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My Disorganized Life Plus Links

August 7, 2011 · 35 comments

in Home & Garden, Link Round Up

How much of your time is spent looking for things?  Are you one of those super-organized people that has a place for everything?  Or, are you more of the type that just leaves things wherever they land, only to wonder where things are later on?

I used to think we were organized, but we are falling apart.  I think part of the problem is our lack of structure and schedule.  This summer, we have had very little on the agenda, and the week almost seems like one long day. This is a great thing on one hand, but on the other hand, I think we are better organized when we are lacking time.  It is like we maximize the precious time we have and make sure things are in order instead of just existing like an amorphous lump.

For example, about a month ago, I went to an orthopedic doctor and left with a new $160 knee brace.  I wore it a few times for racquetball, and then it disappeared.  How in the world do you lose a foot and a half  long knee brace?  Well, we had just donated a lot of bags of various items to Salvation Army, and I was terrified it somehow got mixed in with the donated items.  (Kind of like how I donated my daughter’s brand-new soccer cleats.  I need to go buy those back…)  My whole family looked and looked for this knee brace, and no luck.  Turns out it somehow snuck under the credenza we have in our office.  Since the brace is black and it is so dark under the credenza, I didn’t see it first time around.  I have stopped wondering how in the world the brace ended up tucked away under a cabinet in the office, and I just rejoice in the fact I found it.

In addition, as I write this, my son and daughter are tearing up the house looking for his Flip camera.  He hasn’t used it since school let out in June, so God only knows where this little device is.  I am tempted to help him, but I will let him search some more in hopes he will learn a lesson from this.  However, how can I expect him to learn a lesson when I do the same thing?

To make matters worse, I now have to work in an actual office every morning for the foreseeable future.  This is putting a huge crimp in my life!  Hats off to everyone out there that manages to work outside the home and still keep everything together!

Anyway, now that you know all about how my house is falling apart, it is time to check out some great posts from the internet over the last couple weeks:

101 Centavos breaks down the cost of eating out vs cooking at home when entertaining. He paints a common picture and how tempting it is to run out to dinner after a day of hard work in the office or around the house. However, entertaining at home is so much more comfortable than in a restaurant where you never know how good the quality of food will be.

Biz of Life shares a great quote from G.Warren Nutter.  In my opinion, there is definite truth in this one line opinion.

Bucksome Boomer asks if hobbies are holding you back financially.  Remember, it isn’t always the money out of your pocket that is expensive for certain hobbies, but also the opportunity costs too.

Budgeting In the Fun Stuff is creating a new weekly newsletter.  Head on over to her site to sign up!

Financial Samurai takes an afternoon off to go watch a baseball game and sees a full baseball park.  So if the economy is in such a mess, how can so many people afford to take time off and spend a lot of money on baseball tickets?  Is it possible our country is not as bad off as we think?

First Gen American gives another glimpse into her family and shares a remarkable story about her aunt and uncle who worked in slave labor camps.  Makes my little complaints seem insignificant.

Invest It Wisely hosts a guest post from Financial Success For Young Adults, who provides ideas for how to invest and save for retirement.  I totally agree with this point of this post- diversifying your investments is key!

KrantCents bases a post on a line from a movie that I have referenced for probably 25 years “It is good to be the king”.  However, the post is not about royal lineage.  It is actually about how people have ultimate control over their lives, and we should all make the most of it.

Len Penzo quotes Picasso in one of his 100 word posts.  It is a very thought provoking little post, and it would be wonderful if everyone lived like they were poor, regardless of their income.

Little House In the Valley tells us about a website that will tell you how walkable a certain area is, and the creators of the site are also working on developing the same information to tell how ‘bikeable’ an area is. (By the way, my address got a whopping score of 20 out of 100 for being ‘walkable’, and is deemed ‘car dependent’.)  I love this website, I would actually use it when considering neighborhoods to move to.

Money Beagle gives a great career tip:  become an expert at something.  It doesn’t have to be anything huge, but it does help provide job security when your knowledge of a certain topic is considered invaluable at your job.

Money Reasons shares the story of how a family member saved for 7 years before buying their dream home . Even with income on the lower end of the scale, they were able to afford a large down payment and therefore have affordable monthly payments on a 15 year mortgage. Oh how I wish more people would take the same approach.

MoneyCone has another fantastic informative post.  This time, he shares about how to deposit a check electronically using your Smartphone.  If technology keeps progressing, I may never have to get off the couch again.

Retire By 40 shares income and expenses for July and how their fared.  Keep your fingers crossed so RB40 can retire soon!

Saving Money Today provides some ideas on what to do with outgrown children’s clothes.  I know one method many people I know used was to give them to my family, since my kids were smaller than everyone else in their grade! 🙂

Squirreler’s writes about Buffett’s thoughts on gold, and shares some interesting comparisons between gold, land and stocks. I don’t have a definite opinion of what is more important, gold or land, but I sure wish I had invested in gold a few years ago!

Wealth Informatics breaks down the debt ceiling ‘deal’ and explains how it may affect Americans.

Have a wonderful day one and all!

 

 

 

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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

Little House August 7, 2011 at 5:15 pm

Hopefully your son finds his flip camera. It sounds like you have an Elf in your house hiding things from you! 😉 Thanks for including my link! I also can’t wait until Bike Score is live.

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Moneycone August 7, 2011 at 5:21 pm

Funny you write about being disorganized Kris – I was searching today for my spare house key! Not that I need it, but not knowing where it is is bugging the hell out of me!

Thanks for the mention and no I haven’t found the key yet! (I wish I could google for it!!) 🙂

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krantcents August 7, 2011 at 6:38 pm

You can’t lose something, if you put it away! I remember my mother telling me that. I am pretty good, but at least once or twice a year I can’t find something. Thanks for the inclusion.

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Barb Friedberg August 7, 2011 at 11:21 pm

Have you seen my tiny mp3 player? I’m still waiting for it to turn up 🙂 I’m organized and I lose stuff, go figure.

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Linda August 7, 2011 at 11:37 pm

Thanks for linking to the Walk Score site. Pretty cool! I plugged in my address and got a 75.

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Untemplater August 8, 2011 at 12:32 am

I’m so glad you found your knee brace! It is such a relief to find something that’s lost. I am one of those crazy organized people 😉 and I go NUTS when I can’t find something. I thought I lost my wallet today when I was trying to get out of the car and thankfully I found it. I was panicked for about 5 minutes pulling everything out of my bag. Somehow my wallet had slipped behind me and I was basically sitting on it, lol. Overall I think living with my husband made me become more organized because he has a tendency to misplace things and relies on my help to find them. Since I try to have a specific place or area for everything in the house it makes it much easier to locate things. -Sydney

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First Gen American August 8, 2011 at 8:42 am

Does it make you feel better that I left my purse at a friend’s house 3 hours away? And I forgot to pack my son’s water bottle for camp and then he forgot to bring his trading cards with him…and that’s just this morning. Some days are just like that and it usually leads to a mass cleaning/purging for me.

Bummer about working in an actual office. It was a tough adjustment for me and I was so happy to be back in my home office again.

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The Biz of Life August 8, 2011 at 11:27 am

Thanks for the mention. I don’t know how Moms manage to keep half the stuff straight they are responsible for….. kids, themselves and their husbands…..

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Squirrelers August 8, 2011 at 3:14 pm

Thanks for the mention! I’m with you in wishing I had bought some gold…hindsight, right?

Also, I know what you mean about disorganization. I used to be VERY organized, but I’m nowhere close to that these days. I don’t know whether it’s having way more responsibilities now, or having less overall physical energy (hope not!), or just not caring as much. But I tend to lose a few things here and there once in a while like you noted in your post, never losing much before (10 years ago). Maybe things will get more orderly when older with (hopefully) less daily responsibilities!

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Invest It Wisely August 10, 2011 at 11:27 pm

No, I’m not that organized — I try to keep some things organized, as planning helps, but I also find I work better if I just focus on what seems to be pressing rather than list everything out — more time spent doing and less time spent thinking about what to do.

At the same time procrastination is a big enemy of mine so can’t let myself get too disorganized, either.

Thanks for the mention! 🙂

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101 Centavos August 14, 2011 at 8:52 am

Losing a foot-and-a-half long knee brace… Heh! I can relate to that one. I’ve lost easily a dozen athletic ankle braces, including big ones that lace up all the way to the knee. Disappeared through a tear in the fabric of time-space, probably to that dimension where all lost things go.
Thanks for the mention, Kris.

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