Wk 29 SYL Paper & Information Management

UGH! I had to make myself a cuppa for this one hehe

I have just organised my office again, but i know my filing cabinet needs a weed out but "out of sight, out of mind" you know?

At the moment our collection area is the dinning room table, I can't wait to have a nice area in the new entry way. Although I need to do something for receipts to keep them under control and sorted for tax time.

I'm in the process of putting my routines in my iPhone as I have my planner open on the day, and I keep forgetting to open it a few pages back.

I keep items that need action on my roll out desk drawer under my desk, very handy.

I have a two drawer filing cabinet, the lower level has all our warranties and instruction manuals, although I think I might add a folder for what each item is. The top level is for everything else.

And a four drawer little desk cabinet that I have my business paperwork in one drawer and another drawer for the sustainable housewife blog and page, one for hubby and one for me.

I need to catch up on my emails mine are currently at 10400 something eeek! I plan on going through the days emails plus another 10 and hopefully I will catch up soon. :/

SYL Wk 28 Cleaning

Oops I didn't realise how much time had passed with my head stuck in my new business.
Reading through Week 28, again I am in my element after all this is why I started my blog. To set up cleaning routines and see my progress. It has helped immensely I can't believe the transformation in just five months. I can't believe the way we used to live YUCK!
I love Flylady's 15 minute approach, and have slowly worked out a weekly, daily, monthly plan. But if I miss some things it is ok because I focus on one part of the house for one week so I know it will come around in another month, takes a lot of stress off me.
If you want to check out this post about my routines or my facebook page I try to post up twice daily 5 minute missions to keep you motivated. I also post up de-cluttering missions to keep on top of clutter because if your house is cluttered it's impossible to clean.

Sunday Review

I haven't done a weekly wrap up or a blog for that matter for a little while, I decided to start my own business! HA bet no one saw that coming! To be honest, neither did I but I'm loving every minute of it.
It all happened rather quickly, a local pet minding franchise was selling and they wanted a bit of money for it but after going to the accountant and seeing the figures it just didn't look like a good deal to have to pay back that loan for nearly four years before I started to see a profit. My mum, even before I saw the accountant said, "why don't you start your own business?"
"Don't be silly! I couldn't do that!" I replied in horror, the idea scared the pants off of me! But after seeing the accountant and mulling over the business I could see the potential and the excitement grew.
Also seeing the horrible news about the local dog thefts for suspected dog fighting in Newcastle just broke my heart, I mean people have to work to have the life they want for them and their pets they can't stay at home worried about some low life stealing their dogs. I was upset I couldn't do anything to help I felt so useless! Now with the business I can be with people's pets to deter these sorts of pets, I get a lovely warm fuzzy feeling.
I floated the idea on local mummy and pet fb pages and the response was great, so I jumped in and set the business up. I try not to think to far ahead otherwise I'll just scare dinner out of me, and just focus on one day at a time. I already have a client and starting another client this week, helping her get on top of housework while she recovers from a sore knee. And kitty sitting a friends cat who's made himself right at home :)
I still have to pinch myself that I get paid to walk and cuddles these gorgeous animals, talking to my dad and nan about my business yesterday at lunch and they couldn't believe how much I charge to just walk a dog, they nearly fell off their seats when I told them that I have undercut the other pet minders in the area and also offer half priced on your fifth visit and seniors get 10% off all year round. It is unbelievable the prices that some people pay and I'm not in it for the money I do it because I love animals and it makes me so happy to see them happy.
And Master A is walking now! it happened rather quickly too, the same speed the business grew he would walk that little bit longer, take that extra step every day and now he's a real little boy. It's a perfect example to make sure I don't become so consumed by the business and to take notice of my family.

wk 26 & 27 SYL challenge

wk 26 is about simplifying what we have, make sure everything has a home and it lives where it makes sense to us, not our mother or neighbour but to the people living in the home. And to really take notice of our hot spot areas, glad to know I'm not the only one who uses that terminology, and to assign homes to the hot spot items.

When I have a hot spot growing, I like to clear it then put something pretty or functional there it makes it a whole lot less likely that I'll let piles pile up again.

Since moving back into our own home, I've been very mindful of where things go. For instance, in the kitchen the cups were in another cupboard a few steps away from the kettle and in a smaller cupboard, crazy right?! I de-cluttered my plastics and jars I've collected and swapped where they lived, that led onto the whole pantry and every other cupboard and drawer being inspected and changed, lucky I have a teeny tiny kitchen so it only took half a hour.

wk 27 is about starting to create routines. I'm in my element! At the start of the year I didn't have any routines and was always playing catch-up, it was so stressful. Now with the routines I have in place I feel a lot less calmer and I still can't believe it was so easy. Now the blog and Facebook page are helping me stay on track as well.

I post a lot of my routines and the like on my blog and Facebook page daily so feel free to have a look for more of a idea. But some of the routines that pop into my mind, are meal planning for a month and buying the groceries once a month, using the slow cooker. Just dump the food in and in 8 hours...hello, dinner!

I clean out my fridge once a week and check the pantry once a month.

I bought a planner at the end of June and a business card holder. I love both of them and don't know how I ever lived without them.

I have a weekly review of my week usually on a Sunday and plan for the week ahead and write up a little blog to keep my motivated.

Hubby says he is going to make a covered entry room so I can have a big launch pad for mornings, I can't wait! Will definitely blog about it when it happens.

Natural Spider Repellent

Ever since having my son, I've become a whole lot more wary of using sprays and items that have ingredients I can't even pronounce. I'm slowly but surely replacing and finding alternatives for the chemicals I use.

I hate spiders! I'm ok if its a non-venomous spider and when they're on the other side of a big room, they can sit there and eat all the bugs they like. Any my cats love to watch them walk and try to catch it, if they have ever caught a spider I haven't found remains yet *shudder* I hope I never do. But if the spider is in the hallway or right over my head, or it is poisonous. I feel bad but you really have to go!

We have the old style sash windows, with lots of lovely places for spiders to hide. When we moved back after renting out our house for six months the cobwebs and red-backs made me have to put my head between my knees and breath into a paper bag. I grabbed the hardcore bug spray and sprayed the windows then grabbed the vacuum cleaner and sucked the webs and spiders up. After panicking that a spider had managed to escape the spray and gotten inside the house! And my neighbour and I ripping the lounge and blankets apart to make sure it was safe, well ok. I ripped everything apart while my neighbour pee'd herself laughing.

So now the windows are spider clear I want to find a natural way to keep the spiders away.

Did you know spiders taste through there feet? Lucky they have eight!

All you need is a citrus essential oil mixed with water in a spray bottle. That's it! But make sure it's essential oil as it seems to be more potent.

Spray this across the doorsteps and windows, really anywhere you don't want the spiders to make a home, but make sure it dries before letting pets and children near it.

So hopefully with this natural repellent my lovely neighbour can have some peace and quiet from now on. :D