The last post before I return to the kitchen next week/year.
As the new year comes and the old one goes it is time to let go of what was not done in the past year. Forget about tasks never done - let your negative thoughts from the past go. The new year coming is a clean slate - remember your new notebooks the first day of school, clean and waiting to be written in? The change of the year is the same thing.
Several years ago I made a resolution for the new year and I have kept it ever since - I resolved not to make any more resolutions. A resolution is a good intention which is generally too vague to be kept. Once resolutions are made and then broken one feels bad and shortly into the new year one is again thinking negative thoughts, when positive thoughts are much healthier and better to help one do what needs to be done.
Instead of resolving to be more organized, get rid of clutter, etc. pick a task to start doing - it does not have to be a large one, just something that you feel you can actually do. Perhaps to deal with the mail as it comes in. Perhaps to always do the dishes before going to bed. To put your clothes out to wear the next day before you go to bed. Pick something that you feel you can do which is a single step towards dealing with your clutter and disorganization. Even getting and keeping a calendar - paper or online (one which can be synced with your cell phone is even better) is a step. We try to do too many things at once. One step at a time is a good idea. Plan what you will do to deal with your choice during the year. Any positive change is good. In the same way we walk one step at a time, one can deal with their clutter and disorganization problems one step at a time.
For years, for example, I wanted a blog. I would start one, post once, and then never post again. When I decided to start this blog, I prewrote four posts, this way I would avoid the problem of never writing a second one. I have a recurring entry in my computer/cell calendar to ring and remind me on Tuesday nights to write new posts (right now I am going week to week, but hope to go back to writing in advance) and another to remind me weekly to post overnight Wednesday to Thursday. I have managed to post weekly for 3 months now and will continue to do so.
So pick something and do it in the coming year. Once you are comfortable with the one change you can pick another one.
Oh, and remember perfection is not required. I still have, on December 29, Christmas decorations to finish putting out. If I was a perfect person I would have gone crazy when I was not finished by Christmas Eve, but I am not. As long as I see the decorations out during the holiday season, it is fine with me (and my husband).
Happy New Year to all.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Thursday, December 24, 2015
I AM NOT READY FOR CHRISTMAS (DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS - PART 3)
Last week we planned to spend 4 evenings helping (with our reenactment group) interpret a house from the 1700's at a candlelight night event at a restoration village. So there was to be little progress on the Christmas decorating those nights, especially since between getting ready, going and coming home, and being there we will spend about 7 and a half hours on the event each day. However, the first night we were rained out (after we dressed in period clothes, drove there and started setting up the house) so some work was done that night. The next night was fine. The third night I was terribly ill and did not go the event nor did I work on the decorations. The fourth night I was too exhausted to work on anything.
So on Monday the 21st I finally started on decorating the main tree and (simultaneously) the tree in our studio which has only ornaments we have made. They are worked on together as some of the ornaments, which are multiples, fit both categories and I split them between the two trees. Tuesday night I worked on the two trees again and I progressed to the point where all of the “good” decorations were on. This left balls - fancy and not, assorted small ornaments that I fit in small spaces which are left, and plastic icicles for the main tree. Some of the balls and small ornaments are handmade and also will go on both trees. I finished the balls tonight and was too exhausted to go on. So there will be more tree finishing tomorrow. I also realized that I forgot it was Wednesday - laundry night and ran down and threw a load in.
There are also other handmade ornaments to go on the studio tree as well as bit of ribbon. I have a very fancy gift box (velvet and ribbon) which someone gave us a gift in once. I put this under the main tree as trees look empty without a gift. I have a white box I intend to glue ribbon on and then use for same.
I started carrying the empty boxes downstairs and I am putting them in and on the tree box for temporary storage. We will find a spot for the new tree either in the living room or the dining room and decorate it - it should go fairly quickly as there are only about 25-30 ornaments to put on it. At some point - maybe even Christmas Day or later, I will get to the teddy village for upstairs.
Oh, I keep forgetting, I still have to wrap the gifts - for husband and his nieces and I can’t wait until after Christmas to do that - can I?
Well we can only do so much in the time we have and I won’t get sick over what is done late. Have you gotten all of your decorating, shopping, and wrapping done?
I hope all who celebrate Christmas have a great one! There will be one more post before the year is over.
So on Monday the 21st I finally started on decorating the main tree and (simultaneously) the tree in our studio which has only ornaments we have made. They are worked on together as some of the ornaments, which are multiples, fit both categories and I split them between the two trees. Tuesday night I worked on the two trees again and I progressed to the point where all of the “good” decorations were on. This left balls - fancy and not, assorted small ornaments that I fit in small spaces which are left, and plastic icicles for the main tree. Some of the balls and small ornaments are handmade and also will go on both trees. I finished the balls tonight and was too exhausted to go on. So there will be more tree finishing tomorrow. I also realized that I forgot it was Wednesday - laundry night and ran down and threw a load in.
There are also other handmade ornaments to go on the studio tree as well as bit of ribbon. I have a very fancy gift box (velvet and ribbon) which someone gave us a gift in once. I put this under the main tree as trees look empty without a gift. I have a white box I intend to glue ribbon on and then use for same.
I started carrying the empty boxes downstairs and I am putting them in and on the tree box for temporary storage. We will find a spot for the new tree either in the living room or the dining room and decorate it - it should go fairly quickly as there are only about 25-30 ornaments to put on it. At some point - maybe even Christmas Day or later, I will get to the teddy village for upstairs.
Oh, I keep forgetting, I still have to wrap the gifts - for husband and his nieces and I can’t wait until after Christmas to do that - can I?
Well we can only do so much in the time we have and I won’t get sick over what is done late. Have you gotten all of your decorating, shopping, and wrapping done?
I hope all who celebrate Christmas have a great one! There will be one more post before the year is over.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS - PART 2
Well in the last week I have managed to put out most of the Christmas decorations that go inside the house. I have learned over the years the order that the decorations have to be placed in - as well as the order they have to come down for storage. The decorations, their storage, placement, etc. need to be organized almost more than the house in general does or it will take too much time to put out and put away. I also have a system for storing the empty boxes in the basement (where they are not stored during the year), but it all depends on everything being done in the right order - putting up the decorations and taking them down. The trees are put up last and taken down first.
Our dining room is decorated, sort of, colonial. This means that the decorations are greens (plastic ones) and some bows. Decorating for the holiday was much simpler then. The decorations were natural - a few bits of greens, not many of them. We put small pieces of greens on the corners of picture frames, on the colonial style brass light fixture - with red bows, and a small wreath. There is a (fake) garland of greens on the front window. In a bowl on the dining room table I have some fake red berries in a bowl - they just look nice. Some candles and a small nativity my husband made decades ago finish the room.
The entryway also has a few small (fake) greens and a small glass Moravian star. I wrap the bottom section of our staircase with a (again, fake)garland of greens with red bows at the ends and in the middle.
The living room on the other hand, there is a bit much. There is a 3 piece teddy bear bell band which plays carols, 2 Christmas stocking holders waiting for stockings, 2 angels holding lights on a table, Lego Christmas figures - Santas, elves, snowman, soldier, a snowman I made years ago from a sock, and a santa my husband made, also decades ago, from paper. To be added to this after the tree is at least set up, will be an assortment of elves, Santas, and angels, ranging in size from about 3 inches tall to about 3 feet tall - the larger ones were gifts - they will stand together by the door to greet us when we walk in. I also will put out a Christmas pillow with embroideries (by me) on each side, a green garland across the back windows with a teddy bear Christmas picture (also embroidered by me) across the 2 back windows, and a Mrs.Rudolph Reindeer doll I made will sit comfortably in a chair. We usually put out 2 stockings each for us - one to use and one I embroidered for each of us. There are also some small stockings with (yes, again) plastic candy canes in them that we put out for show with the names of some of my dolls on them. A beaded tree I made once. Then at some point the trees will be done.
Our studio - behind the kitchen - has a small tree waiting to be decorated. It will get items we have made over the years.
Even the kitchen takes a hit and gets decorated - I change the decorative potholders (as opposed to the ones I use) to Christmas ones (yes, teddy bears again) and I put a few pairs of Christmas teddy bear salt and pepper shakers joined by a pair of Christmas tree ones.
Strangely after I set all this up - and it took part of 2 days as I didn’t have a lot of time either day to work - it seemed to me as if I waved my arms and it all appeared and sorted itself out.. Unfortunately when January comes and it all has to be put away, it will seem like much more work.
I suppose I should mention to explain some of the items mentioned above, though I planned/plan to write about these matters later and the organizing problems they cause. We have several hobbies. First, we are both craftspeople. We work in variety of media at an assortment of crafts. My first love is hand embroidery and I make dolls and sew also. My husband works in wood, leather, paper and also sews, and makes dolls and I am sure I left out some of his crafts. Secondly, if it is not obvious, I collect teddy bears - stuffed ones, figurines, and ones of assorted materials such as coal, glass, wood... Lastly - and the oddest of the hobbies - we are 1770's (late American colonial period) reenactors. It is a period that we both like and it affects how we decorated the house - more or less.
By this time next week I hope to have the 3 downstairs trees (main, studio and one - new this year - with brass ornaments collected over the years from Colonial Williamsburg) finished. If I am lucky I will also have the teddy bear village that goes at the top of the stairs and the Christmas tree that goes with it done also - but generally I am working on the bear village/tree on Christmas Eve and sometimes also on Christmas Day.
Do you have something special you set up every year and Christmas would not be Christmas without it? Have you found ideas that help speed up the process of decorating and undecorating or a better way to decorate?
Our dining room is decorated, sort of, colonial. This means that the decorations are greens (plastic ones) and some bows. Decorating for the holiday was much simpler then. The decorations were natural - a few bits of greens, not many of them. We put small pieces of greens on the corners of picture frames, on the colonial style brass light fixture - with red bows, and a small wreath. There is a (fake) garland of greens on the front window. In a bowl on the dining room table I have some fake red berries in a bowl - they just look nice. Some candles and a small nativity my husband made decades ago finish the room.
The entryway also has a few small (fake) greens and a small glass Moravian star. I wrap the bottom section of our staircase with a (again, fake)garland of greens with red bows at the ends and in the middle.
The living room on the other hand, there is a bit much. There is a 3 piece teddy bear bell band which plays carols, 2 Christmas stocking holders waiting for stockings, 2 angels holding lights on a table, Lego Christmas figures - Santas, elves, snowman, soldier, a snowman I made years ago from a sock, and a santa my husband made, also decades ago, from paper. To be added to this after the tree is at least set up, will be an assortment of elves, Santas, and angels, ranging in size from about 3 inches tall to about 3 feet tall - the larger ones were gifts - they will stand together by the door to greet us when we walk in. I also will put out a Christmas pillow with embroideries (by me) on each side, a green garland across the back windows with a teddy bear Christmas picture (also embroidered by me) across the 2 back windows, and a Mrs.Rudolph Reindeer doll I made will sit comfortably in a chair. We usually put out 2 stockings each for us - one to use and one I embroidered for each of us. There are also some small stockings with (yes, again) plastic candy canes in them that we put out for show with the names of some of my dolls on them. A beaded tree I made once. Then at some point the trees will be done.
Our studio - behind the kitchen - has a small tree waiting to be decorated. It will get items we have made over the years.
Even the kitchen takes a hit and gets decorated - I change the decorative potholders (as opposed to the ones I use) to Christmas ones (yes, teddy bears again) and I put a few pairs of Christmas teddy bear salt and pepper shakers joined by a pair of Christmas tree ones.
Strangely after I set all this up - and it took part of 2 days as I didn’t have a lot of time either day to work - it seemed to me as if I waved my arms and it all appeared and sorted itself out.. Unfortunately when January comes and it all has to be put away, it will seem like much more work.
I suppose I should mention to explain some of the items mentioned above, though I planned/plan to write about these matters later and the organizing problems they cause. We have several hobbies. First, we are both craftspeople. We work in variety of media at an assortment of crafts. My first love is hand embroidery and I make dolls and sew also. My husband works in wood, leather, paper and also sews, and makes dolls and I am sure I left out some of his crafts. Secondly, if it is not obvious, I collect teddy bears - stuffed ones, figurines, and ones of assorted materials such as coal, glass, wood... Lastly - and the oddest of the hobbies - we are 1770's (late American colonial period) reenactors. It is a period that we both like and it affects how we decorated the house - more or less.
By this time next week I hope to have the 3 downstairs trees (main, studio and one - new this year - with brass ornaments collected over the years from Colonial Williamsburg) finished. If I am lucky I will also have the teddy bear village that goes at the top of the stairs and the Christmas tree that goes with it done also - but generally I am working on the bear village/tree on Christmas Eve and sometimes also on Christmas Day.
Do you have something special you set up every year and Christmas would not be Christmas without it? Have you found ideas that help speed up the process of decorating and undecorating or a better way to decorate?
Thursday, December 10, 2015
DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS - PART I
Well it is the time of year for holiday decorating. Everyone has their own traditions - traditional Christmas, modern Christmas, minimal Christmas, Chanukah, the new traditions that have come with Kwanzaa, etc. I tend to over decorate. We don’t really get gifts, so the decorating is most of the non-religious part of the holiday for us and I get a bit carried away.
We have our outside lights up - we put them up Thanksgiving Day weekend - we put color small lights on some bushes and a small Alberta Spruce (“Christmas tree”) and white small lights on other bushes and a holly tree. Last year we added small red lights around the white base to our standing mailbox - sort of makes it look like a candy cane. We have also added gold garland last year and this to the tree. This year we also added light up candy canes. Now most of this cannot be seen - our van is parked in front of it on the driveway, but it is there. We have a plastic wreath on our side door and a larger one on our front door - the one on the front was copied from one we saw several years ago at Colonial Williamsburg - only we used plastic fruit on it, so it can be reused year to year. There are plastic greens hanging from the lights on either side of the front door.
We store the outside decorations in our garage and in our shed. We have a large plastic box in the garage - kept in the rafters - which holds the lights. The lights are wrapped up (I use my shoulder and elbow to wrap them) with 2 bag ties around them to hold the circle together and then each is put in a gallon size zip bag which has the air removed and is closed. Also in this box are the needed extension cords (always use one rated for outdoor use if you are using them outdoors) and 2 boxes that spike into the ground and each allow 3 cords to be plugged into them. We put one on the each side of the front of the house to allow us to plug everything in. It is hard to reach the rafters where the box is kept, but it is the most convenient place to keep it. Do you have your outdoor decorations packed so they are ready to go next year? It makes it easier especially if the weather is bad. Last year I fixed a set of lights after we took the lights down - I made a note in my computer/cell calender so I would not forget it this year as it was stored in a different spot - we did need to replace 2 other sets though.
Inside the house I have taken out my assorted fabric decorations from their box in the basement. I collect teddy bears so I have a number of them for the holiday along with dolls, angels, a couple of elves, reindeer and a snowman. Some sit on the back of my sofa, one reindeer - Rodney by name - sits on top of the door bell chimes box, some sit on a side table - the doll gets to sit (“ride”)on a reproduction of an 18th century toy horse my husband made. There will be more soft items to come - ones we have made as well as larger ones we received as gifts in the past. Our Christmas stockings are also kept in this box as is a Santa hat. We have 2 sets of Christmas stockings - the ones we use and the ones I embroidered - both sets are hung up at opposite ends of the living room - but not yet - it is too early for stockings. We also have a stocking that husband put up as boy at his parent’s house and another smaller one he put up at his grandparent’s house. I also put out some decorative candles I have.
Much of my decorating stuff has to come out in a certain order (and go back in reverse) as items have to be moved. I had, for example, to move some teddy bears in the upstairs hall to be able to get to some items stored in the trunk they sit on - but to move those bears, I had to move others onto their line to see Santa so the bears moved from the trunk have a place to “sit”. That has been done and I have access to trunk. I have been moving boxes of bear figurines to the living room (and managed to drop the trunk top on my arm once - Ouch!). Tonight I set up the angel bear figurines on top of our TV (it is an “old fashioned” analog TV as we don’t use it much - mostly while setting up and taking down Christmas decorations). The rest will go on 2 shelves in my corner unit and as I go some figurines there get packed into the boxes as they get emptied - hence why the angels get set up first and packed last. This takes a bit of, yes, organization to get everything out and then stored back. Do you have stuff that has to go in order like this?
I did take time to donate some items and get them out of the house. Last year I put aside some Christmas items - a very small tree, a box of serving pieces I once received as a gift, and window candle lights (we have replaced them with LED ones). DARN! - that reminds me I have not set up the LED candles in the window! Hold on a minute while I run and take them out and make a note so I don’t forget tomorrow to turn them on and set them. .......................... Okay, I’m back -thank you for waiting. After I finish the post I will make sure they still work (and have batteries). I also donated 3 jackets, some gloves and some sneakers and a pair of shoes I have never really worn. I have a decorative wall gift received from a friend - not my style and it went in it’s box, along with some small household items we don’t use. More room in the house and someone else can use it all. (Plus the income tax deduction.) I plan on collecting some more items to decorate next month - but that is another post. Remember anything you donate now, before the end of the year you can take as a deduction for this year when you file in early 2016. (Tax deduction mentioned for US taxpayers who itemize their deductions.)
Well, this post is getting a bit long - I will have to continue the subject next week - but the important thing to remember is that it all has to be organized to find it easily and set it up, and then to re store it afterwards. Do you know what you will be doing for Christmas yet? Can you find your decorations? Please feel free to join the conversation.
We have our outside lights up - we put them up Thanksgiving Day weekend - we put color small lights on some bushes and a small Alberta Spruce (“Christmas tree”) and white small lights on other bushes and a holly tree. Last year we added small red lights around the white base to our standing mailbox - sort of makes it look like a candy cane. We have also added gold garland last year and this to the tree. This year we also added light up candy canes. Now most of this cannot be seen - our van is parked in front of it on the driveway, but it is there. We have a plastic wreath on our side door and a larger one on our front door - the one on the front was copied from one we saw several years ago at Colonial Williamsburg - only we used plastic fruit on it, so it can be reused year to year. There are plastic greens hanging from the lights on either side of the front door.
We store the outside decorations in our garage and in our shed. We have a large plastic box in the garage - kept in the rafters - which holds the lights. The lights are wrapped up (I use my shoulder and elbow to wrap them) with 2 bag ties around them to hold the circle together and then each is put in a gallon size zip bag which has the air removed and is closed. Also in this box are the needed extension cords (always use one rated for outdoor use if you are using them outdoors) and 2 boxes that spike into the ground and each allow 3 cords to be plugged into them. We put one on the each side of the front of the house to allow us to plug everything in. It is hard to reach the rafters where the box is kept, but it is the most convenient place to keep it. Do you have your outdoor decorations packed so they are ready to go next year? It makes it easier especially if the weather is bad. Last year I fixed a set of lights after we took the lights down - I made a note in my computer/cell calender so I would not forget it this year as it was stored in a different spot - we did need to replace 2 other sets though.
Inside the house I have taken out my assorted fabric decorations from their box in the basement. I collect teddy bears so I have a number of them for the holiday along with dolls, angels, a couple of elves, reindeer and a snowman. Some sit on the back of my sofa, one reindeer - Rodney by name - sits on top of the door bell chimes box, some sit on a side table - the doll gets to sit (“ride”)on a reproduction of an 18th century toy horse my husband made. There will be more soft items to come - ones we have made as well as larger ones we received as gifts in the past. Our Christmas stockings are also kept in this box as is a Santa hat. We have 2 sets of Christmas stockings - the ones we use and the ones I embroidered - both sets are hung up at opposite ends of the living room - but not yet - it is too early for stockings. We also have a stocking that husband put up as boy at his parent’s house and another smaller one he put up at his grandparent’s house. I also put out some decorative candles I have.
Much of my decorating stuff has to come out in a certain order (and go back in reverse) as items have to be moved. I had, for example, to move some teddy bears in the upstairs hall to be able to get to some items stored in the trunk they sit on - but to move those bears, I had to move others onto their line to see Santa so the bears moved from the trunk have a place to “sit”. That has been done and I have access to trunk. I have been moving boxes of bear figurines to the living room (and managed to drop the trunk top on my arm once - Ouch!). Tonight I set up the angel bear figurines on top of our TV (it is an “old fashioned” analog TV as we don’t use it much - mostly while setting up and taking down Christmas decorations). The rest will go on 2 shelves in my corner unit and as I go some figurines there get packed into the boxes as they get emptied - hence why the angels get set up first and packed last. This takes a bit of, yes, organization to get everything out and then stored back. Do you have stuff that has to go in order like this?
I did take time to donate some items and get them out of the house. Last year I put aside some Christmas items - a very small tree, a box of serving pieces I once received as a gift, and window candle lights (we have replaced them with LED ones). DARN! - that reminds me I have not set up the LED candles in the window! Hold on a minute while I run and take them out and make a note so I don’t forget tomorrow to turn them on and set them. .......................... Okay, I’m back -thank you for waiting. After I finish the post I will make sure they still work (and have batteries). I also donated 3 jackets, some gloves and some sneakers and a pair of shoes I have never really worn. I have a decorative wall gift received from a friend - not my style and it went in it’s box, along with some small household items we don’t use. More room in the house and someone else can use it all. (Plus the income tax deduction.) I plan on collecting some more items to decorate next month - but that is another post. Remember anything you donate now, before the end of the year you can take as a deduction for this year when you file in early 2016. (Tax deduction mentioned for US taxpayers who itemize their deductions.)
Well, this post is getting a bit long - I will have to continue the subject next week - but the important thing to remember is that it all has to be organized to find it easily and set it up, and then to re store it afterwards. Do you know what you will be doing for Christmas yet? Can you find your decorations? Please feel free to join the conversation.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
DURING THE HOLIDAYS WATCH WHAT AND HOW MUCH YOU BUY - PREVENT FUTURE CLUTTER
While out shopping this weekend I had some thoughts about preventing some clutter before it happens. Less stuff into the house, less to get out.
This first part is important all year long - and you cannot believe how important it is - Most people walk into stores which have carts and automatically take one as they enter. I don’t. The carts are placed at the entrance to entice you to take one as the stores know you will buy more if you are pushing a cart than if you have to hold what you are buying. Unless I am specifically buying something that I know will be too heavy, too bulky or too many things to carry, I do not take a cart. You can always get one later if you need one. I thought of this walking into Costco last Sunday. If one does not take a cart than you can only buy what you can carry. You have to think about what you are buying once the purchases reach the point where you cannot carry them. If you are pushing a cart it is easy for you to keep putting items into it with little thought and buy more than you need or can easily pay for. And don’t forget the children or spouse who adds to the cart while you are looking or not.
I do this all the time - sometimes the stack I carry in the supermarket will drive my husband crazy as I pile up needed groceries in my arms and then hand him some rather than take a cart or basket. Trust me, this helps a great deal. When you go into the store to buy one or two items - or just look - you are limited in what you can buy if you do not have a cart. See a great deal on a TV - that you don’t need, but it is such a good deal - if you can’t carry it and have to go get a cart you get a jolt to think about whether or not you should buy the item. Every unneeded item not bought is an item less to deal with and money not spent.
When we are in Costco - a store which people complain that they cannot leave without spending at least $300 each time - we do not take a cart when we walk in. Generally we go there on a Sunday and have lunch at the food court first. I sit and look at the people with overloaded carts eating there. I cannot understand how in the heat of the summer someone will fill their wagon with meats, dairy items, and frozen things and then instead of going straight home with them to keep them from the heat - they sit down and eat first. I also have to wonder how much of what they have bought they planned to buy or needed or even thought about before tossing it in their cart. We then go into the store to walk around - if we have items we NEED we plan to buy them. Buying a replacement bag of pretzels for the one about to run out and lettuce - no cart needed. Oh, this DVD is a favorite movie and we decide to buy it while in the store - still no cart needed. We need toilet paper and it is on sale - go out and get a cart and then watch closely what else might be added. Most weeks we are there we buy nothing other than the lunch we ate. Other weeks we buy 1 or 2 items that are needed or are like the DVD. Some weeks we have a list when we walk in and buy a number of items - but we do not take a cart unless we know we will need it.
This works just as well in Walmart or Target or the supermarket or Home Depot or whatever other store you visit. DO NOT TAKE A CART UNLESS YOU KNOW THAT YOU WILL NEED IT DO TO THE SIZE, WEIGHT, OR NUMBER OF ITEMS YOU PLAN TO BUY.
The second part is - think about what you buy. When you are buying gifts for people - don’t go overboard - they don’t need clutter either. Don’t buy things for yourself - you are there to buy gifts not clutter for you. If you buy Aunt Jennie a blouse - don’t buy 3 for yourself. If you buy your son a video game cartridge - don’t buy him three of them - buy the one he has asked for most. Less clutter and you will teach him to limit what he has and help him to learn to avoid clutter in his future. Oh, and while you are buying it for him - you see the new Iphone. Do you really need a new Iphone? Won’t the old one do the job? I was at a board meeting for an organization I belong to. The 4 of us sat down - the other 3 took out their Ipads. I took out my paper pad and pencil. I took notes just as well and did not have a problem with the notes turning sideways every time I picked up “mypad”. Understand I am not a luddite, I just use technology for what I need it for, not the latest fad. I use it to help me, not to be fashionable. I learned to program computers on a mainframe before the Internet existed. (I hate to say it, but I also learned probably before many of you were born.)
I know someone who has a variety of computer tablets in their house. He bought an Android phone to solve his problem in getting online to check email for work. It did not help as the screen was small and the on screen keyboard was too tiny to use. He then bought a Galaxy 5" tablet as it was going to solve his problems. No, still too small and the screen keyboard unusable. He then bought a larger tablet computer - same problem and when he picks it up the screen turns sideways. Last Christmas he bought a laptop - problems solved. If he had bought the laptop he needed and thought about when he started he would not have 2 devices sitting around taking up space (he still uses the Android phone for phone quick Internet) and would not have paid over and over for what he thought he needed because it was the hot thing. And he is now looking to replace the phone as it has gotten so slow as to be unusable. (And no, I do not use a flip phone, I have a 3 year old Blackberry which does what is needed- good keyboard - and does not cause the screaming such as this person using his Android does.)
I am writing this on a laptop so old that the latest copyright on the labels on it is 2004 and it is running XP. It is slow and drives my husband crazy - occasionally I can be a line ahead in my typing compared to where it is - but it works and does the job. My husband keeps pushing me to get a new one, but I have no problem with it (I do have a newer smaller one, about 8 years old, which I use for work, this is my kitchen computer). My desktop is still running Windows 7 - it was built for me by my husband with more memory, speed, and storage than I need and will last some time - I don’t need to deal with the problems of Windows 8 or 10 and everything I need to do is done - and the computer is not out making more electronic garbage or taking up room in my basement and I have not spent more money which was not needed just to buy a new unneeded computer - because “they” say it is needed.
When you see something and think that you must have it - or Aunt Jenny or little Bill must have it as a gift - stop and think. Do you really need it? Do they? Where will it be kept? How much will it cost you in - not just the price marked on it - but in interest on your credit card for the purchase, in annoyance at buying something which takes up space and is in the way, in the fact that once it is home you realize it was foolish to buy it, and the fact that you now need to deal with something else in your house that you don’t really want and need to figure out what to do with when you start going through the clutter in your house.
Be careful in shopping and you will stop, or at least slow down, clutter from entering your home. Watch that shopping!
This first part is important all year long - and you cannot believe how important it is - Most people walk into stores which have carts and automatically take one as they enter. I don’t. The carts are placed at the entrance to entice you to take one as the stores know you will buy more if you are pushing a cart than if you have to hold what you are buying. Unless I am specifically buying something that I know will be too heavy, too bulky or too many things to carry, I do not take a cart. You can always get one later if you need one. I thought of this walking into Costco last Sunday. If one does not take a cart than you can only buy what you can carry. You have to think about what you are buying once the purchases reach the point where you cannot carry them. If you are pushing a cart it is easy for you to keep putting items into it with little thought and buy more than you need or can easily pay for. And don’t forget the children or spouse who adds to the cart while you are looking or not.
I do this all the time - sometimes the stack I carry in the supermarket will drive my husband crazy as I pile up needed groceries in my arms and then hand him some rather than take a cart or basket. Trust me, this helps a great deal. When you go into the store to buy one or two items - or just look - you are limited in what you can buy if you do not have a cart. See a great deal on a TV - that you don’t need, but it is such a good deal - if you can’t carry it and have to go get a cart you get a jolt to think about whether or not you should buy the item. Every unneeded item not bought is an item less to deal with and money not spent.
When we are in Costco - a store which people complain that they cannot leave without spending at least $300 each time - we do not take a cart when we walk in. Generally we go there on a Sunday and have lunch at the food court first. I sit and look at the people with overloaded carts eating there. I cannot understand how in the heat of the summer someone will fill their wagon with meats, dairy items, and frozen things and then instead of going straight home with them to keep them from the heat - they sit down and eat first. I also have to wonder how much of what they have bought they planned to buy or needed or even thought about before tossing it in their cart. We then go into the store to walk around - if we have items we NEED we plan to buy them. Buying a replacement bag of pretzels for the one about to run out and lettuce - no cart needed. Oh, this DVD is a favorite movie and we decide to buy it while in the store - still no cart needed. We need toilet paper and it is on sale - go out and get a cart and then watch closely what else might be added. Most weeks we are there we buy nothing other than the lunch we ate. Other weeks we buy 1 or 2 items that are needed or are like the DVD. Some weeks we have a list when we walk in and buy a number of items - but we do not take a cart unless we know we will need it.
This works just as well in Walmart or Target or the supermarket or Home Depot or whatever other store you visit. DO NOT TAKE A CART UNLESS YOU KNOW THAT YOU WILL NEED IT DO TO THE SIZE, WEIGHT, OR NUMBER OF ITEMS YOU PLAN TO BUY.
The second part is - think about what you buy. When you are buying gifts for people - don’t go overboard - they don’t need clutter either. Don’t buy things for yourself - you are there to buy gifts not clutter for you. If you buy Aunt Jennie a blouse - don’t buy 3 for yourself. If you buy your son a video game cartridge - don’t buy him three of them - buy the one he has asked for most. Less clutter and you will teach him to limit what he has and help him to learn to avoid clutter in his future. Oh, and while you are buying it for him - you see the new Iphone. Do you really need a new Iphone? Won’t the old one do the job? I was at a board meeting for an organization I belong to. The 4 of us sat down - the other 3 took out their Ipads. I took out my paper pad and pencil. I took notes just as well and did not have a problem with the notes turning sideways every time I picked up “mypad”. Understand I am not a luddite, I just use technology for what I need it for, not the latest fad. I use it to help me, not to be fashionable. I learned to program computers on a mainframe before the Internet existed. (I hate to say it, but I also learned probably before many of you were born.)
I know someone who has a variety of computer tablets in their house. He bought an Android phone to solve his problem in getting online to check email for work. It did not help as the screen was small and the on screen keyboard was too tiny to use. He then bought a Galaxy 5" tablet as it was going to solve his problems. No, still too small and the screen keyboard unusable. He then bought a larger tablet computer - same problem and when he picks it up the screen turns sideways. Last Christmas he bought a laptop - problems solved. If he had bought the laptop he needed and thought about when he started he would not have 2 devices sitting around taking up space (he still uses the Android phone for phone quick Internet) and would not have paid over and over for what he thought he needed because it was the hot thing. And he is now looking to replace the phone as it has gotten so slow as to be unusable. (And no, I do not use a flip phone, I have a 3 year old Blackberry which does what is needed- good keyboard - and does not cause the screaming such as this person using his Android does.)
I am writing this on a laptop so old that the latest copyright on the labels on it is 2004 and it is running XP. It is slow and drives my husband crazy - occasionally I can be a line ahead in my typing compared to where it is - but it works and does the job. My husband keeps pushing me to get a new one, but I have no problem with it (I do have a newer smaller one, about 8 years old, which I use for work, this is my kitchen computer). My desktop is still running Windows 7 - it was built for me by my husband with more memory, speed, and storage than I need and will last some time - I don’t need to deal with the problems of Windows 8 or 10 and everything I need to do is done - and the computer is not out making more electronic garbage or taking up room in my basement and I have not spent more money which was not needed just to buy a new unneeded computer - because “they” say it is needed.
When you see something and think that you must have it - or Aunt Jenny or little Bill must have it as a gift - stop and think. Do you really need it? Do they? Where will it be kept? How much will it cost you in - not just the price marked on it - but in interest on your credit card for the purchase, in annoyance at buying something which takes up space and is in the way, in the fact that once it is home you realize it was foolish to buy it, and the fact that you now need to deal with something else in your house that you don’t really want and need to figure out what to do with when you start going through the clutter in your house.
Be careful in shopping and you will stop, or at least slow down, clutter from entering your home. Watch that shopping!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)