Why Do We Have So Much Stuff?: An Attempt at Helping to Organize

Hello, yes, I would like to report a disaster.

It's me. I'm the disaster.

I have too much stuff. I'm not just talking about the usual like too many shoes or whatever else. I'm seriously talking about unpacking going *Gandalf voice* "I have no memory of these things."

But, like, I need them? Maybe? I dunno; I like those stuffed animals, and they're cute and cuddly and could possibly be used by any future children I have?

But what do I do with them?

Well, okay, let's start with some basics.

Ah, the filing cabinet. My old foe . . . I mean, friend.

Seriously, I've put off getting one of these for my office for a while now because filing cabinets are for adults, and I'm not an adult, right?

Yeah, I'm a full-grown woman. I need to start acting like it.

Anyway, this is great. I've got my piano music in the bottom drawer, my financial files in the middle, and the top drawer has an assortment of other important things.

Look at those hanging files! Seriously, if you don't have manilla folders for every separate year of taxes, a separate folder for car payments/house payments/other bills . . . you just aren't doing organizing right.

I actually got the idea for cloth boxes from my mother, who used them in the room she let us live in for a while, back when we were in between living arrangements. They're really lovely for storage, and they come in any color.

Banker boxes! I love these things. They store pretty much anything and everything, so when you've got a whole heck of a lot of keepsakes handed down to you from both sets of in-laws, at least you have a way to store them!

And finally, plastic bins. The labels aren't on these yet, but what I usually do is take an index card and write in sharpie things like "Markers and Crayons" or "Stuffed Animals" or "Christmas Storage" or whatever else. These are some of the smaller selections. For really big things (see: Christmas Storage), you can get some the size of small suitcases!