Turn that time you spend waiting
…and waiting
…and waiting
into productive moments.

How much time do you spend at these places?

1. Waiting rooms

2. Car line

3. Sporting/Music Events – the time before they start

4. Airports/Bus

Use the extra time to:

• Catch up on some reading

  Keep reading material (books, magazines, newspaper) handy in the car and take advantage of the quiet time.

• Meal planning

  Keep a small notebook in your purse or car. Plan fives days-worth of meals.

• Make appointments

  Waiting in a car line is a great opportunity to knock a few calls off your to-do list.

• Relax with some music or a book on tape

  An ipod and a set of headphones can go a long way in making the time pass quickly.

How do you spend your waiting time?

Cooking in bulk saves money and time

Stock up your freezer by cooking twice as much of your favorite meals, and freeze half for another night.

Dishes that freeze well include:

• pasta casseroles such as homemade macaroni and cheese, baked spaghetti casserole, or lasagna
• enchiladas
• desserts such as coffee cake, cookies, and pies
• soups
• vegetable side dishes such as broccoli/squash casseroles
• taco meat
• spaghetti sauce

Bulk cooking

Bulk cooking is the same idea on a larger scale. You spend a day or two cooking and fill your freezer with a variety of foods. I’ve done a small version of this before. It is a lot of work, and you need a lot of available freezer space. However, you can save a lot of money by purchasing your meat in large quantities.

Learn more about bulk cooking from these sites:

• Bulk Freezer Cooking
• Wise Bread
• 13 Bulk Cooking Recipes

My favorite “cook and freeze” recipe

On a busy day, my favorite meal to throw together is spaghetti. I can thaw the homemade sauce in the microwave and have dinner done within 20 minutes. Lasagna is a close second, so I like to stock up on both.

The following makes about 1 large or 3 small lasagnas and 3-4 dinner’s-worth of spaghetti sauce. I have some great recipe’s for more complicated sauces, but this is the easy and quick version that I make most of the time.

First you need to make a large batch of Spaghetti Sauce

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

• 3lbs of meat of your preference. I use:
  • 1 lb. ground turkey, browned and drained
  • 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
  • 1 lb. Italian sausage, browned and drained
• 4 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce (look for buy one get one free sales on these)
• 1 large tomato sauce
• Italian seasoning to taste (I add about 2 Tbsps)
• 1 Cup of water

Simmer all the ingredients on low for about an hour.

Easy Lasagna

• 1 box of lasagna noodles
• Small Ricotta cheese
• 1 package of provolone cheese slices
• 2 packages of 5 Italian cheese -shredded

Cook the noodles for about 10 minutes and drain.

Use a one cup measuring cup to scoop out a cup of sauce and spread it out to cover the bottom of the pan.

Alternate the following layers until you fill the pan:

Noodles
ricotta cheese
Sauce
Provolone cheese (rips into small pieces)
Sprinkle some shredded Italian cheese

Repeat.

Wrap up and label items for the freezer

Wrap for freezer and label

After the lasagna had been made, the leftover sauce is frozen in dinner-serving sizes.

Prepare your food for the freezer by wrapping them in foil. Use a Sharpie to write what it is and the date. I wrote “SS” which stands for Spaghetti Sauce in my special shorthand.

Freezer to Oven

Bake the lasagna in a 350 degree oven for about an hour if frozen and 30 minutes if thawed.
5 minutes in the microwave will thaw the spaghetti sauce.

Yard sales can be great fun for the entire family. You can get rid of the unwanted clutter in your house and bond over the experience of sharing an age-old institution.

A successful yard sale leaves you with money in your pockets and nearly empty tables.

Here are some great yard sale tips:

1. Frequency: At the most, you should have a yard sale once a quarter. You do not want to be known as the family who has a yard sale every single weekend, come rain or shine. That adds strain on your relationship with the neighbors. That schedule does not give you ample time to replenish your inventory. If you wish to have a yard sale every week, think about setting up a booth at a flea market.
   
   
2. Planning: Start planning for your yard sale a month in advance. This will give you ample opportunity to collect the items within your house as well as coordinate with the rest of your neighborhood. Create a yard sale box and place items into it each time that you clean up the house. Let everyone within the family help you out with filling the box.
   
   
3. Coordination: If possible, coordinate your yard sale with other families in the neighborhood. Have a cul-de-sac sale or a series of garage sales. The more families that are involved, the better. This increases the items that are available, making it more appealing for passers-by. If the neighbors do not want to participate, giving them the advanced notice will help them know when parking might be strained.
   
   
4. Location: Look at the location where you want to hold your yard sale. If your street cannot handle having five or six cars lined up in front of your house, you might want to consider having your yard sale at the local church or community center. You can rent out space for a small fee as well as having the chance for multiple vendors. Since you are starting a month in advance, you can turn your sale into an event.
   
   
5. Advertising: Once you have determined the day and location of your sale, you can work on the advertisement. Craigslist is an excellent way to promote your sale, as is the local newspaper. If this is a multi-family event, assign someone to make some signs. You want the signage to be consistent and simple. Make sure that all of you are aware of the rules for sign hanging in your area.
   
   
6. Weather: The week before your yard sale, make sure that the weather is going to be cooperative. Only hard core bargain hunters will want to buy things in the rain. Make sure that you have rain location or consider holding the yard sale the next week. A lot of your traffic will be from the road signs.
   
   
7. Staging: A couple days before the sale, you want to start staging the items that you will be including. This includes pricing as well as making sure that there are no second thoughts about what you want to sell. You do not want to find out that the dusty jacket in the cellar was a piece of prized memorabilia from your husband’s college days at the last minute. Get everyone involved in the process.
   
   
8. Pricing: Put clear pricing labels on your items. There is nothing so frustrating as to find something that you enjoy and not knowing how much it costs. For multiple little items, place them into a box where you can sell them all for the same price. If you are selling large items like furniture, you want to have signs large enough that people can see them and not be forced to look for the sticker.
   
   
9. Money: Have $100 in change on hand so that you can make change for your visitors. Make sure that you have a roll of each coin as well as enough $1′s and $5′s. There is nothing so frustrating as to have to run to the store in the middle of a yard sale to make change for your customer.

Your yard sale success depends on proper planning.

If you throw something together the day before, you won’t attract many visitors. You will have a spectacular yard sale if you involve the whole family.

About the author:
James Adams blogs about technological developments and reviews newly released products similar to the HP Q6000A at one of the leading suppliers of toner cartridges based in the UK. Follow James on Twitter.

Stock up on school supplies while they are cheap

Purchase extra crayons, pens, glue sticks, pencils, paper, and other supplies that need to be restocked/replaced throughout the year.

Organize the supplies

Assign an area (drawer, container, or cabinet) to store the extra supplies. Make it easy for the kids to get what they need.

I prefer to use a spare drawer (pictured) so everything is easily visible. Drawer dividers are great for keeping like items together.

In my house, three-ring binders seem to fall apart halfway through the year, and there is a significant price difference after the back-to-school sales are over. Since I use them for my business, too, I like to keep a good stock of them.

The cost of a pack of crayons can jump from $.50 to over $2 when they return to normal price.

By planning ahead, you can stretch your school supply dollar.

Get in and out of the grocery store in record time

I hate grocery shopping! My kids know I am avoiding it when I serve breakfast for dinner in an attempt to delay the inevitable.

The secret to speedy shopping

Write your grocery store list in the order of the store. The shopping will take less time, and you will avoid the frustration of multiple laps through the store.

This is a huge plus when your four-year old insists on riding in the “car” cart monstrosity that maneuvers with all the grace of a big rig through the tight aisles.

Create your menu plan and grocery list at the same time. As you add items, picture the list as the layout of the store.



I created a diagram to print and use to make it easier. The test run yesterday proved it was a real time saver. The categories also reminded me of a few items I needed while I was writing up the list.
(Publisher version or PDF version.)

Many grocery stores have an aisle layout map available. Inquire about one at the customer service desk. This is especially helpful after they decide to rearrange the store to confuse shoppers.

Now…if I could just read my writing…

Have any other tips to make grocery shopping easier?

Floods, hurricanes, tornados, etc. are becoming regular news stories, and this year is expected to be a busy hurricane season.

A disaster supplies kit isn’t just for hurricane-prone areas.

It is a good idea for everyone to keep some basic supplies on hand in case of any type of natural disaster.

I experienced two hurricanes where I had no power or water for about a week. I learned my lesson the hard way the first time, so I make sure my disaster supplies are restocked. I also experienced ice storms with similar results, so it isn’t just hurricanes you need to worry about.

My first experience was with hurricane Fran which was still a category 1 when it reached the middle of the state of North Carolina. The disaster was not something Raleigh saw coming at all. We were trapped in our neighborhood for 3-4 days due to downed trees and power lines. Living way out in the “boonies”, we were the last area to get help with clearing roads. I was completely unprepared, and my oldest child was just a small baby.

My second experience was in Florida in 2005, the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record. I was eight months pregnant when we were forced to board up our inland home due to a fast-approaching category 5 heading right for us. Assuming it could still be a 3 or 4 when it hit our area, we didn’t take any chances. It was terrifying. However, this time I was better prepared, and we weathered the aftermath with ease.

Along with the usual items, I included my own tips based on my experiences dealing with power/water outages.

Disaster Kit contents:

Each June 1st, the start of hurricane season, I check the supplies and switch out the batteries and food so they don’t get old. I use a large plastic tub to hold everything since it is waterproof.

Items to include:

• Flashlights and batteries. One per person.
• Batteries for other items. The kids’ DS handhelds were a life saver in keeping them happy and entertained.
• 1 battery-powered lantern with several backup batteries. When you are without power, the lantern will light up a whole room in a way the handheld flashlights can’t. The kids and I were able to play board games at the table. Having two is even better.
• Deck of cards – A pack of cards is priceless for killing boredom!
• Battery-powered radio
• First-aid kit
• Several plastic tarps – Use these to cover a broken window or leak due to house damage. You also should have one for each bathtub in your home so you can fill them with water for bathing, flushing toilets, hand washing etc.
• Paper plates and utensils – You don’t want to waste water washing dishes.
• Matches/lighter – Keep several for lighting candles.
• Can opener

Other items to have on hand:

• Drinking water – 1 gallon per person per day for several days. That is a lot of water to store, but I can tell you from experience you can’t have enough water on hand when you have no working water and it’s 105 degrees inside. I prefer the 24 packs of bottled water and placed them in the cooler 10 at a time to cool off.
• Car cell phone charger – My cell phone was my lifeline during the hurricanes. With no power, you can only charge your cell phone in the car. Thank goodness for 3G/4G phones these days which help stay abreast of what is going on in the world with internet access. It is your only communication with the rest of the world…that is if the cell towers are still standing.
• Cash – Have $200 in cash for emergencies because ATMs don’t work without power. If you do find a store open, chances are they won’t have power either but will be accepting cash.
• Prescription/non prescription medicine: Make sure you have all medications filled and some aspirin, anti-diarrhea medication, and antacid (for stomach upset). The heat from no A/C and stress can take a toll on your body.



• Food - Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables
• Canned juices, milk, soup (if powdered, store extra water)
• Staples–sugar, salt, pepper
• Boxed mac & cheese and ramen noodles – if you have a camping grill
• High energy foods–peanut butter, jelly, crackers, granola bars, trail mix
• Vitamins
• Foods for infants, elderly persons or persons with special dietary needs
• Comfort/stress foods–cookies, hard candy, sweetened cereals, lollipops, instant coffee, tea bags.
• At the last minute, I also bought a couple of loaves of bread to make peanut butter sandwiches.

Items around the house that become handy:

• Candles. I prefer the jar-kind that aren’t at risk for falling over. Warning: if they are scented, don’t mix too many or you will find yourself with a strange smell in the house. We discovered pumpkin, vanilla, cranberry and cinnamon don’t mix too well.

• Camping grill or a gas grille. They come in handy for eating up the food that will be bad in just a couple of days. Cook everything you can while it is still good.

  If you are a coffee drinker, get a camping coffee maker so you aren’t boiling water and pathetically trying to pour it into a paper filter of coffee hanging over a coffee mug out of desperation.

  The back porch became the kitchen, and the grill was worth every penny. If you are using a camping grill, be sure to have backup propane for it.

• Cooler - Several large coolers become your refrigerator. Use one to hold drinks and one to hold any food you can save from the refrigerator. Having some sodas and juice drinks, too, is nice because water gets old fast. A little variety helps make your situation a bit more bearable.

If you know in advance, preparations you can take

If you know you may encounter some problems, here are a few things to do ahead of time. Unfortunately, hurricanes are about the only natural disaster you have time to prepare for.




Amazing photo courtesy of Melissa at ContemporaryCaptures.com from her iPhone

• Fill your car with gas – I used to wonder why we were supposed to do this with a hurricane approaching. One reason is so you can run your car and cool down with some A/C occasionally while charging your cell phone. Also, gas pumps don’t run if there is no electricity.

  During the Raleigh experience, trees where blocking roads everywhere. On my desperate trip out to find some ice, I had to keep turning around and trying a different route in search of an open store. Due to the lack of gas in my car, I was forced to give up. Lesson learned.

• Fill the bathtub with water – Line the tub with a shower curtain to prevent any from leaking out. Fill it with water. You can use this to wash your hands and flush toilets (not to drink). After a week you become a pro taking a shower with a bucket of ice cold water and finding it refreshing.
• Containers of water – I filled as many pitchers and containers with water as I could and put them in the refrigerator. This water was used up before using the bottled water.
• Make ice – Make as much ice as possible and store in the freezer. I just kept bagging what the ice maker made so it could keep making more. Also, use some plastic containers to freeze huge blocks of ice. They will take longer to melt, so they are better to use in the coolers. Ice becomes extremely important in saving some food in the refrigerator and keeping your drinks a little cold. After a couple of days, you are left with pantry food and warm drinks.
• Crank up the refrigerator settings and the A/C a little – This will help keep the refrigerator and house cooler longer. If you lose power, cover the windows with blankets to help keep the sun from heating the house.
• Bring all outside items inside – Lawn furniture, potted plants, etc. Bring them all into your garage or home so they don’t become projectiles in the wind and break your windows. I moved the gas grill into the garage during the storm to protect it, knowing it would be handy for cooking with no power.

• Clean your house – I can’t emphasize this enough. Get all the laundry done, clean your bathrooms, mop, vacuum, run the dishwasher so it is empty, etc. Mold grows fast in a warm home, and you will be glad everything was clean to start.

  If 3-4 days have passed without power and your food is going bad in the refrigerator, bag it up and get it out of the house before it starts to stink. Wipe down the refrigerator.

With better preparation the second time around, we were able to cook decent meals and weathered the outages with ease.

However, after five days of eating peanut butter and crackers and dealing with the unbearable heat, sitting in an air-conditioned restaurant eating a hot freshly-cooked hamburger was pure heaven!



Some information was obtained from FEMA’s site.



Have any other tips for weathering a storm?






]]> http://simplehomeorganization.com/be-prepared/prepared-natural-disaster/feed/ 28 http://simplehomeorganization.com/party-planning/4th-july-cookout/ http://simplehomeorganization.com/party-planning/4th-july-cookout/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:10:54 +0000 Melinda http://simplehomeorganization.com/?p=1187

4th of July Cookout

Why not invite a few friends over for a cookout?

The July 4th cookout party plan (PDF file) will help you throw a great cookout with ease.

Don’t want to do all the cooking?

Invite your guests to bring a side dish or dessert while you supply the main dish (hamburgers and hotdogs) and beverages. You will end up with a wonderful assortment of dishes, and no one is left with the burden of cooking everything.

Other resources for 4th of July fun

4th of July cake idea
Other July 4th ideas for decorating and cooking
4th of July crafts for kids


]]> http://simplehomeorganization.com/party-planning/4th-july-cookout/feed/ 4 http://simplehomeorganization.com/party-planning/throw-party-ease/ http://simplehomeorganization.com/party-planning/throw-party-ease/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:10:12 +0000 Melinda http://simplehomeorganization.com/?p=1170




So you have 20 guests coming over in a few days for a party. Are you ready?

Create your plan of attack

Make a schedule for the three days leading up to the party and get as much done ahead of time as possible.

The key is leaving only the last minute things for the last minute.

3 days to go – Planning

Plan the menu

Create a menu for all the food and beverage items you will be making or ordering.

Make 2 shopping lists

The first shopping list is for things that can be bought ahead of time and the other for last minute shopping items, such as ice and bread, that must wait for the day of the party.

Decorations

Are you going to be decorating? Make a list of what you need to purchase. Check your supply for items such as plastic ware to avoid re-buying items you already have.

Music/activities

What will you be doing during the party? Is it outdoors? Do you need to set up a volleyball net? It is a child’s birthday party that requires a few games to play?

Think through your party and get things set up and organized ahead of time. If you are doing craft activities with kids at the party, make a list of supplies you will need.

2 days to go – Shopping

Prepare activities, crafts, and music

For example, if you need the volleyball net for an outdoor party, take care of setting it up today.

Take care of any preparations for craft activities, such as painting a base coat of paint on items that will be decorated.

Burn a party CD for background music.

Shopping

Get all the items on your first grocery list, the decorations, and any craft supplies.

Day before – Cleaning & Cooking

Clean the house and set up decorations

Get all the cleaning and decorating done the day before. If the decorations are indoors they can be set up.

Food preparation

If items can be made ahead, get them out of the way. For example, a pasta salad usually tastes better the next day.

PARTY DAY!

Last minute shopping

You are prepared to run to the store with your second grocery list.

Last minute food preparation

If anything has to wait for party day, take care of it as early as possible.

Outdoor decorations

Outdoor decorations can be set up as early as possible. Tape down table clothes and other items securely if it is going to be windy.

Relax

Leave some time to relax so you aren’t stressed out or tired. You want to enjoy the party, too. Take a power nap so you are well rested.

Hour before – final set up

Set out all the food and drinks.

Have fun!

]]> http://simplehomeorganization.com/party-planning/throw-party-ease/feed/ 1 http://simplehomeorganization.com/time-savers/pool-bag-must-haves/ http://simplehomeorganization.com/time-savers/pool-bag-must-haves/#comments Thu, 06 May 2010 15:43:21 +0000 Melinda http://simplehomeorganization.com/?p=785







Run…Jump…Splash!!! It’s pool time!




Warmer weather is here, and it’s time to take a trip to the pool for relaxation, sun and fun.




Are you running around the house looking for everyone’s goggles and some sunscreen?

No. You simply grab your pool bag and a towel, and you are out the door at a moment’s notice.

It’s time to restock your “pool bag” in preparation for the spring/summer months.

Use a large mesh bag that dries quickly.

Pool bag items include:

1. Sunscreen
2. Goggles
3. Floaties for small children
4. Pool toys
5. Small waterproof bag to hold your Pool pass and keys.
6. Shampoo/Conditioner small bottles – If available, take advantage of the shower and clean up before heading home.

Make it convenient

Hang the pool bag on a nail in the garage so it is ready to grab and go.

Once you return home from your afternoon of fun, take out the wet items and let them dry before returning them to the bag.

Any other items you would add to the bag?

 

]]> http://simplehomeorganization.com/time-savers/pool-bag-must-haves/feed/ 0 http://simplehomeorganization.com/organizing/laundry-conspiracy/ http://simplehomeorganization.com/organizing/laundry-conspiracy/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:34:27 +0000 Melinda http://simplehomeorganization.com/?p=262

There is a conspiracy going on in my house that can be described with one word: Laundry.




It is my personal goal to one day have all the laundry in the house both clean and put away.

I realize this is an unrealistic goal for a mother of three, but a mom can dream, can’t she?

Every time I return to the laundry room to fold the final load with great anticipation of rejoicing in domestic bliss at the ultimate accomplishment, I find a freshly-deposited pile of clothes awaiting my attention…maybe next time. The kids must be ensuring my job security.




Do you know how much laundry you have to do?

Is it all in one spot and sorted?

I have a little nook in my laundry room that wasn’t being used, so I turned it into a laundry sorting system.



Three trash cans were assigned a certain type of clothes (towels, white/light colored clothes, dark clothes).

I put the labels on the picture so you could get the idea. They aren’t actually written on them. However, while you are training everyone in the house, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to tape a temporary label on each one until everyone understands the system.

Dirty clothes are brought to the laundry room and sorted into the correct container. My rule is, “check pockets and zip zippers” before this step. However, I don’t really trust this step since I’m kind of fond of my clothes and don’t want a crayon to add new color to them, but it helps.

Now I can quickly look and see if I have enough clothes to run a load. A full trash can is about a load of laundry. Yikes!…as you can see I have about three loads to do today.

My kids didn’t have room for clothes hampers in their rooms, so this solved the problem of where to put all the dirty clothes. This idea will not work for everyone due to space restraints, but perhaps you can adjust this idea into a new form that works for you.

One day….one day the impossible will happen. I WILL win the battle of the laundry.




Got other laundry tips? Please share.

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