List of MOVING TIPS

I've moved enough in the last 5 years to feel as if I could qualify for the 'professional mover' title. I've learned a few tips a long the way that have been very helpful. Maybe these tips might help someone else.

Items needed:

• Black Sharpie markers
• Masking tape
• Packaging tape
• A ton of free boxes
• Colored round (garage sale) stickers
• Black garbage bags with tie strings
• Newspaper 

 - Make a 'Moving Notebook' where you keep all your important paperwork and checklists for the move. Be sure to keep track of the places you call to change your address, a sheet where you keep reminders, etc. 
- De-clutter as you pack. Have a box nearby for give away items. The more you get rid of the less you'll have to move.
- Pack in stages. If you have a move date that is a few weeks or more down the road use the weeks ahead  to 'pre-pack'. This strategy helps take the pressure off those last few hectic days before the move. Go through each room of the house and pack things you can live without until the moving date. Do this each week because the closer you get to the move the less items you'll need.  Leave the boxes in their original room (well marked with specific items listed on the outside of the box) so you can find an item quickly if need be.
- Color code the boxes and link to a map of the rooms in your new house. For instance, the kitchen could be a red round sticker (office supply stores sell garage sale stickers with multiple colors). Then make a map of the house and place a red sticker on the kitchen area and another red sticker on the box(es) of kitchen items. Make several maps and place them at the entrance of the house so that when your 'movers' bring in a box with a colored sticker they can look at the map and know which room to place the box. Be sure to also write the destination on the box in case the sticker falls off. :-)This will help take the pressure off of YOU as the 'go to gal'.
- Become friends with the produce manager at your local grocery store. I like the apple boxes best for packing because they are not too large and have a nice top. I also use banana boxes because they stack well and work great for larger items. Wine boxes work well for plates. Ask the produce manger what is the best time of day to pick up boxes and then call first thing the next morning.  Let him know you'll be there immediately to pick them up. ALWAYS get a TON more boxes than you think you'll need. Guaranteed you'll need more than you can imagine.You can also check Freecycle to see if anyone is getting rid of their moving boxes.
- You can post on Freecycle that you have moving boxes for pickup once the move is over. They should go fast. Or better yet, check to see if your city has a cardboard recycler who will pay you for your cardboard.
- Purchase a box of heavy black garbage bags (I bought mine at Costco) that have colored tie strings. I use these for pillows, blankets, bedspreads, towels and odd shaped items that won't fit into a box. Label the bag with a piece of masking tape.
- I also use black garbage bags to cover my clothes which keeps them from getting dirty. I gather no more than 5 items on a hanger and use rubber bands to tie the tops of the hanger together. Make sure you use clothes pins to secure any clothes that look like they will slip off the hanger. Pierce a hole in the bottom of the garbage bag and place the group of hangers through the hole. I cover all the clothes we won't be wearing weeks ahead of the move and leave them hanging in the closet. Just leave the clothes unwrapped that you'll wear the final days.  This practice makes it very easy to transport clothes without items falling off and getting dirty. If you're using a moving van you can hang the clothes on the side rails in the van.
- Cook food ahead of time and freeze so you don't have to cook the first week you're in your new home while you're unpacking and trying to get settled.
- If friends come to help they could put new shelf paper on the kitchen shelves while you're busy doing other things. I have 3 goals the first day we move in. 1). Beds  2). Eating and drinking utensils  3) Bathroom necessities such a T.P., towels and toothbrushes. If at all possible it's best to keep these boxes separated so you can find them easily.  If you have important medications make sure you take them personally in your own vehicle.
-Our pastor taught me to make sure every single item is in a box before the move. Make sure there are no stragglers.
-Feed your movers. Ex: Pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken are both quick and easy solutions. My mom and sister were not able to help with the actual move this time but offered to be our rest stop. They made a wonderful lunch for the movers and gave us a warm place to rest.
-Save your movers backs by not packing too many heavy items in one box.
- Use your towels and sheets to wrap around your breakable glasses and dinnerware. Wrapping dishes in newspaper can leave them dirty.

'Living small' and our new home!

I'm entering my second year of LIVING SMALL and frankly I really like it. If someone had told me 5 years ago that I would someday live in a home that was 10 times less in size.. I would have thought it unbearable. But, here I am and we're as content as can be! God has given abundant grace and we have found great peace in not only living with less but also with LIVING SMALL.

Here are a few things I like about LIVING SMALL:

•  LIVING SMALL demands less of my time to clean which allows more time to invest in eternal priorities.   
• LIVING SMALL forces me to make the most of the space that I do have. Our new little cottage has less storage than we previously had so it forced me to consider and evaluate each item I own (literally). That is a good thing because it helps me to narrow my priorities in what I own! Less stuff equals less to take care of.
• LIVING SMALL helps to harness the shopping bug (a.k.a. GREED). I used to enjoy browsing the stores which generally ended up in another purchase. But no longer! I just don't have the room for anything else unless I get rid of something.  I honestly have lost all desire to window shop which in the long run is saving me money and helping me to live more comfortably on a very limited budget.
• LIVING SMALL has helped me to focus more on my important relationships than on STUFF>

It's possible that someday we may LIVE LARGE(r) than we are living now but I believe that our lives will be forever effected by the drastic challenge of LIVING SMALL. At least I hope so!

So here is a tour of our new little cottage.

This is our main living space. Our kitchen is on the left.
 I've stored our canned food out in the garage in cabinets.
My 'office' is to the right of this picture in the lower left hand corner.



Same room just from a different view. The door straight back
is the laundry room which we share with our little lady plus
a bathroom. The hall leads to her home.

My 'office'. The closet holds half of our clothes. Our little lady
(Mrs. A.) has been gracious to allow us the use of an extra closet in
her home. I really think we could get by with this one closet if
we had to. Maybe I'll downsize our clothes this year.

Our bedroom. Our bed just barely fit. We had less than a foot
at the end but lots of space on the sides. Our BB (beloved pet)
sleeps on the pillow next to the bed.

We are also blessed with a 2 car garage which has helped tremendously. I've stored extra cleaning products along with canned foods, an extra fridge, large cooking pots and appliances and extra toiletries.

I'm determined that we COULD live in just the space given minus the garage and extra closet. We would just not be allowed the luxury of a stocked pantry.

We have everything necessary to maintain our household.. plus a little more. Isn't that amazing?

We're moving early... and I can't sleep!

I woke up with a toothache so here I sit. I had a crown fitted last month and my tooth (and the surrounding ones) have given me trouble ever since. The dentist said that the cavity was very close to the nerve root so I'm hoping that is the problem and not that I need a root canal which I can't afford right now. Sensitive toothpaste normally helps but this time the pain is not going away so I took an Ibuprofen.. and here I sit.

We got news yesterday that we can move into our new place a week earlier. I had packed most of what I could earlier but I still have those last minute stragglers that need boxing. I worked until late last night trying to get a head start on today. I still have a lot to do. I also made a pie crust to stick in the freezer to get me started on a meal for the elderly woman we'll be caring for. My days are going to be very full for the next few weeks but I'll still need to prepare meals for her so this way I'll be ahead of the game. I'm defrosting a turkey and plan on cooking it the day before we move with all the fixings so we can eat on it for a couple of days. I'll use the leftover turkey to make her a potpie.

I've learned that one of the best ways to save money on my food budget is to cook something everyday and to cook ahead and stick things in the freezer. That way I'm not tempted to pick up fast food.

Okay.. I'm yawning now so I'm going to head back to bed. Hopefully my tooth will let me sleep.

Tightwad Tuesday: Buying your freedom through frugality

 I'm continuing to read through my old copy of The Tightwad Gazette to prep myself for 'The Most Frugal Year' of my marriage.  There were some real nuggets of encouragement in the article called, "They call me "The Frugal Zealot". These were my favorites...

~ "Saving money, rather than earning money, became the means to my goal".
~ "Certainly the recycling of aluminum foil did not greatly contribute to our dream.  Rather it was the attention to all the thousands of ways we spent our money that made a tremendous difference."
~ "Over the years our average income had been less than $30,000..In less than seven years we saved $49,000, made significant purchases(vehicles, appliances, furniture) of $38,000 and were completely debt free"!

Amy states that frugality is a means to her goal. That's a good question to ask.. why am I practicing frugality? What is MY goal for frugality? For me personally...  it's the means I use to (hopefully) secure my position to remain a homemaker. I have a daily choice on how I spend the money that comes into our home. If I can save more money than I spend then my chances of not having to work full-time may be accomplished (Lord willing).

A family member once said it would drive her crazy to pinch every penny.I actually enjoy the challenge of cutting expenses and living below our means. I like finding new ways (and sometimes untraditional) to meet needs in my family on little to no money.

How about you? What is your goal? How does saving money or stretching your husband's income help meet that goal?

I am discovering this Christmas is very different from past ones due to our financial downsizing. I can remember spending hours and weeks shopping for the family and then just as long wrapping. Then there were weeks of baking and delivering goodies to friends and loved ones. By the time Christmas came (and even up to the night before) I was still running back to the stores thinking I didn't have enough and looking for just 'one more gift'. I crawled out of bed on Christmas morning feeling beyond exhaustion. It was fun in a crazy, insane kind of way. But, living on less money has brought it's own kind of peace in the midst of the chaotic storm of December that I'm frankly enjoying.




I can remember reading excerpts from Laine's Letters on her gift giving budget of $3.00 per person and wondering how anyone could buy a decent gift for that amount. (She made a specific effort to point out that she prayed for the Lord to give her 'eyes to see' before she entered a store). The thought stuck with me and now, more than 8 plus years since I first read her letters, I am seeing that it's very possible to give less and still bless the person you are gifting. I love to look back over the years and see how the Lord has brought different people into my life that have radically impacted my way of thinking and prepared me for the life that He has given me the past few years.



This year I cut my gift giving budget down to a third of what we normally spend. Practically speaking that means I targeted to spend $20.00 on each grandchild. The adults have exchanged names this year with a $20.00 budget per gift. I have 7 grandchildren that I buy gifts for. I also have 3 birthdays in December. I asked their parents to give me suggestions which was very helpful and then I watched the sales. I was able to find a nice gift for each child... one that they had hoped for.

A few of the BEST gifts I received for Christmas last year...
performing for Grammy!

Staying out of the stores this time of year has been essential to sticking with my budget. I've had one point this month (thankfully it was while I was at home) that I panicked feeling that I had not given enough. If I had been in the stores regularly or reading the sale ads I'm sure I would have given into the pressure to buy more. When I really took time to look at the panic I realized it was a fear that my grandchildren would not love me as much because I was unable to buy them more. Once I evaluated the fear I could see it was ridiculous.. I am not loved because of what I can or cannot give at Christmas. If I am.. then we have a serious problem.

As much as I love to give gifts I can see the downsizing as a very good thing (if received in a godly manner) to not be bombarded with every material thing the heart desires. Do you remember that episode of Little House on the Prairie where the children were snowed in and it looked like they were not going to receive any gifts for Christmas? Remember Mr. Edwards? He came at the very last minute and brought oranges I believe and maybe a few small trinkets. The children (and Mrs. Ingall) were overwhelmed with gratefulness. Can you imagine the response from a child in this generation if they were given just an orange as a gift? Their expectations have been raised by the abundance of a prosperous time in the history of our nation. As our economy (and the nations) downsizes I'm hoping so will their expectations.

There will not be the crazy wild tearing of a gazillion packages with paper flying everywhere this year. I'll kind of miss that in one way. I do love to give and see the excitement on a child's face when they see a mountain of presents. But, my heart is content knowing that God has sovereignly assigned the amount of money He has given and it is all working into His plan for my good and therefore the good of my children and grandchildren and all involved. That contentment brings far greater pleasure than a mountain of gifts ever could.

I continue to learn in God's school that age old lesson that Paul spoke about several thousand years ago ...

But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment.

For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.

And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 1 Tim 6:6-9 NASB

Has your family cut back on your budget for Christmas this year? How has it effected you personally? What did you do to cut back?

The cloud is moving... and so are we!

I've become fond of the story of Moses the past few years ..especially the exodus from one place to the unknown. I was thinking about this story quite often the past few weeks. Maybe you'll understand when I tell you our new plans...
A few weeks ago my husband and I interviewed for a job as a caregiver in the town where 2 of my children and their families live. We've been praying to move back close to our family and my mother and now it seems that God has answered our prayers.  We will be caring for a 90 year old woman who in exchange will provide a studio apartment and a small salary. I will cook two meals a day along with light housekeeping. We're free to come and go as we please since she is still self-sufficient and very independent. We've known her son and his family for years so it's not like we'll be taking care of a complete stranger.
My mother will be within walking distance. I haven't lived in the same town with her for over 18 years. She's needing a bit more help the older she gets so I'll be thankful to live so close.  Five of my grandchildren will once again be close by. I've missed being a part of their lives on a regular basis. I'm already dreaming of how I can spend more time with them.

Celebrating Mama's birthday at my son's home this year

                        

So.. the paring down continues. Our new home will be close to the same size as the one we're living in now. The only difference will be that we won't have the extra storage we have in the barn. I've spent the past few weeks going through paperwork, paring down cookbooks, setting aside clothes we don't wear, tossing out old business paperwork and going through my books to save only the best of the best. I won't start packing until after Christmas so I'm using this time to look over everything within our small little home to make sure it's absolutely essential to take along for our next move. Living in small quarters has really given me a sense of what is truly essential to our daily existence. It has really simplified my life.
I'm assuming I won't have a lot of time to keep up with blogging this next month so I wanted to wish all of you a blessed Christmas. I hold so many of you close to my heart. My prayer for you and me is that our hearts will lay hold of the beauty of our Savior this Christmas and that He will truly be the greatest gift.

Tightwad Tuesday: Storage Bags

I've decided to try and apply one tip from The Tightwad Gazette each week for the next year. I've learned a lot from this author. This is one of  my old standby book 'friends' that has tutored me in how to live frugally.  Since we will be living off our savings and my small part time income this coming year, I thought it would be a good time to pull the book out again and see if I can learn some new skills in stretching our money.

I learned a great tip from Tightwad Gazette years ago which was to examine every plastic bag that comes into your home with an eye for reusing it. I used to spend a lot of money on store bought freezer and storage bags. Because I've incorporated this tip in my home I only occasionally purchase bags at the dollar store.

Here is a short list of bags that could be reused:

- bread wrappers
- vegetable bags (you normally find these on a roll in the produce department)
- apple bags (or any other bag that fruit comes in) 
- powdered sugar bags
- brown sugar bags
- dried fruit bags
- nut bags
- corn or flour tortilla bags
- chips
- cookie bags
- any plastic bag that comes in a box. For instance, the plastic bag that holds instant mashed potatoes.

 I don't mind washing the bags as much as drying them. I normally hang them up to dry but this doesn't always completely dry them inside. So oftentimes I'll place my hand in the corner of a dish towel and then in the bag while drying the outside with the other end of the towel. My husband has promised to make me a drying stand so I won't have to dry them by hand.

I found a new suggestion on washing plastic bags in the book that I haven't tried yet. It suggested throwing them in with a load of white clothes along with 1 tsp. of bleach and 1/2 cup laundry detergent and warm water. I'll be trying this soon.

Once the bags are dry I store them by rolling them around the cardboard tube that you find in the middle of a paper towel roll and then I place the roll (of bags) in my kitchen drawer where I store the tinfoil ,etc. 

My goal this next year is to find more and more ways to use what I already have on hand. The less I throw away the less I'll have to buy.

What do you save and reuse?