Budget Planner





There are many things I love about my job and many things I can't stand.  Guess that's true with everyone, right?

 

One of my biggest dislikes is the fact that I get paid bi-weekly.  Huh?  Isn't that like the most common way to be paid?  Yes. But you see my last job paid us bi-monthly.  And I loved it.  Our salaries were divided equally over 24 weeks.  No, we didn't get the extra two paydays a year, but our paychecks were slightly larger because those "extra" pays were accounted for in the 24 paydays.  Plus, I knew that on the 16th and 31st (or last day of the month if less than 31 days) I was paid.  Same days every month- consistently.

 

So when I switched jobs and was paid like most everyone else I know, it was so hard for me to keep track of when to pay my bills.  Why?  I.HAVE.NO.IDEA.  But it has been driving me nuts for the past year.  Maybe if I explain my old super modern, high tech bill paying routine, it will help you understand.

 

This is my check book.  





 

 

 

This is my old bill tracking spread sheet.

 



I know it's difficult to follow along with this super complex system, so I will break it down.  The yellow papers are my old bosses post it notes.  I turned them sideways to fit in my checkbook so I would always have my bill payment system with me.  I would mark the month and make list my bills in two-three columns. 

The first column were the bills that were paid with my paycheck on the 16th.  The second column were bills to be paid on the 31st.  The last column were bills that came up sporadically such as car registration or maybe a credit card that I rarely use.  Those bills were paid from either paycheck depending on when they were due and which pay day had money left over to cover the bill.

 

 

 

Each post it note could hold 2-3 months of information on them and I would just overlap new ones every so often.  Most months I set up all bills to be paid automatically online at one time and only had to worry about those extra bills when they would come by email. 

 

 

Super easy right?  I never missed a payment and it just seemed so convenient. 

 

 

Bi-weekly pay sucks.  I can't get a grasp on it.  One month I may get a paycheck the first and third week and the next month the second and fourth.  I should be able to keep the same system as before right?  It's just that some months there are times when the due dates of a couple bills don't line up with the paycheck and I have to make sure I leave "extra" money from the previous paycheck to help cover the bill.  Make sense?  Does anyone else run into that with being paid bi-weekly or is it just me being stupid?

 

For the past year, I've been struggling to make sure I am getting bills paid on time and not coming up short in my checking account.  It stressed me out each month and I was having a hard time coming up with a bill paying system.  I searched all my favorite blogs to see what systems were out there, but most seemed too complicated for someone who used to organized her bills on post it notes!

 

What I have been doing is using this box that my sister-in-law used to wrap my daughter's Christmas present.  I really love this box.  I think she got it at Walmart.



I've been throwing all my odd bills and to do paper work in this box so that I wouldn't lose anything. Ummm, like my husband's registration sticker for the suv.  Totally couldn't find it even though I thought I had thoroughly torn apart my office and bedroom.  Of course a few days after he paid $5 at AAA to replace it, I found it under a pile of books on my nightstand.  Never thought to look there!!!

Anyway, I began using this box to hold all papers that needed action.  But this also added to my bill paying problem as I had to weed through papers to find those bills that aren't paid online.

So I figured I would try to come up with my own bill paying planner.  It needed to be super simple or else I would never commit to using it.  What I did was to deconstruct my coupon binder.  I don't use coupons much and it was just collecting a ton of dust and expired coupons anyway.  It's not the cutest binder out there, but I only used what I could find around the house.  I may do something with the cover, but only if this system works. 

 

 

 

The first part of my binder holds my zippered pouch.  I removed the scissors and replaced them with a calculator, some highlighters, and my favorite pens.  The pouch has two compartments and I'm thinking of keeping my checkbook in there as well.  I rarely write checks and it would keep my purse less cluttered as well.

 



 

 

 

The next item is an old folder from my daughter.  You may be able to see the faint writing on the front.  She used it for her gifted class and I can still make out her writing on the front.  Makes me smile when I see it.  :)

The left side of the folder holds all the bills that I am unable to pay online, come only once a year by mail, or are papers/rebates that need to be taken care of.  The right side of the folder hold items that have been paid or taken care of but may need to be followed up on.  I also put charitable items and magazine subscriptions on the right side as I pay those when I have extra money.

 

The next section is my calendars.  The first calendar is our school year calendar.  With a teacher husband, our lives revolve around the school year and I am always having to refer to this calendar.
(I accidentally deleted photo and will have to add it when I go on main computer)  :(


Behind the school calendar holds monthly calendars.  What I did was print six months of calendars.  I placed January on top and February below.  That way I can see how my pays fall in two month increments and when bills are due.  That way if a bill falls outside of a pay period and I need to keep extra money from a previous paycheck I will see it on the calendar and not get surprised. 

Behind January is March and behind February is April.  This way I can remove January this Friday and have March and February.  Even though March is above February, I can still see how the pays fall month to month.  Once February is over, out it comes and April is ready.  And this will repeat each month.

 

 

 

 

I listed all my regular bills on their due dates as well as paydays.  If an extra bill comes along, I will just add it to calendar when it comes and then put it in the folder.  Right now I have my calendars in sheet protectors, but I may change that depending on how annoying it is to take out when I have to add/change bills.

Once I list all my bills on the calendar and see which ones will be paid from each paycheck, I then make a list of bills and how much is due on a separate sheet of paper.  I add them up and subtract that from my paycheck to see what balance I am left with.  This is amount is then used for gas, budgeting extra bills, groceries,etc. 

 

I'm thinking I may rather find a printable calendar that has an area where I can make this list so that it's altogether.  Might make it easier for me to see what I'm doing.
 

You may have noticed a couple of things about my planner.  For one, it's just my bills.  Yes, I know this goes against Damn Ramsey, but after 25 years with my husband, this works for us.  We've never combined our money.  We have a joint account and my husband uses that primarily.  I have access to account with my own debit card though he doesn't have one to mine. We joke about that all the time!  My husband also keeps his balance "in his head".  He's also bounced checks.  Not often, but I just don't think we could exist peacefully if we combined our accounts and paid everything from one account. He doesn't keep receipts but checks his account online every few days to see where he's at.  It's just too nerve wracking for me as I like to keep everything in order.

 

Also, we split household bills.  I pay almost all the utilities and he pays mortgage, cable, and groceries.  It equals around the same amount of money for each of us so we like it. Because he does a lot of coaching and extra teaching, we use those extra checks to pay insurance, taxes and other large bills.  Somehow it works out perfect that he gets paid for those every year right before those bills are due. He also doesn't have any credit card debt, just one student loand.  Neither of us have a car payment either.

 

I also don't have many bills.  I have the house bills, one credit card with balance and two student loans.  I may use a credit card like Victoria Secrets or Home Goods here and there, but usually I pay with my debit card.  And other than the one credit card, I pay all others in full if I use them.

 

We've done this ever since we've been together and never had problem.  This wouldn't work for everyone and goes against most experts advice.  We are in process our debt snowball and have adapted our system to fit that as well.  We talk about combining our accounts, but I'm the one whose most hesitant.  Maybe after we knock out some more bills, I will be less nervous. 

 

There you have my bill planner.  I've only been using it since beginning of January so it may take some time to see if it helps make it easier to do my bills.  I sure miss my post it notes!

This post is linked to I Heart Organizing and Clean and Scentsible

 



2013 in 2013

One of my new fave blogs to read is Slow Your Home,Love Your Life.  Brooke has a great blog.  I am jealous of her writing style as well as her views on family and life. 

 

Last year she committed to removing 2012 items from her home. She accomplished this goal and then some!  This year she is inviting her readers to join her in getting rid of 2013 items in 2013. She has created a forum and monthly challenges. I'm gonna see how many things in my home can be donated to either Salvation Army, the local pet shelter or taken to consignment shop/sold on Ebay.  I've added my own rules also.  Obviously, garbage is not to be counted.  Neither will be items left at my home by others.  Heck, I probably reached that goal this month alone!   And since I am always trying to rid my home of clutter, if I don't reach a total of 2013, I won't deem this unsuccessful.  I think 2013 averages about 5-6 items a day.  It doesn't sound like a lot, but it truly is. And with my busy schedule, I doubt I will be able to do this daily.  I would like to declutter items at least 2-3 times a week. 

 

January's list of areas to declutter didn't interest me, so I decided to tackle a couple of spots that have been bothering me.  First is this little pile in my bedroom.

 

 

 

 

This pile has been "growing" for almost a year now.  What started out as a couple of Paige's yoga pants that she's outgrown, grew into a pile of everything that I was too lazy to deal with when folding laundry.  I threw outgrown clothes, items to be demoted to rags, and slippers I never wore.

Cleaning out this pile took less than ten minutes and that is with me going to get my camera to take pictures.  As I was moving down the pile, I notice a small item in the corner near my dresser.

Do you see something peaking out from under the outgrown underwear?



How bout now?   

 

 

It's a little blurry, I know.

 

 

How's this??

That miniature Whoppers has been there since Halloween as I remember putting it on top of the dresser so my son wouldn't eat it.
I'm pretty sure Whoppers have a long shelf life (or in my case floor life).

Ten minutes later, and one happy boy, I finally achieved a clean spot.  No longer do I roll my eyes at this little area of my room.

Here are the first piles of things to leave my house.  The Justice bag is from Christmas.  It's holding the items that were received by my family as gifts but do not meet our needs.  Inside the bag holds 14 items and the clothes from the above cleaning make 15. 

 

The next area I tackled was the container of change on the floor by my husband's side of the bed.  This container held the remnants of money he collected when selling candy for his cross country team.  I wrapped all the loose change and deposited in the team's account.  It totalled $158.38.  I can't find the picture of the container I took. I'm also only counting that as one.

 

 

Next items to go were Christmas decorations.  I'd like to post that separate as I was so proud of my new ornaments.  Not so proud of the tree falling...twice! 

 

 

The main room to tackle is the ever loving office.  I know you can't wait for another post on that room!!

Photo Button Display

My kids are very active in sports.  We love it!  Though it does make for a very busy life especially since my husband is also a high school cross country and track coach. 

With each new season comes team pictures.  I buy the smallest package which includes a 5x7 individual photo, a 5x7 team photo, and an individual button.  While it's easy to display the photos, the buttons most often get set aside.  I use to wear them when the kids were little, but lately I haven't. 

I had thrown them in a pile in my office (aka the most unorganized room in my home!).  Each time I looked at them I thought what a shame because they are so cute. 

I had tried to display them on my filing basket.

But they never stayed on good and I could only get a few on at a time. 

I really wanted to display them in a cute way, but for the life of me I couldn't come up with any good solutions.

Then one day I happened to remember the cork board tiles that I bought with the plans to make a copy of a Pottery Barn Teen bulletin board.  But finding matching tiles of cork, magnetic, etc was proving difficult.  So I just opted for the large cork board frame I found at Home Goods. (Hoping to finish by posts on Paige's room soon. Can't believe I started her room last August!)

The tiles have been sitting in my office for over 2 years and I figured that they would be perfect to display the buttons.  It's not completely finished (see above paragraph as to how long projects have been taking lately!), but I am really liking it so far.



This wall is directly outside of Paige's room.  To the right is her bedroom door and to the left is the bathroom. Yes, I have also added repaint the trim to the list of things to do.



The top board holds all of her softball pictures from T-ball to Junior High. The bottom tile has her cheer leading buttons (and one lone soccer and volleyball one).  Not all of her cheer buttons are on as I can't find 3 years worth.

I haven't decided what to do with the window decals yet.  I'm not crazy about putting them on our cars and they were too cute to throw away.  I was going to put them on the wall above and below the tiles.  Or put them on the tiles and rearrange the buttons around them.  Jeff and I are also debating on framing the tiles in. 

I also put a cork tile outside of my son's room.  I am guessing that the rest of  his baseball buttons are with Paige's cheer buttons because we are missing a few years worth. 

Hanging the buttons on the cork was so easy.  I just used the old fashioned flat thumb tacks and the fastener on the back of the button as the hook.  I can move them around as needed and it really looks cute (despite my horrible photos).  Plus I can add more tiles as needed which I probably will with my son as he is now getting into more sports!

It's cute to see how much they've changed and it reminds us of some wonderful times shared together!  



Tablescapes and Vignettes

No. Not in my house. 

Lately I've noticed a big trend on blogs to feature tablescapes and vignettes.  Mantles and dining room tables decked out for each changing season and holiday run rampant among so many blogs that I follow.  Yes- most of the blogs that I follow are ones where decorating and organizing are the main theme.  But I just don't get it.  I could never leave a dining room table fully dressed with plates and cups.  For one, they would get dirty from dust and Chester would get curious and jump up to lie (lay?) on them.  And besides, where would my family dump all their papers/clothes/binders?? Not in the designated folders/clothes hampers/desks that they have.

I do decorate at Christmas time.  But even then, I only put a couple items on the dining room table because of the above. And the mantle isn't all that fancy. It's a money issue for me.  I just couldn't afford to deck it all out though I do try to pick up some new things each year. 

Maybe I'm just jealous and envious.  To have the time and money to decorate according changing seasons/holidays is just something I can't do.  Heck, I would just like to get my house in order and decorated in general at this point!  I could be in a funk also because I did start buying things for my home after I resolved to stop obsessing over debt repayment and now my husband's changed his mind and wants to pay off debt only. 

So I guess I have to say hats off to all of you ladies out their making your homes beautiful and stylish.  I'll still roll my eyes in envy/sarcasm.

Who am I kidding....I'm dreaming of my own tablescape!!

Welcome Back

I am amazed at how long it's been since I've blogged.  I have been so busy trying to adjust to my new job, working full time and everyone's busy schedules.  Also we are still working on the house.  It's almost done and really looking nice.  I'm not happy about the color of the siding.  It has a green color to it and wasn't my favorite choice.  Jeff said he didn't see it and thinks I'm crazy, but in certain light it looks green to me. 

The weather has been amazing in Western Pa.  I thought my husband was crazy to have them side our house in January.  Because work is slow for contractors where we live this time of year, we were able to save some money.  Except this year we had little snow and above average temperatures.  Last week alone it was sunny and 70-80 degrees! 

So here is were we are with our house......


These are shots of the house before the roof and new siding.

Here is the new roof and the windows/siding going up.

And here we are today....

We still have the other side of the house to finish siding and also the gutters need to go up.  It looks really nice, but I think the dark color makes the house look smaller.

SO many things happened during this remodel, most of which are just totally ridiculous.  I will definitely have to take a moment to tell you about.  Right now it's time for dinner and then the Sunday night rituals!

I really missed everyone and hope that I am finally getting some kind of schedule together that will let me blog again!!!!

Details details.....

I have so much to share with you all!!  LOVE my job!!  Been busy with the house...and oh yeah a little thing like Christmas too!! 

Totally trying to navigate life again working full time. Thanks for all your well wishes on the job.   It's even better than I imagined.  I am hoping tonight I can put together a quick post. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  We sure did here!!

Scary House

Halloween wasn't all about dressing up in scary costumes in our house.

Nope...we deciding having a scary house would be cool as well.



This is how my house started at the beginning of October.  I know, there are so many things wrong with this picture. 

And this is how we ended October right in time for Halloween.



There were no trick or treaters coming to our house on Halloween.  Not unless they could wield a hammer and nails.

I don't know what we were thinking when we decided to replace our roof and siding. Apparently we weren't.  So much went wrong with the roof.  First they found we had 2 layers of shingles instead of one.  The last roofer was sneaky and cut off all the shingles on the edges so it would look like only one layer.  Then our porch roof was so damaged that most of it was torn off and replaced.  Which also caused us to have to replace the old knob and tube wiring for the porch light.  That was actually nice cause I am having them install extra outlets for when we hang Xmas lights.

Then this happened-

That's the end of my driveway after the contractor put the pieces back.  His truck was hauling away the roof material and the hitch destroyed my blacktop.  It split in half like the Red Sea and was dragged out into the street.  He is replacing it in the spring, but I just couldn't take one more thing going wrong with this job.

So here is what our house looks like now.




Took this in the morning when there was frost on the roof.  It actually looks really nice.



The gutters, soffet and fascia are going up before Christmas- I think.  And the siding will be going up in spring.  I need a break from construction right now. 

Here are what my guys went as for Halloween-

My very own Pittsburgh Penguin hockey player, Sidney Crosby and his friend the nerd.

Posting shortly

Goodness- it's been over a month since my last post.  I have been lazy and busy at the same time! 
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!  I hope to post tomorrow with pictures of all the fun things going on here at Casa de Shaftic.

Laundry Area

In the midst of my closet cleaning and decluttering last week, I snuck in a quick cleaning of my laundry area.  I call it an area, because it's in my basement and well, it is an old home so I haven't really done much to try and fancy it up.

I didn't take before shots as I was so certain I had taken some already and now I can't seem to find them.  I probably thought about taking them when I was writing the post in my head (as I do all the time).  If I happen to find them I will update.  Just don't hold your breath!!

Several years ago when I was working for a large company, I scored a nice table when they decided to sell all the old items from our cafeteria before remodelling it.  I knew I wanted to put it in our basement to use when folding/sorting clothes.  Only problem is that I usually dump items on it (like yard sale/donation items) just like I do with my office.

It becomes so messy that I can't use it at all. 

So I cleared off all the junk and left just what needs to be on it.

I like to keep my cleaning rags on this table since there is no other place in the basement (or kitchen) to store them.  The little basket hold the small rags and the pile to the left of it are bigger towels used to wipe up larger messes.  I also have a few tshirts ready to be cut into cleaning rags.

The boxing gloves in the front left  hand corner sit there as well.  Paige wanted a heavy bag for Christmas, which we hung up in the basement.  Of course there was no where else to put the gloves but on this table. I still have room to set my baskets down or clothes as I fold them.

This kind of gives you some idea of my work area.  The washer and dryer sit on a large cement pedestal that was here when we bought it.  The previous owners were well ahead of their time!!  Only problem is that I have a top loading washer and have to step up on the slab to see into the drum.  But I do like it as sometimes we do get water in the basement and it protects them. 

If you look closely at the bottom left hand, you can see a small part of another cement box.  It's around 2 x 3 and I have no idea why it is there.  I joked to Jeff that they are storing bodies!!  I will have to take a different angled shot to show you how strange it is.

The leaning tower of junk beside the dryer used to be my "pantry" in my old house.  I only had a small area to put a storage tower to hold my canned goods.  It got demoted to the basement when we moved here and held all my cleaning items until I got the table.  It really needs to be cleaned out and moved out to the garage.

Our walls are poured concrete and in need of painting.  The green is not doing it for me and it does have some mildew growing in some areas.  In the foreground picture you can see my duvet cover hanging.  The one thing that I love about my basement are the 5 laundry lines that hang in the ceiling.  I can hang so much to dry.  And because our basement has duct work - the clothes dry nicely. 

So this is the place I spend so much of my time during the week.  It's not bad and I hope to make it a little more cheery.  Once the roof and siding get finished!!

My Closet Progress

Although not completely done, I am happy to say that I did get a lot accomplished in my closet.  I did not get to my shelves- ran out of time and interest!  But I did go through all my clothes both hanging and in storage totes.

I was really amazed out how much I have.  Considering I do not shop for clothes for myself often, maybe a few times a year, I ended up with a couple bags for donation/consignment.  Either I keep a clothes for longer than normal, or I buy more than I think.  Probably a little of both.  Especially when some of the clothes I got rid of were purchases that shouldn't have been bought.  And some were gifts that while well meaning- just weren't my style, size, or poorly made.

All that is left in my closet are the clothes that I wore last fall/winter.  I went through my spring/summer clothes just as ruthless and stored the keepers away. 

It is really nice to see all the clothes that I know I will wear.  I need to purchase a few more tops and maybe some pants in colors other than black.  Haha.  The only color is my red jacket and purple sweater.

The floor makes me so happy.  I still have to work on the bags on the right.  Need to get a new safe deposit box and what you couldn't see from the before are the bags of photos way in the back.  I didn't even touch that side of the floor.  I knew I would waste too much time looking at pictures.  Saving that for another post!

Another thing I didn't get to is Paige's Communion dress.  It's still hanging on the door as it started to rain so hard right after I loaded the car with the bags and boxes for the Salvation Army.  At least the boxes are in my trunk ready to go.

I also went through my son's clothes and took out all the outgrown winter clothes from last year.  One tote I found was full of summer clothes that I was suppose to sell on eBay in May.  Ooops.  I thought it was full of Paige's winter clothes. Obviously, I didn't label them.  Duh!

I never stored Paige's winter clothes this year.  The sad part is that she apparently she doesn't have that much since I never noticed them this summer.  I'm afraid that when I put away her summer clothes, her closet and drawers will be bare! 

I also made a big decision to load up a large pile of boxes that were in my basement waiting for my yard sale (that never happened!).  There are several more boxes in the attic that need to go as well. I may put some stuff aside to sell on eBay since now is the best time for selling.  And I can use the cash!!



What truly amazes me is where does it all come from??  I don't shop much (can't imagine what my house would be like if I did).  And I'm always getting rid of stuff so how is it that there is always more to go?  Thinking back at what I pitched, I did notice that so much of it were gifts.  Birthday and Christmas items that none of us would use.  Like I said before, they are well meaning, but often I feel bad knowing that money was wasted on items that will not be enjoyed by us.  I try to tell everyone specific things for the kids (and that Jeff and I truly don't need gifts) but it never seems to work.  I don't want to hurt feelings, but it also makes no sense for people to keep wasting their money and time!

This year the kids just want money, gift cards, and itune cards for Christmas.  They are too picky for clothes as they like only certain clothes ie UnderArmour, Wet Seal, and Aeropostale to be specific. Clothes purchased from places that we do not shop at are not worn.  I know.  They are spoiled.  Luckily, they aren't shopaholics and are happy shopping in the fall and spring.  I couldn't afford it if they expected to shop all the time.  Haha- they probably wouldn't get to shop at their favorite stores if we did shop more often.

Since they are getting older and not as interested in toys, I think it will be easier to maintain order in their rooms.  It is sad though.  While I love the idea of less, it's also sad.  They are growing up.  Soon they will be moving out.  Ok...time to end this post before I start balling my eyes out. 

Hopefully tomorrow it will not be raining so I can unload my car and get the dress to the cleaners. It was raining all day today so I didn't stop before or after work.        Come on sun! Shine!

My Closet

Our house is really great.  I've talked before about how much I love it and don't really care to move.  It's not perfect and there are a lot of things that frustrate me (like having no space to store shoes and coats on main floor).

But there are some nice features that you normally don't find in a house as old as ours.  One of those is the fact that we have 2 closets in our bedroom. They aren't huge walk ins, however, they are really spacious as compared to other homes of the same age.  We installed a closet organizer in Jeff's closet shortly after we moved in.  He really owns a ton more than me and it was nice to get his closet somewhat organized. I would like to replace it with something different, but it works for him right now.

My closet is just a rod and a couple of shelves above. I'm not a big shopper and so most of my summer and winter clothes will fit in this one closet. So does a lot of other junk!!




Full view of my closet- Jeff still needs to install the bamboo flooring in both closets.  It's
been almost 2 years since we did the floor- hahaha!



As you can see, I store a lot of my magazines on my shelf in the closet.  I need to go through them and get rid of most.  There are a good many that I do enjoy re-reading, but I think many got put there because of sheer laziness. My wedding album is in the big black box on the top shelf next to all my breast pump accessories.  I am just not sure what to do with my breast pump.  I haven't used it in 8 years, but it kind of grosses me out thinking that someone else would actually want to use it!  Any thoughts??

My floor was cleaned out earlier this year.  But then I began shoving things in it again.  The big white bag is all the things that used to be stored in our safe deposit.  I was suppose to get a new one at our credit union around 4 years ago.  Hmmmm....guess I can't complain about Jeff and those bamboo floors now can I?

I threw Paige's curtains in here as well when I started on her remodel -which is still at a standstill.  A bag of bags that I use when I need to bag things up for Goodwill or the consignment shop.  Extra hangers, my purse that is truly falling apart, our dvd player (no dresser or stand to store it for when we want to watch movies in our bedroom), and some 31 bags.  Oh and don't forget the free with purchase bear from PS Aeropostale from last year's Christmas online shopping for Paige. 

These are my summer/fall clothes.  Plus I keep my winter coats (far left) stored here.  I have a nice closet in my office (D$%# office!!) but I currently have all the coats that need to go to Goodwill/consignment shop taking up that precious space.  A few years ago, I purchased a huge supply of wooden hangers.  My hangers have to match.  In fact, my son has yellow ones, Paige has white ones, and Jeff and I have the wooden ones.  Though now I'm not loving them as much. 

These are my some of my most favorite books (non cleaning/organizing ones!).  I love Candace Bushnell and purchased her books in  hardback since I do re- read them a lot.  I used to be a fan of Kate Gosselin when she first was on tv, but then after the wedding vow renewal, I sort of stopped watching.  Now I'm not at all impressed with her and may actually sell/donate those books. 

The last thing about my closet is this dress.  It's Paige's First Holy Communion dress.  It's very similar to my wedding dress (minus the sheer jacket) and when she said it was the one she wanted I was thrilled!!

However, it's been hanging on this hook for about 4 years now.  I need to get it cleaned so I can box it up with her baptismal gown (which is probably in a pile of clothes in the attic!).  I'm just so afraid of it getting ruined.  So it's just hanging there collecting dust until I can get the courage to have it dry cleaned. 

Because I can easily shut the door, I tend to just ignore the mess.  But this morning, I decided it was time to really go through my clothes.  I took down all the containers so that I can pitch winter and summer things of mine.  I also need to see what winter clothes the kids have (or need) as well.  I may have some after pictures later today or tomorrow. 

Here I go!