Daily Chores

If you are like me, then you usually can only get to the necessities each day when it comes to chore; things like dishes, a load of laundry, and putting on a new roll of toilet paper. I used to save all of the cleaning for one or two days, and I would be exhausted in a stiff position on the sofa by the time I was done. My feet and back would hurt, and anyone who dare enter my home with shoes on would get a whooping. But then I found Motivated Moms. This site offers a downloadable chore list for every day (or in a weekly format) that makes getting little tasks done that much easier. Instead of worrying, "Should I wash the mirrors today or turn the mattress, oh wait I forgot to dust the picture frames and Shoot! did I take the meat out?" I just do a little bit each day.

What I love about the planner is that it contains tasks for an entire year, so daily things like TAKE OUT THE TRASH are included as well as CLEAN BOTTOM SHELF OF REFRIGERATOR. It also accounts for gift giving and self-pampering. The site does charge a small fee for the planner, and some people might think that they could make one of these on the own. I thought about that too, until I realized that I would let my assign 189 tasks for each day. Sometimes, it is better to let someone (or something) else run the show!

My Notebook

I have forever been a clipper. I clip snippets out of everything - from magazines, to newspapers, to greeting cards, to flyers. I save everything. Whether it is a cool idea, or a pretty picture or saying, I save it. Most stuff ends up glued in my journal, for inspiration or for a laugh. Some stuff ends up in my scrapbooks. And the rest end up in my frugal notebook. I started a notebook a few years ago to keep all of the great money-saving ideas that I came across, didn't have time to implement, but didn't want to forget.

This weekend I realized that my little notebook was serving me no purpose because it wasn't very organized. I have OCD when it comes to notebook organization. In school, if I have to scribble my notes super fast because the teacher is hopped up on coffee, then I come home that night and REWRITE them. I blame it on the Catholic school military-style handwriting drills.

I decided to switch to a binder with dividers for all the different sections of my frugal life: Groceries, Household, Gifts, Holidays, Health and Beauty, etc. Then I transposed all of my tidbits! on looseleaf and stuck them into the appropriate sections. I feel so much better...Ahh the organizational itch has been scratched!

So, if you don't have one of these handy dandy notebook binder thingies, you should start one. When I'm feeling frisky, I flip through and try out a new idea. That is how I have come to where I am now, by doing one little thing at a time.

On another note, thanks to the hype of Julie and Julia, I decided to start reading the original blog that this movie is based on, called the Julie/Julia Project. It is a hilarious read, especially if you like food, alcohol, and curse words.

G'Day