Organising Queen

What's your favourite comfort food?

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:53:00 +0000

It's unseasonably cold and rainy in Johannesburg.

Has been like this since Tuesday.

Of course, I love this weather - love love LOVE it - so have been an Energizer Bunny, cooking, cleaning, doing Christmas cards, etc.

One thing cold weather does for me is want to eat comfort foods like pasta, soup, anything potato, etc.

Actually, my favourite comfort food is mashed potato.

I so rarely make it from scratch that I had to take pictures!

adding milk and margerine...

and salt and lots of pepper...

YUMMY!

What's your favourite comfort food?

Help me find a use for these and win a free ecourse

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:31:00 +0000

The contest is now closed. Thanks everybody for all the fabulous suggestions. I'll pick a winner in the next day or two and post the name :)

Have a lovely weekend!

This is a picture of some empty formula cans.

Somehow I can't bear to throw them away as I'm positive I can recycle them and put them to good use.

Only thing is, the babies have sapped my creativity and I'm all out of ideas.

This is where you come in - I'm looking for ways to use these cans, keeping in mind that Connor goes through one of these every 14 days. Kendra's on the tiny yellow/ orange tins in the top left of the picture so I don't mind throwing those away.

This is what I already do with some of them:

a wastepaper basket in the smallest bathroom in the world
catch water under the leaking tap

So here's how it works:

Leave a comment with your suggestions and your email address
Competition closes this Sat 12pm EST
I'll pick a winner and post the person's name.
The person chooses 1 of 3 e-courses.

Hopefully in the not-too-distant future I'll do a post showing you what I did with them.
Come on, put your thinking caps on!

How do you balance work, home and family?

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:09:00 +0000

Melanie from New Orleans wrote...

I'm personally very interested in balancing hings - work, graduate school, home, family, friends, etc, etc, etc. If you have any advice about that, I would appreciate it!

This is a great question, Melanie. It's also something I'm re looking at in my own life since my babies were born 4 months ago.

1. Realise you only have so many hours in the day

We all only have 24-hour days. Some of us think we're Superwoman and have more time than that. We don't.

2. Write down your different roles and the time commitment required from each

Don't forget to add in managing your home time and personal time!

The idea is to see if you're a time optimist or if you're being realistic with your time. Sometimes we think a certain activity only takes, let's say 2 hours a week. When you factor in travel time plus preparation time, it may increase to 4 or 5 hours. No wonder you always feel frazzled when you think about this specific activity.

3. Now ask yourself these questions:

Am I too busy?
Am I trying to do too much?
Am I being realistic about the amount of time outside commitments take?
What do I need or want to focus on at this time in my life?
What can I cut out?
What can I delegate?
Etc.

4. Prioritise

I do an exercise with my Time Management clients where they tell me all the different areas of their lives. Some people have lots and lots of balls that they're trying to juggle. That's okay-ish.... as long as your priorities are straight.

Don't neglect your home and family commitments just to look good on a committee :)

My preference is to do less and do those things well rather than to feel overwhelmed by taking on more and more.

5. Realise that when you say yes to something, you automatically say no to something else.

Some things in life are just for a season, like the newborn stage. So while reading and going to my dance classes are extremely important to me, I'm doing a lot less because I have to sleep when I can :)

If you're on my Organise It mailing list, just this weekend I sent out a survey because I need to declutter all the things I do in my business for the next year or so, in order to focus on the babies.

I realised that I can't keep saying yes to all these other business-related things and short-change my family time!

6. Keep evaluating and tweaking

Just when you think you have things figured out, suddenly something won't work anymore.

That's normal with organising ANYTHING, let alone your time.

Keep evaluating where you're at - I do this on a weekly basis * - and tweak, tweak, tweak. Just because it suited you to work really long hours a few months ago doesn't mean it still suits you to do so now.

* will write about the way I plan my life soon...

So that's how I create balance in my life. I want to emphasise that it's an area I'm always working on!

Please share how you create balance in your life. We'd love to read your suggestions.

4 ways to schedule bathroom time better

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:04:00 +0000

I'm Karen from Washington state, USA.

Do you know any tricks for those of us in older homes with only one bathroom? I have a teenage son and a disabled husband who spends 2 hrs in there each morning. I can't get up any earlier (5:30am to let the caregiver in).

The smallest bathroom in the world

Karen, here's what I'd do to organise the time better:

Allocate each person set "bathroom time" daily. The fastest person goes first so that the schedule is not thrown off if there are delays :)
Everybody doesn't have to have their main bathroom time in the mornings. Can someone not do theirs in the evenings?
To make the time more efficient, dressing must be done in the bedrooms.
Have a bathroom caddy for each person which they bring into and take out of the bathroom when it's their time. This way the bathroom doesn't have to store unnecessary things.

Do you have one or more bathrooms family members have to share? How do you get everyone in and out quickly in the mornings?

Keeping up with my most-hated chore, the laundry

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:41:00 +0000

Yes, it's true. I really hate doing the laundry. I think it's because it's never DONE! And I like things DONE and ticked off the list.

I actually have a friend who told me once that she finds doing laundry therapeutic. I can't fathom this at all but maybe you also love doing the laundry and can relate.

Before the babies arrived I did 2 - 3 loads once a week, usually on a Friday, depending on whether it was hot or cold around these parts. In winter the laundry seems to pile up quicker because we're wearing thicker clothes and layers, lots of layers :)

Of course, now that the babies are here, we have to do 3 - 4 loads of baby laundry every week, in addition to our 2 - 3 loads. They also spit on me all the time despite using burp cloths so that's increased our laundry too!

Fun times!

So here's what I now do:

Preparation

I have two big laundry baskets in my laundry, a tiny room just off my kitchen. One is for colours and one for whites. One of these baskets equals a full load in the machine so when the basket is full, I do a load, no matter what day of the week it is :)
We have a laundry basket in our bedroom which I empty every 1 - 2 days.
When I empty the bedroom laundry basket, I separate into the colours and whites piles there and then.
I keep stain remover, washing powder and fabric softener, right where I use it - next to the washing machine - so that it's not a big schlep actually doing the laundry.
Most times, I get the machine ready before the time by filling the washing powder and fabric softener drawers, and setting the dial ready to start. We also have a leaking tap and I hate wasting water so I put a bucket underneath the leak.

Actual doing

When one of those baskets is full, all I have to do is toss the laundry into the machine and turn on the tap.
If I'm feeling extra clever, I load the machine in the evenings and leave a note for Dion to turn on the machine in the mornings when he wakes.

Drying

If the weather's good, which it is 90% of the time in Johannesburg, I like to hang the laundry outside to dry because the air does the job quicker and it saves me money by not having to use the tumble dryer.
I hang shirts and tops straight onto hangers and hang the hangers on the washing line. It's quicker than using clothes pegs and easier to bring in quickly if rain threatens as it does during summer time afternoons.

Ironing

I think if there's anything worse than doing laundry in the machine, it must be the ironing. I absolutely can't stand it. I've been known to wear every single thing in my wardrobe rather than get out the iron and iron something.
We have a cleaning lady, Precious, who cleans the house and does our ironing once a week. Heaven! I would do without eating out but I will not do without Precious :)

Babies

The babies have a nanny to look after them and part of her responsibilities is to do their laundry while they nap. Aren't I clever? :)

Do you love or hate doing the laundry?

If you're one of those people who love doing the laundry, please share your tips with the rest of us :)

P.S. This is in response to Michelle from British Columbia who wanted to know how to keep the laundry monster at bay :)

Get your home organised in 12 weeks

Ask the organiser about organising garages and sheds

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:06:00 +0000

I've got two sheds that need tackling so any outhouse tips would be good :)
Carl Wokingham, Berkshire, United Kingdom

This is some of what I wrote to Carl...

Sheds is where I draw the line – I don’t even go into mine! I told my husband that dirty, outside work is for him :)

But let’s ask the readers and see what they come up with.

So readers, over to you. Today YOU are all the organisers!

Please share your best garage/ shed organising tips with Carl :)

Ask the organiser how to get motivated

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:04:00 +0000

smokers in booth at Abu Dhabi airport

Amanda wrote this: "I could use tips for motivation to get up and get things done".

When you battle to get motivated, choose Quick and Easy tasks so that you can build up some momentum and feel good when (not if!) you do finally get some things done.

So what gets you motivated?

Is it MUSIC? Then put on some 80's tunes (or whatever your favourites are) to get yourself energised.

Is it COMPETITION? Then challenge yourself and see how many of the tasks you can accomplish in an hour.

Is it being ACCOUNTABLE? Then post a comment telling me what you're going to do and come back to tell me when it's done!

Is it SOCIAL INTERACTION? Then make a coffee date with a friend, but ONLY once you've done an hour's organising.

Is it reaching a GOAL? Then reward yourself once you've done all the tasks.

Right! So now that we know what motivates you, let's get to it!

IN THE HOME

1. Declutter and sort through all the old magazines. Tear out the articles and toss the rest.
2. Organise your launch pad - that place in your home where you DUMP things when you walk in the door.
3. Collect all the clothes you need to dry-clean, declutter or get mended.
4. Clear off the front of your fridge. Toss the magnets and recipes you're never going to use.
5. Throw away any old food in your fridge and freezer, and give the surfaces a good wipe down.

And now for some...
OFFICE ORGANISING

1. Do your filing.
2. Collect all the bills and invoices from around the home and schedule the payment dates in your planner.
3. Shred any junk mail with your name on it.
4. Organise your desk.
5. Delete 100 emails from your Inbox and Sent Items.

Whatever you do manage to do, give yourself a pat on the back!

Leave a comment and let me know which of the 5 motivators work best for you.

Well, hello everybody

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:11:00 +0000

Thanks to all of you for coming out of lurkdom by commenting and sending me emails :)

I am energised and ready to blog again!

I'll be tackling all the questions I've got so far but don't stop, please continue to ask away.

Talk to you tomorrow :)

You ask, I'll answer

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:41:00 +0000

Hello...

Is anyone still reading?

I feel like I'm talking to myself....

Right, so if you're still reading, leave a comment and tell me who you are and where you live (Susan from Sydney, or Jane from Durban, etc.).

I'd also love it if you'll ask me anything - about organising, my life, etc. as I'm fresh out of ideas for blog posts.

P.S. The babies are 16 weeks old today!

Thin jeans - how long have you had them?

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:46:00 +0000

These are 3 pairs of jeans I decluttered recently.

I decided to be brave and dedicate 20 minutes to fit on all 8 pairs of jeans that I owned.

I quickly separated them into three piles:

jeans that fit and looked okay (I still have to lose 1,5 kg of my pregnancy weight)
jeans that would fit once I lose that 1.5 kg (with a small frame, every kg is huge!)
"thin" jeans I had no hope of ever looking good in again

This is pile 3, the pile of "thin" jeans :)

I made a note of the date I tried them on and if, in three months' time, pile 2 still doesn't fit, out they go.

How long do you give yourself to get back into your "thin" jeans?

The most important organising step EVER

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:47:00 +0000

I've been posting some tiny little organising projects that I've done in my home over the last couple of weeks.

I had a few (very polite :)) comments and emails about how people couldn't see much difference in the two pictures, which actually warmed my heart.

Because it means my house IS still running like a well-oiled machine, despite the madness that is the twins!

So I thought I'd write about the most important organising step ever - maintenance.

This is how you know if you have a problem with maintenance:

you can get a place looking nice and orderly but within days (or weeks) it's a big mess again
your space is organised but you can't remember what's actually in there so your stuff starts piling up in other areas
you're too scared to use the organised space in case it gets messy again
etc
etc

Coming back to the posts, actual organising of a space should really only happen once, maybe twice a year, or if circumstances change. Like when we had to convert our guest bedroom to the twins' bedroom. (Now I actually think they need their own bedrooms but that's another story altogether!)

But maintenance of a space happens all the time.

And it should happen more often the more people use the space.

Something like my bookshelf is only used by me so really shouldn't get that disorganised if I'm disciplined enough to keep putting books back where they belong.

And therefore only 5 books were decluttered :)

But a space like my Tupperware cupboard gets small tweaks of about 10 - 20 seconds a time a couple of times a week because 5 people use that space regularly.

Do you see the difference?

I said all that to say this: your system hasn't failed if you have to constantly make small tweaks to your organising.

This week's organising challenge

Choose one or two already organised areas in your home (a drawer, surface space, shelf, etc.) and go maintain.
It shouldn't take you more than 10 minutes each.

Which areas are you going to work on?

P.S. Remember I was looking for someone to do a button for me? Check out my gorgeous new Organise your Home button here.

Decluttering and organising bookshelves

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:27:00 +0000

Do you remember my three desks?

I decided to get rid of the white metal one to make more space in the guest bedroom/ study.

Which meant I had to declutter some of my books yet again.

Before

getting messy - see how I just jammed some books any which way?

After
front

and side views

this bag with 5 books is all that was actually decluttered - the rest is pure organising which goes to show

you don't have to be scared that you have to get rid of your stuff if you want to
organise your home

I'm looking for a graphic designer to make me some buttons

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:44:00 +0000

Is this you?

I'm looking for a graphic designer to make about 8 buttons for my products.

I want all my products to look consistent hence the request for an overhaul by one person and one design style.

This is the style I love... - clean, bold, unfussy :)

(the lady who made that button is not taking orders at present and I can't wait - am very impatient...)

I am in a hurry for one of the buttons but the rest can be done whenever you have the time.

Only thing is I don't want to pay in money as my twins are bleeding the bank account dry! Am happy to exchange for any of the aforementioned products or some coaching/ organising.

So is this you? Could be a beautiful win-win situation!

Either leave a comment (it comes through to my email) or email me on marcia AT takechargesolutions.org.

Thank you!

Are you sentimental? Re-use those containers

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:53:00 +0000

Laura posted about re-using containers some time back so I decided to show you how I've re-used some in my home.

We received matching souvenir mugs like these from San Antonio, Texas. They're a bit too big to actually use for tea or coffee so I keep my sweetener, different tea bags and coffees, and a chocolate spoon for hot chocolate in here.

When the babies were born, we got tons of flowers. Once I threw out the flowers, I washed out the containers (not all of them, but the nice-looking ones) and re-used.

This one holds bum creme, etc. at the babies' changing table.

and this one is in the bathroom with baby bath toiletries

Not only are these containers now functional, but every time I use them I think of the people who gave them to us.

Are you hanging onto something sentimental? Think about some ways you can re-use it so that it's not just clutter.

This week's organising challenge - declutter your bathroom toiletries

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:54:00 +0000

I thought it would be fun to issue a challenge this week on something relatively easy to do - declutter your bathroom toiletries.

You all know that I have the smallest bathroom in the world so I don't have enough storage space in there.

I use a drawer inside our bedroom to store excess bathroom toiletries.

This is my decluttered drawer....

and this is what I managed to declutter from the drawer and from the bathroom itself. 11 items

Right, over to you.

Are you up for the challenge? Let me know how many items you manage to declutter.

5-minute organising project - laundry cupboards

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:24:00 +0000

Organising doesn't have to take a whole lot of time. In fact, we should all look out for little pockets of time throughout the day just to make your space function more effectively.

Usually I find that if many people use a space, it will need tweaking/ organising more often. There are four of us in here on an almost daily basis - the nanny, cleaning lady, D & me - it was getting on my nerves....

so this literally took me 5 minutes to organise - and that includes taking the pictures.

top shelf of laundry cupboard - before

top shelf of laundry cupboard - after

bottom section - before

bottom section - after

Lovely - order restored!

Don't sign up with Preggi Bellies

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:13:00 +0000

at least, not unless you have the money to throw away or you're 100% sure you can finish your course of classes.

You know I normally don't write posts like this but this but I've been back and forth countless times with this company and I just feel like I need to let you know what you may be in for.

It took a loooong time for me to fall pregnant so my doctor told me no exercise in case we jeopardise this pregnancy unless you want to join Preggi Bellies.

I'd always been reasonably active, wanted to stay fit throughout my pregnancy so I joined up.

You have to pay upfront for your entire course of classes - either 25, 30 or 35. I'm not a fan of the paying in advance thing since you never know what might happen so I took the least amount of classes (25) and paid my R2500.

Long story short... I have a busy life, went to Ireland, and had two preggy "incidents" so I only used 8 of those 25 lessons.

After the two "incidents" the doc told me to stop exercising as we didn't want any more drama!

So I contacted them to request a refund. And there the trouble began.

They avoided my emails and phone calls for over a month. I started getting a bad feeling...
Then after the babies were born (8 weeks early as it happens), I started chasing up again.
Finally got an email telling me they don't do refunds but I'm welcome to use up my remaining 17 lessons. First of all, I have twins. Who has the time to go back to classes (9 weeks of them as I'd think 2 maximum per week) with twins??? I barely have time to brush my teeth!
After lots of back and forth, they eventually offered me R660. Work that out - I'll wait... R2500 for 25 classes = R100 a class. 8 classes taken means I should be expecting R1700.
Apparently there's a 15% admin fee. Okay..... even so, HUGE jump from the R660 you're offering me to the R1700 I'm expecting.
How can you take off a 15% admin fee PLUS only give me half of what's left? Daylight robbery!
I tried to reason with them... "I didn't not use up the classes because of laziness; medical reasons prevented me from continuing" and "this will result in reputational risk for you as I write a very popular blog..." but they were not having any of it.
So eventually I stated my case one last time (I do like to get my opinion out there!) and decided to conserve my energy, take the R660 and let it go.
I was also going through bouts of crying every day and this wasn't making me feel any better.

Hence this post!

So a warning to any other pregnant ladies out there. Please please please learn from my mistakes and don't sign up with Preggi Bellies unless you have the money to throw away if something goes wrong with your pregnancy.

Of course the irony of it all is that once this happened, many of my friends said that having to pay upfront was what held them back from joining up. AAAARGHHHHH!

An Outlook tip that will save you LOTS of time

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:09:00 +0000

I'm a big lover of "drag and drop". I drag and drop almost anything and everything within Microsoft Outlook.

Here are 3 of my favourite ways to save you time:

1. saving user names and passwords

When you sign up for a new website and they send you that confirmation email with your user name and password, drag and drop the email into either Contacts (my preferred location - no particular reason) or Notes.

It's very easy to use the search function to find what you're looking for and also to email the correct people if you need support. Maybe that's why I like Contacts better - you can send an email from there easier than with a Note.

2. saving email addresses

Drag and drop the entire email onto your Contacts. I like to do this the first time someone emails me (if there's a need to keep the email, like with a new client) so I have all the background and not only the person's email address.

It's also easier (and faster!) for me than opening the email, right clicking the person's name and then selecting "Add to Contacts".

3. diarising or scheduling events

Sometimes my friends and I will have an email discussion about getting together for breakfast, etc.

Once we decide on a date and time, I drag and drop the email onto my Calendar, change/ add what I need and then send it out as a meeting request. Saves me lots of time that I would have had to retype information.

What's your favourite "drag and drop" tip?

12 days

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:49:00 +0000

Hi all

I don't think I've ever been away from the blog as long as this before but I have two very good reasons:

these two babies

Motherhood is the most rewarding, challenging, frustrating, crazy thing I've ever done and the twins thing? It's seriously kicking my butt! But I'm getting there and finally seeing some light. They'll be 10 weeks old tomorrow but as their paediatrician says, they're only actually two weeks old because they were 8 weeks prem!

We are settling into a bit of a routine. I almost hesitate to type that because it's a bit of a "two steps forward, one step back" business around here. Do you know what I mean?

I'm not sure what happened to the guest blogger I was meant to have for 6 weeks but now that I'm a mother, I understand that life just happens a lot of the time and sometimes survival is all you can hope for. Jenny, I hope you're okay.

However, I had a session with my accountability partner and friend, Beth Dargis, on Friday and I'm putting blogging back onto my to-do list :)

So check back later this week for some more posts.

How have you all been doing?
What have you been up to?
And if you care to, please share your best advice for getting through the first 6 weeks!

A quick way to tidy your kitchen counters

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:16:00 +0000

I was getting annoyed with all this baby bottle sterilising paraphenalia on my counters - it just looked messy.

I do need to have it out since I'm using it a gazillion times every day with the twins.

So I put it all on a tray and instantly, the kitchen counter looks much neater.

I did the same thing with the nappies (diapers), bum cream and baby wipes. Doesn't it look nice and neat now?

Where can you use some containerising to make your home look neater?

basket in your entrance hall to keep keys

box to keep all the papers that need to be filed

basket/ bowl on your bedside table for your hand lotion, pens, etc.

Your turn!

It's about time I sorted the maternity clothes

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:50:00 +0000

seeing as the babies are 7 weeks old today :)

This is my shelf with all the clothes that could fit me while I was pregnant - I actually only bought the following maternity clothes - 1 pair of jeans, 2 pairs casual pants, 2 pairs work pants. That's it!

this is the whole cupboard...before

returned one pair of pants never worn, washed and put away borrowed clothes and reorganised since it's nearly spring here

that shelf now has short-sleeved t-shirts on the left and jeans & pants on the right

here is the full cupboard view - after

Makes me feel much better knowing everything is in order once again!

When was the last time you reorganised your clothes?

Share your favourite tip for organising the fridge

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:55:00 +0000

A reader, Vickie, sent me her favourite tip and I thought it would be fun if we all shared ours.

Are you game?

Of course, my favourite tip is to label the shelves in my fridge as in the picture above.

Here's Vickie's tip...

I thought that I would tell you one of my favorite organizing tricks:

I use a clear shoebox in the refrigerator for making quick lunches. My family loves it because you can take the whole box out and make a sandwich. We put the cheese, lunchmeat, tomato, onion, lettuce in the box. All we look for is the salad dressing. It saves time.

Thought you would enjoy this.

Yes, I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing, Vickie.

Now let's hear from the rest of you.

What's your favourite fridge organising tip?

I declutter because I'm cheap

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:20:00 +0000

When we first moved into this house nearly 4 years ago, I didn't realise how little storage space I had.

It seems the previous house had oodles and oodles of nooks and crannies that I just didn't appreciate until I moved here.

I had such a lot of stuff and I really thought I needed some additional built-in kitchen cabinets until I got some quotes.

And just couldn't justify spending thousands of rands to store STUFF.

So I decluttered all my kitchen stuff until I made it fit.

(that may have been the start of my decluttering frenzy)

And we've been happily living in that kitchen ever since.

Cut to a few months ago.

I realised that babies come with kitchen stuff too. A pregnant friend told me that she was having additional kitchen cabinets built and I swear those old tendencies came to the fore and I seriously considered getting some built for us too.

It's easy to justify until you think about all the other stuff you still need to get for the babies.

And so I thought - I've done it once; I can do it again.

So I did.

I decluttered half a shelf so that the baby bottles, etc. can fit in between all our lunch stuff.

I'll have to do a bit more decluttering soon because those bottles have multiplied.

Why do you declutter? What have you done differently because of being "frugal"?

Save money - don't assume bigger is necessarily cheaper

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:03:00 +0000

I was at a store the other day buying formula for the babies when I saw this:

The small tin (400g) costs R46 and the big tin (900g) costs R152,90. I couldn't believe it!

The big tin should cost in the region of R103,50 or even less. A lot of people would assume that the bigger one is cheaper (I threw big tins into my trolley before I started thinking) but first do your sums and make sure you're getting a good deal!

There you go - trying to save you money :)

Holding you accountable - what did you tackle this week?

coach@takechargesolutions.org (Marcia Francois) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:14:00 +0000

Leave a comment and let me know how you did this week.

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

The Organise your Home ecourse is a step-by-step system delivered in bite-sized pieces so you will NEVER feel overwhelmed. You even get an audio of me teaching you how to organise your space.

Tons of people have been through this system; are you next?