Little update on my new house organization/getting up early plan: Today I’m doing WONDERFULLY! I woke up 3 whole hours before I had to leave the house. Of course, the kids are out of school for the ICE STORM OF 2015 (aka there was one slick road in the county so we had to close school) and the college had a two hour delay, but who cares! Baby steps, people, baby steps! We will see how tomorrow goes.
So for today’s get it together post I’m going to talk about something that you either have or don’t have. Well actually two things you have or don’t have, one of those being money. But what I really mean is organization. Some people simply AREN’T. I mean messy desks, stuff all over the place, toothbrushes in the kitchen drawers, AREN’T. The OCD in me cringes. I am definitely an organized person. I can’t function if things aren’t in their places. I love putting things in special baskets and containers and making sure that my dishes are stacked and color coded and my clothes are hung separated by color and sleeve length. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
But I know that there are people out there with complete chaos in their kitchen cabinets and linen closets. They function and some may even function better than if they are organized. And that’s fine, to each his own. However, I’m convinced that in one area of our lives we need to have it together because it deals with two of the most essential and precious things for running a household: time and money. And it is important in my house that we save and utilize both of those things to the best of our abilities.
We all need a system to budget and keep up with the bills. This is my low point of organization. I’m a “lister.” I write tons of lists all of the time. My problem in writing lists is that I often throw them out and re-draft a similar list. I constantly re-wrote budgets until I found the website that “pinspired” me to change how I budget my family’s money and organize our bills.
Pin: Organize Your Household Bills
Website: Echoes of Laughter
We don’t completely follow the system. Here are a few of our changes:
- We have two folders, One for January-June, One for July-December. We wanted two smaller notebooks instead of one huge notebook.
- Each month has a divider and a print out of our budget.
- The budget is broken down weekly for the month and includes all bills that need to be paid each week.
- Each paper bill is behind the budget.
- In between each month we have a two-sided plastic envelope divider thingy (being really technical here) that I hole-punched to house all receipts of bills paid and documents collected for the month. All paycheck stubs are placed here as well.
- I have a calculator at the front of the binder as well as our checkbook that is rarely used and a few pens and highlighters. Each item is highlighted once it is paid.
- And when a new year comes, you keep everything you need for tax purposes and shred the rest!
In revisiting the pin, I do believe I will add the calendars in front of the budgets this year. I really like how it looks visually. I love our “bill books.” J really is so much more relaxed (he is the one who is OCD about the organization of money) with the system.
One thing we struggle with financially, as many people do, is saving. I’ve seen this system floating around now on Facebook and Pinterest and we decided to give it a go.
Pin: 52 Week Savings Plan
Website: Madam Money
For this year, we are going to follow the plan but may double the amount next year. I also think we will just transfer the amount into checking monthly rather than weekly. Also we are going to commit to tithing more this year and have partnered with St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Hope you are all getting it together in 2015! If you need to clean up your “Clean up My House Plans,” find out how to get your house together and eliminate that once-a-week stressful day of cleaning in the process.
And check back for more ways to get it together in the new year with Twin Tested, Pin Approved!
Here is a little about Lauren from her blog: ” I have spent the past 12 years working as a TV news producer. Currently, I’m the dayside executive producer at the ABC affiliate in Miami. There’s plenty of reasons why I love my job… I get to do something different everyday, I meet tons of interesting people, and I am always learning about new things and products. 
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