Clearing Out The Clutter

Recently I have realized I am way too stressed out. Instead of worrying about it all night (which I do on a regular basis hence the name of my blog) or trying to forget about it by doing something else (going out, watching tv, reading, shopping) I am going to . . . . . F-A-C-E   I-T!!!!!  Scary I know. The list of things that stresses me out goes on and on but here's a few

1. finances
2. finishing my other degree
3. being part of a huge lay off in Jan and still not find a job equivalent to what I was doing
4. not finding THE ONE yet.. or better yet letting him them get way
5. Finally going through all my stuff from college/childhood 
6. never finishing everything on my To-Do list 

Then there is your everyday small town drama but that's a whole other blog of it's own. 

I have been taking small steps to de-stress... my doctor told me that everyday that it is sunny to go outside and enjoy it! Sit outside and read a book! Tough job right? 

I've also cleared out my e-mail. Every since I got an iPhone (best investment ever by the way) my e-mail has clogged up because I open all the e-mails and never delete them. So I went through all 100 and some odd pages and started deleting, sorting into folders, and unsubscribing from unnecessary e-mails. 

I went through all my childhood/high school/college accumulated belongings/junk and finally purged. This included over 4 boxes of clothes, a box of shoes, a box of purses and totes, 20 belts, and numerous other items. You can find a link to some of my items here if interested (I am still adding items daily). I have tons of name brand clothes growing up and I hardly ever wore any and some still have tags on them. Thursday I am headed to try my luck at Plato's Closet and then the Flea Market on Saturday and hopefully some miracle will happen and it will all be sold! 

I finally started using my Learnvest account. I had signed up a while back but never fully utilized it forgot about it. Now I am. It is very very useful. If you are wanting to organize your expenses or start budgeting or see where your money is going then this is the way to go. It is free or you can upgrade to a plan. The free version has more than plenty to offer. If you do not have  a Roth IRA I strongly urge you to open one this year. You can put 5,000 a year into it tax free. It's a retirement fund that you can withdrawal from without penalty if you need too. It is a great option especially to start in your 20s. Or as soon as you are able. You do not have to put in the full amount either. Just not over that amount. At least read about it. 

The App on my iPhone that I live by is Evernote. You can add notes, websites, voice notes, etc and categorize them by notebook. It automatically syncs with your Mac, iPad and iPhone. I seriously use this for absolutely everything. I make lists of the books I own so I can complete my collection, books I want to look for. Website I want to remember but not bookmark. I have a notebook for recipes.  I also downloaded the Errands app on the iPhone. Just started using it but I like that you can categorize your to-do list and pick what day you need to do it by. I have lots of things to do today, tomorrow, this week, this year. And I like to separate them so I do not feel overwhelmed. I <3 To-Do Lists 

As part of my saving money aka making myself not shop as much since that is where all my money seems to go, I have looked to other sources of income. I was part of this online survey company called U Talk Back but they sold out to E-Rewards. Luckily they ever so nicely rolled all my points over to E-Rewards, sent me a link to sign up and I am already receiving surveys for E-rewards. At the moment I am just $2 short of receiving not one but two $25 gift cards to American Eagle, iTunes, or Starbucks.  Cool huh? There are many other options but those are my three favorites. I strong recommend them. I also researched MySurvery.com & Pineconeresearch.com

From what I have read they have good feedback. You can't expect quick results but a couple minutes a day won't hurt. There was a waitlist when I signed up which is also a good sign when they don't have open-ended enrollment. 

Last but not least I joined Crowdtap. I absolutely love this so far. The points rack up quickly. There are quick mini polls that are relevant to your every day life and shopping habits. They don't ask too personal of questions. Once you get to a certain point you can participate in a Sampling where a company sends you products to try out. Right now I am waiting to hear back from Old Navy. If selected they will send me and X amount of my friends a free pair of shorts to try out and give them our feedback on. Pretty cool huh? 

Are you excited to start shopping for summer? Do you love staying “cool” in shorts? Then join the fashion forward Old Navy Style Council and you could have the chance to score some of Old Navy’s hottest shorts for you and a lucky friend by applying to this action!

Want to get some short of your own to try go here

If you join through the my "Crowdtap" link first mentioned I get 1000 points. Which helps a lot. And you can still sign up through this one for Old Navy