Showing posts with label time for money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time for money. Show all posts
Monday, March 23, 2009
A Fantastic Discovery
In my city there is a beautiful public library, designed by a famous Argentine architect… I used to live in walking distance and I loved climbing up all of those stairs to browse through the stacks and look out on the city. But after walking over this past weekend and they didn’t have ANY of the books I was looking for… I decided to make a journey to a different library. One of the other suburban libraries on the other side of the city, which is run-down and looks shockingly similar to my elementary school library. And they had ALL of my books, plus some awesome ones I had forgotten were on my to-read list. And I was in, out, and back in my car in 10 minutes. Nice. Not so attractive, and yet efficient. Good moral lesson, I do believe… saving money will never be the intuitive choice, it seems. And fantastic discovery, given books are one of those small purchases that really do add up for me! Totally worth the extra time shlepping it to the suburban library!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Not so Extreme (but FREE!) Home Makeovers
When I got back home from all of the holiday traveling this year, I was so grateful to be back HOME, a home that felt like home. (Sadly, being in my parent’s house just feels strange at this point in my life.) And maybe I am subconsciously investing in my nest now that we’re in a recession, as the pundits claim, but I’d like to think I was just getting the ‘spring cleaning’ bug early this year.
Anyway, I made a couple of changes to how things are organized around here, and I have to say… it’s actually making me happier. So, I’ll list them here as idea-starters in case you get the bug too! I filed this post under time for money, because really, for a little bit of time spent organizing, you can ease yourself quite a bit of frustration and discontent, and save whatever money you would have spent self-soothing. If you have any other not-so-extreme-home-makeover-tips, please post them in the comments and I'll add them on later!
BATHROOM
1. Empty your mouthwash in a glass decanter instead of leaving it in the bottle. It’s pretty enough to set out by the sink and it reminds you to use it more often, in addition to the everyday glamour.
2. Remove everything from the bathroom counter that you don’t use daily – decluttering does wonders for my everyday happiness.
KITCHEN
3. Reorganize the pantry by meal occasion – a shelf for breakfast, a shelf for lunch/dinner, a shelf for baking, a shelf for spices. It makes the whole operation more efficient and saves you time when you’re looking for the oatmeal at 6 AM.
4. Create a healthy snack bowl (in and outside the fridge) with low-calorie/low-fat snacks in little sandwich bags. They’re perfectly portionable and a time-saver when you need to grab something on the go and don’t want it to be a candy bar and a Red Bull.
5. Take on the junk drawer (or mail tray) and dispose of all the junk. Better yet, create a cleaner “to-file” system for the day that it inevitably clutters itself up again.
6. Pile “stuff” in a bowl or tall clear vase for an everyday centerpiece. “Stuff” suggestions: wine corks, matchbooks, plain ball Christmas ornaments, pasta shapes, fruit, extra buttons, etc. etc.
7. Take the orange juice out of the Tropicana carton and place in a pretty glass pitcher. Ditto on the everyday glamour thing.
BEDROOM/LIVING ROOM
8. Post a poem (something that makes you smile) on a vanity/inside a drawer you see every day
9. Find little baskets to put inside drawers for organizations for things like scarves, socks, etc. (These are really cheap at Walgreens!)
10. Create a template for planning out the week ahead’s outfits to prevent the morning-of-closet-whine. Post on a French memo board in the closet or in an accessible drawer.
11. Give your spare-change coin bank more prominence. I moved ours from a back shelf to our desk and changed it to a clear container, hoping it will attract more loose coins this way.
Anyway, I made a couple of changes to how things are organized around here, and I have to say… it’s actually making me happier. So, I’ll list them here as idea-starters in case you get the bug too! I filed this post under time for money, because really, for a little bit of time spent organizing, you can ease yourself quite a bit of frustration and discontent, and save whatever money you would have spent self-soothing. If you have any other not-so-extreme-home-makeover-tips, please post them in the comments and I'll add them on later!
BATHROOM
1. Empty your mouthwash in a glass decanter instead of leaving it in the bottle. It’s pretty enough to set out by the sink and it reminds you to use it more often, in addition to the everyday glamour.
2. Remove everything from the bathroom counter that you don’t use daily – decluttering does wonders for my everyday happiness.
KITCHEN
3. Reorganize the pantry by meal occasion – a shelf for breakfast, a shelf for lunch/dinner, a shelf for baking, a shelf for spices. It makes the whole operation more efficient and saves you time when you’re looking for the oatmeal at 6 AM.
4. Create a healthy snack bowl (in and outside the fridge) with low-calorie/low-fat snacks in little sandwich bags. They’re perfectly portionable and a time-saver when you need to grab something on the go and don’t want it to be a candy bar and a Red Bull.
5. Take on the junk drawer (or mail tray) and dispose of all the junk. Better yet, create a cleaner “to-file” system for the day that it inevitably clutters itself up again.
6. Pile “stuff” in a bowl or tall clear vase for an everyday centerpiece. “Stuff” suggestions: wine corks, matchbooks, plain ball Christmas ornaments, pasta shapes, fruit, extra buttons, etc. etc.
7. Take the orange juice out of the Tropicana carton and place in a pretty glass pitcher. Ditto on the everyday glamour thing.
BEDROOM/LIVING ROOM
8. Post a poem (something that makes you smile) on a vanity/inside a drawer you see every day
9. Find little baskets to put inside drawers for organizations for things like scarves, socks, etc. (These are really cheap at Walgreens!)
10. Create a template for planning out the week ahead’s outfits to prevent the morning-of-closet-whine. Post on a French memo board in the closet or in an accessible drawer.
11. Give your spare-change coin bank more prominence. I moved ours from a back shelf to our desk and changed it to a clear container, hoping it will attract more loose coins this way.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Time for Money
I became an E-Miles member not too long ago, and have been pleasantly surprised with the experience. Here’s how it works, you wade through marketing messages and respond to surveys so companies can gauge how interested your demographic will be in buying their products and services. They give you miles to be added to an airline account of your choice.
Do I feel bad about whoring myself out to consumerism, you ask? No. I am smarter than you, Company. I know what I want and what I don’t. You can’t convince me I need things. And I already have to wade through marketing messages so I might as well get some compensation for the hassle. Right now I have only amassed 320 miles (most surveys are worth 5-15 miles for your time) but I don’t mind too much that it’s filling up gradually. The surveys are fairly short and it gives me something arguably productive to do on those Friday afternoons at four when there is no way I’m going to be getting work done.
E-Poll or American Consumer Opinion surveys are two other resources you might want to try (compensation based instead of airline miles... cash or gift cards) in case you're into the concept.
Do I feel bad about whoring myself out to consumerism, you ask? No. I am smarter than you, Company. I know what I want and what I don’t. You can’t convince me I need things. And I already have to wade through marketing messages so I might as well get some compensation for the hassle. Right now I have only amassed 320 miles (most surveys are worth 5-15 miles for your time) but I don’t mind too much that it’s filling up gradually. The surveys are fairly short and it gives me something arguably productive to do on those Friday afternoons at four when there is no way I’m going to be getting work done.
E-Poll or American Consumer Opinion surveys are two other resources you might want to try (compensation based instead of airline miles... cash or gift cards) in case you're into the concept.
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