Source: Free Clip Art Now

I have been working on building another website. It is called Lupe Shop and I will be selling various other items. Not guitar strings, music CDs or my eBooks. But new items that are needed for home and garden. I have enjoyed working with my husband on this project. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time now. The ultimate store with good quality products. All name brands which is good because they come with warranties.


Still my uncluttering project has been taking a lot of my time also. But.......it is coming along! Making so much progress. I found it hard in the beginning to get rid of things I kept for sentimental reasons. But now, I am just doing it. I have carried around some things from my childhood for way too many years now. Time to rid myself of these items. Besides if I rehome these items now, then they will be in a safer place rather then when nobody wants them. That is when they get taken to the dump.

It is easy to hold onto things, like books, so you can sell them. But they do not sell instantly and you are stuck with them taking up space. You can put them in a garage sale or do what I am, give them to someone who really wants them. I am looking forward to taking the books to this lady's house this week! Ten boxes of good quality books! I can't believe I had that many boxes.

We want to make our house basically, clutter free. I want to use the computer for movies and music. No piles of stuff! What about you? Do you have a way of dealing with all your stuff? How do you manage it? Does it ever get the better of you?

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
 

Work On Your Goals One By One

Photo Credit: Jon Sullivan

Have you been working on your goals list? I have. Sometimes, I think I have too many goals. Then I read the motivational books and they say, "list a lot of goals." So I do. I have so many things I am working on that at times it can be overwhelming. But then again, it is better than sitting on a couch watching television! Do you ever put goals down and never look at them again? Maybe come across them months or years later, then think to yourself, "now if I had done that look where I'd be today."? Many times! More times than I like to remember!

One of my goals lately has been to reorganize my upstairs area. It is a place where I store my books on bookshelves, my good clothing, photo albums and our inventory of guitar strings that I sell online. I also had boxes of paper......yes, boxes! Some of that paper is needed and has to be filed. Other, or rather, most of it is junk mail and stuff saved for no real purpose. So in the wood stove that will go! You can not hold onto stuff because you think you one day might need or use it. Out it goes.

I have held onto many books. Books I have read. Books I might one day read. If I haven't read it by now, out it goes. I am reading some books and when I finish them will list them in my Bonanza booth and hope they sell. If they don't sell after a certain period of time, I will take them to my thrift store. My goal is to empty this area out by spring.

So working on this one goal isn't really that hard. I am committing myself to spending at least 30 minutes to one hour upstairs every morning working on emptying out something. Maybe one box of paper. Maybe arranging my photos in an album. Maybe going through my clothing. Maybe finding more books to list in Bonanza. But something. At least do something toward that goal every single day till it is finished. I will always be further along since the day before.

What about you? What goals have you been working on? Have you been doing something daily toward achieving your goal?

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Making Lists And Following Them

Running Errands........not my favorite thing to do!

I have not been able to open my  business bank account as I said I would in an earlier post. Why? Because I am not organized enough yet. I have been uncluttering certain areas of my home. Getting rid of anything I have not used in the last year or so. If it doesn't fit it is out of here! If I read it then it goes too, unless it is a book I use for reference. You know you keep those books you loved thinking you'll reread them. But do you? Rarely. I have read my Gone With The Wind book at least ten times, but not in the last 20 years now. Maybe I'll take a peek at it again..........so I will keep that one. LOL

Today I have errands to run, laundry to wash, zucchini bread to bake, groceries to pick up, horse feed to buy, go to my father's and pick up my son. He is coming home after spending a week with his 91 year old grandfather. Then he will be staying with us until he can find an apartment in Greene, NY, the small town near us.  So no time to do those jobs like going through my papers and filing them. But I KNOW those are the very jobs I should be doing as they hold me back. That has even cost me some money. Twice I was late filing a paper for NY state sales tax and it cost me $50. each time! Only because I forgot about it and lost the paper in the mounds of paper that needs to be gone through and filed or thrown out.

So AFTER, I get home and have done my errands, I will be going through one of those boxes. Then I will update my goal list and my to-do list. That is my starting point for the new month that is coming up. The roladex needs updating as well as the calendar on the wall.............one in the kitchen and one in here above our computers. So we can see it all the time. My brand new address book that I bought two years ago is waiting to be used. I normally carry one in my purse, in case I need an address or phone number when I am out. I have missed that and I used to always carry one.

One thing I have actually done..............I keep our credit card accounts in a check book register for each card. I carry them in my purse so that I can always check how much is available before I use the card. That way I have avoided over-the-limit fees. I have always gotten in trouble with the cards that have a yearly fee and they sneak in when I am not aware or remember it. Because we are paperless, my husband has one card that has a fee and I don't get the email or see the statement when it is due. It seems to not be due at the same time every year. Sneaky!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole