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The Value In Organizing Prior To Holiday Spending

11/16/2010 By Nancy Borg With 1 comment

In light of the sad economic climate that we can’t seem to climb out of, it is increasingly challenging to finance our holiday activities, and satisfy our needs and wants.  We yearn to feel cheerful while partaking in the holiday spirit, and yet many of us find it difficult and struggle with restricted budgets.  But regardles of  income, the one thing that should remain as a standard imperative is organizing your holiday goals.

Whether it be party planning or gift shopping, making lists and committing to them is still one of the best ways to focus during a harried holiday season.   This is a joyful time, so do your best to make it so.  Shopping any retail store at this time of year can be overwheming with all the sensory overload. It kind of sucks you in; the twinkling lights, ringing bells, and piped in Xmas songs resounding everywhere are intoxicating.  Truth be told, the first time you hear the holiday music it does exude a certain welcomed measure of glee, but after continuous weeks of shopping  it can become incessant and unnerving (forgive me for my scrooge tude, just being honest here).

More importantly, if you have don’t have a specific person in mind, you will find yourself roaming aimlessly for hours and most probably exit, confused, distraught, and empty-handed.  Go home, make a list. Jot down the friends, family, etc. for whom you need to buy gifts for, estimate how much you’re going to spend for each, and carry it with you so you can refer to it while shopping.  Have an agenda in mind (and on paper) before you go shopping.

It may sound unnecessarily elementary, but without it, you can get distracted and side- tracked and perhaps in danger of buying something you don’t need. If you stay on task, you won’t be shocked when the credit card bills arrive because YOU planned for it.  Being prepared and organized will guide you and prevent you from getting in over your head. Be merry, not stressed.

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Having a Holiday Party? Be The Hostess with the Most-ess!

11/10/2010 By Nancy Borg With 1 comment

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us, and we are entering the holiday season’s big party months, it’s a good time to share some helpful organizing tips for home-entertaining. Whether it’s a cocktail party or a sit- down plated dinner, planning  is essential.  With readiness in mind, you should plan the menu ahead of time, make a detailed grocery list, and be sure to check that the liquor cabinet is current, and stocked with the basic alcoholic favorites (hey, it’s party time).  It would be more organized and less stressful if you could make the time to set the dining table or prepare the buffet table with the appropriate tablecloth and utensils, at least the day or night before. This way, if you don’t have what you need, you have time to run a quick errand.   Gather the proper serving utensils for each serving dish. Not such a big deal, really.  But what I find is that it seems to be the last 15 minutes before the guests arrive that we are in a small frenzy.   We are scurrying through the cabinets to find the perfect serving tray for the varied assortment of appetizers, preparing the ice bucket (but not too early), and we must micromanage the hot appetizers in the oven so they stay hot (but not too dried out). And what happens next?  The doorbell is ringing, the guests seem to be stampeding in all at the same time, and you are secretly questioning yourself whether you are ready.  And if that is not hectic enough, the guests are kind enough to bring you more delectable treats and so you are back in the cabinets searching for another platter, cake plate, or nut bowl.  Everyone is asking to help and before long, you have more people in the kitchen than in your entertainment room.

One of the best ways to stay ahead of the chaos, is once the menu is planned, organize the platters for the main entrees and side dishes, and place labeled post-it notes on the appropriate serving platter, with the proper serving piece.  In this way, any eager guest that wants to lend a hand, can easily follow your plan . When everything comes out of the kitchen,  you can plate all the food in an organized way. The only thing to worry about is that the food tastes good.

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Less is More…More or Less

11/03/2010 By Nancy Borg With no comments yet

One would have to admit that there is such divine simplicity in less is more.  I realize this is not a new concept, but we all know it to be shamefully true. We can’t help ourselves, we are in our own way.  So I’m thinking we should keep revisiting this notion until we actually get it. Of course, “buy better, not more” makes complete rational sense.  So why do we feel compelled to keep buying stuff and clutter our homes with things we don’t really need?  How many of us buy, just to buy?  We all love to acquire new things because it makes us feel good.  It’s an affirmation that we are doing OK.  It validates a certain level of personal success, and when we indulge our children with new toys (and grown-up toys for the grown kids) we feel like better parents. I confess, I’m a boomer, so I have been on both sides of that tipping scale; a proud member of the “sandwich” generation that is a spoil-ee as well a spoil-er.  Admittedly, I only feel shame and remorse when I consider that as a child, I was enamored with  Leave it to Beaver and watched Beaver and Wally Cleaver grow up with far less extravagances, and they survived just fine.  It appeared that June and Ward did a stellar job.  Back then, they were the perfect model of a modest American family. Reminiscing about my childhood stuff only triggers happy and innocent days. I am sure that you fellow boomers out there have received the countless e-mails on the Internet paying homage to the 50’s and 60’s celebrating our youth.  The days of pinky balls, roller skates, hopscotch, and just playing with a stick and some dirt, occupied an entire day, and was what we called fun. It reminds of  how simple life was then, and certainly… happy. We try to explain to our children that there was life before video games, cell phones, and color TV, and the list goes on.  So how did all this over-indulgence exacerbate?  When did having more engulf us?  Everybody has way too much stuff, you know it and I know it, and it’s abundantly clear that this excess has become a universal concern.  We cannot pretend to be proud of our over-consumption.  At the end of the day, it just becomes endless clutter because we tire of things so quickly. There seems to be always bigger and better, and faster technology.  And in most cases, we don’t discard the old things, so disorganization festers easily. The planned obsolescence successfully feeds consumerism but there is a price to pay (pun intended) because  it feeds our anxiety as well.  It is often so stressful to keep up with the latest technology, latest fashion trends, and updated anything.  We all get caught up, I know I do.   Shouldn’t we be asking  ourselves when is enough, enough?

With holiday spending on all of our minds, and our tighter budgets in the forefront, it will be a great opportunity to evaluate what we indulge in this year.  Let’s not be lured into the hypnosis of shopping mania, and instead make better decisions. Impulsive buying can be dangerous, not to mention expensive.  Sometimes I think we should all have a group hug and decide to just stop and get off this merciless merry-go-round.  Let’s implement a do-over and get a fresh start.  We all can live with less.  Buy better and not necessarily more.   It’s far easier to organize less stuff.  Keeping it simple can be liberating.  We should all try it, we may like it.

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