Just in the same way that being disorganized can cost you money, being organized can save you money. Take laundry as an example. If you have an organized system in place for doing laundry, then you need fewer clothes, saving money on buying them. If you have fewer clothes, then you need less space to store them. If you need less space to store clothes, then you have more space to store other stuff, lessening the amount of space you need overall to store your stuff. If you need less space overall to store your stuff then you can live in a smaller house or apartment. If you live in a smaller house or apartment, then your rent or mortgage will be lower and you’ll also pay less to heat and light your house. If you pay less to heat and light your house, then you’ll have more money to buy clothes.
Back up, that last part was a joke.
Everything else was true, however. I have a friend who has four boys, ages four to thirteen. She does laundry once a month. She has to have enough clothes to last each child a month, enough space to store the clean clothes, enough floor space to hold the dirty clothes. Admittedly this system works for her, but I can’t help but think that things could be easier if she changed her routine a bit.
I’m currently reading Confessions of an Organized Homemaker and when I’ll review it when I finish. Then I’ll hold a contest, the winner of which will receive the book!
What about you? How does being organized help you save money?
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{ 6 comments }
Once a month?!? How is that even possible? I feel like I’m drowning in clothes and I wash twice a week!
I feel like I'm drowning in clothes, and I was almost daily!
Being organized helps you save money so you don’t go out and buy things twice. I used to have this conversation a lot:
“I know I have X somewhere!”
– Search for hours.
“Ahh, can’t find X and I need it Now!”
– go buy another one only to come home and find you had 3 X’s in the closet behind the old Y’s.
It stinks. But I am getting better with organization now. 🙂
Being organized saves me money when I put together a meal plan and a shopping list and then follow through on it. We have all of the ingredients, and I don’t decide half-an-hour before mealtime that what I really want is an eight-hour crock pot recipe. That said I’ve totally got to rebalance my relationship with my kitchen. I can go almost a month on frugal nutritious homecooked meals three times a day and then I burn out. I’m currently boycotting that entire section of my house and the kids and I are living on the fruit bowl and the snack bin and as much drive-thru as my husband can procure. Tomorrow I will probably have to throw out all the fresh ingredients that have turned science project in my fridge and seeing that miserable waste will re-ignite my desire to manage my kitchen well. So for almost a month I’ll… Well, you get the idea.
I’m still fine tuning this to eliminate the burnout cycle. But my laundry’s good. I wash Monday through Thursday, a load or two a day, and then wash little extras (like booster seat covers, and cozy throws) on the weekends- as needed. As long as I stay on top of my daughter’s desire to go through hourly wardrobe changes, laundry’s not bad. I did the once a month thing with my husband and a laundromat pre-kids. I prefer the smaller frequent washes in a big way.
Well, I don’t want to get in trouble with my better half but she’s a bit of an organizational freak. She routinely organizes the clothes in the closets and dressers and every other place you can think of. She swears it’s our insurance for finding stuff when you want it and not buying stuff again that you already have! I can’t tell you how many times in my bachelor days that I would go to the grocery store only to buy the same thing I had in the fridge or cupboard. I have to admit staying organized leads to savings…even if it’s a bit OCD at times 🙂
Jerry
http://www.leads4insurance.com
Wow! Once a month?! That’s bad enough for adults, but I can’t imagine buying so many clothes for kids that young! They’re still growing like weeds at that point. I wonder how she even has time and money to keep them in clothes if she has to always have a month’s supply! And it sounds like it’s time for the older kid(s) to start helping out with the laundry. At 13, they can do their own laundry, and help out their mom with the rest.
Anyhow…
I find that having an organized kitchen means less food waste. I’m constantly organizing the fridge and cabinets, so I always know what we have and can move things forward if they need to be eaten soon.
I also organize things like cleaning supplies, office supplies, personal care products, etc. so that neither my husband nor I end up doing things like running to the store to buy yet another pair of scissors because we can’t find any of other pairs.
Also, by having a very uncluttered home, we feel less inclined to buy more stuff because we don’t want to reclutter our house after working so hard to get rid of stuff.