More style for us!

I linked up my No Repeat November Week 1 post to the following blogs - check them out for more style ideas.

Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style

Mingle Monday at Life of Meg

Happiness at Mid-Life

I'm inspired by these - weekend reading ideas

Don't know what to do this weekend? Read these and enjoy.

Purging paper and found treasure at Midlife Mom Musings - Sharon cleaned up the paper in her kitchen and office and found money besides! I should be so lucky. I am starting today on the "clear off my desk" goal on my list though. I am determined to resolve each item on the desk not just move it so this will take a while. Then the file cabinets.

The twenty ideas method at How to be Chic - This post took me back to 9th grade when we were given a creativity test (part of living in a university town; lots of experimental tests) that required us to come up with an many ideas as possible for a variety of things. For myself I am going to apply this to two questions: What things can I do that are likely to make me happy? What do I want to do before we move back to California in 2018?

In My Own Style's post on How to make outdoor glass globe lights - I just like this!

Recipe Girl's yummy looking raspberry mango dessert bruschetta - I just want to eat this!

The kitchen island made out of a dresser at My make do and mend year - An idea for our next house

Spiked mango lemonade - This is possibly going to be my birthday party cocktail.

Stuff and our lives

Courtney Carver has been on a fascinating journey to reduce the influence of "stuff" in her life and moving to a much smaller home. She writes about the process and benefits so well in Why you should give away 50% of your stuff

Laura is rapidly getting ready to put her home on the market in preparation for a new life in Hawaii and writes about decluttering in her Getting ready to sell roundup post.

I'm so envious of both. I am ready to do the same although LA would be my destination. We aren't going anywhere for at least 4 1/2 years though and as a couple we don't yet have the same vision of our future living circumstances.

Nevertheless I slowly work away at what I can control. I've decluttered 47 items from our home this month and we brought in 7 new items of clothing for a net reduction of 40 items. So little progress but slightly more than one a day. I'll keep at it and look forward to the great clear out when we finally get this house ready to sell.

Weekend's Decluttering Items
2 spices never use, picture frame

Eyes fixed, "new" computer equipment installed, life is good

I had the cataract in my left eye removed earlier today and I'm home waiting for the dilation to go away so I can see how well I can see! Love this painless surgery - enough said.

This weekend I switched out computer monitors and the larger secondhand one given to us by our son is much easier to read. Yesterday he talked me through how to install the wireless router he gave us and how to set it up - while he had lunch at a taqueria LOL. I haven't tried the wireless aspect out with my Kindle but will later this week. The iphone3g awaits my getting out to buy it a new USB cord and plug as well as getting to t-mobile to set up their "bring your own phone" service.

Got to love helping your kids declutter by taking their old technology to replace your own hopelessly old ones LOL. Being such a laggard in the technology arena has its benefits. Now I have to figure out how to get rid of our old technology although the old phone will be easy as will my old glasses.

I'm off to contemplate my lovely life.

Today's Decluttering Items
Tiebacks for curtains we no longer have

The True Cost of Stuff and other interesting links

Head over to the mnmlist to read a thought provoking post about The True Cost of Stuff - how does it make you feel about shopping for new anything?

Want to store fruit and vegetables without plastic? Here's a guide from the Berkeley Ecology Center which also has lots of other interesting information. How to store fruits and vegetables

When the shopping urge hits you, read this instead How to be rich without a lot of money or stuff

Today's Decluttering Items
2 excess shipping boxes

Finding free fun things to do this summer and other interesting links

Just in case you don't know what to do with yourself this weekend, read these.


Free things to do in the summer at PTMoney

How a trip to Costco can work as an investment strategy one of a series of articles at NPR's dollar for dollar: adventures in investing

I'm not a movie character: hard but necessary wardrobe decisions where Vivienne talks about buying for the life you live not your imagined or desired life

You might want to watch and think about "The Retirement Gamble"

A great post over at The Family CEO - 3 Big Problems with Your Retirement Savings that references Frontline's show called The Retirement Gamble

Don't know how long it will be available online but it seems worth a watch!

An update to Part 4: Preparing for Retirement - Some great checklists for legal/financial documents

I just read a NPR story (From Grief Comes a Mission to Make Estate Planning Less Daunting) that referenced this website that offers checklists and templates for getting your act together by having the necessary legal and financial documents done. It also provides some links to other sites. The site is created by Chanel Reynolds whose husband died at 43 after being hit while riding his bike. (read her story here. His death was tragically early but also left a lot of complications as his wife did not know the passwords to their online accounts, they did not have signed wills, etc. although they did have some life insurance for him. Her new website is designed to help others avoid her predicament.

If you've been putting off all or part of this, perhaps this will help you get moving forward step by step. Tough stuff to think about so think about those who might have to struggle through dealing with things if you don't get this done while you can.

Check out some of my subscriber's blogs that aren't currently listed in my blog list for some great reading! You just might find a new favorite.

Not Dead Yet Style

Crafty Home Cottage

The Little Old Lady Stays Put

Nanny's Place

The Happy Homeowner

Seaside Simplicity

One last holiday gift for you

Courtney Carver posted this lovely gift on her terrific blog, Be More With Less, and I want to send it to all of you! Thanks for visiting my blog and for you lovely comments. I hope you are enjoying the last few days of 2012 and looking forward to 2013.

Top 5 posts from blog's first year

Since I know you've been wondering which of this blog's posts were read most often this past year, here are the top 5.

Joy of friendship

Choosing optimism

What to do? A whole day with no scheduled plans

No complaining - why is that so hard?

Why I'm not collecting Social Security benefits - yet!

Simplify Challenge Day 2: Kitchen and Meal Plan

This week I’m following along with the Life Your Way Simplify for Fall Challenge. Six days, six areas of the home to simplify. I’ll be sharing my progress here all week. 

First of all I want to share the link to a booklet put out by The Environmental Working Group - Good Food on a Tight Budget. These are the folks who have brought us the lists of dirty and clean vegetable and fruits as it relates to pesticide residue. Now they are focusing on nutritional value for the low budget shopper.

Now on with today's challenge results.  No way am I going to go through the whole kitchen in one day. It is already pretty decluttered although all the cabinets could use cleaning.  Another day LOL.  Instead I am focusing on the pantry, under the sink, and simplifying dinner planning.

Last year I moved some things onto the pantry shelves because they took up so much space in the cupboards.  I moved the coffee maker and blender back into the cupboards and candles and matches into a drawer. The mixer and box of good silverware stayed in the pantry as they don't fit anywhere else.  I consolidated the dog's supplies near each other and put the extra vitamins and medicines in a drawer. Threw away a candle and put a set of coasters in donation bag.

Looks better and roomier. We don't shut the doors unless we have guests so looking better is a good thing!   Yes, we do keep our dictionary with the cookbooks so hubby can look up words in the morning while he works the jumble in the paper and drinks his coffee in the kitchen. That is the "new" dictionary I got for $5 from the library used book sale stash.  It replaces our 40 year old one that was coming loose in the binding.  Look closely and you can see the fire extinguisher and flashlight too.

Under the sink just needed to be cleaned so I also found a few things to put away that were on the counter and frig top and wiped them down too. 

I don't like to meal plan in detail. I am a think about it in the morning and cook it in the evening person. I do want to make grocery shopping easier and cheaper though. So I have decided that each week we will have dinners built around the following: Fish - 2 days, Vegetarian (including eggs) - 3 days, Poultry or meat - 2 days. I think this will simplify deciding what to buy each week.  I need to find more vegetarian dinner options and pulled out one cookbook to start going through.

I'm glad this was an easy project because the mosquito spray has arrived and, since there was no rain predicted for three days, I hauled the hose around both the front and back yards and sprayed this morning before I started this project.  That is always a good workout for the upper body!

What did you focus on today?

So where is my stuff from and who makes stuff in the US?

After writing yesterday's post I decided to go see where the 66 items hanging in my closet were from.  No surprise, it turns out they are quite a well traveled internationally - more so than I am!  The surprise was that I actually have 3 items of clothing made in the USA.

So here's the breakdown:
3 - Bahrain
6 - Bangladesh
4 - Cambodia
25 - China
4 - Hong Kong
1 - India
1 - Indonesia
1 - Japan
6 - Jordan
1 - Mexico
1 - N. Mariana Islands
2 - Sri Lanka
7- Vietnam
3 - USA
1 - Unknown

I also stumbled upon a list of manufacturers of clothing and other things that make their products in the US.  The blog China Ate My Jeans  provides a list of made in USA resources.  If you are interested read the comments section on that page as their are other recommendations.  I learned from her post that Karen Kane clothes are made in the USA now and I know I've seen their clothing at Macys (Dillards and Belks are supposed to carry them too) so I will have to pursue that although they don't look like my style.  I think it would be a huge challenge to stop buying things made elsewhere so additional options would be to buy secondhand items to prolong their life at least and to actually wear out the clothing you have now.

I want to be clear that I think everyone in the world should be able to earn a good living.  I am focused on the environmental cost and the human cost of lowest cost production.

If you ponder and/or act on this, please share how you approach it and any resources you have found - not just limited to clothing.

More resources on when to take Social Security

The Wall Street Journal has a great summary article about When to Take Social Security that provides links to a variety of calculators that will help you with your planning.

What we learned on vacaton about housing decisions

In my limited observations, one of the most difficult decisions related to aging is what kind of housing to have at different stages of life.  I have seen one person handle this extremely well.  She was in her late 80s, single and healthy when she decided to sell her single family home and move into a retirement apartment complex.  She carefully disposed of everything she wasn't going to take with her, prepared her home to sell, researched the potential retirement home options with a focus on only those that were rentals and offered some additional assistance such as meals and availability of short term nursing care, and then moved forward.  Why only rentals?  She is quite aware that her situation could change suddenly requiring a greater level of assistance and she did not want her money tied up in a property that she would have to sell to be able to afford care.  Good move in light of the real estate debacle that has occurred since.

Then there is a relative who impulsively put his home up for sale without thinking through what kind of housing would come next.  The desire to be rid of the cost and effort of a single family home is understandable - I feel the same way.  Once this person started looking for the next housing options reality set in as none of them were as nice as the current home.  After much discussion and with the advice of another relative who is a realtor, he was able to cancel the sales contract with our help.  Is his current living situation ideal?  Absolutely not but a lift has been installed on the stairs and other changes can be made as needed.  Is he willing to move into the type of housing available that better meets his needs?  Not at this time.  Can he afford to stay where he is and hire additional help?  Yes.  Is he sleeping better and feeling less stressed since taking his house off the market?  Absolutely.  Just imagine the stress and difficulties if the house had been sold and no decision had been made about next steps.

My husband and I talk about where we want to live once he retires in 5 1/2 years.  We know our current home and yard are untenable.  We want to live nearer to family and probably near a coast.  We tend to focus though on where to live geographically and not on what kind of housing and financial arrangement would be appropriate.  That is something we seriously need to talk about over the next few years.

Here is a link that can help you and your loved ones think through this important decision - Senior Housing Options

I found the best list yet of decluttering questions on Pinterest the other day.  They are from The Red Chair Blog and you can get a cute printable version here.  

I'm going to list them out though because I think they pretty much cover the hard decisions.

Do I love it?
Is it useful or beautiful?
Did I choose to bring it into my life?
Would it be hard to replace if I needed it again?
Do I need to save it for tax or legal reasons?
If I were free from guilt, would I still keep it?
Have I used it in the past year?  The past 5 years?
Does it fit with my vision for the life that I want to lead?

Happy decluttering!

Do you make iced coffee drinks?

I really, really prefer coffee over tea and love the summer blend iced coffee at my local favorite coffee house and roaster.  I've been making extra coffee in the morning and putting it the frig however so I can have iced coffee in the afternoon.  Sometimes I not only add non-fat milk but also through in a bit of sugar and vanilla to flavor it.  We use a French press to make coffee.

I haven't experimented beyond that and would love some suggestions.  Here are some recipes I found on line but haven't tried.

The Pioneer Woman coffee concentrate approach - I like her suggestion of hazelnut syrup - wonder where you get that?

A simpler approach with hot coffee - this is basically what I do except I hadn't thought to dissolve the sugar in a bit of hot coffee - oh well, I'm trying to cut out added sugar anyway.

Oprah magazine suggests an iced coffee frappe - the added chocolate syrup part sounds good to me!

Interesting Links

Here's some weekend reading for you.

The Financial Diet - This describes exactly the approach I have been taking.

Are you trying to reduce your footprint?  Check out Change the World Wednesdays for their weekly challenge and comments from people around the world on their successes and challenges.  The global perspective makes this particularly interesting to me.

• This week's challenge: This week we're going to track the driving trips which WE DON'T TAKE. Yep ... for every time that you walk, ride a bike or simply choose not to make a trip, keep track of it (you can download an Excel tracking chart HERE). At the end of the week, please come back and share how many miles you didn't drive (and money saved, etc, if you also track that information). We'd also like to hear about your strategy for meeting this challenge. This is based on an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled The Road Not Taken May Be a Key to Driving Less. 

Are you spending money where you don't want to? over at the Non-Consumer Advocate raises some interesting questions.  My answer is similar to hers - cable tv and house and yard that are costly to maintain even when nothing major goes wrong.  Then there is the cost of dog grooming and my haircuts which I can understand from the perspective that the service provider has to earn a living but it still bugs me.

Real Simple has some recipes that look good - Easy Mexican Recipes

Check out this NPR series on Life in Retirement

Life in Retirement: The not so Golden Years

I stumbled across this and found it interesting and thought provoking.  Hope it is the same for you.

An addition to yesterday's post

Go on over to Retire in Style to see her post that adds to the links I shared yesterday - Permission Granted: You are Allowed to Guard Retirement Money