Simplifying Life

Aril

The only decluttering done today was to sort out all those recipe cards that I've picked up from the supermarkets. I've looked at them closely, written the ones I've already tried and liked and now recycled all of them. Think I will also register to go paper free bills with BT so less stuff to file www.bt.com/paperfree.

Had another freecycler pick up a batch of items from the major sort out a couple of days ago.

Next on the hit list is to put away all the Christmas decs tomorrow and to sort out all the jumble/charity shop items we've amassed into separate piles in the garage. The jumble goes on 19th and I shall start taking the charity shop stuff down in batches.

Regards
Aril

Aril

My main sorting today has been going through all the recipe cards I've kept from the supermarkets. I've written the recipes that I have tried and liked into my notebook and now recycled all of them. Shall be trying hard not to just pick up more for the sake of it.

I use OS notebooks all the time for all the tips on here. Mine are out of date biggish diaries when they reduce them to really silly low prices.

Am just about to register for an online bill with BT. Less stuff to file! www.bt.com/paperfree.

Tomorrow I shall be putting all the Xmas decs away and then sorting all the bits we've got from the last declutter into jumble and charity shop piles. The jumble goes on 19th and the rest of it I shall take down to the charity shop in batches. Have had another freecycler collect more stuff today.
Aril

champys

Yes Mary - you have inspired me too! I need to decorate my office - I work from home so it's a serious office, but it is also my 'workshop' with sewing machine, knitting machine, and lots of bookcases containing a host of lever arch files for paperwork, shoeboxes with sewing/knitting accessories etc. etc. Now painting the files and the shoeboxes is the perfect way of getting some orderly look to the whole thing (that is, after I have painted the walls, ceiling and bookcases). I am so happy with the thought of doing it this way that I feel it is actually going to happen soon!! (note: the office is also an occasional guest room :-). You have made my day with this idea.

ceridwen

EDITED OUT - sorry

needmoney

mary43 wrote: »

I had some leftover emulsion rosie...........used that as a base coat and got some matchpots from local decorator or woolworths just to sponge two more colours on.I found just painting them didn't do such a good job but by the time they were sponge painted any little flaws from the first coat were hidden. Did the same with some box files as well..........same paint technique and then a piece of left over wallpaper border down the spine before putting a label on. A lot of box files and ring binders can be a bit boring and I pick mine up from the charity shops where I can.........doesn;t matter what colour they are if they're going to be painted. I stuck some cut outs on the front of some of them just to make them a bit different.
Used to run riot with a paint tin...........almost nothing was safe........even painted my metal filing cabinet in a metal brass coloured paint.............lol
You name it...............I've painted it...........................:j

Oh..............this is something I did.................didnt have a splashback for the cooker so OH cut a piece of plywood to fit the back and I painted it, stencilled on a tile pattern and varnished it..............looks a bit worn now but its been there about 7 years................lol

:rotfl::rotfl::T:T
I was always painting anything in sight too and I've painted cardboard storage boxes like you with ordinary emulsion add a stencil but then I wax them with Fiddes wax polish, give a little shine and the paint lasts a bit longer. I've also painted furniture like this.

That's a fab idea I haven't got a splashback either and they're expensive. Are we twins I painted mine they were horrid tiles when I moved in about 8yrs ago then varnished it but it's really had it now and looks awful, the wood idea sounds great but what if it's a fire hazard :eek::D

ecoelle

just want to say, and i was pondering this the other day, isn't life just great some times. When you actually stop and think. I made some homemade soup yesterday, the first time since my uni days. Cooked it on top of my log burner (which i fuel for free as get the wood from the local merchants, they just skip the off cuts!) sitting in near darkness and watching a dvd, free from lovefilm, of 'the good life'. I am really enjoying life at the moment and it's been a long time since i could honestly say that. I'm looking at this year as a new start, a challenge, and i know it's going to bring some changes, hopefully on the job front, but i'm not worried, i'm not nervous i'm just contented. Don't think i would feel this way without all the help an support from people on here. So thank you and Happy New Year to you all. I know that this is a bit off topic maybe, but wanted to share with you guys!

Ches

Greenshieldstamp wrote: »

Use by
Type
Location
Item
Portion Size
Date





Hi Ches,

I have one idea which I am trying which may be useful to you.

I did an inventory of my cupboards and freezer and recorded the details in a table in a word processor. It had the following columns and you can then sort by any of the columns when you need to.

Use by (date format)
Type (Choose your own categories such as Veg / Baking / Meat / Fish etc.
Location (Choose your own categories such as Freezer / Store cupboard etc.
Item (Short description of item)
Portion Size (E.g. 1/2 packet / 2 people / bottle)
Date Bought (Shopping date)

It takes work to go through your cupboards to start with and like I said I am not sure how often I will be able to do it each time I do a major shop. However it gives me a quick and easy way of then reviewing what is left in my cupboards and what needs to be used up soon, and any duplicates that I don't need to buy in my next shop.

If you sort it by use by date then it can give you food for thought as to what needs using up and at least gives me some ingredients to work from which I can then search the net for recipes if I am stuck.

It may well prove too difficult to keep up and I think I need to simplify it but I will let you know how I get on.
Best wishes

Thanks for that post GSS. I will be interested to know if you can keep this up long term as it seems a bit complicated. I have a rough idea in my head whats in the freezer and cupboards as I tend to just buy staples anyway and I do make sure the new purchases go to the back. I would like to go over to monthly shopping rather than weekly but it means being a lot more organised about meal plans. Its one thing to have to change the menu last minute because you have run out of something when shopping weekly but having to go the month before replacing would be awkward. Its also what quanties would be needed for a month that is difficult. And certainly perishables would need to be bought weekly. If some things are bought monthly, some weekly and some when needing to be replaced it seemsd to me that more time would be taken up shopping than I currently do and thats not the result I want. My sister wanders up the local shops each day and decides what to have for dinner from whats looks good that day. I fancy myself living that sort of 'Miss Marple' existance but its not practical for me. But I would like to cut down on the amount of time I spend planning/shopping for food.

JenniO

ROSIEBEN "A few years ago I designed an A4 garden journal which I can make available via 4Shared if anyone is interested. It has various sections, and could be printed out and bound or used in a ring binder. At the moment the covers are powerpoint files but I could change to something else if need be, the pages are in word I think. "


Rosieben - I would love to see this, as my OH was just telling me he wanted a garden journal for us to make up and we're having trouble with it as we're first time gardeners. Any tips would have been greatly appreciated!:D

ceridwen

Morning all

Have a good (decluttering) day!

....and sometimes the decluttering (both of goods and other things) is more incremental. Sometimes we do things when we can/when we are ready to.

We all know about built-in obsolescence - ie that manufacturers deliberately make goods that last JUST long enough that we feel we have had our money's worth and are prepared to go and buy another one. I guess this is where Conscious Consuming comes in - as in whenever the latest "goodie" we have hits that B.O. point (ie the Built-in Obsolescence point - the lifespan the manufacturer has designed it to last for) - then we consciously decide whether to replace it and theres 3 ways we can go there:
- buy another goodie with a B.O. point
- try and find a replacement without a B.O. point (will probably be more expensive - IF we can find one)
- do without

As I know - my electric blanket reached its B.O. Point. I'm not prepared to buy another one that has a B.O. Point and I doubt theres any such thing as an electric blanket without a B.O. Point - so I decided to do without. One item down (LOADS to go).

I personally have worked out pretty much what I feel I need on the one hand or want on the other hand and what doesnt even make it onto the list.

I have decided I dont need: a car, a microwave, a dishwasher and am not bothered in the slightest about not having them. I would like, for instance, matching bedding - but I dont want it that much - so will continue with my "patchwork" of various different colours.

I want 1 or 2 holidays a year. Part of me knows I "shouldnt" - but I'm human and I have only recently got into a position to afford holidays. So - I am consciously thinking: theres various "basic" countries I havent even been to yet - so made out a list of what these countries are to work my way through come holiday time and then thats it - I dont think I will feel the need to get on an airplane again. I dont want to do the sort of thing like "lets fly to New York for a weekends shopping" or "lets have a girlie weekend in x/y/z in Europe". I want to experience a little of the culture of some of the most "basic" countries to visit - but I can say I wont do these shortie trips and I'm not interested in buying souvenirs or taking photographs and....incrementally......"ratchet down" from what I once might have gone for. I'm "wearing it as long as I can" - my own little personal phrase from a tale of 2 men (whose names escape me) from hundreds of years ago, when it was commonplace for men to wear swords - one asked the other whether it was okay for him to keep wearing his sword, the reply was "Wear it as long thou canst". He wore it "for as long as he could" and then stopped wearing it. He wasnt ready to stop wearing it immediately.

The point being that some of us can do "One Fell Swoop" and the whole "scenery" has changed. Others (and I tend to put myself in that category) do things more incrementally - just one bit, then just another bit....some time later it may be that the whole "scenery" has changed, but its at a pace that we can cope with.

ceridwen

ecoelle wrote: »

just want to say, and i was pondering this the other day, isn't life just great some times. When you actually stop and think. I made some homemade soup yesterday, the first time since my uni days. Cooked it on top of my log burner (which i fuel for free as get the wood from the local merchants, they just skip the off cuts!) sitting in near darkness and watching a dvd, free from lovefilm, of 'the good life'. I am really enjoying life at the moment and it's been a long time since i could honestly say that. I'm looking at this year as a new start, a challenge, and i know it's going to bring some changes, hopefully on the job front, but i'm not worried, i'm not nervous i'm just contented. Don't think i would feel this way without all the help an support from people on here. So thank you and Happy New Year to you all. I know that this is a bit off topic maybe, but wanted to share with you guys!

Not off topic in the slightest - good post! - and Happy New Year to you.