Box Fresh

At some point, everyone with a clutter problem turns to some kind of "storage solution". Apparently even a plain old carboard box is not just a box, when it's sold for a lot of money to people whose houses are full of crap, it's a "storage solution".

The solution pictured above is the R-Kive woodgrain cardboard storage box. It is, in my opinion, the Rolls Royce of such storage boxes. It's very sturdy, it doesn't come to bits when it's full, and it's a nice size. 40cm x 33cm x 26cm, in fact, which my maths tells me gives a storage capacity of.. erm.. (calculator..) 0.034 cubic metres. It doesn't sound so much when you put it like that, (I'm sure I've worked it out wrong) but even so, it's a decent size. You can fit about 60 VHS tapes inside one.

I know this because I have many of these boxes. OK, admittedly, I only have 5 of the luxury woodgrain ones, which I do love ever so much, but during my tidying today I counted and verified that I have another 40 of the only slightly less excellent R-Kive non-woodgrain plain cardboard boxes of the same size. This means that I must have.. erm... (calculator) at least 1.53 cubic metres of clutter stored therein. It doesn't sound so much when you put it like that.

Of course not all of my clutter is in these boxes, if they were then things would be a whole lot tidier. But the standard sized box is my weapon of choice when it comes to - if not 'de-cluttering' - at least 'tidying' slightly. I have several nooks and crannies around the place where collections of 2 or more of these boxes gather.

I only have 45 of these boxes, and I'm determined not to buy any more, so every so often when I run out of space, I try to condense the contents of a few boxes into less boxes, so that I have an empty box again. It gets harder as time goes on. Right now I'm down to about two 'free' boxes, although one is full of bubble wrap and the other is full of stuff which I'll need to turf out first of all.

There is still much to do, but today has definitely been a tidy Saturday. Already gone from my bedroom are many useless elastic bands, some dried-up pens, a couple of VHS video cases, (I can't throw these all away at once, there is nothing wrong with them, but I can manage one at a time) a desk lamp which never really worked quite right but has now shown weakness by allowing the bulb inside to go, several large cardboard boxes of non-regulation size, and a whole tea chest which has now been emptied.

The tea chest is important because it will be the final one from my previous house moves 9 and 13 years ago, respectively. Its disappearance will therefore doubtless be of some significance in a way I can't quite grasp just now. Most importantly, the space it occupied has now been occupied by three storage boxes moved from elsewhere, resulting in a greater appearance of tidiness. There is still room for another four storage boxes to go on top, too, so I might take that opportunity to reduce the clutter in the hallway, currently home to 15 storage boxes, but soon perhaps only 11.

I swear I'm going to get my life back in some kind of order before the year is out. It's been too long. And I suspect that people are getting quite tired of listening to me talking about my never-ending tidy-up now. :-)

War on the Floor

Lookie! I have space in my room at last! Of course it doesn't have that dotted line around it in real life, I just put it in to make it easier to see in the photo.

It might not seem that impressive, but after nine months of almost non-stop tidying, (who am I kidding?) it's always nice to see progress of some kind. And what progress it is. As you can see, top left, there is still a fair clutter build-up by the door, but once I squeeze in, I can walk straight across to the other side of the room without having to step over or squeeze past anything. It is quite something.

That box at the top right of the dotted space area is full of documents from work, which I shall be dumping into the recycling bin the next time I'm in the office. Even more space will soon be mine!

So as you can see, progress is good.. All that's left is to tackle the bits around the sides... which as you can see, may be a little trickier..

The Unidentified Man

Money is the root of all evil. So they say. And actually they're wrong. They're quoting the Bible, but they don't know it. And what it actually said was "The love of money is the root of all evil."

For a good long part of my life, I didn't really have very much - or indeed any - money. During my grand tidy-up of old papers, I was surprised at how, as recently as fifteen years ago, just how many bills I managed not to pay on time - or at all - and how many red reminders and letters from debt collection agencies that resulted in.

But getting a decent job (actually two jobs, for a while) was the start on the road to turning it all around. It took about five years to get out of debt (although I was only really trying for about three of them) and I eventually reached the point where I had more money than I owed.

For a couple of years after that, I remained reasonably cash-positive, although I think I was still so delighted at being able to buy things that I bought lots of things I didn't really need. (Many of them I still have, and are part of the reason why 2007 is "The Year Of Tidying-Up", as discussed previously.)

According to the chart I printed this evening (because yes, I keep records, and yes, I know how to use the chart function in Excel), I can see that it seems to be around 2002 where I really became rather interested indeed in counting my beans. And slowly, through careful attention to the proper feeding and watering of my investments, suddenly they began to grow.

It's not just about earning money - it's about spending it wisely. That means being slightly more cautious before spending hundreds of pounds on shiny toys and baubles.. it means making sure you're not spending more than you need on those everyday bills (gas, electric, phone, etc), it means paying more attention to what interest rate you get on your bank account and ISA. (No, really, everyone should have an ISA.)

It has been suggested that paying such attention to pennies is somewhat mean. In my defence I'd say I'm not quite that bad. There are plenty of ways that I could cut my living costs to the bone, but I don't. You have to have some fun, after all. That said, there's no point in spending 45p a minute calling a mobile phone if you can do it for 6p, and things like that do get my attention.

Without really trying I've spent most of this evening thinking about money. Checking what I have, and where it is, and if it has gone up any, and whether there is any extra free money to be had by moving to a better-paying savings account. I applied for one just a moment ago, in fact. Every good boy deserves 6.25% interest, wouldn't you say?

It was in a similar mood a few months ago that I tried to open a savings account with the nice people at the Halifax. I'm a web person so I do that kind of thing online, and it all seemed to go quite well until they decided, at the end of the application, that to comply with money-laundering legislation, they needed to verify my identity, and that I would need to prove my identity by means of the supply of varying pieces of identifying documentation.

Eventually a list arrived in the post, complete with helpful Government leaflets thanking me for taking the time to fight the war on terrorism. All very nice too. But I find myself stuck - the documents it wants, I do not have. I must supply two, or maybe even three, documents from the list they provide. I call the Halifax Help Line to see what they can do.

Birth Certificate.. OK, everyone should have one of these. I have one, I'm just not sure where it is. I do have a photocopy. Will that do? "No," I am assured by the man on the phone.

Passport.. Not got one of these..

Driving Licence.. I don't drive.

Oh dear, we have a problem. The big three pieces of documentation, and I don't have them. Well, don't worry, there are other documents they can accept, just for such an occasion. So if I could send a copy of my Shotgun Licence instead, all will be well.

Is that a trick question? Apparently, no it's not. Alas, while remaining entirely in this country and travelling only by bus, I have little cause to own or be firing any shotguns.

Tax forms from the inland revenue? I have a P60, will that do? "Ah, no, except for a P60," they say.

Bank statement? I have one of those, surely.. Ah. A recent bank statement. Recent being last three months. Remember how about.. oh, four months ago, I reported that I had got my bank to only send me one bank statement a year?

Identity card? No. Residence permit? No. Benefit book? No. Construction industry photocard? No. Disabled badge? No.

Phone bill? Yes! Well, a mobile phone bill. "No sir, it has to be a landline bill." Ah.. Well, the landline isn't in my name. (It was installed years ago. I pay the bills but never bothered to change the name on the account.)

Gas or electric bill? Yes! Yes! I have those! And they're in my name! Of course for best value I have my gas and electricity with Powergen, who send me my bills online.. so a printout of that would be OK? No, it will not be OK. Apparently it has to be a proper bill.

So we're really doing very well. Of course in the meantime, rapid and seismic changes in interest rates mean that the Halifax account I was applying for is not as good value as it was anyway. Given that it's going to be near-impossible to prove that I am who I say I am, I may not be able to bother.

What a world. I got enhanced CRB checked a few years back, I had to provide SEVEN pieces of documentation to prove I was who I said I was, and there didn't seem to be a problem then. Maybe I should just keep my savings under the matress instead.