Resolutions...a month & a half in.

Alrighty.  I purposely haven't posted about this until now.  Mainly because I get tired of the hype and also because I prefer to make goals for the year rather than resolutions.  Ah, semantics.  But for whatever reason I equate 'resolution' with the bad and 'goals' with the good.  Maybe because resolutions are often broken...or maybe it's my resolutions that are often broken.

At any rate, I have a note hanging on my bulletin board titled "2012 Goals".

1. Get grasp on finances - budget, saving, reconciling
2. Simplify & declutter - declutter calendar

You've already heard about the decluttering calendar.  I went through everything on my desk last week.  It feels wonderful!

As for our finances, even with a financial advisor/tax preparer for a mother, I have never been able to keep track of what comes in and what goes out.  Which is amazing for someone who manages 24 different funds at work.  And honestly, I think it's because I've never had a system.  I am very much a systematic, follow the rules kind of girl.

I don't remember how I stumbled across it, but I came across a blog post by Echoes of Laughter detailing a bill binder.

Source: applevalleygirl.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Considering I didn't have any system at all, I decided to give it a shot.  So far so good.  That said, we're only a month in.  :)

For me, it works.  It's all in one place and the papers don't pile up underneath my desk waiting for me to file them--which never happens by the way.  And it's great that I can see the entire month of bills in one glance.  I started writing down what we pay in groceries every week just so I can see what we spend on average.  Soon I'd like to create an actual budget to stick to.  But again, I need a system.

Have you had any real success with creating a budget & sticking to it?  What's your advice?

One drawer at a time

A couple of weeks ago my friend posted a link on Facebook to a 365 day decluttering calendar.  Okay, I'm up for a challenge...let's do this!

This calendar has been so helpful.  Granted, there are some things that don't apply to me or I just don't do.  This week for example:
Monday - clean off left side of dresser top
Tuesday - clean off center of dresser top
Wednesday - clean off right side of dresser top

Well, I don't really have anything to clean off.  And boy does it feel good to say that!!

The week before last's tasks were so great.  Go through plastic bag/foil drawer (very needed), clean out one kitchen drawer (again, very needed), and we cleaned out & wiped down the fridge.  I don't know about you, but I very rarely give my fridge a good cleaning.

It just feels good and I wanted to share that with you guys.  Hopefully there's a 'clean out your office' task soon.  :oD 

At Last

Here's what's on the decluttering calendar this week:

Monday - Put away or give away books on your desk
Tuesday - Declutter left desk
Wednesday - Declutter center desk
Thursday - Declutter right desk
Friday - Go through printer stand
Saturday - Clear off any bulletin boards of old things

It's about time!  As easy as last week was (clear off bedroom dresser & shelves), this week will be the opposite.  It'll be well worth it and I can't wait!

And counting...

I spend more time on Pinterest now than Facebook.  What is the world coming to?!  I pinned this 2 weeks ago and there have been 577 repins so far.  I had no idea an egg carton would take me so far in life.  :)

Funny thing is that I saw it was pinned by someone else as well and that one has well over 1,000 repins.  An egg carton.

Source: bhg.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Happy pinning!

It's too much...just way too much

Have you heard of Pinterest? Well, I'm warning you, don't sign up. It sucks you in and doesn't let you go. BUT I LOVE IT! You create boards for topics such as 'Recipes', 'Design', whatever you want and then you "pin" pictures or videos from the vast Interwebs. So basically I'm now spending WAY more time online looking at random stuff that really play no major role in my life.

And this is the outcome: I feel (yet again) that my house and fashion sense are inadequate.  Although, the fashion thing is a new one...the house thing I've kinda always felt.  I don't really feel like I can help the fashion part right now:  1.  I have zero dollars left after paying bills.  2.  We have 1 "real" clothing store in my town & they sell grandma clothes (no offense) at ridiculous prices.  And by 'ridiculous' I mean >$10.

I stumbled across a blog (which shall remain nameless--mostly because I'm lazy and don't want to spend the time linking to it) where it seems like the woman either has or would like to start and organizing business.  So she has all the pictures of her fabulous organizing skills she's put to use in her house...inside cabinets, closets, and yes, even the refrigerator.

The office closet

And I'm sitting in an office with stuff pouring yes, pouring out of the closet and stuff piled up against every wall.  What brought me to this looooowly state??  *reference to A Christmas Story*  I sit here and think, "What would need to happen for me to love my space?  Do I need all of this stuff?  Do I really have too much stuff or just not have any kind of storage system?"  And what has now happened is that I am so totally overwhelmed and don't know how I'll ever get where I want to be or where I think I need to be to finally love my space.  I now understand why people tackle in stages.  If you think about organizing into bins from the get-go, I don't think you'll ever get anywhere.  I think it'll have to become a bigger mess before it's a manageable mess. 

*Disclaimer: I tend to obsess and focus my attention on things other than my thesis when my thesis stress gets high.  I might be making a bigger deal about this than needs be.  :)  *

My other thought is, I don't remember ever having this much stuff before.  What's the deal?  Is it because I was in college before & only moved what I could fit in my car?  Is it because before that we were moving every 3 years and had to get rid of stuff to fit everything into the moving truck?  Or do I have the same amount of stuff, it's just not well organized, & my brain thinks it's bigger than it really is.

Honestly, this sucks to say because I love them so much, but I think a lot of it has to do with the animals.  960 square feet.  That's how big my house is.  Two people.  1 rottweiler, 1 medium mutt, 1 cat.  Oh. My. Gosh.  And for whatever reason my mutt (Capone) has decided he's going to stick by my side everywhere I go in the house (which isn't very far).  From 1 room to the next.  Constantly.  And here's what he does...he walks in front of me and then stops to see if I'm still going in the direction he's going.  So then I run into the back of him and/or have to walk over him.  Think Leap Frog.  Except not fun & way more annoying.

I think my other issue is my eco-friendly stance.  I have tons of old t-shirts I'm holding onto.  They're too ratty for a thrift store & I think maybe I'll use them to make a t-shirt quilt or something.  Do I have a sewing machine?  Yes.  Do I sew?  No.  Toss 'em Nicole!  Tons of jeans...have you seen these websites with '25 Things to Do with Old Jeans'?  Have I done a single one?  No.  Toss 'em.  Part of me thinks I'll be able to fit in them again one day.  Mmhmm, right.

Let's look at the bright side:  I will regain some closet space since our movies (previously in the coat closet) now fit in the new entertainment center we bought; I can move the coats back into the coat closet.  I know without a shadow of a doubt that that woman's house did not transform overnight.  It's going to take time.  So I think I'll take one project at a time, celebrate the small victories, and cut myself some slack.  Happy organizing everyone! 

Wipe on, Wipe off

I know I've said this before, but I can't believe what some people do to keep their houses clean.

C bought me that to-do list app a while ago (Epic Win) and I've been using it religiously--oddly enough, it's helped me keep the house clean way more than I thought possible.  Right now I just have mop on Mondays, laundry on Tuesdays, bathroom on Wednesdays, etc. But I had this bright idea today to expand my list to include weekly items like change linens, iron clothes and monthly items like wash/dust curtains, wash windows, wash fans.

So I decided to do a little googling to see what chores should be done daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.  I was amazed at what I found.  WAY more stuff than I'm willing to do.  Replace your pillows every year??  Seems like a waste.  I quickly became overwhelmed but amazingly I was able to pull back and decide for myself what I want to tackle in MY home and how often.  Baby steps.  I think I have a good list:  change bed linens, wash curtains, wash windows, wash fans, clean fridge/freezer on a more regular basis, dust, clean oven, iron clothes, clean microwave, reconcile finances.  These are all things that I want/need to do but haven't been. 

I'm excited about my expanded list and I don't feel bad that I'm not replacing my pillows every year.

Wishlist

If we ever moved to a place that could house more than what we already have, I'd love to have one of these.  Such a great way to display books!

String of thoughts

I got a guy kicked out of my place of work today.  Pretty stoked about it.  I knew he had been coming in without a membership or guest pass, but was finally able to catch him today.  I'm a stickler for rules.

Have lots planned tomorrow including shopping for fridge part 2.

My friend posted pics of her baby nursery she just finished.  Looks straight out of a magazine.  Pretty cool! 

I used to really want an awesome kitchen...now I think I'd be satisfied with a craft room.  Maybe it's time to do some Fall organizing.  I'm to the point where I'm even saving old clothes with the idea that I'll tear them up and crochet a rag rug.  Hm.  Wonder if that'll ever happen!!

Watched the season premieres of Biggest Loser yesterday & Grey's this evening.  I'm still amazed I get a kick out of BL because I know it's a crap show.  Grey's, however, I still love.  The season finale was cah-ray-zy!  I think I might actually go & rewatch it. 

On to the thesis...my deadline for "something" is today.

Well, I'ma workin' on it!

A friend of mine blogged a while ago about how she divides chores between her & her husband and does them during the week so that she can have the weekends to herself.

Wonderful idea so I thought I'd try it out!  I even went so far as to create a "Home Organizer" binder with all kinds of sections and worksheets and stuff.  Bleh.  Useless if you don't keep up with it--kind of like budgeting.  It definitely did help to write down the chores & days & who is to do what. 

It really did help for a while...that is, until I fell off the wagon.  I need to post the duties somewhere where I can see them & be reminded of what I need to do. 

The only thing I'd say is a bummer with this system is that we never have the whole house clean at the same time.  One thing gets clean but then it's dirty by the next week while something else is still clean. 

I suppose it's better than having a whole house that's dirty!! 

The Office Part Deux

We bought the desks, shelves, & bookcase from Ikea & the black storage boxes from Office Depot. There are two boxes I just spray painted black. The paint on the walls turned out a little lot darker than I was hoping for, but it definitely grew on me. I think it makes a nice contrast to the white desks.

I really love our new office & spend more time in here than the rest of the house now. (Callie likes it too.) :o)

Here are the after pics:

P.S. I don't know what those brown bars are in this post. When I go to edit the post they're not there. Annoying, but oh well.

The Office

Ours. Not the tv show.

We decided we needed a total overhaul & boy was it worth it!

Before (After coming soon!):

This is what I'm talking about

I counted 23 coozies. Why do we have 23 coozies? Do we need 23 coozies? Definitely not. And my guess is we probably have more than that in boxes etc.