how to organize on a budget

i organized my linen closet this week. yes. it did take me an entire week. i was unpacking a few moving boxes the other day. yes. we moved 8 months ago and i still have unpacked boxes. inside, i found lots (and lots) of toiletries and bath stuff and towels and lotion. oh my the lotion. i try to put on lotion every day, but it turns out more often to be every week. at this rate, i have enough to last until i'm perimenopausal.

anyways, i did it. it's finished. after wanting to go to walmart (the poor man's container store), i decided that i was sure that i had enough bins and baskets laying around the house desperately desiring to be used. oh, they were used. all the lotion sits on the bottom of the linen closet in the open so i am fully aware that i am nearly drowning in it. the next shelf up has a bin and a basket containing the insane amount of extra toiletries (toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap bars, face wash, kleenex, q-tips, shavers, shampoo, conditioner, etc). i have my own freaking cvs pharmacy in my hallway. oh, it also contains my retainer which no longer fits my teeth since i refused to wear it in high school. believe me. my child will wear a retainer if i spend $4000 to get his teeth fancy. sorry mom.

and my crown and glory. under the sink in our bathroom. after fixing up the linen closet, this was my encore. apparently, if you grow up with a longaberger consultant for a mother, "on a budget" means using hundreds of dollars of baskets in a place no one will see them to contain your tampons and nair bikini cream. thanks mom.