Wardrobe Challenge

I was really inspired by a recent guest post on MoneySavingMom's blog about simplifying your life. Although I am pretty good at getting rid of things, I still feel like I have too much stuff - especially when it comes to clothes. Part of this is left over from when I didn't have a washer and dryer and only did laundry once every few weeks. Back then I had to have enough clothes to get me through a few weeks. Plus, my job had a strict dress code so I had to be very dressed up everyday. As a result I ended up accumulating quite a large clothes collection. I've been good at getting rid of things here and there but when it comes to really giving my wardrobe a makeover, I really don't know where to start.

So, I've decided to see how I do with a limited wardrobe for the next 2 weeks. This is what I chose:

I have:
3 pairs of pants - 1 khaki, 1 black, and 1 jeans
2 cardigans - 1 purple, 1 brown
2 sweaters - 1 pink, 1 tan and black
2 button down shirts
1 long sleeved t-shirt
1 short sleeved t-shirt
This does not count workout clothes, pjs, etc.

So, this doesn't seem like very much but lets look at the combinations.

Pink sweater x (jeans, khaki, black)
White shirt & pink sweater x (jeans, khaki, black)
Tan/Black sweater x (jeans, khaki, black)
White shirt x (jeans, khaki, black)
White/blue shirt x (jeans, khaki)
White/blue shirt, purple sweater x (jeans, khaki)
White shirt, purple sweater x (jeans, khaki, black)
White shirt, brown sweater x (jeans, khaki)

For more casual:
White t-shirt x (jeans, khaki, black)
purple t-shirt x (jeans, khaki, black)
White and purple shirts x (jeans, khaki, black)
purple shirt, purple sweater x (jeans, khaki, black)

So all in all, with this combination of clothing items I can put together 33 potential combinations. THAT IS MORE THAN I NEED IN 1 MONTH!

Plus that doesn't count accessories. I don't have much but I do have a handful of necklaces that I can rotate in and out to change things up a little bit.

So I am going to see how this goes. I am actually pretty excited about it. I tend to wear the same things over and over again anyway so this won't be much of a stretch for me. I am thinking I will move everything in my closet that is not part of the challenge over to one side of my closet so it is clear what clothing items I have to choose from.

I think it going to make getting ready in the morning A LOT easier too! One caveat - I am allowing myself some leeway based on the weather. Since it has been a bit variable here recently I may need to swap in some warmer options. :)

Nothing to say...

It was bound to happen, blog world. After a good month and a half of almost daily posts, I find myself with nothing to say. I have no shopping trips to tell you about. I haven't done any recent home improvement projects. I have no motivating quotes. In short, I got nuttin!

I know you are probably feeling very sad and alone right now. But don't worry, I am sure I will do something blog worthy soon. :)

Milestones

Ok yes I took a picture (but don't worry, I didn't take it while driving!)

My car hit a major milestone this week - 100,000 miles! Can you believe it?!? I got the car new in June 2003 so all of these miles were with me in the car. We've had some good times!

This is another example of how little steps can lead to something larger. Individual miles aren't much on their own but take 7 1/2 years worth of miles and you have 100,000. The same applies to nearly everything. Saving a few pennies here and there doesn't seem like much, but look at that savings over the course of a year - or even a decade - and it adds up to a significant amount. If you would have asked me 7 1/2 years ago where I would be at 100,000 miles I can guarantee you that I would not give you the answer that is my reality right now.

Anyway this got me thinking. For some reason, I am often asked when I plan on getting a new car. Because I can 'afford' to get a new car and 'afford' to have a car payment, it is assumed that I would want to do that. The thing is - I don't. My car is paid for. My car works just fine. I like my car. Why would I trade that for a monthly payment when I don't have to? I plan on getting a new car when this one stops working and I am hoping that won't be for a very long time! :)

Why I need a schedule

Prepare yourself blogging world, I am about to reveal something to you - my messy house! No judging here folks - this is an extreme example and is not representative of what my house normally looks like.

Anyway, this is why I need a schedule. When I get off my schedule bad things happen. I don't make my bed, laundry piles up, and apparently I just randomly throw things on the floor.

Exhibit 1: My bedroom - view from the door. Obviously this is a disaster.


Here is the opposite view:

Seriously, I must have just randomly thrown pillows around because they are not generally on the floor, even when I am asleep!

The good news is, even when something looks as bad as this mess, it only takes about 5 minutes to put it all back together.



And all is well in the world again.

Seriously though, this is why I need a schedule. When I have a set of goals I need to accomplish in a day, I tend to be more organized overall. I do not write "make bed" as a goal each day but I find that I make my bed automatically on days where I know I have a lot of things to cross off my to-do list whereas things tend to be more of a mess on days where I have no set plan. Moral of the story - having a schedule works for me. It might not be for everyone but it sure makes a difference in my life!

Fight the Fat

Image by Microsoft

Faithful blog reader(s), I have unacceptable news. I recently weighed myself and found that I have gained some lbs. Yes, multiple lbs.

And seeing as how I recently spent the weekend in the Happiest Place on Earth where the primary menu items are pizza, chicken fingers, and ice cream, I am guessing that the number of lbs is even more than it was last time I checked.

Something needs to be done about this!

Mickey Mouse

We now interrupt this blog to bring you some exciting news. I am currently in the happiest place on earth. You may experience a slight delay in blog programming due to this development.

Please be patient. We will be back to your regularly scheduled blog as soon as possible.

2011 Goals: Home Remodeling

This year I am structuring my goals a little differently. Instead of one long list of goals, I am going to separate them all by category. First up - home remodeling.

2011 Home Remodeling Goals
- Tile Backsplash for Kitchen
- Paint rest of house (dining room, hallways, living room, master bedroom)
- Replace light fixture in dining room
- Replace kitchen faucet
- Replace towel racks in all bathrooms

These are probably a little ambitious, especially because a few of these are above my skill level and probably will require that I hire a professional. But, whatever gets accomplished will be better than accomplishing nothing at all!!

I haven't set a timeline for these because some of it will depend on saving enough money for each goal. My plan is to pay cash for all of these renovations. I will update on progress as I cross things off the list!

I wash my soap.

There, I've said it. I wash my soap bottles....regularly. Today as I was cleaning my kitchen (and consequently washing my soap bottle), it occurred to me that this could be considered odd. But seriously, I just hate that the soap gets some dried soap on the outside and gummy in the cap.

The good news is that you don't need to use soap to wash your soap bottles - the soap is already on the bottle.

Anyway, I felt the need to get that off my chest.

I have a problem...

...whose name is Diet Coke.


Yes, I am addicted to Diet Coke (or more specifically, the caffeine in the Diet Coke). I try to limit myself but I still manage to get addicted to the stuff. IT IS A PROBLEM!

This week I've tried to quit cold turkey. This was a horrible idea because it resulted in 2 days of crazy headaches. I finally broke down and bought a package of those small 7.5 oz cans as a way to wean myself off.

Diet Coke you will not win!

Messy

Recently I've been having a little trouble keeping the clutter under control. Now a lot of this is because I've been out of town and otherwise running around like a crazy person but that is no excuse for the disaster that my house is quickly becoming.

As an example, here is my dining room table (which tends to be a catch all due to its location next to the front door).

In addition to the somewhat normal things (purse, mail, etc) you can see that a lot of not so normal stuff has been making an appearance (bug spray, garlic, box, etc).


Now, there isn't a cocker spaniel on the table but the general clutter is basically getting out of control. Needless to say, decluttering is high on my priority list.

My day...

It has come to my attention that my faithful blog reading population has been disappointed by my recent lack of posts.

Well faithful blog reading population, there is a reason for this! I have absolutely nothing vaguely interesting to report on. I know, I know, it is difficult to believe. But it is true. And I can prove it.

Welcome to my day.

It started by doing laundry. I did not take a picture of this because I am pretty sure everyone knows what laundry looks like.

Then I decided to run some errands. It all started with the post office. I needed to go to the post office because I ran out of stamps. I had two envelopes to mail. One was my electric bill so as you might imagine, it was crucial that I secure the necessary postage. Luckily, the post office had a very good supply of stamps and I mailed both envelopes. Whew, crisis averted. I think the post office looks like the building in Back to the Future.

Then I went to the library because I had to return a library book. I enjoyed the book immensely (will update on the book on a later post) and so while I was at the library I checked out the second book in the series. Very exciting. Bad news is that I forgot my library card. Whoops! So I had to wait in line for them to manually look me up in the system.

Then I went to GCF to drop off a small bag of household goods. I am trying to clear out some unused items but I haven't been overly committed to it yet. It felt good to get those few items out of the house though so hopefully that will give me some motivation.



Finally, when I got home I went to get the mail. Sadly, I only had 1 piece of junk mail. Bummer. This is what my mailbox looks like.









So hopefully you have not yet fallen asleep. I realize that my life is pretty uncontrollably exciting. It is ok to be jealous. :)

Beautiful Sunset!

One thing I like about living in "the south" is the fact that we have thunderstorms just about every night. While fun on their own, it just gets better when they are followed by a beautiful sky.

Surprises!

So I was really in the mood for ice cream tonight but I was trying to be good because I really didn't have any $$ left in the budget for things like that. So instead I stayed home to do laundry and just relax around the house. When I took my laundry out to put into the dryer, a surprise fell out!
JACKPOT! $5 fell out of the laundry! It was like a gift from the 'its Friday night and you should do something fun' Gods!!! So, I took it down to the Harris Teeter and got myself some chocolate ice cream. YUM! :)

Lunch time walks

Most days at lunch time I walk the length of a trail near my office. It is 1.5 miles out and then 1.5 miles back. It is actually a really nice trail

It follows a stream

And crosses over it occasionally

It is shaded and cool and overall a great place to spend an hour every day.

Why am I starting this blog?

Why am I starting this blog? To be honest, I'm not completely sure. I read money saving blogs and never thought I'd end up being someone at all interested in sharing my money saving adventures with the anonymous people of the internet, but here I am! I plan on using this space to chronicle my successful (and probably not so successful) attempts at saving some money, accomplishing my goals, and setting myself up for a financially stable future.