Planning

A Lucky Rainbow?

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I’m sitting here in a hotel room in Portland, Oregon. As I was searching the internet for information on St. Patrick’s Day for the March newsletter I looked out the window and was amazed at what I saw. It is a partly cloudy day and directly in my view was a rainbow in the horizon. I grabbed my pocket camera and took some pictures. What are the odds of reading about St. Pat’s day and seeing a rainbow. I wonder if a pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow waiting for me.

I would post a picture except this is an old laptop and doesn’t have a card reader. I did buy a portable card reader and planned on bringing it. Somehow I forgot. It is probably sitting on my desk at home. Oh well, I think I remembered everything else for this trip. I’ll post a picture of the rainbow when I get home.

Anyway, I plan on having the March newsletter out by this weekend so you can start planning for the different events going on. I would love to have some feedback on the monthly newsletters. Do you find them helpful? Do you have any suggestions on how to improve them? Please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks.

You can see February’s newsletter by clicking on it in the sidebar to the right. If you aren’t signed up to receive this newsletter plus the weekly decluttering tip newsletter then please do so on the right sidebar.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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American Heart Month

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I hope everyone had a nice Valentine’s Day. The red hearts of love were all around.

The American Heart Association has designated February to be concerned with another heart, the muscle that keeps you alive. If you haven’t had your cholesterol or blood pressure checked for a while now would be a good time to call your doctor for an annual checkup. If you have heart disease in your family there are many things you can do to reduce your risks.

Fortunately, heart disease is one of the health issues where your lifestyle can make a big difference. My father had a heart attack at age 52 (he survived it) back in 1978. The whole family learned how to eat better and exercise more. My husband has controlled his blood pressure through diet and exercise for years. It is very prevalent in his family and he works hard to avoid having to take medicine to control it.

No matter what your age it is important to know your numbers for cholesterol and blood pressure. This month start to learn all you can to adopt a healthy lifestyle. That way your heart, the muscle that keeps you alive, can enjoy many Valentine’s Days to come.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Decluttering Expired First-Aid Supplies

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When I write my tip newsletters I write about things I have done and know that they work for me. I also write about things that I may not do all the time so I will research the subject online. Cleaning out expired first-aid supplies is one of those.

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I printed out a list of supplies from the Mayo Clinic. Then I went and checked my first-aid kit. I keep my supplies in a clear plastic shoe box on a shelf in the hall closet. While checking the dates on the antibiotic cream and the anti-itch cream I found that both were expired. Yikes! I threw them out and put both on my shopping list. I will replace them this week.

I keep my prescription medicines in the kitchen pantry in another clear shoe box. I will check those meds to see if I need to dispose of any old ones. My newsletter mentioned some of the ways to properly dispose of old medicines. The Whitehouse website has more information.

If you have any other ideas on what to keep in a first-aid kit and keep it current, then please let me know in the comment section. Thanks.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Coupon Clutter

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I wrote a tip newsletter today about coupon clutter. I am posting it here so you can see the system that I use. If you have another system or suggestions please let me know in the comment section.

Do you have an envelope or drawer full of coupons for groceries, restaurants, and other merchandise? Can you find the coupon you want when you need it? Coupons can save you a lot of money but only if you use them.

Coupons will become clutter very quickly unless you have a system set up to organize them. Here is a simple system I use. I have three different colored pocket folders and a small portable coupon caddy.

1. In the first folder I keep the current week’s grocery ads and local store ads I may want to shop at that week.

2. In the second folder I keep restaurant coupons and menus for our favorite places.

3. In the third folder I keep all the other coupons for the local stores such as Macy’s, Lowes, and Bed, Bath and Beyond. These are not the weekly ads but coupons I have received in the mail with longer expiration dates.

4. I file the grocery item coupons in the coupon caddy as soon as I cut them out. I relabeled the pockets to fit my needs.

To keep the coupons and ads current I purge the old ones from the first folder (grocery ads) on a weekly basis. The other folders and the coupon caddy usually get purged of expired coupons about once a month or when they start getting too full.

The above system is easy to use and maintain. Take a few minutes to set it up and save money with those coupons instead of letting them become clutter.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Mental Clutter

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Early this week I had a bad cold. I’m in the sixth week of radiation treatment for breast cancer and I’m beginning to feel the fatigue I was told would happen. Because of these two things I had a hard time focusing on writing my weekly newsletter and this blog.

Even though logic tells me the above excuses are legitimate the negative thoughts began creeping into my brain. You know the kind; thoughts about how you always procrastinate, you’ll never learn to be organized, you’re a failure. These are the kind of thoughts that make you feel down about yourself. Lose your confidence. Lose your enthusiasm. These are mental clutter!

I recognized these thoughts as such and worked at decluttering them from my brain. I talked about it in my weekly newsletter. (If you aren’t receiving my free newsletters then please sign up on the sidebar.)

Here are the four steps I use to clear out the mental clutter.

1. Recognize when mental clutter is starting to accumulate.
2. Acknowledge that these negative thoughts are only clutter and not the truth.
3. Visualize the thoughts as physical clutter and clear them out of your mind.
4. Repeat the process as often as necessary.

If you have other ways to clear out the mental clutter please post a comment. I know I would appreciate any tips you have and I’m sure my readers would also.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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