How Getting Organized with The Home Edit Saves Me Money

By the author of The Ultimate Guide to Frugal Living and What to Eat When You’re Broke

I’m a sucker for a good organization technique. I’ve Marie Kondo’ed. I’ve gone minimal. (For like three days). I’ve decluttered and Fly-Ladied. And now, I think I finally found the one that works for me. I am obsessed with The Home Edit.

I recently came across a video on YouTube of someone organizing her home using the techniques from the ladies of The Home Edit. I thought, “Oooooh….I like that,” and stopped what I was doing (cleaning) to really focus. Then, I went down a research rabbit hole to learn more.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been going at this one area at a time, and I’ve never, ever gotten my s*** together this much in my whole life.

What’s the difference?

Well, it works for me because they make it fun and pretty.

What is The Home Edit?

The Home Edit mixes interior design with organization. It goes into a few steps for each area:

The Edit: Get rid of the stuff you really don’t want/need/use.

Categorize: Sort everything you just pulled out of that closet or drawer into categories.

Containment: Get a container of some description to keep like items together. LABEL YOUR CONTAINERS.

Then you put it away in a visually appealing fashion that is simple to understand so that you can easily find what you need, when you need it. Joanna and Clea, the ladies from THE, use ROYGBIV and rainbow order things. It’s lovely.

Their theory focuses on HOW you use spaces in your real everyday life and on creating systems to keep the things you want to keep. If you’re sentimental, it’s fine to keep sentimental things. You just need to create a system for it. If you collect something, same thing – create a system for it.

The other thing I love about THE is that they’re all about “backstock.” What we’d called pantries or preps or “a lil something extra” they call backstock. So this means I simply have to find a place for my 11,391 cans – not get rid of them.

How to get started

There are all sorts of ways to get started with THE. Some are pricey and some are not. First things first, though, is you need to learn the method.

The best way to do this is with their first book, where they lay it all out. This is a GORGEOUS book that will have you salivating over all the pretty pictures. Plus, it’s funny. These two are hilarious.

But if money is tight, you may not be ready/willing to splash out $13-15 on a book. Friend, I’ve got you covered.

• Check out The Home Edit website.
• YouTube is a wealth of information. Here’s a quick search with tons and tons of videos. You can also watch Master the Mess, a series with Joanna and Clea available on YouTube.
• If you’re already a subscriber, Netflix has two seasons of The Home Edit.
• Follow them on Instagram.

Do some binge-watching/reading and decide if this will work for you.

What about all those containers?

You can spend as much or as little as you want on containers, but you do need containers. There are some reasonably priced dupes of their Container Store products on Amazon.

• This 25-piece set of drawer organizers
• This batch of 10 refrigerator or pantry bins
• There’s also a 20 pack of clear shoeboxes with lids

They also have their own line of organizational products at Walmart at a great price. You can haunt the thrift stores and the dollar stores for other options too.

Another thing you can do is break out the wrapping paper and tape and cover some cardboard boxes, cut down to size, with a tidy, solid color paper. To get the effect, you can ROYGBIV your paper or get all one color, like black or white (or whatever goes with your home.)

The point isn’t to break the bank to get your containers. It’s simply to contain in a way that looks nice. You may already have all the containers you need, in fact.

Labeling

If there’s one key to all this, it’s labeling. I had a roll of chalkboard labels with a chalk pen already in my arts and crafts supplies, so I’ve been using this. Yes, Clea and Joanna’s labels are prettier, and you can buy them if you want them, but I’m doing this on a tight budget.

Having things labeled serves a few purposes:

1. It helps you to find stuff.
2. It helps you to immediately know where to put stuff.
3. It helps the rest of your family know where to put stuff.

This has been really, REALLY easy to maintain.

How can all this save you money?

Here are a few of the areas I’ve organized using The Home Edit methods. I used existing containers, purchased a few extras, and made some others.

You may be wondering how all this can save you money.

Well, easy. I don’t have to buy duplicates because I can’t find what I know I already have. I can quickly and easily lay hands on everything I own. I don’t have the stress of digging to no avail to locate things I need RIGHT NOW. Things aren’t going bad because they’re stuffed behind newer items.

Now, buying “backstock” is easy because I know exactly where I’m going to put it. There’s ALREADY A SPOT. It’s labeled, and I know where that spot is.

I can fit so much more in my small apartment this way. Before, I felt like the STUFF was oozing out the windows. Now it’s all put away, easy to find, and there’s room for more stuff if I want to stock up. (To which I say DUH. I always want to stock up.)

This has made a huge difference to my quality of life and mental well-being. And with surgery and a knee scooter on the horizon, it’s so nice to be able to have an uncluttered place to get around.

What about you?

Do you enjoy organizing, color coding, and labeling as much as I do? Have you ever tried this method? What do you like and dislike about it? Do you find that being organized saves you money?

Let’s discuss The Home Edit organizing method in the comments.

About Daisy

Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.

Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.