Why I Love Original Blue Dawn Dish Soap

Original Blue Dawn Dish Soap is a major cleaning staple at my house.  I use it to get set in grease stains out of clothing, in my recipe for all purpose cleaner and recently I found it removes set it stains in carpet.

My husband and I teach an adult Sunday School class at our church and the room that we use has light blue carpet.  Since we have taught this class there has always been this dark, almost black stain on the carpet - about the size of a large coffee can.  Every now and then somebody makes a comment about it so last week I took a bottle of Dawn Dish soap to the church in hopes that I would at least get most of the stain out.  Wrong!!!  It totally removed this stain.  All I did was squirt some Dawn soap on the stain and work it in with a clean wet rag.  Then I rinsed the rag and got all of the soapy residue out.  I was amazed that it was that easy.  

You can get a small bottle of Dawn at Dollar General stores for around a $1.00 and many times I see coupons for 25 cents off.  When the large bottles are on sale, I stock up as this product is my go to for a lot of things.  

Next up on making my cleaning job easier, I purchased one of those pull carts that you use to carry your groceries home from the grocery store.  It is a medium sized cart and looks like this:

I purchased this as a birthday gift for myself.  This cart holds all of my cleaning supplies plus I put a garbage bag over the handle and load it with trash as I go.  I keep this cart loaded and in my basement.  When it is time to clean I carry it upstairs and wheel it from room to room in my house as I clean.  When I used to dust before, I would set the dusting spray down somewhere and dust and when I would need some more, I couldn't find where I set it down.  Now everything goes back into the cart.   This has saved me a tremendous about of time and frustration and yes, I loved using birthday party to buy it for myself.  

It's the little things that make my life easier that I enjoy.  Especially when it means I can cut down on cleaning time so that I get more sewing time.  

Kitchen Sparkle - Declutter Lesson

Oh my goodness, last week and this week have been filled with “Kitchen Sparkle.”  I’m working that lesson but it is definitely taking longer because of the day to day interruptions.   One big interruption is our dog, Molly.  She will be one next month and she is definitely all puppy.  – but back to the Kitchen Sparkle lesson.  I have been taking the time to go through the cupboards and I am purging them of stuff I don’t need and of too many duplicates that I don’t need.  It’s freeing and it is so much easier to cook when you can find items easily in drawers and cabinets. 

I was going to post pictures but I decided against it.  Sometimes pictures tend to turn into brag sessions.  Just imagine that you have cupboards that are stuffed full with all sorts of gadgets, dishes, plastic storage items and such.  When you need something, especially a container for leftovers, it sends you on a hunt and it ends with frustration.  There is the bottom but no lid.  Ugh.

Now imagine that you have been able to give away about ¼ of all that clutter and now you have pretty shelf paper down on the shelves, everything is orderly and when you need an item, you can easily find it.  Putting clean dishes away is a breeze.

It’s a wonderful feeling to have that job done.  I have decluttered a little in the dining room as I had a set of fiesta ware style dishes hidden in the back of a kitchen cupboard that I moved to the dining room buffet; which meant I had to declutter the buffet for those dishes to fit into. 

I went through the standard “I better hang on to this as I may need it some time.”  One of those items was a gadget that peels and slices an apple.  It has sat in a box for a few years.  I always thought I would use it when I canned apple pie filling, but I found that when I turned the crank to peel and slice the apple, some grease would get on the apple.  It was a pain to store, an equal pain to use and I found that I could peel an apple and slice it up the old fashioned way in a short amount of time.  A vegetable/fruit peeler takes up a small amount of space compared to the box that gadget came in. 

Sometimes we fall into the trap of owning too many kitchen gadgets when a simple old fashioned kitchen tool will do the job just as well.  A nice knife can chop and dice vegetables, it fits nicely into a drawer versus having a hand chopper that yes, can do the same job faster, but it takes up a lot more space. 

The same holds true of a lot of pots in different sizes and several pans.  I have come to realize that at one time I can only have 4 items on the four burners on my stove.  I don’t need 3 large skillets.  Two is plenty.  I don’t need 3 large pots, two will be fine.   How many sets of dishes you do need?  If you ever really have that potluck for 36 people don’t you think that you could use disposable plates or better yet, ask the people to bring their own plates?

Those just in case times never seem to come but if they do, I can call my daughter in law and borrow a pan or a pot and that will be fine OR I can improvise. 

We fill our houses with gadgets that we really don’t need.  They are like a new car that loses its thrill after a couple of weeks.   They cost money, they take up space and most of them take a lot of time to clean and maintain. 

My challenge to you is to look at those gadgets and think about how long it has been since you used them.  Treat them like clothes.  If you haven’t used them in a long time, maybe it is time to give them away.  Clean out those cupboards and drawers and get your kitchen in order so you can cook with ease.  Better yet, so you can quit eating out and eat home more. Save money, time and frustration beginning this year.

I am enjoying this first step of getting my house in order.  Next up with the Kitchen Sparkle lesson is to deep clean the kitchen.  This will be so much easier to do with less stuff in the room.

Been on a Blogging Vacation.

I found that I needed to take a break from blogging for a couple of weeks during a busy time for me.  It also gave me time to just think about everything I have going on in my life.  No, I’m not having a mid-life crisis.  You see, September is that time when kids are going back to school and for me it is the best time to evaluate what I am doing and if I need to make any changes.

During July I began my training at the public library which took about two weeks.  Then I worked my regular part time hours plus I filled in for some full time employees who were on vacation.  Toss into that the normal August chaos of my husband coaching cross country and it got a little hectic.  My schedule has settled down and I am now working my normal 5 hours each Saturday at the library.

I can now breathe some.  Tonight I am spending some time looking at the calendar and planning out September.  This summer I was unable to work on scraping and painting the outside of our house.  It just wasn’t going to happen in 105 degree Fahrenheit weather.  Now I don’t have as much time to get the job done so I am having to compromise.  My plan is to paint the main color on the lower half of the house plus the two overhangs over the large windows in the living room and the dining room.  It is what I am going to refer to as the minimum requirement of painting on the house for this year.  If I have more time and the weather holds, I will do more. 

Next up is to clean the inside of our house from top to bottom in order to get ready for the winter months ahead and that means digging through closets and getting rid of “stuff.”  I also need to spend some time washing windows inside and outside, something that I have been putting off. 

I got behind on a lot of my housework and household projects this year.  I'm digging my way out.  

In order to get back on track on some of these projects I need to take an hour or so each week to review my calendar and review my plans.  I really need to stay on task in order to stay on top of all of the housework and the projects we have to get done in our house.  This is hard as I get sidetracked very easily. 

It’s odd but once I take out my calendar and get some planning done, I feel inspired to get to work and get things done.  It kind of takes me back to my days at the law firm when I loved to look at the work calendar and plug projects into place and then I worked the plan in order to get everything done.  I apply the same principle to my home.  Take the task, break it down into manageable pieces and calendar when you will get the pieces done.  It doesn’t take a special computer program to do this, a simple calendar and a spiral notebook will work just fine.

Now on to food . . . well, I’m sure all of you have noticed that the prices on many items have gone up.  It was a given with the drought.  I never thought I would be paying $1.89 a lb. for apples.  We live near some apple orchards and the drought has really affected their crops.  Again, it was expected to happen.  So, I have found that I have to bite the bullet and pay the price for fresh produce as we go through a lot of apples and bananas.  Today I was able to buy whole cantaloupe for only 99 cents each, so I bought three.  Also I have had several people give me some cucumbers, peppers and zucchini from their garden, which I gladly accepted.  Last month a neighbor was going to be out of town for 5 days and he asked me to pick up his mail, water his tomatoes and flowers and keep an eye on his house.  In return instead of getting paid (something I refused to do) he told me I could have as many tomatoes as I wanted from his tomato patch.  What a deal.  We ate our fill of grape tomatoes, Roma tomatoes and beef steak tomatoes. 

The best way I know to save on produce is:   1.  Don’t overbuy.  In other words, don’t buy so much produce (or anything else) that it spoils before you can use it.  I would rather go to the grocery store every two days to pick up fresh produce than to have the stuff go wilty and mushy in the produce drawer in my fridge.  2.  If the prices are too high on some produce such as berries or peaches (as an example), then don’t buy them.  Go with cheaper produce such as apples, pears or bananas or buy the berries in their frozen form if cheaper.  3.  If you have a local Farmer’s Market see if their prices are cheaper or if you have a neighbor that has a garden with surplus produce, consider approaching them and ask if you can purchase some of their produce.  Or better yet, make a trade.  For example, I would bake a few loaves of my whole wheat sour dough bread in return for fresh produce from someone’s garden.  4.  It’s too late this year, but next year consider planting a small garden. In my case I want to plant some tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers only if we don’t have another drought year. 

If you are struggling with your budget due to high prices on many commodities, you may have to make some serious decisions.  Cut in one area of your budget to find the money to spend on food if you need to or find a way to increase your income.  I can tell you that there are a lot of people who use our local library instead of paying for cablevision in their homes.  Many people come in to borrow dvd’s, books, c.d.’s and more for their entertainment versus paying for cablevision.  Many others have cancelled their internet service and use the library’s computer lab or the library’s wi-fi. 

As to increasing income, I had an opportunity recently that fell in my lap. My neighbor needed someone to watch her 8 year old son 4 days after school.  I decided to do it.  I get paid $5 (each day) to watch him for a little over an hour.  This little guy is the nicest little boy and he is very polite.  I fix him a snack and talk to him, help him with his homework and I let him watch some public television.  He is old enough to go the grocery store with me and I actually look forward to seeing him after school. 

So if you’re struggling and getting discouraged, take heart.  You can make it, but you may have to make some decisions and let go of some conveniences in order to meet your budget.  

30 Day Strategic Plan and a little "take" on JP Morgan

J.P. Morgan made a big mistake recently. You can read about it here. They didn't lose taxpayer money, it was their own but it did beg to ask the question: have they not learned from past mistakes? Then again in business, you have to take some risks, and JP Morgan will continue on to make a lot of money this quarter.  

I'm not much of a risk taker.

In the midst of the financial crisis of 2008 I always separated the investment banks and the regular local community banks. You know the difference - there is the big Wall Street type investment bank and then there is the local mom and pop bank in every community. The mom and pop banks in our community know the faces and names of their customers. 

I bring this up because when we look at a big company like J.P. Morgan, it is easy for us to point the finger at them but many times we need to also point the finger back to us. Are we taking risks with our own finances by purchasing things we can't afford or by not saving money? In our day to day life do we go over budget constantly and never plan ahead? 

Perhaps the problem is that we have taken the "humanity" out of business but we can't do that in our own families. In other words, when I sit down at the table at night I face the people that depend on my husband and I to make wise financial choices. I also look across at my husband and know we have a responsibility to each other to make sure that when we retire, we have enough money to live on. We are a team working towards the same goal.

Today as I am doing laundry I am taking as much time as possible to plan the next 30 days in our household. I am working on menu plans, reviewing seasonal projects that need to be worked on, scheduling housework and sewing projects along with reading the first two chapters in "Home Comforts." I am also setting up a new budget plan to see if there is any way we can reduce our spending and get more money into savings. Anything that can't be done in 30 days will be added to the next 30 day planning session and my goal is that once I have done a 30 day plan that I could spend a little time each week working on a 3 month and 6 month plan for household projects.

Businesses would call it "strategic planning" and in a sense that is what I am doing. I'm just being smart by planning my strategy to do what it takes to run my household in the most economic way I can. 

I want to challenge everyone to make a 30 day plan. Sometimes you think - I don't have anything else I can do to save money but if you come up with a plan on how and when you are going to get the necessary work done to keep your household going, you will be surprised how many financial decisions arise. For example, I have a couple of days over the next few weeks that will be busy days. Those will be the days to plan meals for the crockpot and such. Those will be the days that I will be thankful that I worked ahead of time to have my household organized so that when I am gone, everything will keep running smoothly. Making a plan means no dining out those days because a meal will be either in the freezer to pop in the oven or in the crockpot ready to eat.

Already I have things spinning in my mind of what I need to get done. I have so much junk in my basement and garage now that I need to get this stuff pulled out, thrown out or given away. This requires a plan. What kind of plan? How about a 3 day set aside for this project alone? It means I will need to have help since I can't lift a lot of heavy items. It also means I need to have access to my husband's truck so that I can take the majority of these items to Goodwill and donate them. 

Ah - a plan. I love it. I get distracted easily but if I actually sit down and schedule the next 30 days out and stick to the plan, if only 75% of the time, then it will be a success. Things will arise and I will have to tweak some things and even make some changes, but when 30 days are up I know that I will have accomplished far more than I ever would have if I would have just made it up each day as I went. 

So here is the challenge: set aside some time to plan out the next 30 days of your life. Get everything down on paper or in your computer. Be realistic. Don't for example say that you are going to paint your livingroom in an afternoon. Come on, you can't do that. You and I both know that you have to pick the color, prep the walls, move the furniture, and start the work. Schedule everything with your style of work in mind, that is, do you easily get distracted?  Are you a morning person and that is when you should schedule the bulk of your work?  Do you like to work without taking many breaks or do you like to work for 30 minutes and take a break?  Be sure and schedule some fun time for yourself. That is what sewing and reading does for me. 

Pick a day that you want to begin. Mine is tomorrow May 15th. You could start May 20th or the 21st. It doesn't have to mean that you start on the 1st or the 15th. Just pick a day, get your planning done ahead of time and then work your plan.

May we all be successful in our planning and when we aren't 100% successful, may we not give up and be too hard on ourselves.

Housekeeping and a bit of this and that

I suck at housework. Okay, for some people that may be a little strong language, but I really am not a good housekeeper. I want to be a good housekeeper. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of a reality check such as having attainable goals for what I want to accomplish in a day. 

I have been sick with a bad cold for about 5 days. Today I did what was minimally necessary to keep our house going without creating chaos. This meant tidying but not cleaning. It mean that I took my husband up on his suggestion to order pizza (great coupon deals right now) and take a break. So, what did I do? I read books on my Kindle. I started one book last night and spent the entire morning reading and dozing when I got tired. Then I had a simple lunch and sat on the back porch and did some more reading and dozing. It was a perfect day. Even our new puppy, Molly, cooperated with my schedule. She took a lot of naps and played outside.

So, here I sit feeling pretty good about finally reading a book that I had been wanting to read and even more important I went through a ton of "samples" of books on my Kindle. Now I can delete samples and put some on my wish list. 

Back to housework - I am finally taking the time to really sit and evaluate my housekeeping skills. Perhaps I should call it my annual review. When I worked at the law firm, I prided myself in constantly educating myself on the law.  I asked questions and I read a lot.  I will be applying the same zeal to studying housekeeping.  

Beginning on Monday I am going to go chapter by chapter through three books that I have only used as references when I have a problem. I've talked about these books before here. They are "Home Comforts" by Cheryl Mendelson; "Homekeeping Handbook" by Martha Stewart and "Laundry" by Cheryl Mendelson. Now the time has come to quit using them as a reference and actually sit down and read them and apply what I learn to running my own household. 

Time to get serious and read, study, calendar, plan and see what becomes of it all.  I am beginning with the book Home Comforts. Anyone want to go on this Home Ec 101 journey with me?  

My goal is to work through these books over the summer and apply what I am learning as I go. Do I want to be a Martha Stewart? No. I just want to be the best housekeeper that I can be just like I wanted to be the best legal assistant that I could be when I worked outside the home. I know that along the way I will learn to take better care of the "things" in my house such as furnishings, clothing, electronics and better meal preparation which in turn will save me money and keep me on track.

Phone Apps that are Helpful

We dropped our land lines about 2 years ago. It was a great move especially during the "political season." I am learning more and more to take advantage of all the "Apps" out there for my Android phone - the free ones of course. These Apps keep me on track and have become a great help to me. Here are few of my favorites.

1. I use the App "Any.Do" as my list for writing anything and everything down that I need to do. I consider it my answer to the little piece of paper that I would right things down and then would lose by the end of the day. You can write your things to remember under "Today," "Tomorrow," "This Week," and "Later." Why do I like this App? It is simple and isn't complicated at all. It is easy to move things around and cross them off.

2. "Out of Milk" is the App I use for my shopping list. I simply create lists for each grocery store with what I am going to buy. It is easy to manage the lists and cross off the item after you have purchased it. You can also use the to do list, but I prefer the Any.Do list for a to do list. You can create a pantry list with this App which I plan to do as soon as I find the time.

3. "Prayer List" is the App I use to keep track of any prayer needs and also prayers answered. I love this App as it helps me track prayers.

4. "Spentable" is the App I recently downloaded to track my spending under different categories. So far it is working quite well and is helping me to get back on track and spend less.

5. "Prayers and Blessings" is an App that shows a different prayer and Bible verse each day. I like it's simplicity. You can easily share the prayer and Bible verse with anyone via e-mail, text message, clipboard or Social networking. There are days I need a quick "lift" and I find that all I need to do is to look at the prayer and verse of the day.

6. "DVD Shelf" is the App that I use to keep track of my d.v.d. library. This is a really fun App. You simply scan the bar code of your d.v.d. and it is automatically added to your "library" along with a picture of the front of the dvd. I love owning dvd's and there are times that I am out bargain shopping at Goodwill and I come across d.v.d.'s on sale for $1.00. I'll find one and wonder if I already have it. Many times I buy d.v.d.'s on sale as gifts and sometimes I get mixed up as to if I own it or bought it as a gift for someone else. This keeps me on track.

What do I look for in an app for my phone? I look at the reviews and then I make sure it is free. Also, I like apps that aren't too complicated. The more complicated, means the less I will use it. If I am going to grab my phone to quickly enter some kind of information, then I don't want to go through a lot of work to do it.

Why do I like Apps? They make my life easier. If I can quickly write something down that I must remember later, then Any.Do helps me. If I need something from the grocery store, then "Out of Milk" takes care of that for me. Because I need to track my spending, I love "Spentable." I love "DVD shelf" because it helps me organize my d.v.d. library. And because I am mindful of those in need and of my own spiritual needs, I love "Prayer List" and "Prayers and Blessing."

What are your favorite Apps?

Catching Up

This week I am playing catch up on housework and organization.  I need to sit down and make up some menu ideas and I need to deep clean our house. Another project that is high on my list is researching other possible money saving tips that could help stretch our money to the max.  Nothing is off the table - even if it is an extreme idea - if it can save me a lot of money, I am going to consider it.

Sometimes I wonder if it has all been said and there is nothing new I can learn that could save me money.   But I know there is - I just haven't looked hard enough. 

I have many projects that I want to accomplish over the next few months and I need to make a realistic plan.  Some of these plans are big ones – the exterior of the house needs to be scraped and painted, there are plans for the flower garden I want to have and there are projects such as going through old photographs and memorabilia and scrapbooking them. 

Each of these projects will take money – some obviously more than others – and all of them will take time.  I have a hard time when I have a “free” afternoon trying to decide what to work on. I am overwhelmed by “free” time.  If I have a project ready to work on, then I can immediately get to it. 

This week I will be organizing my large pantry in the basement and cleaning the rest of the house.  Along the way while I am cleaning I will keep a notebook handy to write down the projects that need to be done this year and the projects I would like to do.  I know the list will get to be too long.  The next step will be to pick the top three projects and go from there.

I have several sewing projects I would like to get to.  One thing that I plan to do this year is to hand sew a blouse.  I know, it sounds cumbersome and terribly old fashioned, but I have always wanted to hand sew an article of clothing for myself.  This is a project that I can take with me places, even when we are travelling in the car.  I am intrigued how women years and years ago sewed all of their clothing by hand.  If you purchase an article in a high end couture shop you would pay top dollar for anything that has been hand sewn.  So, I want to give it a try and I think it will be fun. Yes, for some people my idea of fun can be kind of warped.

Do you have any home projects and craft type projects you are working on?  How do you decide which project to work on first?

Feeling Organized Challenged? I am

With two college girls living with us, along with a son who is living at home and is a college student, our household has become more "active."   There are people coming and going; more people showing up for dinner and I love every moment of it!  It's brought life to this old house one could say.  But - and you knew there had to be a but -- I have become quite disorganized.  The girls moved in when I was in the midst of dealing with anxiety and getting back on Paxil so at the time I just maintained and did what I could.  Now it is time to figure out a new schedule, pull out the calendar and get to work. 

These girls moving in has been the best thing that has happened to our family in a very long time.  I love how they fit into our home life and what they have added to it.  I love how we have girl chats at the dining room table when they come home from classes and I love the friends they have over. 

I have been cooking up a storm and I have been using up the food from the freezer and the pantry.  It knew it would be a ministry to meet the needs of college students and their friends but I never realized how much I would get out of it myself. 

My new schedule began 2 weeks ago when they moved in but I haven't had a moment to be able to sit down and make up menus and a new housekeeping schedule.  I can only "play things by ear" for so long and then I find myself forgetting to do things. 

Being disorganized costs money and I have addressed that before.  The other problem with being disorganized is that it means wasted time.  I hate when I am constantly trying to find my keys or trying to find a book or you name it, trying to find something that I need right now but can't place my hands on it.  Fortunately I cleaned and organized the house from top to bottom before the girls moved in and because of this I have been able to spot clean here and there which has been helpful and I haven't spent too much time searching for things.  BUT --- it won't magically stay this way.  

My goal with getting organized is not to have a perfect household, but my goal is to get organized and on a good cleaning schedule so that I have more time to do the things that I want to do such as being available when someone wants to talk with me.  

Facing the New Year

As I posted yesterday I have been decluttering and cleaning my house.  I resolve that I will never let it get that out of control again.  It was ridiculous -- but I know I am not alone.  How many of you would rather do anything but clean your house however you enjoy a clean home? I did it in bits and pieces,spending an hour at a time getting the job done.  This meant that some rooms had stuff sitting in the middle of the room waiting to be sorted, but it was okay since it was a temporary situation.

I found more craft supplies than I knew I ever had.  I organized and sorted and am anxious to start using those items this year. 

In the end, if you have a messy, dirty disorganized house, do what I did - find a spot and start.  For me it was in the basement and when I started to get bored with the basement I moved to our bedroom.  I went back and forth between the basement and the bedroom until both were in good shape.  Then I moved on to other rooms. 

Just begin - in a short amount of time you will feel like I do now.

Disorganization leads to spending money.  It can be as simple as buying a packet of buttons because you can't find your button stash - but money is money and right now I have to really keep track of my spending.

Now that statement leads one to believe that I don't normally need to keep track of my spending. I have gotten out of the habit of tracking my spending.  Since I have been on Weight Watchers and have been tracking my food and exercise; I realized how important it is for me to really keep track of my spending.  Little bits of money have been slipping through my fingers. 

Many people have no spend days, weeks or months but I have resolved to just do a better job of keeping track of what I spend money on and be more accountable to myself and my family as to expenditures.

We're tightening our belts around here as we know that come summertime food and gas prices will be even higher.  College tuition is going up also.  So the pennies that we save now, will be needed for later.

Our college girls moved in yesterday and as I type this they are still unpacking and trying to find a place for their belongings.  In order to make good use of the space in their small room I need to find some kind of a tall bookshelf for them to put their books on and perhaps their t.v.  So, I checked Craigslist and found nothing.  Tomorrow I will head to Goodwill to see what possibilities are there.  The girls aren't worried about finding anything in a hurry.  They are grateful for anything that we do for them.   Actually, we may end up with the cinder blocks and boards standby.

With two new additions to our household, I need to come up with a new food budget.  I'm playing it by ear now - just trying to find my way and by the end of January I should have a feel for what is a reasonable sum - or not.  You see I am not buying a lot of meat as we are eating from the freezer. 

Lastly, I spiraled downward about two weeks ago.  I thought I was going to get better but I found myself becoming totally paralyzed by anxiety.  That's a new one for me.  I have been off Paxil for a month and as of today, I started back on the drug and am going to use half the dosage per my doctor's instructions.  I may just be one of those people who needs to take an antidepressant to get through menopause.  I'm not ashamed and feel blessed that I have the option of taking something to help me out. 

I have lost 5 lbs. in the past month and I know that going back on Paxil means the possibility of weight gain, but I'm not so sure.  I am committed to staying away from sweets and snacking on fruits and vegetables.  I've already taken on good eating habits and I am exercising a lot. 

So, here's to a year of eating well and exercising, tracking my spending and making a home for some dear college girls - and I will do all of this on a budget, without over spending and being more and more commited to living on one income and thriving. 

Next post:  what I am doing to prepare for our family's retirement years. 

I'll be back tomorrow - Been Decluttering!!!

Over the past 2 weeks I have decluttered my house from top to bottom and have just one last corner of the basement that needs sorted and tossed.  It is a good feeling to have given away and thrown away things that we don't need, don't use and are just taking up space.

The impetus to all of this is that our college girls are moving in tonight.  So every spare moment or perhaps should I say every time I felt like "digging in" I have done just that.  I gave away clothing, books, old c.d.'s and other items that we no longer needed. 

I feel like the queen of my castle since everything has a place and a purpose.   Which, as Martha Stewart says, "Is a good thing." 

Tomorrow I will post a little bit of this and that as to what I am working on for the year.

Decluttering

I got out of the habit of blogging while I was sick, but I am back at it.  The past week I have been trying to get the furnishings out of our den in order to transform it back into a bedroom for the college girls that are coming to live with us.  The problem is what to do with all of that stuff.  Fortunately our son and his wife have a large basement and they have offered to take the sofa sleeper if it doesn’t fit in the room with the bunk beds.  We have left it up to the girls. 

The den used to be our oldest son’s bedroom.  After he got married we started to make it into our den.  In that room is a small sofa sleeper, t.v. and stand, 2 file cabinets, 4 DVD storage shelves and our dog, Buddy’s, dog kennel.  Now the majority of that stuff is being moved to our upstairs, which means I am again moving stuff around and making room for everything.

One of my readers, Dani, made a comment recently that really got me thinking about how I have the majority of my work spaces spread out throughout the house.  I had a desk set up in a small room that also houses most of our book shelves, a sewing area in an alcove, a crafting area in another alcove and an area that has junk stuff in it that I need to sort through.   This reader was correct in that having things spread out isn’t very efficient and it just doesn’t make much sense.  But frankly I couldn't see how it could work any differently, until I actually started rearranging things.

I am working to stream line these areas.  I don’t like having things spread out, but sometimes you have to be forced to step back and take a new look at the spaces in your house. 

It is my goal to have everything sorted through and in good shape by next Friday.  I’m around 1/3 there and I am seeing results in how my home is looking which is keeping me motivated. 

I have two areas in my life that I struggle with:  procrastination and cleaning/decluttering.  These traits do not work well with someone pursuing a frugal lifestyle.  In fact, these traits work against a frugal lifestyle.  How?  I find myself struggling to find things which can lead to frustration which can lead to spending money on an item I already have and just can’t find.   Putting tasks off or procrastinating leads to frustration by not getting things done in a timely manner.  Laundry is an example and planning for meals.  Yes, these are the things that I fight with every day of my life. 

But this week I have seen the fruits of my labors.  I have been taking all of those items from the den and moving them upstairs – not all at once, but a little bit at a time.  It is getting done and  I am excited to see the decluttering and rearranging/organizing finally getting done.

I will post pictures when I am finished. 

Finding a Space

I have struggled for the past two years to come up with one spot in my house that I can call my own.  I wanted one room to be my office, sewing area, couponing, scrapbooking and craft area.  However taking over one room of the house isn't practical for our family. 

The den was going to be part office/part den, but my son uses that room to study.  He doesn't want me in there while he is studying and frankly, I can't work while he is in the room studying.  I like to listen to dvd's while I am working and he needs quiet. 

I decided that studying and getting good grades trumped my need to have an "office" in that room.   Before going further I need to explain what I mean by an office.  I need a spot where I can have a table and chair for when I need to type on my laptop and do my volunteer work, blog and a place where I can put things such as notes, papers and things for me to look over at a later date.

We have a tiny bedroom next to ours in the upstairs of our house.  And when I say tiny, I mean tiny.  We have lined the walls with bookshelves and technically it is more like a library than anything else.  Tonight I was able to rearrange book shelves so that I freed up enough space for a small desk (actually a rectangular shaped card table) and a file cabinet.  This is perfect for my needs.

Outside of this room is an alcove area where I have my sewing table with my sewing machine on it next to a file cabinet that contains notions and sewing supplies.  I also have plastic drawers that contain my fabric, patterns and my cross stitch supplies.  This area is perfect as a separate sewing space.

Around the corner from this is our bedroom and it contains another small alcove area.  Okay - perhaps I need to define alcove area - this is the area where the peaks meet in the gabled ceilings.  The ceilings are about 5 foot high in the center and then slope to a point where these areas have minimal use. 

In this area in our bedroom we have our old round diningroom table and I am making it my scrapbook, craft and couponing area.  Now when I want to leave my craft supplies or coupons out on a table, I can.  I don't have to move them when I need to do "office" type work.  I am hoping that over the next few days I can get all of my work areas pulled together. 

I am sooo tired of being disorganized and the frustration that comes with that.  It will be good to have a couple of areas where I can do my work and leave it undisturbed as needed.

Do you have any type of space in your home to call your own?  If not, seek a space.  I found mine in little places around my house.

I'm making this up as I go.

I'm making this up as I go.

I love the Indiana Jones movies and this is my favorite phrase from the first movie.  I’ve been using that phrase a lot lately as I am volunteering part-time at my church. 

Last July I felt it was time that I stepped up to the plate so to speak and give more time in service to my church.  I knew that this meant that I needed to make sure wherever I served, it was in an area that I was gifted in and that I enjoyed.  That does not mean that I don’t also do the tasks at church that are just plain needed and whether gifted or not, helping with cleaning up after a meal is just as important as planning an event.

I’m still trying to find the balance between my volunteer work and my responsibilities at home.   The past two weeks have been quite busy – mostly with getting our new dog Buddy used to his new home.  He’s thriving and we love him.  And my house has gotten messy AND horror of horrors – I have not done a good job of making up a grocery list.  Thankfully I still have quite a stocked pantry and freezer so I only need the basics.  It’s just that I keep going back to the store for the basics.  Why do I always forget the simple things like milk? 

Well I now keep that ever present piece of paper on the front of the refrigerator for my list.  Actually I have two.  One is for things we need from the store and one is for the things I think of that need done.  At least if both are attached to the fridge I won’t lose them.  Then I can take the to do list and put it in my planner.  I am always remembering things throughout the day and it is easier to quickly write them down on a piece of paper and then to sort those tasks out in the evening and put them in my planner.   

I love being busy doing things I love to do and giving my time to my church is something I love to do.  However, I love my home and domestic life just as much so it is important to find the balance between the two.  I am determined to keep the balance and most importantly to be careful and not let busyness get in the way of overspending on my budget.

What do you do to keep everything on track when life gets busy?

My Biggest Mistakes in Getting Organized & Cleaning

Mistake 1.  I purchased books and e-books or I spent time reading library books to tell me how to get organized and how to clean or set up a cleaning schedule.

I have a shelf of organization and housekeeping books.  The books I refer to the most are the ones that are more the advice type of telling me how to get out a particular stain and so on.  These are the old Home Ec style books.  The others are books that give advice on how to set up a cleaning or organization schedule. 

You might as well save your money.  We are all different and everyone has a different housekeeping style.  It set me up for failure to try to duplicate what someone else was doing.  While I could glean some tips, the bottom line was that what works for someone else didn’t necessarily work for me.

I remember when the first Sidetracked Home Executive books came out in the early 1980’s.  I read them because they did address the side tracked issue but I couldn’t keep up with their card system.

A better use of your time would be to sit down with a tablet of paper and ask yourself these questions.

a.  How much time do you have to spend on cleaning?

b.  Are you a “clean a little bit at a time each day person” or are you a “deep clean once a week kind of person.” 

c.  Can you delegate some of the tasks to other family members and do you want to do that OR would you prefer to do it yourself to your standards?

From these questions I could see what was realistic for me and what was unrealistic for me.  My goal was to have an uncluttered home and relatively clean home that I could maintain. Yes, that is right, that I could maintain and what was realistic for me.

Spending some time writing down a plan that was tailored to my personality and my needs was the best use of my time. 

Mistake 2.  I went out and bought a bunch of plastic containers before I started doing anything. 

You know what it is like.  You wake up one day and think “this is the day I will get organized.”  So you get in your car and go to the Big Box store and buy a bunch of plastic bins and containers to put stuff in.  Save your money. 

As you put things away, you will find out very clearly what you need or if you need anything at all.  Many times just clearing things out of closets and throwing and giving things away will clear up space.  After doing that you may need some plastic bins and tubs and you may find out you don’t need as much as you thought. 

Mistake 3.  I tried to tackle everything in one day.

I would get “Gung Ho” about cleaning and organizing.  You know what it is like, you make an announcement because you are at the end of your rope and decide that you will get your house in order that very day.  After an hour you begin to grow a little weary, you lose focus and you start to wane.  Many times you are left with a bigger mess because you leave things all over the place (piles that you are going to organize) thinking you’ll get right back to it later.

You didn’t get into this mess overnight and you aren’t going to get out of it overnight.  It’s great to be motivated, but don’t go overboard.

Mistake 4.  I tried to clean and organize at the same time. 

This is much to do at one time and again, it is too overwhelming.  It was much better for me to put things away in their proper place and then clean the house.  When the house was clean and in order, I could then start to sort through closets and drawers and de-clutter and organize. 

What has worked for me?

Again, remember, everyone is different.  I cleared off an area of the dining room table for me to work at so I wouldn’t be too distracted by my surroundings.  I sat down with a tablet of paper and a cup of coffee and I wrote down my ideas for getting things done.  The goal was to have a clean house and maintain it.  Then the second goal was to spend time going through all the stuff in my house and decide what would be kept, what would be tossed or given away and what I would need to organize and maintain the stuff. 

I cannot do a lot all at once not only because of my chronic back pain, but also because I lose interest.  So I came up with a plan to get things done by doing a little bit at a time and delegating things out when I wanted to.  Yes, I like things done my way, but there are some things that I don’t mine passing off on someone else. 

One thing I have quickly found out is that if I can pick things up at night in the main living areas of the home and then when I get up in the morning everything looks good enough that I feel motivated to get my work done.  Even if I need to clean, it is much easier to face it in the morning when everything is put in its proper place.

We are all different and we have special gifts and talents.  Time is better spent coming up with your own plan based on your personality and your style of living than to try to replicate someone else’s plan. 

It may be frustrating at first to sit down amidst the mess to make a plan, but it will help you out in the long run.  You will have a tailored made plan just for you. 

Here is my best cleaning and organization secret that I will give you for free.  Yes, I could go on t.v. and offer this for $9.95 plus shipping and handling, but today it’s free. 

What is this amazing tool?  A wire bound notebook.  Yes, a 1 subject wire bound notebook that you can get at Walmart for 15 cents during the back to school sales is my secret tool.   Keep this notebook in the room that you are cleaning or organizing in order to write down anything that you are remembering to do while you are working.  This will free your mind to stay on task because you don’t have to worry about remembering other things.  For example, while I am cleaning I will think of things such as the need to fill my prescription for my thyroid medicine or I will think of a gift to give someone for Christmas.  When I quickly write these things down in a notebook, then I can stay on task knowing that these thoughts are written down in a wire bound notebook that won’t get lost while I am working.

Living in a Messy House - Temporarily

When my kids were young, they loved all of the "Bernstein Bears" books.  I still have all of the them in hopes that my grandchildren will enjoy reading them.  "The Messy Room" book was their favorite.  As I look at the cover picture for the book, I think that the pictures should be reversed for me as I am the one with the messy room.

Over the past month I have been busy taking on new volunteer responsibilities.  Perhaps I should give this another name as "responsibilities" gives the connotation of "work" and the idea that I'm not having fun with what I am doing with my time.  I am having fun with all of the activities that I am involved in.

The problem is that I have neglected my housework.  I have been "putting the fires out" throwing a load of underwear into the wash when we are about out, and thankfully with a full freezer and pantry I have been able to throw a meal together in the last minute until about a week ago. 

Last night we ate a frozen pizza for supper as I was too tired to make a homemade pizza.  Now, that is not going to kill us and actually it tasted pretty good, but my disorganization has made it's way to the budget.  I am over budget in my spending on groceries and a few other places in the budget because I haven't sat down to actually make up much of a grocery list.

Aside from the money aspect it has led to the frustration in my life of trying to find things and just the mental anxiety of living in a home that is messy and disorganized. 

I don't like to clean but I love a clean house.  How many of us admit this?  I want a clean home with the yard work all done and everything put together with those beautiful fall mums in planted pots on the front porch, the yard trimmed and looking good and then when you open the door to the house you look into a livingroom that is clean, uncluttered and inviting.  The kitchen is always put together with a few little flowers in a bud vase.  The beds are made and everything smells so clean and wonderful. 

The house that I know that looks like that is one that is on the market to be sold and has to look like that in case someone stops by at any time to go through it.

So what to do.  Today I am decluttering the downstairs of my home.  By decluttering I am talking about simply picking up stuff and putting it in it's proper place.  The majority of the clutter has been caused by me.  I can't blame any other family members.  It is mine. I will then spend some time getting as much of my "desk work" done and organized.  

My family is willing to help clean if they know what I need them to do.  It is easier to give a task to do when things are put away.  My husband will vacuum and my son will clean the downstairs bathroom.  I will do a quick dusting and then tidy up the kitchen and wash the floor.  That is all it will take to bring the house into some order.  Then I can organize a deep cleaning day.

I haven't had time to just sit down and get my calendar out and get organized.  When I do that, my house and life run so much smoother.   

I don't want my days filled with work. I love to have time to sit down in the evening to read or watch a movie on Netflix or to be able to read the blogs that I follow.  Life shouldn't be all work, and there are times when you serve frozen pizza for supper or you get take out or hit the fast food restaurant for a quick meal.  It won't kill you and because it is rarely done in our house, it is a special treat. 

It will just feel good to be able to find a pen when I need it or that stupid to do list that I wrote and I lost and had to start over again two or three times.

New Fridge and Planning

I spent the bulk of my day dealing with refrigerators - the old one and the new one.  The freezer in the old fridge was still working and sincer the fridge part was still a little cool, I left produce and condiments in there.  This morning I went to the appliance store and finalized the purchase of the fridge.  Then I came home and took everything out of the freezer and put it in a cooler.  What didn't fit in the cooler went into the sink, with ice on it and covered with a towel. Then I took everything else out of the fridge and did the combining of the ketchup bottles - why are there always one bottle half full and the two others with a little bit in them?

At one point my son asked me what was for supper?  I pointed to the sink and told him "potluck."  We ended up having homemade vegetable beef soup along with homemade rolls all from the freezer.  Now the heat index was 105 degrees at dinner time and I was serving hot soup, but my family enjoyed it as we hadn't had homemade soup for a long time. 

The fridge is smaller which means the freezer above the fridge is smaller too.  Cleaning out and organizing the new fridge was the priority of the day.  After taking inventory of everything I am starting to make a menu plan for the month of August. 

As to my planning day, well, I'm still planning.  You know how you set aside some time to do something, and then urgent things take over?  Well, it happens, so I am still working on my lists and tasks.  Here is what I have been doing.  I would love to go all electronic, but I find that when I am at meetings at my church, I need to be able to look at my calendar by year, month, week and day.  My smart phone just doesn't do it for me for this purpose.  I need something to be bigger, so I just take my planner with a legal pad to any meetings I have. 

Yeah, I know, it is so old school but for now, it is the best I can do.  I do put appointments into my cell phone so I get a reminder, which is helpful. 

So here is a picture of what I have to work with.  My planner, my household notebook, my notebook with my church activities and my youth group notebook that has all of the information I need for preparing the meals for the youth group meetings.  When I go to a meeting, I grab the appropriate notebook and my planner.

My household notebook has a section for menu planning, pantry and freezer inventories, laundry section with tips and recipes for laundry soaps and pre-treatments, home improvement project lists, Bible Study, cleaning schedules (daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, annual), expense log and exercise/fitness log.  This is my command central notebook for running our household. 
 
Some day I would love to have a tablet computer like a Galaxy Tab 7 inch version and then I could put everything on it.  It's a dream but even if I had the money and I could afford it now, I wouldn't buy it.  Why?  Because I look at things differently now - especially money and what I am saving and buying. 

Now I am going to go and have a nice big bowl of ice cream. I found my favorite flavor in the back of the freezer (Butter Pecan).  I bought it a couple of weeks ago and forgot all about it. 

1/2 Day of Planning

This morning I am spending some time in planning and working on a new planning/calendar system.  My calendar expired at the end of July so I need to update or upgrade. 

What is necessary is that I need to upgrade to a system to handle more of the details in my life as I am getting busier.  Tonight I will report on what I am doing and I would love to hear from any of you as to whether you use some kind of system to organize home and family and other commitments.  Remember - everyone is different and everyone's system for being organized is different. 

One thing that is important to me is to maintain some kind of home organization as being organized does save money. 

Being Flexible

I keep a daily list of what I want to accomplish each day and while I may not get the entire list done, I try to get at least 75% of it completed. 

I had arranged my schedule today so that I could spend my afternoon painting.  I got home from Curves at 1:00 and was making my lunch when I got a text message from the Hy-Vee grocery store website.  Hy-Vee has NowWow deals about once a week and a few months ago I signed up on their website for their special deals that are sent as a text message.  I looked at my phone and for a limited time today I would be able to get $5 off of a $50 grocery purchase.

Last night I had prepared my grocery list and had planned on shopping at Fareway on Monday.  After I got that text message I grabbed my list and I grabbed my Fareway ad as Hy-Vee will match Fareway's sales.  I purchased 20 lbs. of hamburger on sale for $1.99 a lb. and 4 extra large bags of Malt o Meal cereal that were close to 40 ounces each for only $2.50 a bag and 2 dozen eggs @ 99 cents a dozen.  These were all items I was going to purchase on Monday but by being flexible with my schedule (and being prepared with my list) I was able to get an additional $5 off my purchase.

I may not be an extreme couponer but a deal is still a deal.

My House is a Mess

I need Samantha from the t.v. show "Bewitched" to show up at my house right now.  She could twitch her nose and the house would be clean and in order.  I'll handle the painting project in the livingroom, I just want her to take care of the housework.

I could use the excuse that my livingroom is messy due to the work I am doing in there, but truth be told, my house is messy from the upstairs to the basement.  When one area of my house gets out of hand, it doesn't take long for me to lose the rest of the house.  Have you ever experienced this?

About two weeks ago I noticed that I no longer was as sleepy during the day from taking Paxil.  It took about 2 months for my body to get used to taking this anti-depressant.  I had been taking a nap in the morning and in the afternoon to help me get through my day.  Now, I may only need a 10 minute cat nap after I read the morning paper and I don't need anything more. 

So, I have been out of the habit of keeping up on housework for over two months.  This is what I have noticed.  When a house is messy, everyone seems to add to the mess by not doing the normal pick up that they have been doing.  For example, dishes get left on the table after lunch or put in the sink, but not put in the dishwasher.  Stuff is left around and not put away. I have done my best to keep the main living areas in order, but these areas get cluttered quickly.  Also, I have been spending my time picking up other family member's clutter but can I blame them if I am not doing my job and setting an example?

Having a messy and disorganized house, while working on a home project,  can take a toll on a family.  My family is understanding, but then again - they are guys.  So where to begin when you have a messy house?  Pick a room and start.  I am going to spend today and tomorrow walking around the house putting stuff away, going through stacks of paper and hopefully throwing stuff away.  Once the house is decluttered, I will then be able to spend an hour a day for a week cleaning and still have time to work on my livingroom. 

We all have those times when you have to let the housework go, but then there comes the point that you just can't handle the clutter and spot cleaning doesn't work anymore and it is time to dig in.  Now I hate housework in the first place.  If someone could clean my house in exchange for me baking them bread, cookies and doing their laundry, then I would be in housewife heaven.  I doubt that is going to happen just like I doubt I will be able to twitch my nose and suddenly my house will be clean and orderly.

The Contents of a Safety Deposit Box

Last year we moved our accounts to a different bank, but we didn't move our safety deposit box as the rent on it didn't expire til this month.  My husband closed the account yesterday and brought home the contents. We will be opening a safety deposit box at our new bank later this week. I looked through everything yesterday and had forgotten about a lot of the items that we had in that box.  It was almost like opening a time capsule.

When our kids were born, there were no digital cameras.  I always worried that in case of some kind of disaster (i.e., flood, tornado, fire) pictures would get destroyed.  As I looked through the contents of that safety deposit box, there were several envelopes that had photo negatives.  When our kids were young, each year we would take 1 or 2 rolls of film negatives and put them in the safety deposit box.  Then, at least, we would have some pictures of our children in case of a disaster.  Now, we can simply burn a c.d. with a year's worth of pictures on 1 c.d. to put into our safety deposit box.  How times have changed.

There were coins in the box.  We had collected a set of the State quarters for our sons and there were some old coins that were given to our sons from their grandmother. 

Then there were the legal documents such as our Last Wills and Testaments, our Powers of Attorney and our Abstract of Title for our house, birth certificates for my husband and me and our youngest son and our immunization cards.  Then in one large envelope there were the pictures of our deceased daughter, Kelsey, and her birth and death certificates. 

As I looked at our Wills, I was happy to know that we had prepared such a document for our family in case of our deaths.  Our oldest son was happy to know that since his brother made it to 18 years of age last week, that he and his wife wouldn't have to worry about being a guardian to his youngest brother in case we would die.

In one envelope there was a jewelry appraisal of my rings and a few necklaces.  There was my wedding and engagement ring that needs to be repaired as soon as the price of gold goes down - whenever that happens.  I wear a beautiful ring that my husband gave me on our 25th anniversary that serves as a wedding band. 

There are other pieces of family memorabilia such as baptismal certificates and also some financial papers.

That small box contained a small history of our family.  Now we are sorting through those items and giving our oldest son items that belong to him and also reviewing what doesn't apply to us anymore.  At the end of this week we will again pack up the majority of what my husband brought home and it will go into a new safety deposit box for safe keeping.  We will then add to it as time goes on and take out of it what doesn't apply anymore.