Almost the end

Christmas is done and New Years is almost here. How on earth did that happen? I had a bit of a fall down go boom in the Peter's of Kensington sale and then had a few other bits and bobs follow me home whilst out and about this weekend. I haven't included any gifts in the tally because that would be way too confusing with the ins and outs and my poor little brain would explode. Today I started on the craft room, which is why there is so many outs. I hadn't realised how bad it was in there, which is daft because I've just been tossing stuff in there for the last 2 months. I got the yarn corner wrangled and have put any WIPs into a blue canvas bag, so I know to go hunting in there when I finish a project. My goal is to get it sorted out before the New Year because it would be lovely to start 2014 with my craft room under control. I think it's been really good keeping the blog for the last few months. It's helped me think very seriously about what I'm purchasing and if I actually need it, as well as getting rid of stuff I just don't use. It feels good being able to tally up all my ins and outs and seeing that yes, most weeks I am actually slowing chipping away at my stuff problem. It's also helping me appreciate the things I do have. I'm making that conscious effort to think about if there's something I've already got that I can use. So I want to continue this in 2014. I'm aiming to get to a point where I'm not buying things I don't need just because I can.
 My other 2014 goals:
* get my orange star in derby
* money into my home savers account most pays
* knit at least 3 Christmas presents from stash
* start my Cert 4 in Practice Management or other health admin related qualification
* get more designs done and published
 * only 5 ins between now and when we go to Japan in March. Ins in this case count as anything that is not a necessity
* complete any WIPs in the WIP bag from this year
* react less to when my mother annoys me
* forward career movement

 In: 25
Out: 50
Totals
 In: 41
Out: 109

Pre-Christmas blech

So the last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy. I don't really have anything to say. I'm doing Christmas nails. I've just had to have ultrasounds done on my right shoulder and they've found that my muscles and tendons are fine, but that it probably means all the pain is in my joint, which is totally worse. I'm not amused.
 In: 2
Out: 1
Total
In: 16
Out: 59

No ins!

So I think this is the first week since I started where I achieved 0 ins. The only things bought into the house this week were Christmas gifts and replacement items. Our Christmas decorations got stolen out of the back shed (not quite sure who steals Christmas decorations, but whatever), so we did a quick k-mart run to replace them. I also had both my UV nail lamps die this week, so I've replaced them with 1 LED lamp, so they 2 counted as one out item. We finally went through one of the unruly cupboards and threw out numerous random things in there that we will never ever use again. So all up about 22 outs this week, not including all the packing boxes and bubblewrap that went out as well. This is our second Christmas without Brett. Last year, we kind of boycotted Christmas and went overseas and ate at a fancy colonial hotel. This year, we're staying home. It's the year we have Christmas with my husband's family and the niece's very first Christmas, so we can't pike or avoid it. I set the Christmas tree up and thought about how he used to do 3 and have accompanying room decorations and ornaments. He went into in a big way. It's sad and I miss him and it feels hollow setting up the tree and decorating knowing he's not with us anymore.

In: 0!!
Out: 22
Totals
In: 14
Out: 58

Early Post!

Ooooh a day early! Happy Birthday to Doctor Who! That wonderful show turns 50 today! To celebrate, my Derby team is doing a Doctor Who themed bout! I'm pretty excited. I'm painting my nails T.A.R.D.I.S blue and I'm wearing my BlackMilk T.A.R.D.I.S Dress and 4th Doctor scarf. I'm updating early because I have lots to do tomorrow, including seeing Dr Who at the cinema. I'm pretty excited. White Star testing for Derby is on the 15th of December and I am determined to pass! So by then I need to be able to do 20 toe push ups among other things. I think other than the cross overs and knee taps, they're going to be the thing that trips me up. I've sprained my rotator cuff twice this year, so it's a weak area. I can do 10 so far. I'm doing as many as I can every day and working on my side planks. I've got the okay from my physio and he's actually said that Derby is good for this because it's building up my shoulder and core strength, which should eventually stop my rotator cuff from being sprained again or at least so easily. So this week! There has been lots of shopping, but it has almost all been Christmas shopping. The only thing I've bough that wasn't is the Firefly board game. I'm so excited! It looks super complicated and I can't wait to play. So the last few weeks I've made plans to try and clear out things and it hasn't happened. So this week, no plans. The only goal for the week is to attend training and to work on my push ups and derby exercises as many days as possible this week.
In: 1
Out: 1
Totals
In: 14
Out: 36

Well after the last blog post, I got sick multiple times. It was super fun >.<. Basically I would recover and then come back down with yet another bug. Touch wood, I seem to be getting over it and I am hoping to remain healthy for a while. Because of all the damned illness, there hasn't been a whole lot of clearing out going. I managed to go through my clothes and get rid of 8 pieces. Which isn't many, but is certainly a start. I still have my underwear and socks to go, which is where I suspect there will be an impressive amount of clearing out. I even threw out a bottle of nail polish this week. That certainly felt like an achievement. I bought a dress and a Christmas Wreath and that's it for incoming lately. Part of this I daresay is being too sick to actually do anything, but I'm still pleased with my efforts. It's been a pretty crappy week at work, so I'm extra proud of myself for not resorting to shopping to try and "fix it". I wasn't even overly bad with the groceries. The whole being sick thing means there isn't really much to report either. I've missed derby for the last month, so tonight is going to be pretty brutal going back to it. Next week we have a Doctor Who themed match, which I am crazy excited about. I've got a TARDIS dress which I totally intend to wear, and then on the Sunday, I'm going to watch the 50th Anniversary episode at the Cinema. I'm thinking that next year, the bulk of my Christmas presents will be knit. Every year the commercialism of Christmas is annoying me more and more.
Out: 9
In: 2
Totals
Out: 35
In: 14

Ooops

So last weekend we went interstate for my Nana's 70th birthday. On the Saturday we went to one of my favourite shopping centers and on the Sunday we went in to the city to shop. And I did really well! I bought yarn and the buttons I'd been hunting for for the jumper I'm knitting. It has 2 large buttons on the front and a smaller button on each sleeve and I actually managed to find the 2 sizes in IDENTICAL BUTTONS! All in all I did very well and didn't actually buy anything else. This week I bought a dress for my Halloween costume and a pair of socks because Sugar Skulls! Mum accidentally broke one of our slow cookers this week, so I'm counting that as an out. We had 2 because one of them was huge and bought at a cheap shop when I was a uni student pretending to live out of home. Then this year our rice cooker died and so we replaced it with a fancy device that cooks rice, risotto, sears/sautees and slow cooks because it matched the kettle. We were never quite sure what to do with it because it was big and was useful often enough we didn't want to get rid of it. This weekend I had plans to go through my drawers and find all the sportswear I have that I don't wear for whatever reason and then promptly got an evil bug of doom that stopped me going to derby and meant that I spent more time sleeping and less time sifting through things than planned. In the following week I plan to go through the DVD and book collection and take them to 2nd game/book places. I try to do this every year or 2 to par down the number of books I collect, read once and then banish to the shelves. I'm realising I should perhaps do this to the dvd collection too because there are things in there that I look at go I don't even... So that's where we're up to. Nothing of significance really in or out this past fortnight, a few small bits and pieces out. I'm slowly starting to wrangle this mess.
In: 2
Out: 5
Overall:
In: 12
Out: 19

Staying track

So it's been a rough few weeks here. We lost our baby girl cat and that was really awful. We discovered that she was a huge part of our pretty much all of daily routines, so we had a big adjustment period. We went to the RSPCA yesterday and found a beautiful white boy, that we've named Charlie. He seems to be settling in well and enjoys looking out the windows and talking away. So normally when I'm super emotional, I shop. So I'm really proud of myself. I didn't do too badly, even having to help Mum by going to Ikea the day after. Yesterday I was super productive in the afternoon and cleaned out the kitchen and front room (I may be having guests this afternoon...) I through out a whole bunch of stuff I'd put on the kitchen bench in lieu of knowing what to do with it. This is a sure sign I didn't actually *need* the miniature set of Connect 4 I was holding on to. I think the next couple of weeks will be slow. Spring is well and truly here and I need to focus on the outside of the house. The garden is scary and needs some serious wrangling.
So the new total
Out: 14
In: 10

Nail Polish counts

So last weekend I sat down to swatch my nail polishes (means I do them once every week at least every few days rather than do a mani and decide actually not so much) and realised I had more than I could wear in a year if I changed the colour every week. To that end, nail polish counts. 1 in, 1 out. Still excluding top and base coats, because they do work on an in and out basis. I run out, I buy a new one. So week one was a bit slow. I have a pretty nasty shoulder injury, so I've been avoiding anything that could cause jarring/further injury. I did manage to completely empty a set of plastic drawers in the front room that was bought to keep my WIPs in that then turned into somewhere to hide things though. Also the cat has stolen a pair of my glasses. Does that count as an out:P
Week One's totals:
In: 5
Out: 8

One in, One out

So I have a stuff problem. Every week more things follow me home, but things don't seem to be outgoing. Aside from the fact that this is an expensive exercise in materialism, it's also creating a lot of unnecessary clutter. I am going to attempt 1 month of One In, One Out. My parameters: - Household items are not included, unless they are duplicates. So a blender is not included, because we don't have, but a slow cooker would be. - Yarn is not included. In the last 18 months I have bought 6 skeins of yarn that were not for a project that was started almost immediately once the yarn was obtained. Yarn oddly enough is not an issue for me. - Nail polish is not included at this point, unless I have managed to buy a second bottle in the same colour (base and top coats are not included) - Craft supplies (other than yarn) these only count if they are not for a specific project and will be consumed in their entirety over the course of the project. For example, 6 buttons purchased for a sweater do not counter, 6 buttons bought because they were cute/cheap count. - Small items general bought in multiples: a reasonable quantity will count as 1 item, so a project number of buttons total 1 item, not multiple items - Clothes totally count. I have an embarrassing amount of clothes and any incoming are to be balanced by outgoing. Socks, tights and underwear count. The only clothes that do not count are clothes purchased for roller derby. I have only just started and am still building up appropriate sports clothes. Clothes are the only place where it matters if incoming and outgoing match. An outgoing book does not match and incoming shirt. - Gifts do not count. Having said that, if they are duplicate of something I already own, one of the duplicates needs to leave. Where possible, incoming items should still result in some kind of outgoing. - DVDs are exempt - Video games are exempt - Finished objects from crafting projects balance themselves out, unless it is being given as a gift and then it becomes an outgoing. It is not counted until it goes out. - 1 Contigo coffee cup is allowed in without being counted to replace the one that was thrown out last week. This is a planned purchase to replace something I use 5 days a week, but haven't had a chance to replace. Any more than 1 counts as incoming. - Technology. Big ticket items are not included. These are only ever purchased as replacements or to fill a "need". Random USB cables on the other hand count. - Food and grocery type items are not included. These are day to day things. Random kitchen things are included. So where will the outgoing go? Items that can re-used by others will be donated to charity, or in the case of books and dvds taken to some kind of exchange. Otherwise they will go in the bin. Goals? Decrease the amount of clutter in my home and put more thought into my purchases. I need to stop buying random junk because it amuses me for thirty seconds. At the end of the month, I would like there to have been more outgoing than incoming. I will endeavor to put a running tally along with any serious achievements made.
So to get started, Day 1. Incoming: 0 Outgoing: 3 Today I cleared out under the coffee table. Some ribbon I wont use, an iPad case that was damaged and a damaged sticky pad were all put in the bin along with a bunch of rubbish I shouldn't have be hiding under the coffee table anyway.