Stuff put in a special place

[LRM]

Do you put important things in "special places" only to find that you can't remember that special place? I do and currently my DH is tearing the house apart to find a few documents that he obviously put in a special place. It helps me know that my resolution to declutter and organize is a good one! I don't have a large house and we don't have much space, so it shouldn't be too difficult to do it. My main problem is plastic tubs of things that should probably be in filing cabinets, but there is no place for those -- bins fit in closets and under beds.

Anyway, just wanted to know if you all are in the organizing mood at the new year. I always am and obviously past resolutions haven't worked out so well.
Maybe this year, maybe this year...

[bhaggerty]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

all the time, all the time
story of my life

[Simply Quilting]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

I use to be very organized. Now, it seems not so much. I've missed placed the foot pedal to my Kenmore. I know that it is in a shoebox that I thought was in the hall closet but it is not there. Thankfully, I do have other machines to sew on. With some stuff in storage, it seems like it is harder to find things. It seems weird but it is harder to find things as I use to know exactly where things were right down to what shelf. But everything has gotten moved around too much.

DH has been going through and cleaning out papers and did clean out the hall closet tonight. So I have more space to put my sewing stuff upstairs.

[Grandma Nan]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

Oh my I do this all the time. I am constantly looking for something that i just had or something that I had a special place for it so I wouldn't loose it. Yikes, growing older is not for the faint of heart.

[ilive2craft2]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

Totally in the same boat - need to regroup and re-organize. I know I have a box of Shout color catchers - I finally found it the last time I was looking for it and then moved it, now I can't find it again.....

[Carrie J]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

ROFL, yeah, story of MY life, I get the urge to organize and PFFFFFT forget where I put things too! Though must give the Hubs credit, he's meticulous with ledgers, so THIS time, he made a Master List. Now all I need to remember is NOT to redo, move, use and not put it back! HAH, wish me luck y'all!

[LRM]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

ROFL, yeah, story of MY life, I get the urge to organize and PFFFFFT forget where I put things too! Though must give the Hubs credit, he's meticulous with ledgers, so THIS time, he made a Master List. Now all I need to remember is NOT to redo, move, use and not put it back! HAH, wish me luck y'all!

What a great idea! Sometimes I reorganize and then can't find where something is because it isn't in the right pile. At work I "file by pile" and it works great! I've nearly gone paperless and it has really helped. Home needs the same treatment!

[bubba]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

MM put my Burmese Ruby and Diamond ring in a special place.....I asked him to put it in the safe and he has no clue where it is!!!

[K. McEuen]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

Mine is a "safe" place. So darn safe even I can't find it ... been doing that my whole life.

[toggpine]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

You know, they have plastic totes that have tracks to hang file folders on. I have a few in different sizes and they are pretty handy. You will need to mark on the outside what is filed inside though. Here it's farm, work, or house. I am thinking about one for my quilting patterns that are too big for the photo box or that require larger templates.

The BEST thing I ever did when organizing was to label both ends and/or sides of the container. We have one of those p-touch jobs and it spits labels out just dandy. I have also used regular Scotch tape and a marked on that with a Sharpie. The tape will peel off if you need to change what's in the container.
If you use a sharpie on a Tupperware/Glad type container and need to change what you wrote, use a bit of degreasing dish detergent (Dawn) and that usually does the trick. If not, add a dab of baking soda.
I also added the ID badge holders to the wire bins that most of my fabric is in. I have them labeled with the fabric color or type that I would find in that bin. If I switch fabrics around it's fairly easy to slide out the old tag and replace it.

I found that the dollar store sometimes has the large ziptop bags that are good for storing everything from single projects to fleece and batting. They aren't quite as heavy as the Ziploc brand, but then again, they are only a dollar and you get 3 L, 2 XL, or 1 XXL for a buck.

One other thing. If you find a style of bin/container that you really like and works with your storage plans, buy as many as you can or will fit in that space. If you don't they WILL discontinue that size/style no matter how long they have carried it. Wanna ask me how I know?

[Pandabear]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

You are not alone. I always put stuff in a special place, a safe place.

Still can't find my original marriage certificate

[Sylvia H]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

Once, I didn't find the special place I had hidden a few small (thankfully) Christmas gifts until two years later!

[snippet]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

I love my PTouch label maker! A few years back I read Getting Things Done (by David Allen) and I've been following that ever since. It's a great system because it's not really a system but more of a mindset.

I use my label maker all the time. I label my bins with a really long label and wrap it around the corner of the bin, so the label can be seen no matter how I store the box.

I also have been stung by finding the perfect bin and not buy enough only to find out they don't make them anymore. I just hate that.

I'm a geek, so I use my computer and phone to store a lot of stuff. I got rid of my paper address book, paper calendar and appointment book. I have my recipes online, and my music too. I haven't had the nerve to get rid of my cookbooks and the actual CDs and vinyl. The cookbooks I'll probably never get rid of, but I did finally store my CD's in a bin.

The most important thing I have is my Emergency notebook, but I often call it my In Case I'm Dead book. It has all the important things in it. Copies of every card in my wallet, passport copy, where all my keys are and what they are for, codes for things, how many bank, insurance and stock accounts I have, and passwords to online accounts. What is my SSN? Where is my will and my birth certificate? What kind of health insurance do I have? What about life insurance? What is in my safety deposit box and where is the key? Where is the deed to the house, the car papers, the divorce decree, the tax papers for the farm? What kinds of annual payments (magazines, charities, online) do I have? All those questions can be answered in my notebook. After dealing with several widowed aunts and uncles with dementia and my mom's death, I realized I needed to write all this stuff down so my kids won't be in the dark.

Every year about this time I update my book.

[Quiltfreestyle]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

Snippet, that's a brilliant idea,, I think I'm going to steal it. After the passing of several relatives that we had to take care of, we bought our cemetery plot & headstone but that's about as much preplanning that we've done. I think the more you can do to help out your kids in case you die, the easier it will be for them at that awful time.
It should save me a lot of time & hassle too
I also use a couple of bins made for hanging files to store papers, with the files labeled with my handy P Touch. They work well because you can stick the in the closet, they don't take up too much space & are easy to move around when needed.

[katibeth]

Re: Stuff put in a special place

Wonderful idea!
When my mom passed ('92), the first thing I had to do was to teach my dad how to write a check and balance the checkbook. She had always handled the finances. With all the "special" places my mother had, I found things my dad didn't even know about. Living 50 miles from my dad, it took me awhile to get my father "up and running" so to speak. Your Emergency Notebook is a fantastic idea!