Happy 2016! and New Years Resolutions

Well, Hello there friends! It's been a while since I've posted anything. Life in 2015 was crazy busy. Hopefully I'll fill you in, tell you all about it, as we go along :)
For starters, I hope you've had a wonderful New Years!
Did you make any new years resolutions or goals? I've been slow making mine. I of course have the ones that seem to roll over from last year (and the year before that): Lose weight, Save money, Get organized. Sound familiar? lol

Are we gonna do some if it for real this year? YES WE ARE!

 Here's a couple things that I do every January:

1. Get a year supply of birthday cards.

random pile of cards

Ok, I know this sounds silly, but in the years I do do it, it totally helps out and I feel organized, like I can do it all! What a great feeling to have. And sometimes, when things are hectic, just getting one thing accomplished really is a big deal!

So here's what I do:  I count up all the immediate family and friends, or whoever I think I'll send cards to, and go to my local dollar store and buy Birthday cards for everyone. I threw in 10 extra Birthday cards, along with a few Wedding, Sympathy, Get Well, and Anniversary cards just for fun.(Just in case I miss someone throughout the year)  My local Dollar Tree has their cards priced at 2 for $1!** Really cute cards too, if you ask me!

I put them into a cute little organizer book, similar to this one. It has pockets for each month and room to write in everyone's birthday.

When I used my old book (it was technically a re-purposed bill organizer), it already had everyone's birthdays written in it from the year before. This old thing finally died/ tore thru the tape holding it together one to many times, so I decided to splurge and get a new one. (YAY! I'm getting the exact one in the picture. Isn't it cute!?)

In this new book, I'll take a moment and write in the birthdays on each month. I put the corresponding cards in the pocket of that month. For example, I put an Anniversary card for my sister in December, and her birthday card in September's pocket. On the 1st Sunday of the month, I take this little organizer book out, which is stuffed silly with cards, and sit down and fill out and address all my cards for that particular month. I'll also stash some stamps in this organizer, along with some address labels, then everything's right there.

And there you have it! Just a little bit of time at the beginning of the year, followed by a few minutes at the beginning of each month, and you're on top of your game all year long on sending out cards on time!  Just think, no more running to the store for a $4 or more card at the last  minute.
Hopefully this idea will help you.

**Yeah, I know my friend Susan S, who works at Hallmark will give me the stink-eye for not "sending the very best" Sorry. My thought on this is; 1. They're lucky I"m even sending these out, and 2. Its mostly a vehicle to hold cash anyway.
and it's not just at the dollar store. Walmart has a .99 cent card section too, if not cheaper. Let me know if you find cute cheap cards somewhere. I'm always on the lookout!

2. Get 6 months supply of soap

Yeah, another weird thing, huh. My family used to laugh at me 'cause for a while there, I seemed to be saying I was going to the store for soap way to many times. Enough that they noticed that I kept going to the store for soap. Now, in my defense, it was different types of soap. Laundry detergent, dish washing detergent, liquid hand soap, shower gel, etc, Since it obviously bugs me that I'm out of any type of soap, I decided to make things easier and stock up on the stuff. I mostly get worried about running out of hand soap. random, I don't know why.  I make sure I have at least 6 bottles of the stuff under the sink/nearby. I'm thinking 6 bottles is 6 months worth. It's a reasonable number. 12 is just silly :)

Guess what?! I just got a email that there's a sale on all the cute smelly stuff at Bath and Body Works ! You might see me there, loading up on soap :)

I'm working on my other soap stashes. Not quite there yet. I'm also working on other goals for the year. Haven't really sat down to think about them. Soon..

So here's to a fabulous 2016! And may we set and achieve some easy goals and other goals that'll stretch us.
(Yay me! I finished a blog post. one goal to cross off! I'm totally counting this!)

Hugs!
Caroline