New Year...New Routines

I found this blog post a couple weeks ago and LOVED the ideas in it.  I take no credit for it but wanted to share it with you.  It was taken from "Simple Mom" (click to visit their blog!).  I hope you enjoy :-) 

Lacey

The new year is here, and with it comes the end of a nice break for most of us. As much as I enjoyed the lazy mornings and fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants days of the holidays, I was really looking forward to getting back into the regular routine.

Something about a new year sparks in me a desire to establish more order and intention in all that I do, so when back-to-school and the new year came together, it was perfect timing for establishing some new, old routines to keep home life simple and days running smoothly.

I tend to dislike schedules but thrive on routine. A routine makes everyone in my household happier, everything runs more smoothly, it establishes reasonable expectations, and it makes for a saner home.

Here are some basic routines that help keep our house tidy and the people smiling around here.

Work It In

Photo by Remodeling This Life

Having tasks that flow together while living life is an essential part of a simpler home. Rather than saving up for an entire task that takes huge chunks of time, where nothing is ultimately done except cleaning messes or taking care of overwhelming piles of papers, dealing with it “as you go” and making it a part of the daily routine will ultimately free up more time to get to the heart of living. Having a simpler home makes it possible to enjoy the everyday ordinary moments more.

 

Start The Morning Right

Photo by Centsational Girl

 

A basic morning routine is key to starting any day off right. Here’s a great article about jump starting your day with a simple, five minute routine.

In the morning, I throw in a load of laundry in while coffee brews. You can empty the dishwasher so it’s available to load dishes as the day goes on so they don’t pile up. Make beds first thing after getting up — nothing makes a room look tidier than a made bed, and an unmade bed can make a tidy room look messy.

There’s nothing like having it all done, waiting for when you crawl under the covers at night after a long day. Remember the power of ten minutes. Small, simple, short routines that are built into the day make all the difference.

 

End The Day Right

Photo by Remodeling This Life

A routine establishes expectations. This is especially helpful for kids, and for mine, the evening is the most important time for a routine. My kids know that after dinner, it’s play time, then bath, put on jammies, brush teeth, and read books.

We don’t follow the clock as much as we follow the routine. They know what’s coming next and they expect it, so it all runs much more smoothly than if we had to chase them around screaming every night that they had to stop playing their game at a certain time and get in bed. The routine helps all of us relax and unwind.

I discovered a while ago that the key to starting each day right was ending each day right. By ending the day with cleaning the kitchen, putting away toys, planning or packing lunches, mornings became easier.

Evening is when it works best for me to fold laundry. I fold and put away at the same time, and I lay out clean clothes for school the next day. No searching for socks when we’re supposed to be out the door.

The key is finding what small things work at what times, and then adapting them to the everyday.

In each and every task and routine, think of making things good enough. Not perfect. Keep things manageable so that you can find what you need when you need it, have someone drop by unannounced without having a panic attack, and enjoy the truly important moments of each and every day along the way.

What simple routines are part of your day-to-day that help keep your home running more smoothly?

{{ The Bakers - Part 2 }}

“Where Shall We Hang Our Hat?”

With the house up for sale and a puuuurrrdy sign out front (have you seen Lacey’s signs- they are beautiful) it was time to decide “where” do we want to live?   

With Matt’s job keeping him in Richmond/Vancouver and our kids attending a fabulous school in Langley we felt strongly that we really wanted to stay in Langley, and if possible stay on the south side to be close to Hwy 99 for commuting.

Keeping to our goals of simplifying life and reducing our mortgage debt we decided to start our search by focusing on the Brookswood area of Langley.  It would meet our needs for keeping our kids in the same school, was a great location for commuting and would reduce our mortgage substantially so that if Matt changed jobs and took a pay cut it would not affect us.

We decided we would buy an older Brookswood home on a larger lot (***land continues to appreciate and there is only so much of it to go around***).  This would drop our mortgage substantially, give us yard space for our growing three kids and allow us to do some renovations to make the home how we wanted it.

Our Brookswood search proved fruitful and we found a home we were ready to buy.  Only one problem, we had no offer or substantial interest in our place. 

So we waited, after looking at a number of homes we took Lacey’s advice and decided to “simmer down”! (***don’t get ahead of yourself, one step at a time***)

And while we waited we got an email that changed everything….

Nice cliffhanger hey?!?!?  *grin*

{{ January - Financial Weight Loss Plan! }}

January has arrived and the gyms are likely loving it as the memberships are rolling in by the dozens. So many people make their New Year's resolution about slimming down their bodies, but how about slimming down your debt load and how you spend your money?

What better time to assess your goals and to put a plan together than at the beginning of the New Year.

This is the first year that I have had a co-pilot to plan my finances with as I just got married 6 months ago. It took us a few evenings to figure out and agree on everything and now we have a clear blue print for the year. Here are a few simple tips that I recommend.

#1- If you can't pay cash for it..... DON'T BUY IT. Don't buy into the "NOW" mentality, instead, save up for those extra things. If you buy it on the credit card it could likely end up costing you double by the time you pay it off!

#2- Assess your debts. Make a list of all your debts and the interest rates your paying on each of them. Talk to a financial adviser and look into the option of consolidating those loans if possible to see if you can save some money and zone in on the highest interest loan first.

#3- Set SMALL attainable financial goals.  If your goals are too large and too hard to achieve you will not feel any sense of accomplishment.  Instead, set small goals planned out in the order to which you would like to accomplish them in. This will help you get to the finish line while feeling encouraged and inspired along the way.

#4 - Work towards building a nest egg. If you can, save up a minimum of three to six months of living expenses for those un-expected seasons in life.

#5- If you are saving up for a house, take all of the savings that you have, or will have, and put them into an RRSP. Don't worry about what to invest the money in at this point but rather just start getting in the habit of putting some money away every month. Not only will you be saving money for your future home but you will also get a tax write off. The deadline for RRSP contributions is March 1, 2011 so be sure to put the money that you've been
saving into an RRSP account today.

If you have any questions I would be happy to chat with you.  Please don't ever hesitate to call 604.910.LACE (5223).

Lacey

{{ The Bakers - Part 1}}

Happy Tuesday everyone! 

I’m excited to have you join me as we journey with the Bakers through their real estate adventure.  Not one individual or family is exactly the same although there are always things we can find in common and we can always learn from one another.  So this leads me to introducing you to the Bakers; a young family who decided to simplify their lives and was willing to do what it took to make that happen while always keeping their families needs in mind.   When thinking about profiling one of my client’s stories I didn’t have to think twice about whom I wanted it to be on. The Baker’s journey is an inspiring one and when I asked Lisa if she would be willing to diarize the up’s and down’s and all that we learned together she agreed! Thanks Lisa! Not only was I able to work alongside them by helping and guiding them through the tough decisions they had to make I also learned a thing or two from this family.  The simplified life is a rare find in today’s world and is like an untapped resource; you don’t truly know its beauty until you find it. I hope you enjoy…

“Why, Why, Why?”

Before we begin, we wanted to thank Lacey for her hard work, guidance and patience.  Ours was a true journey and our search went from one extreme to the other.

We aren’t authorities on real estate, or much for that matter, but we have learned some lessons along the way.  If you don’t really want to read our ramblings and just want the "Cole’s Notes" version just scan down and look for the ***.  These are the lessons learned. 

Our real estate journey began about six years ago when we purchased our second home in the Murrayville community of Langley.  At that time the market had yet to skyrocket and even though the home was new and we had to pay GST we paid much less than we would now.  We chose real estate as our “investment” of choice and decided to put the bulk of our financial investment into our home.  We believe that real estate can give you one of the best returns on your money and we have multiple friends and family members whose real estate track record supports this idea (***learn from others who have been successful***).

At the time we had one child and the thought of ever wanting to sell our new home was far from our minds.  We finished the basement ourselves (***make/save money by doing as much as you can yourself***) and rented it out as a mortgage helper (***find a way to generate extra income if possible***).

Fast forward five and half years later and what do you know….we ARE thinking of selling our house.  And in a flash it happened – we were up for sale! To be honest, everyone we knew probably thought we were a bit crazy and slightly irrational.  However, we were in complete unity on our decision (***if you’re a couple BE UNIFIED in all BIG decisions***) and felt God calling us to simplify life, free up equity we had gained in the last five years and most importantly lower our mortgage to allow Matt to potentially make a job shift.

 
So with those as our “goals” we embarked on the joys of keeping a house spit spot for showings, searching out new potential homes and keeping the coffee pot hot to keep us caffeinated and ready for the late night negotiations…and boy, did we need it!

{{ Client Profile - The Bakers }}

The Baker's Real Estate Adventure:

Movin’ On…The Journey of Buying, Selling & Staying Caffeinated

I work with some fabulous people…it truly is one of the best parts of my job. And whether I know my clients before we start working together or not, by the time I have helped them sell their home and buy a new home, more often than not we become pretty close.  I know more about them then I probably need to *grin* and chances are I have spent almost as much time with them as with my own family over the period of time that we work together. 

Real estate is more than numbers; it’s more than square footage, lot size and the number of bedrooms.  It is a potentially emotional, overwhelming and a stressful journey at times that can be hard, but is oh so rewarding when we reach the finish line. That’s where I come in.  I am the outside party that has the privilege of working with and alongside a client.  Whether that’s a young professional purchasing their first condo or a family that is on their 3^rd home. Each purchase or sale is as important as the next. I am the one who is there from the beginning to the end, providing advice and guidance, bringing up options that may not have been thought of previously.  At the end, the final goal: Finding the best place to call HOME while getting the best bang for their buck.       

Over the last number of months I have been working with The Baker Family, Matt & Lisa and their three kids, Madelyne, Emma & Zachary. 

Their real estate journey has been such an inspiring one – I’m even thinking of moving now – that I wanted to use them as my first “Client Profile.”   

Over the next few weeks we are going to journey with Matt and Lisa and recount from their perspective the buying and selling process.  I hope you’ll stay along and enjoy the ride as we travel with the Bakers and their real estate adventure: I have to say this family is one of my favorites. 

Lacey