Simplifying Life

do_it_today!

Hi All :hello:
Betcaje - I dont know how old your kids are and what they might do already but get them involved where possible in helping around the home.

My little simplifying tips are:
1) Have bills on DD and note the dates in diary when due out of account
2) I always fill up tank to the max so I avoid pesky trips to the petrol
station in the month
3) get car cleaned when Im shopping
4) if things are manic I shop on line tesco - if not I go to lidls when its
quieter ie eve's
5) deal with post everyday shred what doesnt need keeping asap
6) when cleaning I carry a caddy with polish cleaner and cloths
7) I have 2 hoovers (ok abit OTT) but one lives upstairs the other
downstairs
8) try not to bring more things into the (shopping detox!) house and if I
must then sometimes something will have to be gotten rid of ie clothes /
toy
9) have homes for things ie keys in bowl on table / shoes on shoe rack/
coats hung up not slouched on chairs
10) less crockery in the cupboard (only 2 of us at the mo) but less plates
mean less washing up
11) two washing hampers one for darks and other lights
12) we have at least 3 washing baskets for use during laundry time
13) bulk buy where possible staple things such as toothpaste, toilet paper,
washing powder (always a pain to run out of!)
14) Meal plan even if you dont cook it in advance (this would save so much
time and hassle if I actually did it properly one day I will!)
15) try and have a little routine for things I guess

I hope this helps

mary43

Just a quick hello to all...............got back from Mums last night.......she was very sleep most of the time but did know I was there.Glad I only stayed for two days though...........would have been too depressing any more than that and there's nothing positive I can do.
So, I must concentrate on the things I can do here at home.
Appointment with counsellor in half an hour.............that might help clarify my feelings a bit moreI think.

Love the Happy rules Aril.........they all make so much sense and we should all have them in full view just to remind ourselves that it's not that difficult really.

Welcome Becca..............you'll soon find ways of simplifying your life, de-clutter both your home and your head...........I'm getting there slow but sure and began to never think I would so just goes to show........it can be done.

Catch you all later:j

Rowan9

Glad you're back ok Mary.
Great ideas do it today. I use some of them - anything like that helps minimise time spent/ wasted.
Aril - great post
Off to wash my tea dishes. 2nd night in a row of quiche and potato salad so not much to wash up. Last of quiche tomorrow night and will have something like a rice salad with it so i can make more of that and then have it with tuna or something the next night. Meal planning is so easy if you are happy to eat the same thing for a few nights!!
Walked dogs at common - lots of lovely birdsong and the rabbits running about. Dogs panting now.
w

ceridwen

Hi all

I'm back again - the bad penny - aka originator of this thread. I think I might just simplify things a bit in future and hand over a substantial amount from my bank account to start with if my p.c. goes as badly wrong as it has been over the last week. Shouldnt have run around the place trying other things to sort it first should I? (slap my wrists time;) ). So - I had to hand over a three-figure size cheque to a "man who can" - but I'm back again.

Right - now off to catch up on what everyone has been up to.:D

love

ceridwen

ceridwen

Charis wrote: »

I've had a good read about Transition Towns. It's an eye opener. I think we will all be familiar with the concept in a few years. I feel myself being pulled in that direction, maybe as a skills sharer. We 'elders' (surely I can't be one of those already?) who were born before 1960 and can remember how people coped before the days of central heating, synthetic fibres, supermarket shopping, will need to pass on our knowledge to those born later, for whom all those things, together with foreign holidays, mobile phones, freedom to travel anywhere and everwhere by car, are all so taken for granted they can't imagine it any other way. I feel the need to do a bit of reskilling myself. Might get to grips with a few veggie recipes and grow some salads in the garden this year. When I see the price of 'tomatoes on the vine' in Tesco it makes it well worth the effort. I haven't done much sewing lately either and my knitting needles must be rusty by now.
Here's the list of towns which have signed up or are interested
http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/Mulling#England
in case anyone wants to check their locality.

Thanks for that Charis.

One of the main "transition town" themes is that we need to "rescue" the skills that people used to have (and a few still do) before its too late. We need them. Even basic level skills like cooking from scratch and dressmaking are skills that were dying out - but they will be vital in coping with the imminent Peak Oil - hence why I see the Old Stylers Forum as very important. Many people on this Board know skills I, for one, never knew - but see as extremely important. I've certainly learnt a lot.

To me - "share the knowledge" is very much a phrase of mine. I do believe we all need to share what knowledge and skills we have.

ceridwen

mary43 wrote: »

Just to say counselling went very well...............two more sessions and that should be it...........my head more or less sorted (or at least as much as it ever could be). Counsellor is moving away from the area........I could change to another but I think I'm getting on top of the problem now..........might know better when I've seen Mum which I want to do next week. Just a quick two day visit -that'll be enough for Mum and enough for me.
Letting go of Dad is the biggest problem but a few things have been solved there as well.............his Memory box that I feel I have to keep downstairs almost as if he's with me can be relieved of a few things that aren't so important for me to look through when I feel the need, making room for those little pieces that tell a tale every time I see them. Whats upstairs in his suitcase then becomes almost 'out of sight out of mind' though not quite. Some of his dance band items can go to the history site........he;d be overjoyed to think he was on the world wide web............lol - so all in all, I'm getting there.
Just wish big bruv. could share how I feel but I have to accept that we're never going to have that kind of close relationship that I would have liked.

Insurance folk have agreed to the repairs to roof and 'building site' room so the rubble heap can be restored to something resembling a room of sorts albeit just for storage/boiler/freezer.

And even the sun is shining........................................:j

That sounds extremely positive Mary - way to go gal!:T

Charis

ceridwen wrote: »

To me - "share the knowledge" is very much a phrase of mine. I do believe we all need to share what knowledge and skills we have.

That reminds me of a phrase I loved when I home educated my son for a couple of years, 'Share what you know, learn what you don't know.' I don't know where it came from but it a useful motto for those of us caught up in what is becoming known as 'The Great Turning'.

I read on a blog this week that some journalist in America had written 'All that America needs now to create a full scale recession is for people to start growing their own food'...Huh? :eek: Is the mighty food industry that fragile ? The Great Turning is already turning heads, it would seem.

mary43

Hello ceridwen and welcome back:T
Have copied out doittodays list............think that might be a handy thing to see every morning along with Arils 'Happiness' list, not forgetting the 5 blessings that we should all keep handy to remind us in the bad times that there are some good.

Well, counselling went very well. I felt very positive about actually 'doing' so many of the things that a negative part of me was delaying........simple things like painting flowers on our bedside cupboards, livening up the kitchen cupboards with a lick of paint........in general, cheering up many aspects of my life, both material and mental.

So, paint has been bought, kitchen cupboard painted (with the help of our lad here who says he's turned over a new leaf -here's hoping!).......just larder cupbooard to do now and the kitchen looks a lot brighter already. Curtains need turning up to fit........can do that maybe at the weekend.
Paint all ready for flowery design............just need to think of something to do with dad's tray.............musical would be very applicable for him and I only just thought of that................must google for musical designs.

Counsellor has fitted me in for next week and the week after and says even though she's leaving the area I can see someone else very quickly if need be
but I feel now I can recognise the issues that were pulling be down so much, maybe I can deal with them a whole lot better and feeling positive about actually 'doing' as opposed to 'maybe, sometime' is helping me heaps.

zarazara

Mary, thats a very good post. The 5 blessing are very important as is actually DOING.
I find Flylady.net a great help personally.

ceridwen

doittoday -
re bills on direct debit and keeping track of when they are due out.

I have swopped all my D.D.'s as far as poss. to come out on the 1st of the month (as I get paid the last day of each month) - so to me that makes for ease of dealing with. I just reckon I get paid £x at the end of each month and the very next day £y comes out to cover the direct debits. There is only 2 bills that dont get D.D.'d out - my yearly gas service (another "man who can" - comes cheaper than the Gas Board as I still call them) and my yearly insurance bill (cheaper to pay it yearly than get charged extra for paying in monthly instalments). My Council tax bills are divided into 12 monthly amounts - not the standard 10 - as I find it easier financially and administratively to have an equal amount coming out every single month of the year for that. I think there might be one D.D. where I couldnt persuade my supplier to change their take-out date to 1st of the month - but I just mentally "count it out" as having gone from my account on the 1st day of the month with the other D.D.'s anyway.

I follow the bulk-buying, where possible, way of shopping - partly for administrative convenience. For instance - when buying mascara I buy 4 (not just the 1 I actually need right then) and buying dishcloths in the week - I bought 4 packs (not the 1 I actually needed right now). It all helps to leave "headspace" uncluttered - to think about more important things.

Personally - I am a great fan of post-it notes in my diary too. I have the type of diary that has a week's worth of time on one side and a blank page for notes the other side - as I find this most efficient. I "top-up" things to do notes at certain times with post-it notes on the notes page. I have post-it notes each end of the diary about things like the amount taken out for monthly direct debits - so when my monthly salary comes in I can instantly deduct the D.D.'s and any extraordinary bills for that month (eg the yearly gas service or insurance bills, birthdays, etc) and see instantly what I have left to live on/spend.

I'm also a great fan of kitchen timers. Whenever I am cooking something I can just leave to get on and cook - I put on the kitchen timer for when it will have finished cooking and then get on with something else. I don't have to focus on remembering what time whatever-it-is will be cooked then.