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We spent hours searching for a Cub Scout uniform.  Days, even.  I had already begun shopping for a new one when we finally found it.  It was in the very bottom of the toy box.  (What? You don’t keep clothes there?)

I can’t tell you how many times this scenario has played itself in our home.  Over the years, I’ve had to purchase more things than I care to think about, all because of disorganization.  It’s amazing how expensive it can be to not clean.  Cleaning my room isn’t something I can always keep up with.  But when I do, it saves me a ton of cash.

How Cleaning My Room Helps Me Save (and Make) Money. It's amazing what a difference it makes when you clean and organize your living area. You'll save time and money by keeping it clean.

Keep a Cleaning Schedule

The only way I manage to keep up with cleaning my home is by having a schedule.  You need to put one together that works well with your life and habits, or it won’t stick.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Flylady

Flylady is my favorite!  She taught me everything I know about housekeeping.  Use her “Getting Started” section for step by step instructions for keeping your house in order.

Cleaning Schedule That Won’t Take Up All Your Time

Living & Life Designed has a nice schedule that isn’t as overwhelming and time consuming as other schedules out there.  She also has some good tips that simplify your life.

A Comprehensive Schedule

Looking for a schedule that covers the things you’d otherwise forget to keep up with?  Blessed Messes has daily schedules that help you remember to clean it all.

What’s Your Style?

We all have that big cleaning job lurking somewhere in our home.  Maybe it’s the basement, the attic, or a secret closet you don’t want anyone to know about.

I kinda hope you thought of this.
You probably fall into one of two camps.  The thought of tackling this one big area either makes you feel empowered or scares you to death.

Depending on your motivation, you may want to start with a much smaller project.  The sense of accomplishment you get will keep you going to bigger and bigger accomplishments throughout your home.

Or you are the other type of person.  You know that you just need to knock out that big problem first and get it over with.  Everything else will seem like cake in comparison.

Once you’ve found a place for everything and everything’s in its place, you’ll discover a wealth of time on your hands.  That time you used to spend looking for lost items and shopping for new ones can now be spent on something else.  (Maybe bringing in some extra cash?  Lots of posts on that coming soon!)

Declutter Boxes

You’ll often read a recommendation to clean using three boxes labeled “throw away” “give away” and “put away”.  I would add a fourth box labeled “to sell”.  (It’s not catchy.  But “sell away” doesn’t make sense, so we’ll go with it.)

While you clean, you’ll probably find things that are in good shape.  If you are pretty sure others would love to have it, put it in the sell box.  Hang on to that box.  In a few days, I’ll give you my best tips for selling those things to cushion your account.

More Ways to Save and Earn

I recently wrote more on this topic at A Budget Friendly Life.  Be sure to check out What? I Can Clean My House and Make Money, Too? for more tips and ideas.

Check out the Conquer Your Clutter Super Bundle to get an awesome deal on resources that will help you take control over your home!  This includes resources on managing your time, meal planning, decluttering, organizing, chore charts, and more.  If you’ve ever been a little curious about You Need A Budget, you’ve got to check this out.

 

Take These Steps:

  1. Grab 4 boxes.
  2. Tackle the space you chose.  (Big or small?  You decide.)
  3. Choose a cleaning schedule to help you keep up.
  4. Hold on to anything worth selling.  Look for my best tips to get the most bang for your buck (coming soon!).

This was day 7 in the Secure Your Savings and Find Peace in the New Year series.  Go to the bottom of this post to find all the money saving and money making posts in this series!

When I started cleaning my room and stopped losing things, I gained both time and money.

Make a plan to tackle your home today.  And if something is missing, don’t forget to check the bottom of the toy box first.

Do you use a cleaning plan?  How does it work?