First, a confession.

If there is one thing that sends me over the edge, it’s having a jumble of tangled cables/ cords.

Cell phone charger, kindle charger, camera cords, etc.

I used to fold my cords neatly and wrap with an elastic band which works beautifully but takes a couple of seconds longer.

Until I figured this out.

Do you hear the birds chirping? The world is a happy place once again.

This is my Kindle cord and I currently use these binder/ bulldog clips for everything in sight.

I simply use smaller ones for thinner cords and bigger ones for the thicker ones.

I love cheap, easy organising solutions. Don’t you?

How do you keep your cables and cords neat and tidy? Do the messy ones bother you too?

P.S. Don’t forget to add your organising question to the list.

First off, thank you to everybody who applied to be guest bloggers. I loved reading your stories.

I want to do these types of things every four months or so, so if I forget, please remind me!

Speaking of reminding, please send me your organised spaces (big and small) so I can post them to inspire the rest of us. And you’ll get a blog button to put on your sidebar to show off a little

I’m so pleased to finally announce my two guest bloggers who are going to be blogging their Simplify your Life journeys.

I’ll introduce them properly next week, but for now, Chloe is from France and Samantha is from Australia.

Don’t you love the internet??? Connecting all of us who want to get or be more organised.

I love it!

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Today I want to show you a quick, easy and VERY cheap way to organise ribbon.

This is not my idea; I, too, was inspired one day while internet browsing and saw this on one of the crafty blogs.

This little plastic basket has handles that lay flat so you can easily carry it to different areas of your home to do your ribbon-ing

And just to prove that organising doesn’t have to be expensive, I bought it at my local Plastic Warehouse for R8,95 ($1,30).

For some reason my pics are not showing – here is the URL if you can’t see it

http://takechargesolutions.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/DSC08795.jpg

I stuck all the roles on a cigarette holder I had laying around from a costume party, carefully positioned it through the opposite ends of the basket and voila! Done.

Now I can simply pull the ribbon and cut whatever I need – love it!

How do you organise your ribbon?

I am looking for ways to organize different aspects of my life.

Need ideas on organizing office files and folders, project files, etc.

Can you give me some ideas?

Regards K.P.R.Karanth| Project Manager

First off, my golden rule for filing is…….

1. Don’t keep any paper you absolutely don’t have to.

Less paper, less filing

This is how I only need to file about 10 papers every 3 – 4 weeks.

2. What type of organiser are you?

Note I didn’t say “what type of organiser do you want to be”. Be realistic.

Will you actually punch paper and put in lever arch files (3-ring binders) or do you know you’re a bit lazy and need to just toss things in a folder?

Before I went on my decluttering bend years ago, I used to be a very lazy filer and so I used these files. No punching, just toss. Lovely.

3. Decide on a solution and try it out for a month

Think carefully about your needs before you go out and buy anything! Buying is the last step in the organising process.

That said, if the system doesn’t suit your working style, stop frustrating yourself and try something else until it works for you.

If you’re lazy about filing like I used to be because of the MOUNDS of paper I’d collect, then I’d use the folders above and store them like this.

or I’d put the papers in clear display folders (flipfiles) and store them in these magazine holders

My favourite way to organise projects is by throwing everything in one of these clear plastic envelopes. You can see I toss in the pens and flash drives, everything.

When I’m done, I pare down the paper and keep only the essentials in these envelopes. They take slightly less paper and then they go in those magazine holders.

Do you know you can make your own magazine holders with cereal boxes?

What are your favourite ways to organise your office files and folders?

P.S. Check out more ways to organise your office

You know how, when you travel, things aren’t the same as at home???

Well, this is what I did to create some order when we were in Ireland.

I hung a plastic bag on the key to create a wastepaper basket and used this lightweight travel backpack for my socks and underwear.

What do you do to make your stay in other people’s homes easier?

our underwear drawers

That’s underwear, socks and pajamas

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The Organise your Home ecourse is a step-by-step system delivered in bite-sized pieces so you will NEVER feel overwhelmed. You even get an audio of me teaching you how to organise your space.

Tons of people have been through this system; are you next?

I won’t mention the R word but since I know a lot of you are watching your pennies, let me share some frugal organising posts with you:

1. Frugal organising with cereal boxes
2. Frugal labelling

How else can you be organised yet frugal?

And while we’re talking free stuff, remember to download your free forms – menu planners, master to-do lists, shopping lists, etc.

So many forms; so little time

Look at this gorgeous beauty that now lives in my kitchen! Am I the only one who uses one of these every single day?

And now…my menu for the week

Monday
Stirfried veggies, noodles and beef

Tuesday
M – my year-end function
D – beef lasagne

Wednesday
Pineapple chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots

Thursday
Chicken steaks, rice and veggies

Friday
Hot dogs and chips

Don’t forget to visit on Friday to show off what you declutter this week. The Mr Linky will be up at 12am EST so get ready

This is what works for me!

With cereal boxes

With more cereal boxes and cardboard dividers for glasses

The box on the left was a set of fancy teas I received as a gift

And this is my favourite – muffin cases from Woolworths (and ice-cream containers)

I saw this excellent tip from Deniece Schofield’s book, Confessions of an Organized Homemaker, when I read it 5 years ago. And I have used it since – in fact, I’m still using the same roll of masking tape!

If you haven’t read this book yet, do yourself a favour and read it.

Masking tape makes the easiest labelling tool ever. Why?

1. your label can be as long or as short as you like
2. tape is flexible
3. it is easy to remove when you want to re-label a container
4. it is easy to write on

Some of the ways I use masking tape for labelling:

1. food in the freezer
2. fridge shelves
3. pantry shelves
4. storage containers
5. computer cords

labelling the shelves in my fridge

flour containers – btw, I write the best before date on the label too

Do you use masking tape in your house? Can you think of other uses?

Button by Tina – isn’t it gorgeous???