Preparing to Declutter and Deep Clean

I love Spring. Even more than Spring itself, I love Spring Cleaning. Call me strange, but I do. It has been a long Winter, and things have been accumulating, but over the last couple of weeks, I have successfully managed to declutter even more to make way for my spring cleaning day. 

Spring is just around the corner, and I thought it would be appropriate to share some decluttering tips to help you get ready for your Spring cleaning! There are no rules when it comes to decluttering, in my opinion. I do, however, believe in guidelines. I've outlined three ways to begin preparing for your simplifying process below. Later this week, we'll get to the actual decluttering.

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Set Goals

Decide what you want to accomplish for each area. This is completely up to you. It helps if you write down your goals and share them with someone else to keep you accountable. 

Commit & Be Thorough 

This will take time. Decide on how much time you will commit to each project/room. Follow through and don't continue or move on until you have finished.

Create a System

Decide whether you will sell, donate, or throw away the things you collect. Be sure to have garbage bags or boxes handy for each category. Some categories you could use are:

• Keep

• Donate/Give Away

• Sell

• Throw Away

• Sentimental Value

• Put Away

• Repurpose

Feel free to pin the image below!

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Later this week, once you complete these steps, I will be back with more practical tips for decluttering every room in your house! Don't you just love simplifying?

Update: You can now find the Ultimate Guide for Your Springtime Simplifying HERE!

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Meal Planning in a Few Easy Steps

A few weeks ago, I posted about why I meal plan, and today, I'm going to be sharing how I go about meal planning. I know I said I would post this earlier, but it has been a crazy couple of days. Since it's the beginning of the month, I thought I should get to it. 

The process of meal planning itself is a pretty easy one. I plan for the entire month. It used to take up to two hours, but now that I'm better at it, it goes by much quicker - usually no longer than an hour.

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1) Check the Fridge, Freezer & Cupboards

I do this first because I can then determine what needs to be and can be used. I also do not wish to buy duplicates unnecessarily, so this step usually eliminates that. I also check on my staples to see if they need refilling. 

2) Gather My Recipes

This is my favourite part! I love going through the recipes I love and the ones I haven't tried. In addition to checking my repertoire, I open my Pinterest boards and my Pocket feed to see what recipes have interested me, and what I might be determined enough to knock off the "try list." Note: Our breakfasts are usually pretty standard because of work schedules, so we usually have fruit and whole grain cereal or bread. I don't bother planning for that because they're staples for us. A couple of times a month, we will have a free morning in which we can be a bit more adventurous though! 

3) Get Out the Calendar

I print out a blank monthly calendar to place my meals on. Eventually I want to make and use a reusable one. First, I block off the days where I don't need to worry about preparing food (days we're out of town or eating out, etc.). Next I schedule any grocery shopping trips (usually two). This helps me determine what ingredients I need to last longer. By the way, we personally only eat twice a day (one large breakfast, and an early supper/late lunch). If we are dying of hunger, we'll have a light snack later on.

4) Group Together Meals

I don't necessarily group meals that have overlapping ingredients if I don't plan on making enough to have leftovers. Sometimes we do though, and a lot of ingredients are versatile anyway. Making sure each meal for the day adds up to the recommended amounts of nutrients (more on that in the future!), I start putting them on the calendar. 

5) Make a Shopping List

Being sure I double check the things I already have, I make a list! It's easy. I write down every thing I'll need for each meal I'm preparing and take a poll, so to say. This way, I can be sure I'm getting enough of a certain ingredient. Note: I usually make two shopping lists. One for each shopping trip I need to take. This also helps me make sure that produce will last long enough, etc. Plus, I don't have to take extra time later on to make a completely new list. I can add to it if I run out of a staple or two during the week. 

Note: I group my list into sections according to what store I will be visiting. This way, I'm not jumping between sections and wasting time. 

6) Execute!

The one thing I really like about this system is that it's flexible. If I decide I don't want a certain meal one day, or if something comes up where we don't need to cook after all, it's easy to change it up and move it. It's basically just for my sanity. 

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What do you think? Easy enough to try yourself?
Do you use another method? Comment below- I'd love to hear about it. I'm off to meal plan for this month now - a few days late... I'm a little behind in life these days :)

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10 Weird Things I Did to Save Money in University

Today, as I was going through the budget, I thought to myself, wow, I still have the mentality of a poor, starving student! This isn't the worst mentality to have, especially since I'm now officially paying student loans back. At least I'm not starving anymore. This got me to thinking about the things I did in my last year of University to save money. It was a pretty tight year because I couldn't find a job. I never did anything crazy like dumpster diving (I feel like I would have done that), but I did try to save as much as I could.

There are some things I did that I'm not proud of, but in case you're looking to save a few pennies, I thought I might contribute to your creativity. Working together and sharing is good, right?

Bought 'old' food.

For most of the year, the grocery store I frequented offered 50% off almost expired food. Because of this, brown bananas were always on my list to buy. Some of them were closer to black and slimy, but I bought them anyway and stuck what I could in the freezer for breads and cookies. Besides the bananas, I would buy day old bread (which also freezes well) and wilty vegetables. Yummy.

Watered down my Almond/Soy Milk

Yup. I would bring my [also close to expiration] almond milk home and divide it. I would add water and no one was the wiser! Confession: this was so ingrained in me that I did it a few months into marriage :) My husband never noticed until I told him about it. Should have kept quiet....

Related: How Not to Go Broke From Buying Groceries 

Used public bathrooms as often as possible

If you know me well, you know that I absolutely despise public washrooms. However, desperate times call for desperate measures. In order to save on toilet paper and soap, I would be sure to use the washroom before coming home, and as soon as I got someplace. And just in case you were wondering: No, I did not steal the toilet paper.

Walked to school

School was only 2km away from my house. In winter, I would wear so many clothes to stay warm that I more or less waddled to class. It was a good time, and walks are always a good idea. So is fresh-ish air. This saved on gas and parking (and by the way, keeping my tank above half also saved some money).

I had a basic phone plan

As in my smartphone had 1000 minutes of calling and texting. It was only "smart" when I was connected to wifi (which was free for me). This did become a problem when I started to drive to places I had never been or got lost in the city (I didn't have a GPS). 

I didn't eat out

I can count on one hand the amount of times I ever ate out. I'm always asked about good restaurants in whatever area I've been in, and I never know. This greatly affected my social life, but I was okay with my [stale] bread and water. I did like to study every week in Starbucks, but I never paid for it. I usually ordered water, and I earned free gift cards through Swagbucks for drinks.

I wore clothing till hole-ridden

I have finally gotten rid of all of my hole-ridden clothing. The shoes were the worst. My husband and mother were appalled, but they also know me and laughed. I don't know that I did this to save money, because I had no money to buy anything, but I guess it counts. 

I didn't shower every day

Gasp! I also only washed my hair twice a week. Thankfully I have dry hair so that was possible (and preferred, really). I heard it wasn't healthy to shower every day anyway. Do I believe that? Maybe. 

I picked up coins in the laundromat

This one is most embarrassing but I decided to share anyway. There is a lot of money behind washing machines! I discovered this one day when I went to get coins. The change-making machine was placed on the wall above a washing machine. After inserting my bill and collecting my coins, I dropped a twoonie (a two dollar coin for those unfamiliar with Canadian currency) on the floor. It rolled behind the washing machine, and since I obviously needed those two dollars for a wash cycle, I heaved the machine out of the way. When I did, I found several quarters and loonies (one dollar coins) that the less desperate had abandoned. To make a long story short, that became my thing. Every time I needed some coins, I checked under the machines. I made at least ten dollars doing that. The worst part? It wasn't even the laundromat I did my laundry in!

Declined cleaning service when i moved in and out of my apartment

My landlords had arranged a cleaning service to take care of my apartment before and after I moved in. The only problem with that was that they were going to charge me $300 to cover it. I called them and told them that I loved cleaning and wouldn't require that service. They accepted that, and even waived the fee for my move-in clean, because they didn't want me to move in to a dirty apartment! Thanks to the help of my husband (then fiancé), it was even cleaner when I moved out.

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Someone I know admitted to using his roommate's shampoo without him knowing. What's the weirdest thing you've ever done to save money? I'd love to hear about it. Let me know below in the comments!

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Confessions of a Meal Planner

I had attempted meal planning several times over the years, but it never stuck. It takes time and effort - two things I didn't always have. Since I work full-time now, I need to be very intentional to make good decisions. Meal planning is one of those good decisions. 

I've been meal planning three years now, and though I've yet to really perfect it, I would say I'm getting there. There is such a satisfaction I find in it that I've never known before! This may come across quite strong for a topic such as meal planning, but I don't know how else to express myself right now!

Meal planning helps me with so many things. I'll let you see for yourself: 

Updated June 2019

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Saves Time

I aim to make as few trips to the grocery store as possible. Once a week max! Having a list that keeps me on track not only reduces the time I spend in the store, but the number of extra trips to go because of forgotten items. It’s all in the plan. 

Saves Money

Because I'm making less trips a month to the store, I'm spending less! How? Well besides gas money, if I go to the store to pick up one thing, my eye might catch something else that I end up buying. My quick stop ends up costing much more than intended, and that adds up over time. In the same way, if I forget something, I'm more likely to have to pay a visit to a convenience store where prices are much higher. This is also why I bring a shopping list with me, and why I leave my husband at home :) 

It Helps Me Be Decisive

This has to do with time, but I decided to make it an extra heading. I am extremely indecisive. You would not believe how long I could stand in the kitchen staring at nothing to decide what I should make for dinner. I am the most indecisive person I know! If I didn't meal plan, by the time I would decide on what I want to make, I would already be starving, too lazy to cook, and prone to have trail mix for dinner - or nothing at all. Which would be the best case!

Related: How I Meal Plan

I Feel More Prepared & At Ease

As much as I love cooking, I do not feel like doing it every day of the week. I am a busy teacher and the last thing I want to do after a long day at school is to be in the kitchen the whole evening. I like to prepare freezer meals that can be put into the crock pot or in the oven on days I know I will be busy or unmotivated (or not even home for dinner!). I include these in my meals plans! They are also great in a pinch when life throws the occasional curve ball. Because it’s life. Of course curve balls will be thrown!

I Can Make Better Food Choices

I will admit that I'm not always the most motivated person. If I didn't meal plan, it would be easier to just grab high caloric foods to satisfy my hunger, as opposed to choosing foods that also satisfy my nutritional needs. Meal planning allows me to be intentional about what I feed myself and others, making sure what I eat will benefit my body and life!

Grab my free meal planning guide if you want help starting out with a food plan. In it, I include my basic shopping staples list (which is pretty and functional) and even a sample meal plan.

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So there you have it: a few reasons I choose to meal plan.
What about you? Do you meal plan? Would you like to start?

In this post here, I talk a bit more about meal planning and my process. 

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What I've Learned In Six Months of Marriage

Today, I celebrate six months of marriage with my amazing and wonderful husband. I decided to have an extra post this week just because I'm happy, and because I've learned a lot in the last six months. People always told me that marriage was awesome, but I never really knew what they meant until we tied the knot ourselves. I thought I would share some thoughts on marriage and what I've learned!

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Sleep-Cuddling is reserved for Hollywood

Seriously, it's the stuff of movies - not reality. For us anyway. However, when you wake up at 3am and can't sleep anymore, there's comfort in knowing you're not alone. For me, this is especially comforting after a nightmare!

Communication is so important!

We need to communicate. It's not like our three year long distance relationship (more on that later), when we could turn off Skype whenever we needed a break from each other. Besides that, semantics are sometimes just that - semantics! Communicating properly saves a lot of misunderstandings.

Even newlyweds can take marriage seriously

We're still newly married, but that hasn't stopped us from continuing to find ways to improve our marriage. Effort needs to be put into marriage for it to work, after all!

I am the most selfish person in the world

I thought I was a pretty good person - then I got married. Seriously. There's no such thing as only thinking about yourself anymore. You constantly have to consider a second person. It's humbling.

Love is a decision

This is nothing new, but it's no less true! You decide to love a person no matter how sick they are, how they look in the morning, how annoying they are, or how they leave the bathroom smelling when they're done. Most importantly, you love them even when Monopoly got a little intense last night.

Prayer is key!

Have you heard that saying, "The couple who prays together, stays together."? It's true! Praying for and with your spouse is important. How amazing it is to know that my husband continually lifts me up in prayer!

Taking time to be a couple is important

Even though we don't have kids, we are still busy and need to take time just to be together. Sometimes it's as simple as going for a walk, but on the days we've committed to just being us and hanging out, it recharges and renews us as a couple. 

Playing games after breakfast on a Monday is completely acceptable

In sweat pants and old tees no less! And bonus if you make up your own rules. 

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What I love most about marriage is the realization that I share something amazing and sacred with just one other person. I can't wait to see what else marriage has in store for us, and what more we will learn!

Head over to Instagram to see a wedding picture or two in the feed :)

Updated PS: It's been a year! Check out PART II here :)

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