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How to organize a house when u have no money?
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amother
Aqua


 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 12:59 am
I have a bunch of kids and bh, the extra money I use for cleaning help. The lady is excellent with clothing so the kids clothing are organized where they belong.
My oldest is reaching an age that she needs a desk to keep her school supplies, personal things etc. but we are going through a hard time financially. All the extra pencils and crayons are in the junk drawer, together w the head bands and elastic rubbers. The small kids do take her things and she gets upset. I don't blame her, sometimes she needs a pencil sharpener, but I can't find it, bec there is no money to get an appropriate furniture for her things and one of her little siblings might have touched it.
the toy room: there are no shelves, all the toys are mixed up in big plastic bins. Books piled up in a corner. Nobody ever touches them. It's not interesting to reach for books that are not laying nicely in a book self.
Sometimes important mail and docs gets lost bec there is no desk or office supplies to organize things. My husband has a business and a lot of the paper work comes to the house. Obviously the business is not going well, but that is another thread.
My husband is handy but he works 15h/daily .obviously,whatever breaks, stays broken.
Is there a way to organize things without spending money?
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amother
Slategray


 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:05 am
We use shoe boxes from the shoe store and we picked up furniture ppl put out for garbage pick-up.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:07 am
Can you contact a furniture gemach?
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amother
Firebrick


 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:12 am
ra_mom wrote:
Can you contact a furniture gemach?


Is there such a thing?

Can you cut down on cleaning help for a bit to save up for some basic furniture, even IKEA?
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:13 am
amother wrote:
Is there such a thing?

Can you cut down on cleaning help for a bit to save up for some basic furniture, even IKEA?

There is. They connect a family who is giving away x to a family who needs x. There is also a watsap group for this.
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challahchallah




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:25 am
Have you checked out freecycle and nextdoor? There are always tons of good things being given away in my area.
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MagentaYenta




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:31 am
A couple of boards and bricks make fine book shelves. Spend $1 at the dollar store and buy a plastic box for your DD to keep her things in. Go through the toy bins and purge, then organize the toys into the bins you already have. Keep checking freecycle. And check if your city or town has a furniture share.

Last edited by MagentaYenta on Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:37 am; edited 1 time in total
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amother
Linen


 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:33 am
I've found many things free on craigslist - you just have to check often . For example a quick look on furniture -

Desk https://newyork.craigslist.org......html
https://newyork.craigslist.org......html
Dresser https://newyork.craigslist.org......html
bookshelves https://newyork.craigslist.org.....ml[s]
Filing cabinet https://newyork.craigslist.org......html

There are lots more - those are just from the first bunch that came up near me

It can be a pain - somtimes they end up giving it to someone else even after committing to you, and you have to go pick it up and ect...(of course make sure to be safe) but if you really work at it, you could eventually get some decent or even nice stuff for free (aside from the cost of gas to pick it up).
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maidale




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 2:23 am
I agree with others. The second hand market is very active in this area. People redecorate and are happy when someone takes over their used and sometimes in excellent condition furniture. It takes time and patience to search though, and you usually need to go, take it apart, shlep it home and put it back together. But you can score some excellent pieces!
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 6:42 am
Worst comes to worst, reuse containers of all types: shoe boxes, cereal boxes, pill bottles, margarine tubs, milk cartons, cigar boxes,you name it. Check out websites like Apartment Therapy for DIY ideas. And always purge first.
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Simple1




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 8:07 am
Check out Dollar Tree for containers. Pens and pencils can sit upright in a large cup or similar shaped container on her dresser or in a kitchen cabinet. I've seen cute mini tin buckets at target dollar section or maybe at Dollar Tree but don't remember.

Cheap ottoman boxes are cute for her room. You can find it, I think, at Amazing Savings or Walmart. Sorry, don't where you live, but you can also buy it online.
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watergirl




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 8:16 am
maidale wrote:
I agree with others. The second hand market is very active in this area. People redecorate and are happy when someone takes over their used and sometimes in excellent condition furniture. It takes time and patience to search though, and you usually need to go, take it apart, shlep it home and put it back together. But you can score some excellent pieces!

Absolutely. If you're not on Facebook already, it's very worth it to join Facebook just for the rummage groups that are local to your area. I find amazing quality stuff for free or for very very cheap quite often.
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 10:08 am
MagentaYenta wrote:
A couple of boards and bricks make fine book shelves. Spend $1 at the dollar store and buy a plastic box for your DD to keep her things in. Go through the toy bins and purge, then organize the toys into the bins you already have. Keep checking freecycle. And check if your city or town has a furniture share.


My college days of a bookshelf constructed of boards and cinder blocks - better than smaller bricks because you only needed one per tier. :-)

When my parents were first starting out, they had bookshelves that were essentially just boards with brackets. They worked fine and you can paint or stain the wood and even slightly more attractive brackets are still extremely cheap. Voila shelves.

My father who admittedly was handy actually made the whole storage system in the den by essentially erecting shelves at various heights and with dividers and then attaching doors at those points where closed storage was wanted. Obviously that's a step up from skill but almost anyone can attach a bracket to a stud and get functional shelves.
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amother
Ruby


 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 10:12 am
https://youtu.be/TxXkBhZHoLQ
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 12:32 pm
Plastic milk crates --the real deal, not the flimsy fakes--also come in handy for everything from mini laundry basket to step stool to toy bin to file drawer to storage cubby to bookshelf (either set crates on their sides and line up in rows, or set upside down and lay boards across the top. You can even fashion a desk or table by stacking two or three high and laying boards across the top.

I don't need to tell you to look for free stuff first and buy things only after exhausting all the free possibilities, assuming your main objective is making things easily accessible as opposed to making them aesthetically pleasing. Your dd can handle the aesthetic angle by covering boxes, containers and other DIY devices with colored paper, scrap fabric, ribbon, paint or whatever strikes her fancy.
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amother
Blue


 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 12:57 pm
Was in exact situation as u. Craigslist was great. Drive by nicer neighborhood on garbage days there are often shelving etc.(if u are uncomfortable like me go nighttime) I know thismay sound gross to some but I keep my daughters precious stuff in her sock drawer. It's the highest and least tempting-for now the younger ones havnt gotten to it. Also when they hav precious things I tell them to put in their sock drawer. Its become the sacred place. Theyv learned to respect eachothers little place... I'll also hide spare school supply in my room.
DONT EVER SACRIFICE ur cleaning help! It's the only way I stay happy mom. But maybe something else can go just to afford the second hand pieces u need urgently. Idk where u live but free things are hit or miss can be waste of time.
Toys advice? Take egg boxes and store most ur toys. Keep only a few things out. This way 1-u keep the room looking cleaner and more spacious
2- keeps kids more excited about toys by rotating every few wks
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petiteruchy




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:27 pm
First step is to purge, I think. As you're purging, keep cardboard boxes labeled with the relevant categories (little kid toys, big kid toys, homework, business, etc) for things you're keeping. Use the housework help for this if you can. Best would be to send the kids off for the day, and you and your helper work for a chunk of time.

Once you have your items categorized and narrowed down, use the ideas here to start collecting cheap or free furniture. Kids stuff is easiest to find free as families outgrow it rather than deciding to redecorate. As you collect things, transfer items into a set place and container. The dollar store often has cheap plastic bins and boxes. Ikea usually has things in clearance or their as is section.

Your daughter can use a shoebox or a grocery bag to keep her stationary for school. Desks are often cheap or free on sites like Craigslist. It's more important that people not take things from the box or bag... what the container is is not important. If you also need pens and sharpeners, or if the younger kids want them, there should be spare ones.

Don't keep things if they don't have a place. Whittle down kids toys because the fewer they have, the more they play with them and the less they get overwhelmed with cleaning up.

Decide if it's better to have the house helper devote some time regularly to purging and organizing. The house will need cleaning less often if you have less stuff and it's more tidied away.
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amother
Vermilion


 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:28 pm
OP, I know you said you have already have plastic bins for the toys. But if you're in the Brooklyn area and could use colorful opaque large cube bins that stack nicely in 2 rows up to the ceiling, let me know as I may have. Toys can be sorted by type and 1 box can be used at a time.
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tf




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 1:57 pm
When I had a similar situation, I posted an ad in the local paper that listed many of the items I needed. I was amazed at the positive results. The list included hi-risers, children's furniture pieces, bed linen, fridge, etc.
Hatslucha
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amother
Blue


 

Post Thu, Aug 10 2017, 2:13 pm
zaq wrote:
Plastic milk crates --the real deal, not the flimsy fakes--also come in handy for everything from mini laundry basket to step stool to toy bin to file drawer to storage cubby to bookshelf (either set crates on their sides and line up in rows, or set upside down and lay boards across the top. You can even fashion a desk or table by stacking two or three high and laying boards across the top.

I don't need to tell you to look for free stuff first and buy things only after exhausting all the free possibilities, assuming your main objective is making things easily accessible as opposed to making them aesthetically pleasing. Your dd can handle the aesthetic angle by covering boxes, containers and other DIY devices with colored paper, scrap fabric, ribbon, paint or whatever strikes her fancy.

I used to use milk crates till I found out the dairy companies are NOT ok with it. I called them they said to give to any grocery store to get it back to them. I ordered milk crates online cuz I loved them for heavy toys like trains legos etc...they even came in cute colors.
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