I live in COLD country. We have long, hard winters. A lot of snow, and a lot of cold. So today I went out for my annual stock-up. The goal is to not have to go out much in January and February. Especially for bulky or heavy things like paper towels, canned goods, laundry detergent, and anything I can think of to get now, ahead of the winter. I got tons of toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and just a myriad of “stuff” that I won’t have to lug in over ice and mud and snow.
For those of you who like to be organized, here’s a tip. Go through the house and make a list of everything that uses batteries, then go out and get a whole new batch and throw the old ones out. I began doing this after some batteries corroded on me and left a mess on my cassette player. Now I get batteries once a year, and I know that all the batteries in the house are no more than a year old. Later today I’ll go around and replace every single one. PLUS, I take a Sharpie and put the date on them so if I overlooked anything, there will be no guessing game whether the ones I have are old or not.
I got a bottle of cold-water laundry detergent and a bottle of detergent for whites. Those bottles are heavy, and it feels so good to know I won’t have to be lugging them in across the slippery parking lot. I got several large jars of spaghetti sauce and several jars of peanut butter. It just feels good to have gotten all this done today.
Ok, ready for another tip? How many times a year do you go out to get a birthday card, or a sympathy card, or a new-baby card? If you want to be efficient, every time you go for a card, get a few more of that same category. But if you want to be SUPER efficient, take an afternoon and go with a list and get ALL your cards for the next year. Then get one of those accordion files and put tabs on them for each month of the year. Put all your cards in the correct month, and there you go, no more late cards. Ummm, you could even address them now. Ok, I know, I know….
Well, that’s been my day, and I’m purring. I’m sure I’ll think of a few more things I overlooked, but there’s still time before the first snow begins to fall. In fact, that’s why I start in November. I can pick up more things in December, then in January and February I can enjoy not having to run out for something I could have gotten earlier.
Filed under: Journal
