I figured out on my own steps to methodologically get it in “in order” except for the last row. Getting the bottom four corners takes me a some time, I figured out moves to “scramble” them such that they mix and then get arranged green side down (I always did it blue side up, green side down), but it takes trial and error wth this method to get them correct. Then it’s usually just a couple moves to get the last non-corner pieces in place.
Even though I can solve the thing in maybe ten minutes, the fact that I never really got a sure-fire method down to finish it makes it still have some entertainment value for me, which might not have been there otherwise. I pick up the thing and play with it every once in a while still.
Although, it’s not a bad idea to read several different solutions and know when you can apply sequences from a few different ones. That’s probably the best way to get decently fast at it.
I like this illustrated solution given here but you must scroll down and click the black box that says CLICK HERE (someone more sophisticated than I might be able to link to that directly somehow)
Myself, I usually get all of the edge pieces first, and then use a sequence of corner-only moves. The edges on the top face are trivially easy, and the ones along the side nearly so, but for the bottom face, you’ll need to find some operations which affect only those edges without disturbing the others. I find that I need two such operations, which used in the correct sequence will suffice. Then, there are a few operations which will affect corner pieces without disturbing the edges. Again, applying those in the correct order will eventually get them all. There are also a few patterns which I’ve learned to recognize: For instance, just before I finish, I’ll often (50% of the time, in fact) end up with two corner pieces left, both in their correct places, but rotated one place. I’ve memorized the way to get from there to the solution.