Both of my parents practiced Clean as You Go. This can apply to anything from making dinner, keeping your room tidy, the car clean, the house and yard in good order. Wash, dry and put away whatever you can while cooking a meal. Pick up, fold, or hang clothes you’ve tried on (including in a department store!). Pull a few weeds on the way to the mailbox.
Along the same line, both of my parents practiced Everything has a Place. If you use something, put it back where it belongs. Saves looking for it next time.
Don’t Accumulate Stuff. I learned this lesson by watching them accumulate. They built two sheds and filled both with boxes full of stuff. Things like toys and clothing my brother and I had outgrown. National Geographic Magazines. Nursing magazine. All put in chronological order and bound by the year. When they moved, they moved it all and built another shed. When my grandfather died, they added all his stuff to their stuff, thinking some of that stuff might be wanted by either my brother or me. When Dad passed away, Mom did get rid of a few things: the old trailer (went to the dump), truck and camper (sold), a fishing boat (to a high school mechanics class for a restoration project). The rest waited for me, my brother, and Rick to go through. A massive project, repeated when Rick’s Mom passed away.
My parents and Rick’s lived through the Great Depression. Waste not, want not was a necessary lifestyle then and always practical. Rick and I add another principle to that one: If you don’t use it, pass it along. Books, small appliances, clothing, tools, whatever. How many people these days are paying for storage units? If you have one, do you remember everything that’s in it?
Related to the above is Live Within Your Means. When we were young, we were foolish and ended up in debt. We borrowed from Rick’s parents and then had one bill to repay rather than half a dozen. We cut up all but two credit cards and pay those off every month. Paying a minimum payment will have you paying finance charges on a Starbucks account months after you drank it. That thought should give you heartburn! Think houses – the initial price is horrendous. Add up how much you pay if you take the entire thirty years! You’ll be appalled! Even an extra $25-$ 50 a month can help you become a homeowner in fewer years.
Plan Ahead! My dad had a heart condition that required open heart surgery to replace valves every seven years or so. Insurance paid 80%. They planned and saved the rest. No outstanding bill when Dad came home to recover. This principle applies to end-of-life details, too. Dad had been a coroner and knew the complications and devastation of families who never got around to making a Last Will and Testament. Especially young families with children who thought the need was years ahead. I didn’t want to think about losing them, let alone talk about it. But death is natural. It happens to everyone. Mom and Dad had living trusts. When Dad got cancer, he made a list of contacts, phone numbers and instructions so Mom would know exactly what to do when he graduated from this life to the next, and what to do to make things easy on me and my brother when her time came. Grief is hard enough without facing the mountain of unknowns.
This last principle should be first priority. Set a daily time with the Lord. Rick and I had a time of intense struggle in our marriage. We had three young children. He was starting and building his business, and I was struggling to balance being a mother, wife, and writer. Rick and I decided to start our day (early!) reading the Bible and devotionals to one another and praying together. It made all the difference.
When you’re still in your pjs and plant your feet on the floor, start with “This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Carving out time with Jesus can set the course for your day — and ultimately for your life.