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Show Makes Cents j Dear Readers: I'm giving you today, as nearly as I can in her own words, the way an extremely busy mother saved four hours of work a week. ''Feeling so discouraged I wanted to cry as I looked at a mountain of laundry before me (Actually it was only two days' accumulation of dirty clothes from eight active people.) I decided something had to be done. The laundry was taking too much of my time. After discussing the problem with my husband and older children, we came up with a plan that's working so well we wonder why we didn't think of it years ago. "The first step was to build two laundry bins for each bedroom, one for light, the other for dark clothing. These are simply 12" boards nailed across the end of each closet, about a foot out from the wall. "Next we got eight medium sized cartons the same shape and size from the grocery store and painted the fronts of each a different color. Each person was assigned a color and all clothes were tagged to match, using cloth tags sewed on. Clothes from the dryer were sorted into these boxes. "Next came rules and a laundry schedule for the bulletin board. A. each person is responsible for bringing his or her own clothes and bed linen to the laundry room on the appointed day. B. All sox must be pinned together in pairs with a safety pin at the toe where the material is thick. C. Anything left in a pocket will be confiscated andor the owner fined 25c. "Two colors were scheduled for each day, Monday through sday. Example, Red, (Susie) and Blue (Benji) for Monday; Green and yellow, (Bob and Don) on Tuesday; and so on. By I bedtime, those whose i clothes were washed that I day must have them , folded, put away, and their boxes returned to the laundry room. ' "On Saturday, we wash I darks and wash-and-' wear. Someone irons (we take turns) while the i washer and dryer are . going so that we're right there to take things out promptly and put them on hangers. This saves a lot of ironing. Bed linens are stored in the bedrooms where they are used to avoid having to search for the right size of sheets, since we have three different sizes of beds. This also releases space in the linen closet for other items. "Even our four-year-old takes care of his own clothes. What a relief a little organization and follow-through can bring to a busy household." So, there you have it, Readers. One family's actual experience in getting organized. Does it give you any ideas? With love, Vi. Dear Vi: We keep emergency phone numbers taped to the underside of the telephone receiver. What a blessing this was when I had to call the fire department today. I'm afraid I would have gone to pieces if I had had to look up the number, or even go through the operator. As it was, I remained calm and told them exactly where to come and they got here before there was extensive damage. Enid Rasmussen Are you keeping your home too cool during these mid-summer moths? If so, your budget is suffering and, without knowing it, so are you. It defintiely isn't good for you to experience a drastic temperature change when you leave the house. A mere 5 percent higher setting on your thermostat when you have central air-conditioning can make a big difference in both your electric bill and your health |