Works For Me Wednesday: Bathroom Organization

Yay, I'm back - sort of! We got moved in on the 6th, but I've been busy, busy trying to settle in and unpack. Yikes, we have a lot of stuff!

This week I thought I'd share my latest stroke of brilliance for bathroom organization. We lost having a medicine cabinet as well as a built-in toothbrush holder in the main bathroom when we moved. Not that the toothbrush holder really worked like it should - modern toothbrushes don't fit the old fashioned holders, so all the toothbrushes had to lay across the holder rather than fit into the holes.

At any rate, we no longer have that. I knew I needed something to both take the place of what we had, as well as offer better organization anyway.

During one of my many trips to CVS where I had a lot of Extra Bucks to burn, I bought a wire utensil/napkin caddy. These are intended to sit on a table to hold utensils and napkins, usually for picnics or potlucks. I had a much different idea in mind:


Since there are 3 utensil compartments, it works perfectly for the three of us who use that bathroom the most. It also features folding handles, which I have folded inward instead of outward, thereby creating 3 sections in the large area. (Although these "sections" don't have walls.) I placed a dark colored washcloth underneath to catch drips from the brushes.

It only cost me a dollar on summer clearance, it organizes perfectly, and it will wash easily when the time comes for that. That certainly Works For Me!

Shameless plug for a friend: a friend of mine has two shirt designs in a "Woot Shirt Derby" contest - the winner gets the joy of seeing their design printed and sold as a Woot shirt. If you have ever bought anything at Woot (you must be a previous purchaser to prevent gaming of the vote system) would you please consider logging in and voting for one or both of her shirts? (You can vote for as many shirts as you like, but only one vote per shirt.)

"They Always Attack At Night" and
"Good Night Moon"

Just click on the little button that says, "I'd want one". And if you do go vote, thanks! It will mean a lot to her to see her designs do well.

Works For Me Wednesday: The Backwards Edition!

Shannon is hosting her usual themed WFMW this first Wednesday of the month, only this time, instead of giving advice, we get to ask the wide, wide world of internets FOR some advice! And oh, people, do I need this one!

Dawdlers. How do you hurry them up? I'm beggin', folks!

Hermione is turning 9 today, (Insert obligatory whine about "where HAS the time gone?!") and she dawdles over everything, turning life into a double-length affair. Worst is bathtime and toothbrushing. She gets off in her own little world and has no concept of how much time has gone by. Even when she buckles down and starts in on the job at hand, she tends to go oh so slow, on the pretense of being careful, but really just tiptoeing through the tulips of her mind.

Bathtime got so bad 3 weeks ago that I had to forbid all bathtime play until we move. (Which is - GULP - Saturday!) And the first week after I grounded her, the additional part of her punishment was that I came in the bathroom with her and watched her take a bath, cajoling her through the process to get her finished.

I can't do that all the time, of course. I have other things to do. But this dawdling has got to stop. It's not fair to the other members of the household, and it's not a good habit to be in. I've tried grounding, I've tried standing over her while she does her tasks, I've tried rewards, I've tried timers. Something's gotta give!

So - give it your best shot. She's a sweet kid, it's not a matter of being defiant, it's a matter of being off in her own world. (Although, the result to the rest of the family is the same, no matter the reasons. And believe me, we've talked about how selfish it is to take up and waste everyone else's time so badly.) We need to get this stopped - help!

I'll be gone most of the day, and will be taking down the computer some time on Thursday, so I don't know when I will get a chance to get back to you lovely commenters. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers this weekend, please!

Works For Me Wednesday: Ziploc baggies

In the process of moving, I'm finding lots of uses for my Ziploc-style baggies:

• Pens, pencils, markers, etc. - We have pounds and pounds of assorted writing and marking utensils, seriously. I've been using gallon sized bags to sort these out and contain them.
• Small toys - Again, a gallon bag is great for all those little army men, magnet toys, small action figures and all their assorted weaponry, etc.
• Puzzles - Gallon sized, again. We have at LEAST two United States puzzles that have lost their boxes during their tenancy here. They now reside in a baggie.
• Office supplies - we have a bunch of erasers to go with all those writing instruments. I rounded them all up from my desk drawer and got them into a sandwich-sized baggie. Now that can just go "plop" into the box of office supplies. Would also be good for rubber bands, staples that escaped the box, etc.
• Gathering scattered items - we have several things that have gotten scattered, such as game pieces, Quidditch balls, playing cards and more. Baggies make a great storage container until you can collect all the pieces. And if the container is lost, they can just stay there!

I just use the cheap dollar store baggies, no need to spend a lot of money for these uses! What other great uses can you think of?

And don't forget to stop by Shannon's for more great tips to make your life easier!

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Works For Me Wednesday: Pot Holder Hooks

I don't keep my potholders in a drawer, taking up space and driving me crazy by keeping the drawer from closing properly. Several years ago, I asked Westley to install a row of hooks along the bottom edge of a cabinet that is close to our stove. I can simply hang the potholders by their loops from the hooks! They're out of the way, and I get more drawer space for other things. That definitely works for me!

Be sure to visit Shannon for more great WFMW tips!

Works For Me & Frugal Friday: In-store coupons

Some stores love to put out in-store coupons; these are coupons that are only good in their particular store. Target and Publix do it on a continual basis, and I love their coupons because both of them allow you to use their store coupon *in conjuntion with* regular manufacturer's coupons. This greatly increases your savings, and sometimes even results in GETTING PAID to take home the item! Also, a store coupon counts as a discount, so you do not pay tax on that amount, as you would with a regular manufacturer's coupon. A few of my savings from Publix yesterday:

Tylenol 24 ct. boxes - some were on sale for $2.49 each. One of the coupon flyers has a $2 coupon in it. I had $1 coupons. I bought 3 boxes (all they had left). After the discounts and the tax, this means I was actually PAID 46 cents per box!

Eat Smart vegetable bags - were on BOGO for $1.99. One of the coupon flyers has 55 cent coupons. I bought 4 bags, so I only paid $1.78 plus tax for 4 good sized bags of pre-cut fresh vegetables.

Mott's Apple Juice - the 4-count of individual boxes is only $1.09, regular price. One of the coupon flyers has a $1 off coupon for several items from the same company, and they are good on any purchase of at least $1. This means I paid 36 cents plus tax for 16 individual boxes. We need these for the upcoming move, they'll be a good way of having some juice on hand.

Revlon tools - I bought 7 pairs of nail clippers ($1.49 each) and one set of emery boards ($1.69). One of the flyers has a $2 coupon. Normally, this would take off the full $2, but my cashier overrode the $2 amount and only let me have the coupons at the value of the items. I don't know if this is a new store policy, or just the cashier taking it upon herself to do this. At any rate, since it's a store discount, I paid zero tax on them, so they were totally free. These can go in a yard sale, or straight to Goodwill.

My total before coupons yesterday was $58-something. My total after coupons (and I bought other stuff besides the above - fruit, meat, and other items that I only had regular coupons for) was only $25.25. That definitely Works For Me and is full of Frugal Goodness!

Don't forget to enter my advice contest - I need some help with moving! you have until tomorrow to get in your advice and chance to win a $5 Amazon GC!

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Works For Me Wednesday: Brand Loyal Edition

It's themed WFMW today - Brand Loyalty Edition! Shannon asks us what items are we brand-loyal to, what can we not live without and will never accept a substitute. Well, this is a toughie. I'm almost never brand-loyal anymore. I used to be loyal to Suave shampoo, but when I got into couponing and discovered how to get all kinds of high-quality shampoos for free (or even GET PAID), that dropped that. I used to only buy Northern toilet paper, but again with the deals. But I did think of a couple of things:

Fruit of the Loom undies for guys: I used to buy Hanes, especially for Harry. But the elastic would ripple up all weird after a while, getting all stretched and funky looking. FotL undies never do that - the elastic looks just as good by the time he or his dad outgrow/wear-out the item as the day I bought it. I'll never go back to men's Hanes again.

FotL also has a REALLY funny commercial out right now!

Scott Extra Soft toilet paper: I used to use either Northern or Angel Soft most of the time. Then I discovered that they were causing a problem for me, a description of which I will spare the citizens of the internets, for which I'm sure you are thankful. For a while, I was buying Charmin regularly because I could get good deals, and it wouldn't cause problems, but then it started clogging up our toilets. THAT'S no good! Then Scott came out with their Extra Soft version, which I tried because of, you guessed, coupon deals. I cannot stand regular Scott, but the Extra Soft isn't bad. It doesn't scratch, it doesn't cause problems for me, and it lasts for a LONG time. It's also a really good buy, moneywise, when you're limited to which types you can buy. So even if I don't have a coupon, I get Scott Extra Soft.

Off the top of my head, those are the only two I can really think of. Be sure to check Shannon's Blog for more great tips from fellow bloggers today!

Works For Me Wednesday: Preventing Pee Puddles

Shannon's post a couple of weeks ago about Febreze behind the toilet reminded me of a tip that I wanted to pass along - and then I promptly forgot about it. But, I finally remembered it!

I have two guys in the house. One manages to do mostly okay, but the other misses to the side a lot. The side where the garbage can sits. This can get QUITE messy, as you can imagine, with, um, "stuff" puddling under the edges of the can.

My solution is to place one folded section of newspaper under the can. This soaks up all the drips, and I can just change it out - carefully, of course! - every few days. Then I don't have stuff dried into the floor. Cleanup of the floor is much easier.

That's my tip for this week! Be sure to check out Shannon's blog for more GREAT tips this week!

Works For Me Wednesday: Keeping a lid on spam email

It's Wednesday again! Time for a helpful hint!

Do you ever fill out a form online for something you're not real sure about - you're not sure it's totally legit, or you worry that even if it is, they're going to sell you email addy to a bajillion and one other companies? I use SpamGourmet to get around that problem.

It's very simple. Just type in your address as "someword.#.username@spamgourmet.com". The "someword" is any word you want to put in. I usually put in some version of the name of the company whose form I am filling out. The # can be any number up to 20 (3 is the default if you forget), and that will be how many times you will receive an email from that address. "Username" of course is your SpamGourmet username.

After that, SpamGourmet sends the emails on to you after they zip through their service. If they send more than the number you specified, SpamGourmet just "eats" them and you will NEVER, EVER see them. You can go in to SG, check your account, and see how many they blocked from each individual address you have used. SG does NOT keep a copy of any email - they either forward them or eat them.

An added bonus is that you can whitelist addresses if you decide that you do want to continue getting emails from a certain company. Then you will continue receiving the emails even after it passes the number you originally specified.

And that's what works for me!

Be sure to check Shannon's blog for more great tips!

Works For Me Wednesday: Coupon savings on small items

Quick tip:

When buying things with coupons, if there is no size limitation on your coupon, do the math and see if using a coupon on smaller sized items will give you greater savings. For example, I buy a lot of individual sized General Mills cereals, because I can get them for free or nearly free at my local Winn Dixie stores - they regularly put out 75c/2, $1/2, $1/3, etc. coupons, and there are no size minimums. If I can get the $1/2 coupons, then I can get the boxes of cereal totally FREE (they're 50c each) except for the tax!

This won't always work on every coupon and every item, but it's always worth looking at and trying. Lower unit price is what you're going for, so grab it if you can!

Don't forget to check Shannon's blog for more WFMW posts, and also don't forget to scroll down a few posts for this week's giveaway of some extra Box Tops For Education that I've got lying around!

Works For Me Wednesday

I actually read this tip as a WFMW idea a few months ago, but I liked it so much that I have to repeat it for everyone!

Want a good scraper for that stuck-on food that just won't come off your pans and pots? Save those fake credit cards that come in the mail. They are absolutely, hands-down, the best thing for getting off that awful stuck-on goop. They are thin enough to get under the goop and flexible enough to take on any corner or shape.

Credit card companies are the ones that send them out the most, but sometimes you can get them from magazine offers, and sometimes from groups like AARP or AAA. They're free - the best price of all! - and since they come along from time to time, you can dispose of them when one wears out and just grab another one.

You could also use old drivers licenses and old credit card, just remember to cut those up when throwing them away, don't toss them like the fakes.

Go visit Rocks In My Dryer for more great WFMW tips!