20 Sunday May 2012
Posted in Health, Stuff that Works
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So everyone was going on and on about greek yogurt as the next superfood. I’m wandering through the grocery store a few weeks ago and see Oikos Greek Yogurt (also Stonyfield Organic) on sale and pick up a random selection. OMG! Amazing stuff! Thick, rich, creamy and filling – I might start living on this stuff if I could find a grocery store that keeps enough in stock. (Coupon available on the site as well.)
07 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted in Changes & Progress
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Well, yikes! March just flew by and I didn’t get much of anything I wanted to do finished. So, April is catch up and have fun month. I am adding one new goal since I did manage to completely finish one, but other than that, I’m going to focus on getting overdue pictures and posts up, completing the unfinished and having some fun.
From March:
New for April:
29 Thursday Mar 2012
Posted in Cheapskate, Minimalist, Stuff that Works
I’ve had a battery storage rack and tester on the wall in my back hall for about 10 years. A few months ago the tester part stopped working and I just ordered another rack (old one is going to the garage). Hands down, this is something everyone needs. No, really – this is an extremely useful organizer gadget and the most you will need to spend on it is about $15 (probably less).
My new unit is the Range Kleen 66 Battery Organizer with a removable tester (though I can’t imagine why you would really need to remove it). It stores more batteries than my old unit which was a Battery Rack 40 Battery Organizer with tester and it also has a cool little drawer for flat batteries (watches and such) that the old one didn’t have (and I really wanted). That said, it’s a bit cheaper looking and stores the batteries in slots instead of a top to bottom “rolling stock” manner, so you don’t have the “older batteries are used first” advantage. I prefer the old rack’s tester as easier to use. Either needs to be hung with a bit of a bottom out angle or you can have batteries slip out – easy enough, just shim the bottom before you screw it to the wall. The Range Kleen layout can also be used flat in a drawer, but I find that encourages drawer clutter.
Either way you go (and it’s pretty much just a preference thing – both get great reviews) you will love having a battery organizer – no more running out of batteries (particularly if it is on the wall so you see those empty slots), no more wondering if that stray battery is good or not since it’s quick to test, no more grabbing a dead battery and no more digging around in drawers looking for the right size.
I consider this one to be a gotta have purchase – it does what it says it is going to do, makes life easier and keeps your batteries handy, usable and out of the way.
25 Sunday Mar 2012
Posted in Changes & Progress, Paperless
It’s the annual shredfest – anything that isn’t needed anymore goes into the shredder. There is a great article on Bankrate on How Long to Keep Financial Records that I use as a rule of thumb. If I have any question (or think I might have potential regrets), I scan before shredding. Trust me, once the credit bureaus and IRS deadlines have passed, the house or car has been sold or the account has been closed, you can safely shred away. Notice how many times I said “SHRED”? A good shredder is an investment in keeping your identity safe – if you don’t have one, get one.
Total shredded and recycled this month – 6 tall kitchen can bags equalling 2 years, several banker boxes and a filing cabinet drawer. Did I mention that shredding is also therapeutic? Nothing quite like grinding, chopping and cutting (not to mention clearing out) after a stressful day.
18 Sunday Mar 2012
Posted in Changes & Progress, Paperless
In a bit of a strategy change, I started creating one Outlook task with a series of small steps in it that repeated either daily or weekly and then trying to move just a bit ahead on each thing whenever it comes up. It has actually worked out rather well since my list isn’t cluttered with 923704958745 single steps, there is a regular reminder and, as I finish part of the goal, I get to make the task “look shorter”.
Basically, my task list looks like this – [Larger Goal]: [Step 1], [Step 2], [Step 3]. Inside the task are all the notes and details and information gathered along the way. If it is something particularly large or complicated, I do a OneNote notebook (Evernote will work as well) with a cloud sync so I can access it from anywhere (like the store when I’m trying to remember why I’m there). As I finish a step, I edit the task (I remove it, you could also strikethrough) – [Larger Goal]: [Step 1], [Step 2], [Step 3]. Once all the steps are done, I delete the entire task.
Cosmic's Corner of the Space Time Continuum 