Tag Archives: Simple Mom

Project: Simplify: Hotspot #2 – Paper Clutter

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I am a bit behind with these but the important thing is that I am doing them so I am not too worried about the deadlines!  The second hotspot for Project Simplify was paper clutter.  This is something I feel I am constantly battling and it doesn’t help that getting ready for the move and since the move, a lot of our filing and archives are scattered around the house.

I was getting a bit fed up with the constant sorting of paper into piles, only for it to get in a mess again.  This is a kind of ‘before’ shot (in the background of a picture of ricardo and evelina):

So the first step was to gather every piece of loose paper from around the house then start sorting into piles: bin, shred, recycle, filing, action needed. I had a little helper;

After disposing of the rubbish, I then organised the three concertina files which were all serving the same purpose, meaning I could never find anything as I didn’t know which file things were in. I used one to hold all our old filing and labelled ‘archive filing pre’ plus the date.  i used a box file to store all our conveyancing paperwork from the move. I wrote proper labels on each section of the newest concertina file and filed away all our current paperwork which we might need to refer to easily.  The third concertina file is empty, ready to be used for archiving once the current file fills up.  Another box file has been used to hold all our receipts and manuals which take up room but might be needed one day.  Box files are great for this sort of thing as it is very quick to throw a receipt in a box file making it much more likely for me to maintain.  Some pretty filing concertinas house the filing for my teaching applications (not yet done but I already have a few leaflets etc.) and Evelina’s filing including her medical information, children’s centre timetables, nursery pamphlets etc.

Here is our side table now… just the ‘action needed’ pile attached to a clipboard with my nearly complete to-do list (although a new set of chores will be added this week I am sure!).

I will be getting an in-tray for this table which will store all the ‘to action’ papers and all the incoming mail which I will go through once a week (or more frequently if I get chance). The filing concertina, Evelina’s filing and the receipts box file are under the table within easy reach, all to make it as easy as possible foe me to keep on top of filing.  Having these in the lounge instead of the study upstairs makes so much more sense as I am much more likely to get it done while we are watching TV in the evening.  Before filing used to be dumped upstairs and since I rarely even go in the study, it got forgotten.

Next up: toys and kids clothes clutter.

Project: Simplify – Hotspot #1

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Yesterday, I managed to (pretty much) complete the first challenge of Project: Simplify which was to organise our wardrobes.  I was particularly pleased that this was the first area to tackle since our clothes were in a right old state since we moved in.  As you probably know, our parents moved us into our new house since I was a bit busy at the time having Evelina. This meant that we did not organise our clothes when we first moved in.  We bought a large wardrobe to go in the guest room since it was clear that we did not have enough hanging space but again, we were in such a state that we never really got organised.  Rich spent quite a few weeks in the guest room so that he could sleep uninterrupted during the week so his clothes were mainly in that room.

So first of all, here are the before photos.  No judgement please!

The first step was to tidy up the hanging space. I moved Rich’s casual shirts to the guest room wardrobe and put all his work shirts and trousers in the wardrobe in our room – this makes sense since these are the things he needs daily.  I removed all the clothes from the shelving areas of both wardrobes and folded them neatly into piles on the bed: sweaters, big jumpers, night wear, sports wear, decorating wear (yeah, that’s a thing, apparently), polo shirts, smart jumpers, snow wear, shorts and jeans.

I cleaned out the wardrobe shelves with household cleaner and then divided up the areas (mentally!) for each of us.  I also emptied all the drawers of our two chest of drawers and added them to the piles.  I emptied out the shoe area and paired up the shoes.  All clothes that I wasn’t going to keep went in a big Ikea bag and all my maternity wear in another bag to go up in the loft for next time (fingers crossed!).

I still need to go through the big bag to split the clothes into charity shop donations, stuff to Ebay and stuff to throw away/recycle (fabric recycling does not care about the state of the clothes since they are shredded to make into bedding etc).

Then all that was needed was for the clothes to be put away.  I used a shopping bag to store all Rich’s snowboarding accessories.  We still need to get some shoe racks so we can keep the shoes tidy and remember to wear all our different shoes! I have seen some cheap ones in Homebase.  Overall, I am really happy with the result and it amazing the impact this has in the morning for feeling like you are on top of things. Here are the after shots:

Our room

Guest room

I even have some spare room in the guest room wardrobe for my crafting supplies!:

More photos here.

I am excited to get on with the next task which is paper clutter. I have already had one paper purge lately but I need to get a more attractive filing system so I can have it handy in the lounge.  That way I can file as I go along.  I might have to check John Lewis online as I have some vouchers to spend…

Organized Simplicity

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Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional LivingOrganized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider

I have just started reading this book because ricardo and I decided that this year, we were going to wrestle our finances into order and simplify our lives. I have been reading Tsh’s blog Simple Mom for a while as it is a great source of inspiration when it comes to organisation and home management. However, now that I am a mama myself, it has become even more relevant.

The term Intentional Living refers to the idea that you don’t just let life happen to you but instead you live with conviction and have more certainty about why you make decisions. It seems to me it is activity versus passivity and proactivity versus reactivity.  This approach is very appealing to me, especially since I would like to get a hold of the things that constantly need to get done and shake this constant feeling of falling behind.  I want to be able to sit down and spend an hour sewing without feeling guilty. I want to want to sit down for an hour to sew rather than watching year-old episodes of Oprah. I want to be able to fully enjoy this incredibly blessed life I have.  I have a feeling that one of the changes will be ‘watch less TV’ but, you know, baby steps…

As a first step, I have made a short list of my goals for 2011 with this in mind. I will share my progress with you here and I have even changed one of my horizons to ‘Simplify‘ so you can easily find posts about frugality, the simple life and all that good stuff.

Finally, I will be participating in Project: Simplify over at Simple Mom.  The first hotspot is the wardrobe and that is definitely an area that needs attention.

Sidenote: The ‘z’ in the title caused me more pain than it should – I am no pedant after all – but it is the title of her book and who am I to impose my British spelling?!