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In our corner of the world, it’s finally starting to feel like spring. And here we are almost at the beginning of summer!

We’ve been busy cleaning up outdoors. Washing the windows. Cleaning out the gutters. Trimming the bushes. Picking up sticks in the yard.

Sometimes homeownership feels like work!

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Picking up sticks has its own reward because we bought a fire pit last year. I just love sitting around a fire and smelling the burning wood! It’s fantastic on those cool nights.

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We had a lot of great evenings last year relaxing around the fire. I’d say it’s already paid for itself. Plus it keeps your fire burning in a contained area, Mary-Lynn!

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Planning for a rainy day

We know what we’re going to do the next time we have a rainy day on the weekend. We’re going to have a Clutter Contest!

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You win, George. You have the most clutter!

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The idea is to get rid of the clutter, Mary-Lynn. But thank you for pointing out my clutter!

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We’re going have a contest between the two of us – the person who clears out the most clutter wins. Can you tell that we’re competitive?

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The prize

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Since it’s just the two of us, we can cater the prize however we want. So, if you win Mary-Lynn, I’ll give you a back massage.

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Ooh, I love massages. That will be great. I’ll tell you what, George, since you do most of the cooking … if you win, I’ll cook you dinner!

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I’m not sure that’s such a good prize!

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We’re really trying to highlight that you don’t have to spend money (hey there’s another one of the elements of bigg success) on prizes. They can be personal.

For your family, the prize could be the winner’s favorite home-cooked meal. He or she could choose the next movie to watch or game you all play. It’s completely customizable.

You can have more the one prize. For example, you might have a prize for the person who donates the most. You get stuff out of the house and a favorite charity gets goods they can sell. How’s that for win/win?

Even if you’re not a clutter bug, there may be someone in your house whose clutter drives you crazy. They’ll be more likely to clean it out if they can win a prize they really want. And think about it … they should be the odds-on favorite to win because they have the most stuff!

Household chores aren’t the most exciting way to spend our time off. However, this is one thing that can really ramp up your productivity. Studies show that the average American could save about an hour a day if they cleared out their clutter!

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When I heard that statistic, it really made me think about how to get more organized.

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It made me realize that it was time to clear out my clutter. Now I need to go get the ladder so I can start looking through that pile on my desk!

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Thanks so much for the gift of your time today!

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Please join us next time when we’ll discuss saving for (and allowing yourself to spend on) bigg ticket items. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
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(Image by sindesign,CC 2.0)

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I love garage sales because there are so many great bargains! So George drove, and I dragged him all over hitting garage sales.

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And thanks to Mary-Lynn, we followed that up with … yet more shopping.

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We have these gorgeous, bigg, old trees on our lot, but that means there are a lot of limbs down after every storm. We had a fellow who mowed our yard and hauled the limbs away. But he had knee surgery this spring, and the gentleman who mows it now doesn’t do that.

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That’s right. But here’s the thing … I have a love for fire! So I thought … why not burn these limbs? So we bought a fire pit! But there was something about the fire pit we bought that George really liked.

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Yeah, I thought it was cool because it’s also a grill. Since I’m a purist, I like to cook with charcoal rather than gas. This way, we can cook on wood, which we get for free, and not spend money on charcoal!

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Even hassles don’t create angst

We also bought a chain saw. Now, don’t be alarmed … this chain saw is about the size of a blow dryer! But when we opened the box, there were pieces missing. So back to the store we went. Then we realized it didn’t come with the oil we needed. Back to the store again.

It proved the theory a friend of ours has – no home improvement project is complete until you’ve made at least three trips to the store!

But it was our day off! We weren’t in a rush so we enjoyed the time together in spite of it all.

Backyard bliss

So last Saturday night, we sat around our fire as we listened to music and grilled some hot dogs … and okay, a few marshmallows! It was so relaxing … all on our own back patio.

We had backyard bliss. (Don’t confuse it with the song “Ballroom Blitz”!)

So we caught up by slowing down!

Even if you work with your spouse or significant other – and maybe we should say, especially if you work together – it’s important to have “together time” that’s not associated with work.

We wish we could say that we planned to do this, but we would be lying. We’re good at planning our business and work activities, but sometimes we struggle with planning personal things.

But now that we have our fire pit, it will be easy to walk out the door and relax! Not long ago, we talked about why it’s good to spend time in nature. For many of us, nature is in our own backyard!

So you don’t have to do a lot of planning. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. You don’t even have to go anywhere. Stay at home and have some fun!

Don't forget the bug spray…that was our 4th trip to the store!

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