This post is Part 3 of ‘An Organised Home’.

6.  Setting Up Routines

Set up some routines to follow up …on your tidy, clean, ‘purged’  home

 

a) Firstly, tracking your expenses (or what others call keeping a ‘spending diary’)

I do this at least once a fortnight (or else my wallet will be bulging with receipts)

I scan my receipts and record my expenses in Evernote

 

In this way, I

-keep my weekly spending in check(budgeting)

-am informed of my buying history eg. I know how many crates of eggs on average we purchase every month or when it was I bought a bottle of laundry detergent

This regular routine allows me to set aside an annual budget for the next year in many categories-groceries, holidays, children’s spendings etc. It, therefore, allows me to carry out Tip 8 above “Stock Up” and I can buy ahead and save time and save some more money!

 

b) A second routine is paying your bills before time and filing away documents at least once a month will help you tame that ‘paper jungle’ 🙂

When it does not require me to produce the actual bill or receipt, I scan or take a picture of these documents and ‘file’ them away in Evernote. I know of some friends that file them in Inboxes in their email if they have a Google account. This allows them to access their personal information from wherever they are.

 

c) A third routine worth carrying out is at least once a year, at about midyear, update your financial records- toss expired warranties, update bank records or significant contact information, dispose of (or delete online) unnecessary bills, invoices or bank statements and TKDS your personal possessions

 

7.  Habitually Clean Your Home

We place a used toothbrush and a scouring sponge (we buy those green ones in a pack -they are hardy and do the job just great) just beside all our sinks in the house.

 

 

We also have a set of cleaning supplies beneath the sinks.

 

Anytime, we find the sink or its surrounding utility areas gritty, we clean at once, as all the cleaning tools are instantly at hand.

You don’t really need to wait for the weekend to do a thorough cleaning. In fact, if you arrange it this way, other than the toilet bowls, you can do a thorough cleaning just once a month- because you clean regularly

This July  I cleaned up those nooks and crannies of the house that were beginning to collect dustballs, wiped down the window grilles, cleaned off the water spots on the glass panels and the faucets as well as cleaned some shelves…. ..these go a long way of making sure your most costly ticket item, the house, with its internal frameworks, are regularly maintained, warding off unexpected and sometimes costly repairs, renovation and making new purchases unnecessary.

And of course, living in a clean, tidy environment do make the residents happy 🙂

Update: On Habitual Cleaning

After showering, wipe down the walls and floors to keep them dry – this effectively prevents the build-up of mould and soap grime

 

8.  Carry Out ‘Financial Fasting’

How this works is for a week every other month, you strive to eat only from the ingredients in your kitchen pantries. No grocery shopping or visiting any stores to buy ANYTHING. You are basically seeking to use up all those leftover cans and opened packets of food or any other ingredients so that you can declutter your kitchen.

I read about this concept from a website called moneysavingmom.com some time back and I thought it a brilliant idea.

We had done it before but never as strictly as not going to the stores – AT ALL!

We did do it this July for a week and learnt some truly valuable lessons from it like being extremely creative with cooking and food ingredients and being unconventional in what constituted a Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner meal!

I saved $150 that week, freed up time as well as cleaned out my kitchen pantries…really happy!