6 January - Wunderlist

2016 has been marked in our household as the ‘Year of being FRUGAL’

I’m totally onboard with that idea. Anything that saves money, and makes life easier is well worth it in my opinion.

To me being Frugal also equates to being organised. Very organised. And that right there presents somewhat of a problem for me.

Since October 2013, we have lived in what I consider a ‘State of Limbo’. We sold up in Canberra, packed our entire life into a shipping container, and returned to the shores of Tasmania in preparation for the birth of our second child.

First we lived with inlaws, with our life still packed into that container. We saw Eli born, and our life remained in that container.

Then we bought a house, which needed a new bathroom before we moved in. Where I proceeded to remove the old bathroom, and install a new one, but in the process also installed walls, removed walls, installed doors, moved doors, gutted the kitchen, installed a new kitchen, moved the new kitchen, and generally made the entire ‘bathroom’ renovation into quite a housewide affair.

And all the while, our life was in that container.

Then the day came to sell the container. So our life finally came out. Except, we had by that stage been living in Hobart for over 12 months, and had replaced our ‘life’ with new ‘life’. Which resulted in nowhere to put our previous ‘life’ from the container. So it went into the shed.

It has since moved from the shed to the spare room. And then went back again. Where it happily remains, packed away in boxes stacked high to the roof.

Grace has since started and completed her first year of school. And is about to start her second year.

Eli has screamed and protested and laughed his way to his 2nd birthday already.

Ive had 3 contract jobs and have now been in a fulltime position for over 6 months.

So you would think by now, we would be effectively ‘out of limbo’. Except we are most definitely not. Not inside my head anyhow.

I still feel totally disorganised by the work required to get our house finished.

I still feel totally disorganised with getting that shed emptied.

I stil feel totally in a ‘State of Limbo’. Life feels Temporary and Disorganised.

Which is where Wunderlist comes in. Wunderlist is an amazingly simple app for Windows 10, and my phone, that allows me in the space of about 10 seconds, to add a ‘TO DO’ item, set a reminder for it and then forgot about it, to then be reminded when the time comes. Thats it. it doesnt have an fancy features. you dont swipe up to generate a PDF and automatically email it to your 10 best friends on Facebook. It doesnt automatically tag you.

I dont know why, but for some reason this app has just worked for me so far this year. I know the year is still young, but I feel like I have achieved so much already. Simple acheivements. Like getting accomodation finally booked for a short break. Like organising Graces school holiday swim program. Like getting a scoby for our Kombucha. Like not forgetting to order a new bed before the deal ran out. Like not forgetting to buy tickets to Cirque Du Soleil for Leah and Grace this week. Like not forgetting to complete my blog each day. Like not forgetting ANYTHING. The most simple of lifes tasks. Neatly arranged, with a handy reminder that pops up on my computer, phone and watch, just to ensure, no matter where I am, or what Im doing, I DONT FORGET.

And today in particular, I feel a sense of acheivement that I have ticked off more items than I’ve added. Today has been a good day. Thanks to Wunderlist.

So 2016 may well be the ‘Year of being FRUGAL’. It may well be the year of being organised. Which in turn will result in less clutter. Maybe not in the shed, maybe not in the house (though I hope to god it does!), but less clutter inside my head. And thats got to be a good thing.

And I know very well, no matter how frugal the year turns out, or how organised the year turns out. For me, it will be the year of the Wunderlist.