Get organised in 30 days, Day 9

What's worse than the dreaded Lurgy?

The answer... the pile of filing that never seems to get done, the computer full of emails to be deleted and the tax stuff that you just don't know what to do with. 

Actually the real answer is writing a Budget. However, this can't be done if you don't know where all the money is going, because you haven't filed anything or just don't even know how to get a good system started and it all just seems a little too daunting! If this sounds familiar, then please set a time with yourself at least twice a week for the next month to work on this area. Most of us stress over money more than any other area in our lives. 

SO... Let's set ourselves a Thursday 1hr routine for our home office. We are going to break it up into 4 15 minute lots, so that we can start to claim back the treasure that is our peace and financial awareness.

Office routine

1. sort through the pile of mail and paperwork from the last week. Please set up an "in box" for ALL incoming paperwork. that way you will know where to find it when you look for it in step 1. Throw out all junk and unnecessary paper, in this time. Put all bills in a folder that you can get to readily and place anything that needs to be filed neatly on your desk ready for step 2. (As the weeks go on you will be able to sort through much of the older paper work, as you will get into a good routine. Over the course of 3 months, I threw out an entire 90L container of old paperwork. Remember to start with the latest paperwork, so that you can make sure bills that are due get paid and not missed, hence not costing you extra fees.)
2. DO YOUR FILING! only for 15 minutes. You will be surprised what you can achieve! I DARE YOU!!
3. Schedule your bill payments for current bills and place any Tax claimable receipts into a folder for the current tax year.
4. Clear your emails. This will include removing yourself from mailing lists that you no longer wish to receive. They are as bad or worse than junk mail in your letter box, because we just scan over them.

When we have started getting our paperwork in order, then we can start to look at our Budget. Next week we will look at what our options are and see the pros and cons of each of them.

If you are still not sure about filing, I suggest a really good course through Kikki-k. I have done this workshop and found much of it to be very helpful. They encourage you to buy their products, but I have been able to find affordable alternatives in many cases. For $40.00 and 2 hours of your life, it might just save you from drowning in the sea of paperwork. 

Please note I have not been paid by Kikki-k. I am sharing my own personal experiences.

Have some fun and reward yourself at the end of the hour with your favourite beverage or even a refreshing walk. 

Take care and God Bless

Rivkah

Get Organised in 30 Days, Day 8

Organising your Loot!

Ok so today is gong to be a fairly simple task. Time to organise the loot in your Linen closet. Work on 1 shelf at a time and sort through your linen. Sort your towels from your cleaning rags and your sheets from your doonas. 

A great little tip for sheets is to store sets in pillow the matching pillow case, so that you know that you have a complete set. Consider even storing one set of current season sheets in each bedroom for easy access. Nothing worse than hunting for sheets in the middle of the night when the kids have been sick.

Look at what you use and what you have kept just because Aunty gave it to you, even though you cant stand that table cloth. If you don't love it let it go. 

BTW this task should only take 15 to 20 minutes.

If you want to see how I did it a little while ago, check out this post

Have fun and God Bless

Rivkah

Get Organised in 30 Days, Day 7

Getting the House Ship Shape 

Our homes are starting to look a lot neater and tidier now, especially with all that lovely decluttering that you have been getting into. Make sure that you are Emptying your GO basket on a weekly basis to your favourite goodwill or give to a person that needs the item. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO KEEP IT ALL STORED IN YOUR HOUSE OR SHED! I have filled the boot of my car ready for today's drop off. I like to do this on Tuesday as part of my cleaning day. I get all the junk out of the house and clean the bins. I also like to to my detail cleaning on Tuesday.

So today we are attacking some detail cleaning jobs. Each should only take about 5 minutes. remember to set your timer and have fun with it. Crank up the music and swing those hips, because You need to keep the fun it!

Today's Tasks

1. Grab your Cobweb broom and go after those cobwebs. No Freeloaders allowed on this ship!
2. Grab a feather duster or damp rag and clean the skirting boards. Don't get too fussy, maybe even get the kids to have a game of ship to shore and get them dusting the boards for you ;)
3. Grab a cloth and your all purpose spray and clean off all those finger prints on the light switches. While your at it give the door handle a spit shine (clean) too!

So in 15 minutes, or maybe 30 if the kids are having too much fun, you will have a few more of those tasks done that we all forget about.

Hope you all are taking care in this heat, I know my kids are going to be in the pool again today. Stay safe and have fun, One day at a time

God Bless

Rivkah

Get organised in 30 days, Day 6

Welcome to a new week. I hope that you are all enjoying the challenges so far. We have been busy in the ODAAT house. Over the course of the weekend, we have renewed my husband's wardrobe after he has successfully lost 20 kilograms. He happily announced that he has removed all clothes that have an X on the label. Whilst renewing his wardrobe he even got some M's. We have been busy re organising our daughter's room and doing a spot of gardening. And Yes I did give myself a facial on Friday night!

So onto today's Challenge...

Declutter Mission!! (AKA Stash, Trash or Go)

Time to take your timer, Rubbish bag and 2 containers into the room that is bugging you the most. 

Set your timer for 15 minutes and STASH the stuff that need to be put away in one container, Stuff the TRASH in the bag and stow the stuff that really needs to GO.

My daughter's bedroom has been my Bugbear for the last few weeks. So we have stowed some of the toys that she has outgrown and put them aside, ready for a future addition to the family or a person who is in need. Which ever comes first. I threw out all of the broken toys, or ones that were not worth keeping and then re organised her room so that she can play and so that mummy can get in a vacuum the floor tomorrow. 

even Hunter approves

I have also set up a reading box for her as she is learning to read, right next to her CD player. I am really happy with what was achieved today, as we have one empty storage container in her cubby cubes.
I took a little longer in here as I got on a roll and the kids were happily watching a movie. Hope you can see the changes happening in your home one day at a time

Have Fun and get going!

God Bless,
Rivkah

Get Organised in 30 Days, Day 3

Pamper Mission!

You heard it folks, time to look after yourself!

source

Today you are going to take some time to look after yourself. Time to relax  and unwind with a face mask. If you would like to make your own, you can try one of the recipes I found here.

Nice and easy. Remember also to drink lots of water with the weather heating up in the next few days. 

Have Fun and God Bless

Rivkah

Get Organised in 30 Days Challenge Day 2

 Trash and Treasure Hunt

Yes today we are going on an old fashioned treasure hunt. You have 15 minutes to fill a bag with "Trash" and a container with misplaced "Treasure".

At the end of your 15 minutes you should have 2 full containers, just like this image below.

Then you have another 15 minutes to take out the trash and correctly home the treasure. Have fun with it and even get the kids involved. Grab a couple of small bucket and let them go "treasure hunting" too

Until tomorrow

 Happy hunting and God Bless

Rivkah

Get Organised in 30 Days Challenge, Day 1

Ok here we are and ready to kick it off with a bang!! Are you ready for a little hard work and a lot of reward. We are going to make it fun so we can get it done.  We will have everything from Trash and Treasure hunts, to slipshod scrub and shine, and everything in between.

Ok so those of you who are following me on Facebook already know that today's task is going to be a doozy. I would like to thank my trusty "Challenge Tester", Tash for being my guinea pig over the course of this month. Without her, I wouldn't know how well my instructions all work or how quickly a task can be achieved.

Time to get to it!

Ok, so for today's task you will need; cleaning cloths, gumption or similar, non abrasive scourer, tea towels, all purpose spray and your timer.

We are going to transform our kitchen in under an hour.

Set your timer for 15 minutes and start on the left side of your kitchen. Get rid of the rubbish, clear any hotspot (pile of clutter), remove all loose items and then give your benches a really good scrub. You

may need to give it a couple of washes to remove all powdery residues. Clean down any appliances and replace only the most necessary items. If you have time left on your timer, spray and wipe down cupboard doors and handles. 

Repeat this for your entire kitchen for no more than an hour. When you get to your sink clear it and scrub the bench, use the gumption and scourer to really polish up your sink (please if you have a ceramic sink, do not do this, instead use some vinegar and bicarb to soften and safely remove residues.) Then you can rinse and towel dry. You should have a really lovely shine in your sink. It you want to help repel messes even further, try a little Windex before towel drying ;)

Here are our before and After shots of our Test Kitchen.

Before

Before

Scrub that bench!

Post scrubbing, Note that it needs another wipe over.

Clean cupboard fronts

After 15 minutes

Shiny Sink and Windows

1 hour in!

1 hour in

1 hour in! 

1 hour in!

The conclusion

Now we discovered that in 1 hour, Tash didn't get to the stove top or fridge doors. Nor did she take the rubbish out in that time. Please remember to give yourself a 10 minute rest break at the 30 minute point. The aim isn't to burn out. This kitchen is not finished yet, but it will be by the time our challenge is over.

Have fun with this, turn some music on and go for it! Until tomorrow,
God Bless

Rivkah.