Do It On A Dime - Organised Cheap Life TAG

Hi Everyone!

One of my favourite YouTubers is Katherine from Do It On A Dime. She is a real down-to-earth home owner who comes up with cheap, classy and creative ways to organise your home 'on a dime'.
The downside is that she is American so all the awesome stores she buys from (Target's dollar store, Dollar Tree, Container Store etc.) we don't have here in Australia. Can you believe they have $1 stores where items are... wait for it... $1!!!??? Last week I went to a $1 store and picked up an item that was $23.95! I gently put it down and walked away. BUT I digress :-)
Katherine created a YouTube TAG called 'The Organised Cheap Life' where she asked 3 simple questions and shared her answers. The link to her video is HERE.
I loved the video and found it really useful, so I decided to do it too! HERE is the link to my video.

1. Name 2 new organisers you are loving at the moment:

i) My Filofaxes - My personal Ochre Malden is beautiful and so helpful! I use it as my wallet/organiser. I LOVE it. Perfect setup for me and perfect size.
My A5 Aqua Malden is my Home Management 'bible' where I keep everything. I would be lost without it. It holds everything from appointments and chores to quotes, journalling and vlog/blog ideas.

ii) My 'What's On' Wall Planner - The perfect simple organiser for the family. I just write all important information and appointments for the family over the following 2 weeks on there and at a quick glance we can all see what is going on. Even hubby knows how to use it  ;-)

iii) I was naughty and added one more item - My Orla Kiely organiser. I ordered this beauty from eBay (as Australia doesn't have a groovy Target like the States do). I have only had it a few days but I think I'm in LOVE! My video on this organiser will be up shortly to show how I am currently using it.

2. Name 2 cheap sale items that you love:

i) My Smash Nude Food containers. I purchased this on a sale from Coles supermarket for $2 and it is so handy and versatile! I use it for everything from my toddlers sultanas, fruit and other snacks to my hair ties and bobby pins (PS - it holds 4-5 rolls of washi tape perfectly!!)

ii) My daughter's green chair. I love this mini couch chair. It's perfect for lounging, sitting like a 'big girl' watching telly and is the only place (other than the high chair) where I can get her to sit down to eat - she like to constantly be on the move!! She's my little whirlwind :-) The best bit, it was only $10! We brought it secondhand off Gumtree (like Craigs List in the States?) I love Gumtree as you can get some real local bargains. Selling things on there is fantastic too because unlike eBay, they don't take a cut of the profit - it's totally FREE to post and sell!

3. Name 2 life improvement items that are working for you:

i) My DIYfish inserts - These have seriously changed my life for the better. I love the style, the layout, the price (and the fact that my friend prints, cuts and folds them for me!) If you are interested in these inserts please feel free to check out my video review HERE.

ii) My toy storage/rotation system - My lounge room no longer looks like a toy minefield and my daughter gets to play with and enjoy all her toys at different times. To learn more about my setup visit my video HERE.

So there it is, my Do It On A Dime TAG for an Organised Cheap Life :-)
I hope you enjoyed and if you would like to take part in this tag please comment below or on my corresponding YouTube video as I'd love to check out your favourite organisation items!

Have a great day!

Jen

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Toy Rotation and Storage

Hi All!

This is a bit of a different one - still organisation related but more focussed towards mums and dads with young kids.
We have been lucky enough to have been given toys as hand me downs and as gifts to the girls for birthdays so we have many a toy in our house! As I'm fairly new to this whole 'mum thing' (my oldest is 22 months) so I wasn't sure how to introduce toys to her or which ones she'd like. So I just put them all in a basket in the lounge room and let her take what she wanted.

I learnt pretty quick that was a mistake. Not only did she bring out Every.Single.Toy in the basket and flung them across the entire lounge room (tidy freaks nightmare!) but she also got so overwhelmed with choice that she wouldn't spend time playing with a single toy. She would just jump from toy to toy to toy not really 'playing' with any of them.
My solution was to play to my strengths and organise them!
I started by splitting the toys into 4 different piles so there was only 10ish toys out at one time.
I then placed those toys in a bookshelf I found for $10 from the Salvos.

I placed the bookcase in a corner and created a 'play corner' where all the toys are corralled so at the end of the day when the kids are in bed, we can have some 'adult' space where hubby and I don't negotiate between blocks, cars and dolls.
The only 'rule' with this storage bookshelf was not to put anything except soft toys in the top shelves so she doesn't pull heavy or hard things on top of herself.

We also have a toy rotation system where every week or every other week (depending on how much she is enjoying the current selection), we rotate out the toys for one of the piles stored away.

As she has 'favourite toys for the month' we don't usually rotate out all toys at once.
Below is where we store the remaining toys not in use under the cot. As the side of the cot stays down when she is awake, they are inaccessible to prying hands :-)

Out of sight, out of mind!

Cot rail up

 The toys are stored into plastic bins I purchased for under $5 each from the Salvos. They are both made of very sturdy plastic and have wheels, making them easy to pull in and out from under the cot.

Above is a collapsable washing basket from Ikea where I store her pile of stuffed toys in her bedroom.

This is my favourite Ikea purchase (I also have one in my other daughter's room) These fabric baskets hold her nappies, dirty clothes, some clothes, bibs and her books.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and again if you have any questions or comments I'd love to hear from you.

Don't forget to visit me on my YouTube channel (here) and Instagram (here)

Have a great day!

Jen