De-cluttering, budgeting, Christmas shopping in July and other projects

De-cluttering--
I have the opposite of the OCD folks on Hoarders.....I love, love, love to de-clutter and organize.  D gets so tired of me moving things around from one spot to another, but I do it in the name of efficiency.  In the name of attempting to be efficient---unfortunately, I have been known to move things around so well and so much that I no longer remember where I moved them (and have had to pay $100 to have a safe-deposit box cracked into as a result of this relocating of items).

There is a pile of kid-related items in our basement office for next month's kids consignment sale.  And today I dropped off stuff at Goodwill.  And I finally just threw some junk away that had been sitting in a closet from before M was born, waiting for me to "fix" it.

In the midst of the chaos of children and toys spread out from one end of the house to another, taking a little slice of house and getting it organized gives me a sense of control.  I know it is only an illusion, but it makes me feel better, more relaxed, like I have a handle on my life.

Budgeting--
I also love, love, love to save money.  Even though we tend to live pretty frugally (I think), I am always reading articles like "How to Save $500 Extra Dollars a Year" or "Bleed Money From a Stone."  But I am forever disappointed because I am already doing many, if not most, of the things these articles recommend.  Like dropping gym memberships (never had one), discontinuing cable for public television (already did it), and buying generic brands (do it for most things).

I use coupons as much as I can, don't buy clothes/purses/shoes/cosmetics, and get virtually everything for the kids via consignment or on sale.

Every so often I try a different budget for saving more money.  Right now I am trying a 26-week saving system, which equates to saving more over the course of a year than if I was just saving one time a month.  I am trying to save 49% of every paycheck and still have enough money for milk, fruit and diapers before the next paycheck comes.

Which brings me to.....

Christmas shopping in July--
In years past, I always had a dollar budget for my kids, nieces and nephews birthday and Christmas presents.  But with having 2 kiddos in diapers and more health-related spending every.stinking.year, I am opting out of this program.  The whole point is to give a gift you think they'd like, not whether you spent $15, $25 or $30 for it.

And I was forever busting my hump trying to get to that specific dollar amount, which sometimes meant I had 2 or 3 items for one child and only 1 item for another.  Shopping is torture enough for me without having to worry about keeping things even, fair or resembling equitable.

It occurred to me last Christmas that 1. for the most part, kids just want toys (ANY toys), and 2. even if they say they want a specific item, they are "over it" by December 26th or the day after their birthday.  Since we watch either PBS or something from the Netflix queue, my kids aren't exposed to a constant barrage of advertisements, which helps minimize the insistence on the "Be All and End All" gift, at least so far.

So I refuse to stress over what toys I buy the kids in my life.

With that being said, Target had some toys on clearance at 50% off, so I was able to snag something for my niece for Christmas and my nephews (for one's November birthday and the other's Christmas).

So I've Come Full Circle--
Now that I've completed this post (almost) it occurs to me that I am back once again to needing to de-clutter, as  I now have brand, spanking new boxed toys in my basement taking up space for the next 4 months.