Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

HairyHandofDartmoor

Well I've put the last two flowers in pots with the new compost. I have one empty pot now so want to pick up one more plant. I've got two lots of chrysanthumums, two lots of cyclamen, a campanula porto which has lovely purple flowers, a diasca little dancer which has lovely pink flowers and a nasturtium. I may choose winter flowering pansies for the final pot. The garden does have more colour now, but is still a mass of weeds in the borders, patio, walls and some of the pots, plus a half cut down hedge I've been neglecting the garden in favour of de-cluttering the house :eek:.

There is so much still to do that sometimes I wonder if I will ever ever finish . Will the house ever look the way I want it to?

We don't have any pets now or house plants which will save me time. And I have got rid of some garden plants which needed constant pruning last summer. The hedge is the final energy and time sucker and it's half gone now. Getting rid of the clutter should also help to make cleaning and tidying easier. So I am making progress and trying to get rid of things that take up too much of my time.

I must focus on what I've done rather than what's left to do otherwise I'll get despondent.

Anyway in good news, DS2 and DS3 are on their way home :T:T it will be lovely to see them .

beanielou

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

I think leggings look okay with a dress though, lots of people wear them that way .

They do indeed

beanielou

So could you continue your home/garden efforts in half an hour bursts?
Put the timer on & stop when the timer goes off?
Even two or three days a week of doing that would help?

HairyHandofDartmoor

I've reviewed my list from the other day and added a few new things to it.

[STRIKE]Weed the front garden[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Put flowers in pots[/STRIKE]
Hoover my bedroom
Dust my bedroom
[STRIKE]Drop 3 chairs at tip [/STRIKE]
Dust all pictures & get rid of cobwebs
[STRIKE]Go into town with DS1[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Spend ten minutes de-cluttering DS1's room[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Clean bathroom walls[/STRIKE]
Hoover downstairs
Hoover upstairs
Dust the living room
Weed the borders
Weed the patio
Weed the wall
Weed the pots
Put up two pictures in kitchen
Put up DS3's curtain rail

HairyHandofDartmoor

beanielou wrote: »

So could you continue your home/garden efforts in half an hour bursts?
Put the timer on & stop when the timer goes off?
Even two or three days a week of doing that would help?

Yes I could do that Beanie, that would be a very sensible way of doing it :T. Even when I'm back at school I could do half hour bursts.

beanielou

Thats what I try to do when I feel overwhelmed with it all

HairyHandofDartmoor

beanielou wrote: »

Thats what I try to do when I feel overwhelmed with it all

Thanks Beanie . That's a good way of looking at it.

I need to do the vital daily tasks such as laundry, dishwasher, cooking. Then in addition to that I could spend half an hour on a task I have trouble fitting in normally, like hoovering, dusting, de-cluttering, gardening, etc. That way I'll be more on top of things and wont' get overwhelmed.

If I keep a list on the go then I could just choose something from it and spend half an hour on it .

teafor2

There is a theory that writing a 'done' list rather than a 'to do' list is more positive. But I like a list because I get to cross things off it.

The main thing is that it's not making you feel despondent if you don't manage to do everything. Maybe we should all have 2 lists on the go. I bet the 'done' one would fill half a page with just routine daily stuff before we do anything extra. xx

HairyHandofDartmoor

teafor2 wrote: »

There is a theory that writing a 'done' list rather than a 'to do' list is more positive. But I like a list because I get to cross things off it.

The main thing is that it's not making you feel despondent if you don't manage to do everything. Maybe we should all have 2 lists on the go. I bet the 'done' one would fill half a page with just routine daily stuff before we do anything extra. xx

I love making a list and crossing things off it TF2 . If I get a spare half hour I can't always think what needs doing, but if I have a list then I can just pick something from it and go and do it.

The routine daily stuff would make a long list! Imagine if we stopped doing it all. How quickly would total chaos ensue :eek:.

elizabethhull

I love lists too !
When my DDs lived at home, I used to make several pre-Xmas lists, covering cleaning to be done (as we had guests), cooking and presents. These often ran to several foolscap sheets !!! The food ones had a code for where the food was to be stored, and such things as presents and party food were in date order of being required. In fact, I feel I am an absolute list-master, but apart from special occasions I am also an arch procrastinator:rotfl::rotfl:
But for Xmas I did get everything done with DDs help.

I am in awe at what you get done, HH !

Yes, my wound site pain will get better but its impossible to know when, it's one of those 'how long is a piece of string' questions. I am just grateful for any improvement.