Time to Get Serious! Getting back to budgeting and taking care of the home.

This fall everything just stopped. I had morning sickness that made me a couch potato. I paid the bills but that was about it. I was not super careful about keeping track of the budget. Housework and organizing was not a priority. I was in survival mode. And, to be honest, sometimes survival mode is what we need to be in sometimes. Especially when dealing with nausea or other health concerns. Sometimes real life just gets in the way of our plans.

When you are at zero it is really hard to get going again. Who wants to have to be the responsible adult with housework and budgets and other things that just aren't as fun or as interesting as my latest book? It is really hard to get out of the survival mode funk, even when you are physically feeling so much better.

While it is hard to get back into the groove of things, and we might delude ourselves into thinking that it is so much easier just to ignore things, that attitude can come with a price. That price is feeling out of control and stressed. That is how I was beginning to feel. My handle on the finances and the amount we accrued on our line of credit did not make me feel happy. The junk that was starting to spread throughout the house and made things impossible was adding to the stress of daily living.

And here is a mini-rant: Why is it that if something is missing it is the mom's responsibility for finding it. Seriously! Who came up with the mom must keep track of everything and know where everything is at all times rule? It totally sucks! End rant.

Now that I am in the third trimester I know it is time to get serious. Baby #4 is going to be here sooner than we think. Another survival mode is right around the corner once the baby comes and it would be super nice not to be derailed again. The closer to the due date I get the more I get what Jim Gaffigan was saying about becoming a parent of four. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. It is hilarious. You can see it here.

So what am I going to do?

It is definitely time to get serious about the budget. I was definitely lax with it, we probably bought more than we needed or didn't think everything through during my MIA months. Throw Christmas in there and bam! I am not where I wanted to be at this time.

So, now is the time to re-evaluate our expenses and see where the money is going and figure out where we would like it to go. While there are some expenses you can't do without, such as rent/mortgage, food, insurance and other utilities there are lots of expenses that you can do without, or not fund as much. Figuring out how you want your money to work for you while being responsible with the most pay bills is super important and allows you to have more of a focus on your financial goals.

Part of this evaluation process has led to the creation of a slush fund. This is where we set aside money every month for those things that come along annually but aren't a set monthly thing. This would include things like sport fees, clothing, renewals for licenses, activities for the kids, and so on. To create our slush fun we opened a free savings account (we used Tangerine) and have it set up to take out a set amount of money from our chequing account each month. As we spend in our slush fund categories we can take the money from the slush fund and put it on the Credit card or back in our chequing account (wherever we spent the money from). I know it is more transactions (though with our accounts we have free unlimited transactions) but it will make keeping everything separate and easy to manage.

To keep track of our slush fund spending and regular spending I created a google sheet and shared it with my husband. That way both of us can more easily keep our spreadsheet up to date. Thanks Google! When I buy the kids clothes I just go to the slush fund sheet and put in the amount I spent in the "kids' clothes" category. It shows me how much we had budgeted for the year and how much we have left.

How did I come up with the yearly totals for the slush fund amounts. I went over what we had spent over the year, or how much things cost, like license renewals and got my numbers. Some categories I padded what with inflation, or in the case of kids clothing, if I can't find it used and have to pay for it new. (And my kids aren't going without snow boots just because I can't find their size at the thrift store). Every year we can go over and adjust the category amounts, but I would rather allot too much than too little.

Now that my spreadsheets are made, the slush fund is created and semi-functioning and I feel more organized in the finances once again I feel excited to challenge myself to live below the budget numbers I have set out. I look forward to challenging myself to be austere but still have fun. I look forward to putting more on the mortgage so we can get rid of that millstone around our neck. I am looking forward to see where we are at by the end of the year, and reflect to see if these changes, especially the adoption of the slush fund are working well for us. It is going to be a good year. I just need to make sure I stick with it, because I am the factor that will make it work or not.

Now is the time to get serious about stockpiling.

While I was researching ways to help cut food waste and keep groceries down, everyone talked about stockpiling. I sort of do this, but I found it confusing to implement for a long time. I still sort of do. But this is what I am going to do to get ready for June and to hopefully carry one with afterwards.

I am going to make sure the freezer is full of easy to prepare foods. That way my husband can make food without asking me a billion questions. And, when I am tired and not wanting to do anything I can just go down into the freezer and there will be something that I can throw into the crockpot in the morning or in the oven if it is later. Living in the city is so easy just to say "pick up a pizza on your way home" or "let's go out, I don't feel like cooking". But I know that this will not help with our budget, waistline, or health in general. Now, there is nothing wrong with going out, but you should do so for something special not the norm.

To cut down on some of the produce waste I have I am starting freeze whatever I can. Lately with apples I have been peeling and chopping them and throwing them into freezer bags. I usually put four cups in each bag. (Four cups gives me enough to make an apple crisp, and I love apple crisp!) I have also done that with peppers. That way I can just throw them into fajitas or other meals when I want some extra umph. Did you only use half an onion. Chop up the rest and freeze it. There are so many little ways, that don't add much to your time that can help reduce food waste and make food prep easier down the line.

I am starting to do the sale thing more where I stock up for 6-8 weeks of food that is on sale. And these are foods that I would have bought at full price anyway since I use them. It is not much use if you aren't going to use it, even if it is on sale. It's not a deal unless you use it has been my mantra for a while.

Slowly but surely I think I will get this whole thing figured out. But for now, I just want to make sure there is food in the freezer for when baby #4 makes its grand debut. Otherwise, who knows what we will eat!

Now is definitely the time to get serious about getting rid of the excess. The more stuff you have the more stuff you have to look after. And I think looking after the actual kids is enough. I don't want to have to look after all the stuff too.

So what I am doing to battle the craziness of stuff. Well I am overhauling almost everything. I am trying to maximize the storage I have and put things where they make the most sense. I am getting rid of paper clutter and staying on top of the papers that come in. I cleaned out the medicine cabinet this past week and got rid of all the expired medications and ointments etc. (Make sure to dispose of those in a responsible way. You can take them into your local pharmacy and they will make sure they are disposed of correctly.) It is amazing how much space you have once you take the time to actually get rid of the things that are expired. Seriously, why was I hanging on to it? I am reorganizing cupboards to help things function better. Visual clutter is being put away. It is so nice to have an item and know exactly where it's home is instead of shoving it somewhere and hoping you remember where you put it.

Matt is almost done our new office space. He just has baseboards to put up so that means the office will be moving. That will be exciting because we will be able to figure out what we want to keep and how we want to store it. I am excited for this liberating move and the chance to get rid of even more things!

On the kid front, a couple months ago I was a "mean" mom and took all the toys out of their bedroom. There room was just a mess with paper and clothes and toys. It was too much for them to be able to handle by themselves. So I took everything out put it in boxes and moved those boxes to the garage. They were able to keep a couple stuffies but that was it. And you know what? They have been able to keep their room neater, though I still have to remind them about putting their clothes in the laundry. (Seriously the laundry hamper is a foot away from where they get dressed, not even, just put the clothes in the laundry!!!) And you know what else? They haven't even asked for any of their stuff back! Once I am done with the office I will go through the girls' toys with them and we will see what we can get rid of. I am not completely heartless (only mildly so). But I think what we are learning is they don't need that much stuff. Less is truly more. You can have more happiness when you are not drowning in junk. With less stuff, will be less upkeep, will be spending more time with the people I love and doing the things I love. That sounds heavenly to me.

While this at times feels like pulling teeth, it is time to get truly serious about getting the kids involved in the upkeep of the house. Especially their own stuff. It is important to break the cycle of apathy and laziness that quite frankly they inherit from their parents. (Seriously, give me a hammock and my book any day over sweeping.) While I still want them to have the fun and joy of their childhood, now is the time to help them get into good habits that won't make them a nightmare roommate.

This means, helping with laundry, wiping the table, emptying the dishwasher, setting the table, sweeping and dusting. While they help with these everyday tasks, it means I can focus on the organizng of the house and the running of the home. It means I can invest my time in some of the bigger aspects of life and be less stressed in general because I know I have a team of kids (plus husband) who are helping with the little things that when go undone makes everything worse. Miss P loves having jobs to do. She loves helping to tidy and loves helping to sweep. Now is the time to harness this williness, as Miss V, who is almost 9 though seems more like 15 does not have the same enthusiasm. We may have missed the boat with Miss V, but here is the next one to put her on. We'll get there.

Hopefully doing all this, keeping better track of our finances, stockpiling, getting rid of the excess in our home and getting the kids involved will help us get organized and back into some good habits. My hope is this will help to simplify our lives, allow our family to be more joyful and be able to live a more full life. And, if it can crank down the stress I feel, and know I will definitely feel once baby #4 comes, well that is a a big fat bonus!

The Junk - It Has Served Its Purpose

A couple of months ago I read a book that really helped change my thinking around getting rid of things. In the book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, she turns purging and organizing on its head.While somethings are basic like going through your items other concepts were novel to me and left me feeling excited and hopeful as I continue my journey at tackling the junk in my house. She invites you to tackle by categories and not rooms, which really spoke to me and so far as been working really well. She helps you see what is really essential and what is not. And she tells you the most liberating question to ask yourself when you are going through things, "Has it served its purpose?"

That question, "has it served its purpose?" truly is amazing. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before but when you start using that in your purging efforts things just seem to start rolling. I think the hardest thing about getting rid of things is thinking of the future of "I might need it someday" or "it still has some wear in it, it would be wasteful to get rid of it" or "so-and-so gave me it, I better keep it in case they ask". The thing is, if we aren't using it right now then it is wasteful. It is dragging our life down and not giving us the happiness that our things should. So if we stop asking ourselves those questions and instead ask ourselves "has it served its purpose" then we will really be getting at the heart of the issue.

One of the first categories that Kondo suggests we tackle is our clothing. That is always a tough one for me. Even though there were clothes that I don't wear anymore, some even from high school, I just couldn't get rid of them. Some items were still in good shape and so I felt I should be wanting to use them, even though I didn't. Sometimes things just aren't our style anymore, even if it was a recent purchase. So this past time when I was going through my clothes, it really was a breeze. When I got to clothes that I didn't really wear anymore but felt weird getting rid of I just asked myself "has it served it's purpose?" Nine times out of ten the answer was yes and I was able to put the clothes in the giveaway bag without a twinge of guilt. That round I was able to get rid of two bags of clothing and accessories and man did that feel good! I kept only what I loved and I was able to pass on clothing to someone who would appreciate it more than I would.

The purpose of your items can be anything. It could be the original happiness you felt when you bought it. That could be its purpose and then you pass it on. (That is a bit consumerist but, sometimes that happens.) Its purpose could be just for a certain period in your life, like maternity clothes, or the concert t-shirts from your youth. When you think of the purpose of the item and the fulfilling of that purpose, it helps give you pause to think about what the point of that object was, and seeing if it still serves a purpose in your current life. Like gifts. Sometimes people give us gifts and we feel obligated to hang on to them because we don't want to offend. The purpose of the gift was to allow the gift giver to feel happy about giving you something. Purpose completed. If that gift is something you love and want in your space, awesome, keep it. If not, well it has already served it's purpose so pass it on.

I used this mantra when I was going through the clothes etc. in the mudroom. And I got it looking pretty good and it is still looking pretty good.

one of my mudroom walls. I got rid of a lot of unnecessary shoes

So, I reccommend reading Kondo's book. It is a pretty fast read. It's not too long. It gets kind of hokey with the whole thanking your things when you put them away and it can get a bit repetitive but, there are some cool ideas in there. If you don't have time to read it, then take this advice... ask yourself "has it served its purpose?" That will be a life altering question for you and your junk.

The Junk: Baby Steps Are Key to Decluttering

Decluttering this year is a big thing for me. I am ready to purge and let go. If you are like me you may feel like you are drowning in stuff. I let things accumulate and accumulate until it is just ridiculous.

I have given myself the deadline of March 31st to have my basement purged. So that means our office, playroom, kitchenette, and garage. Though, our garage is not insulated, so I might wait until spring to do that.

Because there is so much junk the thought of decluttering can see overwhelming and time consuming, but, it doesn't have to be. By organizing things into babysteps you can get things done without feeling over burdened and defeatist.

My friend sent me this link to Home Storage Solutions 101's 15 minute declutter challenge. They give you a calendar for the month and give you a task to complete that day, spending only 15 minutes each day to complete that day's task. January starts with your kitchen.

I like the idea, it allows you to break things into smaller chunks but you are still doing something instead of ignoring the problem, which, let's face it, we all do. Since my kitchen isn't that bad, I'm not following their plan. But, I am taking the principles they are using and applying it to my own situation. Here's what I'm doing.

• Choose a room and divide that room into different sections to tackle.
• Set a timer for 20 minutes and do what you can in that time.
• Complete the first section before moving onto the next section.
• Empty out the section of the room you are working on and put back what you actually want, everything else goes either in the garbage, recycling or give away.

I have been doing this for two weeks now. I give myself a break on the weekends so we can do other chores and fun family things. I didn't do it yesterday as it was a busy day full of errands and then I felt utterly exhausted, so I might set the timer for 30 minutes today instead. And you know what, it is okay if you have to bend the rules a bit for this. The important thing is consistancy. I am amazed how much I have done in so little time. The first section of the office is looking great and I can't wait to tackle the next section.

Do you have decluttering tips you like to use?

Days Nine to Twelve of the 12 Days of Decluttering Challenge

I did it! Today is the last day of the challenge and I did what I set out to do. Though this is only the beginning, what a beginning it was. Hopefully this will help me continue in my decluttering ways. One surface at a time.

Sorry for no before and after pictures. I got so busy and had to squeeze these declutterings in that I didn't even think about it until I was almost done. Sorry. 2015 will be better for pictures. I promise.

Day nine I tidied my sewing desk. It was heaped with mending that needed to be done, material, wool and just general junk. I needed it tidy so I could actually sew. I am making some Christmas presents and prefer not to have to stitch by hand. Now all I need is some drawers for my desk. (Christmas hint Matt)

Day ten I decluttered a book shelf in my living room. This is where I want to store our library books and then other kids favourites that they girls don't want to keep in their room. I also cleared off the end table in the living room which was covered in kids' junk.

Day eleven I cleaned off the top of the fridge. It was full of papers, and wrappers and other stuff that we put out of kids reach and then forgot about it. Out of all the things I decluttered this is the one my husband noticed without me telling him. It must have to do with his height as he would see the top of the fridge and I at my 5'3" would not.

Day twelve I cleaned off the top of my pantry. Like the fridge it was covered in papers and junk. It was nice to get it cleaned off and dusted.

So, what have I learned over the past twelve days?

1. Decluttering is not that bad if you keep it small. When I look around my house at the junk that is here I usually feel overwhelmed and then helpless to do anything about it. When all I had to do was focus on one shelf, or one cupboard it made it easier. It meant that it was okay if I didn't tackle everything in the house in one go. I did a little. That little when done every day will add up to a whole lot.
2. Clutter is really delaying decisions or hurt feelings. A lot of the things that were on my surfaces ended up in the garbage or recycling. There were art projects that one of the kids made that we felt we couldn't get rid of that second. There were bills that we paid but delayed putting in the shredder or file system. Somethings were items we had in our hand and put up when something else caught our attention. This year I really want to delay less. If I am done with something throw it out. If it is of no use to us, put in in the bin for the thrift store. If it is not important to do something with right then, it probably isn't worth holding on to. And, there will always be more art projects, so don't keep the junky ones.
3. My family has too much stuff and I am looking forward to purging it.

If you did the challenge with me I hope that you are feeling as satisfied and quasi motivated as I am. If you haven't done it, do it now. What a great Christmas present it will be to yourself. Now the next goal, keep those surfaces clutter free!

Days Five to Eight of the 12 Days of Decluttering Challenge

Well, the weekend was busy and it was hard to get in everything, but I made it. How about you?

On day five of the challenge I decluttered the mudroom chest of drawers. This is a catchall for crap things that are in your hands when you get in the door and you want to put down somewhere. It drives me insane! Is it too much to ask for a nice welcoming entrance when I get in from wrestling with a Miss P. while I am picking up the other two from school. I just want my house to look pretty! Okay, enough moaning.

before

The end result looks great. Now I just need to maintain it and makes sure the rest of the family doesn't keep using it as their personal dumping ground. I am looking forward to next year when I might actually be able to decorate the top of the chest with some cool kind of Christmasy vignette.

after

On day six, I dusted the tops of the cabinets in the main bathroom. I know this isn't nescessarily decluttering, but man were they ever dusty. I am pretty good at keeping what I see dust free but if it is out of my range of sight, well, the dust just doesn't enter into my consciousness. So, while it was not decluttering of stuff, I was definitely decluttering the air of my house, one dust mite at a time.

On days seven and eight I did something I have been wanting to do for months, and just never did. I finally dealt with the totes full of clothes that the girls have outgrown. Now, I want to be a thrifty person. While we live comfortably and have our needs met, we aren't rolling in the dough. I have been really good about keeping girls old clothes and using hand-me-downs from friends and all that stuff. But I was starting to feel overwhelmed with clothes. With Miss V. being 7 and Miss P still 1 there are a lot of different sizes that are floating around our home. As well, Miss G. doesn't always want to wear what Miss V. did because Miss G. has a very particular aesthetic she goes for, while Miss V. is happy in anything. I could go on and on about the headache that is the hand-me-down story in my house.

I think the biggest thing right now is Miss P. has a very different body type than the other girls. While none of my kids have been what you would call chunky, Miss P. is a rail. She is skinny but lengthy. If pants don't have the adjustable waistbands or aren't the leggings, the waist is either too big or the inseam too short. So, I am having to buy her new stuff anyways, so why keep the old stuff.

So day seven was moving all the totes out of Miss P.'s room (that was where they were stored) clearing the horizontal floor space of her room, and man what a difference. Day eight was all about the going through the clothes. I threw out all the clothes that were so horribly stained that it is a wonder I actually kept them. All the nicer clothes that didn't look super worn I put in a box that I am going to take to the consignment shop tomorrow and the rest I put into bags to go to the thrift store. I did keep some clothes, like the next size up of shirts for Miss P. and a few sleepers and things that we would want to use if we had a baby number four. But, I went from 5 totes down to 1 and I think that it pretty amazing. Man, does it ever feel good to have that done!

If you are doing the challenge we are in the home stretch. If you haven't started, it's not too late. This is something you can do anytime. I might do it in the New Year.

Days Three and Four of the 12 Days of Decluttering Challenge

Well yesterday and today were clean out the cupboard day. I even remembered to take a before picture!

On day three it was the day for organizing the baking cupboard. This is a good thing to do seasonally. It's good to get rid of things that are expired, move around things so the most used items are the easiest to get and to take stock of what you need more of. I need to get more cornmeal.

before

This cupboard was simply a disaster. Things were shuffled around, condiments for toast were infront of my flour container. This made it awful when I had to bake. For months I was saying, "I really need to do something about this cupboard". But, other things always get in the way or seem more of a priority. Thanks goodness for this challenge.

Now things are easy to reach. The things I use most often are easy to access. Some of the other things I use less often I have tucked in behind. But most things, whether I use them often or not, don't have anything in front of them. So that is nice.

after

I also went through the bin.This is where I store my odds and ends with baking stuff, such as, food colouring, cupcake papers, small spice containers, sprinkles and birthday candles. I have gotten rid of all the short candles, cleaned up some leaking food colouring bottles, and in general made it nice.

On day four I cleaned out another cupboard. I didn't take a picture of this one. This is the cupboard that houses all our hot drink mixes, so herbal tea bags, hot chocolate and caf-lib. It also houses our ice cream condiments, vitamins, and then extra milk jugs, ice cube trays and popsicle moulds.

Man it was crazy. It looked so jambled and basically we would just cram the stuff in and close the door as quickly as possible. Now I have things easy to reach for the kids. I have tucked the things we don't  use often in the back and in general made it just look nice.

My husband asked if since my cupboards each have three shelves if that counts as three days worth. For some the answer is yes. For me it was no as I was easily able to get through them in one day. Though, I will count it as me being awesome for doing three times the amount of horizontal surafaces ;-) I can't wait until tomorrow's challenge!

Day One and Two of the 12 Days of Decluttering Challenge

Well here I am with the first two days of the challenge under my belt. And I actually am doing it. Yay!!! The horizontal surfaces I have decluttered are definitely not earth shattering. You might even think they are lame, and that's okay. The whole point of this is to just get us started doing something. Perhaps I will come up with a more meaty task for tomorrow. I forgot to take before pictures. So, you will just have to enjoy the afters.

On day one I decluttered the top of my microwave. It seemed to be a catch all for papers and random bits of kitcheny stuff. What I really want it to be is a place to store my bread knife, so little hands don't get it and where to put our bread, so the bread is not on the counters. This wasn't able to happen before but it is now.

On day two I decluttered the top of my piano. That too was a catch all for mail, things that should be filed, kids toys, coins... You name it and it was probably there. It is just such a convenient place to put things because it is up high so Miss P won't get at things and you can kind of forget about it. Well no more I say! Now I will be able to put a nice Christmas arrangement there without it looking horrible. Yea!!

Have you been doing the challenge? What have you decluttered so far?

12 Days of Decluttering 2014

For the past few years stores in Canada have been taking their cue from the stores in the United States and have been holding Black Friday sales. To me it seems a bit ridiculous, but then that's me. I just don't get why we have to copy things that are done in the U.S. especially since it isn't even a holiday weekend for us in Canada.

Right now, I am trying to limit the things that come into my house, so a sale on things, which is really trying to entice me to spend more and buy more things I don't need, and is merely a good deal, really doesn't thrill me. I guess I could be seen as being the antithesis of Black Friday, and that is o.k. with me.

As I have been thinking of the coming of the Christmas season and all that comes with it I have been thinking of my current junk and my lack of enthusiasm for doing anything with it. With Miss P. still not sleeping through the night I am tired. November is a blah month, where it isn't quite fall but winter hasn't quite set in yet. I find it the month of annoying transition, and I don't feel like doing much. But, Miss V. and Miss G. really want to get the Christmas stuff out and start the whole Christmas season.

Now I like Christmas as much as the next person. I love the music, the decorations, the baking and the lights. What I don't like is when my junk intrudes on the decorations and there is a mix of greenery and junk. It looks so horrible and detracts from the whole spirit of the season.

So with that in mind I have decided to launch the 12 Days of Decluttering and I am hoping you will join me.

What is the 12 Days of Decluttering? Well I'm glad you asked. This is something that shouldn't take a lot of time and add to the stress of the season. It should help you in the celebration of it. Every day for the first 12 days of December you will clean off one shelf, or organize one cupboard, or deal with stuff on one horizontal surface.

I am not asking you do clean out an entire bookshelf or your entire pantry. Just one small shelf. You can do that. This way your pantries will be ready for the baking, your horizontal surfaces will be ready for decorations, and hopefully you will have give away bags to take to your local thrift shop.

I will do my best to document my 12 Days of Decluttering. If you decide to join you can grab the button or leave a comment below. Let me know how you are doing with it. Share pictures of your success. Hopefully this will help all of us get out of this decluttering funk and help us be able to relax more during our Christmas time.

So you have the weekend to come up with your plan and then we start Monday December 1st. Have a great weekend!

THE JUNK - Cleaning Out the Front Closet

 I hate tidying. I would much rather be reading my book or doing something fun with the kids. Yet, I do want a tidy home and often have feelings of being overwhelmed when I look around my house and see the huge task that is decluttering. The yard sale we had in June helped get my declutter juices flowing, but there is still so much to do.

Well, today I did something totally amazing. I cleaned out the bottom of my front closet. Now, I can hear what you are saying. What's the big deal, it's just the bottom section of a closet. But to me it is like reaching the summit of Mount Everest. It is like breaking the glass ceiling of tidying. Let me explain.

We bought our home a little over two years ago. As organized as I tried to be with the move we still inevitably had boxes that we just plunked down in our garage, or front closet. For two years I kept saying, "man we should really clean out that front closet". We would start, but only get half way through and never finish. Or more things would get added to the junk in the closet when we had to do our "emergency clean ups". My husband is the master of making a room look amazingly tidy, but what I am realizing is that really it is not a talent of dealing with the clutter once and for all. It is more a talent of hiding it. So the closets get full and then the junk ends up flowing back into the room and we are back to square one. Messy room, messy closet. But, when I am in a tidying dilemma and guests are on the way over I use his master hiding of junk skills to the max. His talents never cease to amaze me.

before

So with this closet being the home of tidying ups of the past it was getting ridiculous. This week I was feeling so grouchy and crazy about the whole mess of our house etc. that I decided to take the bull by the horns and get rid of the junk in that closet once and for all. I hope seeing the results of this closet, will help give me the motivation for the rest of the house. There are things I want to do in life and being a curator of junk is not one of them. I want to live for myself not for my junk. Now I just need to convince my husband that this closet is a no junk hiding zone. Maybe I should make a sign.

after (and a lot of things in the give away bag and the garbage bag)

So I've done it. I have broken the junk funk, of the front closet at least. Hmmm. What should my next target be?

Do you have a closet or drawer or room in your house that you keep putting off? Why do you put it off? And if you have actually dealt with it did it help with your motivation to keep going?

The Junk - Hosting a Yard Sale

A few weeks ago we had a yard sale. We had collected enough stuff from around the house that we decided it was time to see if we could make some cash. Even some friends of ours donated some items that they didn't want and told us we could keep what we made. Now if that isn't a friend I don't know what is. The weather was rather chilly for June so that might have prevented some people from coming out but on the whole it was a successful day with a steady stream of people, at the end of the day we were $170 richer. That was enough to pay the piano movers to move in a piano the aforementioned friends were giving us (for FREE!). I am sad that my friends were giving their stuff away, because they are moving across the country and we won't get to see them as much. But, I'm happy I was able to sell their stuff! :)

So after slogging through my first (personal) yard sale these are the tips I have.

Tip #1 Set Up Early

Even though we had advertised that we were not going to start our yardsale until 8:00, we made our first sale at 7:50.

My husband and I woke up around 6:00ish and started moving tables out to the drive way getting the stuff out of the boxes and made sure we had good flow and placement of items.

Before the actual day we moved all the stuff we were going to sell into the garage and priced it all. That way all we had to do was open our garage door and move the stuff right out. That little bit of pre-gathering of all stuff for sale helped save us some time and hassle.

So setting up early on the day of is important but so is getting everything ready before hand. It takes an hour or two of time commitment but it is worth it.

me putting the finishing touches on

Tip #2 Price Everything 

While this may sound like a daunting task, especially if you have a lot, just trust me on this. While you may have a sign on the table saying "all books 25 cents" you will be amazed how many people will still come up and ask how much it is. So just hunker down and put a price on it.


For our yard sale I did not go out and buy special stickers or labels. I used a marker and painters tape. I have a lot of painters tape and it is easy to remove off the item once it is sold, so there won't be any residual stickiness.

And know that the price on the item may not be the actual price. While most people, in my experience, wont negotiate some will. So have this be your top price and leave some wiggle room for those who want to negotiate.

The only time that I wouldn't put a price on stuff is if you are having a charity yard sale. I have learned when you are raising money for charity just say "by donation". When they know of the cause they will usually feel more generous and give more then what you would get if you actually had a price on items. Yes, you will get some cheapskates, but they are few and far between and are more than made up for by others. Two months ago my friends and I had a charity yard sale to raise money for our friend's daughter who has a brain tumor and needed financial assistance. By saying by donation we were able to raise over $1000. Not to bad for a yard sale.

Tip #3 Be Ready to Negotiate

Before you start your yard sale you need to decide why you are having it. Are you having it to get rich or are you having it to get rid of junk. If you are having it to get rich you are probably better off to sell some of the bigger items on free sites like kijiji or craig's list or whatever may be in your area. People who go to yard sales are looking for rock bottom prices, at least I am when I go yard saling.

If things are priced too high people will not buy and you won't make any money. Also if you are looking to get rich you probably won't be willing to negotiate and that could mean not as many sales.

If your goal is to get rid of stuff and the extra cash is a bonus be willing to negotiate. At our yard sale I did not try to play hardball. If they offered a price I took it. Most people are reasonable and if they offer a different price than listed it is usually not too far off. Also if people wanted to buy a lot of stuff I would round down to the nearest dollar, or made it a nice round number thus helping the change situation.

To go along with negotiation, at the end of the day make everything 50% off. We did this with an hour to go. This did help motivate some people who were sitting on the fence. This is a great tactic if your goal is to get rid of the stuff. And believe me getting rid of the junk is great!

Tip #4 Make Sure You Have Enough Change

This is the trickiest bit about the yard sale. How much change is too much or too little. You don't want to run out, but then you don't want to be taking it all back to the bank either. We had $160 in change and that seemed to work out perfectly. We had $50 worth of $5,  $50 worth of twoonies (Canada's two dollar coin) $50 worth or loonies (Canada's one dollar coin) and $10 worth of quarters. We had lots of change and we didn't have to run to the bank to get more.

Most people who are seasoned yard salers will make sure they have small bills already so you won't be dealing with too many big bills and so that amount of change be excesive. But I was sure glad I had a lot of change when someone only had a $50 on them and the item they were buying was only $4.

Tip #5 Keep Signs Simple

You can buy signs, but I find them hard to read at times, especially when I am in my car driving by. I made my own signs by using bright pink bristol board (I think it is called poster board to those who are not up with Canadian lingo) and garden shepherd hooks that I got at the dollar store. Using my word processor I made big letters and then cut them out and then made an arrow and cut it out. If you have a cricut machine or something similar you can just use that. I then glued the letters onto my boards and then taped the boards onto the shepherds hooks.

These signs were easy to see were at a higher visual plane than other signs making it easier for potential customers to turn down the street and were cheaper to make than buying actual signs.

I kept the words simple. It simply said "YARD SALE" and then had the arrow pointing the appropriate way to our house. We had them at the main streets and where turns needed to be made. The uniform colour and printing made sure people knew where we were.

I even had matching duct tape on hand, what luck!

Tip #6 Decide What to Do with the Leftovers

No matter how much you might want to think everyone is going to want your junk, you will have things leftover. Decide what you are going to do with it. For us, somethings we were on the fence about. Those we decided to keep. Those items were mainly things that were our kids. Everything else we decided to get rid of. Most of the items went to a secondhand store. Other things like furniture and baby items we put up on kijiji.

If it is important for you to just get rid of the junk put the items directly in your car and take it to a donation centre. Otherwise those items will migrate back into your house negating all the hard work you did to make your house simplified.

Tip #7 Involve Your Kids

Involve your kids in not only contributing some of their stuff to the yard sale, but figure out what they can do to help. My kids are pretty young still, (my oldest is seven). Money is still a weird concept for them especially when making and understanding change. But, I also needed to give them something to do so they wouldn't be watching The Winx Club on YouTube all day. So, we let them have a lemonade stand. They loved it. They drank most of the lemonade themselves but they felt a part of what was going on. They probably would have made more if 1) it was warmer that day and 2) if they weren't distracted by other things and kept abandoning their posts, but when they were their they were quite the entrepreneurs. (People thought they were so cute they would give them money without taking the lemonade. I wished that worked for me!)

the girls at their lemonade stand. it was so chilly we had to find the winter coats

Tip #8 Have Fun

Make this a good experience. Put some fun tunes on, smile and enjoy the time in the sun. There are so many ideas you could do to make this a fun morning; have a friendly competition with your spouse, every hour do a sale, have a special item that if bought they buyer gets to pick another one for free, have your neighbourhood involved etc. You are only limited by your imagination. Think outside the box and have fun!

THE JUNK - You Have a Give Away Pile. Now What?

It has been awhile since I have written my junk series. Probably because I am in the midst of dealing with my junk and am trying not to be too hypocritical.  ;-)

So, you have gone through your stuff. You have put all the recycling in recycling and all your garbage into the garbage. Now you are left with all the other stuff that is still useful, just not useful to you at this moment. What do you do? This is a tough question to answer. A lot of this stuff you paid for with hard earned cash. You don't want to simply give it away. Yet sometimes we are so desperate to have it gone, or fear if it doesn't go away that instant it is doomed to be plucked from the giveaway pile and will forever be part of your household.

Here are some ideas.

Take items of good quality/repair to a consignment shop

I do this with my kids clothing that still has a lot of wear left, but my kids just don't want to wear anymore. I am lucky to have a great kids clothing consignment shop just down the street from me. Their store is set up so you get a percentage of what the item sold for. You can either get the money in cash or save it as store credit. Since I buy a lot of my kids clothing there I keep it as store credit. There is nothing as satisfying as walking out of a store with lots of nice clothes and not having to spend an penny on it (ok, a nickel as our penny has gone the way of the dodo).

There are other consignment stores for adult clothes, furniture, or other good quality items. That is the thing with consignment stores. They are more picky about what they take in because they want the item to sell, so, if they turn away your stuff, don't feel bad, it's just not in their niche.

Consignment stores also have different agreements/contracts. Most have a set time they will allow that item to be in the store. And then either you let them dispose of it how they will or you have to go and get it. At the kids consignment store I use, they have the item on their racks for 3 months. After that they slash the price by 50% and have it their for another 3 months. If is still hasn't sold you can come in and get your item or just leave it there (you just won't get a commission for it). I usually just leave my stuff there if it hasn't sold. My mindset if I can get money awesome, if not, well at least it is out of my house!

Host an item swap

This is a great way to get rid of things but still getting something in return. My kids' school just hosted a book, movie and game swap. I got rid of some of the icky children's books I loathe to read, and we got to pick up some that are cool and don't fill me with loathing.

There are many ways you can do a swap. You could make it an item for item thing. So if you bring in three items you can leave with three items. Or you can bring in your items and leave with however many items you want. You can make it for just clothing, or just books, or just toys, or just kitchen gadgets. Or have it be a smorgasbord event.

A church near me has a clothing swap. You bring in a bag of clothes and get a ticket for either a small bag or a big bag depending on what you brought in. This allows you to take that size bag of stuff home for free. If you didn't bring in any items  you can still bring stuff home it just costs you $1 for a small bag or $3 for a big bag.

A swap is great because you can either do it on a small scale with friends, or on a huge community scale. It's up to you, but it is a great way to get new to you stuff, for free.

Yard Sale

This is a great way to get cash for your junk without needing a middleman. Sometimes you can get your whole neighbourhood together and have a neighbourhood yard sale. You will get more people coming by and it is fun to do things with others.

Make sure you do yard sales when the weather is warm and people want to be outside. This might not be a big deal for people who live in climates where it doesn't snow, but here in Canada, please wait until May, it will be too cold otherwise.

When you are putting a yard sale together make sure you have clear prices. This doesn't mean you have to label every single item. You could have signs that say, Books $0.25 or Fill a bag of clothes for $1. When you do this people can prepare their money and won't constantly be asking you "how much". Be prepared for hagglers. At the end of the day you are not having a yard sale to make a million dollars, you just want some compensation for your junk, so make some deals.

Another tip is be ready for the early birds. Hardcore yard salers start combing the streets early, like 7ish early. Sacrifice sleeping in and be ready for them. Have money ready to make change. If possible make your sale a rain or shine event, that way you don't have to plan on spending another Saturday with the yard sale, this could mean hosting it in your garage or putting up some sort of shelter.

Put item on Kijiji or another online sale website

My husband is the king of kijiji. He can sell anything, and have it sold fast. His tips are take lots of pictures of the items from a variety of angles. People want to see what you are offering without having to come see it physically. We get lots of contacts because people can see from the comfort of their own home what exactly we are offering.

Another tip is to make your add interesting. My husband comes up with some of the funniest little lines when making up his add. It takes him an hour to put it together, but it gets results. We have never had to wait longer than half a day to get someone interested in our item and usually it is sold within two days.

I have done all those things now what?

If you have done those things and still have items left over this is when you need to make a decision. What is more important, trying to get money back on these items, or having a house with less clutter and junk? At the end of the day it is your decision. There is no right or wrong answer. Though I will admit, having less clutter and junk around definitely helps my blood pressure go down and I can spend more time with my family than worrying about what to do with items that I don't love.

This spring we are going to have a yard sale. I have a closet in the basement where I have been putting various items we want to get rid of. My husband and I have decided that as soon as the yard sale is done we are gathering all the items that haven't sold and donating them to charity. For us having less clutter is the answer for us.

THE JUNK - Time Waster No More!

Though this might not deal with de-cluttering a space per se, a planner is an essential tool to de-clutter our time and prioritize where are energies will be focused.

I am really good at organizing big life events. Vacations, camping trips, birthday parties, baby blessings, are all planned to the exacting detail. My own day to day life... well that is a different story. A whole week can go by and I don't do any of the projects I wanted to do. I then get frustrated that they aren't done and that I have wasted a weeks worth of time. The old saying, "out of sight, out of mind" definitely applies to me. As well, let's admit it. It is much easier to sit and be lazy than to have to actually move and tackle a mountain of work.

Well, my planner has changed that. I am still not perfect at using it, it is only useful if I know where it is, but I do get a lot of things accomplished when I actually use it. Even just seeing the cover is a reminder to me to get off my duff and do something. It is my one stop shop for helping me feel organized, well organized with my time, remember don't open up any of my closets.

Planners are not a one fit all type of tool. There are so many on the market that you have to find one that really fits you and your lifestyle. A planner can be a purchased book, a high tech gadget, or a simple piece of paper outlining your day. It can be divided into hours, days, weeks etc. It can have spots to put your goals, or addresses or notes, or just simply be for organizing your time. The combinations seem endless.

I prefer something tangible that I do not have to rely on my computer for, so a purchased book planner is the one for me. Since I am not super busy everyday. and don't want to feel compelled to do household items at a certain time, I do not need a planner that divides my day up by the hour. So, I get a planner with a week spreading over two pages. It is nice to see a week at a glance.

The planner I use is called the Polestar Family Calendar. My mom started using them over twenty years ago and every Christmas she gives me my own copy and I love it! Each week starts with Monday and then each day is divided into three columns entitled family appointments, meals/kitchen, home. There is also a places in the margins for a to do list and a to buy list. These make it easy to plan meals and household tasks, especially since the shopping list is right there. There is also a month at a glance at the beginning of each month, which makes it nice for writing goals for the month and things around the house that need to get done that month. (I am not getting any kind of compensation from polestar calendars. I just really love their product!) 

A planner is good for people who are not list people. Just schedule things into your day. It is not a list, just appointments with yourself.

So, whether you like planners or not, they can be a useful tool to organize your thoughts and make your dreams into realities. It is essential to find a planner that fits you and your thought process, but for me the Polestar Family Calendar fits the bill. It helps me organize my life and and helps me know that I do have things to do and not just empty swaths of time. A planner is a wonderful tool that helps me live my simple life. 

The Junk - Clothing

I don't know about you but clothes seems to always be an issue in our house. I just can't seem to get a handle on it. Laundry getting in the hamper is not usually an issue, unless my girls decide under the bed is better than the hamper. The problem is once the clothes are washed and folded, they just don't seem to want to back in the drawers from whence they came. So they end up as piles on the floor that get knocked over and mixed up.

Then, there are the outgrown clothes. Since I have all girls I save all the still nice looking clothes to pass down the line. So, I have totes with labels of different sizes, which house the said sized clothes. Not a problem. The step that seems to be crazy is I will wash the clothes that need to be stored, and somehow instead of ending up in the tote, the end up back in the drawers. And then, I get to deal with them all over again. It seems to be a vicious cycle.

I am still coming up with a sure fire method to this clothing madness. There are some tips that have helped me. Here they are.

1. Minimize the amount of clothes

We live in a time where clothes are fairly cheap. I can buy shirts and pants for $4. As well, they are making kids clothing so darn cute that you want to buy everything you see to make your child the cutest ever.

Another problem, is that many of us don't know how many articles of clothing our children actually need, so we keep buying because we figure that they need it. My brother in-law sat down and made a list of the bare minimum his kids needed to get through the week/seasons. I have tweaked the list a little to better suit my children, but it is nice to have a starting point. The following list is for girls, but it will give you an idea of what you need and should be fairly easy to change to make it work for boys.

• 1 Snow Suit
• 1 Spring/Fall Jacket
• 1 Rain Coat
• 1 pair Winter Boots
• 1 pair Rain Boots
• 4 Shoes/Sandals (this include running shoes, and dress shoes)
• 2 Winter Hats
• 2 Mittens
• 2 Summer Hats
• 2 Bathing Suits
• 1 pair Sunglasses
• 7 T-shirts
• 2 Sweaters
• 7 Long sleeved shirts
• 1 Nice White Shirt
• 5 Pants
• 4 Skirts/Dresses
• 5 Shorts/Capris
• 8 Socks
• 8 Underwear
• 3 Tights
• 3 Warm Pyjamas
• 3 Cool Pyjamas

This doesn't mean that you can't have more clothing, but hopefully this will help you avoid buying clothes unnecessarily.

2. Don't store totes in children's room

Part of my clothing in tote problem is that sometimes the totes are in the girls' closets. It is nice to have them close to where they will be needed, but at the same time, you can open them and not close them properly, or you might just place the clothes on top instead of putting them actually in the tote, or the kids are napping and you don't want to disturb them so you end up not putting the clothes in the totes at all.

It is much easier to keep the totes in the garage or other storage area that is independent of the children's room. That way they are still easy to access, but they are not dependent on the rooms being unoccupied. Also you will actually lift the lid and put the clothes in the tote as you don't want clothes randomly floating around with power tools.

3. Help children put away clothes or at least be in the room with them

You may not have to do this with older children, or teenagers, but with younger children it is essential. I know that my 6 year old can open the drawers of her dresser herself and that she knows which drawer each different item goes in. But, if she had a choice between putting her clothes away and playing with her toys or coming up with a cool game with her sister, well I think we all know what she will do.

By being in the room you can encourage, help if needed, and make sure they haven't missed anything, before the playing starts. You may think that there are other household chores you could be doing at that moment, since it seems redundant to be sitting there but, if you don't want to have to deal with THE JUNK that is clothing, it is worth the five minutes.

So hopefully some of these tips will help you tackle THE JUNK of clothing. I am still working on other ways to keep the clothing at bay. If you have any tips or insights let me know!

The Junk - Loot bags

Kids seem to come with a lot of junk. Everywhere you turn kids get more and more junky toys and crafts. Restaurants, community activities, school, and the notorious party loot bag. Oh how I loath the loot bag. Tiny plastic craziness.

Now don't get me wrong. I love bringing joy to children with a loot bag but, the cheapy stuff from the dollar store that breaks, doesn't work well and just plain sucks... NO THANKS! (I love the dollar store for many other things.)

It was refreshing to me when my daughter came home from a birthday party with a tomato plant seedling. The party was held in mid-march and the seedling was an inch or so high. My daughter watered it faithfully. She made sure it had enough sunlight and, when the time was right, planted it into a bigger container for the summer. She watched in anticipation as her plant continued to grow and thrive. She squealed with delight when the yellow flowers appeared and was in awe when she saw the green tomatoes start to ripen.

This simple loot bag idea kept giving and giving. It showed thoughtfulness, as the birthday parent would have had to start the seeds in advance of the party, and it taught their own child about gardening and seeds. Super awesome! My daughter was thrilled with the plant and didn't come home asking, "where are the toys?"

My last loot bag was homemade play dough and chocolate. (Two of my children have birthdays in late April. Hello Easter candy sales!) Both items are consumable and will not add to "the junk". (If the play dough was not wanted it can be put in the compost or a green bin as it is homemade.)

So this is my plea. Say no to the itsy bitsy toys of plastic. They may look cute but they really suck. Kids love them, parents don't. They add to the clutter of our homes and the clutter of the earth, as they are most likely to end up in the landfill. Quality is much better than the quantity of toys. Give loot bags that will give an experience. Though the tomatoes are gone, the memory of the plant is still there, and my daughter is already planning our garden for next spring.

The Junk - A Series

Some people get drawn to the simple life because it promises a life of less stress, less clutter and more meaning. There is not excess. Things are bought with a purpose in mind. Things are kept because they serve a purpose.

Right now I feel like I am drowning in clutter. Perhaps drowning is a bit over the top. You will not find our house on a hoarders episode. However, the clutter that is around the house makes me feel stressed and not happy. If your belongings are not adding to your happiness, then what is the point of them. (I am talking about the extra things that you don't really need, not about the stove or sink, those are necessities and if they are not bringing you happiness then that is another issue all together.)

For me, I don't want to go completely minimalist. I just want less junk in the house. I want what is in my house to have a purpose and be beautiful. If I want to sew things at my sewing machine I don't want to have to move piles in order to do it. I don't want to have to move things around to set the table for dinner. When it gets to that point you are not happy. The stuff is becoming a barrier for you to be able to do the things that interest you and that you enjoy. If you have to move stuff out of the way to sew are you likely going to sew? I am guessing the answer is, no.

Over the next few weeks I will have a series of blogs that relate to "the junk". It will deal with things that create clutter or is clutter. The posts will commiserate with you as well as give you hints on what to do or how to manage things differently.

I came to this idea, because I am ready to pare down and get rid of the stuff that is preventing me from doing what I would love to do. Before I was giving myself excuses, "you just had a baby" or "wait until you have money for more organizing materials" or "I don't know where to begin". Well no more. My husband and I had a powwow session and decided that we need to be adults and just do it. Make the goals have the follow through and just do it. So we are doing it.

I am by no means an expert, but hopefully by writing my experience as I go through my stuff it will help you as well. It will definitely help motivate me.

So de-clutter "the junk" from your life. What tips do you have? Is there a room in your house you are loathe to go through?

The Awesomeness of the Library

I love to read! The house could be falling down around me, but, as long as I have a good book I'm fine. I love the way a book feels in my hands, the smell they have and the satisfaction of turning the page. Books are wonderful.

When I was newly married I would run out and buy books brand new. I was impatient to read the stories and the library was not yet part of my life. Growing up in rural Ontario, the closest library was 20 minutes away, by car, and was really puny. My house basically was a library. Books lined the walls and their was actually a room that we referred to as the library. There was so much choice, I had no need for any other kind of library. So when I started living in the city I never really thought about the library, or at least not the public one, I lived in the university one for much of my undergrad.

When my husband and I got serious about budgeting I was gobsmacked to learn how much I was spending on books. Especially when I would read them once and, for the most part, never read them again. That is when I got a library card and a whole new world of FREE awesomeness opened up to me.

Libraries are no longer places to sit quietly and be shushed by a matronly librarian. They are truly a gathering place, a place of discovery and fun. Through the library you can download free ebooks and audiobooks. You can learn how to use various technologies in workshops. There are children's programs that are fantastic and all FREE! You can get movies, c.d.s, magazines as well as books. I discovered lots of books with great ideas I could incorporate into my so called simple life. You get to meet people of similar mindset at the library book clubs (where I met 3 of my best friends), children's concerts and more.

It used to be just me and the kids that would traipse into the library every week. Now my husband joins us, usually checking out what action flick is available. It is nice to go as a whole family, to share in the joy and excitement of the library. It sure beats buying our own books and movies and adding them to our already overburdened shelves. There are some books that I have bought after I got them from the library. That's o.k.. I'm not saying you have to go on a book buying hiatus, but, there are some books we don't need everyday and those are the books we can get from the library. As well, it always nice to peruse something before buying.

I do like a look of books on a shelf and I do have an attachment to the written word, but I bit the bullet and got rid of books I absolutely didn't love or books I could easily get at the library. Less stuff to worry about.

So if you haven't been into your library recently, GO! If your library isn't meeting your current needs, get involved, make suggestions. The library is there to serve you and they have the resources and ability to run the workshops you need and get the books you want.

The new library is truly for everyone.