Making progress...

In the few weeks since I last posted I have been busy working on the little things. As I look back on my last post I have kept most of my goals: I set up APs for all my household bills as well as pocket money for Elijah, I now make my own dish washing liquid and laundry liquid although I haven't been using the short cycle on the washing machine - no excuses its just easier to press Start and let the machine figure it out. I’ve been drinking my Twinings leaf tea (of which I have a huge supply) and I haven’t bought biscuits or fruit bars. Elijah is enjoying home baking, especially the fruit muffins which makes such a huge batch it lasts about two weeks (with most of it kept in the freezer). We have cheese puffs in the oven as I write this and they smell soooooo good. I think the last time I made these I was in primary school. Weird, but I like mine with honey!

Elijah wasn’t a fan – actually he had decided he didn’t like them even before he had seen them. Sometimes I wish he wasn’t a fussy eater but in a way it sometimes makes life easier. I know what he likes – anything that is close to natural state. I can sit him down with a plate of carrots sticks, cucumber rounds, and chopped capsicum and he will eat the whole lot. Meat, on the other hand, is much more difficult and the closest I can find that he will actually eat are chicken nuggets/loopies and cocktail sausages (begrudgingly) with dippy sauce.

Two weeks ago I started on the FlyLady Baby Steps – well I skipped a few but I think I get the gist of it. Every night and every morning I shine my kitchen sink. I make sure the bench is always clear and it makes being in my kitchen a lot more enjoyable. I really hate my kitchen – its small, the cupboards are really ugly and the bench could have been replaced a few years ago. But it is a rental so I just have to make do for now until I’m ready to move again (which won’t be anytime soon). Every morning I do a Swish & Swipe in the bathroom, and the beds are ALWAYS made. My only downfall would be the washing pile, which gets stored in the hot water cupboard until I can be bothered putting it away!

Elijah (3) has been getting into it too. He puts away what he’s been playing with before getting something else out. He’s happy because the spare room has been transformed into a library/playroom with a spare TV (which rarely gets turned on). I’ve noticed a huge improvement in his behaviour now that the house is finally in a semi-organised state. We still have a little decluttering to do but for the most part it is tidy and clean.

Last week I managed to file favourite recipes and hints into clearfiles and sorted through the thousands and thousands of Elijah’s drawings and glued a selection onto sheets of paper to go into clearfiles.

Our little vegetable garden is coming along nicely. We had a problem with birds, slugs and cats though. I didn’t really want to but I laid some slug bait – you should have seen the size of the tiger slugs ewwwwwwww. Elijah and I covered some small rocks with aluminium foil which should hopefully scare the birds away (because the tin cat with marble eyes clearly isn’t working!) and we cover it with netting at night to stop the cat pooping in it.

There are a few sites I would recommend to friends and family if they want/need to save money and for those looking at organising the home:

http://simplesavings.co.nz you don't need to join up - they send plenty of tips through weekly emails

http://flylady.net a long time running site with proven results

http://declutterclub.blogspot.com a recent blog with room by room accounts of how to declutter - good for motivation!

http://cluttercut.blogspot.com a bit of saving and decluttering all on the one blog - some great reading here