I've discovered something interesting about myself. I'm a visual person. Don't know why it has taken me nearly half a century to figure this out, but it just clicked for me this week. That's part of the reason for the clutter in my life. For me, if it's out of sight, it is out of mind, literally.

So, I have a whole series of coping mechanisms I use to deal with this problem. I have a "launch pad" area where I keep my laptop, my purse, and anything else I want to take to work. I have notes on the fridge and elsewhere and a special basket to keep my bills in so I don't lose them in the clutter.

Then I have a whole series of pop up reminders I have set up all over the place. My computer at work reminds me when it's time to get a haircut, when it's time for my son to check in after school, when to do my monthly reports, etc. etc. etc. My cell phone reminds me when it's 6:00 and time to start homework. Tomorrow morning it will remind me that I have an early meeting and have to be on time for work. And my laptop reminded me it was time to go to bed (an hour ago!).

So today I started a new strategy. I've been getting a bit nervous about our debt situation and my husband just doesn't get it. So today, I took some post it notes and set up a debt management situation on the bathroom mirror. I highly recommend doing this. It's very empowering to see everything in one place. OK, it's a little scary too when you see that big ugly number, but it definitely gives you some motivation to start taking the right steps.

I'd show you a picture, but I'm too lazy to get the camera, go all the way upstairs, then come back and load it to my computer. What I did was make a separate post it note for each account. I put the date and the current balance for each and then I left space so I can update the new balance (up or down!) each month.

I put them in order from largest to smallest. Then I can start my debt snowball by paying off the smaller ones and using that money to start nibbling away at the smaller ones. And then I put the big scary total on another post it note, again with room so I can update it every month. And I even put another post-it with an estimate of the payments I'm planning to make this month, so I have a little hope because I can see how much I can accomplish in a couple of paydays.

I've done this before, on spreadsheets, but I think having this set up in a visual way like this will help both of us have a better understanding of the problem and give us some focus to work on it because we can both see the progress we're making each month. If nothing else, it's going to make us reluctant to charge anything new, because we don't want to see those balances go UP instead of DOWN!


I have to give a shout out to MeckMom.com. I think she comes up with some of the most clever ideas ever. This week, she had a great idea for people with babies. Just to make sure that you never get caught without a diaper when you need one desperately - just tuck a diaper and a very thin pack of wipes under the cover on the side of car seat! That is totally brilliant because you always have the car seat with the baby when you go somewhere. I wish I'd thought of stuff like this when my kids were little. Pop over to her site to find some more great ideas.


There is one phrase that is constantly heard around the crazy house, but it's one you wouldn't expect. The phrase is "STOP handing me cats!". I don't know why, but my son is forever picking up the cats (we have three) and handing them to me to pet.

One of them doesn't like me at all, and the other only likes me on alternate Wednesdays when the moon is full, so I think he's trying to do some relationship building, but it drives me crazy! Especially as I am usually doing something - eating, blogging, sleeping, when he does this.


Speaking of sleeping, my husband has a trick I called his "Patented Tuck & Roll Maneuver" in bed. I don't know how he manages it, but he gets all the covers tucked under his butt and then rolls away from me, taking ALL the covers with him. I only realize it when I wake up with my teeth chattering! And then I have to try to wrestle them back with his 230 lbs. sitting on them. Usually I combat this by having my own twin sized blanket just on my side of the bed, but last night he must have managed to get this too. Brrr! I may never get warm again!