Patchwork Life

Mar. 12, 2008 - Spring Purge: One Bag per Day

Spring Purge: One Bag per Day

Spring break is almost upon us, the ice and snow are melting and I went outside without a jacket today for the first time in months. Never mind that the basement was flooding and I was out digging drainage trenches in the ice to direct the snowmelt from the hill away from the house. It was still good to be outside.

We tore up the basement rooms - moved furniture, pulled back carpet and sucked 30+ gallons of water from the concrete floor. But my heart is still thankful. I can take the flood. I just can't take moving junk. And so the real harbinger of spring begins: glorious, but onerous, spring cleaning.

Here's what I told the kids: Starting tomorrow, every person is responsible for taking one bag of junk out of the house every day. That will mean the 1945 encyclopedias, the VCR tapes, the old paperbacks, the drawer full of sample size toiletries, the clothes that don't fit, the clothes that don't get worn, the games that the children have outgrown, and the rest of the junk that is stashed away in almost every room of this house.

I get overwhelmed thinking about it, but I think I can handle one bag per day, for a while, at least. We'll sort everything into three categories: throw away, give away and sell. John and I picked a date for the garage sale and I have exactly 6 weeks to purge, purge, purge.

So pray for us, brothers and sisters. We will need to suppress the foolish sentimental attachments, ditch the "But I'll use it some day attitude" and completely forget what we paid for everything.

For now, I must go check on the seeping water in the basement, check on the cost of installing drainage tile and decide what goes in the bag tomorrow. One bag, one day, one person. I think we can do it.

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Dec. 7, 2007 - Stop the Junk Mail Madness

Posted in Home Management

Stop the Junk Mail Madness

I am disgusted with junk mail. On an average day, our household is now getting half a dozen new credit card offers, three or four unsolicited catalogs, local coupons, coupon packs, and a dozen or more bulk mail items. It is so much that I have taken to stacking it in a box and going through it weekly when it is about a foot deep.

Well, not any more. I’m on a mission to stop my junk mail and I’ll be glad to share tips with you as I wade through this process. There is no magic junk mail bullet, but if you are willing to stick to it, you could see a substantial improvement over the next 60 to 90 days. Think of all the pounds of paper and glossy catalogs that will never fill up your trash can or recycling bin again!

Credit Card Offers: Call 1-888-5 OPT OUT (or 1-888-567-8688) 24 hours a day. You’ll need name, address, and social security number. You can also do this for your spouse and your older children at the same time, but you have to provide social security numbers for each person individually. One call covers all of the credit reporting agencies that sell your information.

Catalogs: Call the 800 number and tell them to remove you from their mailing list OR send them a postcard.

Convenience Checks & Other Offers from your Credit Card Company: Call the 800 number on your credit card and tell them: Do not provide my information to any other companies, do not send convenience checks, and do not send any additional offers. A typical credit card company may have as many as five things for you to “opt out of.” Be very clear and insist that they stop every single one.

Junk mail, in general: Start by sending a postcard or letter to:

Mail Preference Service

Direct Marketing Association

PO Box 643

Carmel, NY 15012-0643

Include your complete name, address, zip code and a request to "activate the preference service". This will stop mail from all member organizations that you have not specifically ordered products from, for up to five years.

Junk mail, specifically: Instead of just tossing the item, try this tactic: Jot the company address on a postcard (or type up labels in Word), and send them a postcard requesting: “Permanently remove our family from your mailing list, and do not sell our name and address to other companies.” Then toss the item.

Valpak Coupons: Click on this link to get off their mailing list. You’ll need the address label handy. http://www.coxtarget.com/mailsuppression/s/DisplayMailSuppressionForm

Direct Marketing Company that sells your info: Advo / Mailbox Values: Send a postcard to the following address. Note that you’ll need to provide all alternate spellings of your name to be thorough. Send a different postcard for each family member though.

LIST SERVICE DEPARTMENT

ADVO / MAILBOX VALUES

239 W SERVICE ROAD

HARTFORD CT 06120-1205

Please remove my name(s) from your mailing lists.

I prefer not to receive direct marketing offers.

Name___________________________________________

Alternative Names_________________________________

________________________________________________

Address_________________________________________

City _______________________ State______ Zip _______

Telemarketing Calls: Register all of your phone numbers on www.donotcall.gov. This will stop most calls, but not all of them. Because of limitations in the jurisdiction of the FTC and FCC, calls from or on behalf of political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors are still permitted, as are calls from companies with which you have an existing business relationship. When political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors, and companies you have done business with call, do not hang up! Instead, interrupt the caller, and ask to be removed from their contact list. They have to comply.

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Sep. 4, 2007 - Sample Weekly Chore Chart

Posted in Home Management

Household- Weekly Chores

Taylor Hayley Josh Jessica

Monday

Laundry Laundry Laundry Laundry

Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom

Dogs & Cats Breakfast KP

Take Trash to Road Vacuum Upstairs Take All Trash Out Upstairs Bathroom

Dinner KP Dog Water

Get Mail

Tuesday

Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom

Breakfast KP Dogs & Cats

Bonus Room & Hallway Vacuum Main Dust Living & Fam. Dust Stairs

Put Away Laundry Put Away Laundry Put Away Laundry Put Away Laundry

Dinner KP Water Plants Dog Water

Get Trashcan

Wednesday

Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom

Dogs & Cats

Breakfast KP

Vacuum Downstairs Bonus Room Hallway & Shoes Downstairs Bathroom

Dinner KP Dog Water

Thursday

Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom

Dogs & Cats

Dog Water

Clean Mirrors Clean Glass Doors De-Trash Van Get Mail

Friday

Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom

Dogs & Cats Breakfast KP

Downstairs Pickup Main Floor Pickup Water Plants Dinner KP

Games & Videos Main Bathroom

Dog Water

Morning Chores

Afternoon Chores

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Jul. 10, 2007 - Clutter Bug Infestation #4

Posted in Home Management

Clutter Bug Infestation #4

“She watches over the affairs of her household and

does not eat the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:27

In my household, I declare the rest of this week “Unfinished Project Wrap-up Week”. As I prepare for a major renovation project converting a dark old office to a bright new schoolroom, I’m going to take a few days beforehand and wrap up some nasty loose ends around the house.

A second coat of paint for the front door. Remnants of a bad color decision are finally being obliterated.
Take advantage of the cooler weather coming later this week and wash and paint the front-porch railing- did the porch, didn’t do the walkway railing yet.
Apply water-sealant to the walkway to finish all the decking.
Finish de-cluttering the laundry room so I can find all the tools I’m going to need.
Finish the filing system reorganization in my new down-sized office.
Put everything to rights in the sewing room which got trashed when I borrowed the sewing table recently.

In short, I’m going to give myself major brownie points for every nagging something that I complete this week. Anyone have any ideas how I can cash in my brownie points?

Psychologically speaking, I’m not sure if it’s better to do the biggest or the littlest job first. It would be nice to have something marked off the list early on, but for me, I think I need to go for the clutter bug blood at the outset. The sense of accomplishment will surely help motivate me to keep going once I have the worst behind me.

I’m certainly dreading the laundry room. And, in fact, I have been using every excuse known to woman to delay the project. But, today is the day. I shall do it first. Will it take me two hours or two days? Honestly, I don’t know. If you don’t hear from me soon, please send a search party with black trash bags and clutter bug spray.

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Jun. 30, 2007 - Clutter Bug Infestation #3

Posted in Home Management

Clutter Bug Infestation #3

“…all come from dust, and to dust all return. Ecclesiastes 3:20b

The laundry closet has become an obelisk of junk. A shrine to a plastic wrapped, batteries not included, gotta have that gadget, throw-away society of consumerism. But for now, I am closing the doors to pretend that it doesn’t exist. I have bigger bugs to blast.

I have discovered the queen clutter bug nest. The nerve center of the clutter bug infestation, to be sure. Drum roll, please…….. my office. Why do I have my college textbooks from the mid 1980’s? Who is going to read even one page of the seven volumes of the entire Internal Revenue Code and Regulations from 1998? Will letter size Pendaflex folders ever fit into a legal size file cabinet? The list goes on and on.

Since selling my business earlier this year, I have been inspired to rethink the use of the functional space in my home. My office occupies almost 300 square feet of prime real estate, but I have longed for a dedicated school room and library for some time now. I can just see it in my mind’s eye. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a desk with a hutch for each child and a cozy reading nook surrounded by books? Originally, John and I considered adding onto the house for just this reason. But when we prayed about it, God never gave us peace about the decision, so we just kept delaying and finally decided against it. Now, however, John and I both feel very peaceful about the decision to downsize the office and take over the space for our homeschool.

To understand just how the queen clutter bug operates, picture, if you will, cupboards of ancient office supplies, filing cabinets of important stuff (at least it was when I put it in there), bookcases of old software, textbooks, and reference books, a big drawer of electronic cables, cords and old phone chargers, a collection of pens that don’t write, a broken typewriter, and the first scanner ever made. I have to admit that there was a time that I wanted to call in the demolition experts (the ones with the big ball and the explosives) to knock the house down and start over. My husband had gone out of town for the night and I thanked God that he didn’t see the house at the peak of the battle. Once I had found a small nook for my new office upstairs, I couldn’t just move in. I had to rid the nook of all the science and art supplies that it had been housing. And then I had to carefully select only what I absolutely needed to go to my new downsized office. Then I had to figure out how to get rid of the rest.

If you’ve read my earlier clutter bug adventures, you know that I work with an extra-large trash can and lots of boxes for items to sell or give away, but for this job, that wasn’t enough. As I sorted, the piles of junk got larger and began to give me clutter bug anxiety. I got so I couldn’t stand the piles of junk even though I’d already been boxing or bagging them. My solution: I backed the pickup truck up to the door and loaded it for a dump run and filled the van with all the give away stuff. The mere thought of having a garage sale filled me with dread, so I decided to quickly load and leave, so I couldn’t change my mind. God bless the sweet people at the Goodwill office who were so kind to let me leave it all there. I can’t imagine a more daunting job than sorting through someone else’s junk. And God bless the sweet lady at the landfill that let me take the Internal Revenue Code to its final resting place, where it should be. Dust to dust.

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Jun. 22, 2007 - Clutter Bug Infestation #2

Posted in Home Management

Clutter Bug Infestation #2

Battle Journal- Week 2

I’m still fighting clutter bugs in the kitchen. At times it has seemed like the battle would never end, but looking over the past week, many portions of the kitchen territory have been reclaimed. The recipe cupboard battle took an entire day all by itself. A lifetime of magazine clippings, recipe cards, printouts, and scribbles of family favorites have now been pared down and organized into a 3-ring binder and categorized by type using index dividers. I used 3-hole pocket folders for the small items, but larger items were simply punched and inserted. I am told that sheet protectors with index size pockets can be obtained, which also might be a good solution for the small items.

Seeing the kitchen coming together, my husband remarked that we really needed to buy a new dishwasher and refrigerator, due to numerous broken items on them. Hmmm, I thought. They both still work, but it is very frustrating when the top dishwasher rack falls out and plates won’t stand up because the little dividers are missing. Also, in the refrigerator four of the shelves are broken on the door and the crisper freezes the vegetables. Well, my little fingers got to work, and guess what? I found a great company online that offers replacement appliance parts for novices. You just enter the Brand, Appliance Type & Model Number and basic search information and you’ll find what you need in moments, no part numbers necessary. If your item is in stock they’ll ship it the same day. What does this have to do with clutter, you say? Well, I believe that an appliance that is not doing its job properly is clutter. I saved $2000 on new appliances by spending $200 on repair parts for my Maytag Fridge & Dishwasher. Every item I needed was in stock and shipped immediately!

Here’s the link http://www.repairclinic.com. Just click on “Order Parts” to use the “Part Detective.”

Another look around the kitchen reveals multiple missing cupboard and drawer knobs. This was a contributing factor to my former cluttered kitchen look, to be sure. I took a look around my local home improvement center for something pretty, but there was nothing that caught my eye. Again, I was able to find just the right item online. Blue Willow Ceramic knobs were just $1.29 each, much less than the plain ceramic ones available locally. And they are so very pretty. They are a beautiful complement to my Blue Toile wallpaper.

Last, but definitely not least, the drawers have all been emptied, cleaned and sorted. How is it that I had 47 lids to plastic water bottles, but no water bottles? It was fun to find the needed extra blade for the apple corer-peeler-slicer that was hiding amongst the clutter.

One tactic that has contributed to my success this week has been the decision to keep one clutter bug fighter from my little army on duty with me for every battle. They take pride in their accomplishments and appreciate the R&R between shifts. They have been especially good stair climbers and trash removers.

My next mission- The Laundry Closet……

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Household- Weekly Chores
Taylor	Hayley	Josh	Jessica
Monday

Laundry	Laundry	Laundry	Laundry
Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom
	Dogs & Cats	Breakfast KP
Take Trash to Road	Vacuum Upstairs	Take All Trash Out	Upstairs Bathroom
		Dinner KP	Dog Water
			Get Mail
Tuesday

Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom
Breakfast KP	Dogs & Cats

Bonus Room & Hallway	Vacuum Main	Dust Living & Fam.	Dust Stairs
Put Away Laundry	Put Away Laundry	Put Away Laundry	Put Away Laundry
Dinner KP		Water Plants	Dog Water
		Get Trashcan
Wednesday

Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom
	Dogs & Cats
	Breakfast KP
Vacuum Downstairs	Bonus Room	Hallway & Shoes	Downstairs Bathroom
	Dinner KP		Dog Water
Thursday

Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom
	Dogs & Cats
			Dog Water
Clean Mirrors	Clean Glass Doors	De-Trash Van	Get Mail
Friday

Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom
	Dogs & Cats		Breakfast KP
Downstairs Pickup	Main Floor Pickup	Water Plants	Dinner KP
		Games & Videos	Main Bathroom
			Dog Water
Morning Chores
Afternoon Chores

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