The shock of going back to work after my summer holiday this year has been rather dramatic. I’m not sure why but the last few weeks I have been absolutely exhausted by the time I get home from work. When I am not at 100% hubby reduces his efforts too so it is double trouble around our house. After starting to have fantasies about buying my lunch because I was too tired in the morning to organise my lunch I realized I needed a wakeup call. Assssssss (my female cat has just walked across the keyboard and this is her contribution to my writing!). So I am getting back on track – finances have been balanced this morning, we are on target for another month with surplus although a little less than I would like. I visited the library last night to get a few inspirational books to help me get back in to things. A whole month’s recycling has been organized this morning. Washing is out. Meringues are baking in the oven. Shopping list is being organized …… one step at a time, I’ll get back to where I was last year.
Japan Festival and storage
If you’re in Wellington and looking for things to do the Japan Festival is on at the Town Hall this Saturday from 1pm – 7pm http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2009/jul/wellington/japan-festival-of-wellington. Even though I visited Japan at least 13 years ago it is a country that has a very special place in my heart. Reflecting on Japan this morning got me thinking about the solutions they find for storage given the restrictions many of them have in terms of their house space. So I went looking for sites on storage solutions as I have been busy over the last few weeks trying to sort out my ‘messy areas’ – did you know you can hire declutter coaches? Found this site that has lots of interesting articles on decluttering your life http://www.inorderorganising.com.au/articles-a-free-tips/articles-a-free-tips.html. I might set up a link category for the websites that I find useful that are about organising things. I find organising yourself definitely does help you ride the tough times better – I organised my wardrobe about a month ago and it has definitely helped me get up each morning to face a job that presently I wish I wasn’t at. I can even show visitors my wardrobe – definitely a first in my life!
Job Lists
With money tight it’s easy to convince yourself that you can’t do anything to improve things around the house. To help us we’ve made a big job list that lives on the fridge. Down the side of the list is a column indicating whether the job needs money to complete or not. While a number of jobs do need money we have found there are a considerable number that are free or use resources we already have and just need time and effort. This kind of list could be good to do with kids but an activity list – types of activities that can be done with an indication of costs involved. If you are stuck for ideas for activities with the children try this site School Holiday Activities – for New Zealand Parents