Goal of The Week — Guest Cottage Books

by Katy on July 16, 2013 · 25 comments

It’s Monday Tuesday, which means it’s time for Goal of The Week! A new weekly segment where Non-Consumer Advocate readers set and then reach small attainable goals.

“Not a soccer goal, but a personal goal. A single do-able, not overwhelming goal. A concrete goal. A reachable goal. A realistic goal.”

So no huge vague goals like “organize the house” or “lose weight.” A single attainable goal.

Last week’s goal was to repaint and install a new curbside find porch light.

Remember this dirty specimen?

Porch Light - before

I went ahead and refurbished the light fixture, which was simply to remove and wash the glass panels, and then paint the metal components with spray primer and oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

I did have to buy two small screws at the hardware store to attach the top and bottom pieces, which set me back 66¢, as well as a can of $3.99 spray paint. (Although I still have at least half the can of spray paint leftover!)

Check out how fantastic the fixture now looks:

Porch light after

I really like how the seeded glass looks after her spit shine. Not bad for $4.65, huh?

This week’s Goal of The Week is to finish up the guest cottage instruction notebooks that were supposed to be my mother’s 2011 Christmas present. (Yes, 2011. That is not a typo!) These notebooks will include all the information her tenants need for their short stays in her delightful guest cottages. Hopefully, this will cut down on all the misunderstandings about when garbage day is, how to figure out the shower, how to work the cable TV, etc., etc.

The books are actually mostly finished, but for some reason they got put aside and entered the dreaded category of “things I feel crappy about and therefor must ignore.” But no more, as I have given myself until next Monday to get them completed and into their respective cottages.

Guest cottage books

Are you participating in The Non-Consumer Advocate’s Goal of The Week project? Please share your goals in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }

Jane in Seattle July 16, 2013 at 10:27 am

my goal was to pin down a grocery store sale schedule , to see how often certain staples go on sale. , best laid plans , my new goal was to get the Internet up and running, on my terms, with my designated home page! A lot of Tb time on the computer, mission accomplished!

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Heidi S July 16, 2013 at 1:43 pm

Hi Jane! It sounds like you found what you were looking for (Good job!), but I just wanted to share this link that I love and come back to you often throughout the year: http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2010/08/17/sale-cycles-how-to-be-a-coupon-psychic/

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Cheapchick July 16, 2013 at 10:59 am

The light looks brand new – well done! My goal of the week is to submit an expense claim to our roadside assistance policy – something I have been putting off!

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Penelope July 16, 2013 at 11:20 am

My goal is to clean off my dining room table, not-so-affectionately-known as my “office”. This was my goal last week, and I made a serious dent in the stacks of stuff (too important to throw away, but important enough to have a permanent spot). Unfortunately, more stuff mysteriously appeared on my table over the weekend. I just keep telling myself…baby steps, baby steps, baby steps :/

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Maureen July 16, 2013 at 11:23 am

I have so much to do on my list this week. But if I had to put 1 thing on the top of the list would be to clean and scrub my 1 bathroom. My husband usually does it, but he hasn’t been able to do it lately. And he does a surface clean. He claims it’s clean, but he only steam mops the floor and the nooks and cranies don’t get done. You have to get on the floor and do it by hand and he won’t go that far. So that is my goal this week.

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Reese July 16, 2013 at 11:28 am

I totalllllllly did that on Sunday. My husband “cleaned” the bathroom last week. Was a vast improvement. But he neglected to get on his hands and knees and really get in there.

I also cleaned the medicine cabinet and linen closet. EONS better!

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Marcy July 16, 2013 at 6:35 pm

This makes me laugh. A former room-mate of mine (a 36 year old male who should know better) had to be taught how to *actually* clean a bathroom.

Seriously, he asked me how I got the tiles clean and I actually had to explain to him “Well, I got a scrubbing brush and scrubbed very hard. ” Yes, that’s the secret – actually working hard. 🙂

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Elaine in Ark July 17, 2013 at 7:13 am

Sometimes it’s easy for us to forget that someone *taught* us how to do these household tasks. Not everyone’s mother did, especially with the guys. My brothers were taught how to shovel snow, mow the yard, put up storm windows in the winter and screens in the summer, carpentry and basic electricity, how to fix the car, and the furnace, and other things that break; and my sisters & I were taught how to shop for grocercies, cook, clean the house, do the laundry, and take care of children. There are a lot of people who muddle through to middle age without ever learning all those “other things”.

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Lisa July 16, 2013 at 12:55 pm

“things I feel crappy about and therefor must ignore.”….that describes it to a T!!! My goal for the week is to use the fresh veggies that we bought through our food co-op and to not let any go to waste! It’s my week for cooking dinner and my mini-goal associated with this is to cook every dinner at home, no going out!
BTW, I love your FB/Blog Katy! You say things the way that I think them, but with such a better vocabulary.

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Katy July 16, 2013 at 1:16 pm

Thank you, I do my bestest. 😉

Katy

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Heidi S July 16, 2013 at 1:50 pm

Katy, I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one that has Christmas gift ideas going back to 2011. 🙂

I’m working on simplifying my life and paying off debt, so this week, I will list at least 4 things to sell online.

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Jenn July 16, 2013 at 2:15 pm

Finished up all my banking last week. Hooray for me.

This week’s goal is to sort/organize the homeschool curriculum.

The light looks great!

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Kathy M July 16, 2013 at 3:43 pm

I have been busy doing major decluttering. I am renting out a room and had to shift stuff and get rid of stuff, etc.. I have kind of been going with the goal of the week in the back of my mind. This week, I am going to make it official. I am going to clean one file cabinet drawer.

Thanks for always challenging us, Katy.

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Katy July 16, 2013 at 4:16 pm

And thank you for keeping me honest!

Katy

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Mama July 16, 2013 at 5:13 pm

Can I retrospectively say my goal was to claim back all my physio expenses on insurance from 2011 and 2012? Because I did that last week and it felt awesome, plus I now have $500 in my bank account I didn’t have before. Can’t believe I put that off for so long!

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Katy July 16, 2013 at 9:17 pm

That must feel so great to have that task behind you, and the $500 in the bank!

Katy

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Lisa July 16, 2013 at 7:37 pm

My goal is to clean out all of the drawers in the kitchen and bath. I am halfway there. I wanted to line the drawers but didn’t have any shelf paper. I do have a roll of wrapping paper and decided to use that. My husband is so happy with his cleaned out bathroom drawer he doesn’t even mind the pink flowers from the paper.

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Iforonwy July 17, 2013 at 2:03 am

To download the photos from our last trip onto the new laptop so that we can clear the camera for our next trip next month. I know I can do it but why when faced with anything remotely technical do I panic!!!

Just discovered your blog and it is great! Reminded me of the first time stateside in 1982 when I visited my first ever mall – Clackamas! I could not believe my eyes that they had an ice-rink in there!

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Bauunny July 17, 2013 at 3:00 am

I am going to start small and clean out the junk drawer……it has been a few months and it has morphed into a mess again.

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Elaine in Ark July 17, 2013 at 7:19 am

It might help if you call it a “utility drawer”, and decide what belongs in that particular drawer, in that particular room. It might make it easier to organize that way.

I’m against calling a space a “junk” space, on principle. It’s not for junk, it’s for stuff you need. Junk goes in the trash.

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dusty July 17, 2013 at 3:06 am

I am working on a project that will probably take me a little longer than a week cause I have to do it when I’m not working. I (like many people) have saved lots and lots of greeting cards. I found out that St. Jude’s will take the front of the cards (as long as they have no writing on them). They have a children’s ranch out west and the kids use the cards to make new ones. So, I have my two rubbermaid containers of greeting cards and I have started to work on that. I have decided to keep a small wicker basket with just some of the cards in there (from a special bday or when someone wrote something really special in it) and keep it out in the open so I can look at them from time to time. I have decided not to store things in boxes where they don’t get looked at for 20 years.

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Denise July 17, 2013 at 4:11 am

I teach school, so I save many projects until summer, and then I have a summer project bucket list. I have decluttered the house, and have made 4-5 trips to Goodwill. However…I still have one small, last load to take, and it has been sitting in my laundry room for one week. It’s driving me crazy. I need to take it TODAY!

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Kim Stewart July 18, 2013 at 5:30 am

I was away on a missions trip to Nicaragua last week so no completed goal for me from last week. This week my goal is to get the 3 pots of annuals planted. They are looking rather droopy and unhappy from neglect!

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Iforonwy July 24, 2013 at 4:47 am

I did it! I managed to load the photos onto the laptop – without throwing it or a tantrum. I also manged to load some photos onto a disc to send to an old school friend who is working on a project that is celebrating 100 years of the chuch we all used to attend.

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Jane F April 26, 2014 at 4:41 am

“things I feel crappy about and therefore must ignore”

I SO get that!

If I can master that I can take on anything! 😉

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