At what cost?

We don’t watch a great deal of television as a family. The television shows we do watch are generally either news shows, sports events or conversation starters. Such was the case the other night when we stumbled upon a show about extreme “couponing.” It started some great conversations at my house. 

Essentially the show documented 4 specific people and how they used coupons. It followed them through collection, to the redemption at the store and home with their “haul”. 

(Sorry for so many quotation marks. They had all kinds of new terms that they were using in this arena that made it seem like it was some sort of sport or scientific endeavour specific to their activity )

It was an American program and the stores they portrayed were in the United States as well. These couponing folks would “stack” coupons so that their items were free. It didn’t seems particularly likely that the same could be applied in Canadian stores. Most things I’ve seen say “1 coupon per purchase” or something to that effect.  Never-the-less it was one of those train-wreck-type shows where you want to look away (change the channel) but for curiosity sake you can’t. The people the show featured would cut down their grocery bill from $230 to $6, using coupons. It was fascinating, but yet unrealistic. 

The best thing that came out of watching that show was the conversations initiated by my sons since. Our youngest, who is five-years-old, said that “it was crazy how many toothbrushes and deodorant the guy got for free and that the guy should really be donating it to a homeless shelter.”  The fact that he would think about donating makes me happy and I therefore know we are modelling good behaviours for him. 

Our oldest, who is eight, brought up the subject in the car just tonight. He was still mildly disturbed by the “way the people were ripping off the stores” and thought it was a waste to have 80 boxes of cereal. His thoughts were that you would be bored of one type, it would expire and the company who produced the cereal would be losing their money for no reason. 

Moreover, he was stuck on one point. His words were “I hope that guy doesn’t have kids. He would be teaching them to be greedy and wasters.” Further he noted that it would be “so embarrassing” to shop with that guy. He gave me an off-handed compliment in his next sentence. “I know you would never embarrass me like that, Mom. You find good deals and stuff, but you’re not embarrassing.” 

And he’s right. I do love a good deal. But it has to be a good deal for everyone. I buy products we can use, at prices I feel are good value, while bringing that business and more to the stores I respect and value. If people take advantage of stores, and abuse special offers and do everything they can to cheat the system, we all lose. 

A discount at the cost of your personal values or the respect of your family,  is no bargain. 

Good Value

How much space are we wasting in our homes? How much does it cost us to store clutter?

Lets look at it by the numbers, rather than as an emotional subject. If a home costs approximately $150 per square foot to build, and a monthly storage locker costs $1.50 per square foot to rent, how much is your clutter genuinely costing you?

Lets say one storage locker, the size of a small bedroom, or 100 sq feet costs$150 per month, plus gst is $157.50. The annual cost of that is $1890. WOW.  

The argument can be made that, "I own my house so I don't pay rent to store my belongings. " Yes, that is true, however, when it comes to selling that house, the bigger the better. Buyers are looking for spacious homes. The more living space the better. A cluttered house of 1200 sq feet can look like an unkempt house of 900 sq feet.  It's a matter of perception. How will your house be perceived? The smaller something appears, the less a buyer is willing to pay. A home that looks open and spacious and well kept will always sell for more money.

What if, spending $500 and less than 10 hours of your own time working with a professional organizing team, could increase the sale price of your home by $3000? Would that be worth it?  That's why it is absolutely critical to de-clutter when planning to prepare your home for sale. It also makes the actual move a lot easier. With clutter sorted and pared down, and items neatly packed away those items are already ready to move. Wouldn't that be great... moving 30% less stuff?

It's a win-win situation when you hire a professional organizer as part of your moving and sales team.

What have I started?

All I wanted was to hang some new curtains. But that meant putting up new and more modern curtain rods. Well, that of course left marks on the walls from the old curtain rods. And since I happened to be that close to the wall, I noticed additional unsightly scuff marks on that wall. So it was in that moment I decided I should paint the wall. Of course nobody thought I meant "now", like that very minute.
The next thing I knew, I had plastic on the floor, a head scarf over my head and there at 9PM I started painting... much to the amazement of my family. When they agreed with my statement "this wall needs a coat of paint" nobody thought NOW.
Once everybody got over the shock and helped move the couch it was an easy job. I had a fresh can of paint I had picked up earlier in the week. Albeit it was for a completely different purpose and not my first choice of colour for the living room. However a fresh coat of white paint sure beats what it looked like before.
Now less than 48 hours later, I have a freshly painted living room wall, new curtains, clean pictures (were very dusty - ick) and am quite proud of myself. It looks good, and I feel even better.
Little CJ has asked, "Mommy, can we do my room next?"
Oh no. What have I started now?

Mondays

I actually like Mondays. For me it's a fresh start. Whatever happened last week is over. What will be this week, is yet unwritten. Sundays, for me, are a day focused on family. Today we spent is at the rink. Both kids had hockey games and then we attended the Wheat Kings game. The Wheaties won tonight. It was the first time in 12 games that they'd won. Not for a lack of effort of course. They'd been very close. Infact the last 2 loses were in overtime shoot-outs. In any case, the broke the spell tonight in commanding fashion. 6-2 was the final score.

So today I hope to accomplish 3 things.  1) make a Christmas t-shirt for my little one. It's actually an easy project with huge results. I simply take one of their favourite drawings or a picture from a colouring book they've finished and scan it. Once their artwork is scanned in, I print it on t-shirt transfer paper, then follow directions and iron it on a clean white t-shirt.  In less than 10 minutes your child is wearing their very own artwork. It never ceases to thrill them at my house.

2) Tidy up the house.

3) Ice the cookies we made this weekend. This task is best done when the kids are in school, so at least some cookies make it into the gift containers.

Here's to Mondays!

A Big Day

Ok, time to take a deep breath. Some sleep would help too. Clarity... and added bonus. Energy? Hardly necessary.  Adrenaline is doing the driving now anyways.

Today's a big day. Likely one I'll remember for a while anyway. I'm opening a new business, and we throw open the doors to the public today. In about 9 hours.

The new business is called Sort & Sell, eSales and Services. What is it? One part "Sort", the other part "Sell".   The Sort is an in-home organizing service lead by a trained professional. The Sell is a small retail space where we will act as a drop off and sales depot for local on-line classified sales.

I've had a lot of great friends helping me out taking this original concept and running with it. Jeff designed the logo that I absolutely LOVE. Shelby did the website so very skillfully. Carli has been taking courses,  studying and training as a professional organizer. Calder, has attended countless business meetings and had to share my attention. So many more who have supported me that I should mention... Des, Greg, Connie, Harry, Marlow, Ashley, Neil. Thank you everybody.

Check out our web site. www.sortandsell.ca

Cheers!

Many good things

The light at the end of the tunnel is temporarily unavailable. Please contact your system administrator.

Yep, it's been that kind of day.

I'm not sure what to write. Does anybody really want to hear me drone on about a challenging day when each and everyone has their own obstacles to overcome?  No. So, rather, in the spirit of the season... a season of good wishes, gifts, friends and family rejoicing... I shall rejoice. And rejoice with a list of my favourite things.

In absolutely no order whatsoever:

A hug from my child, for no apparent reason.
Blueberry pie.
When the truck starts and it's so cold that you believe for a second that it might not actually start.
Bailey's Irish Cream
Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks
A note from my best friend.
Crab legs with lots of fresh lemon.
Words of encouragement.
Clean sheets
A sloppy kiss on the cheek from my horse. Always makes me giggle. For a creature so huge, he's gentle.
A card from my dad.
Lunch with my husband.
A bargain.
When hard work is rewarded.
$5 in a coat pocket.
A challenging game of scrabble with a friend
The Bahamas.
My uncles
A close hockey game.
Baby pictures of my kids
That my mom texts
Hanging out with my brother
Chocolate turtles.
Making cookies
Photos. I love photos
Peacefully sleeping children


Thanks. Now I feel better. Hope that light comes on again soon.

The Junk Drawer

My junk drawer finally had its day. I opened the ugliness and tackled it head on. Sure, there were some random treasures, like a walking tour book for the architectural and historical treasures in our city, but most of it was junk. I guess that's why it's universally knows as THE JUNK DRAWER.

It was my 5 year-old who was most amazed by what was in the drawer. We found a couple marbles, a tiny sewing kit and several tokens for the local arcade. There were coupons that had expired in 2006. Yikes. Had it really been that long?

Once the treasures were picked over, and as much as the useful junk salvaged, we unceremoniously dumped the rest and wiped out the drawer.

Reconstruction included several little shallow dividing baskets. One for pens and pencils, another for coupons and tokens, a third for pins and paperclips.

Most importantly, we felt we had accomplished something great. In 15 minutes we tackled that hidden junk and made it livable, useable space again. We were so proud, we  showed it to the other members of the family the minute they walked in the door. Everyone rejoiced in the fact we found 3 pairs of scissors. Yes, the ever elusive scissors have been found - and given a place of honour now, in their own basket, in the not-so-junky Junk Drawer.

Small steps I say... small steps! LOL