Clean Sheets are Fine and Well, But..

As I mentioned yesterday, I am fairly terrible at managing money.  I just don't like to do it.  It's boring to me, and I hate to be bored.  I have a rather...um....relaxed philosophy about it.  Too relaxed.   My one saving grace is that I'm naturally pretty frugal.  For instance, one time my husband told me I should go out and purchase some new office furniture and I came home with a used sewing table from Goodwill for $30.00 and two cans of spray paint.  (The table looks great, by the way, and was just what I needed).

Anyway, it is precisely because I'm a poor manager that I decided early on in my marriage that I would tackle the responsibility of paying bills and balanced the checkbook.  I figured that if I didn't force myself to be involved, I'd really be ignorant.  And ignorance, my friends, is just about the worst thing with money.  And so I have faithfully done my job, and other than one late payment (sorry husband...), and a stack of unreconciled statements, I've managed pretty well over the years.

I get just enough regular exposure to our household finances through this job to develop a vision for the kind of money manager I'd like to be.  The kind I think I should be.  The kind who is intentional about her spending and savings goals, rather than a consumer drone on autopilot.

So, to improve my current quasi-drone-like status, I thought I would try a few things this fall.  One is to utilize a budgeting program and report back to you all on how it helped (or didn't.).  Another is to experiment with the timeless question: cash or charge?  And another is to dabble in existential thoughts on the role of debt and consumption in our culture today in a witty and yet provocative style (that last one is a bit of a stretch, so we'll see...).

Of course I'm doing all of this because managing finances is probably the most important element of keeping a healthy home base.  Clean sinks and fresh linens are fine and well, but well-managed finances are even better.  

See you tomorrow!

The Money Challenge--Breaking my Bad Habits

I woke up this morning, like everyone else, to news of turmoil in the financial world.  The words "crisis" and "disaster" were being tossed around by most of the news outlets, with fears of more to come.  

Given this news, it seemed fitting for me to start writing about another big part of my domestic experiment this fall--managing the household finances.  Now, I certainly won't use the words "crisis" or "disaster" to describe my finances, but I will say that the first part of my back to basics challenge--cleaning, cooking, etc.--is a lot easier for me than the money part.  I'd rather scrub a sink than balance my checkbook any day.  

Case in point:

*  months of bank statements are piled up waiting for me to reconcile them.  It will take me hours. 

*  the elaborate household budget I set up at the start of the year has been shamefully ignored.

*  even though I intend to, I rarely check my receipts to make sure they are correct.

*  I have no idea how much money I spend during an average month.

*  I do tend to shop when I'm feeling down and need a pick me up.  And I am a sucker for well placed advertisements enticing me to buy things I don't need.

*  and I buy all the wrong things on sale (practicing the art of "spaving") and rarely the right things

What I know is that these habits are not great, and that with a little strategy and some discipline I could clean up my act.  Fortunately, I do have some things going for me, namely that I'm not a big spender and I hate debt.  Unfortunately, my bad habits are keeping me from being a good steward of my resources (there's that stewardship issue again....).  

Obviously I have my work cut out for me!  Stayed tuned to hear more....

Also, check out what I have to say about the latest financial headlines on my current events blog, Cigars in the Parlour.

My Weakness for Laminated Routines...

I mentioned a week or two ago that I had this tendency when I was first married to get a little carried away with my domestic schedules (recall the laminated cleaning program...).  Well, I still find that I'm tempted to over-organize my routine, and then am doomed to never follow through!  The cycle goes like this:

Ah, this article about cleaning a little everyday sounds great!  Imagine how much simpler my life would be if I just did a bit here and there throughout the week!  Hmmmm...let me think it out.  I could dust the bedroom and living room after my shower and before my makeup.  I could run a quick broom over the kitchen floor while my coffee perks.  Certainly I could squeeze in some vacuuming here and there throughout the evening, maybe while I'm cooking dinner.  Let me just write this down...

Pretty soon I'm laminating again, and the rest is history.

The truth is that I don't love to clean (ironic, I know, since I write a blog about domestic life).  I'd rather be doing a million other things.  Like organize a flow chart about cleaning, for instance.  Also, I don't want to sweep the kitchen while my coffee perks.  I want to stand there and stare blankly into the foggy haze that is my morning before coffee.

So, after years of falling prey to this cycle, I've learned to step out of the laminated, over-routinized scheduled and just do these things regularly:

1.  Keep the kitchen sink clear of dishes.  It's amazing how much this helps.  I can see why the Fly Lady has the domestically desperate start with a clean kitchen sink.  It works wonders for sanity.

2.  Keep clutter contained.  I have accumulated a ton of baskets through the years and use them as my dumping ground for loose mail, magazines, my dogs' toys, laundry, etc.  Clutter stays off the floor and counters and in baskets.  Probably not the best long term strategy, but who cares?

3.  Make my bed.  Every day. (well, maybe not every day.  I'm not aiming for perfection!)

And that's about it.  No lamination required.  It's just enough to keep me focused on my work, and not distracted by my house.  And that, after all, is the whole point of this back to basics experiment--to do just enough with "home base" to equip me to reach my personal professional goals.