Jeff and I have made some BIG financial goals. In order to achieve these, we need to make some changes in how we live our life a bit. This has been a natural progression for me over the years, but now it's time to step it up.
So, I have been immersing myself in discovering ways to live more frugally and consequently green. I really need to maximize the hard earned money my husband provides. Yes, cutting back on spending money is a huge part of frugal living, but it goes beyond that. There are so many little things that can be done every day that I think will make a drastic difference. My hope is create a new weekly series to share those with you along the way.
The first thing I did a few weeks ago was cut my housekeeper. Obvious, right? We were going to keep him (yes, a man, go figure!) until Luc went to school, but the guilt that I was having a lot of time on my hands now when I could be putting that money to better uses was building up in me and I was noticing more and more spots missed and just "buildup" from the months that he had been cleaning and that frustrates me to no end when I pay good money. He had been so good when I would have him here & there but no one cleans my house like I do. Don't get me wrong, I slack (hence why we hired a housekeeper to begin with) but when I clean, I clean darn good!
So, I scrapped my daily cleaning schedule because it clearly wasn't working anymore. Ii really thought about why it failed earlier this year. I would start every week gung-ho and by Thurs, be exhausted from all the other doings of the week and things on Thurs & Fri were falling behind. Now that Luc is older, I feel like picking one day a week to do full cleaning may work better. He plays independently more now and I don't think it will scar him one day a week if mom is less attentive in the morning. :) I chose to clean Tuesdays. It's still early in the week when I have the most energy, it's one day a week I won't schedule anything. Mondays are put the house back in order and really, really pick up so I can come in and clean quick, plus it's a day I already work out. I alternate up & down floors and choose a room or area each time to deep clean. I am already in the cleaning mode, so I just take it a step further. This way I don't have to schedule a separate housekeeping "extras" day. cleaning is every nook & crannie and surface is cleaned. Lighting/fans, all trim, inside of windows, crevice tool vacuum along baseboards are also included. I tell ya, cleaning day is a far bigger workout than I typically get and I am good & tired by the time we sit down to dinner. But it's just one day a week and it's a good tired to feel when I accomplished it all.
What things do you do to live more frugally?
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