6 STEPS TO BREEZE THROUGH YOUR LAUNDRY DAY AND NOT DREAD IT

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - I really do not like doing laundry.  I even dread the thought of dedicating a huge chunk of my day (usually Sundays for me) to washing, drying, folding and putting away clothes. It is one of those tedious tasks that need to get done but are not very fun. Over the years I have found a few methods that make this daunting task a little bit easier to bear.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the outcome of doing laundry. The smell of freshly washed and dried clothes is like heaven and seeing my clothes neatly put away in drawers and hung makes me smile but it’s the process that I dread. So, here are the 10 things that make this task bearable:

1 – sort your clothes

Before I bring any laundry into the laundry room I take about 10 minutes to sort through all of my clothes by placing them in 1 of 5 piles:

  • Underwear, pajamas and towels

  • Delicates

  • Dark colors (black, dark blue, dark grey)

  • Whites

  • Denim

2 –  wash your clothes

I then wash each pile of clothes one at a time as I do laundry at home I only have access to one washer -which is why it takes up half of not most of my day to do laundry. But if you go to a laundry mat you may be able to snatch a few washers at time and get a few loads running at the same time.

The way I wash my clothes has definitely been a learning process. But in order for you to understand why let’s go back to the beginning. See, my parents never really put much thought into how clothes are washed; they grab a pile through it in the wash and press start - other than sorting out the whites I was never exposed to sorting out laundry as a child.

Fast forward to my first job out of college (which was an office job) and the first time I began purchasing a little bit of higher quality clothes. You would think that I would read the labels before I washed – but no, I didn’t. I followed in my parents footsteps and simply threw random piles of clothes into the wash. This resulted in a lot of ruined items and hundreds of dollars down the drain. We live and we learn, right?

Now back to washing your clothes. I also use different detergents depending on what type of clothing I am washing:

3 – dry the clothes

The next step in my process is drying and this has also been a trial and error for me! I use different heat levels depending on which pile I am drying, for example:

  • The underwear, pajamas and towels and the denim piles are set on medium/high heat

  • The delicates pile is ALWAYS set on low heat

  • The whites and dark piles are set on medium heat

4 – fold the clothes

I can bear this part because I usually use this time to catch up on podcasts, some YouTube channels I am subscribed to and TV shows (on a side note I am currently binging on Nashville). During this step I also sort the clothes depending on where they are going to be ultimately placed. So for example, in my dresser I have designated drawers where I place the following groupings:

  • Drawer one: socks, underwear and bra’s

  • Drawer two: my casual t-shirts, long sleeves and tank tops

  • Drawer three: another pile of t-shirts that I only wear at home lol (yes, they are that old and that comfy that I refuse to get rid of them just yet!), pajamas and stockings/tights

Then in my closet I have special groupings for clothing:

  • Work pants

  • Jeans

  • Yoga/workout pants

  • Shorts and skirts

  • Work dresses

  • Casual dresses

  • Short sleeve tops (from sleeveless to short sleeve)

  • Long sleeve tops

  • Blazers and cardigans

So as I am pulling clothes out of the dryer I fold the items and place them in one of each of the piles listed above. I know it may seem like a lot at first but over time you won’t even have to think about it, you will know the groupings by heart.

5 – put the clothes away

So after a few hours of sorting, washing, drying and folding I have to put the clothes away. This should be the easiest part especially since I already sorted the clothes in order of which they will be placed. But no, no, no – the freshly washed and folded clothes can sit in my hamper for hours sometimes days before I actually get around to put them away. I know, horrible habit that I am working on!

6 – celebrate!

Once you finish this daunting task that is on a perpetual loop you can celebrate your accomplishment and know you won’t have to deal with it for a whole other week! 

Now your turn, do you love have a love/hate relationship with laundry days like I do? Have you come up with a system that works for you? Share any tips and tricks below! 

SMALL MONEY CHANGES THAT HAVE MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE ON MY LIFE

For a long time I felt that you needed to land a job with a big fat salary in order to be successful. It took me several years to come to this realization, but the truth is, you do not need a big fat salary. Although having one will really help! The main ingredient we all need in order to reach our financial goals is good old planning mixed it with patience and determination.  In this post here, I discussed 4 things I learned as a young adult with a degree (a.k.a student loan debt) under her belt. One of the things I discussed is saving money. I cannot stress that enough – saving your money is the best way to achieve your goals.

One of my short term goals is to buy a home, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I moved back in with my parents after graduating college. I have an amazing relationship with my parents and it was also a very strategic decision, in the sense that rents in the Boston area are ridiculously high and unless you give in to the idea of having a roommate (or two) it can quickly become unaffordable. I had also lived on/off campus during my college years so it did not feel like I was missing out on the whole living on your own deal. But I digress. My point is that moving back in with my parents allowed me to put extra money towards my loan payments (money that would have otherwise gone to rent payments).

While I realize that moving back in with your parents may not always be option, however, if it is an option I would advise you to do it, even if it’s just for a year or two.  That will give you a huge head start in your personal finance department. There are other things I have done to save money in ways that have been pretty seamless to me:

Automated my savings

I began automating savings a few years back. I did this by opening up a savings account with a completely separate bank than where I had my day to day checking account. Then I set up bi-weekly withdrawals (which lined up with my paycheck deposits) – I started putting away 20% of each paycheck into a savings account and watched that number grow month after month.

Consolidated and refinanced my student loans

I did my undergrad from 2006-2010, this was at the peak time when interest rates were at an all-time high for borrowers. Lucky me! After graduation I was hit with bills from every direction with loan repayment plans that read interest rates that varied from 10-12%. I stuck with those terms for a couple of years until finally a light bulb went off in my head and I decided to re-finance my student loans. I refinanced them once and got it down to about 7.5% and about a year later I refinanced them again and got the interest rate down to about 5.3%. However, this part would not have been possible without the next tip.

Increased my credit score

Be very mindful of your due dates. I use an old fashioned (but very pretty) planner where I sit down and write down my due dates once a month. I have done this without fail every single month for the past 6 years. Making all of your payments on time will drastically help improve your credit score. A very good credit score will help save you money (i.e. student loan refinancing).  And also when it is time to buy your home, a good to excellent credit score will be instrumental in securing a loan with the best interest rate you can get.

Payed off my car

Earlier this year I decided to pay off my car. I know that cars are depreciating assets and are never a good investment but I need my car to get to and from work and around town to run errands. While I live in the City of Boston I don’t live in the heart of the city where almost everything is within walkable distance. Paying off my car gave me extra cash to work with in my budget that I re-allocated to my student loan payments. So while this approach did not technically save me money it is allowing me to pay down my student loan debt at a faster rate (which will save me thousands when it is a ll said and done).

The changes I have made regarding my money and my money habits have come from hours and hours I’ve spent reading books, articles and listening to podcasts on personal finance. The two that I have become very fond of are Farnoosh Torabi and Dave Ramsey, I think that they have given pretty solid advice that has worked well for my these last couple of years. 

Are you on a journey to saving money and reach your financial goals? If so, share what has worked for you and what has not below!

3 EASY WAYS TO WIND DOWN AND DE-STRESS AFTER A HECTIC WEEK

I think it is safe to say that we all have very busy lives with never ending to-do lists but some weeks feel much busier and hectic than others. I have had that feeling more often lately than usual and I have gravitated to the following ways to wind down, de-stress and clear my head. Doing these types of activities is great to do at least once a day (even if it’s only for 10 minutes) but I know that it is not always possible. Whenever that is the case then I highly recommend you do something to de-stress at the end of your workweek.

Now, I’ll go into a little tangent here on alcoholic beverages. I have family and friends whose idea of de-stressing is having a glass of wine or a stronger drink and that’s it. Now, I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, BUT, that should not be the only way you allow your mind and body wind down and de-stress. We need to allow ourselves to wind down in a peaceful and regenerating. Now onto the 5 easy ways:

Go on a walk

Take a stroll around your neighborhood; go to a park or along the beach (if you live near one, lucky, lucky you!) Also, I know it is hard to let go of our phones but try to leave your phone behind from time to time and just enjoy your walk and be present.  I know I probably do not have to go into to a many reasons walking is good for you but as a quick refresher walking is great to help you lose weight, good your heart, is a good way to boost your vitamin D intake and last but not least it is a great mood booster.

Bring out your inner child

Grab yourself an adult coloring book and color your heart out. There is something to simple yet magical about zoning out and coloring. Another hidden benefit of this activity is that it will help you increase your levels of concentration and we know we can all use some of that! I have had my coloring book for about 6 months and have pulled it out about a dozen times and when I do I cannot stop – I literally have to be pulled away from it.

Pull out a good book

This is an oldie but a goodie – reading is good for the soul at any time. You can read a book, a magazine, a newspaper. The only caveat here is for it not read from a screen  (unless you are using a kindle or e-reader) – reason for this is since the majority of us are in front of screens for work almost every day we really should give our eye a break and do some old fashioned reading I’ve mentioned before that I try to read every night before bed, sometimes I get into a good kick and stay with it for a few weeks at a time and other times I get sucked into the YouTube rabbit hole! But I will say that I read a lot more nowadays than I did a few years ago and I have also learned so much from the books I have read.

How do you allow yourself to unwind and de-stress after a busy week? Do share below!

MEDITATION MADE SIMPLE: 7 STEPS TO BEGIN MASTERING YOUR MEDITATION PRACTICE

My first memories of meditation are of my sister and I sitting next to our dad and pretending we were meditating while making fun of his strange Om chants. We were only toddlers at the time and I give props to my dad for keeping with his meditation while we wreaked havoc all around him! Little did I know that he has had the right idea the whole time, as an adult I am now aware of all of the benefits that come with a regular meditation practice.

Before we get into the 8 steps to start a meditation practice I first want to explain what I understand meditation to mean. Meditation is a practice that is used to reduce stress through the development of awareness, concentration, emotional balance and clarity. It is a way we can, overtime, attain inner peace, especially in the chaotic and demanding world we live in today.

Over the past few years I have meditated more often than ever before. But I have still struggled with sticking with meditation once and for all. One of the reasons I had not stuck to a regular meditation schedule is because I was under the belief that it required a lot more time than it actually does. While I was under the impression that I needed to meditate for an hour each time I recently learned that this is not the case. While meditating for an hour can also be a great goal to achieve, all you really need is 10 minutes of your day. And, if you can do 10 minutes twice a day (once in the morning and once at night) that’s even better! But remember, the key to see results with meditation practice is to be consistent. Studies have also shown that meditating every day for 10 minutes a day (that can be once a day for ten minutes or two times a day for 5 minutes) will enhance a person’s level of focus and attention. While this may not sound like a ton of change but these are fundamental elements of our lives that can make many positive changes in other areas of our lives.

Starting a meditation practice is actually harder than it seems. It sounds easy to sit still for ten minutes right? WRONG! At the beginning I would get anxious – thoughts like “what time is it?”, “is someone calling me?”, “I need to reply to that email” and so on. Your mind will wander and the trick is to bring it back to center, but that’s the hard part.

1 – set your timer

Decide how long you want to meditate for and set a timer on your phone.

2 – sit in a comfortable position

The best way to meditate is to sit on the floor with your legs crossed (think Buddha). Most of the time I sit in that cross legged position right on my bed (since meditate either when I wake up or before I fall asleep).

3 – elongate your back

While you are sitting in your cross legged position pretend that there is a magnetic pull that is pulling your head towards the ceiling. Keep that posture the entire time.

4 –relax your body

Allow every part of your body to sink into its self. Let go of any tension you may feel, pretend you are floating.

5 – take deep and steady breaths

Now that you have found your comfortable sitting position, you sitting up straight and your body is relaxed you can begin to focus on your breathing. Take deep and controlled breaths and feel the air move inside your nose and chest.

6 – begin your mantra

Mantras help you stay focused during your meditation so that your mind does not start racing at a thousand miles an hour thinking about all of the things you could be doing in that very moment.

7 – smile

Once you have completed your meditation you are going to feel a sense of peace, embrace it and look forward to the next time.

Do you meditate? How did you begin your meditation practice and how long did it take you to get the hang of it? Do share below!