Organization Hacks That Save Money

Getting organized isn’t necessarily about having a picture-perfect home. If that’s what motivates you to be organized, great! But there are other benefits, too, like a peaceful, efficient, less wasteful life. That’s what I seek!

And I love the fact that being organized actually saves money (read why here). To that end, I’ve created a list of organization hacks that save money for my family. I hope they’ll save money for yours, too!

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Organization Hacks That Save Money For My Family

The first place to use organization hacks that save money is the pantry. This one space is responsible for the biggest inflow and outflow of money in the house! An organized, efficient pantry is highly important for proper grocery budgeting.

Store Snacks in Clear Canisters

This has been a game-changer for our pantry and our budget. We have a teenage boy in the house, and he EATS.

Before I started storing snacks in clear canisters, my son would eat all of the snacks and leave empty boxes on the shelves. I would then purchase replacements on the fly. Unfortunately, this isn’t a budget-friendly strategy because it doesn’t allow me to plan ahead. Clear containers immediately fix this problem!

As you can see, my son has been hitting the granola bars HARD. Thankfully I’ve already placed an order on Amazon! Snacks are great items to buy in bulk, either at Costco or online; they also often go on sale at the grocery store and can be purchased then, but only when you have plenty of time to plan!

NOTE: when you store individually packaged snacks like granola bars, you don’t need to use airtight containers. Amazon has a variety of clear canisters that work great on pantry shelves:

Store Bulk Ingredients in Airtight Containers

I hate it when I open a box of cereal or bag of pretzels and the food goes stale before my family can finish it. Don’t you? This happens to us a lot as a family of three when we buy bulk items. The money we would have saved by buying in bulk gets wasted when the food goes bad. Sigh.

The solution to this problem is storing bulk foods in airtight containers. I prefer clear airtight containers because, like the snack example above, I can see when we’re running low on items. We have airtight containers for cereal, pasta, rice, flour, sugar, etc.

I like tall containers for items I purchase in large quantities. They utilize vertical space in the pantry (a must when space is at a minimum) and enable me to store more.

Amazon has a wide variety of airtight containers in sets of all shapes and sizes:

You might also like:
DIY Weekend Pantry Makeover

Write Dates on Frozen Foods & Rotate

Frozen foods (especially meats) are another easy way to save or waste money, depending on how organized your freezer is. A big mistake many of us make is stuffing things in the freezer wherever they’ll fit and then forgetting about them until they’re covered in freezer burn.

Instead, dedicate shelves to particular types of frozen food: fruits and vegetables, chicken and meat, ice cream and desserts, and so on. Use a sharpie to add the date you put the food in the freezer:

Make sure the oldest food rotates to the front every time you add something new. This way, it gets consumed first. And don’t buy more food than your family can eat in three months! That’s the rule of thumb for frozen food.

Consider Investing in a FoodSaver

My husband bought a FoodSaver vacuum sealer a few years ago, and it is fabulous! It keeps our frozen foods fresh longer and enables us to buy large quantities of meats and chicken when they go on sale. We split them up into single-meal sized portions and seal them.

We save so much money by buying whole beef tenderloins or briskets and trimming them ourselves!

Our model even has accessories for wine, so we can vacuum seal bottles we don’t finish. Talk about a HUGE money saver! This wonderful appliance was well worth the price. It’s available on Amazon:

Find Money in Your Closet! For Real!

You have money in your closet! And I don’t mean that five-dollar bill you found in the pocket of that jacket you haven’t worn since last year. I mean that every gently (or never) worn dress, pair of pants, purse and pair of shoes taking up precious closet space is also costing you money!

With the growth of online consignment sites like thredUP, you have one more reason to finally clean and organize your closet. And thredUP makes it easy! You just order a clean-out kit and fill it with items you’d like to sell. Any brand is fine, as long as it’s in good condition. Send the kit in, and thredUP handles the rest! You’ll get paid when your items sell.

Another option is to donate unwanted items from your closet to nonprofits like Goodwill. You can ask for a donation receipt and itemize your donation for a tax deduction. I recently completed a huge closet purge and donated my items:

You might also like:
Easy Closet Organizing Tips For Beginners

Conquer the Paper Chaos

Getting your bills and papers organized with a filing system that works for YOU can save so much money (and time)! If you’re someone who stuffs bills in a drawer only to remember them after the due date has passed, you’re spending a lot of money on unnecessary late fees and fines.

First, eliminate as much of the paper clutter as possible by setting up online bill pay whenever possible. We use this for all of our recurring bills (utilities, mortgage, credit cards, etc.) and our paper clutter has gone WAY down.

Second, for those bills that do come in the mail, set up a filing system with a pretty, decorative mail sorter you’ll love to use, like this one:

Every time a bill comes in, write the due date in bold at the top. Then file all of the bills in chronological order by their due dates. Bam! You’ll never be late again!

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How to Beautifully Organize Home Office Supplies

Organization Hacks That Save Money For Your Family

What are your favorite organization hacks that save money for your family? Leave them for me in the comments below!