Liz Gilbert – Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker

I have only been taking baby steps with my The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo book since I did the clothing category. I am motivated, but I haven’t had an uninterrupted block of time to tackle the next category (books) yet.
Well, that’s my excuse, anyway.

Since then, I have been scrutinizing other areas of my home through my new ‘tidy eye’, and here’s what I’ve discovered.

I am not a tidy person.

Anyway, this week I have given myself a challenge that is tied to my goals to

Be more tidy and
Spend less money.

I am not going to spend any money on meals or drinks when I am out this week. I am going to eat and feed the fam using the food I already have in the pantry, fridge, and freezer.

I have a lot.

My husband and I figure that conservatively, we are spending $150 a week on food. At the end of this week of not spending any money on food, we will deposit that $150 in the bank (in our new “Go to Italy in 2016” fund, perhaps? 🙂 )

Anyone else want to do this with me? Just for one week. I started October 2nd and will end the week October 9th. You can start today, or tomorrow.

If you decide to try it, I would LOVE to hear how it goes for you, so please consider commenting below.

As Liz Gilbert (speaking of ‘eat’-ing, and oh! of Italy!) would say, “Onward!”

I read about Liz Gilbert’s Happiness Jar idea last year when I was turning 50. I thought it was a great idea. I thought I would do it.

I did not do it.

Today, I was thinking about how I used to get on the scale every day, so I could nip any pesky post-Weight Watcher’s weight gain in the bud. I was thinking about it because my friend revealed her current weight to me yesterday and I realized that I had no idea what I weighed any more since I had no idea when I had braved the scale last.

I braved it this morning.

I immediately wished I hadn’t.

I started thinking that I should go back to eating in a healthier way, so I had some Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (okay, okay, full disclosure: à la mode) for breakfast. Then I recalled the Cappuccino Whoopie Pie that I had for a snack last night, and the piece of chocolate fudge from Divine Chocolate I treated myself to earlier in the day.

I love chocolate. 🙂

Then, when I was putting my finished pie dish into the sink, I spied the jar that I used to keep chocolate in (before I ate it all) which was now empty, languishing on the kitchen counter, waiting to be useful again.

The twain met.

My former (pre-weight gain) chocolate jar could be my new happiness jar!

Then I remembered that I still have a little piece of that fudge left.