Paper! Paper! Paper!

I’ve been busy with an assortment of things lately, so I neglected to keep on top of the stuff left on the kitchen table each day. And within a few weeks, I had one of those dreaded piles, large enough to tip over.

Most of it was accumulated mail. Throw in some receipts that we need to keep for taxes, some paperwork from purchases that I need to save, and a mess of drawings from adorable grandchildren, and I had paperwork falling onto placemats. Not good come dinnertime. We’ve been pushing them out of our way for days so we can eat.

There’s no room on the first floor for any kind of file system, so I have one in the basement. Rather than run up and down the steps all the time, I keep a plastic accordion file in one of the drawers in the kitchen, near my calendar, and that’s where I put any bit of paper that needs to be filed.

I love that accordion file! I’ve had it for years. It has pockets for the checkbook and receipts for each bank account (three). It has pockets for the gas company, the internet provider, the insurance company, etc. This year the gross incompetence of the postal service forced me to pay bills online, but I still keep a paper trail of all payments because I fear that someday something is going to take down the Internet and I want to still have a paper trail. Isn’t that silly?

Once that file gets full, I move all the papers downstairs. I generally do this in the summer and at the end of the year. I had neglected to do it over New Year’s so I actually had two messes of paper to deal with as the accordion file was stuffed.

Today, I completed that task! It feels so good. I don’t know why I procrastinate about these things, because getting them done is such a positive feeling. Just looking at my clear kitchen table gives me a lift.

This is a good time to get your paperwork organized. Tax time is just around the corner. Organize your files and make your paperwork piles disappear now. You’ll be so glad you did.

Middletons’ Grocery Store

If you’re a minimalist, you might not like this post.

I’m going to advocate keeping a large supply of things you don’t need right now but may need in the future.

As I’ve mentioned before, problems with supply lines have caused certain products to be in short supply. We’ve seen this at our local grocery stores, where certain products have just disappeared.

Case in point: our son who lives with us has some digestive problems. One of the things that keep his system on an even keel is a daily small glass of prune juice. But we haven’t been able to find prune juice for several weeks now. I hate to think of how his system will react and how he will feel if we run out of prune juice.

Fortunately, we have quite a few bottles of prune juice because we’ve been squirreling it away for months. They aren’t the only things we’ve been stocking up on, either. We have two large 6’ tall shelves in our basement packed full of non-perishables including coffee, tea, and canned goods like meats, fish and vegetables. These are joined by large packages of paper goods nearby.

This makes an imposing sight; it looks like we have our own little grocery store downstairs. It certainly breaks all the decluttering and minimalist rules I’ve ever heard of. But in these times, it makes sense. Not only does it keep us from running out of things we can’t find, but it also stretches our dollars during a time of high inflation.

If this offends your minimalist sensibilities, I’m sorry. But I don’t want my son to go without his prune juice, or my husband to go without his coffee….or me to go without my tea!

Not All Hacks are Good Ideas

I’ve noticed that some people who write about “hacks” seem to think the ideas they’re sharing are new. Well, these kitchen hacks aren’t new; I found several of them in my own little house (circa 1960) after I moved in, and we bought it from an 85-year-old woman. But if you’re new to the world of organizing a kitchen, you might find them helpful, especially if your kitchen is not exactly spacious.

Of course not all hacks are helpful or even safe. This idea, in particular, seems dangerous, especially if you have large pets or wild toddlers running around your home. The possibility of a small loved one covered in hot food after running into said hack is just too scary. If your laundry room is nearby, try parking extra dishes of hot food on your washer and dryer instead.

Cabinet-Free Kitchens? Bah!

I had no idea that there are people who are opposed to kitchen cabinets. I think kitchen cabinets are one of the greatest inventions of all time. If you cook from scratch, you require quite a few specific tools, not to mention staples and of course, dishware. And while I know it’s been popular to store those items on open shelving, I never liked the look. For one thing, that stuff will collect dust. For another, who wants to look at all of it?

If you have a small kitchen, as I do, you’ve probably learned that the more open empty space you can manage, the better it looks. Keeping things behind doors and in drawers (i.e. cabinets) is key. Having it all in the open would make you feel like you’re cooking in the middle of a pantry, I would think.

Another thing in that article caught my eye: the concept of renting small appliances. Why on earth would I want to make a trip to rent out a slow cooker (we old gals call them crock pots) and a bread maker when I feel like making soup and bread for dinner? Then, of course, there’s another trip to return them afterwards. Ridiculous! Why not keep only the small appliances you use and donate those you don’t use? Even in a small kitchen, you can find space for a few small appliances that are used regularly, if only once a month.