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.