A Little Organization -- AKA how many containers can I have in one space...

In the pantry, I have two sides with shelves. One side holds all the food items and the other side holds miscellaneous things like my cookbooks, first aid supplies, paper towels, etc. It was pretty organized to begin with, but on Saturday I went to Ross and Marshall's and I picked up some goodies.

I got two of these baskets for $3 each. I thought that was a pretty sweet deal.

This one is holding a few items right now and the one above is probably going to end up holding lunchboxes.

This area is the paper arena. The brown basket holds papers that need to be taken care of within the week. I go through this at least once a week and take care of everything. The manila folder to the left is really ugly, but it holds the items that I need to shred. The metal tin at the back is for coupons. I organize these in order of when they expire. The two boxes in front of the tin are the cardboard boxes my checks came in. One holds recent receipts and the other is for stamps and other mail-type things. I get the mail first thing when I get home everyday and recycle the envelopes and get rid of anything we don't need. If it's important and needs to get taken care of soon, I put it in the basket.

There's probably a better system, but this works pretty well for now. =]

Below the "paper arena" I have about a billion paper towels. No, I'm not expecting a paper towel shortage. I had a coupon and stocked up. The bucket on the floor is holding my skateboarding gear -- my helmet and pads. Yes, I skateboard. No, I'm not a 12-year-old boy.

The green bags are our reusable grocery bags and the basket to the right is for holding supplies for in-progress household projects. It's been nice having everything on hand instead of having to dig it out every time.

There's an "overall" picture.

And now for the rest of my Marshall's/Ross goodies.

This rug looks AWESOME in the kitchen and it was only $7.

Snagged this super adorable cake plate for just 10 buckaroos. I'd been eyeing the Martha Stewart collection at Macy's, but could not see paying 30 dollars (and upwards) for one cake plate. My version feature and ugly red ribbon, but I changed that sucker out for this and now I'm loving it.

I also found these adorable melamine bowls for $3. I love all the colors!

I feel like my trip was successful. Got a lot of great stuff for not a lot of money. Always a good feeling! =]