Friday Filing

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Posted on January 9, 2015

As promised, here is my Friday filing post. Not much has changed since last week. We get very little mail so there is not much to deal with.

The Range News is our local (free) newspaper which is delivered on Thursdays. I have read it this evening to make sure I am not missing out on any important local news and now it has been filed in the recycling bin.

Other than that, there is a new insurance schedule now that we have had the policy amended to account for our new car. It has not been filed in the filing cabinet as I need to contact the insurance company as I think the description of the car is incorrect which has resulted in a higher premium than it should be. I will make that phone call on Monday.

We are both in the process of reading the ReNew magazine about alternative technologies. I think this is published every quarter and we keep them in a magazine holder for reference after they have been read.

The hand-written sheet is a rough list of some of the things we want to achieve in the house and garden this year so that stays there as a reminder of our plans.

Previously, these few pieces of paper would have been scattered on the bench and really irritated me but I am finding that having them in the basket has reduced the annoyance factor to zero.

Do you have any tricks to keeping on top of the paper clutter and filing?

Filing Friday (on Thursday)

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Posted on January 1, 2015

Welcome to 2015! A brand new year for you to make of it what you want.

I have been gradually decluttering for several years so there is generally only a few things here and there to leave the house. However, there are a couple of hotspots that just seem to invite clutter to hang around unless I am constantly vigilant.

In the lead-up to Christmas I was particularly busy at work so things got a bit neglected at home. Also, our car was badly damaged in a hailstorm at the end of November and was declared a write-off by the insurance company. So, as well as everything else we had to buy a new car, organise insurance, liaise with the towing company to collect the old car and so on. All of this resulted in paperwork, notes and phone messages on the desk. Everything was finalised on Wednesday – we have a new, insured car and the old one is gone so this morning I got up and decided that I had to sort out all of remaining paperwork.

I started with the desk, followed by the other hotspots which are the end of the kitchen bench and my dressing table. It then turned into a major clean-out of the filing cabinet and other folders so The Duke and I spent several hours working through it. Some papers had been carefully filed for up to 10 years without ever being looked at so we were really ruthless.

Apart from clearing the papers that were in the previously identified spots, I actually have nothing to show for our efforts except that the contents of the filing cabinet have been reduced from 3 drawers to 2. Everything was relatively neatly stored – it was just that much of it was no longer relevant.

The desk is mostly cleared – there are just a few more things that I need to put away.

I just need to set-up the pedometers so we can actually use them rather than be lurking in the bottom of the filing cabinet!

This end of the kitchen bench is one of the most frustrating hotspots – the pile of papers never seems to go away completely. It may seem counter-intuitive to put a basket here to dump “stuff” in but my theory is that it will be contained rather than expanding and spreading its tentacles across the bench. I have also designated Friday evening as “Filing or Fling” so everything that is in the basket by Friday evening will be dealt with accordingly. In a perfect world the basket would be empty but I will be surprised if that happens. 🙂

So, beginning next Friday (not tomorrow) the blog post will be about the filing or keeping the paper clutter at bay.

I would love to hear of any systems you may have in place to help you manage the clutter hotspots and filing.

Live Rich

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Posted on December 7, 2014

In the midst of your Christmas preparations, take a few minutes to watch this video with a clear and powerful message.

Will this be your way of living in 2015?

Sexism, Sadness and Simplicity

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Posted on November 17, 2014

The catalyst for writing this post came in the form of a post on a friend’s Facebook page where she posted a link to this article. While the ‘extreme grooming’ that is described in the article is about a television presenter, it can be seen every day in our offices and shops.

Then just to top it off I found another link via Facebook about the ‘social experiment’ conducted by Karl Stefanovic. He wore the same suit every day for a year – and no-one noticed. This was his silent protest to highlight the way his female co-hosts were constantly judged and critiqued on what they wore and their hairstyles.

These articles in the media highlight the unreasonable pressures and expectations that society has on women in general and more specifically women who are constantly in the spotlight such as television presenters. It saddens me to realise how much of this pressure is on women in all walks of life.

There have been small, incremental steps to break down these ‘societal norms’ but we must all be a part of the solution if things are really to change. The Little Brown Dress project by Alexa Martin in 2005 – 2006 chronicled her anti-consumerism stance in which she wore the same dress every day for a year. Like Karl Stefanovic, no-one really noticed. Project 333, is loosely based on the same principle – have a small number of clothes that you wear and love and realise that the world mostly does not care what you wear. Anyway, none of us should be defined by the clothes we wear.

To return to the first link in this post, make-up and grooming are yet another facet of us feeling the expectation that we have to present ourselves to the world in a certain way.

I have never been a great fan of make-up and tend to keep my make-up to an absolute minimum. I no longer colour my hair and have a small but much-loved selection of clothes. My clothes fit my lifestyle and I feel good in them.

What about you? Do you feel pressured to present a certain face to the world? Does your workplace have an expectation of how you are groomed?

Christmas is Coming

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Posted on November 7, 2014

I know that the year is rolling by and before we know it Christmas will be upon us. In fact I read this comment on a discussion forum a couple of days ago,

“Everyone is so busy and it will get even busier as it gets closer to Xmas… which I haven’t planned anything….”

This got me thinking as to why everything has to be busy in the lead-up to Christmas. I love Christmas for the joy of being able to share the day with my family, especially the grandchildren. I do not enjoy the commercialism of it nor the endless round of parties, celebrations and gift-giving. The associated stress and pressure is simply not worth it.

I try to switch off to most advertising at any time but I find it particularly insidious at this time of the year. Every conceivable type of business is exhorting us to buy their goods so that they can be delivered by Christmas. Worse still, are the offers of no repayments until the New Year etc, etc. Just remember that everything has to be paid for at sometime and do you really want to be paying for Christmas at this time next year?

Like many other aspects of our life, we have managed to eliminate a lot of unnecessary Christmas festivities and focus on what is important to us.

This year we will be keeping it simple.

Neither The Duke nor I attend any work functions.
The Duke and I will go to a local festive gathering. It is an opportunity to socialise with our neighbours and is hosted by a different family each year. Everybody brings their own drinks and a plate of food to share.
We will take our grand-daughters to see the Christmas lights in our area. I want to take them to a carol service at the local church.
We will spend 5 days at the beach with family.
Christmas lunch will be at my sister’s place with extended family.
Gift giving for the family will focus on experiences and/or consumable gifts.

Over the next 6 weeks I will share some of the things you can do and make in the lead-up to Christmas which are memorable but relatively easy on the budget. Please share any special ideas from your family.

In the meantime, here is a photo I took yesterday when I went to Caloundra to meet some friends for lunch. I am hoping for some similarly spectacular weather when we spend some time there at Christmas.

Project 333 – Black & White

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Posted on October 30, 2014

From time to time I set myself mini challenges to force me to push the boundaries of my streamlined wardrobe. I decided that this week would be entirely monochromatic – a black and white theme.

The forecast for Monday was hot so I reached for this old faithful which I have owned for 4 years. There is so much to love about it – 100% cotton with a collar and cut away armholes AND made in Australia.

Tuesday was nearly as hot so another 100% cotton dress was a good option. This is the one I bought a month ago.

On Wednesday the temperature was more reasonable so I opted for black 3/4 pants with this blouse from the recycle boutique. I have worn it several times since I bought it a few weeks ago. It is destined to become a firm favourite.

Today I tried a previously untested combination. The black 3/4 pants got another airing but this time I teamed them with a black sleeveless fitted top and this blouse worn unbuttoned over it. The blouse is a very fine fabric and needs an appropriate coloured bra underneath it and as I only had a black bra clean I decided to be a little creative. While the outfit looked perfectly acceptable, it just did not feel right to me. I will keep the blouse to be worn as it was designed in future. I also think that I prefer this particular blouse teamed with my straight black skirt rather than trousers.

Tomorrow it is going to be quite warm so I plan to wear white 3/4 trousers and this shirt.

I have plenty of other black and white options but I will save them for another time. Here is a selection.

This Time Last Year………….

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Posted on October 10, 2014

……….well almost. It was actually 15th October 2013 that I published this post which was the beginning of a series based on Francine Jay’s book, “The Joy of Less”.

I re-discovered it recently when I was working on adding back the photos to my earlier blog posts. The series is now complete with photos and I would encourage you to take the time to read all of the posts. I think there are about a dozen of them. Even though I wrote them, there were some revelations which have inspired me to keep going on my journey to let go of more ‘stuff’.

The original catalyst for the series was the purchase of a new refrigerator and the fact that it required me to open the door of the overhead cupboard every time I needed to access the refrigerator. We did have the doors re-modelled and this is what it looks like now.

Project 333 – Changing Colours

Clean & Green

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Posted on May 21, 2014

In an online discussion group of which I am a member, the challenge this week was to make some changes in your routine to make your life a little greener. It was noted that actions that are good for the environment can also be beneficial to your purse.

When I stopped and thought about this, I realised that most of how I choose to live is a result of making the best choice I can in the prevailing circumstances. Some of these things are what I have always done and others are changes I have made but it is so long ago that I do not even consider them as particularly green.

Here are some of our household patterns.

Use locally-made, environmentally-friendly washing liquid, laundry soaker, dishwashing liquid and dishwasher powder from Kin Kin Naturals.

Make my own wool wash and cream cleanser.

Use bicarb and vinegar to clean most surfaces.

Hang clothes outdoors to dry or in front of the fire. Use clothes dryer rarely.

Run our home on tank water, grid-connected solar power and solar hot water service.

Grow some of our own fruit and vegetables. This week I have picked lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, pak choy, lemons, oranges, mandarins. grapefruit and avocadoes.

Compost all our scraps or feed them to the chickens.

Keep chickens for our own supply of eggs.

Catch public transport to work.

Complete multiple errands when making a trip in the car.

Re-use as many resources as possible.