it organized helps me be more productive, pay bills on time, write notes more often to those who would appreciate them, and just Be Better ;).

If you have a similar role in your family, finding a space to keep the things you need and making them easy to find may be helpful. Here are some other ideas for organizing your desk area. Have a wonderful day!

Polished Habitat Desk Organization Reveal!

Dwelling by Devore - DIY naildoor desk

Joyful Thrifty Home - free desk organization

 

Snack Baskets

Happy Monday, everyone!

I'm here today talking all about our snack storage. I made my big Kroger run this morning, so the pantry is stocked for the rest of the week and this is how I go about storing snacks.

Those two maroon baskets are where I keep snacks.

I got my baskets at Dollar Tree, where everything is $1. I was in Dollar Tree Friday (Nov. 6, 2015) and here were some similar options in the store now. All for just $1 each.

These are the snack-ey foods I bought today to add to my basket.

First thing I do is dump out any leftover snacks that are still in there from the last time I filled 'er up.

Then, I start to portion out the snacks into "snack size" (AKA portion control) baggies.

My daughter is in elementary school, so I pack a lunch for her every day, as well as a morning snack. The boys go only one morning a week, so we eat at home for lunch most days. It is very helpful to already have a good bit of the food in snack bags so I can throw them into lunch boxes for school, or into my purse for a trip to the grocery store or even a visit to the park. When in doubt, always have a snack for kids (and you!). We do eat some of these snack-ey foods for lunches at home, so I don't portion them all out into baggies or I'd just be wasting the little bags. I stick the crackers that I know we'll probably eat for lunch in their full sleeves into the second snack box that I keep on the left side.

Here it is, and I this week it also has some chips leftover from a party.

I go ahead and make some peanut butter crackers and put those into the bags, and once they're all portioned out, I toss them into the basket. Then, I put the older snacks on top so we can eat those first. I am left with a few boxes that I cut Box Tops off of, then break down and take to the recycling bin.

My snack boxes are all filled up and ready to grab for lunches or just if we're zooming out the door and I think the kids might need something while we're out. I also will tell my daughter, who is tall enough to see in there, she can grab a snack after school and she can really just choose whatever she wants.

The snack boxes really come in handy and seem to save a little space in the pantry and a lot of time when I'm in a hurry. Hopefully this, or some version, can help you out as well!

Here are some similar ideas:

Organized Snack Cabinet

Kitchen Pantry Update - IHeart Organizing

Ducks In a Row

 

Have a wonderful week!!

The Case of the Missing Socks

Where are those missing socks????

I really don't have words of wisdom for not losing socks. I do have a few theories.

 

1. My husband washes his clothes. A lot. He never seems to misplace his socks. He is a great husband and some sort of wizard. Obviously. 

2. I blame the kids. They must steal my socks or shove them under couches or take them to a friend's house. They do the same thing with their own.

3. Maybe the dogs sneak them somewhere. I don't know. Homemade chew toys that they end up actually consuming? They just like to mess with me??

 

 What really happens is someone takes their socks off in the car and one falls out into the garage and stays there for weeks until I clean the garage out and I find a random sock that I throw in the wash with the next load. Or one ends up behind the laundry basket. And sometimes it really is our youngest who likes to hide things, specifically in the garbage can.

 

I have heard of people safety pinning socks together before they go into the wash. I don't care about socks THAT much. There are very few things I will go to that much effort for, and socks certainly don't fall into that category. Anyway, this is how I keep track of socks for my family.

 

Honestly, I don't have too much of an issue with losing socks. One here or there may go missing, but it's not a perpetual thing. I keep a cute little canvas bag hanging in our laundry room.

I love this bag!! My brother brought it back for me when he spent a year in Japan when I was a freshman in college. The front side is so funny. It says: "Do You Buy It? Elephant U.S. $2.00-!"
What on earth?
Well I love the bag, but it has a $2.00 elephant on it, so I just flip it around to hang and chuckle to myself when I take it down.

When I pull laundry out of the dryer and there is a sock with no mate, I toss it into this bag. Usually, once a week, at least every two weeks, I get completely caught up in laundry. That means everything is washed, dried and put away. It lasts about 11 seconds before someone gets yogurt all over their shirt or a diaper incident happens, but that's when I pull down my sock bag.

Most of the time, the mates are all in there together, so I fold/roll them up and put them where they belong. I bet they start singing "..so happy togeeetherr". Maybe not. Sometimes there are socks somewhere else (the garage floor..) and there are a few left in the bag without a mate. I hang the bag back up until next time I am caught up again on laundry. Typically, if the match for those same socks has not been found, I get rid of the single sock. I have NO REGRETS, PEOPLE! I use them to dust or sometimes put them in the craft area for sock puppets, but I don't keep single socks for long. Sorry, suckas!

I have come across a match for a sock months later that I knew I already threw out. Guess what? BuhBye.

Remember, we don't really lose socks that much, so throwing a few stragglers out feels just fine. We have some very nice socks that I would certainly investigate further to retrieve before I just started trashing those. I would let them hang out in the elephant bag for a while longer. Most of the nice socks are my husbands, though, and he's a wizard that knows how to keep his socks together. 

Y'all know by now I like to give you links to other options, so here ya go:

It Socks to Be Lonely – FREE Laundry Room Art

Hide Loose Items

A Mom’s Solution to ‘The Missing Sock’ Dilemma

Creative Laundry Room Storage + Free Labels

Have a great day!

Sock Drawer Organization

My husband has to wear a suit most days to work, and that means he has to wear dress socks. He read somewhere that rolling dress socks instead of folding them would make the elastic in the tops last longer and let me tell you, that it has proven to be the case at our house. Even if your man only wears dress socks on Sundays, this is a nice way to organize them. Most of our socks are stored this way, so here ya go!
We have a good bit of closet space and storage elsewhere, so our 5 drawer dresser only holds undershirts, underwear, socks and my pajamas.

You're not seeing things. The drawer pulls are all different. Just one of the 53 projects I have going on. Don't worry about it, ok? Also, don't worry about the fact that one of the only five dresser drawers that we have is JAM PACKED with my pajamas. I have priorities. See previous Robe post.

 It's very important to keep black and blue dress socks separated, so we keep those in two separate drawers. Sometimes when rolling these socks, I have to move to a room with really good light, or grab something I know is black to be able to compare the colors. I'm not colorblind, but sometimes it's hard to tell for sure whether they're black or navy!

I usually start at the elastic top, and roll toward the toes.

I cannot remember where I actually bought these plastic drawer inserts, but they were not expensive. They have held up great. Here is an example on Amazon. There are all kinds of drawer organizers out there, so you can choose what works best for the depth and width of your drawers, as well as what you plan to store in there. We have a drawer full of hiking, hunting and athletic socks. I also roll those socks up, but since the drawer is full, I only use one of the plastic organizers in there and the socks all stay rolled up well.

I keep my socks, underwear and tights all in the same drawer. I got this big cloth organizer somewhere for very cheap, but here is a sample of something similar. I also have two of the cheaper plastic rectangles in there. I roll up all my socks and tights, and only fold over athletic socks. I took my underwear out of the drawer before I took a picture. You're welcome.

Our kids have socks, too! This is our daughter's top drawer in her desk. I roll all her socks and tights, and her little undies.

This is how I roll up those tiny lil undies.

I took the drawer all the way out to show how it is organized.

I have another of the plastic organizers to the left, and that middle box is the bottom part of a Melissa and Doug floor puzzle. Use what fits your space! And if it happens to be free, even better!!

Last up, I do not roll up the little boys' socks. I fold them up together like most people traditionally fold socks. They each have a $1 plastic bin in the top of their closets. Out of their reach!

Here are some other great ideas for drawer organization.

DIY Drawer Dividers (using what you’ve got!)

This Sock-Folding Technique Is Basically Life-Changing

(I used this one in our junk drawer:) DIY Cereal Box Drawer Dividers

Organize Your Drawer W/empty Baby Wipes Plastic Boxes

If you have socks with holes, if you have 14 pairs of the same sock, if you haven't worn a pair of
socks in 3 years -- toss them in the dusting rag pile, go dust some ceiling fans, and throw those suckers out! Every so often, all of our underwear needs to be reevaluated. Throw out ones that look gross or make you feel gross, or if you cannot remember the last time you purchased unmentionables for yourself, budget in some new undies. And have a great day!
 

Stay tuned! Next up is my take on The case of the Missing Socks!