Cleaning Smelly Shoes

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No matter how clean you may be, your feet will still produce an unpleasant odor, especially if you wear the same pair of shoes day every day. It doesn’t matter if you’re running, walking, or merely sitting all day long, your feet will naturally sweat — some people’s more than others. Some activities, such as working out may increase the smelliness. My son has the nastiest smelling feet I’ve ever encountered. During baseball season in the summer is the absolute worst.

Odor eliminators help, but getting to the root of the problem and preventative measures are the best way to combat this stinky situation. Keep your shoes and feet as dry as possible. Try to rotate your shoes and not wear the same ones day in and day out, even though they are so comfortable. I’ll admit to having 2 pairs of the same exact shoes because I love them so much. Unless you are wearing sandals, your should ALWAYS wear socks. They will absorb the dampness and keep that off your shoes.

Sometimes the inevitable strikes and the smell is stuck. Thanks to Good Housekeeping, I found some instructions to aid in cleaning your shoes and ultimately eliminate the foul stench.

1St – Before you start, make sure your shoes are completely dry. If they are damp or wet from daily wear, exercise, or poor weather conditions, stuff them with crumpled newspaper and let them air dry away from direct heat.

2Nd – Fill two socks with baking soda, tie them off at the top, and slip one sock in each shoe. Let them sit overnight.

Some shoes are machine washable – Follow care instructions. Most shoes can be washed on gentle cycle with cold water and mild detergent. Shoes should be air dried to prevent shrinkage. No one likes shrinkage. If you’re afraid to use the machine, you can always try spraying Lysol, or sprinkle baking soda inside.

If you have done all of the above options and the odor still persists, it may be time to invest in a new pair of shoes.

Check out abudgetselfstorage.com/blog for more tips and tricks around the house.

6 Quick Tips To Stop Paper Clutter

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Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in paper?

Is your husband’s wallet is overflowing with receipts? Are your desk drawers crammed with wedding invitations and old Christmas cards? Or maybe you have piles of kids’ school artwork and math homework shoved in the far corner of your kitchen counter.

Let’s face it: Paper clutter is one of the worst offenders to make a messy home. It accumulates quickly and can be totally overwhelming if you don’t deal with it on a daily basis.

Here are some tips I got from a website called makespace to help banish paper clutter from your home.

1.Go Paperless – Bills and bank statements are common offenders for paper buildup. If you stop them from coming in the mail at all you are cutting the paper off at the helm. Most banks and utility companies now offer email statements. Cloud storage is free or cheap these days. You can even take it a step further and pay bills online too, skipping the need for checks, envelopes, and stamps.

2. Purge your paper – Gather it all up in one area such as your kitchen table. Then sort them – recycle, scan or save. Scan any important documents like tax returns, lease agreements, insurance information. You can also scan those Christmas Cards or sentimental papers and keep them on your computer or external hard drive for safekeeping. Recycle everything else.

3. Recycle Magazines and Newspapers – Let’s Be Honest – those magazines you kept because you were going to try that recipe or future craft project isn’t going to happen. If you really want to keep it. Scan the article and recycle the magazine. While your at it, cancel those subscriptions and save money too.

4. Designate a “Take Action” Spot – Put papers like RSVP cards or forms that need filled out in a high traffic area of your house. I use my refrigerator in the kitchen. Those papers are at eye level so I see them multiple times a day and it prompts me to complete the task and clear that space. It’s also useful to not let it grow too much, so make sure you take action on at least a weekly basis.

5. Shred personal documents – Anything that has your address, social security number, phone number, or bank account number should be shredded to protect yourself from identity theft. If the shred pile is too big to do yourself there are companies out there that offer paper shredding. If you are in the Kansas City area, I recommend Access Records Management. They are a locally owned family business that offer drop off paper shredding for a small fee.

6. Use Binders – Binders aren’t just for middle schoolers any more. Use binders to keep your receipts, coupons, or papers you still want to keep a hard copy of. You can use labels or tabs to organize them and make it easier to locate what you need faster.

For other useful tips and tricks head to abudgetselfstorage.com/blog

7 Easy Tips to Organize The Bathroom

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I’ve never been a morning person, so I’m all in when it comes to anything that will help make our morning routines run smoother. Having 2 kids making messes along the way, an organized bathroom can really help speed things up when it comes to getting ready. My favorite saying is “A place for everything, and everything in it’s place”. These days there are so many products to organize in every room in your house. I hope you find something in this list that can help. Feel free to comment any ideas that you have as well. Enjoy!

  1. Declutter First – With any organizing project, you should always start with Decluttering. There is no point wasting time organizing stuff that you don’t use or need. Purge first – then organize.
  1. Keep the Counters Clutter Free – Keep as few items out on the counters as possible and use a tray to corral any products that you do want out. This creates a tidier look and makes it easier to clear off your counter for cleaning. A good rule of thumb is to only use 1/3rd of the counter space so you have more room to get ready.
  1. Use The Inside of Cabinet Doors For Storage – You can gain a TON of extra storage in your bathroom by using the inside of your cabinet doors. I saw a study about the germs that get on your toothbrush from flushing the toilet.(Click For Article) Trust me, you want to start storing your toothbrush behind a closed door. You can use over the door organizers or clear organizers stuck to the door with command hooks work great.
  1. Hang Towels From Hooks – It’s much easier to hang up bath towels on a hook than it is to hang them on a towel bar. Plus it allows the towel to dry better. As a family of 4, you can hang up 4 towels at once and take up much less space than a bar. Depending on the bathroom size, every inch can count. This is a great space saver suggestion. If you don’t want to install or make holes in the wall, or perhaps you don’t have the wall space, a great option is over the door hooks.

5. Use Drawer Dividers – There are so many little items that can get lost in those cluttered bathroom drawers. Using a divider to give everything a “home” will make it much quicker and easier to find what you are looking for. If you are extra fancy and crafty you can add a drawer liner.

  1. Use Clear Containers – Another great idea to store medicine, sunscreen, deodorant, q-tips, etc is to use a clear container to be able to see what’s inside. I have a few with drawers and they are stack-able. It makes things so much easier to find and looks much cleaner.
  1. Label, Label, Label – Labels make it easier to find what you are looking for and, even more importantly, where to put it back. Now your kids (and husband) can’t tell you they didn’t know where to look for something. A label maker is a cheap and easy way to not only find items but to personalize them as well.

For more ideas, head to www.abudgetselfstorage.com/blog

8 New Rules for De-Cluttering a Kid’s Room

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And Keeping It That Way

If there’s one room you wish you could just keep the door closed and never look at again, it’s probably your kid’s room (Or maybe your basement, or your closet……OK, there are lots of rooms) But thanks to toys, books, clothes, and crafts, children’s rooms can feel particularly disastrous – especially since a certain little guy or gal never seems to be keen on keeping it tidy. Here are some great tips from GoodHousekeeping.com to help navigate these problem areas.

  1. Involve your kids from the beginning – It’s important to work WITH them, and not around them. Even kids as young a 3 years old really want to participate, and they’re really exited to be involved in the decision making. You might think your kid would get too bored or frustrated – but if you consider it from their point of view: You’re talking about their toys and paying lots of attention to them! Plus they will feel more inclined to keep things tidy if they fell like they are part of the project and they will, at the very least, know where everything should go.
  1. Have the kids give you a “tour” of the room before you start. – This gives you a good sense of what is important to them. Pay attention to their tone and sense of their language. Things that are their ‘favorite’ says that it’s meaningful to them. Repeat it back to them so they know you are listening and they will trust you know what is important to keep.
  1. Talk about how stuff has “a home” – One thing we all heard growing up was to ‘put that away’ which fees so negative. Instead, try ‘Can we put that where it lives?’ It’s a clever language tweak that re-frames the task in a positive light.
  1. Give your kid permission to let go of stuff they really don’t want – Volume can be very overwhelming for children, but most kids don’t know that it’s OK to say no to stuff they don’t want. Try to set up situations in which you can donate items to charity – it continues the idea of using positive language when it comes to de-cluttering. We’re giving the item a new home, instead of just getting rid of it.
  1. Start from the bottom up, literally – With little ones especially. It’s just nice to start on the ground because that’s where they are and where they spend a lot of their time. This strategy takes the process down to their level and keeps them grounded in the task. Plus, if they can see where their items’ new homes are, they’ll make a habit of placing them there.
  1. Reinforce their routine with cubbies – They are a great organization tool for kids because it recreates what they’re experiencing at school. You can place them in the entryway or their room creating a ‘drop zone’ area they’ll naturally maintain. With a cubby they can drip their stuff and not even have to think about it.
  1. Define boundaries with décor – Parents like to put tables against a wall to maximize space, however pulling the table away from the wall allows kids to move more freely and fully around it, and welcome friends. Adding a rug underneath the table anchors the room and their stuff. It creates a mini room within the room. You can get creative with a distinct boundary to make it easier to identify and honor the space (like say glitter crafts) that should only take place in certain spots.
  1. Lead by example – This should come as no surprise but its a HUGE deal. Kids mirror what their parents are doing. Sometime syou need to look at yourself and really see if your kids are modeling your behavior. Even something as small as putting your shoes away can be a mini-lesson in actions.

Just because this blog is about de-cluttering and organizing a kids room, doesn’t mean you can’t take some of these ideas and run when them in other areas of the house.