Budgeting Baby Steps: Adaptation

While not a Baby Step in itself, adaptation is a key factor in the success of your budget. Not only in adapting to inflatation, errors in estimations, unexpected blow outs on certain bills (no, kids YouTube is not free on the mobile phone!), but also for its application in real life.

Only a week in and I am ready to make some changes!

From BabyStep 1, where I learnt to manage my everyday living through a Cash Envelope Budget, I've already seen ways to simplify this.  The Speech therapy issue has been nagging me, I hate having that cash there for a month, and now that I will have to rely on Medicare rebates after paying the full amount, it just seems easier to go to EFTPOS to do this - that way the rebate can be deposited into the same place as the payment came out without affecting my cash flow.  So speech is now part of my Bills Account. 

From BabyStep 2, I mentioned that getting the Bills account to balance after the big bills is the hardest part and even with the complex spreadsheeting I wasn't really confident with my Cashflow.  This account I would eventually like to running a month in advance but I've been ignoring one glaringly obvious glitch in the system.  While most of my bills are monthly, a couple are fortnightly, and a few are quarterly.  I will no doubt end up with some yearly ones in there too.  The thing is, I'm trying to meld three different time zones into the one account.  I want to keep it simple, but I do need to find some way, at least until I get a full quarter saving for each of my quarterly bills, to account for the fact that while a bill may be quarterly, I only have a few weeks to save for it!  I think the simplest way to do that is to just go back to where I calculated the monthly and fortnightly amounts for my bills and re-do my quarterlys to reflect the time left to pay them, rather then the full quarter.  It means I will have to readjust  when I pay the next bill for each of them but it's hardly a drama.

I think I am beginning to understand that my Babysteps are going to become a repeating system of checks on my budget to manage and improve my finances.  Well, at least the first few which focus on the budget!

I'm also really becoming acutely aware that I need to quickly implement a savings aspect to my budget.  DH announced we need a new Frypan, DS1 requires non-subsidised medicine, and Mum invited us down for a weekend.  Not to mention birthdays coming up, and my anniversery, and Christmas.  And to top it all off, the Dryer started pouring out smoke!  So yes, a savings account is next on the plan!

UPDATE:  I went ahead with implementing these changes but when I put pen to paper (or mouse to spreadsheet in this case), it just didn't work.  I've decided to total my Cashflow at the end of each pay period (a running total would be better but too much hassle and too messy to put in) or before each transfer into the account.  That way I can check for any negative balances.  Electricity is my biggest bill and is at the end of the three month budget so that should work out.  It's not perfect, but it will work out!

Day 19 & 20: Slowing Down!

  I'm losing momentum a little here, but I am confident the basics are there and it is purely a sense of perfectionism that is telling me I'm not keeping up!  Keeping up with what?  No-one said the 31 Babysteps HAD to be done consecutively, or that I even had to blog everyday about it.  I'm moving toward my goal, and the slower the better!  The better I build this foundation the stronger it will be!

DAY 19

I've been making my bed each morning, decluttered a little in my closet, and for Day 19 we got to read one of the classic Flaylady emails... The one about staying in a gorgeous sounding B&B, which is, of course, their home.  I guess the premise is that housework isn't so much a chore, but an opportunity to pamper yourself with a freshly made bed, or your family with a set table and home cooked meal and fun planned weekend instead the mad rush cleaning catch up session which always seems to involve yelling at someone!  Who would think of a chore as a way to spoil yourself?  But seriously, nothing beats a made bed with a sprinkle of talc between the sheets and some fluffed up pillows!  And I do love being my own cleaning fairy so I wake up to a clean kitchen so I can make lunches and cook breakfast!

I guess it all comes down to attitude, and while I'm not quite at the 'Blessing my family" stage, I am willing to acknowledge that life is easier and better for everyone (including myself) when I do just a few basic bits of housework and take a little pride in my work!

DAY 20

It's time to add laundry to the routine, in the morning and at night.  I like how my dishwasher works, with turning it on in at night and emptying in the morning, but with the washing machine I'm going to attempt to fill it each night, get Dave to turn it on when he wakes up, and then hang it out just before I take the kids to school.  Then I can bring in, fold and put away (or iron) in the afternoon.  Perfectionism aside, I just need to check on my laundry morning and night and make sure something is happening with it.  I randomly have to wash sheets too which could easily throw off any attempt at perfection!

It's kind of coincidental that the dryer chose this week to blow up - well, it didn't blow up, it started smoking.  DH and myself pulled the back off and de-fluffed it and it ran okay without clothes, but I think I will leave it outside for now and maybe even get rid of it.  A dryer isn't a necessity at the moment and it's not worth the repair money for a poorly designed one that blows fluff everywhere!

I also think its time to de-clutter my routine.  I'm not sure if I like using an app even, I can't quite pin down what it is, but my routines are getting automatic and having to tick off a checklist is more annoying then helpful.  But that might be ego thinking I'm better then the system!  Anyway, I need to update my routines with laundry check so I might write a copy of it on a post it note to stick around the house.

Day 18: The 11 Commandments

My sink is still shiny!  Okay, so there is a little bit of a photoshop effect helping it along, but doesn't it looked look blessed by angels?  It really captures just how much that shiney sink has blessed me!

Even in my worst week (yes, the ladies know what I'm talking about!) I have still managed to get through with a positive spin on everyday.

DH is helping. He cooks most nights anyway, but because the kitchen is clean when he starts, the job is that much easier.  I've also been helping out with chopping veggies, and even taking over once or twice a week.  He's been washing up the stuff that doesn't fit in the dishwasher on the days that I don't do it!  I often come out to do it to find it's already done!  That way the dishes are dry by the time I'm ready to shine my sink!

Once again I skipped the 'get out clothes ready for tomorrow' because it was too much of a task to find anything in my hideous mess of a closet!  I really felt it this morning as I had to tackle that hideous mess in my pre-coffee haze! Same excuse again tonight so I guess it is time to tackle the folding and putting away of the laundry.  I have inadvertently jumped ahead and have automatically been doing the load-a-day thing.. Not perfectly, but we go through so much washing here I kind of have to!

Oh yeah, the new thing for today was to check out the 11 commandments.  (I will link that eventually!) which are kinda right on the money! I guess I need to start a real life Control Journal - maybe using that huge pile of folders and stationary I found, so I can start collating some of these things!  The Morning Musings (often repeated) are usually good, but a few really resonate with me and I'd like to have them around!

Last item today on my routine is to go to bed at a reasonable hour.. It's nearly 10pm so I'd better tune into my meditation and go to sleep!

Sweet dreams!

Day 16 & 17: Definitely NOT Perfect

I have a swollen lump on the back of my head, probably a lymph node as I didn't hit my head that I can remember!  I've a mild headache over the weekend and a major case of CBFed. I haven't blogged my Flylady Babysteps in three days but I learnt a few things in that time..

1. Some of my habits are now ingrained.. Shining my sink and emptying my dishwasher in the morning!  The 'get dressed to your shoes' is getting there, but a little later in my routine on the weekend - coffee first!  The HotSpot thing is working for me too, because it is linked to my sink (as my hotspots at the moment are places where dirty dishes seems to collect! ).  Decluttering sort of happened in that I gave myself an extra job to do, no timer though, and the 5min room rescue was forgotten.  Getting my clothes out seems to be the first thing to go.. And I know why!  My closet is a disaster!

2.  I don't have to do things perfectly.  I was stressing about getting blogs perfect - triple checking the fly baby web site to make sure I doing it properly.  On Friday I figured I wouldn't blog because it wouldn't be perfect - I had made my bed and done my routine - I was just tired.  So I am giving my permission to join days, even if they aren't on the weekend!

3.  I can take a day off!  That's right, I can totally skip a day of Flylady Babysteps (are add an extra depending on how you look at it!).  I can even skip a few days blogging and allow myself time to get a habit ingrained if I am having trouble with it.  New stuff is only introduced into the every few days anyways... We are meant to give it time and an extra day isn't going to de-rail me!  So what if my 31 days of BabySteps turns into 37days?  Or even 51 days!

I feel better with that out of my system!

As I said, the one thing I am struggling with is getting my clothes out ready for the next day - partly because DH goes to bed promptly at 8:30pm, and party because my clothes are in baskets, suitcases, and in piles on the floor - the result of a combined 'organising clutter' session, seasonal change, and going away for a weekend.  Conveniently, I noticed this weeks zone is the Master Bedroom so I have no excuse not to start hitting this room!

My 15mins will be spent throwing my clean clothes into baskets/suitcases/closet - anywhere but on the floor, and to start a 'a give away' pile and a 'too small but keep' pile ( I'm not ready to let go yet!).  Whatever I get done in 15mins is enough!

My 5 min room rescue will be clearing the floors of dirty laundry and rubbish so I can vacuum.

That is it - nothing more, nothing less!

My bed is already made, a habit we added last week, and today's new habit is to go to bed at a reasonable time... See, perfectly aligned with the zones!  A clean bedroom and made up bed will make the sleep thing a lot easier!

As for sleep, I'm usually pretty bad at it and the nicotine patches aren't helping.  I want to be asleep by 10:30 so it's everything off and resting by 10pm.  I've set my alarm for a 6:30 wake-up so that is 8hrs sleep and hopefully a little more as I get into routine!  I've get some sleep supplements (magnesium based), a meditation on my phone, and an alarm set to start getting ready for bed!  I'm looking forward to catching some zzzzs!

Budgeting Baby step 2: Taking control!

For the last two weeks, I've worked on controlling my direct spending.  A working cash budget is the shiney sink of my finances and it has given me some control!  I have a starting point!

I had some spare time today, a few hours, so I hit the next part of budget... The Bills!

BabyStep 2: Get Current!

This was a three pronged project for me - my bills are set up in two categories, one for our rental property, and one for household bills, and the final part was putting it together into a total budget.  I also did the whole spreadsheet thing just for fun - and really, some kind of accounting software or excel budgeting sheet is really very helpful!

The basic idea is to have an account for the e- based bill payments only, this should be all your non-cash payments aside form credit cards and savings account transfers (even payments into super or mutual funds can go into the Bills Account).  I've used the account our Family Tax gets paid into, and then I can transfer the extra amount from DHs wage. I've tried to go with what requires the minimum amount of change as it is quite the task to open a new account and change the account details for all our direct debits.  My main goal here was a separate Bills Account as an 'envelope', so we now have a two envelopes: Cash and Bills.

I listed the bills we pay through the bank, from rent to insurance to mobile phones... The lot!  I had to check my bank account for the amounts for set monthly bills and used my previous bills to estimate the variable ones. Adding them all up, I worked out the total fortnightly amount I need to cover my bills.

Here comes the spreadsheet madness:  I did a cash flow from now until December, and another from January to June next year.  This was tedious and time consuming but will allow me to track my spending against my budget so I can make sure I have the money in the account to cover the bills in real time (and remember I did this for both my rental house bills and household bills!).

The hard part is this first couple of months - to get the account working in balance.  There is one or two months out of the 6mth cycle when the large bills come out, and if the account isn't in balance, you get a negative monthly total for those months.  Because I've started with overdue bills, and big bills about to hit, every month was out of balance!  I found the largest negative month and saw the big bill came out of the first pay period so I worked out the total balance at the end of that pay period.. And that was my starting amount for getting the account in balance.  I randomly added it at the start of the budget and made sure I no longer had any negative balances!  I made a payment plan for one of my overdue bills to help with cash flow the first few weeks as well.

The final stage is putting it all together.  As other sources of income are accounted for under either bills (family tax gets paid directly to bills account), or the rental bills (rental income gets paid directly to that account), that leaves DHs wage, deposited into his personal account, as the only other regular income.  It certainly helps to have your bank accounts working for your budget!  I need to plan how that money is being spent and make sure the right amounts go to the right places!  Yes, I am telling my money what to do, not the other way around!

Thanks to my accounts/ envelopes, that's pretty easy: Cash; Bills; Rental Bills; Credit Card Payments.

I'm not counting the credit Card Payments as an envelope yet, but we do have to account for them to work out our 'excess'.  My total minimum payments are $225 a month (we paid cash for our car due to receiving an inheritance) - I am very grateful to be sorting this out out now, before it gets worse!

I know, there is no savings!  Not yet, anyway!  Our main focus is to get current!  Minimum payments on the credit cards and no savings until the bills account is current.  I did up a cash flow for this account until the end of the year, and for the first six months of next year.

Based on DHs estimated income we have money left over after minimum payments on everything.  All those excess funds will be diverted into the Bills Account until it is up to date, which should only take us a month!  Using the amount I calculated I needed to get my bills account in balance, I increased the amount transferred for the correct number of payments.. Only one will require the full excess amount, the second only requires about half of it!

I will still have to check the cash flow in the bills account each pay period until I know it's working well, then a monthly check to see if bills were above or below budget is all that is required.  

action plan...

I will need to cancel the current credit card payments and switch them to monthly minimum payments.  I can set these up before hand and modify the amounts on the day.  I have most bills set on direct debit but will check all of them, there are two I will have to change the account numbers for, and then make note of the big bills that I will have to set the payment up for as they come in.

For the next two pay periods I will adjust the income in DHs Pay Account and work out the maximum amount I can transfer to the Bills Account until we are 'current' and I can set up a regular amount.  And then do the same for my Rental Bills Account.  It should take a maximum of six weeks!

Issues...

During this process I noticed that some of bills were probably excessive!  Although we had 'excess' after Cash, Bills, Rental Bills, and Credit Card payments were made, it wasn't a spectacular amount and I suspect that when I try to add in even short term savings, we will go over budget.  I am sure that there are many who would find themselves over budget at this stage just from credit card debt!

Options for making your budget fit:

1. Cut your expenses!

As it will take a while to 'get current', I will help the process along by setting aside some time each week to cut something from the budget.  We're already watching the electricity usage, and I've increased the excess on the insurance (some of our details were also incorrect and resulted in a lower monthly premium once they were corrected as well) so those payments are down as well.

2. Increase your income!

I'm applying for a a scholarship for next year and will take on casual work when I can, and DH is always picking up overtime when he can!  Our income is getting larger, beyond just indexed growth, and once I get my PhD my earning potential increases even more!

3. Sell something!

The advice I most often see is 'sell the second car'... This is great if you have a second car with a loan on it.. selling will cut your expenses and, if you're lucky, give you a little cash!  We are already pretty thin when it comes to possessions, but I am planning on a garage sale/give-away to help de-clutter!  It won't add much to the budget but it will give me piece of mind and less stuff to look after!

Summary...

That was a very long winded way of saying 'consolidate your bills into one account, work out how much you need to cover the bills each pay period, and pay extra until your up-to-date!'.  It was important to mention that up-to-date also means having enough extra in the account so that you can cover the big yearly (or in my case, half yearly) bills with just your regular payment amount!

Notes..

This post may never end!  At this stage, I haven't included any lump sum payments, like Tax Returns, School Kids Bonus, etc into the budget.  As these payments tend to be variable, sometimes disappear, or rules are changed, and because they are not 'regular income', I've decided to use these as bonus' to add to savings or pay off debts as they come around.

Budgeting Baby step 1: It's not about the money...

Yes it is!

I hate budgeting.  I loathe it even.

I am very good at budgeting.. I plan and create budgets all the time, and forget about them just as easily!

What I need is a system, like Babysteps, to get my money to work for me!

I've mentioned before that my first goal is to get current.  In order to do that, I first need a working cash plan.

Babystep 1:  Deal with the cash issue.  

Those weekly things that add up so quickly - groceries, petrol, pocket money, takeout, gifts for birthday parties, a trip to the pool, something for the garden, etc, etc.  I decided to go cash for these.. DH prefers cash and after a few years of trying to add up 50 plus transactions on a bank statement each fortnight, I am ready to simplify!

We've gone with an envelope (or bucket) system and a small photo album, along with an app for the iPhone, and it is working out well.  DH is adjusting to keeping the receipts and I'm adjusting to entering them into the app and tossing them!  I'm making a few changes this pay week to help make it run smoothly.

Be prepared to change category names and amounts while you adapt, and be prepared to suddenly be aware of expenses you never knew you had - like $15 to take green waste to the tip - which seem rediculously expensive!

I find keeping track of my cash is like shining my sink - it keeps my head in the game and provides a base to start working out the rest!  There is no point budgeting everything else if you keep over spending on the small stuff!  Get these small things under control, and the rest is easy!

How much to allow?

We've allowed a little less then our 'average' spend over the last few months to begin with.  We will reduce costs and at least keep it the same, if not reduce it, as we tighten up in other areas as well.  If you are setting up a similar system, don't try and be a hero! Your budget needs to work with where you are now!

The other option is to work out how much you have left after everything else and work from there.  I didn't do that because the 'everything else' is variable as well, and, quite simply, my immediate lifestyle is going to impact me more then how much I can spend on clothes!  Of course you need to make sure you have enough for the rest of your budget, but for me, it is more important to just get it under control rather then start out with a 'perfect' budget!  Babysteps work for a reason.. Small changes, over time, make a huge difference - Huge changes generally lead to failure.

Issues?

One issue with cash is that electronic purchases aren't covered, iTunes, PayPal, and Amazon all come under this category.  For now, I'm thinking I can mange these under 'Bills' which looks like it will be the bucket for anything that I pay out electronically.

Of course there is also the concern of being a target for theft.  We only carry what we need, except for the five minutes from the ATM to home, and we have a lock box for what is at home.  At the moment, the risk of us robbing ourselves is higher!

The Action Plan...

DH wakes early so on his pay day he goes to the bank and withdraws our chosen amount and it then gets divied up into 'envelopes'.  I'm thinking of ditching the physical envelopes and keeping track only through the app.  As I spend money, I enter it into the app and assign it to an envelope, 30secs tops, and at night I go over what DH has spent.  Ultimate goal is for him to enter it himself!  On Sundays I count how much we have to make sure it's all accounted for (the app keeps a running total to check against).  At the end of the pay period, all the change goes into the secret kitty jar, except for the speech therapy which varies each fortnight.  As we don't have speech on holidays, that also becomes our extra holiday spending money during school breaks!

After two weeks on this system, I am confident it is going to work for us long term - it's flexible, suits our spending habits, and is low maintenance!

Day 15: blah!

Yup, "Blah!" about covers it!

It is time for bed... My sink is shining!

I didn't do my room rescue or declutter, and I didn't get my clothes out for tomorrow (DH is asleep and I don't want to wake him).

HotSpots I cover each day.. The 'basket', the computer table, bedside tables and occasionally the lounge suite (the covers and pillows need fixing up each night).  I'm going to see if I can recruit DH to do his chair outside where he sits for a smoke - the table attracts coffee cups, dirty ashtrays, beer bottles and the like!  And DS1 has started to clear dishes from his room about the time I wash up which is great!  We are getting there!  

Time for me to go to sleep.. So tired!

Day 14: Making Progress

To help with 'guidance' (because I really don't do well with too many choices), I'm using the Kelly Missions for my 5min Room Rescue!  I wiped down the front of my bathroom vanity this morning, and then tonight I spent a couple of minutes clearing off the top of it!  Still need to shine that sink though!

 I didn't get to the Decluttering though I think clearing the vanity top may count as I threw away a LOT! I still don't know why I have 5 tubes of toothpaste though!

Today's Babystep was to read about the calendar and using it to stay prepared for the week ahead.  A desk day where you look ahead and make sure you have everything you need for the next week ready - no surprises!  I'm not spending money on one for the few months left, but I might print something out or use the whiteboard.  I will check out my options for next year though!  I'm not really busy - as in running around for appointments and after school activities - but I plan to be.  Once I have some money coming in I would love to get some stuff going for the kids, eye checks, dentist, hairdresser appointments for me (proper ones where I get my hair coloured even!).  I shall get the system in place now so it works for me by the time I really need it!

That shall do now!  I'm all ready for the morning!

Day 13: Lucky for some!

The paper clutter has been cut in half already!  The best part is that because I'm only doing a bit at a time, I am able to deal with the 'keep' pile in a more orderly manner.  As an example, I found DS1s teen dental. Medicare check today, which expires at the end of this year.  If I was doing my usual 'all-day sort out mission' it would end up on top of a large to-do heap... The very same heap I cleared today 6mths after my last attempt.  But because I'm doing a bit at a time, the only 'to-do' I have is book the dentist appointment and pop some stuff in the filing for tax time.  Easy peasey!  

I've so far sent two bags of magazines to donation, and one large garbage bag of last years school books, and another of stuff from DH's croupier training he did 18 yrs ago, into the bin!  I have a box of folders and various files and slips so I don't need to get anymore soon. I do think some may be bin worthy but I will give them a try first!

Oh, Kelly's mission was the extra task on the Flylady page today.  I wiped the doors, alcatraves, switches and handles in the bathroom.  Then I hit the loo for a 5min room rescue.. Way too many old paper rolls scattered on the floor!  And we won't mention the underwear stuffed behind the door.. Kids!

My perfectionism is a bit miffed that the 5min room rescue and 15min Decluttering are on the morning routine when I do them when the kids get home school!  But I'm sure I will get over it!

Day 12: Keep on keeping on!

Mondays suck!

I never got to the Decluttering, but I did the ironing (school clothes) as my 5min Room Rescue, and the 2 min Hotspot clen in the evening turned into a 15min rescue clean of the kids computer table!  No more water ice blocks for them until they understand the concept of putting the wrappers in the bin!

Otherwise it was fantastic!  All my routines done, and today's extra task, which was deleting any Flylady emails, is already under control - I read and delete once or twice a day!

Tomorrow is a Kelly Mission, and we learn about zones.  I had already set up zones in my house, but I think I will go back to the basic Flylady ones until I get things under control again!

I am participating in a Photo-A-Day group this month and today's theme was "favourite space".  I chose a spot on my front verandah - it's the only really 'homey' spot in the house and it's where I go to relax.  It's giving me 'have a smoke' vibes but I'm working through them (yup, still smoke free and loving it!).  I want my home to be full of spots like this!

Hotspots:  My original Hotspot (basket on the breakfast bench) is in maintenance mode, 10 seconds max. to clean it up.  My bedside table is sometimes a hotspot, particularly on the weekend.  But I struggled with the other household hotspots, because they are not 'mine'.  The kids computer table, my sons bed, my husbands bedside table and the table out back where he smokes.. I feel kinda resentful of having to clean those.  

I did the kids computer table tonight.. I figure its one way to show my kids love, but I also feel I need to teach them to do it themselves as well.  I'm going to work on that.. Maybe get them to clean it up whenever they hop off, then I can just give it quick wipe down each night.

Budgeting:  the envelope system is doing wonders!  So far we have tracked all our spending and can see that it is the general spending money that is catching us!  For Dave, that is smokes and beer, and me, buying lunch.  I also had the nasty job of arranging a payment plan for the elec bill, and Bec, the lady at the call center, mentioned my bill was way over average for a 5 person household especially considering we have gas hot water, and a gas stove top!  I'll be measuring our elec usage this week and seeing how much I can cut it down by.  I think it will be much lower if I am at uni every day - petrol usage has gone down too.  I should be caught up on the bills by November so will have to quickly save for Christmas and get that emergency fund going!  Frugal living has begun!

Day 10 & 11: Hitting the Clutter

The weekend has hit, and along with it, the need to rest!

I did okay actually - Friday and Saturday nights I forgot to get my clothes ready, and Saturday night I didn't dry and put away the dishes, but I have otherwise kept up the routines.

I am finding the hotspot/ room rescue/ Decluttering thing confusing.  

I've done my 'basket' as my hotspot - and it's all clean, I guess I just need to maintain it now.  I just don't get the difference (in purpose) between the room rescue and the Decluttering.. Possibly because nearly every room is in a state that requires rescuing!  I will hazard a guess and say the 'room rescue' is for tidying, and Decluttering for getting rid of stuff!

I tidied my lounge room and dining room, did a '5min laundry rescue' - aka running through the house finding all the laundry to wash - and hit the pile of boxes and papers in the lounge room for 15mins of Decluttering.  I also got a few loads of washing done!  

Half way through the second week and I've got the shiney sink, showered and dressed first thing each morning, and am working on the laying out clothes thing (I think tidying my wardrobe would help with that!).  

I had a great weekend and now I need to go get ready for a great week!

Day 9: Decluttering

Today is an exciting day!

My morning routine is done - somewhat improved by the fact that today is Quit Day so I had a shower as soon as I woke up.  It also means that my morning time isn't taken up with trying to fit in as many smokes as possible!  It was a real mental battle to get my patch on... The thought that I could just go down and buy a packet was foremost in my mind as I showered!  But it was my determination to stick to my budget that gave me the strength to put that patch on!

The hotspot I chose this morning is the basket on the breakfast bar - meant to hold keys and wallets, and some pens and pencils for phone messages and homework - it actually ends up as a dumping ground for anything that doesn't have a place.  I kept it simple and just removed all the tools and repair items (light bulbs, hooks, etc) and returned them to the laundry where they are meant to be.  Though I don't really have a place there at the moment as it is messy.  No perfectionism - it's good enough!

Day 9 we are introduced to Decluttering with a 5 minute Room Rescue.  As the zone is in the kitchen right now I chose to start there, and picked the breakfast counter - which holds the drawers for cutlery, utensils, tea towels, plates, and other random stuff.  My cutlery drawer is neat and clean so I went the next one down.. The utensil drawer.  It was overcrowded and filled with random stuff!  I emptied it and wiped the drawer clean.  I threw out some rubbish, put all the baking stuff in another drawer and used a disposable container to put in the measuring spoon and cups (which I am never able to find).  The drawer is minimised to what needs to be in there so now I can see everything!

I'm very happy!  Though I will note that I am often tempted to skip ahead to things I know are coming up or part of the big Flylady picture.  The swish and swipe, laundry stuff, zones, launch pad... All stuff I know and normally try and do all at once (and then crash).  Because of that I am purposely avoiding writing extra stuff into my routines.  I may do them.. But I don't 'have to' which keeps my inner rebel at bay!

Day 7: The Test

Today was the real test... Back to my normal routine of dropping off kids, heading to uni for the day and, to top it all off, it's budgeting and shopping day!

Getting dressed to the shoes was a no-brainer, very necessary when you have to turn up in a public place!  Shining the sink happened to schedule, DH washed up after dinner and I dried and put away before shining up the sink.

Problem:  I didn't check the site until just before bed!  I forgot to do the 2min hotspot and didn't see the new habit of putting out clothes.  Lesson learned.  I'm up a bit later because I decided to do it anyway.. 2mins clearing the breakfast counter (not paperwork like I had planned but hey, perfectionism is evil!), and my clothes (as you can see above) are hanging in the bathroom ready for tomorrow.  They are not ironed, but as I said, perfectionism is evil!

Yesterday I was going to return to post about my budgeting attempt but I got sidetracked resting up from my holiday!  I got it organised today though so here is the run down...

Goal 1:  Get Current

That means I need to get myself up to date with my bills before anything else.  The challenge is to not use credit!  In order to get current I need a working budget.  I'm using the envelope system for cash (using an app and a small file to hold the cash) and just sticking to my old system for bills for now.. That is putting all my spare cash onto the credit card and paying the bills from that - no new credit though as it was already maxed out!  Im dropping my cards to minimum payments, and not paying any bills in advance.  Once I am catching up, which may take a month or two, I will set up a joint account and have my bills taken out of that - depositing a set amount each month.  And a savings account.  Apparently ING let's you assign sub accounts so I can divide savings into emergency fund, car, Christmas, holidays, and furniture.  Between now and Christmas I want my mini emergency fund and some money for christmas saved up.  For this week though, I just want to pay the bills up.. I have two overdue and rego coming up, plus I'd like to get ahead on my home loan by a month.  Tomorrow is bill paying and I will see about setting up a new bank account.  Mission is a go!

Day 8: Control Journal

With my 'don't leave until 11pm' lesson learnt, I hit the Flylady website early in the morning and got started on today's Babystep!

This is the start of the Control Journal, which I will be doing with my iPad.  The HomeRoutines app makes it easy and even has a guide to take you through the Babysteps which helps with learning how to use the app as well.  

I'm really excited about getting my routines organised now, and loving the progress through the Babysteps!  They seem perfectly timed for dealing with motivation issues and the occasional stuff up!

Now it's time to get dressed and ready for the day!

Day 6: The Hot Spot

Recovering from the weekend away, I managed to shine my sink as soon as I woke, and get dressed (though the shoes still seem to be beyond me!).  I've emptied the the car and washed the carpeting and seats (spilled chocolate milk and a wee accident), and am now moving through the washing.

I checked in for Babystep's Day 6 and jumped in to quick hotspot clean up in the office.. Which turned into half an hour!  I've gone through my paperwork pile and now just need to post off my address change, return a form to school, and await a call back from the principal at DS1's school.

I love the office hotspot clean up... It is usually filled with things I need to 'do' something with and usually gets so high that I am overwhelmed!  This months habit is paperwork so it seems fitting to be hitting the office and the huge pile of paperwork!  I will also be hitting my budgeting in a post later today as I attempt to get myself rich!

I am very happy with my progress so far and the benefits are showing!

Day 5: Words are Powerful

No picture for today's blog!  

Today is just about words, namely, those nasty ones in your head!

I have three kids, I'll never be able to keep it clean anyway.

No-one helps me, or even cares, why should I?

I don't have anyone to invite over.

It's too much work.

I'm not the housewife type.

I'm too tired and have to much other stuff to do.

I'm really not THAT awesome.

Sound familiar?

It does to me.  This is my revolving conversion with myself about housework. And that needs to change.

My biggest blockage is that I am totally expecting a huge pat on the back - which of course I don't get.  And even worse, there isn't any help or appreciation.  My husband does help, to a point.  But he doesn't value housework beyond wanting a clean plate or clean clothes to wear.  He is not 'House Proud'.

I'm pretty sure that is a good thing.  I must admit that part of the reason I love the man is because he honestly doesn't care what others think.  That is great as a contrast to my constant worrying and social anxiety, not so great when we have the real estate coming over to inspect the place and he doesn't bother cleaning up the branches from trimming the many trees in our yard.

I feel like I carry the weight of responsibility for EVERYTHING because he doesn't do things up to my standard.  I would be open to sharing the responsibility if his participation came up to a certain minimum standard, but it doesn't!

Okay, enough whinging.  I'm working on the principle that if I live up to my own standards, then maybe, just maybe, he will increase his standards and actively participate in the housework, budgeting, meal planning, and yard work.  I am introducing goals and moving us forward, we've been stagnating so long it's no wonder he is uninspired.

There lies my goal... To inspire my husband and children to improve our living conditions, and life in general.  

So with a shining sink to inspire me, I will inspire my family!