An Update

I thought an update post would be in order since I've only been posting a recipe or DIY post once a week. I also didn't have anything ready to post last night/early this morning.

So here's what we've been up to:

• Our debt repayment schedule is still on track and we're looking to be debt free this spring hopefully
• We're done getting Christmas presents and I have renamed my savings account "The House Fund". It only has $150 at the moment but it's a start. If I go back to work we should be able to have a decent downpayment in a year or so.
• We've decided that we cannot deal with the renting situation for much longer and would like to buy a house. There is too much noise from neighboring apartments, people are smoking in our building, there was dog poo just outside the elevator for an entire day which is strange considering our lease said we weren't allowed to have a cat or dog, repairs are still not done after nearly a year and a half and our rent will be going up again in June. Why not use that money towards a mortgage payment and have something to show for it? We're just in the beginning plans of this but hope to be out of here in a year, we would have to upgrade by then to a larger space anyway
• I'm working on updating my resume and will be out looking for a part-time job probably later this week. We need the extra income to save up for a house and I would like some adult interaction. Jon works from home and makes his own hours so he can hang out with Alice while I'm gone for a few hours a couple times a week. Alice is just now starting to eat a lot more solids and use her sippy cups, so she is finally able to go for more than 2 hours without nursing.
• With the exception of maybe once a week Alice is asleep by 8pm and stays asleep for 3 hours. She still wakes me up a lot at night but it's slowly getting better.
• I'm nearly consistently getting up around 8am now. Alice gets out of bed and plays until she needs her diaper changed and then she comes to wake me up, usually by putting a diaper on my face and yelling and patting at me. It's super cute. We let Jon sleep in a bit since he stays up late working most nights.
• I haven't managed to go out jogging since the initial failed attempt from a while ago but I'm still hopeful that I can start again at some point. I would like to try to get up a bit earlier to accomplish this.
• The basil and tomato plants have finally died off. I now have a renewable source of fresh green onions in my windowsill nearly ready to use. I have a couple of avocado pits that I'm soaking in water just to see if they will sprout. It's a fun project that doesn't cost anything and takes almost no effort.
• We've done takeout just a couple of times and done a fair bit of shopping but nothing we feel guilty about. We don't spend a lot, we don't buy impulse items anymore, most of what we get is stuff we actually need.
• Jon did a bunch of studio upgrading since a lot of software was on sale for very good prices, he can write everything off as work expenses on his taxes
• I picked up a small Ikea high chair from a seller on Craigslist, it takes up about a third of the space the old one did. Now I just have to give the old one a quick cleanup and we should be able to resell it.
• I'm doing even more decluttering. I've decided that I don't need the 3 pairs of high heels I have. There is very little chance I will wear them. They were all fairly pricey so I should be able to get a decent amount of money for them on Craigslist. I love them but I will sacrifice them for the house fund. Same goes for the couple of nice dresses I own, I only really wear dresses in the summer and then it's the same 2 or 3 sundresses.
• Alice has a lot of toys and shoes that have been outgrown so those are all being sold as well. All of the toys that will be left are all things that she should be able to play with for the next 2 or 3 years. She also has a few Christmas presents that will replace the things that we are getting rid of. 
• I have a lot of household projects on the go that I intend to post here on the blog, I'm going to try to post more often. I have to make laundry soap this week so that post will be coming up soon
• Jon made me a little shelf for over my baking/sewing table. It makes it easier to quickly grab ingredients needed for dinner and baking and makes my kitchen look more organized
• The meal plan is a bit different now. I no longer plan a month of meals in advance, I found I was constantly going out to the store to pick up more meat or special ingredients. We've been placing a meat order with the butcher, they have set orders for set prices and we've also been picking up anything canned, frozen and bulk that we need early in the month. Now we just pick up fruit, veg and dairy once a week. We still have a ton of meat left and it's nearly the end of the month so we shouldn't need another meat order until halfway through December. We're also not sticking strictly to the $250 food budget. Last week I only had $20 left which was enough for the fruit, veg and dairy for the rest of the month but we were low on cereal and it was on sale for a very good price so I took out an extra $20 and bought 3 boxes as well as tooth paste and some other items.

I think that's about it for what's been going on around here, we plan on having Christmas at home by ourselves this year so I have to think of a menu for that.

30DC2 - Day 11

Today was our appointment to take in a bunch of Alice's old clothes for consignment, we had 2 big bags of stuff and thankfully they took almost everything. Alice got to play with the owner's baby while she sorted through everything, we don't know anybody with kids so it was pretty exciting for her to get to play with him. It was pretty damn cute.

We didn't have any lunch stuff around and didn't really have time to throw something together before going out so we stopped at a pizza place for a poutine for me and a donair for Jon. He's excited because he figured out that it's the exact same thing as a shwarma and he frigging loves those things. He would eat one every day if he could.

We needed to pick up a few groceries while we were out, spending another $18.28 on:

• 4 bags of pasta @$0.99 each
• bag of almond granola $3.79
• 2 1/2ish pounds russet potatoes $1.74
• bag of coconut $1.59
• bag of frozen edamame $1.99
• package of hot chili peppers $1.69
• can of black beans $1.29
• 1 3/4ish pounds of nectarines $2.23

We're going to have the edamame for lunch tomorrow and Jon has requested another batch of coconut macaroons of failure .

We got started on the cleaning after we got home. Alice had soup for dinner last night and she smeared it all over the high chair so I gave it a bath in the tub this morning so that she could have breakfast in it. It made a big mess of the tub so I ended up just cleaning the whole bathroom just to get it over with. I folded and put away the laundry that I washed yesterday and Jon did the dishes from yesterday. I did dishes again while Jon gave Alice a bath after dinner.

For dinner we had cheesey Mexican rice, we have 1 block of cheese left now and still a couple of dishes to go that need cheese coming up. We watched the last episode of the new Torchwood series, I liked it but Jon didn't.

We still didn't get around to vacuuming and mopping and our floor looks pretty terrible. We'll have to do that first thing tomorrow, there's bits of dried food everywhere since Alice's new favorite thing is throwing food when she starts to get full/bored. She likes to snack on the stuff later in the day and it grosses me out pretty bad. Most of the time I don't even know what she's eating.

I got some wet mop cloths from the dollar store for $1.25 for a 10 pack compared to the $7.99 for a 12 pack for Swiffer wet cloths. Hopefully they smell good and do a decent job. I was going to wait until I had a $2 off coupon again and get the Swiffer ones but this is way cheaper!

I'm going to take a trip to Value Village to drop off the stuff they didn't take at the consignment shop as well as a couple things of mine that I decided to part with the other day when I decluttered my clothing a bit more.

The coat and shoe closet is stuffed pretty full right now so I would like to tackle that tomorrow too if I find time.

How to declutter and make money from your closet

[posted by Holly]
I bet you have a closet full of stuff that you haven't worn in quite a while (or at all!) but you're still holding onto "just because". Maybe it's something nicer than the usual things you wear but you picked it up because it was awesome or on sale and you were determined to find an opportunity to wear it. Maybe it still has the tags on it or maybe you did get a chance to wear it... once... 3 years ago. "But I might still wear it again!"

Be realistic. If it still has tags on it after 6 months then it needs to go. If you bought it specifically for one event and can't think of when you might need it next then it needs to go. Same goes for stuff that doesn't fit, if it's more than one size too big or small then you should get rid of it, trendy seasonal items, shoes that look awesome but pinch (that means they don't fit!), costume jewelry, anything worn out, ripped or stained.

After having a baby I did a massive closet crackdown. Most of my shoes were now too small and I had things I was hanging onto hoping for a chance to wear or I would miraculously shrink into from BEFORE I even got pregnant! I had tiny purses (haha, no way I can fit anything in those!), sparkly scarves and necklaces (babies like to pull on things, ack! choke!) and high heels and mini dresses (I won't be pushing a stroller wearing those!)