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40 Hanger Closet Challenge!

Good morning, savvy savers! I hope you are all well rested, and in the mindset to save this morning!  So today, in keeping with this month’s cleaning trend, I want to focus on another problem area in many homes, our personal closets. Yes, our little caves of wonder. If you are anything like me, your closet is nothing short of a time capsule of the last decade of your life, and probably in need of an overhaul today! 

So today, I challenge you to purge your closet. But there is a catch to today’s challenge, you can only keep 40 items.

Now before anyone gasps in horror, this is a proposed experiment. I am challenging you to limit your closets to 40 hangers, 40 items so that your closet only contains clothes you can currently fit, look great in, and simply love! All of the clothes being purged can be donated, sold, or upcycled, too! 

So here are a few tips to help you purge your closet:

  • Purge veraciously.  Keep only the items that you absolutely love, can comfortably fit, and wear on a regular basis.  
  • If something doesn’t fit “just right,” has holes, stains, is out of season, or you haven’t worn in one year, toss it! 
  • Skinny Bin. For clothes that you are five pounds from fitting, create a bin or basket which can be placed in the top of your closet; no more than ten pieces. 
  • Think Fabric. Torn or stained items, made of interested fabrics, can be reprieved from the donation bin, and instead may be cut into strips or squares for crafting; think pillow cases, framed vintage tees, tee-shirt rugs, and more! 
  • Invest in great hangers.  Think smaller, huggable hangers for clothing, and bendable hangers for swearers; plastic hangers can be re-purposed to hang fabric in your craft room, and wire hangers can be stored for wreath forms.
  • Maximize your losses.  Purged items can be sold via Craigslist, eBay, Facebook, consignment shops, Threadup, or garage sales.  

So, here’s how I did today’s challenge:

We each are allotted: 40 hangers, a skinny bin, and that’s it!

For me, I was able to clean out my closet and had eight hangers left over, after work in an hour and a half several days ago, woohoo! As well, all of my purged clothes will be used next week during our “selling week;” all of the clothes being purged can be donated, sold, or upcycled, too! My closet, which was already small, went from having the rod bowing in the center, to being freed up! I can now see all of the pieces I love! I forgot I still had my Burberry wrap! How awesome is that! 

Now, before anyone asks, my boxes shoes are located above my closet, and I have an awesome, huge set of built-in drawers which house my house clothes, pajamas, scarves, and more. But my closet, long the place where garments were pressed together so tightly they could not move, is now free-flowing, organized by fabric, and I now feel that despite losing a few dozen items, I have more options, as every item I kept I can fit, and just love! 

As I organized my closet I kept three piles: A pile of wearable outfits, a pile of donations, and a pile of clothes which can be sold. And when I was finished I tried on each and every outfit in the keep pile, and guess what? Three outfits were too large for me currently, which was an awesome affirming moment for me! All-in-all, this was painless, and left me feeling elated! 

The 40 hanger system is a keeper for me! 

So, here’s the before and after:

Before & After

 

Don’t think of this as a chore, but a life lesson. By purging the things we don’t need, want, or use, we are making room for all of the clothing and accessories that make our bodies look and feel better. Today we are freeing ourselves for the bigger, better deals. So today, let’s see how we can change our perspectives, one closet at a time! 

Here’s to saving,

mbnlogosm

Easy, DIY Method Grapefruit Cleaner!

1221-624x499

 

Good morning, savvy savers! So this past week at my home, albeit low-key, have been jammed packed with DIY projects and freezer cooking sessions! With all that cooking, comes a whole lot of cleaning, and for me that means whipping out my commercial for keeping my counter tops cleaned, Method Grapefruit Spray! That spray rocks!

As much as I love the cleaner, I am also looking to further cut my bankbook strings in 2015, so I decided to try a DIY version this year! With that said, for the past few days I have been using apps savings from Snap by Groupon, to save on Scarlet Grapefruits at my local Sam’s Club (shopping scenarios to come in the next few days), and instead of composting the Grapefruit peels, I started the first steps to making Homemade Grapefruit Counter top Cleaner!

With the outrageous cost of commercial glass cleaners, I created an organic, non-toxic, child and pet-safe all purpose cleaner which can be for under $5.00 for a years worth of cleaner! As the average cost of a bottle of store-bought orange cleaner is 3.89, and I use a bottle of spray a month, that’s a savings of $48.68 a year! Here’s how to make this!

 Ingredients:

  • 1 Clean, dried mason jar
  • The peels of 3 grapefruits
  • 2 Cups Distilled, white vinegar
  • 10 drops Essential Grapefruit Oil
  • 1 Empty Bottle
  • 1 Funnel
  • 1 Plastic Bowl
  • 1 Sifter

Instructions:

  1. Obtain a clean mason jar, and fill it with 16 ounces, 2 cups, of distilled white vinegar.
  2. Place the peel of three grapefruits in the mason jar with the vinegar.
  3. Add the 10 drops of essential oil to the top of the jar.
  4. Secure the cap and ring on the mason jar.
  5. Store the jar in a cool, dry place for 14 days; I have stored the jars in both my pantry and garage without issues.
  6. On the 15th day, open the jar and strain the contents into a sifter, over a plastic bowl.
  7. Return the solution to the mason jar with a funnel; label your jar as cleaning concentrate.
  8. Open a spray bottle and add 1/4 cup of the solution, 2 ounces, to 5 cups water.
  9. Seal the bottle and shake gently.
  10. Use in conjunction with newspaper to clean most glass surfaces, including counters.

This is an awesome cleaner! I hope you will think so, too!

Enjoy the clean!

mbnlogosm

1-Hour Morning Cleaning Routine

cleaning

 

Mornings. My former long-time foe. From dirty dishes to kiddos pulling at your clothes, finding time to clean just countertops in my home use to be an issue. Each and every morning. This was until I created a plan that helped me to not only tidy my home in under an hour each morning but to reset the way I considered cleaning my home in total. So today I wanted to share with you again one of my current cleaning goals, and that is to create morning and evening Cleaning Zone Chore Lists. 

For me, a cleaning schedule is basically just a daily, weekly, or monthly plan for how you will clean your house.  It can be as simple as one main task per day or as complex as a spreadsheet that accounts for every single housekeeping task that needs to be done over the course of a year.  It really is up to you, and what will work best for your family, not this week, but every week going forward. 

If the idea of creating any sort of cleaning schedule sounds overwhelming, no worries—I promise it is not as bad as it sounds.  In fact, as you will see below, you can do it in three easy steps! The point of a schedule is to relieve guilt and to create a routine that gives you less stress; a schedule for cleaning will be a lot less overwhelming in the long run.

So,  do here’s how to it:

Step 1:  Create a Master Chore List:

Before you can decide when to clean you must first know what to clean, and how often.  Create a cleaning schedule that works for your life and your schedule, you need to assess your own home and cleaning needs. 

You can start with the following master list and then customize it to fit your own home’s needs, my suggestion is:

 

master-house-cleaning-list

Step 2:  Pick the Best Plan for YOU:

The next thing you need to do is figure out what sort of cleaning plan will work best for your life and your schedule. 

  • Are you the kind of person who wants to do a little every day?
  • Would you rather tackle it all at once so that you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the week?
  •  Do you work full time or are you home during the day? 
  • Do you have young children at home whose chores can be incorporated into this system?

There is no one “right way” to keep house, and so no universal cleaning schedule that will fit every household’s needs. Just sit down, take an hour, and create a system that will work best for you!

Also, I’m going to share with you my true cleaning secret, you will want to consider creating a master list, and then smaller, daily and weekly lists, too! 

If you are like me and have a hard time functioning when your house is messy, this may be the best option for you.  I have personally found that my home runs best on a daily morning and evening zoned routine, in addition to my master list.

Each morning, Monday-Friday, before work I complete my Zone 1 Cleaning Project:

  1. Make all beds in the home.
  2. Empty the dishwasher.
  3. Start one load of laundry.
  4. Wipe down my kitchen countertops. 
  5. Wipe out my bathroom sinks and vanity tops, and clean off a mirror.
  6. Sweep my entryway and front porch. 
  7. Start a crockpot meal, marinate foods, etc.
  8. Feed my fuzzies.
  9. Put a load of laundry in the dryer.
  10. Spray and squeegee out shower stall, after your morning shower. 
  11. Check out your to-do list, for the day.

I will typically spend about 45 minutes cleaning morning, between the daily tasks, and do 1 or 2 weekly tasks each day; these morning tasks helps to keep deep cleaning projects at a minimum in my home. This also allows me plenty of time for walking my fuzzies, take a shower, have breakfast, take my medicine/vitamins, read from my daily devotional, all before heading into the office. 

Each evening, Monday-Friday, before bed I complete my Zone 2 Cleaning Project:

  1. Pack lunches and snacks.
  2. Set your home up for the next day; set the coffee maker,  re-stock paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, napkin holder, wipes) in home, check briefcases and back backs for anything you might need the next day, pack gym bags, pre-harness pets for morning walks before being crated, and layout morning outfits.
  3. Clean your kitchen: Be sure to wipe down counters, load and run your dishwasher, sweep the floor, lay out a clean dish towel, scrub the kitchen sink (if needed), and remove trash. 
  4. Pre-treat any laundry, as needed.
  5. Plan your morning meal: Plan your breakfast, and layout utensils/settings, if needed. You can also set-up clean, sanitized pet food/water dishes, placed in the fridge for the morning meals, too. Also, lay out your medications/vitamins. 
  6. Five minute pick-up: using a basket, take 5 minutes before bed, walk around your home, lightly straighten the house, and anything that is in the wrong room can be placed in your basket, to be sorted as you go from room to room, so items can be put back in their proper places! 
  7. Check for piles: Sort any bills, mail, and paper piles to their proper places, daily.
  8. Create a to-do list for the next day. 

I will typically spend about 35 minutes preparing my home each evening; I typically take my nightly melatonin and can complete all Zone 2 tasks, prep my face for the night, read a few chapters of my current book selection, in the time it takes for me to become sleepy! This also allows me plenty of time to both relax each night, and to efficiently start my next day.

So, today I am challenging you all to accomplish three tasks:

  1. Create a mater household cleaning list.
  2. Establish a morning cleaning ritual (Zone 1).
  3. To establish an evening cleaning ritual (Zone 2).
  4. Consistently use your newly created Zone Cleaning Methods for one month!

Now, while this list seems extensive, depending on the size of your home, should only take one hour daily, and in the long run, should greatly help you not only today but in the future. This week is not only about creating long-lasting cleaning solutions in your home but establishing routines that will help you not only keep your home cleaner and safer but to shave the time it takes you to do so, in half! 

So, as you can all see, my mornings running as smoothly as possible are VITAL to the overall success of my businesses and home life, and for that reason, I also have another secret weapon and that is simply getting enough sleep each night! This gives me the momentum to get up each day, help my family off to school and work, and then finish my chores quickly. So that I can get on my own day too!

I encourage you to develop not only a better morning routine but basic, simple-to-apply strategies that you can use each day, to get the most out of your mornings. Each daily lesson will enable you to better manage your vitality and energy, not just your time. Friends, if you take a moment to think about it, you’ll probably realize that you are better at doing certain tasks at certain times, a better, more focused person, and this can help you harness this power to your mornings, too! 
 
You may be thinking, what can change up your morning routine do for you? Simply put, what you do each morning is an indicator of how you approach your entire day. These choices morning habits, determine the life we will ultimately live, the health we hope to enjoy, the work we need to create, and the love we put into the world. 
 
So I ask you, what type of energy do you have in the morning? Do you feel that your days never seem to stay on track? Are you the type of person who thrives with the direction of consistent, self-motivated changes to your overall goals? I’d love to hear about your routines at home below!
 
Remember, you’ve only got 25,000 mornings. What will you do with each one? 

 

DIY Grapefruit Counter Top Cleaner!

1221-624x499

 

Good morning, savvy savers! Happy New Year! So this past week at my home, albeit low-key, have been jammed packed with DIY projects and freezer cooking sessions! With all that cooking, comes a whole lot of cleaning, and for me that means whipping out my commercial for keeping my counter tops cleaned, Method Grapefruit Spray! That spray rocks!

As much as I love the cleaner, I am also looking to further cut my bankbook strings in 2015, so I decided to try a DIY version this year! With that said, for the past few days I have been using apps savings from Snap by Groupon, to save on Scarlet Grapefruits at my local Sam’s Club (shopping scenarios to come in the next few days), and instead of composting the Grapefruit peels, I started the first steps to making Homemade Grapefruit Counter top Cleaner!

With the outrageous cost of commercial glass cleaners, I created an organic, non-toxic, child and pet-safe all purpose cleaner which can be for under $5.00 for a years worth of cleaner! As the average cost of a bottle of store-bought orange cleaner is 3.89, and I use a bottle of spray a month, that’s a savings of $48.68 a year! Here’s how to make this!

 Ingredients:

  • 1 Clean, dried mason jar
  • The peels of 3 grapefruits
  • 2 Cups Distilled, white vinegar
  • 10 drops Essential Grapefruit Oil
  • 1 Empty Bottle
  • 1 Funnel
  • 1 Plastic Bowl
  • 1 Sifter

Instructions:

  1. Obtain a clean mason jar, and fill it with 16 ounces, 2 cups, of distilled white vinegar.
  2. Place the peel of three grapefruits in the mason jar with the vinegar.
  3. Add the 10 drops of essential oil to the top of the jar.
  4. Secure the cap and ring on the mason jar.
  5. Store the jar in a cool, dry place for 14 days; I have stored the jars in both my pantry and garage without issues.
  6. On the 15th day, open the jar and strain the contents into a sifter, over a plastic bowl.
  7. Return the solution to the mason jar with a funnel; label your jar as cleaning concentrate.
  8. Open a spray bottle and add 1/4 cup of the solution, 2 ounces, to 5 cups water.
  9. Seal the bottle and shake gently.
  10. Use in conjunction with newspaper to clean most glass surfaces, including counters.

This is an awesome cleaner! I hope you will think so, too!

Enjoy the clean!

misty1

Why I Keep My Counters Cleared Off!

Hello again, savvy savers! For today’s Monday Deep Cleaning Post, I wanted to share the single biggest way I have found to keep my home clean, and that is by keep my kitchen counter tops completely cleared off! Why keep the counters empty? The kitchen is the heartbeat of our home, but when our kitchen counters are messy and cluttered, my mood, home, and family dynamic seems to feel stressed and overwhelmed, too! I truly believe, a clean kitchen is a happy and productive place to be! 

So, you may be asking, is it incontinent to not have small appliances, crocks, tools, and towels in arms reach on the counters? No, in fact I truly have not missed having my items out. The reason I decided to clear my counter tops off was that I simply felt I did not use three-quarters of the items on my counters! Let’s say for 8 hours of the day, you utilize those items for about 5 minutes, or less? So, this ultimately means that we all leave appliances plugged into sockets, for 7 hours and 45 minutes, causing not only unnecessary phantom power sources, but these same power drainers are simultaneously taking up valuable space on your counters.

Couple this with the idea that items placed in cabinets are cleaner, after all isn’t this why we place dishes in cupboards, to keep grime, grease splatters, dust, and germs off of our dishes? Why keep items on counter tops, when it take a mere 5 seconds to take those items out of the cupboard, and about 10 seconds to put those items away in the cupboard!

Here are a few more reasons to clear off your counter tops:

  1. Clear counters, mean more space, and a kitchen that feels a lot bigger than it really is.
  2. It is much easier to cook from scratch and prepare three meals plus snacks each day for your family when your counters are clear.
  3. Clear counters creates both the physical and mental space to bake, whip up homemade snacks, and cook nutritious dinners; you create a workshop!
  4. When it’s easier to cook and prepare meals and snacks, we rely less on convenience and processed foods and snacks, and eat out less often; a savings for our wallets and health!
  5. Counter tops that are completely cleared off practically clean themselves; dirty dishes go straight into the dishwasher, staples into the pantry, and then simply sweep floors and wipe down counters!
  6. A clean kitchen is motivation to keep the rest of the house clean and picked up!

And as a bonus, it is a breath of fresh air, to walk into a clean kitchen! I look forward to walking into the kitchen and being able to actually do what I’m supposed to do in there – make a good, home cooked meal food for my family.

Here are a few ways I keep my counter-tops clear:

  • I keep my toaster oven, microwave, tool crock trio, and produce baskets on a small bakers rack.
  • All paper products, wraps, and lunch items are stored in in-cabinet wicker baskets. 
  • Snacks are stored vertically in hanging baskets.
  • I keep a rack above my sink for washing accouterments and my favorite e-Pantry candles! 
  • I keep my small appliances in a bottom cabinet; grill and baking appliances on one shelf, and all others on the bottom shelf. 
  • I place my cutting boards in an upcycled magazine holder, on the side of my pantry.
  • All spices, food, and pantry items stay in the pantry!
  • Extra tools belong on my pullman cart beside my fridge!

So, I hope you all will completely clear off our counters in your kitchen and see what kind of difference it can make in our lives! If you need more practical and how-to steps to clear off your counters, including pictures from my own kitchen and how I store things, check out How To Completely Clear Off Your Kitchen Counters!

So, are your counters perpetually messy and cluttered? How do you think it would change your life to clear them off completely?

Here’s to a healthy, cleaner home,

Shamrock 21