Saturday, February 18, 2012

Double Challenge Month Update

Time for a little review (gee, I sound like a teacher don't I?). Just what HAVE I accomplished so far this month? It's a good thing I wrote down my goals on a separate page at the top of my blog!! LISTS are NOT for the feeble-minded, they are for the PRODUCTIVITY QUEENS like US - ya hear that Carla? - I said PRODUCTIVE!!
1. Financial Goal - set aside $88 towards the $440 I need to save for my half of the new TV! DONE!! (In fact I might end up saving a little extra and if I do I am going to put that money on my Line of Credit! Although the month got off to a rocky start (had to spend over $80 on ink cartridges plus my income has decreased by $500 per month) I have to say the last two weeks have been much better. I've had quite a few No Spend days AND I've stuck a few $5.00 bills into my Sealed Pot!

Decluttering Goals: (Carla - I did my decluttering challenges in a slightly different order - I hope that's ok!)
1. Personal Space Challenge: I chose to organize and declutter the ROOM OF MY OWN!  DONE
2. Family Space Challenge: I decluttered and organized our TV Room/guest bedroom/cat's room/my dressing room. DONE
3. I did the Dreaded Challenge in the 3rd week as I just wanted to get it over with! I chose to clean my itsy bitsy teeny weeny linen closet which of course doesn't come close to being as huge or messy as Kim's was but I still dreaded it all the same!! DONE!
4.  The Productivity Challenge: I chose to change my laundry habits by a) co-mingling my laundry with Kazi's and Michael's and b) doing it after 7pm on week nights instead of spending my Saturdays doing it. Partially DONE - happily I still have another week and a bit to change this habit. I only did a load of laundry Thursday night - I had one ready to go last night but something came up (plans changed - we went out!) so here I am again on Saturday doing my laundry (though it is co-mingled!)  HOWEVER, you wouldn't believe how PRODUCTIVE I'm being Carla!! In addition to laundry I've made a huge pot of soup, have cooked up a 1/2 package of chicken bacon (Carla - I could eat bacon everyday too!) AND have made a new batch of oat squares (this time I used brown rice flour instead of whole wheat) AND I've read two newspapers!! This is even more AMAZINGLY AWESOME AND PRODUCTIVE because I didn't go to bed til 2:30am AND got up to drive Michael to work. Maybe that's the answer to my productivity challenges - I should sleep LESS! So...next week I will continue with the productivity challenge and do my laundry in the evenings thereby leaving my weekend free for other things - like listing some items for sale on kijiji! 


Mini-Challenges:
1. Donate food to the foodbank or a similar needy program or family. DONE! I donated juice boxes and granola bars to our breakfast program at school.
2. Write a card/note/letter to someone using snail mail. DONE! I sent out two cards to my sisters who both live in Bracebridge.
3.
4.

Carla - have you given us the 3rd and 4th mini challenges yet?

I can see the light at the end of February! We're quite well stocked up on food and Kazi and Michael have been paying for gas for the car we all share. I think that overall February has been a great month thanks to Carla's challenges - I've been pretty frugal, I've spend my time organizing and getting rid of unwanted stuff and I've had a lot of fun besides! So Carla - THANK YOU!!

17 comments:

  1. Way to go, I think you are forgiven for doing it your way!! Ha. I too have maybe not enjoyed the clutter challenge that much but the end results are wonderful and were badly needed!!! One more week that should be pretty easy here, SO MUCH has been done!!

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  2. DD and I are going to tackle the basement tonight! Our joint goal is to have all of her stuff ready to go!

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  3. Well done! I have a few dreaded spots that just beg to be cleaned and organized but mostly this week I want to finish all things on my to-do list , and overall be more PRODUCTIVE!

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  4. I agree well done.  One thing about all these challenges it's making the month go by faster......
    Gill

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  5. Way to go girls!!! Ya'll keep on encouraging me with your successes!! 
    Your photo of the stream is so peaceful and lovely..is it near your home?
    Blessings,
    Kathy

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  6. Thank you and a big welcome Kdduke!! Yes, Fanshawe Park conservation area is only a few minutes from where we live. Beautiful and convenient!

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  7. I agree, and who doesn't want February to go by quickly!

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  8. My to-do list runneth over! I've been letting things slide a bit so must REFOCUS!! soon...

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  9. So how did it go? You must have the basement done by now? So glad my basement's done (done twice thanks to our flood!) Although there are still large piles of designated stuff: one pile for a future yard sale, another pile to take out east this summer. 

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  10. Yes, it was needed...I had so many spots that needed attention. And it did help February speed by!

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  11. Great to see you are still blogging and challenging yourself. hope I am still on your bloggers list as I intend to bring my blog up to date this week. see you around xxxx

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  12. Nice job on the challenges. I like the way you have them listed and marked off. Very organized!

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  13. You're incredible, Jane!! You've done such an amazing job this month! I'm really trying to get my everyday lists accomplished as well, self-discipline is something I need to work on! ;) Keep on going, you're rocking these challenges! Oh, mini challenge 3 will go up in the morning, I forgot! (Again!!) *blush*

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  14. I left my "to-do" list at school on Friday but I think that must have been a subconscious thing - perhaps I was not meant "to-do" this weekend!! I've been really tired lately so it's been a wonderful weekend of catching up on sleep and spending time with family. Sooooo enjoyable!

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  15. And can you believe I'm a very disorganized person? It doesn't come naturally so I use lots of little tricks, like "to-do" lists, but then I get too many lists going and I give up!

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  16. Eeeeeek! Just read this comment AFTER I responded to your other comment - I am bringing your blog back to my blogroll this VERY MINUTE (screaming for joy!!!!!!!!!)

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  17. There! Done! You are officially on my blog roll again!! Yippeeeeee!

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