2010 Summary

Posted on | December 31, 2010 | 1 Comment

2010 has been a year of changes in my life. I have tried many new things, undertaken several journeys and made a lot of new friends.

This site was Created

After blogging on Blogspot for months, I decided to take the leap and officially open Annienygma.com.  It was frightening to be honest, but a move that I have loved. Now instead of playing with an assortment of freebie blogs I put all that I am on this site.

I feel like I am giving you a more honest view of who I am and what I am about than I did when just focusing on pieces of me for the freebie blogs. I feel that I am giving you more of me all around.

I Wrote The Minimalist Cleaning Method

I actually wrote several books this year, but The Minimalist Cleaning Method is my first and my favorite. I have been collecting the tips and recipes in that book for years, and it felt so good to finally release them to the world, to share how I clean dishes, floors, laundry—what I use for perfume, and even how I clean windows. There is a huge chunk of who I am within those pages, and I love every piece within.

Professional Help: How to Find and Fix Malware, Viruses, Spyware and Other Baddies was my geeky dream. I have learned that instead of orally passing on the tips and tricks that I have learned that I can share my knowledge with the written word so that it can help others. This book was a joy to finish, and I love how it is helping people fix their computer problems.

Be Happy Now was my gift to the world. It is a volume containing the tips and tricks I use when problems start weighing me down. The tips within helped me to start changing my life, and I hope that they help others start down the path to happiness.

Where to Work Online is a little ebook detailing the various legitimate online sites that I have discovered for at-home workers. It is currently being hosted by E-junkie, with plans for it to be moved to Smashwords within a few days, so instead of linking directly to it (and having the link go stale) I am linking to my store page, which will always contain the current link.  I would have LOVED to have had a book like this when I was fumbling around trying to make money on the Internet. Hard to imagine but the Internet is my primary source of income these days!

How to Write and Sell an Ebook contains all the tips and tricks that you need to write and sell ebooks of your very own.

I have learned that on more detailed projects that it is more financially and personally rewarding to publish it myself in ebook format than it is to simply submit it to Associated Content as a detailed article, and plan to do more of this in the future.

I Decided Some Frugal Stuff Was NOT For Me

Namely, I discontinued using Baking Soda to wash my hair. This was done not because the baking soda didn’t work (it actually worked rather well) but because I missed the enjoyment of shampooing my hair. I missed the smells, the lather and the sheer luxury of it. I still wash my hair with baking soda on occasion but I stopped using it exclusively. I did save a bit of money on shampoo during the experiment, but some things are worth more than money.

I also discontinued using Menstrual Cloths. I just couldn’t get over the ick factor of washing out the blood. I have used them on occasion when spotting, but I did go out and purchase a box of pads to use. Some things are just too icky for me to do.

Some Frugal Stuff Suits me Perfectly

To my surprise, I am still using Family Cloths. I honestly figured that one would go out the door along with the Menstrual Cloths and Baking Soda, but I’m still doing it. I don’t even think about using bathroom tissue unless I am in a public restroom (and then I think of how scratchy the paper is compared to my cloth at home).

I am also still using Octagon Soap for washing my dishes now that I have stocked up during a visit to my sister’s home. I enjoyed using this soap years ago but stopped because I could not locate it in my area, and am glad to have this back.

Some things I Waffle on

I waffle on cooking food from scratch when I am here by myself, and these last couple of months have found me hitting the microwave meal section at the grocery more than once.

I don’t mind cooking meals when the kid is here, but when I’m alone—my heart just isn’t in it, you know?

Frugality and Minimalism go Hand-in-Hand

I initially started both a frugality blog and a minimalism blog, but over time I realized that they actually go together. One cannot truly be frugal without embracing minimalism, and Minimalists are naturally frugal—simply because they do not buy. Now all of those posts have been imported into this blog, though I keep them up because it is easier than correcting all of the links in the hundreds of posts I have done.

Sometimes it is easier to Spend Money..

…Than it is to determine a free alternative.

With this in mind, after years of experimenting and loving Linux, I have officially removed it from every computer that I own. All of my systems now run Windows 7, which makes networking and support a breeze compared to the care and feeding of the four operating systems I was running previously (Windows XP, Vista, 7 and Ubuntu Linux). Now I will have several years of tranquility until the need to upgrade comes again.

This means that files will be easier located and more uniform throughout, and I don’t have to sit and stew “well, it works this way on Windows 7, how do I do it on this operating system?”

I am not giving up on Ubuntu, but relegating it to experimental purposes only for the sake of minimalism and harmony.

I have also stopped using OpenOffice in favor of Microsoft Office. It has more features and less junk to futz up my writing submissions. I fought with OpenOffice for two years as a professional writer, sometimes taking longer to clean up submitted articles than I took writing them in the first place. Switching to Microsoft products has already saved me several hours of time in the couple of weeks since the switch. I expect this one to save me a LOT more time over the next year. This decision wasn’t made without some angst; I had used OpenOffice since it was released as StarOffice, and part of me feels disloyal, but I have to do what is best for ME, and so the decision was made.

I Have Issues in the Digital Realm of Clutter

Most of which went away along with my Seagate hard drive last night. It has showed me that I still have packrat tendencies that I need to work on. I’m still not real upset that I lost all of that stuff; I’m sure it will all be okay.

I Have Went Without and Enjoyed the Challenge

My pipes burst last winter, the result of a failed thermostat while away on a trip. It took a while for my friends to arrange our schedules for a repair (I care for their computers, they help me out on stuff like pipes) and in the meantime I rigged a water hose and went on with my life.

I missed being able to turn on a faucet and get hot water, but it didn’t bother me near as much as I thought it would. It was a challenge and I actually enjoyed it. I am happy that the pipes are fixed now, though!

Overall..

It has been a good year. I have learned and grown and became more. I have grown as both a writer and a person, but the journey is not over.

I want to thank all of you for sticking with me for yet another year. I enjoy all of your comments and look forward to hearing from all of you next year.

Peace,

Annie

Comments