January Organisation (Part 4)

Well, the 31 Days to Get Organised Challenge is over and done with. I have been a bit slack with the last week or so as I have been busy and we also got away for a few days as well (will blog about that soon). I also lost a bit of momentum but am keen to get back into it.

Day 24:  Car. This is one that I am putting off till B starts kinder as I really need the car to have a good clean and it's a lot easier to do without "help". I tend to bring everything out of the car each day and keep a rubbish bag in the car for any rubbish we have. There are probably a few things that I have kept in the car "just in case" that haven't been used and can move on.

Day 25:  Kitchen Utensils. I tackled this one on the pots and pans day so instead I went through the glasses and cups. I had a some from when B was younger that he doesn't need any longer. I did clear them out a while ago but they needed doing again. There were also some glasses in there that I don't use and were just taking up space.

Day 26:  Shoes. I thought this was fairly under control, however, I did get rid of 3 pairs that I don't like or are to old and ratty. I also have two pairs of boots whose soles have gone which I have now put in a bag in the car to take to the shoe repairer. It is something I have been meaning to do for a while and every time I drive past I say to myself that I need to take them in. At least now they are in the car so that I can stop next time I am driving by.

Day 27:  Belts. I don't wear belts so there was nothing to organise so I chose to spend my time today sorting through my DVDs and clearing out some of those that I don't really enjoy that much.

Day 28:  Kids Clothes. Another area that I do keep pretty much on top of. B doesn't have a lot of storage space in his room so I go through his clothes twice a year at the change of seasons and clear out what doesn't fit. I do have a few shirts in his close that he won't wear (he doesn't like buttons) but keep them in his closet hoping he may change his mind.

Day 29:  Pens, Pencils. My pens and pencils are very well contained. However, I have a friend who used to give me really cute fluffy pens which I had held onto even though they didn't work any longer. I had been debating for a while about what to do with them so have decided that I don't need to hold onto them any longer.

Day 30:  Books. Another one that I did prior to my garage sale last year but did another look through and managed to find a few more to get rid of.

Day 31:  5 Challenges to go on with. I haven't done them yet with holidays and having some behaviour issues to deal with B at the moment but will get to them when he starts kinder:

1. "Doodle drawers" - these are B's craft drawers which are a real mess at the moment and needs a cull/tidy up.
2. Shed - need to go through all the stuff in the shed as it is really full and a bit of a dumping ground.
3. Under the beds - I really want to get of the containers under the beds. I need the things in (most) of them, however, I do not want to store things under the beds.
4. Folders on desk - I have things in folders on my desk but I need to go through them to check that I need what is in them.
5. Bags - I have a number of bags and there are probably a few that I don't/won't use.

What a great kick start to one of my goals for this year which is to live with less clutter and unneeded things. The stuff that I have cleared out has given me more space to organise what I do have more effectively and to be able to see what else I have to tackle.

Wish me well for the rest of the job!

January Organisation (Part 3)

Before I post my continuing progress here is a photo of what I have donated to the op shop this week.

Day 17:  Condiments in Fridge. I put this one off for a couple of days as I got a new fridge (yay me!) so decided to do the clean up whilst transferring things from the old fridge to the new one. I only had to get rid of 2 jars that were expired and they all fit nicely onto the fridge door. It was interesting because before Peter posted this challenge I was going to buy containers to put on the shelves to keep the condiments together and organised. I really like his idea of containing them to the door instead - nice and easy to see what I've got and encourages me to use them regularly.

Day 18:  Under the Sink.  Just tidied things up here and got rid of a few things that were left behind by the previous tenant (after 2.5 years he's not wanting them back). Moved some things that were just lying loose around the laundry that really belonged there as well. Also gave it a really good clean too.

Day 19:  Magazines. I went through all my magazines prior to my garage sale last year. I had three boxes of magazines which I have been trying to sell for the last few months purely because I was hyperventilating at the thought of all the money I had spent on them and would have liked to get back at least a little of it. However, it has been a few months and I was not able to sell them so I just bit the bullet and donated them to the op shop.

Day 20:  Flat surface. Again, this is another one I put off as the one I wanted to tackle was the kitchen benches but I have to wait for my old fridge to go so that I could rearrange the kitchen. This will happen over the weekend so can't wait to get stuck into it.

Day 21:  Kid's toys. Peter's challenge was to get rid of all toys that are not age appropriate. I suppose I am lucky because I only have one child and not having any more so I don't have to hold to toys for other children. I keep a box in my room for B to put toys he doesn't want anymore to donate and he is pretty good at putting things in there. We usually have a conscious toy purge prior to birthday and Christmas to make room for what may come. Also, now that he is getting pocket money and buying some toys himself I am going to institute the "one in, one out" rule so that if he buys something another toy has to go.

Day 22:  Medicine Cabinet. I don't really have a medicine cabinet so I used this time to clean out the bathroom cupboards. I threw out a lot of creams, lotions, etc that I have had for way too long and haven't used.

Day 23: Pots, Pans and Appliances. Another area that is fairly well organised as I cook a lot and only have a limited amount of cupboard space so don't any appliances that I don't use. I did take the opportunity to go through the utensil drawer and cleared things out of there that I don't use or have duplicates of. Because who needs more than one apple corer or melon baller?

So another great week of organising, cleaning and purging. And there is now only a bit over a week to go. This challenge has been great to achieve lots in a minimum of 10 minutes a day and then to also give me the impetus to move forward throughout the year. I'm really looking forward to living with less clutter around me.

Lego Organistion

Wow! It really sounds like I'm on an organising binge at the moment doesn't it?

We have now entered the world of Lego. I gave B some Lego for Christmas and within an hour it looked like this:

and this:

It was doing my head in so I decided that it would work in both our favour if I implemented a useful storage system right from the start before the Lego got out of control. A friend who has 3 (older) boys has worked through this situation over the years so I have totally stolen the storage system which works for her boys. A quick search of Pinterest reveals there are a lot of people that use the same system. I purchased a Trofast shelving system from Ikea and tubs to go with it. At the moment we are storing two/three colours in each tub as B doesn't have much Lego yet and the tubs aren't too full and he can still find what he needs. I will probably need to change this after a while as the collection expands.

Also on Pinterest I found this awesome system for organising the instruction books. Again at the moment we don't need to worry about them as we only have three books. B is only just starting to build from the books a little and instead he just builds from his imagination but I want to keep them nice and organised for when that day comes.

I know it's probably a bit over the top at the moment as he doesn't have too much Lego, however, I hope that by implementing this system from the start that it is second nature when it comes to packing away/finding Lego. I can dream can't I?????

If you have any tips for Lego storage/organisation that has worked for you I wold love to hear it.

January Organisation (Part 2)

So here is the continuation of Peter Walsh's January Organisation challenge:

Day 10:  Platters, Trays Tins.  Another 10 minutes well spent. I didn't think that I needed to get rid of anything in this area but with my totally ruthless hat on there a few things that I haven't used at all since I moved in here 2.5 years ago or not used in a while so they have gone!

Day 11:  Linen Press. I have a linen press, however, it did not have any linen in it. As I keep my sewing machine right next to it I have tended to store some craft supplies in it. The intention was that it would have the stuff I needed to use whilst sewing, i.e. threads, etc. It had got a bit out of hand, however, and was full of only craft supplies and other stuff. As I had cleared some space in my bedroom I moved some things in there. I have now got some linen in there, put some in the op shop pile and have got rid of boxes (read sold) under both my and B's beds that was where the linen was being stored. My aim is to not have it as jammed in as it is at the moment and to have most of my linen in there.

Linen actually in the Linen Closet!

Day 12:  Wardrobe. When I had my garage sale last year I cleared out quite a few clothes so it wasn't a huge job today. I did clear out a few things that I haven't worn for ages or don't like anymore. There are also a few (summer) things that I wasn't sure of so I have turned the coathangers around the wrong way. If, at the end of summer, I still haven't worn them I will pass them on then.

Day 13:  Spice Rack. Another easy one. All my spices are in Tupperware containers filed alphabetically so quite organised. I did use the time to clean all the outside of the containers and the caddies that they sit on. I had some that needed a top up so did that at the same time. Also the bench area where they sit also has the toaster on so I gave that and the bench a really good clean.

Day 14:  T-Shirts. One that I thought was okay but when I actually went through the drawer I did find some that were really ratty but I was just holding on to for sentimental reasons so they went in the bin. Some others are from when I used to go to the gym and I have held onto them for when I start going again, however, they are really not comfortable for me so they have gone in the op shop pile.

Day 15: Rest Day. Being half way through the challenge, Peter gave us the day off and said to spend the 10 minutes doing something for ourselves. We had a really early morning this morning so I spent the time this afternoon having a little doze on the couch. Luxury!

Day 16:  The Top Shelf in a Closet. The idea of this one was going through one of those top shelves where you tend to just put things. I chose the kitchen as I store things on top of the cupboards that I don't have room for in a cupboard and also there is one cupboard above the pantry which is HUGE so has the space for lots of stuff. There were a few things that I cleared out but again not a lot as I went through this last year prior to my garage sale. I got rid of a couple of lunch boxes/containers as there were more than we need.
So I am now over half way through and not only am I getting a lot more organised but I have a much cleaner house too as I'm giving things a good clean whilst I am organising. Looking forward to the rest of the challenge! I now need to make a run to the op shop to offload some of the stuff that I have decided to get rid of. Will post the photo of that next week!

Here is where you can view Part 1 of the challenge.

January Organisation (Part 1)

I follow Peter Walsh on Facebook. He has issued a challenge during January for "31Days2GetOrganised". I decided to follow it to kick start my organisation for the year. Most of the tasks only take 10 minute which makes them achievable and are good because they don't take heaps of time out of the day. I will post this about a week at a time otherwise it will be one really long post!

I also started on January 2 as Peter started on January 1 in the US so I don't get the challenges till a day later.

So here they are with my progress:

Day 1:  Clearing things out of Living Room that don't belong. This was an easy one for me as a couple of days before I took down all the Christmas decorations and put things away then. I did clear away a few things that were on the dining table that didn't belong there. I have issues with things sitting on the dining table for much longer than they need to.

Day 2:  Sock drawer. Again another easy one. I went through this drawer a couple of months ago when I was looking for some pantyhose and got tangled up in the number. I do also throw out socks that are worn/have holes as I find them. Also, don't know how but I don't really have issues with odd socks so there were none of those to deal with.

Day 3:  Plastic Storage Containers. Once again, an area I'm on top of. Whenever a container is looking a bit old, etc I get rid of it (and its lid). Also, since we don't really get take away in plastic containers there is no accumulation of them either. I have more containers than Peter recommends but that is because I don't have a lot of stuff in the freezer at the moment.

Day 4:  Remote Control Organisation. I do have mine in a caddy already and as B does not use the remotes if they are not in the right spot then I only have myself to blame, lol!!

So at this point I'm feeling pretty good about the whole challenge with the tasks being ones I am on top of or required no more than the 10 minute time limit. Doing a bit of a "I'm not as disorganised as I thought" dance. Until ...................................

Day 5:  Master Bedroom. This is my Achilles heel. If something doesn't have a home or I need it out of the way it ends up in my bedroom. There was no way that I could restore order in 10 minutes. I did clear off the top of the chest of drawers next to my bed. Updated the photos in the photo frames and gave everything a good dust. Most of my craft supplies are stored in my room but they are bursting out of the storage. I organised some, got rid of a few books that were there as well and did a little tidy up. It will be an ongoing process but as one of my goals for the coming year is to finish off my craft projects this will free up space in this area.

Day 6:  Towels. Again, another area I'm on top of. I don't have a lot of storage for towels so am pretty good about keeping only the number I need. Also, last year B complained about the towels scratching him and my swimming ones had holes in them so I got new ones, both for the bathroom and for swimming.

Day 7:  Underwear. Once again, another area that I had under control. Last year I finally bit the bullet and spent some money on myself and splashed out on new underwear so I cleaned out these drawers at that time. I did also go through B's underwear and moved on a few things that don't fit him.

Day 8 & 9:  Paperwork organisation. Not too badly out of control thank goodness and I already have a system which on the whole works well for me. Additionally with receiving some bills/statements, etc electronically these days there is a lot less paper coming in to deal with.

If it has been a task that I didn't really need to do I have then been spending the allocated 10 minutes on tidying up another area. I went through all of my paperwork and got rid of a nice big pile (prior to Days 8 & 9). I went through the junk that was on top of the fridge, including going through the tool box and getting rid of the millions of Ikea allen keys!!

I'm finding this exercise really useful and am enjoying the little tasks that don't take much time but make a big impact overall. There are already a couple of boxes that need to go to the op shop!

I would encourage you to join this challenge if you have issues with your own organisation. As I said it's only 10 minutes a day but it's already making a big difference to my head space! I would love to hear if you have any organisation goals or challenges that you want to tackle this year. We could be each other's support and encouragment!

Garage Sale

Last weekend I had a garage sale. I had a lot of things that I needed to get rid of and there was too much to put on ebay/gumtree or to just donate to the op shop. So I decided to try and sell some with a garage sale. I had a friend who brought some things over too so we were able to combine our things.

Unfortunately I didn't sell as much as I had hoped, however, I did make some money from it. But most importantly it was a great opportunity to declutter and really go through my things. I have been trying to declutter for a while but it often seems to be too big a job. You also don't notice little bits when there is a lot to go. By having a date set for the garage sale it gave me a deadline for going through my things. I certainly didn't go through everything but I went through lots.

The best thing was that most of the stuff that didn't sell didn't then re-enter the house after the sale finished. We immediately loaded up a car which went straight to the op shop. Another load of kids toys went into my car to give to a friend who works in domestic violence for their clients. A few things did come back into the house but they are things that I will list on ebay/gumtree, etc to sell.

All set up and ready to go!

On the whole it was a worthwhile experience in that it was a good way to clear out a lot of unwanted things and to give me some impetus to keep going. It is an experience that I will not repeat, however, as I will not have that much stuff again that needs to be gotten rid of!

One thing leads to another.

In the name of good blogging I am about to make a huge fool of myself. I work at a school for students with physical and health impairments. Last Friday there was a dress up day to dress up as your favourite book/TV/film character. I also decided to get into the spirit as well as you can see from this photo:

This is a Lion Costume I made about 20 years ago for a fancy dress where I went as the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz. There were a whole bunch of us that dressed up as the entire cast. I always do hang onto dress ups as they come in very handy on various occasions and you can usually fit a small number of dress ups into a lot of common themes.

Anyway, that is not quite the point of this blog. When I was going through the suitcase which holds my dress ups I found quite a few things that I forgot about. The suitcase fits into the bottom of my wardrobe so it has not been on my list of things to go through in my decluttering efforts as it is tucked quite neatly away. I have moved twice in the last 3 years and it has just come along each time without really being gone through. It was always my intention to go through it but it was down the list of areas to tackle due to it being out of sight.

But since I had the suitcase out I thought it would be a good job to go through it (and the one that was sitting on top of it). There were a number of dress ups which have stayed there but I also found a few things that I had forgotten about and can be used or given away. There were some T-shirts that I had kept for sentimental value. Some I put into the bag to go to the op shop and some I have decided that I can just wear around the house as I do not have a sentimental attachment to them any longer. Some did go back into the suitcase and my intention is to cut them up and make them into a quilt as I do have an attachment to them still.

I also discovered the first quilt I made. I did a fairly good job at the quilt top, however, my quilting leaves a bit to be desired. I have kept it as it is nice to keep that first quilt so I can see how far I have come. It's also good to use as an extra blanket on a bed in winter.

Amongst my discoveries was a Spiderman fleece blanket and a Shrek doona cover that I had for a boy I used to look after for when he came for sleepovers. I had completely forgotten I had them but have now got them out to use for B. Very handy!

So after a quick last minute forage for a dress up I have found some useful things, got rid of more stuff I don't need and have emptied one of the suitcases. Not bad work I say.

I'd love to hear your stories of things that you find by accident - good and bad!

I Have Taught You Well.

Totally pinched the title of this post from Star Wars!! It's been what has been running through my head whenever I thought about this post.

Last week I re-organised B's "fluffy toys". I took them out of the container that was disintegrating and that they didn't fit in and put them in this lovely wooden box that my brother made in high school. Yep it's pretty old and has held together quite well considering it was made by a high school student.

When I did the change over I culled a few toys that I felt he didn't play with and probably wouldn't play with. There were more than could fit in the box but I was okay with the lid being open and the toys piled up a little. However, that was not what B wanted. He insisted that he be able to close the lid!

So we pulled the toys out one by one and he decided whether to keep or give away each one. As we put all the keepers back into the box the lid still didn't close all the way. So the lid was opened and more toys were pulled out.

So here is the box full of fluffy toys that he has decided that he doesn't need anymore. They will be going to our friend who will regift them to children who need them. It has been really good to have this avenue as it helps him put a "face" to where his toys go. To explain that there are some children who do not have any toys but that they can enjoy ones he doesn't want is really good.

I am so proud of B. He is a lot better than me about letting go of stuff and it is actually inspiring me to let go of a lot more of my stuff. I know all the theories about decluttering but the practice of letting go is hard. I really need to get on top of this while he is good at letting go of this things and before he starts to question why I hold onto things I don't use anymore.

This has been a really awesome lesson to learn from my child. I would love to hear any stories of similar lessons you have learnt from unexpected sources.

Now if I could only get him to wear underpants........................

Planning

I have been a bit of a bad blogger lately. I have not blogged as I would like to as life has got a bit stressful and hectic.

One of the reasons for the stress is that I have been really short of money. It has been a really bad month for bills, new glasses for B, modem dying and other myriad life expenses. It has led to some reflection on the need for more planning.

I have been doing really well with my weekly planner for activities and menus which has helped streamline a few things. Less trips to the shops, a varied menu and feeling more in control. For more info see my previous post here.

As the summer veggies are coming to an end I have already started planting the next lot to try and have some ready to plant out as soon as I pull the rest out. I planted the seeds last Thursday and when I went out today the broccoli, broad beans and lettuce were already sprouting! Hopefully this means a good crop ahead. I would really like to try and be as self-sufficient as possible from my (small) garden and planning is needed to try and make sure I have different produce ready throughout the year.

 Broccoli

Broad Beans

But the big area I need to work on is my budgeting. I currently am living from pay to pay and juggling bills and I am really tired of it. I need to really knuckle down and get my finances sorted. It also needs to involve a bit of planning. I had B's optometrist appointment booked and was fairly certain that he would need glasses. However, I also thought that we both needed to go to the dentist. I was way overdue and he had never been. We could both go now and get these appointments done and out of the way? Well, when the check up cost over $100 for the 2 of us and then over $100 for me to get my teeth cleaned and I need a filling as well (that's not for another couple of weeks) it probably would have been better for me to plan the dentist for a different month to the optometrist. So, I have had to pay for the dental appointments and $345 for glasses in the same month. So better planning on my behalf is needed to try and spread these expenses over more than 1 month.

I did really well over January clearing up my clutter and sold some through eBay and also through a Facebook group. However, I still have lots more to sell but seem to have lost the momentum. I really need to get this going again to not only clear the stuff away but also to get a bit of extra cash. I am going to set aside some time each evening to make this happen.

I really need to get on top of planning stuff. I think it's not something that comes naturally to me and I have often resisted being a real planner type person. I have always been a more of a winging it type person but this needs to change.

Would love to hear any tips that you have for planning and getting life organised!! And I will blog more regularly - have lots more things to say.

Bye-bye Nappies

Well it's time for me to say goodbye to nappies. B has been daytime trained for nearly 18 months and has not worn nappies at night for about 3 months (varying success here but I think we are there now). I have all of his nappies still. Don't ask me why. Maybe because I really enjoyed our cloth nappy journey so I wasn't quite ready to let them go and admit my little fella has grown up.

I was very committed to the idea of using cloth from the start. I had some wonderful friends who gave me cash and vouchers for a nappy wash service which was wonderful for the first few months. After that I launched headlong into the Modern Cloth Nappy world. Like a lot of people I did get a little carried away with the cute nappies.

Without wanting to sound too preachy it was a very easy journey. It was an extra load of washing every 2 days and when you have a baby there is so much washing so an extra one almost went unnoticed. I really enjoyed the sight of all my nappies drying on the clothesline. I know, a strange thing to make you happy but it did.

But I now have to let go of another part of babyhood. I have been endeavouring over the last few weeks to declutter my house and the nappies were a big part of the clutter here. I have started listing them on a used nappy site and hope to get a bit of extra cash from them.