Beginning 2011 by going paperless

Towards the end of November and into December I spent more time baking pies, cakes and cookies than I did keeping my personal paperwork tidy so a small pile of papers has accumulated on my home office desk. 

 

This year I’m going to scan my documents onto my computer as an alternative to paper files.  We have a scanner that we can connect to one of the computers and my husband has already gone one step further by using his phone to scan checks and other documents.  We’ll keep copies of important papers in our home files as well, but there is no reason why we can’t scan many of the papers we now file.  I can also expand this idea to organize my favorite recipes.  Currently, my recipes are stuffed in a small 3x5 index card box.   I’ve meant to put my recipes on my computer for a long time--no better time than the present.  Next time someone asks me for a recipe, I can email it to them quickly.

We have a backup system at home in case any of our computers crash, which will ensure that we can get to our documents once they are scanned.  That’s important.

My goal is to have this all done by the end of February… let the scanning begin! 

Ending 2010 healthy and debt free

How did your budget survive 2010?  Did you have to rush it to the ER on the 31st or was its good health cause to celebrate?

This past year, the household budget suffered a few bumps and bruises at the beginning of November when my husband was laid off from his job, but a little reorganization of our budget kept us on track. 

Tracking our spending and loan repayments throughout the year using a detailed spreadsheet allowed us to be debt-free by year's end.  After paying our bills, whatever cash was left in the account was our Christmas gift and holiday spending.  The credit cards went on their own holiday break.

As modest as our Christmas budget was, we still had so much to be grateful for.  As I told a friend, I was healthy and debt free--what better way to end the year!
 

Happy Halloween

On this last day of October before the witches and goblins descend on the neighborhood, my husband and I are clearing out some of our own goblins that have been hiding out in our shed and garage.  Time to put out the broken down lawn equipment and leftover bits and pieces of long ago home projects.  Already we've had the pickers out to carry away little treasures containing bits of aluminum and metal.  It's good to clean out the clutter!