Idea Queen Tips & News

This week I’m giving you all a break. My house is still in pieces and it’s hard to do any “normal” tasks or organization right now. So instead I’m going to pass on a very quick and useful tip my mom taught me.

If you use SOS pads for any reason, you know how they can get pretty nasty sitting on a sink or counter. They just flat out don’t keep and will get rusted just sitting out in the open. Unless you put them back in the box.

Yes that’s right, you can save an SOS pad from getting rusted by simply putting it back in the box with the others. You would think it messes up the others in the box, but it doesn’t. They all keep just perfect in the box.

So there’s your quick tip for the day. Enjoy!

Looking around my house I see a cluttered mess. Since we are remodeling (I know, reminding you all of that fact is getting old), there are boxes stacked everywhere. If not for the “lived in” look in other parts of the house,  you’d swear we just moved in.

Some of this I can’t blame on the construction though. For example, there are two very large bins with stuff the kids bring home from school sitting in the hall near the bathroom. Do those really need to be there? No, not really.

This week I’ll be working on clearing my hallways and corners, making sure things are put away once and for all. I have a storage room, so really there shouldn’t be things just sitting out (the storage room is either a very small bedroom or a very large closet with a whole lot of shelves). I’ll hope you’ll be joining me this week too!

This week’s Frugal Friday tip may seem a bit strange to you. After all, buying in bulk can usually save you quite a lot of money over time. You are right, it can. But only if you are buying certain things.

Non-perishable such as paper towels and canned goods are great things to buy in bulk. Certain foods and items with expiration dates are not. For example, we do not buy gallons of milk because we can’t use it all before it goes bad. Granted the half gallons are not as cost effective, but they are when we would be dumping the rest of a gallon.

Stocking up on certain snack foods just because they are on sale isn’t usually a good idea either, since we tend to eat more if it’s sitting in our kitchen. In the past I’ve bought several boxes of toaster pastries when they were on sale, but the kids had them gone in no time.

Anyway, while it’s good to buy some things  in bulk, watch carefully how quickly it disappears or you won’t be saving anything.

Are your kids spoiled like mine are? If so, you probably have toys scattered EVERYWHERE.  Well this week I’m going to do something about it.

Since we are still remodeling, I’ve got to get the kids rooms completely empty very soon (yes they are STILL in my room, but hopefully almost done).  We’ve been collecting boxes from family members so that all toys can find a home. If we have time (and the energy), we’ll also do some sorting, putting all similar toys in the same box (we already do this with several things - my daughter’s Littlest Pet Shop, my son’s cars, and a few other things).

In addition to boxing everything up (stuffed animals included), we’ll be throwing some things away or giving them away. Seriously we have just way too much stuff and it’s time to downsize a bit. Even clean my daughter only has a path to her bed, so it’s really time to get rid of some toys and really organize.

Should be a fun week, but it’s a perfect job to do while the kids are out of school!

Last week I probably should have picked something a little shorter and easier for a weekly challenge. Not only was I late getting started because last Tuesday was so hectic, but we had a holiday weekend in there too.

I’m sure there were quite a few of you who had a busy week or weekend too, so we’ll give this another shot. This week’s tidy Tuesday challenge is to get caught up on your laundry. I won’t hold it against you if you leave a few half a load or so in the laundry basket, but for the most part it should be mostly caught up. This means all hampers in the house should be empty (luckily we only have one), and all clothes picked up off the floor.

Since some of us are way behind, I’ll leave the putting away part up to you. Right now I’m going to be the mean mom and make the kids put their clothes away but I won’t be putting away mine (now there’s a good lesson for the kids…..not!). In my defense though, I don’t have a closet right now. They are still working on my room and it’s in pieces.

Here’s to high water bills this month!

Forgive this for being a day late, but we’ll just say “life got in the way” yesterday. Oh what a crazy day it was! I’m sure we all have days like that, right?

Anyway, this week will be dedicated to laundry catch up. I don’t know how it happens as we do laundry almost every day, but it still gets piled up. Regardless, it’s time to dwindle that pile down to nothing. I’m tired of there never being any towels clean!

To get as much as we possibly can done in the next week, we’ll have to do at least two loads every single day. The kids will have to chip in too, putting away their clothes as they come out of the dryer. Mine unfortunately (or maybe not, he he) will have to stay in a pile in the laundry room. I have no use of my closet right now due to construction in my room. Darn. =P

The biggest challenge this week will really be getting the kids to put away their clothes. Since it’s summer, sometimes it’s extremely hard to catch them before they are out the door. We’ve been putting away clothes in the morning before they can go out and play, but sometimes friends are knocking on the door before I’m even out of bed. In fact, just a few minutes ago I had to send a kid home so mine can do their morning chores.

Since  both are now in the house, it’s time to get to work. Wish us luck and join in!

With all the remodeling and rearranging we’ve had to do the last few weeks, the kitchen has been a little neglected. The laundry too, but that’s never ending. For as little as we’ve cooked the past few weeks, it sure is a mess!

This week while my bedroom is still in pieces (I did manage to find my bed last night though - another night on the couch was not a pleasant thought!), I’ll be working on the kitchen. This includes all of the following:

- Doing the dishes
- Cleaning off counters (are you guilty like me of leaving out things like flour?)
- Scrubbing counter tops, cupboards, and appliances (don’t forget inside the microwave!)
- Cleaning out the fridge
- Sweeping and mopping the floor (when was the last time YOU mopped?)
- Cleaning under/behind the stove and fridge, time permitting

The chances of me getting to that last one are slim to none, but it might happen. Although the rest of it really needs to be done. For some reason the kitchen just seems to be one of those rooms we breeze in and out of in a hurry, only grabbing what we need and forgetting about the clean up until later. It doesn’t help that both kids make some of their own meals (cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and sometimes a fend for yourself night for supper). While they are at least starting to clean up their own spills, there’s just some messes they don’t see (cereal on the floor for example).

So anyway, the challenge for this week is to make your kitchen shine. Make your own list similar to the one above to make the job easier. We tend to get so overwhelmed that we put it off until later. Remember later never comes - just pick a task and jump in!

The goal of any remodeling is to make your house more comfortable and nicer looking than before. But I’m quickly remembering the royal pain it can be while it’s being done.

You see we started on my bedroom yesterday. Not only is there a huge mess right now, but I also don’t have use of my bed. My nice, cozy bed. *Sigh*.

Already having sleeping issues, a night on the couch was not pleasant.  I sit here hardly able to form coherent thoughts.  I woke up a few times, as if my body was trying to tell me “hey you fell asleep on the couch - go upstairs and go to bed”. Well that would have been great if my room wasn’t in pieces and my bed buried under clothes and plastic.

So a word to the wise. When you remodel and hire someone, make sure there’s backup plans in place just in case they don’t finish a certain area as quickly as you thought they would. In fact, setting back a little extra in case you need a hotel room isn’t a bad idea either.  Crossing my fingers they come back today to finish…….I only got a “might” yesterday afternoon and it’s making me nervous. I want my bed back!

You may have read in previous weeks that we are getting ready to remodel the house. I’m excited we’ll be starting this weekend with the upstairs bedrooms.

Now the first room isn’t so difficult - it’s mine. I spend little time in my room, so there’s hardly anything but a bed and a few dressers in there. There’s not much that needs to be moved. In fact, since we’re just doing the walls right now, everything will just need to be moved into the middle of the room.

That is, except for what’s in the closet. That I’m going to have to clean out.

It’s not a large closet, but large enough to have tons of clothes shoved into it. Like most women (I suspect), it’s shoved full of clothes I will never be able to wear again.  I’ve been hanging on to them in hopes maybe some day I’ll return to the size I was before having my two children.

I’m proud to say I’m admitting I will never be a size 6 ever again. That was pretty hard for me to admit, but I did it. So now it’s time to get rid of all those old jeans and shirt.

Yesterday I started in on the pile, deciding my little cousin (age 10) would be getting all the jeans. Either that or my mom, but I’m afraid they might be too small (yes she’s that tiny…..I dread going shopping with her). Someone is going to get them though, because they are not staying here to collect dust.

Usually when we moms sort through clothes, it’s the kids clothes because they grow out of things so quickly. But this week I’m focusing on my own collection of clothes I’ve outgrown. I challenge the rest of you to do the same, to see how much closet space you can free up by getting rid of things you don’t wear anymore.

Post your updates throughout the week, and let us know how your closet is looking!

For some reason no matter how hard we try, we can’t seem to get the garage cleaned up enough to get a car inside. After last night’s thunderstorms and hail, I realized I need to try a little harder.

The main problem right now is a very large cabinet that was moved out of the kitchen. Whoever decided right by the door was a good place for it was out of their minds. Sadly it was probably ME.

Even though spending money is the last thing I want to do most of the time, I did hire someone to haul some garbage on more than one occasion. Usually local guys who do odd jobs like this are pretty cheap, usually costing under $50. It’s well worth the money too, because all you have to do is load up a trailer with all your junk and they take care of the rest.

However, that cabinet is just too big for me to move on my own up into a trailer. How we ever got it into the garage is beyond me, and must have been done with multiple muscular men around.  Unfortunately I’m lacking that these days.

So instead of trying to remove it completely, I think we’ll just move it to the back of the garage. The back of our garage has been extended anyway, so there’s plenty of room. While there’s no way I’ll lift it on my own, I can at least scoot it. Same goes for other stuff in the way like bikes and the mower. For those who have sheds, basements, and porches you may be able to put your “extra stuff” there so the garage looks nicer. As for the true junk - I highly recommend finding someone who does hauling for cheap. It will make your job a whole lot easier!