Clearing The Clutter

It just seems that once January rolls around we all jump on board the organizational craze that sweeps across Blogland and Pinterest.

 

I imagine it has to do with clearing out all the holiday décor. Once we put away everything, it seems a natural progression to want to continue to clean and clear our homes, and keep them clutter free.

Prepping for My No Spend Month

I'm overwhelmed by the amount of folks who popped in to read my post on my very first "no-spend month" ever - thanks to all of you who came by! And a special thank you to each of you who left me a comment - I really do cherish all your sweet comments and I look so forward to reading them every day!

Today I spent part of the day prepping for my no-spend month. I would have done this prior to January 1st if I didn't come down with that nasty bug. So my month will begin tomorrow morning and go until the morning of February 4th, to make it a full month. 

It is what it is. 

In order to get ready to lock up my wallet for the next month I took stock of what I needed from the grocery store and made a trip to stock up. 

My veggie tower is full of fruits and veggies that will hopefully get me through a good part of the month. 

The Veggie Tower in August

I didn't get a pic of the veggie tower today as it's so dark and cloudy here and it's been flurrying on and off all day. 

The veggie tower is stocked with potatoes, yams, onions, pears, a pineapple, 2 cantaloupes, and bananas. 

The crisper drawer is also full with baby carrots, green beans, red cabbage, endive, radicchio, baby spinach, scallions, lemons, limes, and peppers. 

I have lots of garlic in the pantry from both my garden and the last farmer's market. 

I stocked up on dairy - we're all set for organic milk, cream, sour cream, cheese, butter, and yogurt. 

Our eggs come from a neighbor and I always have plenty. 

The freezers and pantry are full. 

The bar is well stocked. 

I ordered more food and treats for the pups as well as their flea and worm medicines. 

I made sure I am all set with contact lenses and solution. 

My back up supply of vitamins are on their way. 

I even made a special trip to our local Ace to make sure I had enough black oil sunflower seed, safflower seed, and suet for my little critters. 

I even bought a few extra light bulbs. Just in case. 

Last stop was to the gas station where I topped off the tank. 

I am going to try not to have to go to the market at all for the next 30 days if at all possible. If I do need to go it should only be for a few fresh fruits. 

I'm ready - bring it on!!

My Very First No-Spend Month

I wanted to write this post to launch on January 1st but since I've been under the weather it got pushed to the back burner. 

Oh well....can't be helped. 

Anyway!

I first read about the idea of a no-spend month last January from Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick. I was very intrigued!!  However, it wasn't the right time for me to try it at that point. I was waiting to close on my new house and shopping all the good after-Christmas sales in preparation. 

And then it was moving day. And gardening season. And a million projects to get settled into the house. 

And then the Christmas shopping began. 

So....my no-spend month trial was put on hold. 

But I knew, come January 1st I was going to give it a go. Perfect timing, right? Because, let's face it, we all spend more in November/December than we normally would. 

So here we are, 2 days into January. And granted, I haven't spent anything yet. 

But I never got to start off the way I planned, because I was stuck in the house in my jammies with a nasty virus. 

So, tomorrow I will hit up the local market for the few necessities that are on my grocery list, fill up the car with gas, and launch my no-spend month....three days late. 

My plan is simple - I will only spend on absolute necessities for the rest of January. 

That means basically fresh produce and dairy. And perhaps a loaf of bread here and there. 

I will shop the freezer and the pantry for the rest of my groceries. 

Naturally, I'll have to pay all my bills, and if anything urgent comes up I'll have to weigh the situation. 

But I really think I can do this. It will be a good test in living simply for a month and being resourceful. 

My pantry is stocked, my freezers are full, and I believe I have all the beauty, health, cleaning products, and paper goods I will need for the next month. 

The Very Best Veggie Lasagna Ever

I will combine errands to try not to have to put gas in my car for a month. 

And I will ignore all the after-holiday sale emails that have been bombarding my inbox. 

Have you ever tried a no-spend month? If you did, I'd love to hear some of your tricks!

And some of your biggest hurdles. 

Wish me luck!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sharing at Cozy Little House - Tweak It Tuesday

A Day of Organizing

In anticipation of the busy holiday season ahead I spent the day today organizing some 'behind the scenes' spaces in my house. 

When I moved in (back in April) there were a few areas that weren't organized properly to start with. The house was under construction for a long, LONG time so as I was unpacking I was sticking things in here and there, wherever they fit. 

Now I've been trying to re-do those spaces. To make them work more efficiently, now that I know the house better. 

However, I was NOT feeling it today. This was a busy, busy week with only 1 day off work and that doesn't sit well with me at all. I really need 2 days off in order to be able to take care of everything I need to do around here. 

I felt a little overwhelmed and didn't know where to begin. I  knew I had to spend some time on my pantry - it had gotten out of control and I needed to take everything out and start from scratch. 

So I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration! 

Via

Isn't it amazing how seeing a beautifully organized space can inspire you to get up off your butt and get busy?

This is a dream pantry. 

Mine is not. However, I'm lucky to have one so I'm not complaining!

Via

I browsed around for a while finding motivation and inspiration and then got up and opened the door to my pantry. 

Sigh. Here we go. 

This is what I started with today. 

And this. 

Pretty, right?

Yup. Real life, right there.

Maybe it's not as bad as some but it was definitely not working for me. 

I am absolutely a bit of a neat-nick as I told you here and here. Oh, and also here.  

I need to be able to open doors and drawers and see things lined up neatly and efficiently....not this jumble of bags and boxes and random stuff. 

I started with an over the door shoe organizer I found downstairs that wasn't being used anywhere else at the moment. 

And then I took just about everything out of the pantry and spread it out on the counters. Anything that was out of date got tossed, and everything else went back in....but better. 

The shoe bag was great for gathering some smaller items together where we can find them easily. 

PS - do you think we really NEED 8 containers of nut butter? 

Hmmmm. 

After about an hour or so I had things under control. 

Those little red bins with the labels were actually already in there...buried behind a pile of other bags and boxes. 

The basket on the left is full of containers that hold puppy treats. Spoiled, much?

The little set of drawers under the basket holds backup puppy treats and k-cups for my Keurig. 

Let's face it...running out of either would be a catastrophe. 

It felt so good to get that done I went on to organize the linen closet and tidy up the fridge. 

Whew! I feel much better now!