Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Even The Simple Things - Organize! Micro Zip Lock Bags

Boxes, Bin, And Miscellaneous.
    You know, when it's Winter and you can't really do any work outside the RV, your mind starts to wander? Well at least mine does. This week, after a bit of staring out the window at my snow draped RV, hibernating under it's cover, I had a few good ideas. Oh, and some very weird, day-dreamy ones that won't work and could probably cause the end of life as we know it. A few weeks ago I talked about using micro boxes to organize my plastic storage boxes that live in the overhead cabinets of my rig. They work quite well, but there is a lot of unused space inside them. There had to be another storage medium that would work on the leftover space. There IS! And I found them!

Evidently, many companies are now making half size zip-lock style storage bags that are perfect for small item storage in the shoe-box (or so) size plastic boxes. These are great. Not only do they fit perfectly in my storage boxes, but they stand up when opened with anything in them. You see, it really doesn't take much to make me happy! Obviously, you shouldn't put razor blades in them, but almost any item is OK. They are see through, and can support a fair amount of weight before the bottom rips out. I've been putting screws, nuts, bolts, small electronic parts, fridge and furnace ignitors and every other small replacement part that won't fit in any of the micro-boxes.

Easy to See!
I am not the most organized person in the world. I do make a valiant attempt to organize everything once in a while, but it rarely stays that way. This may help a great deal. Simply having things separated and easy to find will keep the chaos down quite a bit. You can write on these little baggies with a sharpie or similar marker, so random nuts and parts become organized by size, by use or whatever else you can think of to keep them organized so they can be easily located when you need them. They MAY even be water-tight or air-tight, but I have not put that to the test yet. I'm not sure why you'd want to store liquids IN them, but they will certainly keep items dry!

While the micro-boxes are cool, and very useful, these could be used to fill the extra space left over in almost any small plastic storage container. Since they are flexible, you can fit a few in your other boxes as well. The main issue I see, is sorting through everything I have to put like bits and pieces in order and then re-pack everything. I KNOW it will be a gigantic help. Especially on the road, where finding repair parts quickly and easily goes a long way to maintaining sanity in the face of a crisis. If I can get this all done, I'll likely regain some of the scarce storage space I have. They whole idea of "something for nothing" always intrigues me!

Well, it is Winter, so I DO have quite a bit of free time. My furnace works REALLY well, I could easily begin this process no matter how cold it is outside. The tough part is building up the momentum and the gumption to get it done. The dreary weather really doesn't help at all!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

4 comments:

  1. 2" by 2" plastic 'bags' work great for daily pills and vitamins.
    These are readily available at Amazon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael,
    Didn't know they made them even smaller! Great idea. I guess now I have to organize the vanity/mirror/medicine cabinet!

    Rich "The Wanderman"

    ReplyDelete
  3. Craft stores sell a variety of small sized zip-lock bags also

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melody,
      Thanks! I'll check out some other sizes....

      Rich "The Wanderman"

      Delete

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