Been a very hectic week and not sure where all the time has gone too. My first garage sale is this weekend - Saturday.  There has been a lot of family stuff going on which has been difficult but there may be good news on the horizon soon.  For those who pray then now would be a good time.  Especially for my dad - his name is Gordon.  God knows his issues so if you can just remember my dad to God that would be great. 

I have been thinking a lot lately about self discipline.  As I have been practising 'the simple life' this has come under my scrutiny more and more.  It effects everything from our money to our health. I need eight hours sleep at night but lately I have been staying up to watch Desperate Housewives and then Law and Order Special Victims (Its on Monday to Thursday in South Africa).  At first it felt a lot like Christmas - two of my favourite programs on every night.  Anyway the next day I am tired - I get up later, don't prepare lunch and make a proper breakfast.  Then I feel hungry - and am more likely to eat bad things.  Anyway I have formulated a tip from this.

Tip No 7 - Keep your own rules - if you don't have any then start setting some

Now I am not talking about being boring and never having a spontaneous moment again  - I am just saying generally.  I need to go to bed at ten at night.  I need to cook a decent meal (means with vegetables) at least every second night. I need to exercise at  least three times a week.  I need to clean out the filter on the washing machine and defrost the fridge. As my gran used to say "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".  Cure is usually expensive and time consuming.  So think about your life and make some decisions.  How many hours sleep do I need?  Decide to have only four blocks of chocolate or one glass of wine (or in my case coke).  That way you save money and you don't gain weight and you have something to look forward to tomorrow.

If you need some incentive then make yourself a wall chart, like when you were in grade school, where you give yourself a star for each discipline that you do. When you get two stars reward yourself.  This may sound infantile but it actaully works.

What discipline can you work on?

Had a great weekend, although I started with a bad cold on Friday night.  Still croaking away but at least its not swine flu. South Africa has the second highest number of infections in the world.  Probably due to the Federations Cup (international soccer tournament) that was played here a couple of weeks ago.

Image :  Google Images

Tip No 5 - Swap Everything

I saw this on Oprah a couple of weeks ago.  Have a clothes swap.  Get your friends to go through their clothes and take out everything they don't wear.  Especially the things that they will never fit into again.  This can include accessories as well CD's, books and even furniture.  There are a number of sites that deal with exactly how you want to run it (google clothes swap).  Tell everyone to bring a cake or box of biscuits (great way of stocking up fridge or pantry as you will have too much stuff  ), supply tea and coffee and start swapping.  So far I have been doing it on a more one on one basis and have now got some new things for my wardrobe - not new - but new to me.  Planning on doing the big one in September.

Have you ever been involved with a clothes swap?  How did they administer it?