Friday, June 10, 2011

5 Confessions From a Busy Thrifty Professional: Finding Balance

It's not easy being busy! I try to balance it all, but I've never found that perfect balance of keeping my home organized, keeping on top of the day job, writing for this blog, writing for other blogs, working on art, and socializing with friends.

5 Confessions: The answer to "How do you do it all?" is "I don't."

1. My house is chaos right now. Chaos. Not Hoarders bad, but there are boxes everywhere.
2. I'm living proof that a human can thrive on yogurt, cottage cheese, and oranges alone. For days.
3. Sometimes beer is my dinner. One time beer and gummy bears were my dinner. 
4. I'm too tired to take antique store bits and curbside finds out of the car...
5. I took the photo above after exiting the car to meet my friends at the bar. For Dinner *.

(* Beer ) This weekend the house will be organized, things will be donated, product photos will be snapped, and I'm listing plenty of bits for sale on Craigslist. It's time to find balance! (I don't see myself having the energy to cook anytime soon, though!)


 So Help Me Out: How Do You Balance it All? Tips?
Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

26 comments:

  1. LOL Yes I love it when people keep it real or as we say keep it 100. I too have boxes everywhere and have had only crackers and apple juice for dinner and that picture looks like my trunk LOL Now how do I stay balanced?...hummm let me think for a minute it's hard especially when you're always on the thrift hunt. I have started making a conscious effort to go through things that I've had for a while and haven't done anything with. This week alone I've given away quite a bit. If I haven't seen it or touched in well over 6 months it's gone, and it really should be 1 month.

    ReplyDelete
  2. my apartment is almost hoarderish, too. i did finally manage to take 4 boxes of stuff to donate AND clean out my car at the same time.

    actually, cleaning and organizing my apartment is on my list this weekend. my goal is to take all my inventory and get it organized in to one room.

    ReplyDelete
  3. speaking of chaos, being busy and finding balance...I haven't forgotten those quesions Van...will get to them soon. Promise.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well now that I'm housebound with the fractured foot, getting the writing done is no problem. But everything else is in limbo. Ordinarily I dedicate different days to different tasks. This keeps me from getting bored by spending an entire day cleaning or organizing the whole house. Maybe Mondays I'll do the kitchen and living room and photograph things for the blog. Tuesdays I'll get any shopping I need done, clean the bathrooms and draft ideas for the blog, etc. etc. It's tough. I'll tell you that I love writing/blogging at night and in the early morning hours, less distractions. Of course my day job isn't a typical 9-5 either, so I have that luxury. Though I do swear by lists. Lists of chores, lists of writing ideas, lists for shopping. Good luck with getting it all together. Oh and don't worry I've had beer dinners too. Some days just call for it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tonia and Drew: The hard part is that in order to make sales, you have to have fresh new stock! The cycle must continue, but we'll find balance!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kylie: Thank you for the update! ;) Take your time, we're all busy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jackie: Thank you for all the excellent tips! I use lists like crazy, but there's always a couple of stubborn things that are hard cross off. I'll try this weekday task rotation trick of yours next!

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOL, for number 3, at least you didn't say "Beer is my breakfast". Then I'd start to worry =)

    We've gotten relatively clean in the house, but garage(s) are still crazy with boxes and junk. The other house has too much work to be done to move in, as does our current one in order to rent it out. Something had to give, and blogging / commenting / socializing is one thing that took a hit. We don't hit bars or shows anymore though, so it wasn't as big a deal I guess =)

    ReplyDelete
  9. lol.. ah, balance.

    in the past, i've had issues with balance. too much yarn. too much fabric. too little space. you know how it goes. i justified it because i had a little business selling things i'd make but... it was too easy for me to use that as an excuse. i got more than i could ever have time to make, list, sell, ship, etc.

    so you know that whole thing about environmentally friendliness... about recycling and reusing being fine but first, you should try to *reduce* ? yeah, that's what i try to do. nip it in the bud. don't buy unless i must. if i must, deal with it right away. and if it is an impulse-type buy... one in, one out. usually. well, i try, those are the goals :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Welllll beer is a good source of carb if thats all your getting. Throw a protein in there and you got yourself one hell of a good diet! :D In all seriousness have you thought about getting some nutrition drinks? EAS in any grocery store has a fantastic balanced one with very little fat. Don't taste that bad either. You really need a bit more to your diet, you'll have more energy if you do. Ok, I'll stop being a mom now. I DO think its fantastic you can see humor in this, a wry humor but there nonetheless! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I wish I could give you tips, I guess the best thing you could do is use days for teh things you need to do, for example Mondays get the things out of the car (all Mondays). Stuff like it so you don't feel so behind :D Beer is a fun dinner but EAT woman EAT!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bryan: I will be as organized as you one day! I would never have a beer for breakfast, but this morning I had...wait for it....an orange!

    Ana: Yes indeed, this weekend is mission REDUCE! Can't wait!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dhamma: Beer-dinner is DONE. Anyone have healthy shake mixes to recommend? I need to get on that. I'm trying to schedule time on Sunday to cook and freeze healthy burritos and other meals in advance.

    I'm amused by the chaos, it'll make me appreciate calm and order when I finally achieve it!

    Miss Lou: Today I will eat! Yogurt, bleck. I cannot eat another spoonful right now.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I know the feeling!!
    CHAOS = Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome..
    And that's my usual state. Throw in 4 kids and BOOM! Craziness!

    Got to make sure that the stuff doesn't own us! I want to be on one of those shows where they take everything out and I put back some/half!

    Trouble is, the stuff makes me happy!Or is it the hunting and gathering of the stuff?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Our room is a disaster. The daughter is gone and I've threatened to clean it all out while she is out of the country. Heheh! Keeping the chaos organized is the key. I have stuff to sell in special boxes (usually), but after a recent flea market everything is a mess. So now that I am unemployed I have time to focus on selling more. I must organize this weekend and put all my sale stuff where I can find it. It could take weeks... I think I need a beer.

    ReplyDelete
  16. oh man, yes finding balance is hard. but taking breaks is always soo important, work for a couple hours and then stop and then walk away form it!

    xo,
    cb

    ReplyDelete
  17. I haven't found that balance either. My house often looks like a tornado went through it. My meals often consists of coffee for breakfast, and Dr Pepper the rest of the day. LOL... Good luck in getting your house organized.

    ReplyDelete
  18. it's hard to find balance sometimes. Well at least you are doing well as a thrift professional. Just remember to rest, I just learnt that during my weekend retreat. Resting helps you to refocus and be inspired. Take care! Thanks for leaving a sweet comment on my blog!


    love~mongs
    mythriftycloset.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. I have no balance & haven't for a while. Everything's a mess, not just the apartment!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh & now I want to see everybody's houses & see if they are worse than mine.

    ReplyDelete
  21. We just move the "finds" from one SUV to the next to fit the kids in. When we have to go grocery shopping it's like oh, crap where are we going to put the food...The treasures are in the way! LOL!!! Our house is a mess too with way to many projects to do and yet we still manage to sit and keep scanning the computer!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh, I hear you. At the moment I've got boxes in the middle of the kitchen. I was in the middle of rearranging and reorganizing the living room before I ran out of time before my summer job started, so that's a disaster. I'm so tired after work that it's all I can do to eat a Klondike bar and watch an episode of Roseanne. Today's my first day off in 7 days and I have managed to get some cleaning done, along with catching up on blogs.

    I'm trying a new system I call my Inbox. I cleaned out a space in one of the closets and that's where the bags of thrifted stuff go until I can sort and inventory them. Nothing can come in until the inbox is empty. It seems to be working. Hopefully I'll have time later in the month to get some stuff out!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Monogirl: That's a nifty method that I need to try...after all the chaos at home is sorted. One step at a time!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I have two clutter monsters (toddlers), so beer & gummy bears are often my dinner of champions ... so what I'm saying is, I have no tips for you. :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. I guess each of us has the same problem too. It's really hard to balance our personal life and work.

    Cheap Health Insurance for individuals

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your comments. Thank you for adding to the discussion! I always reply to any and all questions.

Like us on Facebook

Related Posts with Thumbnails