Wow! You have lots of really good ideas. Some of you seem a little overwhelmed, like I am! Too many good ideas (and getting more every day), not enough time! Luvs, I never thought of actually sitting down with a cup of coffee and looking through my Christmas files (duh) prior to the Christmas shopping season (although most of what I buy is second-hand still there's more selection nearer to the holidays)... Karen--you can fit all your Decor ideas in ONE file???! Dreamgoddess--I love the idea of having all my jottings in one notebook--but once I turn the page the old ones are gone from my memory! You probably (undoubtedly) have more discipline than I have... OA--I do something like you do with the recipes but I use scrapbook software. I'm pleased with that because I can add text and the software treats it like a graphic--lets me move it around, put it on top of pictures, etc., but it still stays editable for when I spot a typo (very irritating to me) or want to rearrange the page. You can also add arrows or circle items in the photo or illustrations, and fancy them up if you want. I save the pages to .jpg files after I'm done. Then I can just view them with the Windows viewer. The disadvantage is there's no way to sort them or search them. I have to put them all in individual folders like Christmas, etc. If I want to have an index I have to make one in Excel or some such. I love the idea of putting all the things for each room in their own boxes. We will be moving into our new home this winter and as I unpack (my very disorganized) moving boxes I'll keep that in mind. Have to go get tons of plastic bins... Minnie tx--Yes. I've organized my articles like that in the past and there's nothing like thumbing through those nice page protectors--makes your pictures look even better. But I have SO MANY! Once I almost completed a system like that and I had 21 3-ring notebooks full and more coming all the time. I've weeded out since then (HAD TO!) and of course since I was younger there's many more formats--dvd's (stuff I recorded off HGTV, for example), Internet downloads, how-to videos on the Internet, of course digital pix that I sneak sometimes in stores, etc. So much mixed media! dd50- you've hit the nail on the head! That's me, wandering around the store, getting ideas, and wondering if I already have the stuff at home. After this over-budget house is finished, I'm not going to be able to afford buying (even something cheap) twice! neesie--DH uses a pencil and notepad for anything he wants to remember, and it works for him, but he's an engineer. They're BORN organized. lynn--I scan pix from magazines and catalogs too (they can sure mount up). But your system sounds so organized. I just finished culling about 300MB of graphics files duplicates that I had propagated all over the disk. BTW, make sure you all have backups. DH made us a little network with a big hard drive so we can back up to it. But if you don't have that, I like the little thumb drives--I got a 4 GB one for Christmas last year. That holds a lot of files! THANKS FOR ALL THE SUGGESTIONS! Seems nothing is perfect. As I mentioned, I'm using scrapbook software which makes graphics and text very easy to handle (OA--if you want "freeform" pages the scrapbooking software is better than a database like Filemaker. Databases usually require you to have your data in fixed format (which you define). For example, at least when I was using databases, you would have to define the number of pictures you could allow in each record. Of course, databases may be a lot fancier now, but their search-sort functions should require some rigidity in the format of each record.) What I really need to find to augment this is a calendar-shopping list-inventory program that takes all those ideas in my brain and makes them usable! - Magpie

Cathy, I got your email but was unable to reply to it, and so I sent you an email from here so that you can reply to that with an attachment. Thanks! Dcarch, I have been collecting thermal bags for some time now, and so I have quite a collection already. I saved all the ones that Kevin brought back from Seattle when he bought the salmon, lobster, and crab. I also have gel packs that are supposed to substitute for ice packs after oral surgery, and I keep those in the freezer as well. I am planning on storing stuff in the new freezer that I will not need in case of power outage, so that I will not have to open the freezer door. Although I am storing water in there, I would remove that only as a last resort, and it's always better to have more water than necessary. We have a storage container that holds several gallons of drinking water, which is way more than we will need, and we have the hot tub, which has water that can be used for cleaning, if necessary. Oh, and I will also be storing my ice cream innards, which should also help retain cold in case of power outage. I'm going to have to sort through what I already have in the two freezer compartments that I already had. I am going to be very happy to have open space in the freezer in the kitchen again - it filled up very fast, and I need the open space for chilling things from time to time, such as chocolate molds, bowls & beaters for whipped cream, butter for pie crusts, etc. I probably will buy extra butter just to store in the freezer now. I'm going to keep flours in the kitchen freezer, and I will probably put them in plastic mayo jars. I guess they would be okay in glass containers, however. One of my main plans for the freezer was to store more vegetables so that I can eat more of those, as part of a diet plan. I also will store more fruit and eat more of that. I forgot to mention earlier (in my very long post) that Kevin and I had planned to go to the Lebanese market on Venice Blvd just down the street from Best Buy after appliance shopping, but since we had the freezer on the truck, we decided to go straight home. We managed to get the freezer unloaded and installed in the garage much more quickly than I expected and had time to go back to the Lebanese market, which has very cheap produce plus Middle Eastern specialty products. I bought a large container of Za'Atar (now I won't have to make my own) plus some garbanzo flour, fresh dill in bulk, some carob molasses, falafel seasoning mix (may not need that), more Tahini (They have a huge selection of that), and some Jallab Syrup (made with date molasses and rose flavour--their spelling), which I was unsure about and still am. I does have a strong rose flavor/fragrance but I can also taste the date flavor. I think I might like it better without the roses, but I also might get used to it. We had it on pancakes this morning. I'm going to finish making the falafel this afternoon, and I want to freeze some of the dill. I was thinking I might want to store the dill in lemon juice with some garlic, since I generally add those to dill when I use it. I also need to plan what containers to use for the freezer, and I am thinking I want to get some plastic bottles for hot sauce. I have a lot of plastic containers that I'm not using, but I thought I would save those for leftovers. I like the idea of storing index cards in freezer bags!! I'm definitely going to do that! I have a feeling that the seafood section of my freezer is going to get the most use, but I will also be on the lookout for a cheap turkey. It's going to be nice to be able to shop and not worry about freezer storage space - at least for now. I'm hoping also to be able to cut down on trips to the market. Lars

I have Snap-Lock containers, kind of similar to the Lock&Lock. I get them at Walmart and they are perfect. Not a thing gets past them, really airtight. I always find Tupperware a bit difficult to open. With the snap-lock, you just flip the latches up, and when done, lid goes on, and in one motion, snap all latches down (using two hands, you can do all four in one motion). We have some things (like brown sugar) which we use every day, so I really appreciate the ease of these. I have all my baking products in them. Buy just one and I bet you'll be a believer! I checked Walmart.com and they are not there, but there are plenty in the store.

Get an ornamental screw-hook, screw it into the pantry ceiling, hang a bag on it that holds the light bulbs. Or a couple of bags, with different kinds sorted in each bag That's IF the ceiling is high enough that you won't bang the bags with your head while travelling below. In which case ... the screw goes into a window frame? ole joyful