I’ve always been terrible at making choices. I get so caught up in all the options and details, bells and whistles that I soon start worrying about making the wrong choice or one that is suboptimal.

What happened to the good old days of only having to choose between a handful of products at most? Back then the biggest discerning features were things like color or size but the underlying technology was by and large the same.

Walking through a store today can be incredibly overwhelming. I find shopping for electronics is the worst. Take TVs for example, there are not only a huge number of brand names to choose from, there are a ton of choices within each brand as well. Size, shape, color, resolution, plug-ins available, technology and whole bunch of additional “features” the advertisers try to convince us that we need.
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Whether you invite people into your home for an overnight stay, a week get away or longer, I have a simple way to make your guests feel right at home.

A welcome basket can easily be put together and the small gesture can will leave a lasting impression.
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Earlier this week, for the first time, I made play-dough for my son, who’s now 2. He loved it! I think it was about 10 minutes into it that he finally stopped saying “wow!”

I thought it would be fun for him to squish it, pound it, roll it and pat it while I made dinner. I was right, he was completely enthralled.

I remember when I was young, my mom would always make this for my sisters and me. We loved it as well. We could spend hours making snails, faces, worms, turtles and anything else our imaginations would take us to. It’s been years since I’ve played with play-dough.
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Just when I thought I had purged enough…I purged some more. People all around me ask “What MORE do you have to get rid of?” My answer is simple MORE. In the past, I’ve spent frivolously on things I “needed” however, that’s not an excuse to hang on to them and clutter up the space I have.

For the past couple of years I’ve been working towards simplifying my life, which includes my home. I want to make my life as simple as possible and that includes not holding on to things I might need “someday”, things I spent “good money on”, and things that are still good but I don’t use.

My initial thought on simplicity was that I’d get rid of what I didn’t need and presto life would be simpler. Which is true. The catch: There is actually a lot of stuff you don’t need.
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I know I’ve had a good day when I’m able to look back on it and think “hmmm…bet you didn’t think you were going to do that today.”

Yesterday was a good day.

Just before turning in for the night I read some recent tweets on twitter. I found a tweet from the local weather girl saying something about a meteor shower. Tonight! I’m a wannabe astronomer so how I missed this I don’t know. I love star gazing, watching for satellites, “shooting stars” and sorting out the constellations.
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Today at Quest For Balance, Lisis has published an article of mine titled: Frugal Tips: How To Make Your Money Go Further. Whether you’re embarking on an epic journey like Lisis and her family or are just looking for ways to cut back a bit on spending and live well within your means, please head on over to Quest For Balance and check it out.

If you’re here from Quest For Balance welcome! I hope you have a good look around and consider subscribing to our RSS feed or via email. Thanks so much for visiting!

Photo courtesy of: vitaeer

James at Organize IT has been kind enough to feature a guest post of mine: How to perform a successful root cause analysis. If you are looking for a way to find real solutions to real problems then head on over and have a look. There’s a lot more to problem solving than simply addressing the symptoms.

If you’re here from Organize IT welcome! Here are a few of our “best of” posts to get you started.  I hope you have a good look around and consider subscribing to our RSS feed or via email. Thanks so much for visiting!
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What do you want for your birthday, Christmas, Anniversary etc…?

If you’re anything like me you get asked this question about a dozen times a year. As I get older and work towards simplifying my life, it’s getting tougher and tougher to answer this question. I really and truly want for nothing these days. I have my family and good friends, a modest home and everything I need to maintain it. Sure the oven mitts are a bit tattered but they’re still good.

In light of our abundance and desire to reduce clutter, my husband and I have chosen to create experiences as gifts for each other as opposed to exchanging material things. When thoughtful and close to your heart these gifts can truly last a lifetime.
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In our neck of the woods we spend nearly six months under a blanket of snow and only about three months under the warm rays of the summer sun. By the time June rolls around we’re pretty eager to get outside and stay outside until September!

There is no place quite like the old backyard to spend lazy days kicking back getting lost in a great book or sharing a great barbecued meal with family and friends. It can be relatively easy and inexpensive to create a warm, relaxing and inviting atmosphere that may make you wish you could live outside year round.
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A while back I wrote 8 tips for effective budgeting. In that article I pointed out that it took nearly 10 years for us to come up with a method that works really well for us. One of the biggest hurdles for setting a budget is finding a system that works for you. There is no one system that will work for everybody, if there was there wouldn’t be as many budgeting products on the market. 

Here is an outline of how we implemented a budgeting system in our home that has been working quite well for us for the past couple of years.
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