October No-Spend Challenge Day 13: Craft Room Decluttering!

Good morning, savvy savers! Can you believe we are almost half-way finished with this month! So, today is going to be another organization day, but today we will be focusing on our home offices, bookshelves, craft areas, and/or home libraries. 

This is a very important challenge for me as I work from home, and so I spend an inordinate amount of time at my desk. You would think that would mean I automatically have the motivation to keep that area neat and tidy at all times.  And while generally speaking my desk is clutter-free, my drawers, rolling cabinets, and shelves are not!  My inbox/outbox too, was a mess, and my vertical files were full of unneeded papers, review guides, and coupons I hadn’t looked in several months. I firmly believe that home are our most important investments, and therefore our most important business. Keeping this space organized is essential to keeping our homes running more smoothly. 

So, for today I challenge you to join me in cleaning up these areas in our homes. 

A few tips to consider today in your home office:

• Create a container for important family and personal documents; this includes licenses, insurance forms, medical records, etc.
• Clear out your coupon binders, and make room for the extra inserts coming this Spring; be sure to donate coupons to Coups For Troops. 
• Tax files over five years in age, can be shredded and discarded.
• Be sure to recycle all paper products.
• Magazines can be donated to public schools and libraries.
• Tackle boxes make awesome crafting, beading, and thread organizers.
• Consider grouping like books together on shelves; educational, biographies, fiction, non-fiction, etc.
• Any books you would not consider either home reference editions or you would gladly re-read, place to the side, for local book swaps or library donations. 
• Re-think your office furniture; dressers, buffets, and other larger pieces can still be functional desk spaces, and will allow you to have cabinet space, too!

So, all-in-all, I’m really excited about yesterday’s progress in my craft room and office!

So, I was able to:

1. I cleared off my desk.
2. I organized my dining room bookshelves, putting like groups together, and placing non re-reads to a bin for a later book swap weekend.
3. I took the binders and manuals I previously housed in on my dining room shelves, and placed them on an upcycled shelf in my office.
4. I turned my former dining room buffet station into an office credenza to hold my craft room staples.
5. I sorted through my personal files, and established a personal box for my husband and I both, as well as created a new lock box system for credit cards, cash, gift cards, etc.
6. I cleaned out my coupon binder.

I felt completely overwhelmed when I started, and utterly victorious when I stopped! Woohoo!

I was also able to accomplish:

1. As part of my #Choose30 Daily Challenge, I woke up at 7:25, walked my fur babies, showered, & dressed to my shoes. (Thanks, Flylady!)
2. Worked on my daily Motivated Moms Planner.
3. I finished a day’s worth of clerking assignments ahead of schedule!
4. I cooked from my pantry for each meal.
5. Read my daily devotional.
6. I waked two miles.

So, what were you able to accomplish today, I’d love to hear about it below!

 

Here’s to saving,