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How to develop your PLAN

Russ H

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Jill said:
It's just that I'm so administratively inept, that I just DREAD having to itemize all the purchases, so I've been choosing not to make them, just so I won't have to record them!!

Whatever works, eh?

:icon_super:
 
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Poudda

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Okay.

One Room done. We started with our sons room (remember, he's only 19 months). We got rid of 12 kitchen garbage bags full of clothes (including stuff we had in storage) - all went to the salvation army. We kept a specific set of clothes for ages 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months and 12- 2 years to account for our needs over the next 9 months. We are adopting a policy of "one thing comes in, then one thing goes out"

I'm a bit disappointed with the amount of toys I got rid of - less than half. Couldn't part with the classic fisher price toys or the Lego. But did get rid of the noisemakers and most of the plastic. Amounted to about two boxes full of stuff.

Funny thing is that the room looks almost exactly the same. How creepy?

Cheers!

Dave
 

CarrieW

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I always have such a hard time getting rid of any of the kids stuff too.

we just eliminated 4 more boxes of toys out of the kids rooms this weekend. I think I can still get rid of more. (I am having doubts of getting rid of the care bear and little people stuff lol)

and yeah their room still looks the same too! lol. it is creepy! I swear the toys multiply like rabbits lol.
 

Jill

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I'm experiencing something similar - kinda. I've lost both of my parents in the past 3 years. When we were preparing for the estate sale in December, I just couldn't bear to "dump" a lot of the stuff, so I took it with me. It's still in boxes (many, many boxes) that I will go through when the emotions aren't quite as raw. Fortunately, we have a lot of storage space. But even that needs to be weeded through eventually!
 
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Russ H

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Quick note here (limited internet access while on the road, just saw this as I was signing off):

TOYS: Please consider donating the toys to a local toy library. Don't have one? START one. They are awesome (and all run by volunteers). I"ll be happy to talk about them, perhaps in a separate thread if the interest is there. INCREDIBLE concept, once you see it in action! :)

Jill-- Understand your sitch. We went through the same thing w/Sharon's (my wife) parents just a couple of years ago. All of the sibs got together and sorted, and made peace w/things//got closure. It was hard, but very worth it, heart-wise.

-Russ H.
 

Poudda

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On the toys side. Really didn't keep that much, but will reduce again once we begin traveling in a few months.

Did my clothes yesterday. Looked in the closet, asked myself "self, how much of this stuff have I used in the past year?" Removed everything, kept only one nice suit jacket, dress pants white shirt, two ties (so I have choice) and a short sleeve button up shirt. The rest went to the Salvation Army. Still have to go through my dresser, but I use just about everything in there.

On the funny side. Michelle went through her clothes, found a wallet in her dresser that had $300 US$ in it. We suspect it was from when we last travelled south of the border about a year ago.

So you've already helped us find $300, Russ! How 'bout that.

I'm liking this plan thing.
 

BeingChewsie

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Yeah! Congrats on the $300 find! It is always sweet to come out ahead of the game. I'm in the process of unloading all of my left over ebay inventory..I was going to do a yard sale but think I'll run a bunch of 99 cent auctions and see how much of it I can unload...I have about 1300 items from my store that I closed. It will be the last hurrah of stuff to unload. I'm thrilled whatever doesn't go in this final round on ebay will go out at a yard sale.

Sue


On the toys side. Really didn't keep that much, but will reduce again once we begin traveling in a few months.

Did my clothes yesterday. Looked in the closet, asked myself "self, how much of this stuff have I used in the past year?" Removed everything, kept only one nice suit jacket, dress pants white shirt, two ties (so I have choice) and a short sleeve button up shirt. The rest went to the Salvation Army. Still have to go through my dresser, but I use just about everything in there.

On the funny side. Michelle went through her clothes, found a wallet in her dresser that had $300 US$ in it. We suspect it was from when we last travelled south of the border about a year ago.

So you've already helped us find $300, Russ! How 'bout that.

I'm liking this plan thing.
 
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Poudda

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Had to put a photo of us decluttering. Here's my wife sorting our books. This is the hardest thing we've ever had to do, we're book people.
 

AroundTheWorld

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I SO relate to the book thing!!!

And, uh... self storage anyone??? Russ, is that a part of the plan? Do people REALLY have to GET RID off all that glorious stuff??? Can't they just stick it in storage? I know of this really cool place....
 

Russ H

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AroundTheWorld said:
And, uh... self storage anyone??? Russ, is that a part of the plan? Do people REALLY have to GET RID off all that glorious stuff??? Can't they just stick it in storage? I know of this really cool place....

Ah, Sonya, ya maka me laff . . . :D

No, you don't have to get rid of the stuff (just ask my wife, who has to live with over 3000 books of mine-- yeeeesh!).

We all have our little pecadillos.

The whole object of this exercise is to ask yourself, "Do I really NEED this?"


And if the answer is "no", then the next question is, "What am I gonna do with this stuff?"

Answers can be anything:

1. "I'm gonna keep this stuff, dammit. I love my _______!" (insert guilty pleasure).

2. "I'm gonna sell this stuff, and invest the proceeds"

3. "I'm gonna donate it, and write it off"

4. "I'm gonna give it to my kid sister" (or brother, cousin, friend, etc).

And I suppose answer #5 could be "Hey, I'm gonna call Sonya and stick all this in her Mini storage! :smx1:


*********************


The most important thing is to get to the point where you actually identify the excess, and then,

1: Examine your feelings (very important), and

2: Take ACTION!


-Russ H.
 
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Poudda

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The plan for the books is to sell them and purchase a video recorder with the proceeds for the birth of the new baby and the camping trip. Going through the books first will make it easier to get rid of everything else. It will be like, "Hey, we got rid of the books, so what are we doing keeping this blankety blank?"

So the photo is only of the one room. It's the major bookshelf in the house. The ones upstairs will be harder - kids books, then we have more in storage that should be easier to get through as well.

Actually, we are enjoying the process.
 

Legacy Dad

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(just ask my wife, who has to live with over 3000 books of mine-- yeeeesh!)

I also have a "book fetish"

I've toned my collection down to about 500 and now started on audio books. I have around 300 audio books on an external hard drive.

The first thing I do when I am at someones house is look at the books on their bookshelf. You can learn a lot about a person simply by the books they read.

Lance
 

cidargroup

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There are many ways of developing-- and implementing-- a PLAN.

Here's the approach we have used:

Step I: Core Values and Character

A. Who are you, really?

Too many people try to set their goals based on how they see themselves through the eyes of others (or the media), not how they really are.

Example: You are out of shape. So you join a gym, but never go.

The result (not going to the gym) makes you feel as though you've failed at achieving your goals.

But that might not be the case.

The real reason may be you hate working out inside a gym. Or that it's too far away.

If you tap into who you are, deep down, as a person, you can often set better goals.

Examples of CORE traits:

-You love spontaneity.
-You really love the outdoors.
-You value being fit.


Goal: Walk/Run/Bike/Hike 3x this week. Next week: 3 or 4x. Next week: 4 or 5x

This combines something you vallue (being outdoors) with something you want (getting fit). And it takes advantage of your spontaneous nature, since you can walk/run/hike virtually anywhere.

* * * * *

So first, find out who you are. Your deepest values and morals.

And remember that discovering who you are is a journey-- you're never done. So always be ready to add things on to this category, and revisit the subsequent steps.

Work on this list for a good 30 minutes before you go to the next step.


B. Sometimes Wanting is better than Having

Most of us have something in our closets or garages that we really, really wanted but, after getting it, didn't use.

Why?

Oftentimes, it's because what we've chosen does not line up with who we are, deep down.

Think about the things you wanted-- lusted after-- but once you had them, the thrill was gone.

Make a list of those things.

Now, see if the things on that list line up with your core values.

If they do, ask yourself, "Why do I not like this _______?"

Your answers will help guide you in further defining your core values.

They may also help you see how much time/money is wasted when we pursue things that don't really fit who we are.

* * * * * * * * * *

C. What do I really want?

Now that you've identified some of your deepest traits, what are the things you like to do, that are in line with these traits?

This is by far the most difficult part of the exercise. Because it's easy to tell yourself you really want something-- but it's hard to know if doing that thing will be fulfilling.

So start with the CORE stuff you worked out (examples):

-Family
-Health
-Happiness
-Being outdoors
-Being around other motivated and passionate people


(These are some of ours; yours may be very different)

Next, dream a little. What are things that you like to do, that fit in with the list you made?

For instance: Taking a walk with the family feeds two of my core needs. And if we are all motivated and pasionate during the walk-- and happy-- then WOW!

Walking outdoors with a happy family becomes a very fulfilling activity (for me).

But it's not something I would have picked as a high priority activity, before I identified my core traits.

Work on your things-- but don't limit yourself to your original list.

If you find something that you love to do (like sex), but it's not on your original CORE list, put it on the list.

It's not unusual for you to come up with *more* CORE items during this part than the previous two.

***** ******

D. Fun Stuff

This is one of the easy parts.

As fast as you can, write down at least 20 things that you LOVE to do.

You may not have done them for a while.

Don't take more than 10-15 minutes for this-- this is not something to "think deeply" about-- this is light-hearted reminiscing-- Thinking about stuff you've done in the past, and enjoy doing.

When you have at least 20 things (30 or 40 is OK, too), get 2 different colored highlighters.

Mark one set of things that you currently do every day or every week (like, go to Starbucks, or listen to your favorite radio show/station)

Use a different color for stuff you haven't done in a long time, or at all.

Get your list of core traits/values/characteristics.

If you want, you can give each Core trait an abreviation (e.g., F= Family, :) = Happy, H= Health, etc).

Now, look at your "Fun Stuff" list you just made, and next to each item, list any core traits it ties in with (if any).

**************

EXAMPLE:

Walking Outdoors w/family (Ex, Out, F, :), H, P)

Ex = Exercise/fitness
Out = Being Outdoors
F = Family
:) = happiness
H = Health
P = Spending time w/passionate and motivated people


***************

Go down through the entire list, and see what happens. You may have some activities with LOTs of CORE items. And you may have some with none at all!

This doesn't mean that the non-CORE activities aren't important. On the contrary- it could mean that these activities feed some part of you that you have not yet identified as a CORE part of who you are.

So go through the "non" CORE labeled things, and think about them. What do they do for you? What part of your soul do they satisfy?

If you come up with new CORE items, great. If you don't, that's fine, too.

But whatever you do, DO NOT take any items off your "fun stuff" list if you have no CORE attributes next to it.

Unconsciously, we do things that feed our soul. And if you find any "fun things" that don't make any sense when compared with your CORE traits, perhaps you are feeding a very important part of yourself-- but have not yet identified this as a CORE part of you.

Remember, CORE traits are yours, and yours alone. They don't have to be admirable qualities. They just ARE. YOU.

(EDIT: Made a few changes, to tighten things up)

* * * *

Next step: Taking Action (I'll post this soon)
I JUST SAW UR POST AND WAS WONDERING WHAT IF YOU DONT HAVE THE POWER PER SAY IN TERMS OF CAPITAL AND YOU HAVE A PLAN , EVEN YOUR ECONOMY IS NOT HELPING MATTERS ?

WHAT WILL YOU DO SO YOU DONT END UP IN D CAGES OF THE COPS OR SAY POLICE THAT IS BY NO STEALING OR KILLING
 
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Russ H

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cidargroup-

All the items you quoted are about who you are, not how much money you have.

Are you in a place where you have no control over your environment? Or in a place where you have no income whatsoever?

Even if you are in this situation (in a hospital, prison, or some other completely controlled environment), you are still YOU. Figuring out your CORE characteristics can be done in this kind of environment, and a PLAN can be developed.

-Russ H.
 

offroadaz

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Last week my XBOX 360 decided it hated me and developed the red ring of death.

I never realized how much time I wasted playing it until I didn't have one

I work four 12 hour days with 3 days off every week. Normally on my days off I play xbox and do a little housework. Well, without the XBOX I was able to accomplish so much more with my time. I was able to do a ton of yard work I have been putting off and even had enough time to help out with chores at my parents house.

I never realized how much time I wasted playing video games until I no longer had it.

Another big thing that helped my productivity is I planned out my day the night before. Usually I would just wake up and do whatever I felt like, this lead to allot of TV and not much else. :)

Since I started planning out my day I have found that I have more time to do the things I need to do and even more time to do the things I want to do.

I think I can apply this strategy to my finances as well. Stop wasting my money on needless things, focus on my overall goal and take action to achieve those results
 

MJ DeMarco

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Last week my XBOX 360 decided it hated me and developed the red ring of death.

I never realized how much time I wasted playing it until I didn't have one

I work four 12 hour days with 3 days off every week. Normally on my days off I play xbox and do a little housework. Well, without the XBOX I was able to accomplish so much more with my time. I was able to do a ton of yard work I have been putting off and even had enough time to help out with chores at my parents house.

I never realized how much time I wasted playing video games until I no longer had it.

Another big thing that helped my productivity is I planned out my day the night before. Usually I would just wake up and do whatever I felt like, this lead to allot of TV and not much else. :)

Since I started planning out my day I have found that I have more time to do the things I need to do and even more time to do the things I want to do.

I think I can apply this strategy to my finances as well. Stop wasting my money on needles things, focus on my overall goal and take action to achieve those results

I have a special section in my book for video games ... the chapter called "Detours and Roadblocks" ..=)
 
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cidargroup

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:thankyousign:LIKE I SAID I AM A NIGERIAN AND I NEED A GOOD PLAN ON HOW TO GO ABOUT MARKETING ONLINE ANDOFFLINE AS I AM A WEBDESIGNER AND NEEDS A GOOD PLAN ON THIS ISSUE AS THERE ARE ALOT OF WEBDESIGNERS ON THE WEB.

HELP ME ASAP :bgh:
 

ramy98

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Great thread Russ, Just stumbled across it; cant wait to start it and following up on tracking my expenses etc... I know its going to be eye opening....
 

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Quick update
Since tracking expenses in November and adjusting our spending in December We have managed to save 2400.00 towards the purchase of our next investment property. Along with this we have put back another 900.00 for our spring break vacation next week. Time for some R&R on the beach with a fishing pole in hand.
Fortunately my DJ business has been picking up as it is wedding season hence the vacation money coming so quickly and easily.
 
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Sparky

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Hi

I'm still following this thread.

My expenses for February were:
£7.50 - Banking Fees
£2.00 - Cloakroom
£10.99 - Education (book)
£24.82 - Entertainment (touristy type things in London)
£91.82 - Groceries
£6.00 - Haircut
£48.01 - Health (of which 43.25 is for gym membership)
£1.00 - Postage
£480.00 - Rent
£113.40 - Transport
£6.70 - Work Breakfast
£58.96 - Work Lunch
TOTAL: £851.20 (significantly down from January's)

I've also done inventory of my STUFF :)

I had no idea I had 45 pairs of socks (and 8 single socks without a partner) - see the picture.:wtf:

I'm sure there is a business opportunity there, but I can't see it.:smx1: Maybe thats a topic for another thread.

Sparky
 

Russ H

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Now you all know why I buy TONS of socks (say, 20 pr), all the same, all at the same time.

The only colors I buy are white and black.

So when 1 (or 2, or 3 socks) go missing, I just pair it up with the other identical socks.

Part of my commitment to Simplify.

-Russ H.
 

AroundTheWorld

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Ya, well.... do your kids have colors?

I've got a red kid, a blue kid and a green kid. It applies to all sorts of things: towels, sheets, socks, underwear......
 
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Russ H

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Ooohh . . . one color per kid, eh?

I like that. :)

-Russ H.
 

AroundTheWorld

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You will like it even more when you have hundreds of kids running around!!!
well, okay. Maybe not hundreds.
 

Russ H

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You will like it even more when you have hundreds of kids running around!!!
well, okay. Maybe not hundreds.

Yeesh. I'm ambitious.

But not that ambitious! :eek:

-Russ H.
 

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Zoinks! At the risk of sounding too gooshy and sentimental, I've just read through all 14 pages of this thread. Holy cow, I'm SO inspired now! I'm afraid I joined after this had started and didn't run across this until now. Apologies for being the latest bloomer right now. :) Reading the transformations, the realizations and the exclamations as you guys have gone through this exercise is compelling. I'd really like to try my hand at this, too. At the risk of being lame by posting so long after everyone else, I'm going to go through the first steps and start today with my monthly expense tracking. Or at least I say I am--I can see the obvious differences between saying it and doing it! Ah, I love a good challenge. Thanks to y'all for being inspiring and accommodating. Kudos for everyone who's gotten so far in this already!
 
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Russ H

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mizchels-

Welcome to the PLAN thread!

Looking forward to your input. :)

-Russ H.
 

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Now you all know why I buy TONS of socks (say, 20 pr), all the same, all at the same time.

The only colors I buy are white and black.

So when 1 (or 2, or 3 socks) go missing, I just pair it up with the other identical socks.

Part of my commitment to Simplify.

-Russ H.

Just as I do, but my wife thinks I'm nuts :coco:
 

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