sorting all my problems for a new year start can it be done ?

2012ismyyear

hello newbie here needing millions of help.

Every year i say i will be organized by next year and i'll be thinner/ eating healthier by next year. I want a simpler life than i have now! I am a SAHM and really i think i should be already sorted but i am far from it. I am an extremely messy person and i know it would be easier if i am tidy but i really struggle. I am fed up of searching for school clothes and matching socks in washing piles at the last minute. I am fed up of feeling rubbish every morning when i wake up, i have no energy and don't make the best of myself (wearing make up/ doing my hair).

What i am after doing is getting organized, meal planning for a super healthy meals brek, lunch dinner and supper on a £40 a week budget and doing more excercise but i am unsure where to start.

Can i get the clothes ironed and put away, house cleaned and de cluttered and a budget super healthy meal plan drawn up between now and saturday night ?????? any help appreciated:T

angelavdavis

Hi and welcome.

The Old Style contributors have created a 2012 diary which contains money saving facts, useful tips and general tips for organising your life, which I compiled into a diary. It doesn't answer all your prayers, but printing it out and posting it up on the fridge, etc might be a good start as its a good reminder about various moneysaving tips and general commons sense stuff. The link is here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/607165/2012%20calendar.pdf

There are lots of lovely folk on here to provide other tips on here.

rising_from_the_ashes

For sorting everything out that needs to be done by the weekend, write a list ..... work through one by one, have a break & a cuppa now & then ... and you will get there.

As Angela says, the fantastic 2012 calander is here (yay!) - how about downloading a copy and using it to write a rota of things that need done each day?

If only a couple of things need done each day (apart from feeding everyone!) then it makes them a bit easier to tackle and you don't suddenly turn round and realise that everything's got out of hand. HTH

duchy

As a SAHM /part time working parent I had the same problem. It took a long long time for the penny to drop but the main problem is clutter and having too much "stuff". If you don't use it-throw it out/give it away/free cycle it (especially true for toys and out grown kids clothes)
If it isn't there then you don't have to tidy it. Ideally have a "home" for everything . I find if the house is uncluttered I'm more focused on life in general

There's plenty of stratagies on here for dealing with clutter from the "dispose of X items a day" to the "Attack it all head on" schools of thought. The other stratagy I like is the "One in -one out" idea. So if you are bringing a new item into the home-then one has to go. So for example a new toy would mean at least one discarded toy would need to go to the charity shop-that's really good for keeping clutter down once you've cleared it.

Um not sure you can do it all by Saturday But how about starting today with ONE room (or one part of a room)and attack it head on today -let us know what it is going to be-and then report back later (maybe say you'll post by say 8pm -knowing people will be looking out for your good news). That might be the incentive to get started-and starting is the hardest bit

Spendless

How old are your kids? I want to do something similar. I lose my job NYE, we've recently come into a fair amount of money and a close relative isn't well. So with financial pressure off and a need to be at home, I'm not job-hunting for some time and will spend time getting the house organised, possibly room by room but am not starting it till kids return to school Jan 3rd.

2012ismyyear

Hi thanks everyone for your advice it is great i love the calendar!
I am going to write a list to get things moving, and i think its a good idea doing it room by room as i have a tiny little house. small kitchen, frontroom, our bedroom, kids bedroom, bathroom and conservatory. the bathroom and conservatory arn't cluttered they just need a tidy so not too bad! Then we have a walk in storage cupboard in our bedroom, under the stairs and a coalhouse next to the kitchen and they too could do with a declutter and tidy.

Hi spendless my kids are 7 and 4 and every time a first day of term comes around i'm struggle to find anything i need for them, Its so silly really and embarrassing we have lived in this house for 7 years and i still havent got the hang of it or got into any kind of routine:o

As my name says 2012 is my year sooooo i need to get these things sorted so that i can spend a bit of time on myself and my exercise. So i best get going and stop putting it off !!!!!!!!!! :rotfl:

I will try and get back tonight around 7ish. If i'm not too busy! or have passed out on the sette :rotfl:

squeaky

You might also like to join the Grocery Challenge, which is always a sticky at the top of the forum listing. Currently - December 2011 - Grocery Challenge

And this thread helps with housework... Weekly Flylady Thread 25th December 2011

And for meal planning:- Meal Plans WB 26th December 2011

All worth joining for the help, advice and support that they can give

lizzyb1812

2012ismyyear wrote: »

Hi spendless my kids are 7 and 4 and every time a first day of term comes around i'm struggle to find anything i need for them, /QUOTE]

Why not start with this. Make the kids' room the day for today. Make the specific things to do things related to getting them back to school/nursery - so if something needs to be washed, mended, found then it's done before the start of term. Relax about the rest - this will be your priority.

A tip from my mum, who had 4 children - wash everyone's underclothes in one big wash once a week. Socks, etc will then all be in one place - basket, dryer, whatever - and can be paired up all in one go.

aligerdie

I'll be following this thread with interest as I have the same problems with organisation!

I have 4 children & hubby works away, so my life is spent running around like a headless chicken. Clean clothes are piled up, and I haven't switched my iron on for god knows how long!

It's all been building up for a while, but the straw that broke the camels back is not being able to find the lovely christmas present I bought for my brother, I only see him a couple of times a year as he lives abroad, and I'm seeing him today

My lack of organisation is embarrassing, so I've decided to sort my self out in 2012!!! Just told my husband,and he scoffed at me Maybe I can't do it

Mojoworking

Snap - that's why I'm on here, need to get organised, spend less, save more, plan better, lose weight - all the things that I struggle with x

rosie383

Little things that you can do that will help:
Have a 'book bag' for library books. I have the cloth 'bookstart ' one that I got free. It goes with me to the library, books go straight in, and it stays upstairs ready for bedtime stories. The kids are trained now to put the books back in there and I never have fines anymore, or have to hunt for books.
Get a slow-cooker from the car-boot sale. It's great for making a healthy dinner in a few minutes while you get on with other stuff. I made chicken and lentil stew yday in 3 mins before I went out. Literally 3 chicken drumsticks, handful of frozen chopped onion, garlic, green lentils, chopped carrots from the freezer, a chilli and spices. Done in 3 minutes and enough for 2 dinners for dh.
As for kids school uniforms, clothes storage space is limited here, but I found a wee space for each of the kids' uniforms. As things are laundered, they are put straight into the uniform spaces.... nowhere else! Then I know exactly where they are. never mixed in with all the other clothes.
Don't iron more than you have to....... eg, my DD1 must wear a school jumper, so her shirts don't need ironing, and as long as the clothes get folded and put in the pile,the trousers don't need it either.