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Showing posts with label Organization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Organization. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

How to Save Money Shopping

I love a good bargain, who doesn't?!  I wanted to share some of the ways that I am able to get good deals and never pay full price for items.

- Rewards programs- sign up for your favorite store's Apps or rewards cards.  Most of the time, the Apps have coupons you can use.  I also check for promo codes online while waiting in any checkout.

- Sign up for a credit card (only if you shop there frequently and don't have too many cards already).  I have two to my most frequented stores because of the amazing coupons they send.

- Head straight to the clearance section.  I always find good deals in the Target and Old Navy clearance sections.  Sometimes I don't even let myself look anywhere else but clearance!  Once you get used to paying 50-70% off it is really hard to ever pay full price again!

- Shop for the opposite season.  Because I am a clearance shopper, when all of the winter clothes become discounted in the spring, I buy for next winter.  Again in the fall when all of the summer clothes are marked down, I buy for next summer.  You do have to have patience, but it pays off in the end!

How do you save money shopping?

Friday, July 29, 2016

Home Tour!

We were very exited to begin building our house last year and now that we are all settled in I wanted to share it with all of you!
Entry

Downstairs Bathroom

Office





Downstairs living room

Roxy was too tired to leave the couch, hehe!



Upstairs loft




Master

Upstairs Bathroom

Monday, March 23, 2015

When is it Time to Donate?

I never know when I should get rid of clothes and when I do have those moments when I need to clean out my closet, I have a hard time letting go.  I found this trick on Pinterest and so far it has been working.  

1. Turn all of your hangers in your closet backyard so the hook is facing away from you.
2. When you wear something and you hang it back up, turn that hanger toward you.
3. Repeat



After a month or two, you will begin seeing what clothes you never wear because the hangers will still be backward.  This trick has helped me so much!  I always think I will need that shirt or those pants for something when in reality I haven't worn them in three years. I went about six months doing this and here is the result!



I always take my clothes into a resale store to see if I am able to make any money off of them.  This time I made $43.00 and was able to donate the rest to Goodwill.  


It was so nice getting a "fresh start" and knowing that now I have only the clothes that I actually wear in my closet.  Needless to say, I have more room and space now and it feels great! :)

How do you know when to donate?

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Mint.com

Mint.com Best Budget System Ever!

New year means new budget!  This app is free and is also a website if you do not have a smart phone.  Mint.com can help you create a budget, choose your amount, link all accounts and view your spending in multiple different charts to help you understand your finances.  I have the app on my phone so I can quickly check how I am doing financially.  



Classroom Organization

I wanted to share a few of my favorite classroom organization tricks!  I learned fast that organization is key when trying to be a great teacher.  I wanted to spend the least amount of money possible to create a fully functional and organized classroom.  Here are a few of my tricks:


I make anchor charts on the daily and try to make them look colorful and appealing. I got this little bucket from the Target dollar section (one of my favorite places to find cheap classroom items).  It holds all of my markers and can be stuck on a command hook on my white board when I need to use them on chart paper.  



Instead of buying a planning book that did not match my schedule, I decided to make my own.  With some help from a co-worker, we developed a weekly lesson plan template that fit our exact needs!  I copied enough for the entire year and keep it in my Teacher Binder.  




This is one way that I have found to work when trying to organize the three different subjects that I teach.  I have a magazine holder for each subject (also found at the Target dollar section).  Starting on the far left, I keep my teacher manuals, then Science, Math, and Language Arts.  I keep all the books I will read, tests, quizzes, and worksheets for the subject all together.  I usually copy for a week at a time or per unit.  



The "I Can" Statements have become a must-have in Common Core classrooms.  Since my classroom is owl themed, my header reads: "Whooooo Can?  I Can...".  Then I have a child friendly "I Can" statement for each subject I teach.  Sometimes I have to change them daily, sometimes weekly, and sometimes per unit.  



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I needed a way to organize our laptops and keep the cords from getting all tangled together.  I purchased a dish rack and they fit perfectly!  It holds all of them and the cords stay separated through the side slots.  



I needed a way to organize and store all of the students back to school forms, medial information, and notes I receive from parents.  I use a crate and file folder for each student.  I labeled them by number so I don't have to redo each tab each year.  I can easily grab out parent information or file student inventories.  



I despise students sharpening their pencils in the middle of a lesson so I had to come up with something so that students could quickly grab a sharp pencil.  I found these labels on Pinterest and used modge podge on the inside of each drawer.  When a student needs a new pencil, they place their pencil in the pencil hospital and can take a sharp pencil.  I have a student at the end of each day sharpen all of the pencils in the pencil hospital.   I notice that the pencils that they come with at the beginning of the year last much longer this way and they don't end up having one inch long pencils.  



I use binder clips with a small label to label my shelves  (Monday-Friday) .  I use this tray to organize the materials that I will need each day of the week.  



Once again, I use binder clips to label (notices, copy, file, morning work).



Since my students need to master their multiplication facts, I have monthly centers for them to do whenever we have extra time in math.  I got the white shelves from Target and the blue tubs from the Dollar Tree.  I found free multiplication games on TPT and Pinterest to use and rotate them out each month.  This has really helped the students memorize their facts in a fun way.



With our math series, we have so many manipulatives that the students need on a daily basis. It takes so much time to pass them out at the beginning of each lesson so I put together a "math tool box"  that has each manipulative and enough for each table.  I got the green baskets from the Dollar Tree and have one for each table.  At the beginning of math, the student in charge of the table gets the basket and puts it on their desk to use. 




In order to create a community atmosphere where my students are responsible for their actions, I guided the students as they created their own class rules.  They each signed it and we hang it in our classroom.  They take pride in their rules and enjoyed having created them.  



Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Household Organization

Ladies, do you ever wonder how to organize the many products that you use to get ready in the morning?  Here is my solution:



I bought the basket from target and lined the bottom with a paper towel.  This way I can change out the paper towel and the basket it clean again!  Then I bought a smaller container to fit inside the basket (that is the one on the left holding my make-up products).  I lined the edges with the rest of my products and it looks much better than all of the products lining the sink.  If I need to get ready in my room or the bathroom, I can just grab the basket and get myself ready for the day!  





This bag was the best invention ever!  This is from 31 and comes in many different sizes and colors.  You can even have it monogrammed!  I use this everyday for work and can fit everything I need! On the outside, it has five pockets and two mesh pockets.  I keep my water bottle on one side and sometimes my coffee/tea on the other.  On the five outer pockets, I keep an umbrella, my keys, pens/pencils, lotion/hand-sanitizer, and the last pocket is for my phone.  I stick my teacher binder, purse, and lunch box in it and I am set for my day!





I needed a way to hang up all of my jewelry so that I could see what I am working with each morning.  I also was so sick of my necklaces getting all tangled up!  I bought this organizer from Amazon (for less than $20).  It was originally white and I spray painted it black to make it look a little classier.



With all of the bills and items that I have to be responsible for, I needed to figure out a filing system that did not take up much space.  I bought this organizer at Meijer and was able to file everything that I needed all in one place!


Here is what it looks like open:



Another way that I organize my life is through my Home Management Binder:


I keep my calendar for each month in the front and then these five tabs: