Following Instructions and maybe then again not...

 

Very happy to have only had to record £1 spending for the day and putting the receipt away, but I think today's task may well challenge the size of box I've chosen for finances...

Laying hands on all the manuals and instructions for the gadgets and machinery around the house is long overdue. Now's the time to track down as much of it as possible.

Some appliances and equipment have paper details whilst some is only listed online.  In gathering it all up it's surprising how much information there is for 'stuff' we no longer have - guess you know what I'll be doing with that!

The up-to-date information will be needed later on in this elephant eating process so there needs to be a good place to store it all together along with a note of the web addresses for other non-paper based details. It could go into the box of financial paperwork, but I'm thinking that the box I chose is too small for all that so maybe a file with clear pockets or a separate box. Now when I come across anything else I'll know where to keep it.

As for not following instructions .. it never fails to astonish me how much I hang on to old ways of doing things even when (if I were to think about it) there's often a better way.

I was at my spinning group last week grumbling away while I took time away from my wheel to sew up a finished jumper... I hate sewing up! After a while of listening to me drone on Bob, one of the other members asked why I was sewing the sleeves when I could have knitted them in the round, using double pointed needles like I do with socks. It honestly had never occurred to me. Not only does it remove the need for sewing up the seams, but it a) looks much neater and b) feels more comfortable as there isn't even the tiniest ridge to rub on the skin.

Why haven't I done it before? Partly because I never thought of it and partly because I'm far too used to following the instructions far too closely. Yes, I had to adapt a bit with increasing (Bob put me right on that too), but really it was sooooo simple and made much more sense. Much of it though is about the confidence to try something different in case I mess it up - all it would have meant if I'd got it wrong was a bit of undoing and re-knitting.

I wonder what else I can change instructions for to make life easier?

A mouthful of bites

 

Good Morning!

Today's mouthful of bites comes as I somehow didn't make it to the keyboard for a couple of days so here's three more progress updates in one (and a small sort of backslide on the financial front, but one I'm sure you'll forgive..)

Month 1 Bite 6

So as we approach the end of my first week I've actually remembered to record my spending and file the financial bits and pieces which are practically all receipts so far.

Following my foray into the inner depths of our food stores it's time for the bathroom. What's the state of the bathroom supplies? Well there's only one way to check out the toiletries.

The easiest way to see everything is to get it all out of its hidey holes - bathroom cabinats, under the sink, drawers, bottom of the wardrobe - wherever it is.  

This is only the tip of the iceberg from one windowsill!

At this time of year the stocks are pretty high - especially as I love getting bath and shower stuff for Christmas.

Now just like the food this needs listing and sorting weeding out any useless mascara, out of date sunscreen whatever. As you can see from the small selection above there's some doubles and spares - all started in this case - they need using first. There's also a stash of freebies and samples in a drawer - time to use those up too once the opened items are gone... that'll release some space and put off the day of having to pay out for more. (The only reason for saving them was to take on holiday - but will I remember them once I finally get to go away? and will my destination merely provide even more? Perhaps the easiest thing will be to same a small container or two and decant fresh items at the time!)

Month 1 Bite 7

While searching my purse to track down a receipt I struggled to close it, mainly because of the bits of plastic inside. On closer inspection many of these weren't in current use and simply getting in the way.

How many cards were there? Not just credit cards, but loyalty cards, discount cards, coffee shop stamp cards.. then there's all the apps and so on loaded onto my phone.  Some serious pruning is needed.

Do I use them all? Are there duplicates (especially where an app has taken over from a physical card)? Do the stores still exist? Some even had duplicates with two or three stamps on each!

Time to collect them all together, including those hiding in the 'in'll be in here somewhere' drawer, coat pockets, the car, bags, gym stuff - wherever they may have nested. They can all go in the financial paperwork box so they all share the same homebase and no longer have to be hunted down.

Now all that's needed in my purse will be those I use regularly - the idea is to use them and, if appropriate, fill them up as I go along to reap the full benefits.

Month 1 Bite 8

Today is the day to consult the diary/phone/calendar/app for information. I think I have a complete list of everyone's birthdays, anniversaries and celebrations that happen on an annual basis, but now's the time to check it out and update it.

Next task will be adding in anything extra that might require a card or present or message - I can come back to planning for these later, but the list needs to be up to date and in month order so I can add any other events as the year progresses.

Finally to find a safe (and memorable) place to keep this information so that it a) doesn't get lost and b) doesn't go unnoticed.

I'll double check anything coming up soon too that needs something bought, made or sent - preparing it now will make life easier than waiting till I'm too close and busy!

Finally that bit of backsliding...

Well, having just typed the above, perhaps it isn't so much backsliding as planning for later in the year, much later.

While I was doing some essential shopping I found these at half price...

Too good to miss out on I thought - fabric ready for next Christmas' presents and decorations... How to use them, well that might have to wait until I've caught up with a few tasks or two - there's a jumper waiting to be sewn up......

Food, Glorious Food

I thought we had a lot of electrical stuff, but doing yesterday’s task has really shown me how much stuff! When I think of the house I grew up in and how little we plugged in then.. in fact we had an electric fire on the landing and if the washing machine went on while that was on in it blew all the fuses so controlling what was live was pretty crucial. 

I was convinced that I would just look around and then feel that it was fine with everything switched off; but I found a laptop, a tablet and two radios still plugged in and on standby along with a phone charger switched on with no phone being charged... oh yes, and some underfloor heating on too!  Suffice to say they were switches were speedily flicked!

So, Month 1 - Bite 5

Having done the shopping yesterday (and recorded the spend and filed the paperwork) I did stop and look at the state of the fridge, freezer and food cupboards.

While shopping lists are duly made and (largely) stuck to here some items seem to have slipped the net and catapulted themselves into the food stores!

I do remember reading once of someone wanting to shop and spend less when they discovered eleven  types of rice in their cupboards (I’m not sure I could name that many). Anyhow, before I had the chance to get smug I found sugar - lots of it.. this is just some...

In my defence (sort of) it was built up during the lockdown when my husband was baking lots and we stocked up, only to store it in places I forgot to look later - if you get what I mean…

Today, though it would seem timely to ask myself the questions:

  Do you I know what’s in your kitchen cupboards?

   Your fridge?

   Your freezer?

(The obvious answer being no, I guess.)

A good day then to take the time to go through all the food stores and note what’s available. Depending on the time of year it could be quite a bit.

I think you can guess the time of year even without the date on the page by this lot!

As each area is checked what’s hiding there? Anything lurking forgotten (apart from the sugar)? Doublers or spares of foodstuffs? Out of date food that needs to go? Near to expiry ingredients that need using up? High shelves with hard to get at supplies? (No I don’t know what’s on the top shelf.)

Doing this checking and listing exercise might avoid some shopping or limit what goes on the next shopping list. There might be the wherewithal of tonight’s meal or tomorrow’s, well who knows?

As items area replaced it’s time the storage was properly organised with the older, need-to-use-first nearest to the front so they can be easily seen and used rather than forgotten and wasted…..

I’m off to get the steps out to check what’s behind that tin for corned beef!

A Bright Idea for Bite 4

 

Okay so spending is recorded - a princely sum of 20p for tennis to cover balls and coffee. I know there'll be some more in a while - we need vegetables at least - but not bad for a morning's entertainment. No paperwork to file either so a quick and easy start.

Now to take a walk around the house to check out exactly where power is used. It's time to go into each room and register how many electrical devices there are, where they are plugged in, how many are on and which are charging. A check on what's on standby and whether it needs to be is called for.

It's difficult with a wall-mounted TV with the plug hidden behind it to remember to switch it off between uses, there will also be other devices that are left switched on by habit. These may well still be using electricity and costing money so it's time to find out which need to actually be permanently connected and which should be off.

Each room needs a double check - even the bathroom. Does the shower only operate when the switch is on or is it using energy all day? There may be something I can turn off right now to save money - excuse me while I rush off and check it out!!

Day Three brings a Confession!

Having recorded today’s spending and filed the receipts in the box for financial paperwork I have a confession to make. 

The main spending today was food so that’s okay, the second stop I made was for yarn.... I know, only a couple of days into the plan and I’ve been seduced by craft!

Actually it’s all the fault of this particular yarn....

I got this a while ago as I thought it would make a comfortable jumper for my niece’s oldest, which it has. The only problem is that it sort of looks like pink flowers, which isn’t quite in keeping with his usual Fortnite/Superhero type choice of clothing. Although his sister rather likes it and is happy to receive the jumper when it’s finished, she had already chosen some pink yarn for her jumper. That leaves her with two jumpers and him with none (other than the fetching sparkly red and green number I’ve shown before that meant I had to do a sparkly lilac one for her in the interests of balance).

We had a conversation about this recently and he asked for a grey, blue and white mix. Having found some grey there was the small matter of finding the blue and white as well as the yarn for something to give him when the pink one reaches his sister!

Luckily I found what I needed, hence the spend, but it meant that I couldn’t wedge any more into the craft cupboard I’ve been filling up so I had to empty it all and tidy up!  Good thing today’s ‘bite’ was another quick and simple one.

At this moment in time I'm just bearing in mind the fact that my other niece's girls in Italy will need to be treated to something too ... I think I might just have the yarn for that.

Month 1 - Day 3

Check bank account.

Since I’ve put my banking app on my phone it’s proving to be easy to check. When money is an issue it’s often easier to ignore this, but it’s not a good idea!

First to check how many accounts are held with any providers and whether they are all active. Ensuring you know the available balances as well as when any next payments (either in or out) are due is crucial to avoiding charges or unpleasant surprises.

Taking a look at all the direct debits or other regular automated payments that go out means I’ll know if they are all relevant and correct.

By finding any unused subscriptions or payments that are no longer relevant it should be easy to see if any action is needed. I’m happy to keep the tennis club subscription - I was only there this morning so it’s well used....

But I have seen a sports channel that neither of us has watched in a while so it seems a good idea to cancel hat.. No point in money going out for no reason!

Job done!

So Far, So Good!

My plans are always fine in principle, but often fall apart somewhat due to lots of factors.

This last Christmas I was going to scale back on what I made and start early, but then..

My neighbour kindly passed on a whole pile of dolls for my two nieces' girls. They were great dolls - however they were clothes-less... So the whole Christmas making couldn't start till I'd got them dressed and ready, especially with the little clan from Italy due over in November. 

I was quite pleased with the finished articles (I'll only bore you with one photo as there were 6 dolls all with endless wardrobes to be created obviously!) as I didn't have any patterns and so made all their collections from odds and ends and creative thinking!

Cards were next on the agenda and so I did get on pretty well with those until.....

                            

I was asked to help out by doing a craft stall at a local event. As I hadn't got much made because I'd promised myself no more craft fairs it meant a mass production of decorations, gift bags and bunting.

Sadly, due to Covid happenings and the venue not being ready, the fair didn't go ahead - still if I'm asked next Christmas I've got some stock!

That meant that I needed to crack on with presents - coasters, socks, jumpers - you name it.. Thankfully all but one pair of socks got finished, wrapped and given. The final pair of socks got to its new owner on Friday!

Perhaps this year I need to start even earlier. You'll forgive me, I'm sure, if Christmas and making stuff interrupts my elephant parade here and there. I'm determined to get ahead....

All this demonstrates how my best laid plans can go astray, but I have made it to the laptop for my second 'bite' of the new project.

Month 1 - Day 2

First Task - record spending!

Now I've got my app I've been able to do this - a very onerous task as it consists of recording 50p for inflating the car tyres!!

Now to find a box. 

Yes, I know that's two, but I haven't decided which one to use...and just like the app for recording spending they cost nothing as I found them lurking in the study; even if they'd been some random shoe boxes that would have been okay as they didn't incur any extra cost.

I have a sort of system for keeping all financial paperwork together, but it's time to restart and refine it.

The final system may not end up looking like the box I start with as it will be added to and fine-tuned as time progresses. The important thing is to have one definite home for all those bits and pieces relating to money and bills so that when the time comes to go through them they are all in the same place.

Mind you, this isn't an excuse not to open any envelopes or avoid dealing with them. If they need dealing with or paying that needs to be done as we go along and a note added to each to say how it was dealt with and when. This then gets 'filed' in the box. 

It may be that the initial box needs to be replaced with a larger (or maybe smaller) one in time or a file, but that's for later.

Now each time a piece of financial paperwork arrives there's a home for it.

 

Happy New Year! A New Project and welcoming an elephant.....

 And so that was 2021 then!

As I've so woefully failed at my attempts to get this blog rolling properly on a number of occasions this is an almighty push to get some ideas I've played with over time onto the (web)page.

I'm aiming at getting 365 thoughts down, but not necessarily as 365 regular posts. I'm just going to start and see where it takes me.

I toyed with all sorts of titles and headings and pictures and introductions and... well, I was in danger of turning the whole process into another unfinished project before I even got started. I kept coming back to that saying - you know the one..

How do you eat an elephant?  

One bite at a time!

Say hello to my first elephant of the year....

Here's the 'why' bit....

It's been an expensive time - new drive, paths, wall, fence, car, lawn, electrics, bits of decoration, and on and on. So it's time to recoup a bit, well a lot really. I've lots of tips and hints and ideas that I've pondered, researched, read about, bookmarked and so on over time, but now's the chance to put them into practice in a more organised and orderly way. 

And the 'how' ...

In order to make myself a bit more focused and accountable I'm going to record my steps, one day at a time and see where it gets me. I wasn't meaning to start this on January 1st as I was hoping it was a timeless scheme that I could return to at any point and pick up again. However here I am with time to type so why wait?

My plan is to set a task for every day to tidy up and improve my financial elephant. I'm aiming for 12 months of 30 days with some 'bonus' days of ideas or activities - making something as a present for example - to create 365 (or perhaps I should make it 366  so I can return to the plan in a Leap Year?) daily 'bites'.

Of course, I'm sure that my easily distracted brain will lead me to photograph fabric finds or yarn I just had to knit or some craft project I won't be able to turn down, so no doubt those will invade from time to time too. Making 'stuff' is just too close to my heart after all.

I'm going to write this like instructions to myself so it might sound a bit strange - I'll change it if it doesn't work, but well - nothing ventured eh?

Anyway here's Month 1 - How big is the elephant?

Here's where we start the finding out. Before really getting to grips with saving, spending, budgeting - anything - we all need to know where we are and the size of the elephant waiting for us.

This first month is all about finding out exactly what the situation is as regards to finances, assets and opportunities. Along the way there may be some instant 'fixes' that are thrown up by the research tasks, but the main purpose of the tasks this month is to full paint the picture of what spending is going on, what's available for use already in terms of resources and to provide plenty of information for planning the next moves forwards.

With no further ado today's task is both quick and long term too! Today is a day to start recording ALL expenditure. It doesn't matter if it's on paper or an app or listed on the phone. There is just one rule - no buying a pretty notebook or paying for a flashy app. Just record what's been spent and give it a category - food, entertainment, utilities - whatever. This will need to happen EVERY day for EVERY spend so it needs to be quick, simple and easy or it'll never happen past the first week! 

Right, research that app or find some paper and start NOW.

As it's a quick and easy task - aided by the fact that I've been busy and not spending anything so will only take the time it needs to download an app I've been looking at I'm adding Bonus Day 1 too!

Christmas 2021 is now all packed up and sorted out.

This careful wrapping an packing helps me to make sure the decorations are all ready for next time with new makes...

and old favourites safely stored.

Any breakages can be extracted for surgery ..

While the cards can be re-read, enjoyed and sorted.

First I make sure to list who's sent cards this time to make sure I don't leave anyone out in 2022. Then I just date those I'm keeping for posterity, cut the backs from any I'm holding onto for inspiration, ideas or reusing. Then I detach any bits - like the stocking and star here- that I might use on cards next year, cut up blank sections for shopping lists or notes and only get left with a small pile for recycling.

All saves time and money for next Christmas.

Howzat I've actually done my first two steps.. Let's see how long I keep it up!