Once you have a method for successful grocery shopping and meal preparations, now it’s time to speed it up.  Hopefully, with these tips, your time in the kitchen won’t be all the time you have.

A quick and easy way to double the space in your closet is to add an extra rod halfway down the space.  Instead of one bar to hang clothes, you now have two.  Then hang an over-the-door shoe bag on your door and place your shoes in it.  You can now use the space on the floor for storage and quickly find those shoes you were looking for!

Many useful strategies for grocery shopping, such as clipping coupons, bulk buying, freezer cooking, grocery gaming and price notebooks are less effective if you don’t plan your menu ahead of time. By having a good grocery plan, you can save money, waste less food, save kitchen space and improve the functionality of your kitchen.  Here’s five tips on how to make your grocery outing a success.

Sometimes the best way to organize a closet is to start from scratch, especially in a small space.  If you’re closet is stuffed to its seams and overflowing into the room, you should consider pulling everything out of the closet and sorting it while putting things back in.  While everything is out, you have a perfect opportunity to purge the things that are torn, stained, or no longer fit, find things that need to be ironed or repaired and things that need to go to the cleaners or tailor.  Choose a place in your home that is not cluttered (maybe a bed that’s been made or your couch), and place everything from your closet into that space, dividing into six stacks: keep, toss, repair, cleaners, tailor, donate.  After you’re finished, put your keep stack back into your closet, organizing it as you go along.  Then, make the tailor, cleaners, and charity of your choice a part of your errands the following week and voila !– you have an organized closet!

Clipping coupons can be a great way to save money at the grocery store. The temptation with coupons is that you may end up buying a ton of products you don’t need or use just because you have a coupon.  By being organized, you can save more money with less effort.

The kitchen can set the tone for the rest of the house.  With a few daily tasks, you can keep it clean and organized with minimal fuss.

This article is the first in a four-part series on grocery shopping and meal planning. Over the next four weeks, I will go into more detail about each of the topics I mention today including: coupons, menu planning, bulk buying, and freezer cooking.

A complex organizing project can end up costing hundreds of dollars. Most of us don’t have that kind of cash in the budget for something like organizing that seems like a luxury. But, being organized is NOT a luxury, it is a necessity, especially when there are so many things demanding our time. Fortunately, you can find many of the same organizing tools and supplies that you’d find at a high-end home store for less than half the price at your local Wal-Mart or even a Goodwill store.

Traveling, especially with kids, can truly be a test of your patience. If you take a few steps before it’s time to start packing for a trip, you can make those few hours before leaving much less stressful for you and your family.

Starting an organizing project can feel like an overwhelming task but remaining disorganized can keep you from living the life you desire.  By approaching the project with the right frame of mind, you can overcome the barriers to starting.