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Hi GDonna!

We had a brief period of hard rain and wind on Sunday, but no damage in our immediate neighborhood of loss of power.  However, driving around on Monday, I did see a lot of downed tree limbs so i guess we were just lucky.  We have had awful heat here, and I do have the window air conditioner on in our bedroom at night.  It's been humid and in the mid to upper 90's.  Right now i have two fans on me (i cannot stand the heat) and am resisting the urge to turn on the whole house air conditioner.  I take the dogs out for a few short walks during the day, and we wait until almost sunset at night to take them for their longer walk.  They are chihuahuas and apparently hate the heat too.

Paperwork is the death of me too.  My dad is deceased, and my Mom lives in an assisted living residence, partly because of mobility but also due to memory loss.  I have slowly been bringing boxes of random paperwork to my house to sort through.  It's everywhere in my house, in boxes waiting to be sorted, filed, or shredded.  It's hard enough getting your own records in order (which I have been doing) but harder doing your parents records when you have no idea what might be important.

I love the look of your home!  I am working to have a more vintage look here as well.  I am not living as though i am in the 1930's, but my takeaway so far has been to double down on reducing spending, increasing savings, being creative about meeting actual needs, GETTING RID OF UNNECESSARY STUFF, doing things that don't require a lot of $, but I already live that way so not a big change.  Up until the recent heat wave, i had been doing really good with cutting back on water and electricity.  Hopefully we will be through this soon.  

~Debbie

I have been reorganizing too. I've rearranged a couple of rooms, and we got rid of a chair in the living room. We aren't going to replace it. We like the open space better. The garlic is almost done curing and we've begun harvesting the potatoes, and the onions won't be far behind. I want everything to go in my small pantry this year, so that's a major rearrangement of where everything goes. I want to keep less grocery store food around. We'll have enough on hand with the storage vegetables and the canning for any emergencies. I'm rearranging my schedule too, and just love one room proper. :) It keeps my house so clean. I iron regularly now too.

We're under the heat dome and it's not the heat but the humidity that gets me down. The plants are doing okay. The push mower makes fluffier grass clippings perfect for mulch, and we top up any plants that look like they could use some more. It's our rain barrel that's beginning to run out already. We plan to buy another one next year. 

I'm still trying to get my meals right. Counting calories helps. I watched some YouTube videos of body builders talking about the cheapest forms of protein. Cottage cheese and boneless, skinless chicken were in the top choices. If I had to produce most of my food, I decided cream peas, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, and greens would be the basis of my diet. 

Hello GDonna!
We're also experiencing a heatwave here at the moment. 36 to 40°C (97 to 104°F) and blue skies.
My grandmother also had a Singer sewing machine. When she died in 1975, my mother gave it away. I was still a child back then, but I fondly remember how my great-grandmother sat and worked at it. Today, I would love to have the machine for myself. What a shame.
But I bought an electric sewing machine many years ago and would never want to be without it again. A sewing machine is a true treasure.

Best wishes from Germany,

Oh my gosh, creamed peas are one of my favorites!

Yes I definitely am doing things differently and really enjoying the changes. I am able to relax more and read, because things are done and put away where they belong.

It took thinking I had lost the pressure jiggles for my pressure canner to scare me into re arranging and truly thinking about where to store things.

I picked green beans last evening, did not get enough for a canner load but am storing them in the freezer until I get another picking.  Trying to do outside chores while it is a bit cooler as we are also under the heat dome. Weeded the onions early this morning, fed the weeds to the hens. 

I have also been wearing clothes a bit longer I wear aprons so it isn't as if they are dirty, I try to air them a while on hangers outside. 

I have my AC going because I cannot take the heat/humidity for health reasons. I understand why my granny did her cooking early and always had a very short lay down in the heat of the day.

I really think the biggest help to me has been turning off the TV in the AM, after just a bit of local news. I am realizing that while I thought I was leaving it on for "back round noise" it was a horrible distraction to my mental and physical life. While I was not actively watching it, I was absorbing negativity.

I do wish I could learn how to cook less at a time, stuff does not go to waste but I do get tired of it.

I also have paperwork that needs shredding but my shredder died and I am not going to replace it, I will figure something out.

I love to reorganize and simplify and your study has been nudging me to pare down. This week I've been rearranging the books and items on shelves in our living room and office. I took a bunch of books to our Half Priced Books shop. They gave me a bit of cash for my old books, and my three year old got to pick out two new (to her) books. It was so nice to streamline and see how excited my daughter was to pick out a new book. I love books (I'm a librarian; it's a hazard of the profession!), but there are only so many I want to keep and re-read. 

I enjoy reading about your journey! I have a question: What are you and Charles doing about the medication that the doctor prescribes? Perhaps y'all aren't on any? I find that I'm taking more than I care to, and I'm working to get healthier so I can stop taking them, but it is also an expense. I'm slowly working to make changes in my life by getting rid of things I don't need and avoiding purchases that I don't need. I'm not necessarily living in the 30s, but it's not a bad idea!

I'm working hard on getting rid of unnecessary things so that what I do save earns it keep! 

I'm also working on decluttering countertops! The bathroom is done. Nothing on the counter. Everything I've kept has its place in the cupboard. I'm nealy there in the kitchen. Except for a couple heavy counter appliances my countertops will be clear. I found good, reasonable places for everything.  What propelled me to do this is I was getting tired of spilling something or even the mess from just cooking getting everywhere or on things and then not only having to clean the mess but all the items it got on!

It makes life simpler!

Hello from QLD Australia, I have just started coming here to read your posts and have been so inspired. I have really been thinking about our finances and how to be a better steward of them, there is so much we can learn from the past and I love this process of looking back and learning. It seems to me we are and have lost so much wisdom and beauty in this modern world, from furniture to cars, even clothing. The home you have created with love and as you say patience is beautiful. We live on a homestead here in Australia and raise beef cattle, I cook from scratch, grow alot of our food, but fall short in areas such as sewing, it feels very hard to find the time in my days to sew, however I am trying to tackle small simple projects for my home to gain skills and confidence. Thank you for creating this beautiful space to come and visit, learn and to be inspired, blessings from my home to yours.

While I don't live it, I do have a huge interest in the old eras.  There's just something more homey about pre-tech times.The more tech, the more people try to cram into their day.  It's sad really.  I try to do my part though. I'd live much more old school than my husband would so I do have my dreams.  So far I've gotten rid of anything plastics and unnatural.  I look for cotton, glass, stainless steel. I've slowly dumped all the teflon. I have a perk coffee maker.  I rarely use my microwave, my husband mostly uses it. I'd like to start sewing and have a machine, but I live so far out that anything fabric related is a 2 hour trip in driving. I even dream of closing off about 1,000 sq feet of my house.  If something ever happened to my husband I could just make that area into storage or guest facilities.  Smaller is homier. Handmade is better.  It just seems that living like you, reflects the person and not the trends which is just so beyond wonderful. 

Has anyone had any experience with Zote soap? In my thinking about what I would do if we had no income, I decided to give Zote a try since it's supposed to do everything but make dinner. :) It's very inexpensive and you get a really big bar. It looks like the cheapest soap option. It's so big that you need to cut it up into more manageable pieces to use it. 

I didn't find Zote to work as well as Fels Naptha, but Fels is now so hard to find and really pricey. I think it'll depend upon how dirty your laundry is.  Honestly, I think in general, we use too much soap.  I actually add water to mine and have noticed no difference in cleanliness.  I have made my own soap with Fels, Zote, Dr. Bronners bar soap and Kirks soap along with the washing soda and borax. 

Your home looks so cosy, safe and warm GDonna. Your curtains are very pretty through your home. I often notice them and vintage linens are a love of mine. I used to love Rhonda Hetzels red checked ones too. Even though I am not doing the 1930s study I have been organising and decluttering our home for many years and the peace and orderliness it brings is wonderful. You and Charles are such a great team and always look prepared and organised to me! In fact I don't know how you manage it all, produce a wonderful garden and Charles still goes to work. It will be such a blessing when he retires soon. Best of luck to you both with the paperwork.

I look forward to and read all the comments and find them inspiring. This study is encouraging me to use my time better. Someone commented in the last post about the impact of screens on concentration.  I have noticed in myself that I am somewhat impacted by this. I noticed when reading a book my concentration wandered almost like I wanted to multi task and check snippets on my phone. So I am more mindful of being in the moment now. Also less screen time frees up a significant amount of time and with world news less depressing mind clutter. I think I am going to purchase a DVD player so we can watch the good old British films and series. Blessings to everyone.

I have minimal paperwork. In NZ we don't seem to need it to hold on to. Our big bills like rates, insurance are paid online and we have digital receipts for them. We keep paper copies of car and house ownership, the last car service and a few health records. We keep a small waterproof file for it that also has a very small handful of appliance instruction manuels in it. A copy of our wills and that is about it. I'm curious why people have a lot of paperwork. Do you have to keep paperwork and not digitise it in America? Is it work and tax related and it needs to be kept for a certain amount of years?

Only for laundry.  I shred it.  I have eczema so I only use white.  It's cheap and everything smells great so I guess it works pretty good!

Ingrid, besides insurance, ownership docs, and titles, we save a lot in case of an IRS audit.  We have to keep every prescription receipt, doctor receipt, etc. plus bank docs, investment paperwork and such.  It adds up!!  Some of it forever, or so I've been told.

My apron wearing makes me feel old fashioned and comfy. Not to mention less clothes washing as well Donna.

I brought 3 full skirts.... To long and I'm only 5 feet 1 inch tall. Shortened them from the top of the skirt. Elastic is a wonderful thing.

Paperwork. Like Ingrid I don't have a lot.. just a file for medical letters, Wills, Birth, Marriage certificates etc. When I homeschooled our children  I used to declutter at the end of each term , keep what was special and dispose of the rest.

I agree about smaller rooms being more cosy Ann E. We have a 12 foot high stud in the house and big rooms. Half the house is closed off in the cold months. I always dreamed of having a Snug In my home. Small room, fireplace, floor to ceiling bookcases, 2 armchairs and a push up window.

Living in Australia (Queensland), we don't need to keep too much in the line of paperwork either, just a basic file - we don't need anything for tax purposes or anything else so mostly just a year's worth of receipts for the council rates, house/contents insurance, car insurance and things like that as well as medical matters.  I have wills, BMD certificates, house ownership in a separate folder as well as pre-paid funeral plans.  Everything is shredded as soon as it's necessary so only a tiny filing cabinet (a box actually that I had my husband make for me) is sufficient.

We have decluttered totally - I asked myself if we were to have to move would I take it with me, and if the answer was no, it went - I then asked myself if my girls would be interested and again if the answer was no then away it went too.  I don't keep anything here that I don't use, and I feel so much better and more content without the clutter.

We rarely need heating here although the air-con does keep the place cool in summer - but not during the day as we spend most of our time in the downstairs section of our home where the fan is sufficient to keep it cool - we use the air-con on the teardrop setting at night when we sleep to make it more comfortable.  We utilise sitting out in the sun - the warm air is free and very enjoyable in winter although our winter temps are usually in the low to mid-twenties during the day.

As with others, here in the UK we don’t need to keep so much paperwork so have just a few files in our spare room / office with all that’s needed and have been trying to keep that to a minimum so being ruthless as to what’s kept.

Your comment about British accents made me smile :-) the actress who plays Mrs Hall was in another programme the other day, set in modern times and it just didn’t seem right for her to be without her pinny (apron) on

We are fortunate here in NZ as our IRD is online. We file any of these matters digitally and email communications with the department too.

Although I am not living authentically in 1930s mode furnishing or decor wise ( I'm somewhat a minimalist) I feel as though many of my day to day rhythms, chores and sensibilities are similar. I think the beauty of these stories and discussions is the encouragement they give us all. Encouragement to embrace the best of the old ways and adapt them to our lives now.

When I was a little girl we had paper dolls and does anyone remember Swaps. I never had any Swaps and I would have loved them. I think I would buy a few now if I saw them. Karen S, I thought your description of your dream room was lovely.

I don't think it's so much that in America we need to keep a lot of paperwork, as just that it's something very easy and common for people to fall behind on.  Some people do need to temporarily keep more than others for tax purposes, especially if they itemize deductions or other things that make their taxes more complicated, but even those records don't need to be stored forever.  It's just that sorting out the old and deciding what needs to be shredded can be time consuming, and the more someone falls behind on it, the more overwhelming that task becomes. 

My own "official" type paperwork fits in just three thin folders, so no problem there.  

What I do have quite a bit of clutter from are things like notes from family and local history research, way too many loose recipes (they don't go in my book until I've tried them, tweaked them, and decided it's something I want to keep making) articles clipped from magazines, instructions for projects I may someday get around to, pamphlets on frog identification, mycology notes, lists of plants for attracting native bees, et cetera et cetera.  I try to sort out the things I don't actually need, but I tend to either get distracted (finally trying out a recipe is more fun than continuing to purge unused recipes!) or just spend too much time looking at the material, struggling to make realistic decisions about whether I will ever use it.  

Oh and I don't see "going digital" as a solution to paper clutter at all.  Digital clutter is still clutter.  I try really hard to stay on top of things like deleting unneeded emails, but even so I fall behind sometimes, and it's such a headache to do the big clean out where I sort the things I only needed for awhile or thought I might need from the few I actually still do need.  Much worse than sorting physical papers in my opinion.  

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I love the foot pedal saw!  I have only seen them in books before, and always thought how cool it would be to have something like that.  Did you and Charles find it at an antique store or something, or build it yourselves?

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I've been busy cleaning out and fixing up an old shed.  It's only 8' by 10' but there was more stuff packed in there than you would think.  I was able to actually get rid of quite a bit, which felt good.  The fixing up bit turned in to a much bigger project than expected, though!  I knew Mr. Groundhog had chewed a huge hole in the plywood floor that needed to be patched, but what I didn't know was that he had also thinned most of the rest of the floor out to a single ply!  It felt suspiciously soft between the joists, and when I pried it up, I couldn't believe how thin it was!  So, instead of just patching the floor, the whole floor came out, then I cut a bunch of metal sheeting to fit (using salvage so it was a bit of a puzzle) which hopefully will stop Mr. Groundhog, then I pried old plywood off the interior wall of my barn (it was no longer needed there) pulled nails, cleaned it, cut it (by hand) to fit the interior floorspace of the shed, and screwed that down on top of the metal.  

Next I will be building new doors for the shed, then painting the whole thing, but I think the cleanout and the floor were the hard parts.  I hope when I put what's staying back away, I can keep it organized, and maintain enough clear floor space to get around in there.

While we are not doing the 1930's project officially it has made me more intentional in our home. I have raised the temperatures on our a/c, become more aware of items that are using electricity, been hanging my laundry outside except for rain days, using what we have here whether food from freezer, pantry or garden. We both retired 9 months ago and it has been expensive as we have been doing some repairs that needed to be done. The nice thing is I feel much more on top of things in my home and garden. I did a major decluttering many years ago and am now looking at the items I kept and either using them, or sending them along. I recently pulled out my sewing machine and made a few tops. It felt like I had to learn to sew again as I hadn't in such a long time. I want to sew some cool and loose work tops I can wear in the garden. Our paperwork is not overwhelming but does need tackling every year. I recently bought something called the Nok Box which is an organization tool for estates. As the outside temps are keeping us inside after 11 am I thought this would be a good time to complete that. Generally, we just burn our paperwork in the fire pit and don't worry too much about shredding it. Thank you for all the advice and suggestions as I have learned a lot from it. 

Going digital with paperwork is just one of many options. What may work for one may not for another. I have a mix.

Thank you to those who replied about using Zote. :)

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I don't have a lot of paperwork. We pay some of our bills in cash and keep those receipts. We have the house contract and the car contract somewhere. Hopefully in the filing cabinet. :) My husband takes care of the filing. We have birth certificates and marriage certificate. Some years we met the requirement to take a medical exemption on taxes and saved all of those receipts. We got healthy and don't do that anymore. :) We keep the medical insurance receipts to compare with what we were charged in co-pays. We save receipts from work we have done so if there's a problem with it, we can dispute the charges, but that hardly ever happens. I have paper statements sent to the house whenever possible, but I shred those every couple of days and it never piles up. I hope my life never gets more complicated than this! :) 

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I finally got around to planting my Mother's Day carnation seeds. I bought a fragrant heirloom variety. I'm hopeful that they'll overwinter and I'll have beautiful Mother's Day carnations next year, cost-free from my garden. I ordered some Tasha Tudor biennial foxglove seeds earlier this year and those are now seedlings too. 

One of the habits I wanted to develop during the 2023 study was to walk to businesses more, like people did back in the 1930s. For this study, to achieve that, I've been driving to the park early in the morning to use their outdoor walking trail to build up my endurance. That's not very 1930s, but I haven't spent my life walking everywhere. I have to start somewhere. We found three businesses to patronize within a mile or so from our house. I'll start with them once I feel confident in my walking ability. The closest grocery store is three miles and will need a lot more endurance! 

This article posted yesterday after I’d completed some basic paperwork organization.  I pay bills the day they arrive in the mail.  I used to wait and pay everything a couple of times a month, but as I get older I find it better to just get the bills paid so time doesn’t slip past me and result in a late bill.  Mostly this is auto and house insurance, property taxes, and the auto registrations.  Every couple of months I go through and discard unneeded receipts, shred mail that has personal information on it, etc.

I save all of the paperwork I need to hold onto “long term” until January, then I take care of the previous year all at once, often finding there is more I no longer need to keep.  I’m in the USA, but I don’t really have a lot of paperwork.  I did the KonMari method a decade ago and learned what I needed to keep, then shredded the rest (it took so long!).  I saved 7 years of taxes but next time I go through the long term file box I’ll be able to shred everything related to taxes from 2017 and older.  We don’t itemize on our taxes anymore because we don’t have a mortgage and our medical expenses at present aren’t high enough to claim, so I don’t keep medical records more than a year.  I do keep all of the vet bills as those aren’t available online and sometimes I need to refer to them.

I had been keeping our water bills — one of the few bills that still arrives as paper — so I can look back at usage without logging into the city’s rudimentary system, but yesterday I realized I can note the total usage (as HCT — hundred cubic feet units) and daily average (in gallons) in the memo line of the ledger.  Mine is online but this would work with a paper ledger too.  This made me realize I can do this with the electric and gas bills as well, rather than always looking them up online.  Already I make a lot of notes in the ledger memo line, because they are searchable.  For instance, any time I pay anything related to a specific vehicle, I put the vehicle make/model in the memo, as well as what was done.  This way I can quickly find out when a car got new tires, a tire rotations, an annual service, etc.  I also have an app for this budget ledger, so I can look this up anywhere, which is especially helpful if a service person is trying to tell me I need something done and I don’t think it’s time yet.

Decluttering our paperwork and learning to keep only the essentials has been so freeing!  I had paperwork like my great-great aunt’s trust that I inherited from my grandmother even though her aunt died in 1986!  I had my electric bills carefully sorted — going back to the 1980s!  I had every auto insurance policy ever mailed to me.  I really didn’t need all those papers and wanted to get rid of the giant filing cabinet as well as boxes and boxes of paper stashed everywhere.

I have my grandmother’s sewing machine, although it is electric and not treadle.  She bought it for her 30th birthday, after she was widowed but before she married my grandfather.  If I remember correctly she bought it with some of the life insurance money because she believed it would help her save money if she sewed clothing for herself and her son.  Later she sewed baby clothes for me on it!

Yesterday I got another vintage electric sewing machine working.  This one is small with a built in case and I am going to keep it in the campervan.  It’s simple, but it does zigzag which I like to use sometimes.  Last weekend I picked up a different vintage machine for free and I got it working on Monday — I plan to give it away in my Buy Nothing group as it is sewing well but does need a spool holder and I’m not going to put any money into a machine I don’t plan to keep.  I do like to give away things on Buy Nothing when I can, because it creates reciprocity.  Three weeks ago I was given 12 tubs of fabric (minus the tubs) that I then sorted through and passed 1/3 of it to another person in the group.  I kept literally more than $1000 worth of fabric, probably more than $2000.  I will never have an excuse to buy quilting cotton in my life, I think.  I do try to be very active passing things along in the group because it’s easy to figure out the takers versus people who also give.

I have several electric sewing machines in various states of working.  I am learning about the vintage sewing machines and how they work, so I will buy them if they are very inexpensive because working on them is good learning for me.  I am still keeping an eye out for a free or inexpensive treadle machine, but where I live people ask way too much money for them

Regarding paperwork:  I don't have a shredder but I do have a fireplace, so once a month I go through my files and take out things I no longer need and throw them into the fireplace!  Even though it is hot here, they blaze up fast and burn quickly, so there is really very little heat. 

Does anyone still have a "burn barrel?"  When I was a child we all had burn barrels to cut down on trash pickup; we'd burn as much as we could in a barrel outside. 

Yes, we do that here, everything that can be burnt is burnt. I don't have a shredder either it all goes into the fire : )

In the suburban area I live in (USA) there are regulations on outdoor burning so no burn barrels here. You can basically have a grill or a fire pit. My daughter's neighbor burns in his grill. I guess that's one way to get around the rules!

We can't burn anything either, we used to have an incinerator but they're banned now due to fire risks, so I shred everything.  I used to donate it to the funeral home as they use the shredded paper in the "pillow" for the coffins.  It's also very popular for chickens and/or rabbits etc.  We can't have pet rabbits here, they are also banned.

Kimberly F- I LOVE my Buy Nothing group!  It is such a great way to create community and use things up. Things that go to Goodwill often get trashed anyway, but using the BNG you know that someone is going to use and love these things.

I have enjoyed everyone's sharing.  Thank you Donna for this post.  Particularly the reminder that everything needs to "live" somewhere, and if it doesn't have a home and it's stressing me then I donate it. 

I have 2 aprons for each season. These protect my clothes and cuts down on my laundry.  Right now my aprons are floral, or (my favorite) Peter Rabbit popping up out of my front pocket. 

As for paperwork....it's like bunnies in my house. 

Blessings to you both.

For Joyce C.   

I used to have a shredder but it constantly jammed and the whole process irritated me.  I realized that the name and critical information is typically a very small part of a single sheet of paper.  So now instead of shredding, I start by ripping out the parts that should not go in garbage - name, acct #s, etc and I leave the in a little box for "shredding" into very small crosscut pieces which I do with a pair of scissors and then they go into my compost pile or even buried in the garden (as long as it is just plain paper).  Could also be burned very easily as it doesn't produce much paper waste.  

It is also helpful to put in the effort to reduce actual mailed documents so you reduce what you are shredding.   And if you really have a lot of paperwork to shred, many communities offer shredding services once or twice a year as well.  

I am a bit off topic perhaps but as I am adapting to life as a single woman with my kids mostly grown and out of here, I have been working to make smaller version of recipes.  Lately I have been wanting homemade baked goods but definitely don't want full size cakes or batches of cookies as I try to eat very little sugar and I don't usually have anyone to gift with extras.   

Read somewhere a single comment about "small batch baking" and looked into my online library account and instantly downloaded a couple of cookbooks with recipes for maybe 6 or 8 cookies and 6 inch cakes and small cupcake batches of just 6, recipes for bar cookies that fill just the bottom of a small loaf pan, etc.  

I just made a batch of oatmeal cookies - it made 8 delicious cookies in my toaster oven.   A rough estimate puts that baking session at maybe 90 cents for the batch and minimal electric use for the toaster oven with the advantage that it didn't heat up the kitchen too much (and I could actually plug it in outside if needed.  

A store bought package of cookies is far less satisfying, costs more, and often has questionable ingredients.  Plus I enjoyed the baking experience itself. Even if I had my two young kids back in the house, that quick bake would provide an after school snack plus a couple of cookies in the lunch box the next day.

Thought it might inspire anyone who is on a tight budget.  There are also tons of small batch baking recipes all over the internet.

A couple (or three or four) things:

You can buy white Zote soap pre-flaked - it makes homemade laundry detergent a LOT easier to make.  I buy it at Walmart, and it isn't expensive.  I used 5-6 ounces of it each time I make a batch, because the Fels Naptha bars are about 5-6 ounces.  I use my food scale to weigh it out.   I find a scale very useful for measuring produce for canning and for measuring alternative flours (I am supposed to avoid gluten, although I don't have celiac disease).  

Paperwork:  I go through my paperwork at tax time and discard a lot of it, but I keep my IRS records for 7 years, and I'm keeping the VA records for a few years, because they can come back several years later with a question or demand.  The VA keeps records online, but they are awkward to access.  Once the veteran passes, the surviving spouse can be locked out of the vet's account, too.  I keep only what I think I need of the VA stuff.  I decided against digitizing all of our paperwork when our laptop crashed and we couldn't retrieve all of our records.  I keep some receipts only a year, but I keep basic large purchase information until the item I purchased is gone.  My shredder was second hand and quit a while back.  They are expensive, so I haven't replaced it.  Much of the time, we aren't allowed to burn, so I have to do the best I can with disposal.  In the old days, when I was a kid, we were allowed to burn all of our burnable trash.  I keep my active paperwork in a trash-picked filing cabinet.

Clutter:  I can't wait to get deeper into the clearing of clutter once I retire, but I don't have a ton of it even now.  I filled up closets just like everyone else, until my parents died and we realized they had every closet, drawer, under bed, shed and cabinet, filled up to overflowing, and that set me on a journey to cut down what I keep.  I will go through the house every so often and grab stuff that I realize I'm not using and donate it or give it to someone who wants it.  About five years ago, I went through every closet and dresser in the house and got them all neat and clean.  It was wonderful.  Time to do it again!

sara M, you are so clever! I was wondering how to do away with the shredder, and your pointing out that the privacy-related parts are small makes that easier to do. My husband files the taxes online so we only keep the income documents, and those are small and don't take up much space in the filing cabinet. They're the only papers that would need to be completely destroyed, and they would be pretty easy to cut-up by hand. We could have family cut-up-the-papers night with ice cream after as a treat to make it a more pleasant task. :) 

And I'm so pleased that you mentioned baking in the toaster oven. We bought a Ninja Flip at the beginning of the year to save on energy use, instead of using the oven. I've been curious how well it would do with baked goods. I'm going to look up some of the small batch baking recipes too! 

Stephanie G

I have made pies, cakes, bread, baked chicken, roasted vegetables, and even homemade pizza in my toaster oven.  I mostly started when my large oven stopped working, but soon found that I often preferred the toaster oven as it didn't heat up the kitchen nearly as much and was a bit cheaper to run as I was cooking small batches and it would preheat so quickly. 

I'm new here, so this is my first post.  I've been reading all of the latest blogs.  I really am enjoying your posts.  I'm learning a lot and am happy I found a group that has the same interests as me.

Stephanie G.,

I was lucky enough to find a free Ninja Flip curbside a few years ago:)  It looked like it had been used maybe once, then put back in the box with it's manual and everything.  I had wanted to try an air fryer for awhile, so I thought, "Score!" 

The "frying" aspect didn't really work - guess I should have known that claims of frying in air were too good to be true, lol.  But what I do really like it for is baking certain things, and also because it heats up so fast, using it almost like a microwave.

It can't bake anything very tall because even if the pan fits, the top will burn.  But it works for small batches of cookies, biscuits, nachos, meatballs, or probably whatever else will fit without getting too near the top.  With the exception of cookies, I've found things come out better on the air fry setting than the bake setting.  The main challenge is that most of my baking dishes are glass and I worry they might crack, so I've been limited to a metal pie pan or a 6" cast iron skillet.

If not for me I do believe my husband would still have every piece of paper he's ever touched. He even saves the notes he writes down. Last fall he went through 10 years of papers. I was the shredder. He'd hand me something and wonder if he should keep it. I said no every time.

 In the last 10 years a lot has become digital which he doesn't delete. He also has retained 1000s & 1000s of emails, calls and texts. But I don't have to look at it.

As for his non-digital clutter, I periodically stick it in a box or plastic bin when the stack gets too high or there are too many stacks. When I do this I try to toss some. 

Before he retired last year I retrieved the mail and could toss quite a bit. Now he often gets it and we're back to stacks on the kitchen table that I have to move when company comes.

I don't ever complain about it to him though. He really believes what he saves is important and he doesn't realize how much there is. I think clutter contributes to a feeling of chaos in a home. So I try to be smart and clever to get around these annoyances and maintain a proper and calm home.

Grandma Donna Wrote, 

Ingrid M, The scroll saw was given to Charles one year from our Children.  They found it in in a vintage shop. We had never seen one before.

 Zote,  I also keep Zote on hand, I prefer the white bar.  I do grate bar soap to make laundry and add washing soda and borax at times depending on what I am washing. I also use liquid when I run out of homemade. I have to be careful what I use due to Charles psoriasis. 

My main use of laundry bars are to hand wash our laundry. On days that I am strong enough I prefer to hand wash because that gets the laundry really clean.  I like to soak the laundry, plop it on a hard surface and scrub with the laundry bar soap, squeeze and rinse several times.  I do have a hand crank wringer. When I am not strong enough I use my machine and then hang them out.  I do pace myself, if it were the old days and I was younger, I would be handwashing more as I once did before I got a machine. :)

Paperwork clutter, Hold your hat because it is going to get windy! 

Charles and I have boxes and boxes of paperwork from what our parents and Charles Great Aunt left behind and we have been going through this for a long time.  We get a lot of mail, and their mail does not stop for a very long time.  Closing accounts has been a real nightmare, especially Madge's mail and accounts and mail order books.  Madge kept "boxes" of her parents household paperwork stored.  We have been shredding electric bills from long ago of Charles Grandmother. They saved their electric bills and check stubs and statements most all their life.  

It is not a matter of tossing it in a burn pile or shredder, it must be gone through.

Also, know that your credit card may have hidden separate bills.  Madge's J C Penny's card had an accidental insurance attached to it.  After we sent the required death certificate for proof to close the Penny's account, we could not close the unused accidental insurance policy that had it's own fee that I guess was paid for in her card and we had to find out who this insurance company was.  We had to prove death again and the paperwork that goes and comes with this seems continuous.

Trying to close her Sam's club card was much worse than it should have been. It renewed on us and we had to pay the renewal, we had to send death certificate and other information.  Charles accidentally left off one number in the memo at the bottom of the check referring her account number.  That check cleared our bank account but they said they did not receive a payment.  We went to the store but they cannot do these things at the store. We had to get back into the telephone no real person recording again.  They got the money but did not apply it to her account.  So we had to repay again and then again they wanted more paperwork.  You get the idea, many things that we have that has an account number will need proof of death of a loved one, and keep any information that they send to you. 

So some would think just leave it.  Well Madge left Charles Dads name on a credit card account and kept the account.  He died in the mid 1990's. They would not close the account until we provided them with a death certificate for Charles Father as well as His mother and we went right back into the telephone and mail correspondence again until we got this resolved. 

Power companies, and utilities the same thing. We had to take a death certificate to her water company!   So to keep things easy for our children for when we are gone think these things through.  

We have paperwork for all of this in a file that we have closed these accounts.  Medical bills and rescue bills we have asked for receipts for everything that we have had to pay.  Things seem to keep coming back up again. The rescue bill kept coming back to us, this took quite a bit to settle with insurance and what we had to pay.  This is our reason for why we are bogged down in paperwork.  

What have we learned from this?  Have as few accounts as possible. I am not even going to talk about trying to stop a phone company's bill. Also list everything you have that has a renewal, or monthly fee. These extras such as prime or things that come with series or where you can watch movies.  These bills can creep in and can be forgotten and then suddenly a yearly charge pops up. Their bills and fees will become your bills. 

Living like the past, our generations before us did not have to do the things we have today.  We need to be responsible and have a good plan for whoever will be there to take over the "mess" when we are gone.  The very first thing we did before we finished with closing Madge's accounts is we stopped and bought us a new fireproof file cabinet and we sat down and went through our expenses and accounts and put everything in order.  We went to a lawyer and got a Durable power of attorney done, a Will done, the information on the payoff our our house, our car information, everything and anything we could think of and then talked with our children about "everything" including what has been paid and not paid toward our burial or cremation.  

We hope to have the time before we leave this world to write down names on the back of our photos.  We know what it is like to have numerous photos with no names and what a shame for those that would love some for their family genealogy. 

One last and VERY important thing is passwords.  Have it understood with someone you trust to be able to get your password book that you have made so they can close your online accounts.  Donna

Oh my goodness Donna. I feel exhausted just reading about the paperwork and feel for you and Charles. You're doing well having a different system for your children.

I was pondering on what you wrote concerning closing accounts. I have a power account, car ownership , insurances, no subscriptions , no cards at all for credit or stores, pre paid mobile phone, no landline. I feel relieved hahahaha.

Oh my Gdonna that all sounds exhausting. You and Charles certainly sound on to it though and now it's a time and patience thing. Best of luck with it all. We have handled quite a few deceased estates for family and close friends too. It's an enormous task and I too can vouch for hours of mind numbing phone calls and paperwork just to get accounts closed etc. Like you we have done our best to close down anything unnecessary and organize passwords and paperwork. Actually it's a good reminder thank you to go through it all again as things do creep in. A note of caution...when a close relative passed away they had a store card with some debt on it. As we were named POA they insisted (and I mean insisted!!!) we had to pay it. We checked with our lawyer and that was not true or correct. It was bullying. This was in NZ so I'm not sure about elsewhere.

Gr Donna, 

I went thru much the same when my dad died, thankfully he had been having me pay most things with a check. Getting his landline shut down was a nightmare.  As was changing out the propane, as the house was going into my name and I was changing companies....the original company wanted to charge me over 300 to pick up their tank. Thankfully my new local company pumped it dry and moved it out of the area. Then I called them back and said if you don't pick it up I will call every day until you do. This was on the advice of the estate lawyer, it worked. 

I have been doing a lot of thinking on all of this, I don't have autopay on anything except insurances, no subscriptions  to worry about.  It's funny how things pile up without noticing, such as subscriptions.  I really prefer old school.

Zote is easier for me to find around here but I prefer FelsNaptha, will use whatever I can get.

I have been saving and cleaning cooking fat/grease from beef. Lots of cleaned tallow from brisket, the plan is to use it for french fries and then I want to try my hand at making lye soap. I made some years ago but need to refresh my memory on making it.  It will be done outside. With safety equipment.

I would be very interested how you gather the fat and how you clean and store it if you have the time to share. Thank you. Tallow is getting popular here for skincare.

I cut the extra fat from brisket and cut it into small pieces, rendered it over very low heat. It takes a bit of time, strain it very well and refrigerate.

I would suggest looking online for complete instructions as that is how I learned to do it.

There is a completely different method for cleaning used fat/grease.

It is how they did it "back in the day" to clean grease for use in soap making. 

I have been told you can request beef suet from a butcher to render but that is not available to me.

Thank you for this information. 

Tea S how fortunate for you! One thing I like about the Ninja Flip is that it flips up after use and takes less counter space. Another is that I can plug it into our solar generator. I've used it with a glass loaf pan up to 400° and it works fine. I guess it would depend on the temperature limit of your glassware. 

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Ugh! I am so glad I will never have to go through another relative's paperwork! It sounds like a nightmare. Grandma Donna has the patience of a saint and a very caring heart, but we already knew that. :) 

I'm getting my no-income month put together with help from people's comments. I now know how to conserve on energy with my shredder, that Zote might need extra scrubbing or a booster to get clothes clean, and that I can use my Ninja Flip for more things. I appreciate these comments because it saves me all the time of trial and error. :) 

Once I have everything figured out, I will have one month where it's as though the mortgage is paid and the taxes and insurance are paid by investment income, and then a harder month where the mortgage isn't paid. Walking to the store is going to be a stretch for awhile, so I'll have to remember how to ride a bike! On the list of things to get, like car ramps for oil changes, is bicycle baskets for groceries. 

In good news, it's been raining and the rain barrel is filled! 

I have been going through some paperwork, but there are things that needed to be saved.  I handled my father's estate and his tax preparer told me to keep as much as I could in case there was a problem.  I would be responsible.  She said to at least keep the tax returns and if I had room keep all the paperwork that went with them.  I have 2 large boxes of my parents' paperwork and there are boxes from  my in-laws' records, too.  

We also had a business and our tax preparer said that if we sell equipment which we still have that we need to prove the price we paid for it.  That is in supporting records for tax returns.  We have a shelving unit that is full of business records and personal records.  That will be there when we die.

We have old checks and they could probably all go away, but other things just need to hand around.

Think about what might you need in the future before you throw it out.

Hoping that is will rain here!

This is my first post, though I have been reading and enjoying others' comments. A couple of this article's comments mention small batch cooking. That prompted me to sign up to comment in order to share what i have found to be a useful resource. I have been reading for a longtime a Canadian woman's wonderful (free) blog at website theenglishkitchen.co, which is aimed at this exact need. Marie is an older woman, now living frugally and well on her own, and she posts new, small-batch recipes every day along with interesting commentary. I think Marie's website would appeal to many of us who love reading and following what Grandma Donna writes about.