There are treasures in garbage too

Oh my, I haven't realized it's almost been a year.  I found a new way to help me stay organized because I moved and had to start from scratch.  My coworkers also suggested it- "dumpster" diving.  When I was in the university, there were huge dumpsters in front of the residence halls, so students could throw out furniture they do not want.  I was too "dignified" to dumpster dive at the time and also couldn't really get into the dumpster because of my petite stature.

When I moved to my new city, Incheon (yes, it is hosting the 2014 Asian games), I had nothing in my new apartment- I had a bed, kitchen, bathroom, pantry, and refrigerator.  My clothes were in their suit cases because I had no shelves.  My coworkers helped me and gave me items that would help, like a desk, but everything else was out of pocket.

I was in desperate need of a bookshelf.  At the local store, it was 70.00 (and I could resell to another person when I leave), but I didn't want to spend the money.  I was irritated because I wanted one, actually, needed because everything was still in the suit cases.

One night, I was walking around my city, getting used to places, finding where places are.  I came across "garbage".  In Korea, people throw household items in with the garbage.  I believe in the US, cities have something like "large item pick up" (in my city we do) where people clean out the house and the city picks it up and disposes it for the city.  I was just browsing because I have seen people throw out desks, desk chairs, mattresses, bedding, everything.  I actually stumbled upon a small bookshelf.  I took it home and was expecting it to be horrible or in bad condition..it's not.  I don't have to fix it.  The downside, I wish it was a bit bigger.

I really recommend to take advantage of shelves- they may not help, but even for storing stuff they help.  I have to look for another small shelf and a bigger desk.  

Hedge Balls

Someone told me that hedge balls are good for killing bugs.  I have not searched for exactly how they can kill bugs or what they have in them that kills bugs.

Recently, I bought some hedge balls (around September; I think some places still have them and the fall time is the time to get them) to see if they can kill bugs.  I'm trying to keep them stocked.  I also try to keep them up high and out of way of where my animals cannot get them.

I bought my hedge balls at a local supermarket and mine hand out a small info sheet, but I didn't pick one up.  If you need some bug killer, try a hedge ball.

Thrift Store treasures

Lately, I have been going to thrift stores (not because of the song); actually I have not heard the song. I usually go to thrift stores to look for books- any book that looks interesting and will keep me interested.  I don't have a particular author I like, I just want them to pull me to a new world with their writing.  Recently, I found a lot of books that I have heard were really good reads.  I have found Tuesdays with Morrie, A Child Called It, and more.  I usually look around the thrift stores for other items, such as storage boxes.  I can find them for cheap and I need them.  I really suggest going to a thrift store because there are so many great finds.  I even found a yearly hanging calendars at thrift stores--just got a Modern Family calendar! As people say, "one man's garbage is another man's treasure."

Crazy cords!

Are you tired of cords being all over the place?  

I used to put my phone chargers and earphones anywhere that could hold them. I had some 3M holders from college.  I used to use the 3M holders to hold my room and car keys (still do!)  

I had smaller 3M hooks, so I decided to wrap up my cords and have the 3M hooks hold the cords (see below).  This is much nicer, I know where my phone charger is and earphones too.  I also started using the 3M hooks to hold flash drives too.  

Organization with items around the house

For this post, I was in the middle of cleaning my entire room because I graduated from college.  While I cleaned, I needed a place to put my piles (bobby pins/hair pins, hair binders, small office supplies, etc), so I used these 3 drawer organizers.  I bought two for school.  I kept one full of small office supplies (see below).  I had erasers, paper clips, tabs, white out, post it notes, and more.  The other two are being used to hold phone charger, pencils, ear phones, and a lot of small items, like cell phone key chains.  

I think you can buy these 3 drawer containers at almost any retail store; I bought mine at Target.  

The desk organizer; holds office supplies.  I used my label maker to make the tabs on each of the drawers.

 I used my other container to hold my hair and beauty supplies.  I used to hold my make up in here, but most of it didn't fit, so I switched to hair binders, face masks, and razor blades for shaving.  

I had this can in my discard pile and realized it is big enough to hold my millions of hair clips AND it fits in the drawer above, so it's easy to find them when I need one.
Yes, this can was a candle holder.

Not that big, but it can hold a lot!

Stationary Organization

Tired of not knowing what to do with all of your stationary or cards?  

Try this:

I was helping a friend get ready to leave for home, they did not want this basket (see below)

I took it, thinking I could use it for something at home.  I decided to use it for my stationary and address book.

I love it because I can separate cards and paper.  It can hold my address book too.  

This is the basket; 2 small spots in front  and 2 larger spots in back.

 I love to be able to have all of my stationary in one place, so I don't have to search for it.  

I do not know where my friend bought the basket, but some possibilities are to check out a local thrift store or a garage sale (or a lot) or maybe a retail store.  

A regular basket will hold stationary just as good as this.