preparation for the week

For the past 3 weeks, on Sunday nights, I've been trying to get myself better prepared for the week. I'm trying to do laundry each week and as soon as things come out of the dryer, I've been ironing those things that need it. That, in and of itself, is pretty huge for me. I've lived in my house over 2 years now and I don't think I once brought the ironing board out. I can only imagine what all my co-workers think of my clothes each day.

Okay back on track, so after I've ironed everything, I've been putting together outfits for the week - pants, shirts, even a matching bag (because yes, I'm that obsessed). If nothing else, this shows me that I have more clothes than I think I do. It's so tempting to always think I have nothing to wear, when in fact I have 2 closets full of clothes and shoes. (I need to go through them, as I can probably donate over 1/2 of it and not notice the absence). So when I see that I have 8-9 outfits all hanging in my closet, that makes me feel pretty happy. This makes my mornings less stressful - as I don't have to figure out which clothes are clean and if they match. :)

Secondly, I'm also planning out my meals for the week. I'm using this pretty cool website, http://www.sparkpeople.com/, that has all these meal plans and gives you tons of options to choose from. You can track weight loss, how much water you drink and what foods you've had for the day. If you pick your meals for the week, you can even print out a shopping list. This is helpful because now I only buy what I actually need and am able to save $30-$50 a week at the grocery store. The best part is that the website is all free!!

Thirdly, I'm balancing my checkbook each week. I started using Microsoft Money and I love the bugets and graphs and everything it shows you after you've entered in all your transactions.

If I can get all of this done on Sunday evenings, the workweek doesn't appear quite so daunting and I usually function better when everything is organized.

Now, for some of you, I know the idea that I'm not organized in everything I do, is hard to believe!! My house is usually the most chaotic part of my life. My desk at work is usually cleaned off each night, but at home it's pretty much the exact opposite. I'm trying to get better!