For the third year running now, I'm attempting to simplify our home and keep clutter at bay. In addition, I've set myself the task of simplifying at least one area of my life each month, which could mean doing anything from a simple re-organising of a cupboard, to forming new habits that make life easier and simpler.
I got off to a pretty good start in January by completely decluttering my email inbox this month and deleting over 2000 outdated emails. In addition, I've made inroads into getting my financial life in order by filing this year's tax return and paying voluntary NI contributions for the year (and preparing most of next year's return), taking stock of some negative spending habits with a view to changing them in the future, investing in life insurance, requesting a pension forecast and revisiting some of my smaller investments.
Not a bad start. In addition, I took care of our household shredding which has been building up for months and was overflowing it's container and did a year's worth of filing of bank/credit card statements, etc. It always feels good to do these jobs, so it's all been good progress, but I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do next month to meet this simplifying aim. I'll let you know when I do.
One other thing that I haven't mentioned here on the blog, but has been very significant in terms of my health this month, is that I went for my first mammogram a couple of weeks ago, having turned 50 last year. With a strong family history of breast cancer (my mother died of the disease at age 57), I was quite anxious about going for the scans, but having now received the all clear, I am glad I did and intend to go on a regular basis when called. I've also booked LB in for an eye test at the opticians this month and myself in at the GP to get my cholesterol re-tested, so I'm trying to keep on top of things healthwise too.
Finally, on the decluttering front, I managed to find 62 items to donate in January and have already made a start on collecting items for February. January's items and the items that have been collected over the previous few months left the house and went to the Give or Take, save for some that are going to the CS and some I want to try to sell on eBay to recoup some cash. I want to try to list these this month and will let you know what happens.
I'm hoping to keep up the good work next month and I'll keep you posted on progress.
You are moving right along with simplifying.
ReplyDeleteDecluttering and using up is still happening here as well. We are also tweaking our budget and trying to find a few places to cut back. That could be a bit tough as things seem to be going up in price faster than I ever thought possible.
God bless.