The Importance of a Routine

My lightbulb is clicking to the "ON" position.  I am finally understanding the importance of having a routine.  I have sorely neglected my Daily To-Dos (and weekly and monthly...).  In fact, I have been only doing the bare minimum for the last month or more.  I cannot explain why I have let this happen when I was doing such a good job previously.  Maybe the novelty of "getting organized" wore off.

At any rate, here I am, stuck on bedrest.  Here's the backstory:

After school on Wednesday, I came home and started spreading some mulch in my front flower beds.  I stopped after about thirty minutes because the wind was blowing so badly that I couldn't keep my weed control tarp under control.  So, I came inside and took a shower.  My parents invited Frank and I over for supper and as I was sitting down in the chair...SNAP!  My back, for lack of a better word, snapped.  I had pretty intense pain for about thirty seconds and then it was just some dull, constant pressure in my lower back.  I ate supper and for a couple of hours, I was able to do normal things.  But, over time the pain kept getting worse.  I spent all day Thursday in the bed or in the recliner.  My back hurt whether I was sitting, reclining, or lying flat.  No anti-inflammatory medication helped.  Ben-Gay didn't help.  Heating pads and ice packs didn't help.  Nothing helped.  It hurt when I moved and it hurt when I was still.

So, this morning I wake up and can hardly move.  I knew that I had to go see the doctor.  I was diagnosed with a herniated disc.  My provider told me that it would take a week for my back to feel better and that in the meantime, I should be on bedrest.  I thought to myself, "A WEEK?!?  I can't spend a week on bedrest!  I have too much to do!"  I had already missed class today and now I have to call in sick to work all weekend?  Ugh.

So, what does this have to do with routine?  Well, I will tell ya.  I would be embarrassed if anyone saw the condition my house is in right now.  It is a wreck.  The dishwasher is full of dirty dishes and the sink is overflowing with dirty dishes.  The laundry situation is getting perilous.  The litterbox is full.  I don't know when I last swept.  Or mopped.  Or vacuumed.  And I still haven't balanced the checkbook!  If I had been keeping up with my routines, my home wouldn't look quite so disasterous right now.  Sure, it might be a little messy, but nothing near the nuclear mess it is right now.

I have pledged myself this:  "I WILL get this house in order.  I WILL catch up everything that I am running behind on.  I WILL forgive myself for letting it get this out of hand.  And I WILL complete this by May 1."

Since I am on bedrest with nothing else better to do, I guess now is as good as a time as any to make a list of all the things that need to be done around this house.  I will keep you posted on how this goes.

Sorting Mail

In an effort to prove to myself exactly how little time it takes to sort mail, I let my mail pile up to this.

 Now, keep in mind that this is was done purely for investigative purposes.  *Cough*

I believe that this pile accumulated over two weeks.  Amongst this pile of paper is multiple catalogs, magazines, bills, EOBs from insurance, reminders from the vet that my cat needs her shots, junk mail, and other miscellaneous items that need to be filed or otherwise dealt with.

The first thing I do is start opening the mail.  As I figure out what it is, I put it in the appropriate file or pile.  For example, the first item I opened was a credit card statement.  I filed the bill itself in my mesh file organizer under "Bills to Pay" and tossed the rest of the envelope and inserts into the trash.

Banking papers that come in go under "Banking-Holding."  These would be statements that I need to balance...we ALL know how good I am about that!

The "Holding" category in the mesh file organizer is for anything else that needs to be address soon, but I'm not quite ready to file into archival filing.  Usually, items only stay here for a couple weeks.

If I come across a magazine or catalog, it goes in the hanging file box under the appropriate tab.  Same thing for sale papers and coupons that come in the mail.  (I'm trying to make a habit of going through the coupon file once a week and sorting the coupons in my coupon binder.  AKA:  Penny)

It seemed to take forever to open and file all those pieces of paper, but it only took:

And my trash pile looked like this:

The pink paper pile to the left is the shred pile.

Now, in less than ten minutes, I filed and handled over two weeks of mail.  Why, oh why, do I procrastinate so much?

Folding Laundry Is Boring

I hate folding laundry.  It is not necessarily an unpleasant job, but it is mind-numbingly boring.  So boring, in fact, that I tend to wait until my "To Fold" pile looks like this:

I guestimate that this pile is five loads of laundry. 

Generally, after more than two loads pile up, I just don't see the use in even attempting to fold it.  So, I just keep piling and piling.  Then, one day when I'm searching for clean underwear, a clothing avalanche forces me to do something about it.

Today was that day.  Muttering under my breath, I moved the clothes from the laundry room to my bed and started plugging away at the pile.  The whole time I'm thinking that it will take me at least 45 minutes to completely sort, fold, and put away Mount Foldme.

Want to know how long it took?

Nice.

Menu Plan Monday

I have a busy week this week, so my good ol' trusty Crock Pot is going to get a work out.

Monday:  Leftover Beef Roast from last night
Tuesday:  Ranch Pork Chops (made in Crock Pot) and mashed potatoes
Wednesday:  You're On Your Own
Thursday:  Salsa Chicken in the Crock Pot
Friday:  Spaghetti Casserole
Saturday:  You're On Your Own
Sunday:  Grilled Hot Dogs, Rotel and Chips

Yum.  Yum.  I am already excited about this week!!!

A Timer CAN Help Prevent Procrastination

It has been well documented that I tend to be a bit of a procrastinator.  Sometimes, the procrastination has a lot to do with something that is tedious (balancing the checkbook) or sometimes it is something that I flat don’t want to do (pick up the house).  On Tuesday morning, I looked around the main living area of our house (which consists of the living room, dining room, and kitchen) and I noticed it was a bit of a wreck.  I honestly didn’t want to pick up those areas and I was rationalizing why I shouldn’t have to pick that area up.  My excuses included:

·         I’m too busy to stop and do those dishes right now.

·         No one is going to drop by and see this mess anyways.

·         I can pick it all up on Saturday, when I’m off.

·         Besides, it’s not that bad yet.

Why I think that I should wait until it looks like a bomb has went off in my house before I should start picking up is beyond me, but that is my slob nature.  That thinking is exactly why I have been trying to turn my thinking around.

In an effort to challenge myself, I decided to just pick up the darn living area.  But, I timed myself to see how long this whole process actually takes.  Here is what I found:

In 29 minutes and 42 seconds, I went from this:

 



To this:

Please ignore the receipts on the table.
I'm in the middle of trying to balance the
checkbook to current.  It is yet another
project that I'm insisting on procrastinating on.

In less than 30 minutes, I went from a cluttered, hot mess to something that I could be proud of.  Of course, in doing this little project, I was procrastinating studying for my test that I had on Wednesday...

Eat that frog!

There is a saying in the "Time Management" world that goes, "Eat that frog!"  What it means is that every morning, you should eat a live frog.  Then, the worst part of your day is over.  Further broken down, it means that you should do your hardest tasks first during the day.  These tasks can be the hardest because they take the most time, are the most tedious, or because you simply don't want to do it.

Today, my frog is my checkbook.  As of last week, I hadn't balanced it since February 2011.  Over the course of the last week, however, I have balanced it up to August 2011.  My goal for this weekend is to be balanced up to October 2011.  It should only take about 90 minutes...but I loathe balancing the checkbook.  It is mind-numbing. 

Everyone has a frog.  What is yours?  Identify it and then put some salt on that sucker and have at it!

Thrifty Thursday: Losing the Bottled Water Habit

Do you know what one of the most expensive (nonalcoholic) beverages is?  Bottled water.  It's crazy that people (like me) buy water.  I am currently making an effort to not buy any bottled water.  However, I live in the city and I do not like our tap water.  The solution?  This:

And this:

I bought the Brita Filtration Station at Wal-Mart for about $30.  I bought the Rubbermaid reusable water bottles at the Dollar Store for about $2 each.  I only bought two of the water bottles for now, but if this system seems to work, then I will buy more to keep in the refrigerator.

So, for about $35, I was able to make my own bottled water.  Frank and I usually drink at least 10 bottled waters during a week.  A 12 pack of Dasani is about $5...I think.  Anyways, this system should pay for itself in two months. 

The filter station is cool because it has a spigot for dispensing water into your glass.  We use that alot.  But those Rubbermaid water bottles are awesome!  I use some of the water from the filter station to fill up some ice cube trays ($1 for a 3 pack at Dollar General) and use the filtered water to make "filtered" ice cubes for my water!  Awesome.

On a side note, the filter station has a filter that should be replaced about every 3 months.  I'm not totally sure on the cost of the filter, but I would venture to guess that it is about $12-15.  For course, the "every 3 months" instruction is merely a suggestion.  :)  I will probably go at least 4 months before changing the filter...unless the water starts to taste funky.

What are some ways that y'all try to save money on beverages?  If Frank and I could ever learn to kick the soda habit, we will be WAY ahead!!!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

In an effort to save money, I started making my own laundry detergent.  However, the more I researched laundry detergents, the more I realized that the companies who make laundry detergents are using unnecessary chemicals and use A LOT of water.  You are paying for so much water when you buy liquid laundry detergent in the store.

There are many different “recipes” for homemade detergent.  You can do liquid detergent or powder detergent.  I chose powder detergent, just because it has one less step in it.  I found this recipe on the internet somewhere.  But, all the recipes are basically the same.  Here’s the recipe I used:

½ cup Borax

1 cup Arm and Hammer WASHING Soda

1 bar grated soap*

¾ cup Purex Crystals FABRIC SOFTENER

*Soap:  On the internet, many people were using Fels Naptha soap.  I also read where some people use Ivory soap.  At first, I used ½ Jergens Original and ½ Dove Original Beauty Bar.  They seemed to do the job just fine.  The second batch I made, I used Ivory soap.  (I was able to buy 10 bars for $4.57 at Wal-Mart.)  The Ivory soap grates so much easier than the Dove or Jergens.  The more I have researched the Fels Naptha, I have found that you can get a bar of it at Wal-Mart for about $0.97.  But, Ivory is still cheaper.

To Make the Detergent:

All you do is grind up the soap using a cheese grater.  I bought a $3.25 one at the grocery store.  Then you add all the other ingredients.  Stir well.  Using a funnel (which I also had to buy:  $0.87), pour your mixture into a storage container.  We used a cleaned out ½ gallon milk jug.  When you are ready to do a load of laundry, just add 1-2 tbsp of powder to your washer (for top-loaders).  This recipe makes enough for 32 loads if you only use 1 tbsp.  I find that I tend to use 1 ½ tbsp per load…2 tbsp if the clothes are very soiled.

This mixture does not suds a lot, but it really does work well.  It leaves clothes with a subtly fresh scent that I really like.  I have not noticed any lingering residue and this seems to clean the clothes well.

The cost breakdown looks like this:

Borax:  $4.69—enough for 19 batches!

Washing Soda: $3.24—enough for 6 batches.

Purex:  $4.76—enough for 5 batches.

Soap:  $1.00—enough for 1 batch.

Some quick math tells me that my laundry detergent costs me $2.47 for 32 loads, again if you only use 1 tbsp.  That is just $0.08 per load.  Comparing that to the 25 load bottle of Gain that I bought at Dollar General for $5 the other day (which breaks down to $0.20 per load), I’d say that is quite a savings!

Menu Plan Monday...er Tuesday!

So, I have been in a little of a funk lately.  I have totally been letting my Daily To-Do's pass me by.  For example, I don't think I have swept the floor in four or five days.  And the litterbox?  Yuck.  But, today is a new day and I'm getting back on track.  Today will be a busy day, but I WILL get everything I can done.  Anywho, without further ado, here's this week's menu.

Monday:  We went out to eat for my mom's birthday.
Tuesday:  Roast with veggies
Wednesday:  Chicken Tortilla Soup
Thursday:  You're On Your Own
Friday:  Crockpot Salsa Chicken
Saturday:  Hobo Packets
Sunday:  Eating at my parents house!

Menu Plan Monday

After a five day hiatus, I am ready to resume my blogging and organizing.  Since it was Spring Break, I decided to actually take a day off.  *Gasp!*  Thursday was spent doing nothing but vegging out on the couch and watching television.  I took the pups to the kennel Thursday afternoon and then I went to the lake with my parents.  Frank came up on Friday at lunch because he had to work 1/2 a day.

Frank, my parents, and I worked on getting their lake property in ship shape.  We cut down four trees, burned leaves, and did some other maintenance tasks around the cabin.  I'm ready for summer!!!  When Frank and I came home yesterday afternoon, we got the pups and bathed them.  We changed the sheets on the bed and did four loads of laundry.  I also completed my daily tasks....except that whole studying 15 minutes a day thing.  (wink)

Late last night, I started feeling sick to my stomach and was awake a good bit of the night feeling terrible.  In the end, I decided not to go to school today.  I hate that I missed the day after Spring Break, but I felt awful.  I ended up sleeping the funk off and woke up after lunch feeling alot better.  And that brings me to today!  It's Menu Plan Monday over at Org Junkie and I will be linking up over there.

Monday:  You're On Your Own
Tuesday:  Frozen Pizza
Wednesday:  You're On Your Own
Thursday:  Either Beef Roast or out to eat Mexican with a friend
Friday:  Chicken Casserole and Green Beans
Saturday:  Grilled Pork Chops and Mashed Potatoes
Sunday:  Whatever the hubby decides to cook.

This week is my very long, very tiring week.  I work tonight and tomorrow night and then I have class all day on Wednesday.  By the time I come dragging home, I have been up and going for over 24 hours.  However, I do plan on hitting the grocery store before I come home from work so that I don't have to do it on Thursday.  (That is, IF I get off at a decent time!)

Daily To-Do's...I may have made a mistake.

So, when I assigned my new daily task this Sunday, I wasn't taking into account that Spring Break started on Monday.  Maybe having a daily goal of studying 15 minutes per day wasn't the best idea.  Especially the day before Spring Break!  It looks like I won't be adding another task to my list come Sunday...

On the upside, I have been working hard around the house this week.  Yesterday and today I spent a great deal of time catching up our checkbook.  I haven't balanced the checkbook since February 2011.  Nice.  Anyways, as of tonight, I have completed up to July 2011.  It's a slow process.  I was originally hoping to completely catch up the checkbook by Thursday afternoon (when we leave for the lake!!!).  But, it's not looking like that's going to happen because tomorrow I am going to do some grocery shopping specifically for freezer cooking (which I will also do tomorrow).

It looks I have my work cut out for me tomorrow!

My Laundry System

There are several different ways a person can take care of their laundry beast.  Some people choose to do one load a day and others may choose to do all of their laundry in one day.  While I see pros and cons of each, I prefer to do one load of laundry a day.  But, unfortunately, that set-up doesn’t work for me at this time.  The way my work and school schedules now go, I may not be home but a couple of hours in a 24 hour period of time.  When I do catch a few hours at home before I leave for work or school, the last thing I’m doing is laundry!  So, when this semester started, I switched from one load of laundry a day to one laundry day per week.  On that one day, I do all laundry.  From start to finish.  Bed linens, couch throws, bath towels and rags, cleaning rags, dishrags and clothes, clothes…all of it.  It takes me about 7 loads (which, incidentally, is most of the day), but at the end of the day, I’m done for a week.

Menu Plan Monday

Today is the official start to Spring Break!  YAY!  I'm off for the next 7 days and I refuse to even think about work.  However, I have lots to do around the house...but that's not work. :)

Since today is Monday, I'm linking up over at Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.  Here's what we are chowing down on this week:

Monday:  Queso Dip and Tortilla Chips (Yum)
Tuesday:  HB Helper, Frozen Corn, Mashed Potatoes
Wednesday:  Chicken and Dressing, Green Beans
Thursday:  Chicken Tortilla Soup
Friday and Saturday:  Goin' to the LAKE bay-beee!

Sunday: New Task Day!

Wow!  What a difference a few weeks make!  I have never felt better...physically and emotionally.

Since it is Sunday, I will be assigning myself a new daily task.  So far, my daily tasks include:

• Feed and water the critters.
• Mail call.
• Check planner/calendar.
• Purge.
• Litterbox.
• Sweep.

For the most part, I have done an excellent job of keeping up with my daily tasks.  And even  my weekly tasks (but that's another set of blog posts).  I have decided that this week's new task will be to study at least 15 minutes a day.  After all, maintaining that 4.0 isn't going to happen all by itself.  *Wink*  Honestly, I don't think I have the willpower to study both Anatomy AND Lab for 15 minutes a day.  So, I may rotate them:  one day do anatomy and the next do lab.  Or maybe just split it up:  do 7 minutes each per day.  I don't know which will be best, but for now, at least I have a game plan. 

Feelin' Good Friday: Gratitude Journal

I believe that many times we take all of our blessings for granted.  We grumble about how often we have dirty dishes, but we should be thankful for those dirty dishes because that means we have food.  We gripe about the never-ending laundry that piles up, but that means that we have enough clothing to wear.  We moan and complain about how tough work was today, but that means that we have a job.  In today's economy, just having a job is a wonderful blessing.

Over time, we forget how truly blessed we are.  It's easy to do.  In an effort to not take "the little blessings" for granted, I try to write in my Gratitude Journal.  Each day, before I go to bed, I make a note of 3 to 5 different things that I am thankful for from that day.  I could write hundreds of things that I'm grateful for, but then I would never write in my journal.  *Grins*

It is a small task to write these few items down.  But looking back over time, it is nice to see that I, indeed, have a good life.

Thrifty Thursday: The $40 Grocery Bill Challenge

 

Good evening!  It’s Thrifty Thursday over here at The Clutter Diary.  This week I am challenging myself to pay only $40 for groceries.  We usually spend $80 or so on groceries and household items.  But, this week I decided to get a massage and a pedicure, so I need to make that money up somewhere.  I have decided that since my pantry looks like this:

It might be a good idea to use up some of the food I have stowed away in there.  After all, what good is it to have all this good food if I just keep adding crap to it?  I already have all the food I need to feed us until Monday, so I will grocery shop today for Monday-Friday next week.  It’s just easier to do that versus trying to go grocery shopping on Monday after I worked all weekend.

First thing I am going to do is go through my food storage areas and toss anything that is expired or just won’t get eaten.  Then, I am going to sort the food by category and reorganize the spaces for optimum functioning.  When you have a small kitchen like mine and a teensy tiny pantry, you just gotta make do with what ya got.  J

Here’s after I reorganized the pantry:

I was able to spend only $27 at the grocery store.  But, I predict the other $13 dollars to be used up next week, for a total of $40.  Now, that’s a nice little chunk of change that I saved over my usual grocery spending!

Easy Way to Freshen the Linen Closet

Have you ever gotten a towel or set of sheets out of your linen closet and they smelled…less than fresh?  For some reason, my linen closet tends to have a musty smell in it.  My central unit vent return is right below the cabinet, so I don’t know if that has something to do with it or not.  Anyways, I was noticing that the linen closet made my clean linens smell somewhat musty.  Almost like they had been sitting in the washer too long, but I knew that they hadn’t.  I cleaned the closet, but they still had the weird odor.

I did some research on the internet and ran across tip that has made all the difference.  It was so simple that I thought that it surely wouldn’t work.  But it did.  The tip?  Put a dryer sheet in the cabinet with your linens.  Crazy, right?!?

Our linen cabinet has four shelves and I just put a dryer sheet on two of them.  It has made a dramatic difference.  The towels now smell dryer-fresh and our sheets have a pleasant scent that lasts for the entire week.

I also took this tip and used it for our closet and office closet.  In our office closet, I house all of our jackets.  In the winter, we tend to use the same jackets daily but I keep our dress jackets in the office closet.  Then, in the spring, I move all the jackets to the closet.  I put a small nail on the inner wall, the wall that you have to crane your neck to see, and I poked a dryer sheet right on that nail.  The jackets smell nice and fresh and I just routinely change the dryer sheet out anytime I think of it, maybe a couple times a year.  I did the same thing in our main closet, too!  It’s a pleasant scent that wafts out into the room whenever you open the closet door…and it makes me happy.  And I like being happy. J

Menu Plan Monday

I know I have mentioned this before, but I have really started liking how menu planning on Sunday seems to set the "organized" mood for the whole week.  It's almost like "It's one more thing that I really don't have to worry about."  The only thing I have to remember is to take stuff out of the freezer about two days before we need it.  Done.  (I usually take two days worth of meals out at a time.)  Without further ado, here's this week's menu:

Monday:  Leftovers for Frank, I will likely eat out tonight.
Tuesday:  Pizza Casserole
Wednesday:  Ham and Cheese Hawaiian Rolls, French Fries
Thursday:  Sweat and Sour Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, Salad
Friday:  Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Saturday:  Grilled Pork Chops, Mac and Cheese
Sunday:  You're On Your Own

Sunday: New Task Day!

Happy Sunday!  Today is the day of the week that I assign myself a new daily task.  Since I'm doing so well keeping up with my other daily tasks, I believe that this week's task will not be too much of an additional job.  This week's new habit is to do a quick 5 minute pick-up daily.  Ideally, this would take place in the evenings, right before bed.  But since I go to bed during the day and night (depending on my work schedule), I think that just a loose "tidy up 5 minutes before I lay horizontal" is sufficient.  *Grins*

Obviously, straightening up 5 minutes a day will not be sufficient in keeping the house looking nice.  But, since I have started timing myself doing my tasks and housework, I have been pleasantly surprised by how little time these tasks actually take.  This 5 minute tidy, however, is in addition to my other daily tasks.  For example, opening the mail and scooping the litterbox are not included in my 5 minute tidy.  I believe that a daily 5 minute touch-up is exactly what my home needs.

On another, unrelated note:  my blog traffic has increased dramatically!  And that has made me so happy!  In fact, yesterday alone had 21 pageviews.  Now if I can lure more commenters my way....  :)

Feelin' Good Friday--Values

Okay, so it's not Friday, but I was a little overbooked yesterday and something had to give, so it was the blog.  But, keeping my promise from Thursday to discuss values, I have decided to post this a day late.  Besides, I think this is an important blog post...

From time to time, everyone will go through a "funk."  I recently had one of those funks.  For about 8 months.  It was a personal problem, that at this time, I am not comfortable with discussing with the world.  This "personal problem" made me feel very bad about myself.  I felt like a failure despite my family and friends' unending support.  Finally, a friend told me that I was not the same person she met several years ago.  In part, I think that some of the changes in me were a product of maturity and the typical nurse's "gallows humor."  But, I knew what she was referencing, because I felt it too.  There was a huge difference between my normal sarcasm and the pessimistic cynicalism that I had been subjecting myself to lately.  I decided that life was too short to life that way.  I spoke with a healthcare provider (that is also a good friend) and she and I came up with a game plan for me.  A pharmaceutical game plan.  *Grins*  In all seriousness, I didn't realize how bad I felt until I started feeling better.  Which, incidentally, was about the time this blog was born.  Over the last several weeks, I am noticing that I am starting to feel better...even better than the "Old Me."  In fact, I feel like Superwoman.  I am unstoppable.

Part of my transformation-in-progress was pharmaceutical-assisted, yes, but I have been working hard to fix/mend my psyche, too.  And it all comes down to knowing what is important to you, knowing what you're values are.  Values vary from person to person.  Technically, the definition of "values" is:  "the importance or preciousness of something." 

I think it is important to list your values somewhere.  Somewhere you access fairly often, maybe your Home Management Binder or a journal.  It is nice to remind yourself of what ranks as important in your life.  It makes making decisions alot easier, too.  In a world where we are overbooked and frazzled, saying "Yes" to one more obligation may not seem like too much of a headache right now.  But in two months, it might be very difficult to juggle this new obligation with your current life.  When asked to take on a new task (like hosting the work Christmas party or planning a family member's wedding shower), ask yourself if this task will be more of a burden than it's worth.  If this new task or obligation doesn't fit into your set of values, then maybe it just isn't worth it.

To make a list of values, you might want to start with these questions:

• What are the most important things/relationships in my life?  What are my values or what makes a rich life?
• Do I work at maintaining these important relationships?
• If no, do I have a plan to start reconnecting with these important values?
• Do I give back to others?

After you have made your list of values, start working to put those values into action in your everyday life.  Appreciating those things that are important to you, puts meaning into your life.  It helps you to appreciate life for the gift that it is.