Planning a year of money saving and life bettering?

mummybearx

Just saw http://www.poundland.co.uk/product-range/a-z/a4-week-to-view-2012-blue-diary/ in Poundland :-)

Very MSE :j

charlies-aunt

I'm a fan of lists and using a diary . . . and the de-cluttering/de-junking is work-in-progress

I think that when you are getting started that its important to aim for 'good enough' rather than instant perfection. Trying to tidy, declutter and clean every area in the house to an immaculate standard when you've been a clutterbug for several years is a tall order!

Try and get rid of as much clutter and 'stuff' as you can - I still have drawers and cupboards full of things that I haven't used because they have been packed away for best - I have decided that the best is here and now and am bringing my nice things into daily use by getting rid of other stuff

Resist the urge to buy anything that you don't immediately need and if you have a lot of duplicate items - keep the best and donate/ebay the others. Simplify as much as possible

Don't forget to factor in time for fun stuff too!:)

theesel1994

Not very old style but in the past I used to use Excel as my diary.

I'd have meal plans - each tab in an Excel worksheet represented a week.
Column 1 would have the day and date.
Column 2 would have the ingredients that made up the meal.
Column 3 would have the quantity.
Column 4 would have the price.
Column 5 would have notes on how the price was worked out.

Column 2 and 3 would be drop down lists so I didn't have to keep re-writing things. The notes would be things like...
1 loaf of bread, 24 slices for 47p.
Potatoes - £1.18 for 21 potatoes, 1.5kg bag = 5.6p each

Like most spreadsheets it takes a little time to set up but once set up it is quick and easy to update. Lets me see how much the meals for the week will come to. I might just go back to using it again in the New Year.

The beauty of a spreadsheet is you are not limited by the size of page. If it isn't being printed out you could have it in landscape layout and scroll down page after page. Adding notes, links to anything along the way.

Just found one of those links (from before I used the spreadsheet). I think I was going through a salad phase at the time.
Breakfast :
Cornflakes..........................0.10 (Asdo cheapo stuff)
Dinner :
6 sandwiches........................0.60 (approximate)
Bachelors chicken cup-a-soup........0.20 (98p for a packet of 5 from Asda)
1 slice of bread....................0.02 (0.47 per loaf with 24 slices)
Tea :
Eggs................................0.48 (£1.43 for 6 eggs - 2 used)
Tomatoes............................0.13 (50p for 4 tomatoes - 1 used)
Lettuce.............................0.50
Potatoes............................0.14 (2.5 potatoes used £1.18 for 21)
Cucumber............................0.10 (approx)

10th time in 34 days I've had a salad.

This was for Thursday 19th November 2009. Dinner=Lunch, Tea=Dinner.
It may look confusing the prices. This is because I'd have this two days in a row. So 50p for 4 tomatoes, 1 used means that I only had half a tomato in the meal. Well, that's the only explanation I can think of. Things have changed since then and the quantities have doubled.

Cat501

zepsgal wrote: »

Wow Mint1955, some fantastic lists and tips there!
Made a start today, tried to declutter the two drawers in our tv cabinet. I literally have no idea what all the chargers are for, nor the endless supply of batteries, pens, nails, screws, cables I have never seen before....

oh you and me both! I have a box full of cables and chargers, untouched for 3 years except for digging out a couple of scart leads, I've been too scared to get rid of them but I think I have to do it, it's a tangled mess of junk!:)

fijit77

I use Excel too, same principle as a diary but it works better for me, I always misplace diaries/notebooks and get demotivated once I've missed a few weeks. I have different tabs for the different aspects of my life, eg cleaning, shopping, christmas, training... The bonus with excel is that it is so easy to copy across from one year to the next.
Love your list for the house Mint1955, will be adapting that for my cleaning task lists!

Mint1955

charlies-aunt wrote: »

I'm a fan of lists and using a diary . . . and the de-cluttering/de-junking is work-in-progress

I think that when you are getting started that its important to aim for 'good enough' rather than instant perfection. Trying to tidy, declutter and clean every area in the house to an immaculate standard when you've been a clutterbug for several years is a tall order!

Try and get rid of as much clutter and 'stuff' as you can - I still have drawers and cupboards full of things that I haven't used because they have been packed away for best - I have decided that the best is here and now and am bringing my nice things into daily use by getting rid of other stuff

Resist the urge to buy anything that you don't immediately need and if you have a lot of duplicate items - keep the best and donate/ebay the others. Simplify as much as possible
Don't forget to factor in time for fun stuff too!:)

Totally agree Charlies Aunt,
Anything is better than nothing.

Try playing the 15 mins timer game ..... pick a task and set a count down timer put on some music and go mad at the task but when the timer goes you have permission to stop and maybe reward yourself :rotfl: Kids love this one as then having to help is a game and it also has an end point.

Or take 3 carrier bags and literally go into each room and "sweep" for 1 - rubbish 2- Charity Shop/For sale 3- Things to be returned to their rightful room. Again in 15 minutes you will be suprised what you can accumulate and rehome.

Being now a housewife after working full time most of my life I find that if I dont get washed and dressed and start "work" on time nothing gets done. Work your routines monday to friday and then on weekends make it as easy as possible.

Maybe do one meal extra in the week that you can use for the weekend

On a friday iron just the bits that will be needed for monday like uniform shirt for everyone.

Give yourself time off every day even if its only 15 minutes and really stop make a drink and do nothing, no planning , no stressing no nothing. If you think you will then not get going again then use the timer and start again after your allotted break time.

Or you could make an appointment in the diary whichever day you choose and look forward to say a coffee and half an hour or hour whatever you think you deserve and you could even name the activity. Remember you are worth it and my biggest lightbulb moment after I gave up work and was feeling I needed to be busy all the time to justify being at home was hang on I can do whatever I want when I want no one is paying me:D

Work out which jobs are most noticable done or not done for most effect :A
Treat yourself to a bit of quality time FOR YOU everyday.

Linda32

I think its a good idea as well. I think you are more likely to do something if it is written down, rather than wondering what to do first and end up not doing anything - (Me)

I generally follow Flylady myself, but these no reason why you can't write down in a diary in a similar way, say on Mondays do the kitchen, make it small and managable, week one sweep and mop floor, week two clean one cupboard out, then move forward to week two in February and write down to clean a second cupboard - that sort of thing.

My meal plan is a piece of paper in the kitchen drawer with a pen next to it. I simply look in freezer to see what we have a shop around that. Sometimes I don't actually need to buy anything for dinner.
I list the dinners we have and write the day of the week next to it. Sometimes it goes over a weeks worth.

Shopping lists work the same, my Mum said the other day, "when you open something write it down on the list to buy another one" - I don't go to that extreme, I just write something on the list as its about to run out.

My shopping list is attached to the fridge, I sometimes find note pads with magnets attached to the back so you can fix it on the fridge.

HTH

YORKSHIRELASS

I already do this and it works really well. I use part of the diary page for spending, keeping track of my bank balance and cash spending. Another part I use for reminders - birthdays, library books, appointments. The bottom of the page I have my to do list and meal plans. I could tell you when the shower curtain was last washed or the windows cleaned from my to do lists!

I also have a small diary I carry around with me just for appointments.

Its maybe just me but I find that writing it down in a diary works better than putting it on the computer, although I do have spreadsheets to keep track of spending.

plzhelpmesave!

Love this thread already!

Me and DH have spent the last 2 days decluttering the whole house - from loft hallway - and we are nearly at the other side!

Some of the things we got rid of:
chest of drawers (to neighbour) - old bed frame and dirty matress (scrap man driving past) - clothes that dont fit - charity shop (currently filling my car) and empty dvd cases from the loft..???

The house looks and feels so much cleaner and clearer - I have been up since 8am today decluttering living room drawers and hallway....absolutely shattered but feel good! Garden yet to do - and amazon have just delivered the 2 x Tidy Tents - cheaper and quicker than a shed so hope they work to store in lawnmower etc.

Now I need to make sure I can keep the house clean and all of us organised! Love the page a day diary for EVERYTHING - I am another procrastinator - so will keep new diary (going to home bargains later!) in the newly cleaned front room on the newly cleared desk and complete it every night before bed.

I will record spends, to do, housekeeping & menu plans....just as well I sorted out a stationery cupboard with lots of different coloured pens..!!

Love the idea of a diary

hjanea

I read some of this thread (more added since) yesterday and instead of lots of small notebooks and lists I've bought a lovely thick A4 spiral notebook with dividers. I've named the dividers-money, menu planning, freezer contents, things to do and cleaning. The main part of the book will then be used as a diary but with all the lists, ideas I need in the book with the notes. I feel so organised-its lovely. Can't wait to start ticking off some of my 'to do' things.