Clean Away
Where To Begin
It's not like a pie
Where you have the first piece
The whole center of the pie
The last piece
You have things
You have gifts
Things you need
Things you use all the time
Then some things you use once and awhile
I struggle with where to put everything
When you have little room
You have to make some tough decisions
I box up some things and put them aside for later
I try to keep track of bills
By organizing the receipts
Not an easy task
They can get easily overwhelming
I wonder if it is really necessary
What is the best way ?
I hate wasting time
Then again I hate spending money unnecessarily
I have bought file folders, file cabinets and Rubbermaid containers
I have even tried to do the Neat Receipts
We had trouble with that too
Current bills to pay stubs
From magazines to newspapers
To junk mail to advertising promotions
The current books and old time favorites
A balance is the key
Trying to find that balance takes time
Well worth it in the end
A clean and organized office once again
Questions & Answers
Comments
Dear Michael, you do the things you need to do. It's great to hear your positivity!
It's a real struggle to keep everything organized. "You have to make some tough decisions." Thanks for helping.
Compared to what I am faced with that was easy. I have a whole house to clear out and a hundred and one items to get rid of. I did get lucky a couple who is setting up house came by and right away they took two buffet cabinets, one large bookcase, an armchair, two swivel bar chairs, a kitchen cabinet and some smaller Items. That at least made a great dent for me. Hope you had a great weekend and will have an inspirational week ahead.
I accidentally deleted my comment while trying to edit it. So here it is again!
Very interesting, Michael! I'm trying to write out my own routine system for keeping up with current bills and financial obligations, and related details which demand constant attention, and which seem to punish us if they don't get done consistently on time. The system keeps it simple and effective. But describing it simply enough to be useable and understandable seems to be harder than doing it! One tends to just internalize one’s own systems without always consciously thinking about it or ever spelling it out in words!
You might be interested, though, if and when I ever get it written. But, essentially, it’s just a matter of devising a consistent routine that fits one’s own situation for keeping track of bills so that due-dates are never missed and there will be no penalties to be paid. It’s a good goal!! And I think that one’s own system will always work best for oneself. I certainly didn’t adopt someone else’s, except in applying basic principles which must be part of it and consistently practiced, if the objective is to be reached consistently, as it must be to make it work.
I knew I couldn’t trust my memory to keep up with all the details of paying bills on time, which, if not taken care of, could result in a lot of over-due fees and penalties, and at times, can interfere with personal matters and relationships.
With this system, all I have to do is check my list of the things that must be done and when, then do the ‘do’ and keep track of the ongoing activity after paying bills and paying for other expenses, which all leave less money available as a result, — in order to stay updated and to keep up with the obligations that can’t be ignored or avoided without various negative results.
It all ties together, but the deliberate act of paying bills can more easily be overlooked than making sure there is food in the pantry and paying for daily provisions of all kinds. So a system is needed to make sure it all will come out at the end of the month ‘in the black’, as they say. Haha.
My dad always told me to “be systematic.” I can hear him say it in my mind. It took quite awhile to fully take root, so I could benefit from it, though. I tended to organize mostly what I preferred doing, so that it took me longer to get ahead of all of it, which is necessary. This is like a woven cloth, with each thread necessary for a whole cloth. So I’ve ‘been there, done that’, having my share of loose ends and raveled edges along the way! Now I’m on top of it, thanks to a consistent system I made and work for my own situation. haha.
As to junk mail and advertising, there are NO penalties or punishments for just chucking them in the trash promptly. I do remove and shred all the personal ID information on them before chucking them, though. Too many cases of stolen IDs.
As to books and favorite keepsakes, they’re a life-long passion and love-affair and are kept and cherished, especially books. I have a few precious mementos from long ago, especially pictures and a few remains of beloved collections. I keep current pictures mostly online. But I prefer to back up personally valuable online stuff with ‘hard copy’ printouts.
Still, I must work at being reasonable. I’m trying to NOT keep adding more books, DVDs and magazines. There’s not a room in the house except bathroom and utility room without its stash of books, bookcases and even some saved magazines. I even have a copy of “National Geographic” from the month and year I was born, Feb.,1932, plus a few other precious oldies. Yeah\, the house is bursting at the seams! haha. I need to weed out some stuff.
The only subscriptions I now get regularly come with memberships in various things, which I throw out right after the month they’re for, after removing the personal ID on them. I’m not subscribing to any book clubs or paid-for magazines now. I’ve run out of room unless I tear our the walls and build bookshelves and storage into the wall studs! haha. If I designed a new house for myself. that might be part of its plan!! So much room is wasted on formal furniture that’s never really utilized, though some of that is among my keepsakes! haha. Having a mother who was a collector and keeper gave me a head start. hehe. (Also my George’s lifelong collections of books and other keepsakes!)
But, alas. It does “sink in” over time that one has to exercise considerable self-discipline to manage and coordinate all the various challenges and temptations of life to keep it all in balance, or else one pays the price, literally, which usually turns out to be more trouble and wastes more money and time than just consistently taking care of things as one goes along, especially the financial obligations. Those buggers NEVER pardon our neglect!
For awhile, one thinks that it’s bound to be either/or between taking care of the pleasurable personal creative dream life OR tending to the tiresome persistent real life demands. But, happily, it turns out that is not how it works. Keeping up with the “tiresome details of living” gives support and foundation to allow one to fully enjoy and indulge in the fun stuff which nourishes the soul more easily and consistently, with fewer ‘ups and downs’ and sudden setbacks in both and all areas of one’s life.
Sure, time and funds are determining factors, and are far from being inexhaustible for anyone. But being organized makes maximum use of one’s time and one’s funds, so that tiresome stuff gets done without ‘drag’ and unnecessary wasted funds, with plenty of quality time and sufficient funds to pursue fun stuff, too. If tiresome stuff is neglected, its repercussions build up and steal almost ALL one’s time and deplete one’s funds, just getting the otherwise avoidable results straightened out.
I couldn’t trust my memory to keep up with all the details, which could result in a lot of over-due fees and penalties. With the personal system I worked out, all I have to do is check my lists and printouts, to handle what I need to do about my bills and obligations and to keep track of the ongoing activity, so as to update and to keep up with it in timely, effective fashion. And I still have time to take care of my 86-year-old self and my home and to enjoy good health, beloved people and to pursue my favorite activities — with far fewer moments of panic when overlooking a bill or other tiresome obligation and making my loved ones worry about me.
I see that is your conclusion in your poem, too, but I detect some shadow of concern with HOW to organize the bill paying. Am I wrong?
Yes...balance is the key. You may very well be a "mini me". :) I totally relate to "Where to Begin". If only I had more room. Would I be more organized, or would more room mean more clutter?
So glad you wrote this poem. I no longer feel alone with my baskets of stuff.
I'm trying to organize things better in my home at the moment. Some of the problems that you describe sound very familiar to me!
I thrive in a balanced environment. I enjoyed reading your poem. It is well-balanced, indeed.
Oh how I can identify with all this. Add to the mix that we're renovating our house and the chaos is worse! However, in the end it's very satisfying to get things done. Then it piles up all over again!
Great poem!
Ann
If you are like me, it will stay that way for about a week. lol I have given up hope. I try to stay one step ahead of drowning in the detritus. :)
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