Simplifying:your great ideas!

[kellid]

I need ideas. I think it would be fun if people gave their great ideas and suggestions on simplicity. Thoughts or actions. Simplicity of any kind. I hope this isn't a flop. I really need simplicity check. My life is becoming "cluttered".

Use the subject lines for ideas subjects and also to respond to questions by typing in their username.

I'll start with a question and suggestion. Here goes........

[kellid]

Suggestions on planning your day.

I wing my day, but I think it would be more productive if I structured it a little. I want to get stuff done, but have a problem finding time.

[kellid]

Idea for cleaning simplicity.

I've narrowed down my cleaning supplies to diapers for rags, baking soda, vinegar and Dr. Bronners for everything. That makes me happy .

[sabrinat]

Originally Posted by kellid

I've narrowed down my cleaning supplies to diapers for rags, baking soda, vinegar and Dr. Bronners for everything. That makes me happy .

I did that and I like it. Although I'm using Mrs. Meyer's rather than Bonners.
I also have really streamlined my grocery shopping. Sticking to a list and meal planning. It keeps us from eating out too much and cuts down on the grocery bill.

[kellid]

Originally Posted by sabrinat

Sticking to a list and meal planning.

Do you have any tips on streamlining this?

[NoliMum]

Originally Posted by kellid

I've narrowed down my cleaning supplies to diapers for rags, baking soda, vinegar and Dr. Bronners for everything. That makes me happy .

Have been wanting to do this. What exactly do you use Dr. Bronners for?

[sabrinat]

Originally Posted by kellid

Do you have any tips on streamlining this?

I have the Amy Knapp planner and plan out my meals a few weeks at a time. Then from that I make a grocery list after I review my freezer and pantry. That way I know what I'm going to cook ahead of time, I have what I need and there's no running to the store for "missing items" or impromptu meals or worst picking up takeaway food.
Also about once a month I'll do some bulk cooking and freeze meals so that when I work I can tell dh "oh take out that lasagna and pop it into the oven" Also the crockpot is a busy woman's friend.

[NoliMum]

Cooking simplicity

This has saved me TONS of time in preparing dinner:
I chop an entire onion at one time (I use a chopper jar, to lessen the burning in my eyes) and freeze it. Since onions are so watery, I can just dump them into a skillet without thawing and they will still cook quickly. You could do this with bell peppers, too.

[kellid]

Originally Posted by NoliMum

Have been wanting to do this. What exactly do you use Dr. Bronners for?

This is Dr. Bronners. I use the peppermint on my face in the shower, the lavendar on the babes, and the Tea Tree from cleaning and some laundry.

Originally Posted by NoliMum

This has saved me TONS of time in preparing dinner:
I chop an entire onion at one time (I use a chopper jar, to lessen the burning in my eyes) and freeze it. Since onions are so watery, I can just dump them into a skillet without thawing and they will still cook quickly. You could do this with bell peppers, too.

I didn't know you could freeze things with so much water content. Great to know!

[Em T]

Plan your day to some extent, if not an actual schedule.

If you have small children adjust to fit their needs. Play outside in the cool of the early morning, run errands 10-ish, come home for lunch. Naps while it's hot.

Group your errands so your route is most efficient & if you're going to grocery shop, do that last. Write things down so you don't keep forgetting to get a new key made or go to the hardware store for the odd-sized light bulb they don't sell at the grocery store. Do what you can online: pay bills, buy stamps. Print out your own postage & have packages picked up at your door if you've got little ones.

If you watch tv in the evenings multitask. Get a calendar & figure out if there are birthdays or other occasions coming up in the near future & make a note so they don't get forgotten. Or match a load of socks or shred paperwork you don't want to put directly into the trash while you're sitting there.

Check your locale for links & websites of fun, educational & free events & places to go. Do that towards the end of one month for the upcoming one so you'll have some ideas of things to do. Your local library is a great resource for this.

Some mamas are brave enough to streamline clothes. They buy all red shirts & khaki shorts or navy & white or other combination & never worry about matching or finding all the parts to an outfit.

Give homemade gifts to teachers & neighbors, a plate of cookies or box of snack mix is always welcome & doesn't represent anything that requires further care--no need to find a place to keep it, dust it, work it into your wardrobe. You eat the gift, enjoy & that's it.

[Leta]

Staples. It is simpler to buy flour, sugar, eggs, cocoa and vanilla and make yellow cake, bread, brownies, whatever than it is to buy eighty five different mix boxes. By the same token, it's easier to have laundry and toiletrie staples, clothes staples, etc.

[velochic]

In simplifying, I've come to realize that there is no sense at all to attach emotion to "things". People and memories matter the most. I'd rather see a picture of me in my graduation gown than to have the gown itself (and all of the moths as well. ) This is really key to me for keeping life simple.

[kellid]

Thanks

I am so much better at problem solving when it's someone else's problem. Thanks for the great advice.

[StrawberryFields]

Idea for Simplifying Media Clutter

Get rid of all DVD cases and keep your movies in a CD binder. Best thing I ever did for our tiny house. We have a small movie collection compared to others and I was still able to clear 2 whole shelves of clutter off our bookcase and replace it with one, small, single CD holder that sits quietly next to our DVD player. I'm positively thrilled.

[velochic]

Just thought I'd mention... paperwork that you are not sure if you should keep...

My dh scanned everything into PDF files to keep electronically and we disposed of the physical copies. Frees up a lot of file space.

The very important things (mortgage papers, etc.) we still keep the physical copies.

[rainbowmoon]

: for ideas!

[Stone Fence]

subbing

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I may have an idea to share later.

[Em T]

Simple, eco-friendly, frugal & . . .SCARY!

My DP has a compost bin where we put food scraps of all kinds & it turns into black gold for our flowers & plants--simple & eco-friendly. I have a trash can outside by the back door.It is lined with an empty, large bag that contained kibble fed to the outside cats. So, the other day I threw the coffee grounds into the compost pile & headed back to the house. Started to throw the filter in the trash but the bag was mashed down. Reached in to pull it up straight & EEEK! Horrid pointy mout full of teeth hissing at me! Yes, there was a possum inside the trash can, & me trying to do the right thing. It didn't help that it was still pretty early in the morning so I wasn't that wide awake yet anyway. DP thought it was hilarious, grrrr.

[kellid]

double post

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[kellid]

Let's talk about composting......is it simple?

Originally Posted by Em T

My DP has a compost bin where we put food scraps of all kinds & it turns into black gold for our flowers & plants--simple & eco-friendly.

What if you have animals? What if you live in the 'burbs? Any ideas? I don't know anything about it, except in rural areas with alot of land and a big pile away from the house, that you turn every once in a while. Never done it though.