The AIO saga...

A couple weeks ago I got a free All In One (AOI) . The fax and copy part work, but I can't get it to scan or print from my computer as it is missing a needed driver.  Problem 1), I can't seem to find a driver on line.  Problem 2) I have no instruction book either so I can't trouble shoot. Problem 3) The people who gave me the unit don't have it either. 

The AIO is an Imagistics, made by Oce` and I can't find the make and model of my unit on their web site.  Frustrating.  The unit appears to be in a good shape and I'd really love to have a scan a thon one weekend. Right now it is sitting on a chair in my living room gathering dust. I'm working this weekend, but will be home on Sunday and will give it one last try.  If I can't find the drivers, this baby is outta the house. I don't have the space to "hang on" to it. 

In the mean time, I keep surfing the web for refurbished AIO's.  I did find one that I really wanted a couple months ago at a great discount price, but I waited too long and it got snapped up by someone else.  All Well, Snooze you Lose.

A Quiet Weekend In Which I Accomplished A Lot

For all intents and purposes, my weekend was quiet. Saturday was a grey rainy and unpleasant day. I did run a bunch of errands anyway-dump, post office, goodwill, library, and grocery store. I did treat myself to a pumpkin muffin and a fancy coffee at the new coffee shop one town over. They are an independent shop (not Starbucks or a chain) and I felt the need for a warm beverage after running errands in the cold and damp. I will admit it was really nice to sit in one of the comfy chairs, pick at my muffin, drink my coffee and stare moodily out at the rain.

It also gave me boost I needed to tackle my desk. One of my goals this year had been to go as paperless as possible. I have still not found an well priced multi page scanner as I had hoped. I had found one at Staples a few months back, but the unit I purchased was damaged and back to the store it went. Staples did not have another in stock and I was lucky to get my money back and not be charged the "restocking" fee. I have had a pile of papers and receipts that have been collecting in three neat piles on my desk for months. No excuses about this, time for it go away.

I made a mug of tea, put on the TV so I could listen to football games and attacked the piles of papers. I made new labels for my files, I re-organized my files, banking information, insurance information, personal information, fun stuff, work, continuing education, home, the new LLC ,etc. I organized my files for next years taxes. I had a pile of papers that I shredded with my neighbors shredder and then added the paper to my mulch pile. I think one of my neighbors must have thought I was mad, adding white paper to the mulch pile, but hey, it's paper and I added to the mulch pile that will not be used for the veggie garden (in case the ink on the paper was not soy based).

It was very cathartic to purge the pagers and streamline my desk. I like seeing the tidiness return to my desk and my bill paying area. It also made me realized I still have a lot of "stuff" to manage. Here is a partial list of what I have

Banking:

Personal checking account
Business account
Hobby account
Credit Union Savings Account
HSA Account
ING Account


Insurance

Home
Auto
Health

Retirement/Investment Account

Roth IRA
ING Sharebuilder

Loans

Mortgage
Student Loan
Car Loan


Yikes, even though I was aware of all of this, re-organizing my file cabinet made me even more aware of all of the above. I have not even touch on the home, hobby and LLC files that also got re-organized and worked on.

I topped off Saturday by meeting a friend for Pizza and Beer and then an early bedtime.

Sunday the weather dawned bright and clear and it was time to make the trek to the laundromat. I really miss a washer and dryer at the house. Even though I had pre separated and pre-treated my clothes at home, I still left some things that needed to be washed at home. I remembered when I was almost at the laundromat and said, dang it, they can wait. $18, 8 clean loads of laundry, and 2.75 later I was on my way home. I used the "down time" to call some friends I had not spoken to in a while. Not a total loss of time. The biggest upside to the laundromat, it that in two plus hours I can do all that laundry and have it washed, dried, fluffed, folded and put away. I used the sunny breezy day to air out my duvets. The feathers liked being caressed by the brisk fall breeze! I also made some fresh bread, made a batch of soup in the crock pot, and finalized my MUST BE DONE list for the house.

What has this got to do with personal finance. It's about taking some time to really assess where you are in your life and where you need to go. It's about taking a half an hour to scan your cupboards and menu plan for the upcoming week and plan your food shopping around that menu planning. It's about really knowing what is happening in your life and where you stand so an unexpected turn or surprise does not bring you to your knees. If you are working on savings or debt reduction plan, you need to be able to sit down every so often and just take some time to assess your progress and your plans and if need by, change what needs to be done with your plan.

I "knew" I had all these accounts, but until I sat down and re-did my filing cabinet, I had no idea that in the space of year I had acquired these accounts and I'm doing very little with them at the moment. I "know" I need to have some work done on the house, but now I really know what needs to be done. Part of my post BK filing promise to myself was to re-take control of my life on a number of levels. I've had to go back to square one in almost every facet of my life to get myself back on track. This weekend gave me the space to sit down and look at how far I've come, where I need to go and has given me some ideas on what I need to do. And that is a good thing!

Better on a Plan

I am just on a roll. Last night was a gym night off and I got a bunch of little things down around the house. I mowed the lawn, re-organized the small garden shed, did some weeding, swept the patio, swept and mopped my kitchen floor, started organizing the laundry for the massive trip to the laundromat on Saturday, made dinner and worked on my to do list for the weekend so I can plan for some ME time.

I've been very lazy about meal planning and working on my shopping list took some time and effort (I had to actually check what was in the food cupboards), but will be worth it. I've gotten back into the bad habit of shopping without a list and making some stupid purchases at the store. I've not been paying attention to my cupboards and subsequently I have 6 pounds of whole grain pasta,which I'm not sure I really like as a "base pasta" and almost no fresh, frozen or canned veg. My meals have been a little unbalanced in terms of the food pyramid. Planning out what I want for dinner that can carry over to lunchovers does take some planning.

Having a plan is a good thing. I'm shopping smarter, using up what is in my food cupboard so I don't end up with really old canned and dried goods, and I'm not tempted to just order that $6 mediocre pizza from the local takeaway. I'm feeling less scattered and more in control of what I am doing, which is a really good thing!

Frustration Factor

Just to add to this mornings post. I logged on to a couple of the web sites that have financial/money mangement programs I'm supposed to complete prior to the whole bankruptcy being discharged. With the bank holiday coming up this weekend, I thought this would be a good time to get one or both of the courses done.

Of course, you can't take them until you have a case number, and I don't have a case number yet. It's two steps forward, one step back.

I also took a good look at my house this am. The clutter has taken over again! I think letting the clutter collect is a reflection of my frazzled state of mind. My desk is a mess, I had hoped to go through all the piles and do an organize session. Did not happen. I have a bunch of stuff in my file cabinet that can be brought here to work to be shredded in the shredder and then maybe I can clear off my desk. I need to stick to my weekly plan as I stated I would.

I live in a really small house and the decluttering will be good to also help me free up some space in my living space. I have to be more diligent in the 1) Do I love it? 2) Do I need it? 3) Is it useful questions when I look at my things. The upside is that E-bay is now has free insertion fees so I'll see what I can sell on E-Bay, see what I can sell on Half.com, and see if I can't clear out some space.

AND I have to REMEMBER to BREATHE.

So Lets Take A More Upbeat Approach

As I re-read some of mys post, I realized they were DEPRESSING. Yup, plain old DEPRESSING. Time for a more upbeat post. While I am going through this process I've been reading a ton of other blogs, and the theme I keep seeing this week is about de-cluttering your life.

All in all, I think de-cluttering is a good thing. I live in a really small house it is 476 sf, yup thats 476 sf of tiny. No garage, no attic, no basement, one very small garden shed outback. When I pick up and organize I feel so much better, in control, able to face the day. Some of these tips may make me sound like your mother, but so be it, they work.

1) Put away your clothes. I'm serious, fold your laundry and put it away (closet, dresser, wardrobe). I spent two weeks looking at my laundry basket of clothes to be ironed. I spent an hour ironin my clothes and put them away. One less pile to stare at and I know I have something clean to wear at work.

2) Do a clothes purge. Go through your closet and look at what you have in it. Be ruthless, do you really need all those pants, shirts, tops? If they are in decent shape you can sell them on
e-bay, give to a consignment shop, donate to goodwill or post on freecycle or craigslist, or have a clothing swap with friends. This way you will have room in your closet to put away your clothes.

3) Take a couple hours one evening and clean off your desk or bill paying area. Don't do this after a couple glasses of wine, have the wine after. I'm a bit of an organization freak and part of what drove me to bankruptcy was allowing myself to become un-organized, seriously, I lost control of my life. Get either one of those expandable files or a set of file folders if you have a filing cabinet and organize your bills. If you are computer literate, sign up for electronic bills, save them to your computer and "file" the monthly statement. Even your power company may send you an e-bill. Having a clean desk is not the sign of an unproductive mind it is the sign of someone who knows whats going on in their life. This is also handy for planning your budgets (more on those later)

4) Sign up for the do not call list and eliminate the junk mail from your life as well. By spending about 10-20 minutes on line, you can drastically reducde the amount of unwanted e-mail, phone solicitations, etc in your life. I use a PO box for most my mail and when I pick up my mail at the Post Office, the junk mail is immediatley put into the recycle bin. I find the mail I pick up at my mail box will sit on my desk for days until I actually get around to dumping the junk mail.

5) Get rid of your old magazines, newspapers, books, etc as well. Books you can donate to the local library. I sell some on half.com .

6) Now this one may sound really wierd, but clean out your refridgerator. I like to cook and I have a bunch of half opened jars of all sorts of condiments, sauces and things just sitting in the fridge. I grabbed the garbage can and went through everything. If I did not use it in the past 3 months, out it went, check those expiry dates, salad cream with an expiration date of October 2006~ Dump it. I also wiped down the shelves, etc. I have less garbage in my fridge, not less food. And less chance of giving myself food poisioning. :)

Now you may say, why the cleaning frenzy? It's all about getting and giving yourself some space and clarity in your life. I tend to feel very overwhelmed when I look at my un-organized desk. Even just putting my bills in files, dusting, making neat piles of paper allows me to tackle one project at a time and not feel like I'm tripping all over myself.

Putting my laundry away means one less pile of "stuff" to look at. Giving away or selling things I no longer need,use,want, wonder why the hell I bought it means these items will go to someone who can actually use a fondue pot (yup I had a fondue pot and never used it, it moved with me 3 times in 8 years).

AND at the end of the night, yes I did treat myself to a nice large glass of wine.