I realised that tonight I have been playing Scrabble and Spider Solitaire (online) as well as doing a Sudoku puzzle in the newspaper. I do at least some of these activities every day, partly because I enjoy the challenge and partly to use parts of my brain that do not get a workout in my routines activities at work and home.
What about you? How do you exercise your brain?
I have been decluttering for over 10 years now but I am not really sure when I started. In fact, I had never even heard of the word until, perhaps 5 years ago and the concept of minimalism only entered my consciousness even more recently.
There are as many ways to approach decluttering as there are people on the planet.
I have heard of instances where people have decluttered their whole home in a weekend. They ordered a skip, almost stripped their home bare and threw the excess in the skip. I do not know what their long-term success rate was like but I suspect that it was a bit like a crash diet. The rebound effect brings you back to the same point as where you started or worse.
The slow and steady approach is my way and it also fits with my philosophy of minimising waste and making do with what I have. I had numerous mini bottles of shampoo, conditioner and moisturiser from hotel visits. I have gradually used them up until they are all gone.
I have no doubt that the key to successfully decluttering your home is to stop bringing more stuff into it. Unless you can get rid of the endless stream of possessions coming in, nothing is achieved. It is time to alter your mindset and cease the constant inflow.
Although I do not write regularly about what I have decluttered, rarely a day goes by without me moving something out. It may be physical items or even that very insidious junk – digital clutter. When was the last time you checked your email inbox? Is it overflowing with offers, freebies and emails that you haven’t even read? Get set with the delete and unsubscribe functions!
Here are some of the things that I have re-homed recently.
Large chest of drawers – sold on Gumtree
2 suitcases – given away via Freecycle
Mirror in frame – given away via Freecycle
2 zips – sent to a friend
Paper napkins – sent in response to an online request
3 men’s polo shirts – given to op shop
Skirt and 2 tops – given to op shop
4 cookbooks – given to op shop
What have you decluttered recently?
I came unstuck this morning with my small wardrobe. I am back at work today after a week off over the Christmas period, however, the dress code is casual for this week.
It is going to be hot again today so I put on my white shorts and one of my new spotted tops (the black one) and my black leather slides. It was all looking good until I was standing on the railway platform and noticed that the top was navy, not black. I would normally have chosen to wear my red sandals with this outfit. I doubt that anyone will notice but it does not feel right to me.
Navy is a new addition to my wardrobe so I will need to be careful when choosing this top especially as the black and navy ones are otherwise identical.
Do you have ‘rules’ about your clothes or is it a case of ‘almost anything goes’?
The countdown is on to another 3 month season of Project 333. I originally participated in this project back in April 2012. You can read my first post about dipping my toe in the water. Since the initial 3 month period, I have not stuck rigidly to the ‘rules’ but simply set myself a goal of streamlining my wardrobe to a small selection of clothes that I love and wear.
One of the things that has really helped is learning to know and understand my style. It is unique to me and cannot be dictated by an outsider. Style is about you and it is much easier to define and refine as you peel away the layers of clothes that you consistently overlook when choosing an outfit.
If I had to choose one word to describe my style it would be ‘simple’. That is really apt as it fits in neatly with my philosphy of simple on so many levels. It is partly because of the climate I live in but I am definitely not a fan of layering such as top, tunic and trousers then a drapey cardigan over the top. It is simply not me.
I am lucky to have found a range of clothes in one boutique that mostly meets my needs. In fact I could almost go so far as to say that the clothes I have bought from Rivette & Blair make up the majority of my wardrobe. I have 2 dresses, 4 jackets, 6 shirts, 8 tops, 4 skirts and 2 pairs of trousers that I have purchased over the last 4 or 5 years. There have been others that have worn out out or been moved on after several years of wear. Regardless of the shop, I have made a couple of bad choices and bought items that have not stood the test of time. However, understanding my style helps me to shop smarter and hopefully the bad choices will be minimised, if not completely eliminated.
The 3 photos I have used in this post feature 9 different items. They are all from Rivette & Blair with the exception of the pink cardigan in the first photo and the skirt in the last one. They are generally basic pieces which can be mixed and matched with other items from the range or other sources.
I am currently reviewing (yet again) the contents of my wardrobe with a view to checking out my favourite shop when I go to Melbourne soon. Even though I can order from the website I am much happier going to the shop and actually trying the clothes on. I am not a convert to shopping onlne for my clothes yet. What about you?
You may or may not have noticed the lack of posts about getting organised for Christmas. That was because I really have done very little. We are going to be travelling interstate so it will be somewhat different to most years.
Things I have done:
Made a cake
Organised gifts for our children and granchildren
Attended the annual Christmas drinks with neighbours from our road
Sent a small number of cards and emails
Had a BBQ with my mother and siblings before we all head in different directions for Christmas
Things I have not done:
Put up a tree
Rushed around buying gifts for lots of people
Attended work Christmas functions
Planned a huge feast
This evening we called in to visit our daughter and family and give them their Christmas presents. The highlight was explaining to Miss O and Izz that we will be going to Sydney on New Year’s Day to see “The Lion KIng” for their Christmas gift from us.
The Duke and I will not be exchanging particular gifts but instead we are saving towards our planned trip to the UK later next year.
We will be spending Christmas Day with my mother and our younger daughter in Melbourne. We are staying in rented accommodation so I will decide on a menu based on the weather and also availability of kitchen equipment/utensils. We will have access to an excellent of fresh food from the market and we will enjoy creating a special meal without over-indulging. A laptop and the internet means that I will be able to use virtually any recipe I could possibly want.
I will spend some time reflecting on the year that was. 2013 has had some challenges which we have survived and I am looking forward to a fresh slate – 2014!
What are your plans?
The year is rapidly drawing to a close and it has made me start to think about some of the things I hope to achieve in 2014.
I am well underway with scanning all of my recipes and filing them in a digital format. The photos are also a work in progress but that will take considerably more time than the recipes. I also have 2 substantial collections of historical material which would benefit from being scanned and sorted rather than filed away in a box with limited access.
So one of my goals for 2014 is complete all of these projects. I see several benefits from transferring these to digital files.
Easy to access
Preserved for the future – able to create several copies in different locations
Reduced clutter
Able to share information
Do you have any particular goals for 2014?
In an earlier post I identified the essentials for life as shelter, food and clothing.
I talked a bit about food and how you can immediately reduce your costs by creatively using what you have on hand and also the importance of not wasting precious food.
Now for the other 2 essentials before we move back to food.
Shelter
I know it is unwise to assume, but for the purpose of this exercise I will make the assumption that you currently have somewhere to live. This means that you will most likely have the expense of either rent or mortgage payments. These need to be your first priority when you are accounting for money and if you are unable to meet this payments then your situation is very dire. You should seek financial counselling as soon as possible.
It is not a good idea to try to sell or move to another rental property when things are really tight as there are costs associated with moving house, so, if it all possible, it is best to see if you can possibly maintain your current location by cutting back in other areas. If it is absolutely essential that you move, you could consider moving in with other family members as a temporary solution or sharing with another couple or family to reduce the costs. All of these strategies have been done before, and whilst not perfect, they are better than ending up homeless.
Clothing
“It is interesting, because I often don’t think of clothing myself as an essential. When I was trying to save for a deposit for a house, that’s the category I set to zero (save for a three week holiday I budgeted for overseas, and within that budget I was allowed to buy whatever, which happened to include lots of clothes!). Admittedly, most people have clothing, so can skimp for a while. And there’s free clothing, through hand me downs, swaps and freecycle. Or there’s op shops. Still, very interesting reading!”
This was a comment in response to my post where I placed clothing in the ‘essential’ category. Having clothes to wear is essential – we are not in the Garden of Eden – but buying new clothes is definitely not essential! In fact, like Sarah’s comment, in tough times the clothing budget should be set to zero.
Think about this: You had enough clothes last week and nothing has changed so there is no need to go and buy more. Children’s clothes can be let down, patched and created from refashioned adult items. Check out websites and you will find many references to challenging yourself to buy no new clothes for a year. It can easily be done.
A final tip: Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.
In my next post I will look at what meals I can create using the list of contents of Sarah’s refrigerator and pantry.
We all have different expenses and priorities but I will try to cover them all using some broad categories. Not all categories apply to everyone and please add any of your own. Please feel free to let me know what I have omitted.
The necessities are really shelter, nourishment and clothing. There are lots of other things that we see as essential in Western cultures but if we strip it all back these are the bare necessities so we will start with them first.
Mortgage repayments or rent
Food
Clothes
Other ‘essentials’
Debt repayments
Transport costs – car and/or public transport
Utilities – water, electricity, gas
Communications – telephone, internet
Heating, cooling
Education costs
Health – including health insurance
Other insurances – house, car, life
The first thing you need to do is to know how much you are spending in each of these categories at the moment. Some, like rent or mortgage payments will be easy as it is a set amount. Decide on a timeframe such as weekly, fortnightly or monthly and then work out how much you are spending in each category for the specific timeframe. I would recommend weekly or fortnightly, however, monthly is an option if you are paid or receive benefits as your major income source on a monthly basis.
Now, you need to add up what you are spending on the essentials and what income you have. Is you income enough to cover your essentials? If not, you will need to work out how you can cover the shortfall. Increase income? Reduce costs? Even if you have calculated that you have enough income to cover the essentials, now is not the time to be feeling smug. Remember, there is no allowance here for gifts, treats, outings, birthdays, Christmas, haircuts, coffee, snacks or eating out. If you think this sounds extreme, it is, but it can be done.
Read this link from Frugal Queen’s blog. http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk/p/our-story.html I began reading this blog about 3 years ago and it is absolutely inspirational. Froogs pulls no punches about what has to be done to improve your financial situation but she leads by example and we would all do well to follow her lead. Once you have read the previous link, I would strongly suggest that you take the time and read the blog from the very beginning. You will not do it all in one sitting but you will start to see that by taking some fairly drastic action you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some things will be relevant and others will not but the message is clear – take responsibility for your own financial position and do something about it now! Cut your spending to the bone. There is no use mincing around the edges and wailing that you can’t do it. You can and you must.
Tomorrow I will cover what I refer to as ‘Emergency Action’. These are things that you can do right here and now that will make an immediate difference. You will not necessarily be able to continue such drastic measures long-term but it will help to kickstart your journey to balance the budget.
Do you really, truly know the state of your finances?
It is very easy to try to ignore the situation. Burying your head in the sand is the wrong decision.
You need to be totally honest and the first thing is to be honest with yourself, extricate your head from the sand and face the facts. It won’t be pretty and I expect that you have known that in your heart and that is why you chose to ignore the problems. The inertia that overcomes us when things become too difficult can be extremely overwhelming.
It is very unlikely that this is a situation that you want or need to face alone. None of us live in total isolation so it is time to include those who are close to you as it is likely that at least some of the changes you are going to need to make will impact on them. Whether it is your spouse, parents or children you need to be absolutely honest with them. There is no use trying to gloss over things, otherwise, they may not understand the seriousness of the situation. Once your and your spouse (as an example) both know what the current situation is you can start to build a plan to move forward. If you both have the same goal you can support and encourage each other.
Your new-found honesty needs to extend to your bank, anyone to whom you owe money and anyone who is going to assist you financially during the period while you get your finances back on track. There needs to be complete and utter transparency to make this work.
We have already decided that burying your head in the sand is not a sustainable, long-term financial option.
So, it is time to draw a new line in the sand and move forward with confidence. Things may look desperate now but you can do it.
Tomorrow we will identify and list all of your expenses.
The Duke and I have begun planning and booking for an overseas trip in August 2014. It has been a considered financial decision for which we have budgeted. This is in addition to our day-to-day household budget, debt repayments (mortgage and personal loan) and savings (superannuation).
On the face of it, everything looks pretty rosy financially at the moment which is in stark contrast to some other stages of our lives. But everything could change in a blink if one or both of us were to be made redundant from our jobs. We do not really expect that to happen but nothing is 100% certain. We just have to make the best of what we have at the moment.
As I mentioned earlier, there have been times when making ends meet has seemed almost impossible. Unfortunately, there are many people in this situation. I read their stories every day in newspapers, online and in magazines. I see it being played out in cities and small communities all over the world. Sometimes it can be a problem of long-standing (spanning generations) or may be a small blip on the radar due to a temporary change in circumstance.
Whatever the reason, there is a problem when expenses exceed income.
I deliberately left that line by itself because that is the crux of the matter. Read it again. When expenses exceed income. It does not matter what way you dress it up, if you spend more than you earn you will have a problem. One day the credit card will reach its limit, you will not be able to get more credit and the house of cards will come tumbling down.
Enough of the problem. We are looking for solutions. There is no magic bullet and this is going to be hard work. I plan to write a series of posts over the coming days to focus on each of the following points in more detail. If you have personal experience, suggestions or comments please leave them here or you can email me directly at the email address in the ‘About Me’ tab at the top of the page.
1 Be honest
2 Create a list of expenses
3 Sort essentials from non-essentials
4 Make a plan
5 Accommodation
6 Food
7 Utilities
There will be other topics and the structure may change as the comments unfold. However, the purpose of this will remain. It is designed to share collective wisdom from all sources in order to help and support each other.
I look forward to hearing your stories and tips, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. What are the little things you do every day that save you money? Remember, this may make the difference to someone else’s life.
Until tomorrow.
organised castle 