Challenge: Put out the Dumpster Fire December 🧯🔥🗓

[rural]

You guys, progress on the not-going-to-do-a-challenge: we cleared out a bunch of the storage unit today! Also threw stuff in their dumpster, but most everything will go to thrift stores tomorrow (no thrift stores open on Sunday here). Still more to go through, and Husband needs to contact a friend who wants a bunch of the books. But I got a notice of rent going up, and that’s inspired us.

[plainjane]

I should have said that finishing last year’s mittens was my goal for the month.

I have not moved forward any of the money or paperwork things except I now have a doctor’s note for getting physiotherapy on my knee. I don’t know if it was required for coverage, but just in case.

[darlingpants]

I have $3 left on my transit FSA debit card, but am not allowed to add money to my CharlieCard in less that $5 increments. I’m annoyed but I’m going to count that as done.

My sister is sewing my curtains so that’s nice.

[Cereal]

@Cereal

Week one - overall goal accomplished

Food, body stuff

Week two - overall goal accomplished

Food, menstruation, mental health, body stuff

• leave home 6/7 days a week - YES, 7/7
• strength-building workout once a week - YES, kettlebell/body weight workout today
• limit 3 standard alcoholic drinks a week - YES, 3 drinks this week
• limit 3 treats a week - NOPE, this is the 1/5 things I didn’t make this week. I knew on Monday I wasn’t going to achieve this one. More below.
• 7 hours of sleep 4/7 nights a week - YES, 6/7 nights this week

I struggled HARD this week. I wasn’t OK a lot of the time. One factor was that I bizarrely got my period 10-20 days early (cycle is usually 35-45 days long, so 25 days was a surprise. That big a deviation, you know it’s not going to be good.) Lots of overwhelm, anxiety, mental fatigue, anger at people’s selfishness (which is out of my control, I’m trying to let it go). So all that to say that I ate a lot of junk food to self-soothe. Which I know sabotages my goal (sleep and exercise can’t counteract that quantity of sugar) but I just wasn’t going to cope without it. So it’s a new week, light at the end of the tunnel, etc. etc. I will probably fail the junk food point again this week but will aim for improvement and practice some self-compassion. I can look back at 2020 Christmas pictures and appreciate that this badass body survived the year.

[flan]

Week 2: omg I did it: all the gifts. Last thing is to take them to the post office tomorrow, but then I’m done.

[LadyDuck]

@LadyDuck

I think I’ve managed to consolidate most of my Trello boards. As my paperwork/ digital information becomes more organised I’m getting closer to working on the dumpster fire of my physical spaces again…

Trello boards sufficiently organised to call that project done.

Next up is showing the systems and some organisational spreadsheets I’ve made to Ponder, so that when we do have time we can discuss them further.

[mirepoix]

Week 2 check in:

Stuff that has to go: my suitcase and unused O-cedar mop weren’t getting any traction on marketplace so I put them on BN, both pending for tomorrow

Meals: got Whole Foods grocery deliver from Amazon (it was great, plan to do again). I only bought based around using my pantry and I have several meal options for some ingredients. Foods prepared recently:
Broccoli and dill sauce with rice noodles
Freezer quesadilla prep (made a fancy cheese sauce for these too)
Lime tart
Fondue apples
I can’t even remember what else but I ate really well the past week.
This coming week I’m planning more quesadillas, salads (I usually don’t buy lettuce), donuts made with creme fraiche, and pizza dough made with duck eggs

Still to do: clean (take cage apart with screwdriver and dust everything) and store 4 fans in closet

[kenner]

Actual list is mostly still WIP (especially since to deal with the airbag recall I apparently have to make a phone call per the website), but on the other hand major work item one is almost off my plate which means I’m down to one to finish this week before I’ve got two weeks to do whatever I want. Including get stuff done around the house.

[CalBal]

Oops I did not update yesterday. The only progress I made was to find 2 possible bras to take apart to use as patterns. Too much other emotionally fraught things were happening to get anything else done.

[Greyweld]

I’m bad at remembering when I updated or updating weekly rather than randomly.

I did more floors today. I have cut the angle that was giving me grief, and have one more similar angle to go. I want to say I have about 4 rows left.

I still have not applied for the job. Going to get some social commitment IRL going for that tomorrow.

[nnls]

@nnls

• declutter wardrobe
• try to get approval for flexible work roster. Currently I am unhappy with my work roster, so hopefully I can get approval to change it.

Editing to add two more

• call bank to try and reduce interest rate on mortgage (havent done this since last rate cut)
• 17 more vegetarian days - to get me to 100 for the year

• 10 more vegetarian days to go
• still no conformation on new work roster
• have not decluttrered

[AmandaS1989]

@AmandaS1989

@AmandaS1989

I’ve been able to check off a few goals this year but here’s what I have left:

• Keep Duolingo streak unbroken (554 days and counting!)
• Drop off bag of donated clothes at Goodwill
• Clean off that giant black metal shelving rack and get rid of the shit I don’t need (I’m looking at you, old textbooks and CPA exam study books)
• Pay off my no-interest promo credit card with my ot/vac payout check in December. That’ll save me $70/month.
• Continue to put $60 per paycheck into HSA
• Contribute $1,200 to tIRA ($1,070 so far)
• Contribute $500 to Roth IRA ($460 so far)
• IF we get that bonus at year end and I have enough money after taxes, I will pay off the loan for the car trailer. That’ll save me $80/month.

Keeping that Duolingo streak going just fine. I put the money in my HSA and IRA for this paycheck. Just waiting a few more weeks for the ot/vac payout so I can pay off that card.

Didn’t get around to dropping that bag off at Goodwill or cleaning that shelf yet. I’m being lazy right now.

Still haven’t dropped off the Goodwill bag or cleaned my metal shelving rack. Oops. Duolingo streak is still unbroken though. And I put $80 in the tIRA so that I could have a nice round $1,200 in contributions once I make the last one next pay period. To think, my original goal was only $500. I more than doubled that.

I also put the $60 into my HSA. And I decided to do a balance transfer from one high-interest card to a much lower interest card. Now I’m just waiting for it to go through.

[meerkat]

Um, crap, has it been a week already?

@meerkat

• Finish painting the house
• Call gutter guy to actually get the work done - left message, they should be calling back this week to come out to do a quote on fixing our back porch and then they also do gutters
• Figure out photos for photo year book thing - no progress
• Figure out how to get money from Raise to Paypal or some such. Or just buy myself a damn gift card of some sort. - no progress, can do that this week probably
• Knife sharpening? - will probably scrap this goal

[anon51297825]

Week 2 check-in:

1. I did not cancel, but I called. It doesn’t renew until April, so I’m going to hang onto it and it’s on my calendar to call in March. I want to see if they will extend it fee free in case we can travel again.
2. Box is still in mudroom.
3. Cans redeemed at Walmart!
4. I made a much bigger mess. Still no cleaning happened.

[IDoMe]

Week 2: I was agitated, then forgot to post. Insisting on using my husband’s computer (when he was already using) would at best annoy him or at worst have led to a fight. This is me creating my own fire, waiting until the last day to complete the thing. Instead I updated the list on my phone. A few things that got done in addition to general categories:
-New tp holder installed last week
-ceiling fan adjusted to better square its lines with the walls (this is still not perfect and won’t be because of the way it goes into the box which is not squared, something like that, and we have decided it is not going to be further addressed). Of course now that we tried to fix it I noticed it more than ever where is it had faded into the background for me mentally before…
Fail: called window place, but our job is too small. I added a smaller company to my list.

insight into my brain, as if you didn't get enough above!

(Point of contention, I offered to paint 2 windows and haven’t done it for years cuz I’m mentally stuck on choosing colors. Replacement means white vinyl windows, whereas paint could be fun. I don’t want to go through all of the effort of painting and possibly glazing s***** garage windows only for them to be white. But paint colors lead to coordination questions which I mentally spin out on… I feel like choosing the color for this will limit me for choosing color for other stuff, so then I have to choose all the colors for other projects. Apparently I am very very “moody” about color. I literally love something today then don’t like it tomorrow. Then I love it again. Madness, I tell you!
TC: my husband did a bunch of other small projects, but they are not on my list.

[flan]

@plainjane

mittens

That pattern looks so good!!

[Bracken_Joy]

@Bracken_Joy

@Bracken_Joy

• make an appointment with my doctor. Get labs done. Figure out why my menstrual cycle is making me get very dizzy.

• discuss with the people who will be the guardian to our daughter if something happens to both SirB and I, and see if they’re game.
• get a will made
• read 3 more books

Week 1 update:
1- Appointment is in a couple hours!
2- emailed, replied, accepted! Now I need to figure out how to tell the rest of the family without creating DRAMA.
3- no progress on this
4- I finished one book, I’m 50% on another. One and a half left.

Week 2 update:
1- appointment done, labs done, awaiting lab review appointment on Friday.
2- still dragging my feet on this
3- no progress, and gonna be honest no attempt made
4- 78% on that one book, started and abandoned two more that I’m not counting, about 1/3 of the way into another.

[Crow]

Week 2 check-in:

• cancel credit card to avoid annual fee - Week 1: fee hasn’t posted so I haven’t done this. Hmm…maybe they just aren’t charging a fee this year? UPDATE: fee posted in week 2. Will call to cancel in Week 3.
• cancel streaming service before the monthly rate increases - done in week 1
• update income/spending tracker for November - done in week 1. Love that new NW number!
• round out charitable giving for the year (Hey, it’s Giving Tuesday today! I should do this first.) - Week 1: Gave a lot on Giving Tuesday: more than last year, but not yet at my goal for the year. Still need to decide how much to give to a few new-to-me places.
• list at least 5 things on Buy Nothing - Week 1: one listing (all gifted). Week 2: 3 more listings (two gifted). One left!
• finish dumpster fire crochet project - Week 2: done!
• write annual letter - this is a week 3 goal
• research and write paper for school - Week 2: done!
• finish spice cabinet project - Week 2: made significant progress here. I’m almost ready to call it done.

Bonus items (want to get one of the following done):

• purchase and install new garbage disposal
• clean out pantry
• organize craft/storage room (imagine TrisPrior’s closet, but a whole room)

[iualia]

Oops I missed yesterday’s check-in.

Craft room status: pegboards are on the walls! Fabric is sorted and put away! I actually had my first sewing session and it was great. Remaining todos: install blinds once they arrive, set up cutting table once it arrives (purchased today!), find a home for the printer. This is really coming together.

And my storage unit is fully paid for and closed down, so that’s one thing done.

[diapasoun]

My :

1. Clean up luggage-mess area in front of the closet that’s been sitting there forever.
2. Mail out the packages I’ve been sitting on. Ugh does sending out three dozen Christmas cards count? No? Dang.
3. Finish reading the 6 books I need to read to hit my goal of 52 for the year. 4/6 books completed – why yes, I just read a bunch of poetry!
4. Get gift knitting projects off my plate. Progress is being made, it’s just not done
5. Make profiteroles and eclairs a few times as choux practice. I made homemade pizza and banana bread instead. Oops.