Food for thought

Here is Morgan's comment, which has provoked a great deal of thought in me.

'Read my post today for some ideas that might suit you for record keeping - or at least give you food for thought whilst you sort out your own methods. This whole keeping track thing is vitally important - even if you blow the budget, you need to know by how much it is blown!!'

I am starting to treat my housewifery as a job (currently on sick leave) with targets, timetables, job plans, etc.  I remember writing up job descriptions in old jobs, and I am using a lot of the old terminology.  'Timely manner' is creeping in a lot.   I never really managed a budget, but I was around enough people who did to get the idea.  I also loved doing the book work, despite hating sums.  I loved getting the sense of order. 

For the housewifery I have sat down with Google calendar and just put down jobs that I think need to be doing, some every four weeks, some every week, some every quarter, and using the calendar overview to make sure I spread the load.  I have written down morning and evening routines (thank you, flylady) in a 'job description style' and set some objectives.  As soon as I have done that, of course, everything has gone wrong.  This is normal. 

But I can keep coming back to it, chipping away at it, and things are getting better.  For example - meal planning.  Every time I have tried meal planning, life has happened instead.  There have been illnesses, interruptions, panics, complications and just lack of will.  However over the last few months I have been a lot more aware of approaching meals.  I have been sort of juggling things in my mind's eye.  I have also been looking at the calendar where everything is on.  So I know on Tuesdays I will be better off with a casserole as little bear has martial arts and I am usually too busy negotiating piano practice to spend long on a meal.  We always get a Kentucky on Wednesdays as I will have dragged little bear to piano practice, then to Morrisons, then around Morrisons, and I will be at that point completely on my knees!  The Kentucky is the sweetener for little bear and OH for the supermarket trip and I am aiming for it to be the only takeaway in a week.  Eventually I hope for the Kentucky to be much more occasional, casserole Wednesdays and something quick on Tuesdays.  On the 18th October we are having casserole because that is little bear's parent's evening and the timing means that we shall be eating at different times.  Normally, Thursdays mean fish as we will have bought fresh fish from the Morrisons Fish Counter the day before.

Of course, as soon as I sort of got a rhythm going the freezer door with most of the protein component jammed and I need to use up as much as I can of the absolutely stuffed freezer before defrosting the dratted thing and trying to get it all to work.  But I am aware of that rhythm, I am aware of the shape of the days coming up, and I have ghosts of awareness of what is in stock.  That is the next step - the stock take - when I am feeling better. 

The housewifery and meal planning have failed badly in the past.  They are not perfect now, not by any means.  But they are getting closer.  So perhaps it is time to look at Budgeting again. My fridge, freezer and washer are all looking iffy.  Food is going up, fuel is going up, little bear has a lot coming up - I need to work out how to best use our resources.  It is looking less and less likely that I will be getting work outside the home any time soon. 

Thank you, Morgan.  I think that your comment is perfect timing.