~
Ahhhh….time for springtime “clean-up” around our home! Springtime is soooo beautiful…. but there’s also lots of cleanup to do. Anyone else have lots of small…or maybe large?…. household repairs, cleanups or “fix-its” on that list of “things to do?”…things that might be too complicated or specialized to do oneself?
We seem to have a variety of “little” things that need to be taken care of here in our home…electrical repairs, appliances, plumbing …they may be little, but they still seem to need to be taken care of! And some of them require specialized skills, which we don’ t have.
I’m not as consistently “motivated” as I used to be…
Sometimes I have lots of excuses! (September, 2010 post and ideas )….
and many days where I notice that
“my get up and go, seems to have got up and…went” (June, 2011 post and ideas)….
~
and maybe a few challenges remembering what work has actually been done in the past few years??…. and who did that work last time??….perhaps needing to find some new, reliable repair people???
Okay….where to find all those sticky notes with names and numbers of workers to come out to help fix the problems?….oh those sticky notes! So hard to keep track of!
Soooooo…to help keep track of “who you gonna call???” … a few note keeping forms I came up with this past fall… (previous October post: “Who you gonna call?”…)….now all printed out and put into a binder…handy-dandy written information about what has been done…and for finding new people to do new work….
I’ve been filling in and using these forms and they REALLY help with streamlining the whole process of household repairs! Maybe they might be helpful to others, too.
Who am I gonna call????
~
So….
sharing a few ideas I came up with…
sharing a few charts to help find and keep track of ….
Who? What? Where? When? How much it costs?
Finding someone to help with the work….
With luck, it might take only take 2 telephone calls…
A place to write down information as I make those calls
(and sharing them here, in case they might be helpful for anyone else)
We all have the names and numbers of good workers from past jobs….
or ideas about new people to try, too?
Maybe fill in this chart
and those names and numbers might be easier to find next time?
a “master” list
~
Sometimes, we already have a reliable person to help with the work…
a note sheet for writing down some information when calling that person…
I always THINK I’ll remember…but often don’t
What work DID we have done around the house this year?
Or last year????
And who did that work?
It all starts to blend together…a bit of a blur
Hopefully that job won’t need doing again for awhile longer?
~
We’ve been using these charts for the past 9 months…and they’re really helping!
….an organization and memory helper….
uh oh….guess I’d better get going and make a few of those calls…
~
So….who you gonna call?
😉
Pocket Perspectives 
It shows it’s not ‘easy’ to be a home owner. We live in a house (called villa) in a complex of ten. Eight houses happen to be lived in by owner occupiers. The other two houses belong to investors and are rented out. The houses were all built in 1994/95, A body cooperative has to decide which repairs need to be done. I tell you, this is not an easy decision. There’s never ever enough money in the sinking fund for everything that should be done. Everyone wants to pay in as little as possible. It is quite a headache because you cannot just make you own decisions.
LikeLike
Goodness…. what a complications you have in that coop situation. I guess I can be relieved that my H and I just have to decide on our own. I try to keep in mind how fortunate we are to have a home and to have the options for having the house repaired.
LikeLike
Coop situation, all right. I love this expression! I think too that we are very fortunate in owning our own home. However I’d prefer it if we could decide on our own what repairs to make and at what time!
LikeLike
Home maintenance chores and responsibilities just never seem to end! I love your organizational charts and tools. You really are on top of it. I like the idea of keeping a record. We are always looking for scraps of paper with the notes written on it. What an idea! An actual system! 🙂
LikeLike
I might have figured out a workable system, but still tend to not pursue getting things fixed or taken care of. But using these “charts” really seems to be helping us remember what we’ve done, what needs to be done and people who can help with that.
LikeLike
What a great way to organize house and yard maintenance. We designed and built our own home and live on a acreage where there is always work to be don. Fortunately, my husband is skilled in all the trades skills we haven’t had to hire help for property or house maintenance. At this stage of our lives we still do everything ourselves but as we age the Who am I gonna call? question will arise.
LikeLike
What wonderful skills the 2 of you have! We used to take care of more of the minor maintenance than we do now, and enjoyed doing that. Now, we’re happy to have someone else do more of it…but for electrical, we call for help! 😉
LikeLike
Phil walked into my office while I was reading your post, and mentioned your post. If you were nearby we both agreed we would recommend his services. 🙂 He is as I mentioned before an electrical engineer who now does electrical work and home remodeling as a side business to supplement our income. We have so much to do around here, and we hardly can keep up.
LikeLike
What wonderful skills and understanding to have…electricity!…and home remodeling too! Wow! But yes, keeping up with home repairs etc. can be a challenge. 😉
LikeLike
I’m going to desperately need clean-up help in my new place. I better start making lists now. 🙂
LikeLike
Ohhh Robin….be sure to just take it one day at a time…one clean-up spot at a time. After reading the wonders of what you accomplished in and around your home in the bogs, there’s no doubt that there will be similar “transformations”…slowly, slowly, one step at a time! 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: “Well….certainly I can do this ONE little thing…..” …encouraging and motivating oneself… | Pocket Perspectives