Category Archives: Organising

Frugal at the Football

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Today we went to the football and were going to be out for most of the day and it was quite a cool day.  Last night I cooked up a big pot of pumpkin soup so that we could take some with us.

2012-05-26 01Here is what I got out ready to pack.This is a glass-lined wide-necked thermos which belonged to my parents.  I am not sure how old it is but probably nearly as old as I am.  It is perfect for keeping the soup hot.

2012-05-26 02I also used an old towel to wrap the thermos and an insulated bag.  We bought the bag at a supermarket in New Zealand when we were on holidays last year.  There are also 4 mugs and soup spoons.

We bought 6 rolls at a bakery near the train station for $3 and also took some muffins and apples from home.  The soup stayed hot and the warmth and nutrition was welcome.

We did not spend any money on food of average quality and inflated cost at the match so the only cost was our tickets.  There was also no waste created from disposable containers.

Organising On The Run

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Just because I am away from the house does not mean that the organising has to be put on hold.

There are all sorts of small things you can do while you are out and about, particularly while commuting.

Digital files are one of modern life’s organising challenges and they turn up in all sorts of places.  Whether it is lists on your computer, contacts for your mobile phone, songs on your iPod or books on an ereader you need to keep them in some sort of order so that you can locate them when you want them.

I do not have a huge number of books on my Kindle yet but I have decided to develop a ‘filing system’ for them before it becomes too overwhelming.

This is before I started.  I had 4 pages of books that I have downloaded so far.

2012-05-22 01Once I completed the index, it is now much easier to find a particular book, especially as my Kindle library expands.  I may add more categories as time goes on but these are definitely enough to get started.  The categories I have chosen are all condensed onto one page and the books are sorted into the relevant collection/folder.

2012-05-22 02What digital files have you organised?

Project Streamline – Dress

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Did you notice the singular – dress?  That is correct, I own 1 dress.  I have had this dress for 3 years and during the summer it is worn at least once per week.  It works well at the cusp of the season with a cardigan, too.  This is a perfect example of everything an item of clothing should be.

Relatively classic style
Versatile
Good quality
Comfortable

It is also fully lined, 100% cotton and made in Australia.

When I first tried it on I realised that it would require some alterations as it was too long in the waist and too deep in the armholes for me.  I was able to do this by removing the collar and lifting the shoulder seams before replacing the collar.  Even if I had to pay for this to be professionally done, it would have been worth the expense.

So, no decluttering in this category.  The dress stays and has pride of place in my wardrobe.

Black dress with white spotsI want to make a couple more dresses like this one so that I can wear a dress and sandals to work each day during the summer.  The existing dress is still way too good to consider deconstructing it so I may have to use a combination of a commercial pattern and the measurements from the dress.

There are no other categories  in my wardrobe which contain only a single item, so next week I will be back to justifying my various collections.

Meanwhile, I am creating a list of things I would like to buy when we are overseas.  The first things on the list are 2 pairs of trousers that are suitable for wearing to work  and an outfit for a wedding at the end of March in Canberra.  I have no idea of what I want for the wedding outfit so it will be a matter of looking to see what I like.  The other criteria will be that it is versatile enough to be able to be worn for other occasions.

Holiday Planning With A Difference

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We have decided to try get someone to housesit while we are on holidays.  We are in the process of finding someone suitable who we trust to care for our house and animals while we are away.

Instead of planning what to take I need to think about what to leave behind.

This is going to require some planning and organisation to be able to hand over the running of the household.  It is a reminder of how much knowledge and information is carried in my head.

Things like instructions for the washing machine, location of the booster switch for the solar hot water, how much food the dog eats, what day the rubbish is collected and so on.

The upside is that the house is pretty well decluttered and organised so it will be easy for someone to find where things are.  There is also plenty of space for extra clothes and belongings.

I am determined that I am going to have all the planning done well in advance of our trip so that the last week or so will not be a mad rush.  I want to simply pack my bag according to a pre-determined list and go to the airport, knowing that everything has been sorted out.

In the past, sometimes the last week before a holiday is so frenetic that I just want to get on the plane or in the car before my head explodes.

I would love to hear if anyone has had experiences of someone house-sitting for them.  How did you choose them and was it successful?

Project Streamline – Trousers

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It is now the middle of May and halfway through the 3 month period of my participation in Project 333.

I flouted the ‘rules’ on Saturday and wore a plain red knit top, white ¾ trousers and red/white striped overshirt.  None of these were on my original list.  The weather was unseasonably warm and all of these items are on my ‘big picture’ list.

Let me explain.  Ever since I started the challenge of wearing only 33 items for a period of 3 months, I have been mentally working on creating a master list.  This means I will not look at my wardrobe in terms of the next 3 months but rather the whole year encompassing all 4 seasons.  I am identifying what works and what doesn’t and rather than have a major cull it will be a matter of removing things as they wear out and replacing only if required.

The first part of the journey is to catalogue what I really have instead of simply saying that I don’t have many clothes.  Each week I will photograph and discuss one type of article of clothing.  Today is trousers so you can judge for yourself.

TROUSERS

This category includes everything from trousers to wear to work to trackpants that I do not wear outside the boundaries of our property.

2012-05-14 01Charcoal grey work trousers
PROS – colour, weight, style
CONS – too big in the waist, slightly too long, only one pair, about 7 years old
DECISION – wear for the rest of the winter  then send to op shop.  Replace with 2 pairs of well-fitting trousers.

2012-05-14 02Black ¾ trousers
PROS – good fit, nice fabric, suit work and casual wear
CONS – nil
DECISION – keep wearing until they wear out, consider something similar as a replacement

2012-05-14 03Jeans No 1
PROS – perfect fit, op shop jean which I bought and altered to fit
CONS – nil
DECISION – keep wearing them

2012-05-14 04Jeans No 2
PROS – good fit, well-worn
CONS – getting threadbare in places
DECISION – keep wearing till the end of winter, send to op shop, look for another pair to replace them

2012-05-14 05Black Cotton casual 3/4 trousers
PROS – good fit, basic colour
CONS – a few years old, won’t last forever
DECISION – keep them continue to wear

I also have an identical white pair (the ones I wore on Saturday).  Same as above.

2012-05-14 06Striped 3/4 cotton trousers
PROS – there are 7 nice matching buttons that I can salvage
CONS – 6 years old, a bit faded, the top I always wore with them has gone to the op shop, not really my colour, a bit tight
DECISION – remove buttons, send to the op shop

2012-05-14 07Navy 3/4 trousers
PROS – go with most tops I have
CONS – starting to fade a bit, am a bit over navy
DECISION – they get a reprieve at least until next summer.  Op shop if I find that I am not wearing them

2012-05-14 08Navy trackpants x 2
PROS – comfortable
CONS – unflattering
DECISION – keep wearing them at home

2012-05-14 09Grey drawstring pants
PROS – comfortable
CONS – unflattering
DECISION – keep wearing them at home

2012-05-14 10Cotton 3/4 pants x 3
PROS – comfortable, suitable for home and local activities
CONS – not my colours, starting to wear out
DECISION – keep wearing them at home

2012-05-14 11Sage green lightweight jeans
PROS – good condition, bought from op shop
CONS – not my colour, don’t wear them them much
DECISION – back to the op shop

2012-05-14 12Charcoal travel pants
PROS – comfortable, zip-off legs, love them
CONS – nil
DECISION – keep wearing them and buy another identical pair before we go overseas later in the year.

2012-05-14 13Beige travel pants
PROS – zip-off legs
CONS – not super comfortable, dry more quickly than the other style
DECISION – keep until we go overseas then decide their fate

This has been a cathartic exercise and if you are trying to minimise your wardrobe I would strongly suggest trying to convince someone else either verbally or in writing why you should keep certain items.  It has also been useful to do all of one type of garment together and then you can see just how many you really have and the range of occasions that they cover.

Watch out for more posts on the same theme each Monday for several weeks.  Categories will include skirts, dresses (that will be short as I only own 1 dress), shorts, cardigans and so on.

Now that I have laid bare the inner secrets of the best and worst of my trousers please feel free to comment – the number, quality etc as well as my thoughts and decisions.

Project 333 – Planning For Summer

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I haven’t moved to the northern hemisphere.  It is late autumn here and heading into our coolest months.  Nevertheless, I am planning ahead and thinking about what I might like to have in my wardrobe by the time summer rolls around again.

I am making 2 tops in a style I have made before.  Here is one that just needs the bottom hemming and armhole binding done to complete it.

2012-05-09 01This is the back as it buttons up the back.  The fabric was in my stash so no outlay at the moment apart from the buttons.  It will be perfect with either black or white summer trousers or shorts.

The other top which is also partly made is simply plain black in a lightweight crinkle cotton.

I have given quite a bit of thought recently to how to simplify my wardrobe.  I will definitely be sticking to a couple of basic colours but more importantly I am feeling more confident about what styles of clothes I will wear and how to streamline my clothes to more accurately fit my lifestyle.

More on that another day.

Defrosting, Dusting & De-bugging

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Today I defrosted the small freezer.  Since it is only the size of a bar fridge we take it out on the verandah and let the ice thaw without any added assistance.  I pack all of the contents into the camp fridge and set it to ‘freeze’ so there is no problem with anything defrosting.  The freezer lives in the office so I took the opportunity to give the room a good clean.

Here is what I did:

  • Cleared the desk of some random papers
  • Sent some emails which related to the paperwork which was then discarded
  • Threw out a pen which no longer works
  • Wiped down the bookshelves and desk
  • Clean mould off door and architraves
  • Cleaned the windows
  • Washed the flyscreen
  • Removed the light fitting and washed out the residue of bugs
  • Wiped lemon oil around the cornices and corners to deter the spiders
  • Wiped down all of the computer items
  • Vacuumed the keyboard
  • Cleaned power points and light switches
  • Vacuumed and washed the floor

2012-05-07 01While I try to keep the house in reasonable order most of the time, I do find it good to give one room a good clean from top to bottom.

2012-05-07 02How do you clean?  One room completely or do you tackle all of the vacuuming or perhaps clean every light switch in the house?

Project 333 – More Than Just Clothes

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Project 333 is a minimalist fashion challenge, started by Courtney Carver of Be More With Less.  I am happily managing on 33 items of clothing, including 1 handbag.  Although I excluded jewellery, I am committed to wearing the same pair of earrings for 3 months.  Earrings are the only jewellery I generally wear apart from my wristwatch, wedding and engagement rings.

So what has this achieved?  I do all of the ironing each week as I need the items to wear the following week.  This means I do not end up with a huge pile of ironing.  I know what I am going to wear the next day as there are enough choices but not too many.

Realising that I can function quite adequately with a relatively small number of clothes made me consider the rest of my wardrobe and I have sent a few more things to the op shop.

I can also see exactly what I need to buy or make for the coming seasons so I am working on that.  I have 2 summer tops partly made and they are in colours that will work with my existing pieces.  I have a list of things to look for when we are overseas.

Although it is still well over 3 months before we go on holidays I have planned almost my entire travel wardrobe and bought a fleece jacket that I needed for the trip.

All of these things have flowed from the fact that having a basic selection of clothes has given me the space and time to really consider my wardrobe and hopefully continue to make wise choices.

By having the minimum of clothes to care for and maintain I have more time to do other things.  I also find myself applying the concept of ‘enough’ to many other facets of my life and possessions.

This evening I was knitting a dishcloth and it occurred to me that I have a box full of knitting needles despite the fact that I do not do a lot of knitting these days.  I will sort through the needles and take out any that I have more than one set of the same size.  I can only use 1 pair of needles at a time so any excess will be given away (Freecycle or op shop) so that someone else can have the benefit of using them.  It will not take up any less space as I will still have the box and I will have enough so that is all I need.

What things could you apply the concept of ‘enough’ to?  Love to hear your stories.

Where Did the Weekend Go?

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Here it is Monday night and I am still trying to work out where my weekends go.  I start with great intentions of achieving so much and by Sunday afternoon/evening I am left wishing that I had another day or two and then I would get everything done that I had planned.

No, of course I would not.  I would simply have a longer list.  When I was considering all of this last night I realised that although I do not seem to get everything done that I hope to, I do usually manage to make some forward progress.

By forward progress, I mean achieve something that will not need to be done again next week.  So this does not include regular jobs like cooking, washing clothes, ironing or even mending because I know they will all be back to be done again another day.

This weekend I helped The Duke re-hang the freshly painted doors on our new storage cupboard.  That is an achievement – we now have a completed cupboard in the downstairs entry.  I do not have to think about that again.

We have also been working on planning our trip.  We have finished the itinerary and have booked about 3/4 of our accommodation.  My goal is to have that completed well within the next 3 weeks.  That will mean I have 3 months clear before the trip to focus on reading guidebooks, planning sightseeing and things to do.  In short, making sure we make the absolute most of this ‘trip of a lifetime’.

I have not posted for a while about Project 333.  This is all ticking along smoothly with the minimum of fuss which is good as that is the essence of the challenge.  Tomorrow I will tell you a bit more about some of the things I am learning along the way.

Rescued & Re-homed

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Although we did get our dog from the Animal Welfare about 8 years ago, he is not the subject of this post.

It may seem strange to bring something into my home when I am constantly decluttering but I rescued this ring binder from the rubbish pile at my office yesterday.  However, it was brought home with a specific purpose in mind.

2012-04-18 01When I was sorting out things on my sewing table last weekend I was confronted by a number of loose pattern pieces that I had drafted from my Enid Gilchrist pattern books.  I put each pattern in a separate plastic sleeve (I have a box a spare sleeves in the stationery pile) and wished I had a spare ring binder.

My wish came true when I saw this brand-new folder containing obsolete training information destined for the rubbish.  I put the contents in the confidential recycling and brought the folder home.

2012-04-18 02Here it is with the pattern pieces in sleeves (on the left) and I have also placed the pattern books each in their own sleeve as they are rather fragile from age.  I still have some more to sort out but this will help to streamline the paperwork in the sewing room.  It is good to know that I will easily be able to find the pattern pieces when I need them.

2012-04-18 03Here are all of the patterns stored on top of the sewing cabinet.

What storage methods do you use for sewing/craft books and patterns?