An Organized Cord, Electronic, and Battery Drawer

Before buying our house, we never had enough drawer space to have a junk drawer. We did have a lot of cords and electronic accessories so we had a “cord and battery drawer” in the bottom of a side table. We still have it, and today we went through it all. We found so many cords that we didn’t know what they went to, plus a bunch of cords that we did know where they belonged – with something we no longer owned! This is the gallon bag I am bringing to Best Buy to recycle these cords:

Some things that went in this bag included:

• Old cell phone/camera chargers (The cell phones are no longer in our possession)
• Phone cords (we only use ours for the internet, and we don’t need extra)
• Computer charger that was broken
• Cords that we didn’t know what they belonged with

We also threw away a lot, such as:

• Old memory cards we’ll never be able to use again
• Multiple camera straps
• Dead batteries
• Broken earbuds

We kept chargers and adapters we use.

I labeled anything that wasn’t already with bread ties and Sharpie.

Also, used twist ties to contain the cords. (Or, once, a toilet paper tube for a longer cord.)

Used battery containers from the Container Store (found here) to contain batteries of all sizes. I don’t have any C batteries right now and I used the C-sized container to keep extra size AAs.

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Some things I love to have that I keep in this drawer also:

• A battery checker

• A reusable battery charger

This is the drawer now. It includes

• chargers
• adapters
• battery checkers
• battery charging device
• batteries
• mini flashlight
• less-used earbuds
• mini tripod for camera
• microphone
• old disposable camera that I’ll use up and find some place to develop
• old iPod Nano that I only use on long car rides (and the adapter to go with it)
• camera when I’m not using it – then I don’t lose it so much

Of course, I have other chargers and electronic accessories that I do not keep in this drawer – such as both our cell phone chargers (used nightly), my laptop charger (used regularly), bigger flashlights, etc.

Do you have a place to store your cords? Have you ever gone through it?

Important Information sheets

I spent a little while today updating my important information sheets. I like to have a hard copy of all this information in case my phone contacts are lost, or to bring into doctors, etc.

First was medical.

I organize medication first by prescribing doctor – I have 2 that prescribe me medication, and I take some over the counter.

Without divulging all my personal information… This is what part of my medication sheet looks like.

PRESCRIBING DOCTOR: Name, MD

Medication: Levothyroxine – generic for Synthroid    since 03/2011
Dose: 50 mcg / morning (1 tablet)
Treating: Hypothyroidism

OVER THE COUNTER:

Medication: Ferrous Sulfate (United Research Laboratories)
Dose: 325 mg / morning (1 tablet)
Treating: Iron deficit

The next page included all my doctor’s information. Besides my current doctors, this also included my pharmacy and lab. Information included were the name of the doctor, name of the clinic, address of the clinic, and phone numbers including fax. 

Next was non-medical.

Employer information: I work at a school. I included the phone number/address of the public school HQ and the specific school I work at, as well as the phone numbers for my 2 direct bosses.

I also babysit. I included the address of the home and both parents’ phone numbers.

Husband works at a restaurant. I included the phone number, address, and the phone number of the owner.

Cars: Towing company phone number
Garages phone numbers and addresses
Insurance agent and insurance company

Dog: Veterinarian office and our vet’s name, address, clinic phone number and in case of emergency pager
Groomer address and phone number

Home information: 
Our relator
Home insurance company
Electric company
Water/sewage company
Mortgage company
Contractor
Bank
Internet provider

With all applicable situations, I included the account number. I thought it would be easier to have all the information in one place instead of having to search through old bills for any account numbers. I had a hard enough time finding the bills for account numbers and phone numbers just to update this list.

I keep these papers in a binder and the files stored on my computer. When a main doctor retired recently and I searched high and low for a new one, it was very helpful to have my medication list to fill out all the paperwork. Also, when I washed my phone in the washing machine not too long ago (whoops!), it was great to have the most important phone numbers written down so I could easily put them in my new phone. This was particularly helpful with employers’ phone numbers.

Is your important information organized?

How To Go Back to “Old” Gmail Inbox

If you use Gmail, this post is for you!

I have used Gmail for a long time and I have liked it for as long. I tweak it to personalize it, and when the options were given for a Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums in the “New” Inbox, I didn’t like it. I tried to embrace the change for a few days, but then I decided I wanted to change it back. If you feel the same way, here’s how.

Step 1: Click on the gear 
Step 2: Click on “Settings” from the drop down menu
Step 3: Click on the header “Inbox” (3rd from the left)
Step 4: Uncheck all categories (“Primary” remains checked no matter what) 

Step 5: Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click “Save Changes”!!

 

That’s it. Back to the old inbox. 

If you use Gmail, how do you feel about the new inbox settings?

Dollar Store Haul

Went to one of those dollar stores where everything actually is $1 (or less.)

Bought:

• Hole reinforcers for my many binders
• File folder labels for my many file folders (I have been cutting the sticky parts of post-its for years!)
• 8 binder clips in varied colors for my bulletin board and for holding papers
• Dog bowl – for water, to match dog’s food bowl, except this one is blue (symbolism)

Sorry I have been slacking on posting the last week – had to prepare for my husband’s birthday party at our house. Along with the regular working, cooking, cleaning, several doctor’s appointments, and getting to see my love in the evenings.

Hope everyone is having a good Labor Day!

Plastic bag storage

I know, this topic (storing plastic bags) has been done and done again. I’ve tried a few different methods of corralling them, but I have my own criteria as well.

I use reusable cloth bags for every *planned* grocery store trip. Sometimes though, I get caught without them and while I use paper sacks sometimes, I do like to collect some plastic shopping bags. They can come in handy.

My criteria for what to do with the plastic bags:

1. I don’t reuse bags that have had something wet in it – whether it was milk that had condensation on the outside, or meat that leaked blood – I will throw those bags away.
2. I check the bags for holes before storing them. If there is a hole, big or small, I can recycle it at the store.
3. I use different sized bags for different purposes. Most of my “regular” sized bags go on to become trash can liners in my house, or to pick up after my dog when we take walks.

In my house, I like to use those sturdy Target bags for the bathroom trash. They are taller than the grocery store bags, and the bathroom trash tends to be “grosser” than the other trash cans in the house. I change my bathroom trash bag every week for trash day, whereas other bags in the house, which might have only had paper products, might just get dumped and the bag remains for another week.

The first thing I tried was to corral the bags in an empty tissue box.

This one was so cute I’d kept it on display for a while, waiting for a way to upcycle it. This was my chance! It was a little difficult to get just one bag out, and I worried about any bugs getting in. Also, as you can see, the box was starting to rip on the corners.

When I tried the cleaning wipes container to store bags, I was really excited. It worked great!… Until I got more bags to add and the container still had a bunch inside. I ended up with a container in use, and a bunch of random bags under the kitchen sink anyway, waiting to be put away.

I decided to roll each bag up individually:

Smash flat with all the air out

Fold in half (handles together)

Roll from bottom

Once I had them all rolled up, I held them all together vertically so they were the same heights. Then I put them all into the empty container at the same time. I REALLY had to squeeze all the air out!

Now I can get them out easily, and add more easily. I do have to take off the entire lid rather than just pop it open – but that’s not difficult. I will say that the container is crammed full and I can’t imagine trying to stuff another in right now, so I would probably recycle any bags I got while the container is so full I can’t add more. The rubber band around the base is in case I want to keep more bags in a rubber band for any reason.

You’ll notice the Target bags are not in this container – because I use them differently. All the Target bags are rolled up together in another Target bag, and under the bathroom sink, as that is where I use them.

Now… what to do with that Aladdin tissue box?

Small plastic drawer organization

I have a three-drawer plastic container under my bathroom sink. I used to keep hair decorations and makeup in it.

Top drawer consisted of clips, bobby pins, and barrettes:

Middle drawer held a brush, ponytail holders, a few headbands, and A LOT of ribbons:

I’ll get to the makeup drawer in a minute.

First task was to declutter. The top drawer may have looked organized because of all the small boxes housing different things, but I didn’t use all of those things and that’s not organized to me. I made three piles (besides what I kept):
-throw away
-offer to adults – specifically, mom
-offer to little girls – nieces

I offered to my mom pretty soon after I made these piles, and what she didn’t want I either threw away (bobby pins/small, deformed clips) or donated.

Any ribbons I didn’t want were thrown away. Then I tied the shorter ribbons together (there were fewer) and rolled up the larger ribbons. (I use shorter ribbons for wrapping around a ponytail, braid, or bun; I use longer ribbons to wrap around my head like a headband.)

I then combined the drawers, since I had less of everything.

I’ll admit, it looks LESS organized now. But trust me – I’ll be more easily able to find things now.

The next drawer housed things from another area under my bathroom sink:

The place in the cabinet where this was was NOT helpful. And I almost never style my hair, so some products were unnecessary and others need to be more readily available so I’ll REMEMBER to use them!

This, minus the hairspray that didn’t fit, became the third drawer down:

I also have my sporty-headbands in this drawer.

Bottom drawer used to be makeup… and other random stuff, apparently.

Threw away every broken or super old makeup, the tattoos, the extra sponges (which I don’t use, I use a brush) and was left with virtually nothing.

But that’s okay, because I rarely wear makeup. I plan on putting the brushes, mascara (not shown), and eyeliners – everything in the pink pencil holder – in a jar or something in my medicine cabinet. The eyeshadows, blushes, sharpeners, etc. will go in a travel makeup bag and live somewhere else so I can have another free drawer.

Since doing this, I’ve used more hair decorations than I have in a while, because I remembered they exist!

What’s under your bathroom sink?

Keeping your online sales organized

To keep track of what I am selling and where, I made a spreadsheet.

Column A is the list of items (bold items are general categories; each category is separated by thicker lines.)
Column B is the starting price.
Columns C-I are places I have listed for sale. The bold dates are the original posting for that item, and non-bolded dates are the most recent “bump”.
Column J is how many bumps, so I know that I’ve tried. Some communities only allow bumps every so often.
Column K: When I will next bump.
Column L will be to show what has sold and possibly when.
Column M is when I’ll give up on selling the item.
Column N is where the item will go if it does not sell by the date in column M.

This makes for an END IN SIGHT, helping me feel better about the amount of boxes and things that I need to get rid of.