What I'm trying for in 2014

I haven't updated my profile yet but I actually have a job now as well as being the PTO Treasurer and Art Discovery Coordinator at my kids' Elementary school. I used to be the president but needed to take a more low key spot so that I could get a paying job to help with our growing debt to income ratio. Don't we all love those little nuisances called BILLS!

 

To start off, my good ol' minivan I've had for 9 years transmission gave out on Dec 23rd. Since my busiest time of work was coming up in a few days, we had to go get a car on Christmas Eve. (Only day my husband had available to go with me) That turned out okay. I mean I got an awesome new car and the payments aren't that bad. However we figure it will cost at or just over what we make on average a month. My income is tricky because I have a revolving 4 week schedule. Week 1 & 2 is busy but 3 is slow and 4 is slower. Then it starts all over again. But I love my job so I don't want to find another one.

 

We have switched our cell phone carrier so we will be saving about $50 bucks a month there. But I need to get a real handle on the finances and make sure I have the right numbers floating in my head. That there is the problem. I've relied too much on just playing it by ear and knowing how much we have in the bank versus what I need to pay.

So my New Year's Resolution was to get organized. Not just with clutter and papers, but with information as well. I mean here's the Debbie Downer part but, what if something happened to me an my husband needed to know the account numbers for the bills, or the passwords to all the online accounts I have. So I have spent the half of January looking up way to keep track of all this stuff, and ways to go through all the junk in the house too. I don't know why I need someone else to tell me how to clean and organize because I can go to someone elses house and have a plan of attack in like 3 seconds. But when it comes to my own stuff, I have a hard time "letting go". Even though it makes me mad and sometimes I say "lets just get rid of everything, we haven't even opened some of these boxes in years". I know I'm not the only one who feels this way right?

 

I have found a couple of freebie downloads I found that I think will help me. I found some people's Home Management Binders and saw what they did. Some of the info or calendars I felt I didn't need because I need a visual calendar and not one in a binder.

This is the bulletin board above my computer. I have a Meal plan for the month. My bills. Then my work Calendar.

 

The Meal plan is very simple. It is just dinners because we know what to eat for breakfast and lunch. It has whether we will have pork, chicken, spaghetti, pizza, or something else like meatloaf. Then I go plan the meals once a week based on those main ingredients, and shop for anything I don't already have.

My Bills calender, I need to see when they are due in the month to plan which paycheck is going to cover them.

My work calendars show what week my jobs are to be done in so I can choose which days I work and which days I'm going to take off (for volunteering).

 

But I thought I would share some of the pages I've found that I'm going to use. I am thankful for their generosity in offering these printables for free.

My pinterest Organization board

 

 This first website has a bunch of printables for organizing information. 

diyhshp.blogspot.com

 Monthly & Weekly Calendars, Cleaning schedules, Labels, Contact Lists, Dates to Remember, Shopping Lists, Freezer & Pantry Lists, Password Log, Medical Records, Emergency Contacts, etc....

And did I mention its all pretty and colorful :)



 

A Bowl Full of Lemons.net

 This second website has a 14 week plan to organize your home. I look forward to starting it (on my own time) next month. I haven't followed through on if there is a current one running, but this program was in 2012 and I can see how it would help to have moral support and ideas from other people doing the same project but in different spaces. That's why I am trying to rope in my friend who is also complaining about her home. I figure we can motivate each other and tell each other to "suck it up and clean missy". 

Kids artwork (A.K.A precious gold)

So in lieu of a comment, or perhaps more of a cry for help, from Lielanie, I have decided to share my ingenious method to my madness. And by madness, I mean that ever growing and over flowing pile of precious artwork that our kids give us.
I know we know how to deal with certain pieces of art like Christmas paintings, or those first scribbles that they make when they first learn how to hold a crayon. I'm talking about those 5 pictures of our family that your darling daughter just mass produced at the kitchen table in 5 minutes, however she feels each one is special, different, and worth holding onto forever. Or the 100th coloring page this week (and its only Tuesday) that your son has brought home from Kindergarten because he colored it especially for you.

O.k. moms (and dads?) here's just what I do. I would never say one method works for everyone. It all depends on how your child is and how your child understands. And a little bit on how well you can sell it. ;)

I keep a little bin on top of my refrigerator and when the kids give me something "less than special" we talk about for a little bit. Things like how I like their use of color, what's this little smudge over here?. what made them think of drawing it, etc. Questions to get a feel of how special they feel it is.

♥ This one my daughter wrote about why she loves me ♥

 The special at the moment pictures, or seasonal pictures get magneted to the door or fridge until it is time for it to move to the bin. (When the next masterpiece is to be displayed)

♥ My son drew me in a very colorful outfit. And with blue hair I might add ♥

♥ I love these large plastic paperclip magnets from the dollar store because
they are clear so I don't cover up any of the art ♥

Then when I have ascertained that it isn't a Mona Lisa-esque portrait, I tell them "I'm going to put it in the art bin so I can put it in a book later so when you are older we can look at it and see how much better you've gotten over the years." Hook line and sinker. Then I place it in the bin and out of sight, out of mind. 

☺ Out of sight, out of mind ☺

Here's the genius and hard part. Come Sunday night after I put the kids to bed, I go through the bin and figure out which ones to "unload" and which ones I really will keep for a binder for them to look at later. Then, because recycle bin pickup on Monday morning, I gently place the unnecessary works into the recycle bin and cart the bin to the curb. It gets picked up in the morning before they even go to the bus. All is well in the world.

New Year's Resolution

I had been thinking about this for a few days now. It is not something I actually take lightly. I never resolve to lose weight because I am not feeling ready to give up the good yummy foods I enjoy eating. Plus It's not that I eat a lot, it's just that I only eat about once a day and I don't eat the healthiest foods. Plus I'd have to give up my regular MT Dew and there isn't a force on earth that could make me want to do that.

So I think logically about what I need to do or achieve, and I think about if these things are attainable goals. Therefore my resolution for 2012 is to re-organize. It was going to be simple and small scale however I woke up this morning with an overwhelming urge to purge.

I want to have more space for my creating. See how I use the term creating instead of crafting. That is because I want to get back into building. I'm tired of not being able to have certain things because I cannot find them, afford them, or because these cruddy walls cannot hold them. So I will build or make what I need. I love using power tools and hammers and nails. It fills a void in me.

I have downloaded a wonderful organizing tool from My Simpler Life that I plan to also use in my re-structuring process. It is a monthly calender with different projects to do each day. Although I am planning a complete overhaul, I feel it will help me stay on track, and hopefully motivated. I love calendars and planners and having my to do's in front of me.

Link for the de-clutter calendar here: http://www.mysimplerlife.com/decluttercalendar.htm

This picture here shows something I had done when Kameron was a baby because I was definitely in need of organizing back then. This was a simple way for me to get my shopping done in one trip so I didn't have to lug around a baby all the time to and from the store for things I forgot. I simply went to each "station" in my house (i.e. fridge, cupboards, bathroom, etc) and wrote down what we have on a normally daily/weekly basis.



P.S. I see I spelled breakfast as breekfast



Then I categorized them into sections. For example health and beauty, beverages, meats, baby needs, etc. )I also went onto Safeway's online shopping link and used their shopping lists that are broken into sections for reference/suggestions)

It may seem like a long drawn out process, but really it only took about an hour. Then however pretty you want to make it is up to you based on how long you want to take to do that.

I don't know why this one is highlighted, but what I would do before I went grocery shopping is I would open this list and go down looking to see if I needed to get more or if I had enough to last for at least another week or until I planned to go shop again.

I probably got this idea from my work where we used this kind of lists for ordering our inventory. You have to have an idea of how much you use in the first place to know if you will have enough to carry you for a week or 2. But we are pretty good at that right ladies.

But that is how I created my shopping lists and we pretty much always had what we needed. Other things like flour and special seasonings were written down as we ran out of them, or purchased if I knew I was going to be making a particular meal that week and only had the product for the meal and not everyday. Like kale for my Olive Garden soup, or chicken bullion for my friend chicken.

I am super excited to have found this list last night because I had been thinking about making it again since I've fallen off the organized wagon along time ago. Let's face it when your idea of staying organized is to keep everything piled up on your printer until you need to use it, then you need help!

I look forward to sharing my progress with you. What are your New Year's Resolutions you are looking forward to working on?

Pinterseption!

So I'm looking at Pinterest, which is nothing new if you've read anything i've posted this past week or 3. However it got me to thinking about how I used to keep pictures of things I liked just this way.

Then I got all high and mighty and now I'm mad cuz I THOUGHT OF IT FIRST!

Of course me not being technically saavy has left me behind the times when it comes to great ideas.

And now that I am actually trying to think of the other projects that I thought of first and then they became huge hits, I am totally blank on them. But trust me I will remember and I'll be sure to let you know.

So back to the matter at hand. I went through my old binder that I aptly named "My Happy Book" and felt I should share with you. You know so I have proof to back up my whine ;)

Here are a few shots of my little black book.



Just a plain 3 ring binder with page protectors in it. I painted a happy face on it one day when I had gotten new paint pens and HAD to color on everything I could find. It's been scratched up through the years. I had always planned to move to a larger prettier binder, but project after project came along and I figured at least it had a place so it wasn't on the priority list.





Oh my horrible penmanship



So back in the day I was obsessed with photo booths and I would make whomever was with me take a photo with me.
Today's victim is my Best Friend Jewel. The picture was black and white but I colored it in. It is the first thing I see when I open my happy book because she is more important to me than any material possession I could ever have. (Aww sappy moment *sniff sniff*)

 

Here's my xmas ornament idea section





My Want For Home/Dream home ideas section



The good thing about MY method is that I can cut out the faces of the models ;)



God I still love this table









Here's the folder I had with all the pictures I hadn't gotten to add in the book yet. I tuck it in the pocket inside the binder.







Sometimes when I was having a bad day or just felt like I wanted to keep a picture for the off chance that someday I would be able to make or buy it, I would know exactly what I wanted. Suprisingly enough there were times I though if I looked at the book when depresed it would worsen my mood to look at things I didn't have and wanted but, nope. Just like on Pinterest. Except on Pinterest I can see what other people's opinions are on items and then it makes me laugh to see the horrible things some people like.

I know I'm so bad. It's ok, I like coal at Christmas.

Inspiring!

So I got up (I'm not saying what time because it might make me sound lazy) and I come to my computer and the first thing I do of course, lately, is click on Pinterest.
I swear I am so obsessed with this site lately. Not only does it calm me down when I am upset, make me laugh when I need a jolt, and amaze me with all the talent that people have, but it also inspires me to do more with my life and my space. So this morning in particular I found a site I ♥ Organizing and was looking at a family binder idea that I think would come in handy. Then I start seeing all these other pictures of things people have done to organize and it makes me feel all giddy and capable. I start feeling little flutters of energy coursing through me like I'm a cloud ready to let out some lightning and 'BAM' something amazing will happen. Then I stand up and i turn around and look at all my crap...... :( back to Pinterest to look at pretty pictures.