I know alot of you on here and really value your opinions on so many other things on this site that I knew you were the ones to come to for help. Heres the deal. I am a very organized person, I like things in order and really stress out when they are not. Well heres the problem, my house is a mess! I have stuff everywhere, I constantly pick up the same things and feel like I am always cleaning but nothing is ever clean KWIM? So my question to you guys is how do I get my house clean and keep it that way? Do I just need to throw out everything that we dont need ( we have so much junk )? How do you all get things in order and keep it that way? Do you have to deep clean everyday or is it something that you can do a little every day? I have never been the best housekeeper but it is really starting to catch up with me, so PLEASE HELP! Tell me where to start and how!

I am not the best, either. I do housecleaning challenges on the board M,W, and F. It REALLY helps to do these under TIMED conditions...and to check in with other ladies on here, knowing they are also doing them. Also, I went through EACH room in my house and got rid of TWENTY FIVE THINGS a piece. It sounds like a lot, and it WAS a lot..but it has made the cleaning so much easier, for clutter control alone!! I even did this in the bathrooms...getting rid of odd tubes of this or that, towels with holes, etc. I included CLOSETS, too. All in all, I think I cleaned out over 500 unnecessary items!!!!! I sold some at a garage sale, and even though I was so tempted, what didn't sell did NOT come back into my house. I brought it all to Goodwill that same day as the garage sale!!!

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Shaking in my boots (well, if I was wearing them in the middle of summer!), but glad to be back!

I am organized, My Hubby is anal, everything has to be just so when he dose anything... I have figured out this method of keeping the clutter stuff to a minimum, If you dont NEED it, Havent used it, or dont LOVE it, get rid of it!! I carry a small trash bucket with me through the house and I just throw useless stuff away, even if its only one little thing every few days, its still adding up to LESS mess you have to clean up!

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http://mommysavers.com/boards/journa...wjournal&j=110

http://tinktime-tink.blogspot.com/

If you tell your secrets to the wind... Don't be mad if it tell's the trees.

Oh Tink I feel your pain! My hubby is anal also but unfortunatly he is anal about keeping stuff! He still has clothes that didnt fit him when we met and that was 11 years ago! I cant seem to get rid of anything with him around, but I will tell you a little secret, while he was gone this past week for a couple of days, I cleaned out our closet and got rid of 3 bags of trash! I know I was shocked, there were 6 empty shoe boxes in there from when we all got new shoes, now I have no idea why they are there but now they are gone and I have a whole shelf where I can actually put shoes!

I was using the computer one day and writting things on post its, well DH came home and there were post its around the desk... welp he put EVERY one of my written on post its BACK on the pad perfectally stright!!!!

anyway, you made a good start cleanning out the boxes, I sometimes find stuff here and I ask myself WHY?? Dont know but for some reason I KEPT IT!!!

I stock up on Stuff especially stuff on sale.. I now have 19 tubes of toothpaste!! That would be really good BUT....I HAVE DENTURES since I was 22 yrs.old!! again I ask.. WHY????? Ill be ready for company visits!! Thats a whole shelf in my linnin closet! WHY???? I have like 30 towels, BIG BATH TOWELS>>>there are 3 of us!!!! again... WHY??? they were on SALE>>>> When I shop for something I need, I always get carried away! That is my problem..Then its, What to do with it all??:happy dance: :happy dance:

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http://mommysavers.com/boards/journa...wjournal&j=110

http://tinktime-tink.blogspot.com/

If you tell your secrets to the wind... Don't be mad if it tell's the trees.

You know what I am the same way! I once bought several cans of expensive formula for a baby that was on sale for 1/2 price? Whats wrong with that you ask? Well my baby was 6 months old, breastfeeding just fine and I had no intentions of using it! I just thought to myself " well what if something happens and you have to give the baby formula"? The funniest part about it was that I had a whole freezer of frozen breast milk for this! I know crazy but hey thats my life!

You know I was just thinking about all that toothpaste and I was thinking that if you want to get rid of it you could donate it to a shelter or even see if you have an organization that is sending boxes to our troops overseas cause I know that is one thing that they really need.

I have a hard time with this too. Here are a few of my solutions:

Toys: My kids collect stuff and it gets overwhelming for me and them. I have found that 4 times a year I straighten the toys( tossing broken toys, toys missing peices, and donating unloved toys) I try to time this with birthdays or christmas. Also, I have cubbies with boxes in them that hold specific toys (legos, cars, trucks, trains, little people, blocks, etc) I donate the extras if those get too full.

Household items: I stock up on things, but have a set of shelves (aka my "Sam's" shelves)that I limit them to (paper towels,tp,toothpaste, soap, shampoo, kleenex, baby wipes, cleaning products, tide, soft drinks, paper plates, napkins, etc) and when the designated shelf is getting empty, I refill it. I do NOT buy more than I can store.

Linens: I have 2 sets of sheets for each bed. One on the bed and the second set in the top of the closet of that bedroom. I am trying to work out a system for towels right now. We just moved from a 1 bathroom house to a 4 bathroom house and I cannot figure out how to keep track of towels. I'm thinking of color coding the bathrooms.

Kitchen: In my pantry I do the same things that I do on my "Sam's" shelves. I keep certain items on hand at all times. When things start to run low, or go on sale, I stock up. This includes items such as mac and cheese, beans, chili, spagettios, cream soups, jambalaya mix, tomato sauce, tuna, chicken, pasta, rice, peas, corn, mushrooms, applesauce, baby food, etc.

I also have stored my huge "party pots" in the attic and only have the essentials in the kitchen for everyday use. I pull out the big pots when I pull out my party serving pieces. (my attic is really easy to get to.

Clothes: Seasonally I go tru the kids clothes and toss/donate or pack away for next child. Then I make a list of what each kid needs, look thru the stored clothes and then shop for whatever is missing.

It sounds like a lot of effort, but really is not now that I have a system set up.

We try to have just what we need, and then purge regularly. I think of it as my way around cleaning...when everything has a place, and its put away regularly, its much easier to run throught the house with a swiffer and a trash bag each morning. (5 mins tops)

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Dottie

Mom to Michael 6, Matthew 4, Katherine 2, Ellen 1, and new baby EDD 10/29/08

WOW Dottie those are great ideas! I am working on them right now! Thank you ladies for all your help and suggestions I feel less overwhelmed already!