• Home
  • About
  • Categories
    • Wardrobe Capsules
    • What I Wore
    • How To Wear It
    • Casual Work Wear
    • Mom Style
    • Travel
    • Holidays
    • Trends To Try
    • Maternity Style
    • Thrifty Tips
    • Shopping
    • Beauty
  • Shop my outfits
  • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

What I Learned From My Recent Closet Clean Out

February 2, 2023 by Katie H.

Closet clean out

I recently did a big closet clean out. I always feel like I am left with an overload of clothes at the end of every year. Even though I do my best to keep up with my closet seasonally, I still felt like my closet needed a major refresh. That’s why I spent most of the month of January going through all my clothes. Today I want to share what I learned in the process.

Read more

Filed in: Affordable Fashion, Organizing, Uncategorized • by Katie H. • 1 Comment

My New Closet Tour: How I Organize My Closet

September 7, 2022 by Katie H.

My New Closet Tour

Welcome to my new closet! I’ve been wanting to do a closet tour ever since I moved into my new house this past February, but first I needed to get it all organized. I finally have it at a good spot so I figured today I would take you along on a little tour of my favorite room in the house.

Read more

Filed in: Home, Organizing, Uncategorized • by Katie H. • Leave a Comment

5 Tools I Use to Stay Organized as a Mom & Style Blogger

January 10, 2022 by Katie Haller

 

Organizing tools for mom and style bloggers
 
 
 Every year I strive to be a more organized person.  It’s something that doesn’t come naturally to me.  My brain is all over the place.  It’s filled with ideas and thoughts and having mom brain 24/7 doesn’t help me at all.  When I was younger I struggled to stay organized and on task, but as I have gotten older I have learned ways to help me stay focused and be more efficient.  My goal is always to work smarter not harder, yet sometimes that is much easier said than done.  This is why I have created organized systems in every aspect of my life.
 
Read more

Filed in: blogging tips, Mom Life, Mom Tips, Organizing • by Katie Haller • Leave a Comment

Organizing Your Small Closet on a Budget

March 29, 2021 by Katie Haller

Organizing Your Small Closet on a Budget
 Nothing makes me happier than a clean organized closet.  I feel like people often overlook the fact that having an organized closet will not only keep things tidy, but it will also help you save money.  When you have a place for everything, you know where to find it.  If you know what you have in your closet, then you are less likely to go out and buy something new.

Read more

Filed in: Organizing, Thrifty Tips • by Katie Haller • 1 Comment

Real Life Organizing Tips on a Budget- My Closet

October 10, 2019 by Katie Haller

Read more

Filed in: Organizing, Thrifty Tips • by Katie Haller • 2 Comments

Tips for Organizing your House on a Budget

February 14, 2019 by Katie Haller

Tips for Organizing your House on a Budget

Organizing is something that I have always really enjoyed doing.  It always feels so good to declutter and have a place for everything.  The only problem for me is that sometimes life happens and it gets hard to keep up with it all.  I’ve recently been watching Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix, just like everyone else in the world right now and I’m loving it!  I’ve never had time to read her books, but I’ve heard so many great things.  Now that I’ve actually taken the time to learn more about the KonMari method I became so motivated to start organizing my house.


We moved into our current house 2 years ago, right before Jack’s first birthday.  We wanted a house with more space because we quickly outgrew our 2 bedroom condo after having Jack.  Our house is a decent size home, with lots of open space for Jack to play, but it’s not always very functional for space.  The house makes no sense with its layout, but it is a rental house and sometimes you just need to work with the space you have.  We are planning on moving out of this house this spring, so in order to make the packing processes less overwhelming for me, I figured that it would be the perfect time to purge and go through all my cabinets, drawers and closets to make sure everything had a place.

Today I want to take you through my organizing processes to give you some ideas and tips for your own house.  Most of all, I hope to share some affordable ways to organize.  Some people think that you might need to run out and buy some amazing organizing products at the Container Store, but you don’t.  Sometimes all you need are some old boxes and a few baskets, even Marie Kondo approves of that.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link, I will earn a commission for this blog.  Thank you for your support!

Tips for Organizing your House on a Budget

Kitchen
So let’s start in the Kitchen.  The kitchen is hard for me because it’s the never-ending room.  It constantly needs to be cleaned and organized.  What drives me crazy in my kitchen is all the plastic Tupperware and sippy cups.  I’m pretty sure everyone can agree that they hate storing Tupperware.  It’s never pretty.  I came up with a system when we moved into this house that works for me.  I use 2 large baskets (HERE) and 2 deeper baskets with handles (HERE) that I bought both at the Dollar Tree.  I keep all the containers in the big baskets and all the lids in the baskets with the handles.  Round containers are on the left and rectangle and square containers are on the right.  This system works greats.  I also store all my sippy cups in a basket in the other cabinet.

Tupperware organizing ideas

One of the best things that  I ever did in organizing my kitchen was buying baskets for my pantry (HERE).  My current pantry is deep, which I’m not a fan of, because food can get lost in the back.  The baskets help me section out my food into categories.  It makes it so much easier to find everything I need.  At the bottom of the pantry, I use beer boxes to store my recyclable bags and lunch boxes.

Budget Friendly pantry organizing ideas

Linen Closet
Next up is my linen closet.  I have a very small linen closet at this house.  It is basically a bunch of cabinets in the hallway.  It’s hard to cram in all my extra bedding and towels into it.  Before, I was just folding up everything and cramming it into the space.  Now I have added baskets to my closet to help organize hand towels, pillowcases, cleaning rags, cleaning supplies and baby towels.  I was able to fold my blankets up to fit perfectly, (not perfect like Marie Kondo, but I tried).  I also used the KonMari method to fold my bath towels.  The thing I like about my linen closet now is that I can see everything and I have so much extra space.

Linen closet organizing ideas- Before and After

Master bedroom
My husband is super organized and is pretty much a minimalist, so I never have to worry about keeping him tidy (besides leaving empty water bottles all over the nightstand).  I feel like I’m the one with all the “stuff” in my room.  I have a nice big walk-in closet that I try to keep most of my things in, but I have 2 dressers and a nightstand that often start to overflow.  I prefer to hang most of my clothes in my closet so I can see them all.  My clothes are always getting buried in my drawers and then I completely forget about what I have, especially in my socks and underwear drawers.  I love the KonMari method of folding, so I folded all the clothes in my dressers so I could see each item.  I also got rid of a lot of old t-shirts and tank tops that hadn’t been worn in years.  I have been hoarding a bunch of boxes from all my sponsored blog posts over the last year in my closet, so I was happy that some of those could come in handy for my underwear, socks, and bras.  One thing I really love about Marie Kondo is that she teaches people to use what they have for storage.  She says to use what you have first before you buy anything new.  Old boxes make for great organizing tools.

clothes folding ideas
Top- Underwear and socks || Middle- T-shirts || Bottom- Tank tops

 My nightstand drawer is always a hot mess.  I just added a couple long baskets (HERE) from the Dollar Tree for my pens and random phone chargers.  I also left space for my journals.  My bathroom drawers are similar.  The baskets just help keep it from turning into a big mess.

Night stand organizing idea

Toddler Room
Jack’s room is actually my favorite room in our house.  It has 2 big windows that let in lots of light and has a vaulted ceiling.  It’s the perfect room for a nursery.  The older Jack gets though, the harder it is to keep up with him and his mess.  He wants to play with everything.  That’s why I had to drop him off at school on my day off work just so I could go through his stuff without him freaking out.  Getting rid of baby things is hard for me because I am still hoping for one more, but I realized when it comes to clothes, I’m not going to want to keep everything.  A lot of his baby clothes were in really bad shape.  I had to ask myself “will this bring me joy to see it on another baby?”  If it had stains on it, I said no.  I only kept the clothes that were in really good shape and something special.  I folded up everything and stored it in a plastic storage bin from Target (HERE).

In Jack’s closet, his stuff was pretty messy.  At one point I had his closet organized, but now it was just a mess.  I added a couple baskets, eliminated the diaper boxes with old clothes in them and folded up his blankets nicely, and now everything fits so nicely.  In his dresser, I folded his clothes like mine.  The rest of Jack’s toys are in his play area in the living room.  We use an organizer (HERE) to store all his toys and for all the miscellaneous toys my husband just throws them all into his old Pack n Play.  It’s not pretty, but it does the job for now.

Budget-friendly toddler closet organizing ideas- Before
Before

Budget-friendly toddler closet organizing ideas-After
After

Now that I’ve reorganized my house, I feel ready to take on the year.  I know that it’s going to help when we have to pack up.  It feels so good to purge and have a place for everything.  If you haven’t watched Marie Kondo’s show yet, I highly recommend it.  Have you purged and re-organized your house this year yet?  I’d love to hear your stories!!

Shop the Post

Filed in: Motherhood, Organizing, Thrifty Tips • by Katie Haller • Leave a Comment

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »
Thrifty Wife Happy Life Profile picture

Hi I'm Katie! Welcome to my blog! I am on a mission to help women build a wardrobe that they love without spending a lot of money doing it. I believe that everyone has the right to feel good in their outfit, no matter what your budget is! I am excited to have you here!
About me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Follow me

Amazon favorites

Search

Archives

Disclosure

This blog contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link I earn a small commission.  For more information click HERE!  Thank you for your support!

Follow

@thriftywifehappylife

thriftywifehappylife

Affordable everyday petite (5’1) mom style
A mix of affordable retailers + thrifted fashion
👨‍✈️Wife + Mom of 2 💙💗
💌 katie@thriftywifehappylife.com

What I wore this week as a 40-year old mom of 2! What I wore this week as a 40-year old mom of 2! 

The weather had been terrible this week 😩 So I basically wore my go-to comfort outfit combo all week long— thrifted jeans + cardigan/sweater + ballet flats. 

How is the weather where you live this spring?? 

🛍️Comment OUTFITS and I will send you the link to all my daily outfits! 

#dailyoutfit #realoutfit #thriftedstyle #momstyle #momoutfits #momfashion #wiwtw
My Mom-Friendly Summer Capsule Wardrobe is LIVE on My Mom-Friendly Summer Capsule Wardrobe is LIVE on the blog! ☀️

✨See all 96 outfits in blog post!! Outfit reel coming soon!! 

🛍️Comment SUMMER and I will send you the
link to the blog post!! 🔗https://thriftywifehappylife.com/2025/05/effortless-summer-mom-capsule-wardrobe-2025/

#capsulewardrobe #summercapsule #momoutfits #momstyle #summerstyle #effortlessstyle #affordablefashion
What I wore then vs. What I wore now I have alway What I wore then vs. What I wore now

I have always loved cardigan sweaters. Lately I’ve been wearing them buttoned up, which is an easy way to update the style and wear it in a new way! 

🛍️ Comment LINK and I will send you the shopping link to the updated outfit! 🔗https://liketk.it/5erRV

#whatiworethenvsnow #outfitideas #updatingmillenialoutfits #updatingoutfits #whitepants #cardiganoutfit
If you are over spending money this school year, b If you are over spending money this school year, but still want to send in a little end of the year appreciation gift to your kid’s teacher then this $5 gift idea is a perfect! 

@walmart has these cute little faux plants for under $5! I googled these free printable tags and used some left over Christmas ribbon to make these cute little end of year teacher gifts. 🪴

🛍️Comment TEACHER GIFT and I will send you the shopping links to this post! 🔗https://liketk.it/5emTs

#teacherappreciation #teachergift #walmartgifts #walmartfinds #giftsunder5 #affordablegifts
Field trips, field day, park day… if you’re lo Field trips, field day, park day… if you’re looking for a cute casual outfit to wear to any of these places, this is a great go-to! 

This top has a built in bra which is so convenient and comfortable! Skirt has built in shorts! Both are super easy to accessorize! 

🛍️Comment LINK and I will send you the shopping link to this post! 🔗https://liketk.it/5edIb

#amazonfinds #amzonstyle #fieldtripoutfit #momootd #momoutfits #momstyle
Amazon vacation dresses 👗 🌴 I’m loving al Amazon vacation dresses 👗 🌴

I’m loving all these beautiful dresses from @gracekarin_brand! These will all be coming on vacation with me this summer!! Which dress is your favorite? 

🛍️Comment DRESS and I will send you the shopping links to this post! 🔗https://liketk.it/5e77Y

#vacationdress #amazondresses #gracekarin #gksummer #gracekarinstyle #affordablefashion #amazonfinds #outfitideas #vacationstyle
I’ve been doing a lot of outfit brainstorming fo I’ve been doing a lot of outfit brainstorming for my cruise vacations coming up next month! That’s why  today on the blog I am breaking down some outfit ideas for all the different places you need outfits for on a Caribbean cruise! 

✨Comment CRUSE and I will send you the link to my blog post with all the outfit details! 
💻🔗https://thriftywifehappylife.com/2025/05/cruise-wardrobe-what-to-wear-for-a-caribbean-cruise/

#cruiseoutfits #cruisevacation #vacationoutfits #resortwear #momstyle #affordablestyle
What I wore this week as a 40-year old mom of 2! What I wore this week as a 40-year old mom of 2! 

This week we finally got some warmer weather which meant I could take my outfit pictures outside! But that was short lived because it’s cold and rainy again 😩

Let me know what day is your favorite! 

🛍️Comment OUTFITS and I will send you the shopping links to all my daily outfits! 

#dailyoutfits #momstyle #momoutfits #outfitideasforyou #momootd #sahmstyle
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2025 · Thrifty Wife Happy Life