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"Everybody up! It's 9:30 and we have things to do!" Monday was a snow day and the two older girls were still asleep. "Up and dressed to shoes by 9:45, please!" I started down the stairs and Harlee shouts from her bed, "Wait...dressed to shoes? What does that even mean?" So I explained that that meant getting completely dressed and ready, including shoes. "But we're staying home today." Harlee said (whined?). "Right, but we have a lot to get done, including work in the basement, and it's just easier to be productive in shoes." After breakfast, we were downstairs purging and organizing the storage items in the basement and Claire says, "I think you were right...it IS easier to work in shoes!"
In fact, I get so comfortable going from one task to another in my good ol' house-cleaning shoes that I often find myself walking through the grocery store, pumping fuel at the gas station, or even heading into meetings in them.
Thankfully, Crocs are almost back in style these days. So what about you? Do you wear shoes to clean in? Any specific pair of shoes or just whatever you're planning to wear that day? Rocking the Crocs at the farmhouse, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️
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Secondly, we have dirty clothes strewn throughout the house. It's like the children get dressed in every corner of the house. And of course, Mr. Farmhouse sometimes drops his dirty clothes DIRECTLY beside the hamper.
And finally...we haven't built a laundry habit that includes at least one load a day. Until now. As part of the 12-week challenge, I chose my January daily habit to be one load of laundry a day...from start to finish. Through the washer, through the dryer, folded, AND put away. Last fall, I started to make my bed every single morning. Even if I got nothing else accomplished during the time I had before leaving for work, I still made my bed. And now...I don't even have to think about it. Since starting the "one load a day" laundry habit, although I can't say I'm to the point where I'm doing laundry automatically, I can definitely notice a huge difference. In fact, I only have one load that could even be done right now because we're all caught up on the rest of our clothes.
These daily routines are so important to help keep the house manageable.
And when I started following the FlyLady 10-15 years ago, I learned how important cleaning zones in our homes can be too for those "deep-cleaning" tasks. The basic concept is for you to divide your home into various zones. I used to try and make sure I was getting through every single zone every single month. However, starting this next week, I think I'll put my house on an eight-week zone rotation.
Today, and for the rest of this week, I'll be focusing on deep-cleaning the front porch, the living room, and our deck. I make a list of tasks to get these three areas "all spiffied up" and I work on that list for 15-30 minutes a day (depending on each night's activities).
So...your task for today is to divide your home into zones.
You can decide how many. You can decide what types of tasks to put on your zone lists. The important part is to start to develop some habits for deep-cleaning a little at a time, instead of just constantly being stuck in the cycle of having a BIG cleaning day every few weeks. Working my zones at the farmhouse this morning! ❤️?❤️ Yesterday, my Harlee-girl and I spent the day together. She slept in while I got my morning routine finished, then I woke her up to head to the school. I had a few things I needed to get organized before staff and students came back today. After a few hours in my office, we grabbed some lunch and went to get pedicures...the last little treat for her 12th birthday. She decided on a manicure and I got my toes done. When we were finished, there was time for her to spend a gift card that she got for Christmas and to pick up my WalMart grocery order, before heading to get our eyebrows waxed and my hair cut. Here’s a little before & after of the eyebrows...her first experience having them waxed!
I took off my tennis shoes and peeled off my socks...or tried to. But they were STUCK to my big toes. “Oh no. This is not good.” I thought. Sure enough...my toes had not been dry when I put my socks and shoes back on at the nail salon. No worries though...I think they’re fine. Just a little added texture.
Well, friends.
We made it. 2019. It sounds crazy to say that. I just keep thinking, "Wasn't 1996 like a few years ago?" Anyway, for so many of us, waking up on January 1st brings a renewed sense of motivation and excitement for what can happen in this fresh new year. Over 2018, I read several books to work towards becoming the best version of myself that I can be. Almost every single one of them spoke in the beginning about the importance of having a vision for your life.
"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." ~ Jonathan Swift
Your vision has to be yours alone. Picture the life you want and decide TODAY to take steps to get there. I'm hosting a "Twelve-Week Challenge" group here on the blog and over on Facebook.
So that's my one non-negotiable daily habit.
However, I have some other habits that will definitely help our days run more smoothly, so I have listed nine other daily habits that I would like to track each day. I love using a habit-tracker for things like this, so I created one on Google Docs to track my progress. You can view MY January habit-tracker HERE and follow along, if you'd like. If you would like a printable BLANK copy of my habit-tracker, click the image below.
Using the insight I gleaned from these authors, I have set up a 12-week challenge to set goals for the first twelve weeks of 2019, to keep myself accountable, and to check my progress throughout the next three months.
After setting up my goals and weekly challenges, I thought to myself that maybe you all would want to join me!
Excited for the new year here at the farmhouse,
Hannah ❤️?❤️ The Saturday before the new year. Historically, this is the day where I lay out my vision and goals for the year to come. I officially decide on my "word for the year" and start to build some specific goals around that word. The last three years, my words (phrases) have been "simplify", "be intentional", and "be present". This year, I've had four words that keep coming up as possibilities.. Gratitude. Grow. Joy. These are all wonderful words. They encompass all that I want for myself and my family.
And as I have written these goals out on paper and dreamed about what my life will look like in December of 2019, one year from now, I am realizing that all of my goals revolve around inspiring others to live their best lives.
So...I think that's it. My 2019 Word of the Year...Inspire. Setting goals and making plans at the farmhouse on this final Saturday of 2018, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️
Like LITERALLY a week and a half ago, our checking account was OVERDRAFTED by over $1,000. True story. I had gone into the ol' Dollar General to grab a few gifts for the girls' friends. I went up to pay and when I ran my debit card, it was declined. "What!?! That can't be right. Try to run it again." Declined. Again. Sure enough, I pop open my banking app on my phone and we are in the hole...like WAY in the hole. But why? We track our spending and I watch the bank account like a hawk. So what had happened that day that put us in the red??? Well, when two mortgage payments come out two days before pay day, THAT can be an issue when you stick to a zero-based budget every month (in other words, when you budget for and spend every dollar, in order to pay down debt). So I went through that entire evening and the next morning feeling sick, just waiting for the bank and our mortgage company to open so I could make some phone calls. Our bank was very understanding and said they would wait to hear from me after I talked to the mortgage company. When I finally got through to the mortgage company, the sweet lady on the other end of the line was very confused because we had never been late on a payment. In fact, we were running a month ahead. She couldn't understand why the payment would have auto-drafted twice. So she started scrolling through the previous months. And then...she saw it. Because we had paid a little extra each month, it had added up to a whole extra payment this month... and that whole extra payment went in two days before it was supposed to, which had put us a little bit too early on our payment schedule... which in turn caused the computer to put our ENTIRE payment amount on the principal, as opposed to counting as our payment... SO the mortgage company had auto-drafted our December payment in addition to the one we had already paid because it looked like we hadn't paid! They fixed it and refunded it (two days later), but it was a stressful few days there! But at least there was a logical explanation. I would love to go explain to the Dollar General clerk exactly what happened because I'm sure he thought I was ridiculous trying to look at my bank account right then and there and over-explain the reason my card was declined. Maybe he'll read my blog. 😉 ANYway, now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's talk about how Mr. Farmhouse and I set up our annual financial goals, our debt snowball, monthly budget, and spending tracking. Debt Snowball The first piece of the puzzle that I'm going to talk about is the debt snowball. I've mentioned this before, but I'll do a quick review for new readers. The debt snowball is based on the work of Dave Ramsey. You take all of your debts and you line them up from smallest balance to largest balance. Interest doesn't matter and monthly payment doesn't matter. It's all about small victories in this scenario...the motivation that comes from a little success. As you pay off the smallest debt, you take that monthly payment and "roll" it into the next payment. I really don't like to talk about the specifics of finances, but I will tell you that we have a large amount of debt. Some of our debt includes:
Just this, without the random little medical bills and the two credit cards we still need to pay off, is a pretty daunting amount. However, with the debt snowball, we are making big progress each month towards paying it down.
But as you can see, the house and student loans will be our last two debts that need to paid off and without ANY extra money thrown onto the snowball, we'll still be completely debt-free in less than ten years. So I use the snowball app to let me know how much needs to be paid on each debt monthly and those payment amounts fit into our monthly budget. Monthly Budget & Spending Tracking For our monthly budget, we use a free web-based software and app called EveryDollar. We build our budget every month on the computer, but we mostly track our spending using the app. The app syncs across all devices and the web, so it's pretty handy for a husband & wife team who hardly ever gets to sit down and talk about income and expenses. If you are just starting a new budget, I would first take a piece of paper and write down every single expense you have each month. Use your debt snowball to track your monthly debt payments, write out every utility amount, any insurance costs, groceries, fuel, home & car maintenance savings, other savings, charitable giving, childcare, costs associated with pets, business expenses, cash for spending on "fun" (Sonic drinks, in my case!), and anything else you can think of. After you have all of those items written down, start building your budget on EveryDollar. You'll need to write down expected income sources and amounts, as well as expected categories and amounts for expenses. Your online EveryDollar budget will look similar to this sample screenshot below.
Because we get four different paychecks each month, I divide our expenses up and pay them on those four days. We also take our "fun money" out of the bank on those days and account for daycare/preschool expenses, as well as putting money into various savings accounts using sinking funds, which I explained in THIS BLOG POST last year. I write out every expense on the planner. Most of them are automatic withdrawal, which means after I write them out on the calendar, I don't have to think about them again. If they're not automatic, however, I set up the payments to come out on the correct day or I write out the checks and date them to be sent when the correct pay period rolls around.
In terms of tracking other expenses, Mr. Farmhouse and I both use the EveryDollar app to track what we spend each month. We used to be good about putting each expense in right when we spent it. However, over the last few months, we have been tracking a few days worth of receipts in one evening. We're planning to go back to the daily tracking in January though! Those small expenses sure add up when you're not being cognizant of them! Annual Financial Goals The last little piece of the puzzle is to set some annual financial goals. We have found that if we sit down together in the end of December and set some financial goals for the following year, it can help to frame our year, financially speaking. A few examples of our past goals have been:
If we want to be able to give and live the way we want to in the future, we HAVE to be intentional right now...today...this year.
We've had times where we get to the end of the month and wonder where in the world all that money went. It's no way to live! When you're not being intentional with your spending, not only are you missing the opportunity to make progress on your debt snowball, but you're also missing out on that feeling of peace and freedom that comes from knowing where your money goes each month! Not to mention, the fact that these money conversations with your spouse are good for your marriage! So today...think about your financial goals for 2019. Budgeting & Planning here at the Farmhouse today, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️
One of the comments I hear often from friends and family is, "I don't know how you do it all."
Well, let me be frank...there are days that I DON'T do it all. I am a known procrastinator, who has been fortunate (or unfortunate) to be able to put things off until the last minute and still successfully pull them off...for YEARS. One of my biggest struggles in life has been to keep our house clean and organized and we are STILL working to put systems into place to help keep things together. A few of the successes I had over 2018 were:
While I've made lots of changes over the last year to help with the simplification of things here at the farmhouse, I'm still a work in progress. None of the growth I've made in 2018 would have been possible without some tools that I have discovered and used over the last nine months.
The Getting Things Done method has five main steps and the first one is to "capture" all of the thoughts in your brain by writing them down or typing them somewhere.
Allen calls this capturing and I call it a brain dump. As part of my evening routine (and sometimes through the day if I'm having a hard time focusing on one task), I set a timer for about five minutes and start typing out every single thought that comes into my head. These could be tasks that I've been putting off, worries that I'm struggling with, gifts I need to buy, people I need to call, projects that I'm dreaming about, blog posts that I want to write, and a thousand other things. I'm basically taking all of the thoughts in my brain and capturing them so I can "clear my head", as the old saying goes. When I first started this method of productivity, I would use a piece of paper to complete my brain dump. And then...I discovered Trello. Trello Trello is a list-making platform that has a web-based component, as well as an app. It's an online tool for managing projects and to do lists and it is AMAZING. Simply stated, my Trello is filled with boards that are made up of various areas of my life (shown below). I have everything...a long-term Bucket List, Christmas details for this year, a board for each girl, Farmhouse654, Finances, Meal Planning, Newkirk Photography, School, and Self-Care. 
On each of these boards, there are categorized lists and cards on each list.
You can add notes, links, images, due dates, checklists, and lots of other details to cards...AND you can easily drag cards from one list to another! My Brain Dump is on my "Getting Things Done" board. I set a timer and add things as they pop into my head.
Today (so far), I'm planning to finish our Menu for this week, get the Christmas decor put up, and go through a daunting stack of envelopes on my desk (that I've been putting off!).
I need to update my KonMari list for our purging project that we're planning between now and spring break, so I will move that task to "Current Projects", as it's an ongoing project and not something that will be completed today. In my "Daily" column, I have those items that I need to do each day -- cleaning out my school bag each night, so I don't forget something important, reviewing my calendar each morning, and going through my list of current projects to see if there is anything I could move to my "TODAY" list. My "Waiting On..." list are tasks that I cannot complete without some other piece of the project being complete. An example would be planning our Alaskan cruise for next summer. The cruise and flights are booked and we got our passport paperwork all sent off for verification last weekend. Now we're in the process of waiting for them to be sent back to us before we need to move forward with the rest of the detailed planning. So that task is sitting in the "Waiting On..." list until we get passport confirmation in the mail. Someday Maybe includes items like "Explore Doctorate program", "Finish Book", and "Design Home Addition" -- dreams or thoughts for somewhat far into the future. My last two lists on this board are "Desk Items" and "Waiting Room Items". These are lists of tasks that don't have to be done right away, but could be completed while I'm sitting at my desk waiting on hold on the phone or sitting in a waiting room, working from my phone. It's nice to be productive when you're tied up on a phone call or waiting on a child to get finished at the orthodontist. Google Calendar (with Reminders) Google Calendar is where it ALL comes together. From my calendar on my desktop at home or school, as well as my iPhone calendar, I can see all of the personal and school events we have going on, my Special Education meetings, event invitations, and my personal favorite part of the calendar...reminders.
I can easily add tasks by clicking anywhere on the calendar and setting a reminder.
The option is there to add a time stamp and have the reminder pop up at a specific time or check the box next to "All day" and have the reminder be part of the ongoing "to do" list like the one you can see above. When you click the "Add day" option, whatever reminders don't get checked off that day will automatically move to the next day! Fancy-Schmancy! I hope my Brain Dump, Trello, & Google Calendar explanation makes sense! My system is definitely still evolving, but I feel more in control than I have in a long time! So...what questions do you have for me? What did I leave out? Would a video be helpful? Have you moved into online planning or do you enjoy paper/pencil more? What are you doing this week to set yourself up for a successful 2019? Dreaming of an organized new year at the farmhouse, Hannah ❤️?❤️ 2019 is coming. In fact, we have ONE WEEK left of this year. The day after Christmas is always when I really start planning and thinking specifically about the year to come. We take down our Christmas decorations and get the house "back to normal". I go through my calendar for the entire next year and fill in various events, reminders, and appointments. I sit down with a piece of paper and I start to dream about what's to come in the new year...things I want to accomplish, dreams I have, and specific goals. This week, I thought I would go through each piece of my planning process for anyone that wants to follow along. Some of the things I'll cover are:
One of my big goals for 2019 is to stay in touch with my readers more! So with that in mind, I've started working on an email list! I'm currently in the middle of a chat conversation with my email provider to figure out how to turn off my subscription form for those of you who have already subscribed...for now, just click the "X" when it pops up, if you're already a subscriber! Thanks in advance for subscribing and following along with us during the new year!
Prepping for 2019 at the farmhouse, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️ |
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