10 Tips to winterize your home: An hour today saves many later

Time to get organized for winter! Because soon we’ll be scrambling to get everything done for the holidays and crave an extra few hours for….well, anything and everything. We’re mostly organized (…with a little time we can find anything we need). But…we’re always trying to de-clutter. How about you? Find yourself shoving another thing into a closet to deal with it later? We’ve been there!

Why spend time organizing?

In an effort to save precious time and feel really good about our happy homes- especially this year – we compiled some ideas of “must-do” tasks. We’ll use it as a fall routine to get our life straight, before holiday and year-end stresses take our minds off our organizing goals.

There are definitely years when our homes (and minds) have been tidier than others (can you mean 2020)?! Other years, we’re heavy into caretaking – babies and/or aging parents – and cleaning the closets took a backseat to other priorities. But then there are years when we find a spare hour each week, or a quick 15 minutes during the day, and we feel so GOOD when we can devote a little time to get organized for winter. Anyone else?

Top 10 Tips to get organized for winter!

Check out our list of 10 tips to streamline your life. You’ll thank yourself come December! What’s on your list?

1. Your schedule – Get your new calendar. If you use an electronic version and not paper, you still can use time to update/add dates now so you won’t forget any.
2. Closets – Sort winter clothing. Gather gloves, coats, scarves, boots, snow pants and heavier clothes now. Taking a quick inventory makes clear if anyone needs another stocking hat or if you must buy anything at all. Keep only items you’ll wear in the closet and store “maybes” in a tub (to donate later if not used). Then, get rid of those random mittens, hole-y socks, outdated sweaters and the “too small” summer things.
3. Finances – Gather receipts and adjust. No need to sweat or do a deep dive right now. Just separate receipts into bags or folders, label (pay stubs, donations, gifts, utilities, home improvements, etc.), and store to use when filing taxes. Take a 30,000-foot look at your income and expenses. This is especially important to do before 2020 ends for three reasons:
   • There is still time to adjust paycheck withholding for IRS’s new tax rate tables.
   • To avoid a penalty, you may need to make an additional estimated payment.
   • You can evaluate whether to make that major home improvement, business purchase or charitable donation now or wait until next year.
4. Garage – Ship-shape and ready?  Don’t forget about the garage when you’re thinking how to get organized for winter. It’s a good time to neatly store the flower pots, yard stuff, clean off tools, store bulbs and outdoor toys like bikes/skateboards/wading pools. Clearing a path now will save you from tripping over them all winter.
5. Yard/Garden – Winterize. Trim bushes, divide bulbs, disconnect hoses, cover/store outdoor furniture and lawn ornaments to protect them from snow and ice. (You might even decide to hang those Christmas lights while it’s not so cold yet!)
6. Home Maintenance – An ounce of prevention! Having your furnace stop on a frigid weekend is no fun, nor is it cheap to call a plumber late at night. Use our handy home maintenance checklist for fall to do preventative fall maintenance and save yourself the worry.  Our list includes checking window weatherstripping, furnaces, gutters, lawn upkeep and more.
7. Kitchen – Prep your prep area! – You just might be baking/cooking more when the holidays roll around, right? So, straighten up your shelves and spice rack, take inventory and re-stock based on what you use. If your kitchen drawers are too cluttered, take one drawer a day and get rid of what you don’t use.
8. Freezer – Clean and ready? If you love stock-up sales (who doesn’t?) or like to cook in bulk around the holidays, your freezer is a lifesaver. Big bonus, using your freezer efficiently can save you money. Take an afternoon to clean out and organize space for storing quick meals to pop in the oven, last-minute kitchen gifts, and of course, all those cookies you’ll want to make.
9. Bedrooms – Warm and cozy? Time to freshen comforters, add blankets and maybe even find the flannel sheet set. (Then revisit that stockpile of cookies in #8…and say helloooo to Netflix.)
10. Holiday – a little help for the elf herself. If you’re like us, you may have scooped up gift wrap, bows, tags and cards you found at after-Christmas super sales…and stuffed somewhere months ago? It’s time to find those and do a quick inventory so you actually use your stash and don’t buy more. To take advantage of picking up things as you see them on sale, make a list now of holiday gifts you’ll get (don’t forget hostesses, teachers, neighbors, etc.) and extra holiday food/groceries for entertaining, gifts and last-minute gatherings. Do you find yourself stressing during the holidays? You might like our holiday printable which we use for a little mental organization – simply subscribe for access to this printable and all of our freebies!

Sound like a lot to accomplish? It’s not as hard as you might think…and being organized saves both time and money. Do you have other tips to add? We love to hear your ideas!

Want our home maintenance checklist for fall?

If you’re like us, and enjoy checking off to-do items from your list, you might take a look at our free home maintenance checklist for fall. You can grab your freebie copy here. Just click the link and print! –>home maintenance checklist for fall.