Can you believe we’re just 2 months away from the holiday season? Just a few more weeks before we whip up delectable holiday treats—yum! But before we get into the full swing of holiday cooking and baking, it’s probably time to do a little pantry organization. Follow these steps to get your pantry holiday-ready. 

1. Clean it out

Start your organization project by removing everything from your pantry. This is a great time to get your little helpers involved—they can tackle the lower shelves while you clean out the top. Once you get all of the items out, wipe down all the shelves and sweep the floor. Right now, you want to focus on creating a blank canvas for your pantry, so say goodbye to dust and grime. 

2. Sort through it all

Next, sort through all of your pantry items. Toss out anything out of date, and donate the items that are just taking up space. Remember: there’s no point in keeping things you aren’t going to use. This goes for food items, appliances, and kitchen tools!

3. Repackage

If mismatched packages make it hard for you to organize, put your ingredients in cute containers or mason jars. Just make sure to label the jars so you don’t mistake your powdered sugar for baking powder. 

4. Organize

Once you’re ready to put items back in your pantry, group them together—baking ingredients with other baking ingredients, soups with soups, etc. If you have deep shelves, put seldom used items (like giant mixing bowls or drink dispensers) at the back and ingredients in front. Label each shelf so you remember where the items are located. 

And if you find yourself prone to expired canned goods at the back of your shelves, think about getting a few can organizers to keep everything visible and in rotation. 

In just a few simple steps and with just a little time, you can get your pantry ready for the coming months and make it way easier to use. 

Garages get cluttered fast, especially after an eventful summer season. Now is the perfect time to organize your garage before the colder months to make it a super usable space. 

1. Declutter. 

To truly organize a space, you have to get rid of the clutter. Pull everything out and get honest with yourself about what you really need to keep. Sell, donate or toss any items you don’t regularly use. Pay special attention to your outdoor and summer equipment, and fix anything that needs to be repaired. Pro tip: If you find yourself with a lot of items to get rid of, this is a great time for a yard sale!

2. Categorize. 

Once you’ve pared back and have the things you want to keep, categorize them. 

Put your cleaning supplies with cleaning supplies, tools with tools, recreation equipment with your outdoor stuff. Categorizing will help limit the clutter because you’ll know exactly where everything is.

3. Contain.

After categorizing your items, put the smaller items in stackable storage containers and LABEL them. I love the black storage boxes from Costco because they’re so sturdy, but clean bins are also great because you can see exactly what’s in them. 

4. Put away. 

Your garage might not have a lot of built in storage, so take advantage of the vertical space. Wall pegboards are cheap and easy to use, making them perfect for tools and outdoor gear. Open shelves made from steel are great to store bins and heavy equipment. And if you want to keep hazardous tools or chemicals away from kids and pets, look into child-safe closed cabinetry. If you have the budget, overhead ceiling racks are an amazing way to reclaim the floor. They’re like shelving for your garage ceiling and are perfect for storing seasonal items like decorations or camping gear. 

Your credit score is a numerical representation of your creditworthiness. In other words, it’s a number that estimates how likely you are to pay back your debts. Credit scores range from 0-850, with 850 being a perfect score. Those often invisible numbers control so many facets of our lives—from the car we buy to the apartment we rent to the mortgage we qualify for. 

If you want to buy a house or refinance your current mortgage, you need a good credit score, which is anywhere from the 600-850 range. And if you’ve worked hard to get your credit score up, you want to protect your score and keep it as healthy as possible. Here’s how.

1. Keep an eye on your score. Sign up for credit score alerts through your bank or apps like Credit Karma. You can check every couple of weeks and see how your credit is doing, and you’ll see it increase over time, which is always a good feeling. 

2. Set up autopay on your monthly bills. Even the best of us forget a credit card payment or a utility bill sometimes. Set your accounts up with autopay so you don’t have to worry about a late payment tanking your score. 

3. Stay away from the top of your credit limit. You should only use up to 10% of your credit limit on credit cards—any more than that will decrease your credit score. Pay your cards off monthly to avoid a hit to your score.

4. Keep your old cards open. The average amount of time you’ve had a credit card or loan open for affects your credit score. So, the longer you’ve had a line of credit, the better. Keep those old cards open by using them every so often. 

5. Be strategic with the cards or loans you open. Don’t open any new cards or get a new car loan when you’re trying to buy a house because it will temporarily lower your credit score due to inquiries and account history. 

Your credit score is so important when it comes to qualifying for a great interest rate, so make sure you keep on top of it and protect it so you can get the best deals possible.