Getting Organized with 70-peso Shoe Boxes

I didn't have work the whole week because of Spring Break. And one of my great accomplishments this week, aside from starting a blog, is having my shoes all organized and labeled. I'm a complete shoe addict so I really need to have a system. Before, when I just had my shoes in their original, store-provided shoe boxes, it was hellish having to look for a particular pair that I wanted to wear. I had to go through every single one. Shoes that were placed at the bottom of the pile were easily forgotten too. In other words, out of sight -- definitely out-of-mind.

Finally, I put aside some time this week to remove all of the shoes from their boxes to place them all in one massive pile. It was a real treat! It was like I just went shopping. You see, I was able to find at least 5 new pairs of shoes that I had completely forgotten I had! There's the multi-colored stiletto that I bought in Bangkok three years ago! Not once did I ever wear that pair! Oh and my favorite houndstooth, "Jackie O"-ish shoes! There were other beautiful pairs that I got from my previous trips that somehow, managed to slip my mind.

I had wanted to organize the shoes for the longest time. But first, I had to look for perfectly-sized plastic shoe boxes that won't break the bank. I've gone to True Value, Ace Hardware, Rustan's, SM, Landmark, and other department stores and hardware stores. In these stores, I found three types of shoe boxes that could work. One was a clear box which held only one pair of shoes. It would have been really nice to have gotten that box. Since it's a clear box, it would be easy to see what's inside. The down side to getting it is the price. It costs more than 100 pesos each! With 60 pairs of shoes needing a home, it wasn't practical to get it. In total, it would be at least P6,000. That's equivalent to one really good pair of Nine West shoes with change! Aside from the price, there's the space issue too. Where would I put 60 shoe boxes??!??The other kind that I found was really cheap. Only P50 each. It's a "clear-ish" box that can also fit one pair of shoes. I say "clear-ish" because the box, itself, is not as transparent as the other one. It's kind of frosted. Does that make sense? Anyway, it would have worked. But what I didn't like is the built-in lid at the top. You'll need both hands to flip it open from the middle. The plastic used for the lid is not very sturdy too. It is bound to give way if you pile at least 3 boxes on top of it.The last kind that I considered and eventually bought, is the P70 kind from SM Makati. It can comfortably fit two pairs of shoes (given that they're not both stilettos) and it's quite affordable too. Instead of needing 60 boxes, I only needed 40. I worked it out so that all of my flip flops and thin sandals could fit in one box, 2 of my medium-sized shoes could fit in one box each, and stilettos or my really high-heeled shoes can have its individual box. Not only did I save money from getting this but more importantly, I also saved on space! Yay for me! Now I have extra money to buy another pair of shoes! ;-)

Since the boxes are not that transparent, I needed to take a picture of each pair of shoes, paste two of the pictures onto PowerPoint and save the slide as a jpeg file. Then I brought my USB to Fuji Digital Exchange at Glorietta to have the pictures printed out. I availed of the promo (they might still have it!) and paid only P4 for each 3R picture. Cheap huh? Other places like Kodak charge around P7 per picture. More savings!!! I love it. ;-)