Come and Gone

My simple year has come and gone.  I must say that even though I haven't spent as much focused time working on simplifying as I had originally hoped, it has been beneficial to have kind of a guiding principle to help me make decisions...and as I look back on the year, we have definitely made some big decisions!

We are in November now and the focus should be "Values".  Hmmm...trying to remember back to what exactly I was thinking when I came up with that.  I guess a good challenge would be to really assess what I value and see if the choices I make are showing where I see value in my life.  I'm going to have to think on this a bit and who knows when I might check back in, but until then, just know that I've got values on my mind.

Made our move!!

We are a week into the new school year in Florida.  The transition hasn't been terrible for the girls but I can't say that it's great either...but again, we are only into the first week of school.  We have been living in Paige's house since we got here (except for when we took a trip to NYC!) and it's been quite challenging staying here and not really having a place to put things.  That was fine for the summer when we didn't really have to be organized or be able to find things, but since school has started its made me realize that we need to find something sooner than a new build would take.  Sooo...with that in mind we are under contract for a house in the area.  It's a little smaller than we originally wanted but its wayyyy under budget so that feels good.  I don't feel like we will be there forever, but it feels like a good next step and we can get into it quickly and easily.  We should be closing by September 25th (if not sooner) and we are looking forward to unpacking our boxes for a longer stay.

Now that all of that is out of the way, the focus for August is clothing.  There are only a handful of days left in the month but it is definitely a worthwhile task to take a look at trying to simplify our clothing.  Our current clothing situation is really pretty overwhelming.  It feels like we have been buying clothes like crazy lately but we still don't have anything to wear.  How can this be?  That is a great question but unfortunately one that I don't have an answer for!  Hopefully by spending some time focused on it I can get us all into a better clothing situation without bringing more clutter into our home.

Here's my plan of attack:

• Take (yet another) load of clothing and shoes to goodwill.  Make sure that anything left in their rooms is clothing that they can and DO wear.
• Make a list of clothing basics and fill in any gaps that the girls might have in their wardrobes

Go big or go home!

We are counting down the days (with some hesitation) to when we move to Florida.  We still haven't decided if we should just buy a house that's already built or use a builder to have one built.  After living in the apartment for over 2 months now, I am ready for a little more space.  I think not having a yard for the girls to go out in has been missed more than anything else since we moved in.  Emma used to go out and just hang out on the trampoline and I know she misses not being able to do that.  We are itching to get settled somewhere so I can't see waiting 6-8 months for a house to be built.  The thought of that makes me cringe.  But the idea of having a brand new house built to our specifications is nice to think about.

We have found a few houses that we really like but can't find a house that has everything that we want (of course).  I know its an unreasonable expectation to think that we will find a house with it all...just can't decide what to give up.  One of the things that is on the top of the girls' list is goats and chickens.  The idea of that sounds fun, but I'm afraid that the reality of having that kind of responsibility all of the time would be less than fun.  We only have a few more summers with Tabetha  (insert sobbing here) so I don't want to be tied down to the house with some stinky goats when we could be traveling.

Speaking of travel...Simplifying travel is my focus for this month.  We just got back from a trip to San Antonio and New Braunfels, Texas.  It was a blast and a great reminder that seeing new things feeds my soul.  Really, there is nothing more enjoyable to me than being in a new place, seeing new things with my family.  I'll have to create a separate post with all the details of the trip.  Suffice it to say, it was awesome and we saw some really beautiful things.

Simplifying housing

This is certainly an appropriate focus for this month, especially since we will probably be purchasing a home or beginning a new construction build, depending on what we decide when we go home next week.  We are currently living in about 1600 square feet (since we sold our home and moved out in May).  So far, I'm not hating it.  I do wish we weren't living out of boxes and the frustration that comes with not being able to find things (especially when we only have half the space to lose them in) is very real.

Where did May go?

It's a little ironic that time was the focus for May but I haven't even had time to blog since the Month started.  We moved out of our house and into our new apartment on May 8th and it just feels like this month has been full of packing, unpacking, rummaging through boxes to find things or attending end of the school year concerts, awards assemblies, etc.  It has been physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting.  My mind is so overburdened and fuzzy that I can't even begin to know where I could simplify my time.

So while I don't have a plan for how I'm going to simplify my time for the remainder of the month, I did want to check in anyway and log a few thoughts, hoping that in pausing to do so I would force myself into a moment of introspection and quiet.

Finally...some progress!

This month will really be the first month that I feel like we made a good amount of headway towards simplifying.  The sale of our home helped in a big way since we were able to wipe out about 7 payments a month by paying off debt.  Just having less money going in and out makes life a lot easier.  I've been using the assigned credit cards for food, clothing and gas and its making it really easy to track.  I guess the 1 caveat is that we have to make sure we are staying on budget for everything else.  I can see us feeling like we have extra money in our checking account and accidentally spending into the money we have allotted to pay off these cards at the end of every month.  The first time this happens we will have to head back to using cash or debit.  We just cannot take the chance of carrying debt from month to month.

Next month...time.  This one should be interesting and I'm glad I checked in tonight to refresh my memory of the the focus for May and get my mind thinking in that direction.

April's all about money

This month is all about money and it's kind of appropriate since we will be selling our house in 2 short weeks and paying off all of our debt with the proceeds.  I'm excited about that but also feel a nervousness about being careful and showing restraint with what's left over after we've got everything paid off.  I keep a pretty close eye on the finances (mostly because I have to).  We don't spend a lot on clothes, toys or things on a whim, but if we don't keep a close eye on our spending, our dining out budget can (and usually does) get away from us.

One of the things I started doing a week or two ago is using a credit card for each of our spending categories:  groceries, clothing, gas, and dining out.  This has helped me keep a better eye on where the money is going and when we have capped out our budget (without having cash on hand...that seems to always disappear).  I know Dave Ramsey would probably roll over in his grave with this strategy (yes, I'm aware he's still alive, but couldn't think of another idiom to represent this idea).  We may modify this once we have everything paid off, but for now it seems to be working well and keeping me from having to log in to our account constantly to see if we've overspent...and yes, our budget is that tight.

So my punch list for April looks something like this:

• Continue using cards to categorize spending.  Once we get them all paid off it will be easier to see that we are truly staying within our budget but for now I know we are staying close.

• Set up recurring grocery orders for automatic delivery (through Amazon).  I've been pretty impressed with the services Amazon has recently launched.  We've been prime members for a while but have recently started using Subscribe and Save and I just placed my first Prime Pantry order today.  I've been fairly impressed with their prices and selection and can see this becoming a good way to keep the grocery budget in check (I always spend more thoughtfully when I can see the total grow with each additional purchase).  

Recap for March

This month has not be a complete wash but it's been close to it.  With me working, it just feels like there isn't enough hours or mental focus for food preparation.  I have tried to simplify meals a bit, adding bowls of carrots, apples and cucumbers to most meals in the past few weeks.  These are always eaten, even if the main course if merely picked at.  I guess I can take comfort in that.

I think one of the biggest struggles I have had so far this year is figuring out what works for my family.  Every family is so different and no matter how many blogs I read or food plans I try, they may not work for us.  For so long I think I have been trying to adapt our family to meet the needs of a plan (in all areas of my life) which has always ended in frustration and feelings of discouragement.  What I'm slowly realizing is that whatever directions we move in, I need to make sure they are what works for us, even if they aren't "pin-worthy" or something that will even make sense for anyone else.

I'm sad to see March go because I don't feel like I was able to dedicate the focus to this goal that I had hoped, but I'm moving on anyway...maybe I'll circle back around at some point in the coming months.  Until then, I will continue to try and focus on fresh choices and simple preparations in my family's meals.

Feeding the masses

All this planning and cooking is stressing me out.  I remember a time when I actually enjoyed both of these activities so I'm not sure why it seems to be such a chore this days.  Oh, yes I do, because no matter how well planned or prepared the meal is, there will undoubtedly be someone...or several someones, who would rather have pizza or chicken nuggets.  So then I end up waffling back and forth between the whether it is better to just feed the people what they will eat or try to spend the extra time and energy trying to prepare a healthy meal and then guilt convince them to eat it.  And THIS is what is so frustrating about our food situation.  Certainly there are worse problems to have...at least we have the option of serving our family healthy foods.  I fully acknowledge that there are many people out there who do not.

I guess the questions remains...how can I simplify this process in my home.  One idea is to scale back the preparation and serve foods in their freshest forms (less time cooking and planning).  Make every meal a potluck of mostly fresh foods, including selections of foods that I know my family will eat.   I'm going to think on this and try it for a day or two and see if I can flesh out this idea a bit.

March already?

February was kind of  a miserable failure.  The focus was on health, and simplifying health is a bit of an abstract concept.  I did come to a realization that the demands on my time are probably keeping me from really being healthy until something big changes.  For that reason we put our house on the market...and sold it!  We had an offer within about 4 hours of it being on the market, so now we are looking for where we will go from here.  If it has done anything, it has certainly made life a bit more complicated (especially as we got it ready to show), but the hope is that a little over complication in the present will more for more simplification in the future.

And on to the next month.  The focus for March is food.  This one I've been looking forward to since the beginning of the year.  I've got lots of good ideas for simplifying our food buying and cooking, but haven't had the time (or much motivation) to really focus on implementing and sustaining the good ideas.  I'm hoping that the focus on food for March will give me a good reason to get it to the forefront.

Here's my punch list for March:

• Pack lunches the night before (this will ensure that we are eating better, reduce the morning stress, and help me not feel like I'm neglecting my kids while I'm getting ready for work and hoping that they are packing something halfway healthy.  I don't know why I don't already do this....oh yes, I do.  I'm lazy :)
• Trust the menu plan.  I have subscribed to a number of menu plans (savingdinner.com's menu mailer, emeals.com, etc) over the years and have also used allrecipes.com menu planner for the last couple of years.  I love both of these options and find that they both work if I will just stick with them.  The plan not only keeps me on track with the foods we do need, it helps keep me from wandering down the wrong aisles and picking up all kinds of things that we don't need (i.e. twinkies, m&ms and laffy taffy...all of which have found residence in our kitchen at the moment).
• Spend 2 hours on Saturday prepping food for the week.  This always makes the week go better.  I usually bag up fruits and veggies and will occasionally freeze some smoothie blends for the mornings.  When we have things on hand and ready to go, we eat well.  When we don't, well, we resort to twinkies and m&ms.  

I think that's it for this month.  I'm going to add reminders to my phone for the first and last items so that maybe I'll be more consistent.  

Here's to health

It's already February and, though I didn't get all of my January punch list accomplished, I'm moving on.  I feel like progress was made so I'm going to surrender what went undone and move on to February.  I've got my list in my phone and I'll keep it there to refer back to from time to time so perhaps a few of the decluttering items will get done yet :)

Anyhoo, the focus for February is health. Yes, health.  This one couldn't have come at a better time, seeing as how I've been binging on starburst minis for the past 3 days.  I don't know who came up with this little gem of an idea, but they should be lashed, whoever they are.  Without the wrappers slowing me down as well as serving as a reminder of the amount I've eaten (when I see the embarrassing quantity I've hastily emptied) I have no concept of how many I've eaten until the bag is emptied.  It's shameful really.  But I digress.

The tricky part about health is that it really has to be an ongoing focus.  Sadly, I can't just make a list of what needs to get done and check it off as each task is finished.  So instead of a February punch list, I'm going to have a focus items.  Since I'm starting February so late and next months focus is food, I'm not going to include food for this month, though it is an obvious element of health :)  Here's what I'm focusing on:

• Sleep- I've heard that the body needs 8 hours of sleep.  The only time I ever get near to that number is on the weekends when I can sleep in.  I would love to get 8 hours every night but it's hard to see that as a legitimate possibility.  That being said, I think it is a worthwhile pursuit so I'm going to give it a shot.   I haven't quite worked out the logistics of that, nevertheless, my goal is to get 8 hours of sleep each night.

• Exercise-  Because I am on my feet moving around all day, I live a fairly active lifestyle.  That being said, there is something therapeutic about going for a walk or run outside.  Additionally, I know my kids, dog and husband would love (and would benefit from) a nightly walk so its a win-win-win-win.  We used to do this when the girls were little and I think it's time to reinstitute it.  Might not be feasible every night, but most nights we could squeeze in a 15 or 20 minute stroll.

• Coping with stress-  This has been a biggie lately.  I feel like if I address my sleep and exercise, that some of the stress with dissipate but I also think that making decisions more deliberately will help as well.  Here's a quote from a book that I am reading that brought me to this idea:  "Overcommitment is a very common reason for stress.  We take on more than our bodies and minds can handle, but our insecurities cause us to keep taking on more and more.  Why?  To make sure people notice us, so we feel accepted as part of a group, to feel important, or so we don't have to be alone with ourselves." (The Simple Living Guide, Janet Luhrs).

• Drink more water-  This seems like such an easy thing.  I don't know why I have such a hard time with it.  

         

January Progress - Clutter

Its hard to believe that the month is almost over.  I've been meaning to get on here and update you on how things are going but, as usual, it's been a little crazy (good crazy, but crazy :)

Here was my punch list for january.  My focus was clutter:

Still on the docket:

• Get rid of things we don't need - I realize that this is way too broad of a statement so I should probably pare it down, but just having it as a goal has helped me dejunk here and there by asking myself...do I really neeeeed this?  Most often if I ask the question, the answer is no and it goes in the donate bin.
• Get a fireproof box for important documents.  Undone so far...
• Get rid of ribbon (from my bow business).  This one might need to be rethought, as I'm thinking about reopening the business and staying home again next year (instead of teaching).  I'll revisit this one.
• Keep ongoing list of pros/cons of working.  I put a lot of energy into obsessing about next week, next month, next year...you get the point.  The idea here is to put it on paper and get on with my life.  Hopefully the list will help me come to a clear decision at some point, but at least, for now, I'll tell myself that allll the many aspects that I feel like I need to consider are being weighed and accounted for.  Haven't done it yet, but will!
• Unsubscribe to websites.  I. like most people these days, get wayyyy too many emails.  I have unsubscribed to quite a few but still need to keep this on the to do list so that I'll keep unsubscribing as new ones (that I've forgotten about) roll in.
•  Clean out email inboxes.  I was at 9,000+ unread emails, most of which are aforementioned subscriptions that I don't need/want.  I deleted a bunch and am now down to 900 so I'll keep paring that down to a reasonable amount before the end of the month.  
• Move business calendar and documents over.  This is pretty much done.  I've been doing a little bit at a time and need to go back through and make sure I have everything that I need.  

Done and done!:

• Close my Facebook account.  This was a tough one.  A really tough one.  So many arguments for, so many arguments against.  It finally came down to asking myself "Am I getting a good return on the time and energy that Facebook (aka my obsession with Facebook) sucks out of me.  Answer:  No.  Closed (not deactivated...been down that road before...closed).
• Organize files.  I've been wanting to go paper free with most all of our files but just hadn't taken the time to do it.  It took me a couple of hours here and a couple of hours there, but I scanned in the stuff that we needed and have got a big box of papers that need to be shredded.  I'm not going to lie...that one felt good!
• Move CDs to iTunes.  We didn't have a ton of CDs (from the good old days) but we had a few that we would liked to listen to occasionally so I got all of those imported into our iTunes.  Did it while I was scanning documents so it felt doubly productive!  
• Resolve any unpaid bills.  We had a couple of things (medical bills that insurance was supposed to have paid but we didn't know if they had, toll tag bill from a recent trip out of state).  Got those taken care of so they're no longer taking up any mental energy :)
• Clean out pantry.  Throw away/donate what we won't use.  The pantry is one of those places in the house that can make the whole place feel like I've got it under control or, if left in the state that is usually is, can make me feel like things are quickly spiraling into chaos.  Got it cleaned so life is feeling manageable.  

So there it is...progress so far!  I'll report back before the end of the month with any additional progress that is made.  

My simple year

I have a tendency to complicate everything...really, everything that I do.  Don't believe me?  Ask my family.  They will attest to the fact that I will spend hours planning menus and shopping lists, only to run out of time to go to the grocery store.  So we spend the next week eating frozen pizza, quesadillas and chicken nuggets, with me vowing to buy a weeks supply of groceries the next Saturday.  This is just one example of the many ways that I complicate my life.  Complicating my life to the extent that I do is exhausting.  And so, for 2015, my goal is to simplify.  I want to focus on the things that will bring my peace and contentment, instead of worry and anxiety.  

The plan is to focus on one area each month in which I can simplify.  I'm still working on my plan for this  Here is my simple (and imperfect) plan for each month:

January- clutter
February- health
March- food
April- money
May- time
June- housing
July- travel
August- clothing
September- work
October- housework
November- holidays
December- values

My focus for the year is to keep things simple, beginning by figuring out what that means, exactly :)