organization!!

I am becoming completely, ridiculously obsessed with organization. In my mind, I have every single inch of my house neat and orderly in pretty little containers and creative arrangements. Getting it there, now that's another story. I have always been the most disorganized, disfunctional person. Paperwork, money, even time have never been well managed. For me, it started small. When I got pregnant, I couldn't remember anything anymore, so I bought a big calender for the fridge and several magnetic lists. I would have to write everything down, Dr's appointments, when Cameron was going to be out of town, even if I had clothes at the cleaners to pick up, I couldn't even remember that. I became a meticulous list maker, and I love it! Just that small step made life run a little smoother. Slowly over the last couple of years I've learned basically how to manage my life. I've become much better at paper work (although I still have all our bills drafted, just in case) and my house looks more presentable, most of the time, I mean, I do have a toddler. But now that I have this beautiful big house, just having things thrown here and piled there makes me sick. I'm starting very small, so that I don't get overwhelmed and so that I don't spend a fortune, all those cute little boxes add up! Here's a few things that I'm starting with, that cost little to nothing:

• making a menu at the beginning of each week and sticking to it. This will not only provide an answer for my husband when he asked me every single day what's for supper as he's driving home, but it'll also help lower our grocery bill. I'll know exactly what I need and (once I get my pantry perfect, which it's close!) I'll know exactly what I have, which will eliminate multiples of things we rarely use. I have 3! bottles of soy sauce and teriyaki sauce, and I cook Asian maybe once a month. I'm good about keeping a running grocery list, but I never look to see if I already have these things in the back of the pantry.
• As I post, I'm scanning all of the christmas cards we've gotten the last couple years with pictures of our friends and family. I'm creating a folder just for these, separated by year, and next year when the holidays roll around, I'll use that folder as a screen saver that scrolls through the pictures. A digital picture frame that I already have! I'm also scanning birth announcements and tossing them afterwards. I kept a couple years worth in a drawer and finally threw them away when we moved. I wish I had thought of this before I did that!
• I found a charger station at Target the other day that had matching mail organizers, etc. We don't have a home phone, so we've got my cell, Cameron's cell, and a work cell, and this little station has an outlet for up to 4 electronic devices. It also has a tray that Cam can drop all his pocket contents at the end of the day instead of just on the dining room table.

Well, like I said, I'm starting small in what I'm actually doing, but I have so many things worked out, and yes, down on paper, it'll just take a little bit of time and money to get them accomplished.