Ending the year by getting organised

As I write this, I have found myself suddenly alone in the house. It has been so noisy and busy over Christmas, I could barely hear myself think. Now I feel like tidying up and getting organised!

I love having all my daughters around, but I am also glad when they disappear back to their respective homes and peace descends. Not that I would have family occasions any other way, but it’s hard to know how I coped all those years when they were teenagers! All the stuff! Makeup and clothes everywhere!

Christmas was lovely. So nice to see my parents this year. Here we all are having our festive lunch.

Catching up on the laundry

The house was getting a little chaotic. Usually I dry the laundry in the spare room but one of my daughters was in it, so it had to go in ours. I only did the essentials over Christmas, so I have been catching up with all the laundry this morning.

The weather is damp and dark. There is no chance of drying it outside, so it is on two airers in the spare bedroom. I am trying to save money on electricity, so I haven’t put the dehumidifier on. The heating is coming on twice a day, so I am hoping that will do!

I think I mentioned before that I am now reducing plastic and chemicals by washing with Earthbreeze* laundry sheets. They come in an envelope, so take up very little space, which is another bonus. If you are interested in a more eco-friendly product to wash your clothing, it is definitely worth trying out.

Getting organised with some new planners

In a bit to stop all the little bits of paper that float around the place with my to-do lists and meal plans on, I have treated myself to a couple of new planners. 

The first is a magnetic Family Calendar*that is now on the fridge. This means that Mr Shoestring now has no excuse not to know what is going on, as well as being a (literally) in your face reminder of upcoming events for me. I love this calendar! It even has sticky notes on it for my lists.

The other item I purchased was a magnetic wipe clean Meal Planner and Action Plan Whiteboard *. This could be used for anything, but for me it will be my meal planner. As I said, usually I write it on a piece of paper and pin it somewhere, but it’s not so noticeable. With this one, I will be able to see what we are eating on any specific day as I make my morning cup of tea, so can get the ingredients out of the freezer if necessary. 

Using up the leftovers

I was really pleased to have had very little left over food after Christmas. This is good and was deliberate. I didn’t want to over spend or waste anything.

There was, however, some cream and bacon that needed using, so I made this delicious cheese, bacon and potato bake. It was so scrumptious, I will definitely be making it again!

I got the recipe from Frugal Queen in France. You can see her making it here. I used double cream instead of creme fraiche, and it worked just as well. We had it with the last of the Christmas sprouts and roasted vegetables.

I also used a block of uneaten Stilton up in my stilton and broccoli soup recipe.

Budget revamp

Another thing I have done to help me in getting organised is to review our budget. I purchased a new budget planner for the job this year. Again, this is because I frequently use bits of paper and old pads and I wanted one user friendly book so that I can keep on top of  our finances.

I am very pleased with this Boxclever Press one* I found on Amazon. As well as recording monthly income, outgoings, savings and so on, it allows me to add in annual expenses such as home insurance and car breakdown, so that I don’t forget about them when I write the budget each month. It also has pockets to store your paper receipts in, to help track spending.

I went through our costs with a find toothed comb and realised I had forgotten to update where some of our regular bills had gone up a few pounds. I am determined to start closely tracking our spending during 2022, as I used to. Things are going to get tight with the cost of living predicted to go up quite substantially, and I want to stay on top of all our expenses.

Getting organised on eBay

I have an office full of things I am selling on eBay. Some I have purchased specifically to do this and make a profit. Others have been given to me by well-meaning friends and family to sell, but aren’t great quality. 

During lock-down, when the charity shops and boot sales were all closed, I was grateful to have something to list. However, I realise that many of these cheaper items are going to take a long time to sell, so in the meantime they are just cluttering up the place.

As I have limited storage, I am in the midst of a stock take. My plan is to make sure that all the good stuff is still listed and has good descriptions and photographs, but remove the cheap stuff and donate it to the charity shop or give it away on Freecycle.

Going forward, I am going to be more choosy about what I pick up. This is partly because it makes sense financially, but also because we are planning to move house during 2022. I am getting organised and decluttering as much as possible well in advance!

Are you getting organised as we head into the new year?

I hope you have had a lovely Christmas and here’s to a happy new year in 2022! See you on the other side….

I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.

* These are my affiliate links. If you use it to make a purchase, I will earn a small commission to help me support my blog. Thanks!