Tag Archives: Tackle It Tuesday

Here’s another every six weeks or so tackle…the container cabinet!!! First off, have you noticed that plastic container lids are like socks in the dryer…the randomly disappear and seem to get eaten up by something!!!???

As a “green” smart mama, I try to reuse any plastic container that I “receive” from frozen dinners to mushroom trays. These tend to be the most difficult to store since they don’t necessarily “stack up” with the other store bought ones. Anyway, here’s my tackle…be a SMART MAMA and follow suit!

We have a half bath on the 1st floor. The cabinet in there tends to collect lots of odd and ends, from freebies that come in the mail, to random lotions that I’ve received as gifts. One thing is for certain, the cabinet typically does not have any poisonous materials. I say that because with the munchkin always on the loose, and the off chance that someone may forget to put the door lock back on, I want to be sure that if she were to get her hands in there, nothing could harm her instantly.
Smart Mama move – keep poisonous/lethal medicines up high, out of reach, even with door locks.

In the attempt to get the crock pot out for tonight’s dinner, I immediately realized that this cabinet needs to be reorganized desperately. I’ll pass on future instances of nearly having my little fingers slit off from the random Cuisinart blade that tumbled out as I pulled out the crock pot. I’ll post the after picture later on today!

Smart Mama’s: Find just one cabinet, I know you have one, and see what you can do to make it a little easier to use!

Well, for my regular readers you know that I’ve done this tackle more than once in the last 6 months. It’s a typically an every 6 weeks tackle…cleaning out the pantry.
In this closet I store a ton of stuff that I have accumulated because of The Grocery Game. I keep an inventory on my laptop of what’s in here and in my other closet/pantry.
The Mess

The Organization!

Smiles,Caroline

A quick tackle this week…the freezer! We have a 7.2 cubic foot freezer in the garage that we use to store tons of items I purchase because of the Grocery Game. We have meat, veggies, waffles, sausage, bacon, frozen dinners, cool whip, bread, you name it…crammed in there. I try to organize it every so often but since it’s so deep I feel like I’m going to fall in when I lean in to try to rearrange. Anyway, this weekend I got Tom to help out with his longer arms!!!ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Everyone has it…the magazine basket in the bathroom or somewhere else in their house. It serves a great purpose, but often becomes the catch-all for all catalogs and magazine that were issued more than a year ago! Yesterday, as we waited to see if Tropical Storm Fay would make a visit, I cleaned it out!

As a somewhat new SAHM I try to find ways to help bring in some $$$ to help pay for groceries and such. When eBay first launched a number of years ago, I was one of the first sellers. I have continued to sell, off and on, since then. I’ve really never made huge amounts of money, just extra petty cash to have around. Now with my new job title, SAHM, I’m using eBay to pay my salary! I’m averaging anywhere between a few dollars to over $100 each week. My inventory ranges from items I’ve bought but never used, things my mom wants to get rid of (old & new), things purchased at garage sales, and items from a former beauty consultant job I had.
If you’re interested in looking at my “not that exciting” current sales go to:

http://myworld.ebay.com/cubtie

Today during nap time, I …

As you know I’m a Grocery Game junkie (see right bar for more info). This week’s tackle has to do with the ridiculous amount of cleaning supplies that I have stocked up on over the last 2 months! All I can say is that I won’t be buying air freshener until 2020!!!
Cleaning Shelf BEFORE

Cleaning Shelf AFTER

As you know, I’m a HUGE Grocery Game (http://www.thegrocerygame.com/) fan! I have saved well over $1000 since Memorial Day! Each Sunday I save the coupon inserts from my paper and my mother’s. I also normally cut and organize the coupons by brand on Sunday and place them in a 3 ring binder. I purchased baseball card holder inserts to hold the coupons (one page for each letter of the alphabet.) Anyway, essentially I am VERY organized. The last few weeks things have been a little crazy, and coupon cutting and sorting has not been on the top of my list. Today I vow to cut, sort and store the ridiculous amount of coupons I have.
Here’s the disaster….
Here’s the outcome…
Smiles,
caroline
PS – Please see my Grocery Game savings tracker to the right for referral information at The Grocery Game. Thanks

So what do you have in your pantry shelves? Remember the show Let’s Make a Deal. If the host were to ask me to pull something out of my pantry for a million bucks I’d win! What a disaster!
Today’s tackle is to figure out exactly what I have stockpiled, so I’m not clueless on what I have. Maybe that would keep me from buying bottles 5 & 6 of Zesty Italian Dressing for my husband! He likes the dressing more than salad, but what am I thinking – a cup of dressing per lettuce leaf!By the end of this tackle, I will have a clear inventory of all items in my pantry and my cupboards!
Wish me luck!

The Guest Room!!!! It slowly, but surely, turned into the catch-all room. This weekend I couldn’t stand it and tackled it! What a relief!
Good luck with your tackles!Caroline

Oh, technology is my friend, it is my friend, it is my friend. If I keep repeating that will I eventually start believing it???!!!
I currently am without both my computers!!!! I have a desktop – an oldie but a goodie – that I use for most of my blogging, ebaying and other things. I also have a laptop that my husband got me a few days after my knee surgery this spring. Well, as of yesterday both essentially are “sick”! The laptop is at the manufacturer getting repaired for the SECOND time and the desktop is slow as a turtle and won’t let me login to the sites I need to access (blogger, eBay, facebook..). Right now I’m using my husband’s work laptop to quickly put together my Tuesday posting before I’m out of a computer all day.
I’m sure you’ve figured that my tackle for today is …

For some reason, I decided a few months ago to roll my towels instead of folding them. Why?? Look at what a mess!!!
BEFORE
Craziness!!!

AFTER

Ahhhh…much better!

Quick and easy today…my desk!
The Craziness Before !!!!

The Ahhhh After

I was thinking of skipping Tackle It Tuesday today, up until I went to heat up my lunch. I needed some saran wrap and opened the drawer and this is the crazy mess I found!
Needless to say, I grabbed my camera, took a picture, and started cleaning out, and then took my “after” picture! Here’s how it came out!By the way, my lunch was yummy too!
Smiles,
Caroline

Smart Mama Move: Organize your party supplies in the same area. When it’s time for party planning you’ll save yourself time, energy and frustration!
I took on a great tackle this weekend. During my post-BBQ clean up on Sunday, I decided to make sense of my “party goods.” Prior to the tackle, I had plastic utensils all over the place – a few in the kitchen drawer, a bag in the hallway closet and even some in the garage. The same goes for cocktail napkins and other things. I had to spend too much time last week gathering the supplies so I decided to organize them together – imagine that!
Here are 2 drawers that I have my dining room that were being used to collect random things – what a mess!Now, they neatly hold all my cocktail napkins (stored in plastic bags by pattern), cloth napkins for baskets, …

Happy Tuesday!

To me there is something so special about getting a card…birthday, congratulations…in the actual mail. Yes, I agree that sending your birthday cards through Hallmark.com or BlueMountain is in doubt easier and cheaper, but the thrill of finding a special little envelope addressed to you is awesome!
My grandmother-in-law, should receive an award with her card sending. A week before any of our birthdays we ALWAYS receive a personally picked birthday card. She has inspired me! I asked her to write out all the birthday of the family (over 60 people) so I can try to be like her!
To organize myself, I purchased, via eBay, a birthday/greeting card organizer. The book has a page for each month. On the page I can jot down the birthdays of that month and put in the cards in the sleeve. In the middle of the month …

Well, I did it! I faced the inevitable – the hallway closet! This weekend I opened up the monster and took it apart. My goal was to free up 1 shelf to put my grocery stockpile. What a great feeling!!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Adding the stockpile!!!! (I love being organized and prepared!)
Don’t forget to enter your munchkin for chance to be Munchkin Monday! Simply email me a photo, 1st name, birthday, likes and dislikes. Your munchkin will have some 15 minutes of fame as you get to share the posting with friends and family.Email: SmartyPantsMama @ gmail . com

Good Morning!
So I have a big tackle today —the coupon drawer! I will organize my millions of coupons. I’ve always been a “coupon girl” but using them when I should hasn’t been my forte. Today I’m following The Grocery Game CVS list and rules to shop. I’ve printed the list and hope to earn lots and lots of ECB (Extra Care Bucks)!
I follow a message board on the Grocery Game’s website where someone always writes that ‘CVS is the new black!’ Apparently, with the right coupons, and the right list, you can save TONS of money! Can’t wait!
Hope to beat the 47% I saved on Sunday at Publix using my coupons and the Grocery Game list!!!
To learn more about the Grocery Game see my posting from last Thursday:http://smartypantsmama.blogspot.com/2008/05/thursday-thirteen-why-im-excited-to.htmlDon’t forget to put down cubtie@aol.com as your referral!

I know I’m not alone….my medicine cabinet could be renamed the useless, expired stuff cabinet! I have cold medicine in there that I must have bought 5 years ago and about a million hotel size shampoos and conditioners. I have an old toothpaste tube with maybe 1 milligram of paste. I have 3 hair rubberbands – 1 which has seen better days! I have much, much more…
This morning I took everything out. Sorted by type..medicines, shampoos, tweezers…and threw out 6 expired medicines, 1 hair rubberband, tweezers that looked rusty (eek!) and that old toothpaste. I, in a very organized manner, placed the items in the medicine cabinet and VIOLA!!!
Be a smart mommy, and clean out your cabinet!!! It’s a great process to go through once a quarter to make sure you are out with the old, and know to purchase the new!
See you tomorrow! …

Living driving distance from Walt Disney World (4 hours), we have already taken my munchkin twice! Her 1st visit was when she was 9 month and the latest was this past January when she was almost 15 months. She loves it – and so do we!!!! She loves the characters and people watching.

This past trip we bought one of the autograph books that they sell and she had a different character sign nearly every page! Now here comes today’s tackle…I need to print out or order copies of the photos we took of her meeting the characters. In the autograph book there is a spot to the side of each autograph to include a photo of the little one and the character. Also, I really, really, really, really need to start thinking of the tackle of scrapbooking …

Dozens of receipts, appointment cards, driver’s license, too many credit cards, insurance cards, mass cards, gift cards, $5, coupons, membership cards, and business cards have created my George Costanza wallet! I’m sure most of you remember the Seinfeld episode where George’s wallet was so overstuffed that he walks and sits at a tilt. Well, I can’t say that I walk like someone who hasn’t had their V8, but I officially can no longer open and close my wallet in public without feeling embarassed.

This morning I tackled my wallet! I threw away some receipts, put others to file, tossed the expired coupons and the business cards of people I don’t even remember meeting….I challenge you to the tackle!!

I love to cook, and I love to use recipes. I really enjoy the excitement of finding a recipe that has already been proven to be successful, and then attempting to replicate the meal. I have a dozen cookbooks and dozens and dozens of recipe cards. The recipe cards are my favorites! These are recipes that friends and family have taken the time to write out for me to enjoy. I received most of these during my bridal shower a number of years ago. To me, there is something more fun in making my aunt’s yummy corn pudding or my cousin’s delicious chicken dish, to Martha Stewart’s springtime dessert collection!
Anyhow, this week’s tackle is putting some order to my recipe box. It has been a mess – cards all over the place, in no particular order. I have needed to put some sequence …

Wedding invitations, doctor’s appointment card, birthday invitation, CVS receipt, munchkin’s artwork, Tot-Lok magnets, random photo magnets, grocery list, and other random magnets: What my fridge looks like on a good day! A magnetic fridge provides you with a place to display and organize papers – the key word there is organize! My fridge looks like a tornado came through and threw-up!
Today I will tackle this fridge door! I will throw away the invitations of events that have already passed, old receipts, and the hodgepodge of other unnecessary random things!
I’ve done some searching and have found some items that will help my fridge door become and stay more organized. A start with any fridge door organization is to have the proper tools – magnets! Currently I have a random assortment of magnets. From my college days (beer openers) to the various calendar magnets sent …

Okay, it’s now been 3 full months since Christmas morning! Yes, I’ve put away the lights, the tree and the way too many decorations. However, what still lingers in a pile, a pile that has moved from room to room, is the adorable photo Christmas cards we received. I have a thing for these cards. I can’t throw them away – I just won’t let myself.
Typically, I arrange the photos in the over 20 frames in my family room and the 10 plus in the living room, swapping the previous year photo with the current. Now there are quite a number of obstacles I face in this swap. Is the previous year photo for the cousins in Massachusetts the same size as this year’s? If yes, great! If not, well then where will they go? Whose spot will they take? What about if we …