simplify my life

Truth be told, I always have laundry and it’s a pain in the butt. Here are the issues:

1. I buy for next year.
2. I buy ahead for the next season.
3. I buy because it’s a good deal and everyone needs clothes.
4. I buy for friends and then don’t ship.
5. I keep what I buy for the next child or someone else.
6. I have a family of 6.
7. I have a preteen and a teen and a baby…all girls…
8. I have uniforms for my husband and one child.
9. I buy because one day I’ll lose the weight and will be able to fit into it.

Now trust me, I don’t have tons of clothes on hangers and in the drawers, I wear the same 5 pairs of pants over and over (cus they are the only ones that fit). and I have a handful of shirts. Same with my kids. The issue is that I don’t get rid of things and buy for the next year/size and for other people. I really need to sort through what fits and doesn’t, send out packages, and package items for future use in bins and make sure they don’t go over board.

Another issue…I have 3 people sharing one dresser and closet and another person without a closet or dresser and the rest with just closets. A 5 year old has a hard time keeping things hung up and a teen girl has a hard time with her clothes with no closet or dresser. I need to get these things which means building stuff and buying stuff.

And another thing that would help…hampers in bedrooms and bathrooms. For sure would keep clothes off the floor and from mixing with the clean clothes.

I think for this month this will be my “to do” project that will help simplify my life. :)

Dh finally got my book shelf done! It’s only been 5 years in the making (going on 6!!!) but it is here! We don’t have a place for it at this moment so it is just sitting in the living room with the other one. I think this one will hold all my writing related and currently reading and need to read books. I still need to clear away books in this house. The kids rooms are just covered in books that end up mostly on the floor. I think I might get rid of their book shelves, which are falling apart, and I might replace them with smaller book shelves, less books and the such. Reading is such a big thing in this house and if it’s not clothes on the floor then it’s books.

I’m in major need of some simplifying. I’m not even sure where to start. The bathroom majorly needs some help because everything is all over the place. At the same time I need some major help in the storage area. For some reason though I think the place I’m going to focus in for a while is the kitchen. I really need a spice rack and just need to organize the kitchen and the cabinets. I want to start getting rid of boxed and can goods that I bought due to them being on sale…time to make them and get them out. I also want to focus on buying stuff to keep the kitchen put together like a place for potatoes and onions. The kitchen needs to be remodeled majorly but we don’t have the money or the time right now. I’m hoping to have it done within the next few years.

I have other areas that need to be worked on.

1. Book shelves-Get rid of any books that are already read or damaged. Donate, trash or give away.

2. Sort through the rest of the bins (down to 4 in the basement and 2 upstairs!) and get rid of anything not being used, put away stuff for later and use stuff that I can use now.

3. Go through the kids room and sort out toys, trashing anything that is broken and donating things that are too young for them.

4. Continue to go through the laundry giving away things that the kids have out grown and moving in the spring and summer stuff.

5. Go through the pantry and use up food that has been sitting around, sort and organize the pantry.

So this is my to do list for the next 2 weeks I suppose!

So we moved and it’s like starting over because the other place had so many issues and we lost so much stuff there. We are now in a much bigger place and so there is so much more to do. We have 2 bathrooms instead of 1 and both need organization done to them and as for emails…well I went without a computer for several months and just got it back about a week ago. So, a lot of sorting to go through…again. LOL

Okay so I bought a new shower caddy like a month ago and what happens, it wants to slide all over the place…grrr. I did get a new shower head and now don’t have to deal with the kids taking down the shower head and water going all over the place (we had one with the hose and all). I also got a new shower curtain with shower curtain rings and these ones have to be clicked open so no more of the shower curtain or rings falling off the rod! I also got a floor mat that is the size of the tub, a new hamper, toilet paper holder, new trash can, curtains for the window and finally put in light bulbs. I still need to organize the cabinets better and use up some of those supplies and do something with the sink but really, you can totally see the difference in the bathroom and I’m already loving it!

I know it still has a lot of work that needs to be done but honestly, I got rid of stuff that I’ve had since 2002. I tossed it out along with all the hair dryers and such. How many times do I use the curling iron?

I did however end up keeping tons of shampoo and the such. Like I said, I buy it when it’s on sale but really, I need to have some form of control over it.

I really need to simplify the linen closet though. I think the best thing to do would be to go off and get actual bed sets. Instead I have random sheets, pillow cases and blankets and none match. I think it would be more simple to have matching sets for everyone.

Yes, I’ve done it, I’ve sorted through all of my emails and got rid of them. I can see it now, days of no longer seeing all that mess and no more of that panic, “Where do I start!!!!” Now I just click them as I go and I’ll never be late replying to others due to “lost you in the shuffle.”

It’s simple.