How do I get on top of everything?

[Swaliswan]

We moved in to our house nearly two years ago and I've never managed to get on top of things. We don't really have enough storage and don't have enough money to buy more. There is stuff dumped everywhere and consequently it is really difficult to clean the place. I'm starting to get to grips with having three young children and sorting things out a bit as the youngest is now nine months old. But I have no idea where to start with getting on top of things properly. If everything was sorted, it would be OK keeping everything up together. I'm still very tired but if I don't get an action plan up together soon, I'll be going back to work with a total pigsty of a house!

Any tips gratefully received!

i work 4 days a week and have one dc and i struggle so i understand you when you have 3! i start at the top of the house and work my way down. i have been in our house 8 years now and have ran out of space. ds has storage tubs under his metal framed bed so that all his toys can go out of the way very easily (behind these are our suitcases filled with our holiday things). i keep a storage tub at the top of the stairs and 1 at the bottom and fill then with things that need to go up/down stairs. when they are full i take them up/down and put things away as i go about my day. once a month i have a clean right through, otherwise each week on a saturday in the following order

make the beds and put away clothes/toys etc
hoover all upstairs,
polish/wet wipe over furniture in all rooms
quick clean of bathroom, eg toilet sink and bath
hoover down the stairs
hoover all downstairs
polish/wet wipe furniture
bleach kitchen worktops, sink etc

i find starting upstairs is best because we use the downstairs more so by the time i get down stairs cleared up the upstairs is still ok, whereas if i did it the other way round then by the time i got upstairs there would be pots in the kitchen sink etc

What countydurhamlass says is great advice once you've got it all sorted, but to get it to the sorted stage will take dedication and ruthlessness (and I speak from experience - I have three young DCs; the youngest is 7m and the eldest has just turned 4 so until last week, I had all three at home with me all the time).

What I did was take a room at a time, starting at the top, and absolutely blitzed each room, being ruthless with what could be chucked or freecycled, and moving anything that didn't 'belong' in that room into its rightful room (not tidily, just dumped until I got to that room), went through drawers and any storage we did have, and cleared surfaces. Moved on from one room to the next, although I did buy some cheap storage (ikea trofost tubs for the kids' rooms - only a couple of quid each, and they stack and fit under kids' beds) and a cheap homebase style pine shelving thingy for shoes we use.

That was a couple of months ago now, and it's now much easier to stay on top of things if I wasn't MNetting all the time! :o

And by one room at a time, I mean one room per day (and did this over about four or five weeks) - starting in our room so I could go to bed feeling all calm! :)

I'm in a similar position so interested in any more advice.