Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Works-for-Me-Wednesday: Organizing Tip


We just had a new garage door opener installed and the owner's manual sitting here reminds me of a great tip. I keep a file where all the owner's manuals, assembly directions and other supporting material are kept together. To make the information easy to find, I separate them into categories:

Baby items: swings, stroller, baby bed, humidifier, etc.

Electronics: TV, DVD player, stereo, calculator

Sports Equipment: bikes, wagon, bike rack

Safety items: smoke alarm, carbon monoxide detector

Small appliances & household: vacuum, coffee maker, waster disposer, telephone, new shower door, new faucet

Yard Equipment & Tools: drill, shop vac, lawn mower, edger, gas grill

You'd be surprised how often we pull this file out to look up information on a particular item. It has come in handy many times and has saved us money as we've tried to troubleshoot problems. Occasionally I go through the file and purge the manuals for items we have gotten rid of or don't use anymore.

And that idea works-for-me on this fine day. For other great tips and ideas, visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great tip! Do you use one of those accordian types of files...or?

Anonymous said...

Love this one. I do this for take-out and delivery restaurants and as soon as I find an empty binder that I can recycle, I'm going to put it to use for this. By the way, have you noticed that some owners' manuals are starting to come in binder size and even with three holes already punched in them? Too cool!