Why a Timer is my Favorite Cleaning Device

A couple of months ago I discovered a home cleaning website that has been a tremendous help to me in helping me keep my house clean and organized.  The job of cleaning the house without a housekeeper, thereby ensuring my house doesn't land on an episode of Hoarders, falls completely on my shoulders.  Yes, my kids and husband help a little but let's be honest; this is the mom's job whether we like it or not.  I do not like it, for the record.

One of the key things that I learned from this amazing website, which I will write about in more detail next week, is that keeping the house clean can be done in quick, short bursts.  All of us would love to have the time to clean a room or the whole house from top to bottom in one fell swoop but with little people all up in my grill all day, in the words of Georgia Boy, that ain't happenin' Cap'n.  I usually react to this dilemma one of two ways; either I feel so completely paralyzed at the overwhelming task before me that I shut down and want to take a nap or I gripe and complain while trying to force my family to join me in the cleaning fun.

If you're looking for how to clean a bedroom, how to clean the house or how to de-clutter the house quickly and easily allow me to introduce you to the power of the timer.

The timer tells me that I have 5 or 10 minutes to do as much as I can and then I'm done.  I put in my 5-10 minutes of cleaning and then I can go read my book or whatever else I want to be doing instead of cleaning.  Which is pretty much anything.

My timer that I bought on my trip to HomeGoods.

In fact, prior to writing this post my downstairs was a complete and utter mess.  As I looked around I was wondering how in the world I could clean it up.  I got out the timer and set it for 5 minutes while I picked up the toys.  I set it for another 5 minutes and de-cluttered the kitchen countertops and island.  I even had time to wipe down the countertops with a counter cleaner.  It only took 10 minutes to make a huge difference instead of the 30 plus minutes I would have probably spent trying to clean it all.

I use this method all of the time for picking up the kids' rooms, cleaning the playroom, de-cluttering my mommy desk, dusting my bedroom nightstands and dresser, etc.

The house is cleaned a little bit at a time preventing an area from getting completely out of control and is done in a manageable amount of time.

Now, the reason I use an actual timer and not my smart phone is that on my smart phone are my apps.  And no matter how many times I tell myself I am only going to use the timer on my phone I eventually end up checking Facebook, Twitter, email, etc and then I've lost 30 minutes in the blink of an eye, the kitchen island is still a mess and now I'm mad at myself for getting side-tracked.

That doesn't happen with my little timer.  I set it for 5 minutes and it rings to tell me I'm free.  Not unlike the school bell that signaled our work for the day was done.  Of course, back then I got to run out of the school with nothing on my mind but playing with my friends or watching the Flintstones.  Now the timer just means I need to go check and see if the baby is trying on my makeup again and to find out why the 5 year old has been so quiet for so long.

Happy Cleaning, Cheap Mamas.

The $8 Organizational Tool

Just recently I saw an incredible idea on Pinterest to use a pocket shoe organizer for school & art supplies.  I just about broke the speed limit zooming away to Wal-Mart as fast as I could to utilize this great idea for my homeschool room/playroom.  I had been gathering pails and buckets for all of my organizational needs in our homeschool room but I was slowly running out of shelf space.  All of those markers, glue sticks and pipe cleaners can sure take up a lot of space!  I didn't know how much a pocket shore organizer cost but it looked like a great idea for my homeschool room.

I found them on the laundry and closet organization aisle at Wal-Mart for $7.47.  Awesome!

I then raced back home to install my new organization tool.  That is, after a quick stop at Sonic for a diet coke of course.  I hung the pocket organizer (the hooks are included) on the inside of the playroom closet door and now instead of being overcome with buckets and baskets and pails oh my, all of our supplies are located in one place.  I even have room for more!

Once I implemented this idea in the playroom I knew that there would be other great uses for these pocket shoe organizers.  One place I have found them to be of use is in my husband's closet.

Although we each have our own closet, neither one is very spacious and as a result I have to be extremely efficient in my attempts to organize our closets.  Georgia Boy wears a tie every day to work so he needed to be able to get to his ties easily.  I used a pocket shoe organizer on his closet door to organize both his ties and belts.  Now, instead of hanging randomly all over his closet they are conveniently located in the pocket shoe organizer.

I have used these shoe organizers in places where I don't mind seeing the hooks on the other side of the door.  However, if you don't like seeing the loops hanging over the door you could always use nails in the door provided that the door is strong enough and the nail is the appropriate size needed for the amount of weight that the organizer will be holding.

Other organizational uses for these shoe organizers would be for cleaning products inside a closet or laundry room door or in the bathroom under the sink.  To put it under a kitchen or bathroom sink you  simply cut it to fit and either hang it on the door using the hooks provided or tack a few nails to hold it inside the cabinet.

I'm sure I'll find some other uses for these pocket shoe organizers soon and when I do, I'll update it with any more ideas I have.  In the meantime, please share any uses for these organizers that you've found in your own home!

Happy Organizing Cheap Mamas!

Hot/Cold Faucet Trick for Kids

When my son got tall enough to reach the faucet in the sink I was thrilled because this meant he was gaining some independence and could wash his own hands without me hoisting him up to the sink.  Woohoo!  It also meant that I was worried about him scalding himself with the hot water.  Because he couldn't read yet, I knew it would have to be a simple way for him to remember which side was hot and which was cold.

I decided to use rubber bands on the faucet handles; red for hot and blue for cold.  After that he never had a problem remembering which one to use!

Hopefully that will be a little trick you can use for your own kiddos!  Thanks for reading, Cheap Mamas!

Bulletin Board Bow Organizer

Having a little girl is like having an accessories explosion inside your house.  My first child was a boy and to clothe a boy you need 4 things: shirt, pants, shoes, socks.  Sometimes you don't even need the socks.

When clothing a girl the number of necessary items grows exponentially.  One of those necessary items is, of course, the BOW.  What little girl would be complete without donning a bow approximately the same size as her head?

As Sidekick grew, so did our bow collection and I knew I needed some way to keep them organized.  I had seen bow organizers in our local boutique stores but the Cheap Mama in me just couldn't quite bring myself to fork over the money for one of them.  The one day: LIGHTBULB!  I decided to use a criss-cross ribbon bulletin board that I already had as her bow organizer.

This is all about using what you have so I would never say you need to run out and buy one but if you have one lying around the house, use it!  Ours is hung inside her closet so if the one you have doesn't match the room's decor, it won't matter because no one will see it but you!

Have a blessed week Cheap Mamas!