Enjoy reading? Browse in your local libarary instead of the book shop! If you are looking for a particular title they may be able to order it for you. You can usually keep a book for three weeks, which will make you actually read it.
If you are anything like me, you`ll probably have collected loads of books over the years which you never actually read. Your library will also be happy to accept donations of your unwanted books, regardless of their state. Do you really need to own and keep every book you`ve read?
I sell some of my better and more valuable books on ebay or amazon, but for the cheaper ones, it`s often more hassle than it is worth. So I used to donate them to charity shops, but since I started using librarys I like the thought of giving something back to them. Libraries are usually underfunded, and it would be a shame for them to disappear! They need your support!
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Bathroom shelves
Apart from having one thing less to clean, I noticed another thing since we have ditched those two shelves: we are more able to resist special offers of certain toiletteries because there is no longer as much space to stock them. "Hoarding", as I call it, and buying things which were not really needed used to be an issue in this house, and I`m really pleased about this lovely side effect! :-)
Saturday, 17 July 2010
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Sunday, 6 June 2010
we`ve ditched our microwave oven!
The other day, hubby saw a microwave oven on offer, with integrated grill, and he suggested to me that ours (old, tatty, uneconomic and very large) could do with being replaced, drawing my attention to the fact that, given that it had an integrated grill, it was really a bargain (I must add, he`s a bit of a slave to the advertising industry...)
He later added that we would, of course, never use it as a grill.
This led me to ask whether we need a microwave oven at all. How often do we use it? Hardly ever. And what we use it for, we can easily reheat on our conventional oven.
So I suggested ditching our microwave oven (which, despite still being in working order, is indeed long past its best days) and just leave it for a couple of months to see whether we really miss it. (We can still replace it if we find we do, but my bet is we won`t...)
He later added that we would, of course, never use it as a grill.
This led me to ask whether we need a microwave oven at all. How often do we use it? Hardly ever. And what we use it for, we can easily reheat on our conventional oven.
So I suggested ditching our microwave oven (which, despite still being in working order, is indeed long past its best days) and just leave it for a couple of months to see whether we really miss it. (We can still replace it if we find we do, but my bet is we won`t...)
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Watch less Television...
An excellent post in a blog which I read regularly, which I just had to share...
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Getting used to it...
You know what`s one of the worst thing about putting off unfinished jobs?
You`ll get used to it.
I have noticed this phaenomenon a few times.
When I moved in with my now-husband I took an instant dislike to the old-fashioned furniture (and several other things). I however felt that I could not immediately start criticising the home he was about to share with me and decided to accept its state for the time being. And very quickly, it stopped bothering me. This was it, and I truely accepted it. Only once in a wee while (usually when we were about to have visitors!) I was able to see our home, furniture etc with new eyes and noticed its flaws again. It took a long time to get round to fix some of them, and some are still not done. (I am living here for 9 years this summer.)
Another example: 2 years ago, the fence which separates our garden from our neighbours` got damaged in a storm. It fell towards his garden and hubby husband managed to temporarily fix the problem by attaching it to our cherry tree with a piece of string. After a few weeks I got exasperated and asked him to do the job properly, adding that he would be joking about this string if it was on the other side. He promised time and time again and never fixed it yet. He asked his friend to help who cancelled twice (for good reasons). The fence remains attached to the tree. It`s a horrible sight, but generally, I don`t notice it any more. I still have to dodge it every time I walk to our compost bin but still, I no longer see the string.
The longer you leave a job (whatever that is - clutter, stained carpets, stained wallpaper, fixing something broken, cleaning your windows or car) the more likely you are to continue to put it off. If you fix it as soon as it happens (but certainly while it is still annoying you), you get the job out of the road and avoid this trap.
Now, take a pen and paper and note down what has been annoying you, for whatever long a time, room by room. Add to it as you see things. Walk around your home and try to see it as if you have never been here before. And then start to get things done! There are small things which can be done immediately (such as fixing or throwing out something broken) and there are some things which require more planning and time, like redecorating and anything else which involved parting with money. But try to get things done as of now! The job won`t go away!
You`ll get used to it.
I have noticed this phaenomenon a few times.
When I moved in with my now-husband I took an instant dislike to the old-fashioned furniture (and several other things). I however felt that I could not immediately start criticising the home he was about to share with me and decided to accept its state for the time being. And very quickly, it stopped bothering me. This was it, and I truely accepted it. Only once in a wee while (usually when we were about to have visitors!) I was able to see our home, furniture etc with new eyes and noticed its flaws again. It took a long time to get round to fix some of them, and some are still not done. (I am living here for 9 years this summer.)
Another example: 2 years ago, the fence which separates our garden from our neighbours` got damaged in a storm. It fell towards his garden and hubby husband managed to temporarily fix the problem by attaching it to our cherry tree with a piece of string. After a few weeks I got exasperated and asked him to do the job properly, adding that he would be joking about this string if it was on the other side. He promised time and time again and never fixed it yet. He asked his friend to help who cancelled twice (for good reasons). The fence remains attached to the tree. It`s a horrible sight, but generally, I don`t notice it any more. I still have to dodge it every time I walk to our compost bin but still, I no longer see the string.
The longer you leave a job (whatever that is - clutter, stained carpets, stained wallpaper, fixing something broken, cleaning your windows or car) the more likely you are to continue to put it off. If you fix it as soon as it happens (but certainly while it is still annoying you), you get the job out of the road and avoid this trap.
Now, take a pen and paper and note down what has been annoying you, for whatever long a time, room by room. Add to it as you see things. Walk around your home and try to see it as if you have never been here before. And then start to get things done! There are small things which can be done immediately (such as fixing or throwing out something broken) and there are some things which require more planning and time, like redecorating and anything else which involved parting with money. But try to get things done as of now! The job won`t go away!
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