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Forum -> Household Management
Budgeting for constant clumsiness



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amother
Royalblue


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 6:08 am
In terms of money, time, energy. Feeling bad if it's you, trying not to be negative if it's someone else.

How do you do it? Do you buy extra bag of chocolate chips in anticipation of the ones that will be dropped on the floor? Use plastic cups only? Expect to drop or knock over baskets of folded laundry and have to refold?
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Emotional




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 6:14 am
Are you talking about budgeting in terms of money or time? Refolding laundry doesn't cost money, unless you're paying someone to do it, or that time is coming off time you would be working.
I think your question begs for a backstory. Is there someone in the family whose clumsiness is so pervasive that it's costing significant money?
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 6:39 am
Time and money should be budgeted with more than a razor-thin margin of error. There should be some buffers built in. Time cannot be planned down to the last minute, nor budgets down to the last dime.

If a stack of folded clothing gets knocked over, or a bag of chips gets dropped, it should not derail your entire schedule.

OTOH, you can clip closed the chips bag, and put away folded laundry after folding to minimize the chances of something going wrong.
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esther11




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 10:36 am
I don’t budget for such a thing because it’s not a specific issue by us. But in terms of baking ingredients that my kids spill, I usually have extra in the cabinet. Think flour, sugar, eggs, chocolate chips.
If there is someone specifically who drops and breaks dishes often, I’d probably not have them set the table when using delicate items if possible. Same with putting away folded laundry.

I know this wasn’t your question, but often there is a cause for extreme clumsiness that can be addressed (low muscle tone, poor spatial awareness, etc).
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oneofakind




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 11:17 am
In addition to the above, think of a mental "Shalom Bayis Fund" for all the things that normally get ruined/lost/broken in a household so you won't get so upset.
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studying_torah




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 12:06 pm
Perhaps some Ot/pt/vision therapy for the clumsiness will be more beneficial in the long run.
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essie14




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 12:08 pm
oneofakind wrote:
In addition to the above, think of a mental "Shalom Bayis Fund" for all the things that normally get ruined/lost/broken in a household so you won't get so upset.

Yup.
That is what I do. Otherwise I get way too upset.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 12:31 pm
In business it’s called “shrinkage” and the bean counters budget for it, exactly like buying a cotton garment a bit too big to allow for what happens in the wash.

But rather than just budget for shrinkage, I would take my poorly-coordinated spouse or child or self to be assessed by an expert. If they are perpetually dropping or breaking or bumping into things, there may be a physical or psychological cause that should be addressed.

On principle I don’t run a just-in-time operation. Instead, I advocate a wide-margin-of-safety system. If Google Maps says it takes 58 minutes to get there from here, I allow an hour and a quarter at least. More in bad weather. I always pack one more set of undies than I think I’ll need—but I also pack a sewing kit. I bought dinnerware for sixteen, not because we ever have sixteen for dinner but because breakage is a fact of life, and dinnerware patterns aren’t available forever. And of course we used melamine when the kids were small.

OTOH, recipes are—and I try to be— flexible. Just because a cookie recipe calls for a nine ounce bag of chocolate morsels doesn’t mean I buy two bags “just in case”. If a few drop on the floor, so what? If half the bag gets spilled, still so what? (I confess I would scoop them up and rinse them off as long as they haven’t been trodden upon, but I can add raisins or nuts or nothing at all if they do suffer that indignity.)
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amother
Ivory


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 12:59 pm
Sometimes you have to slooooooow down and use both hands if you have issues.

I budget in terms of time. If it is me, I know what things take way longer. Because I slooooooow down, I don't have the clumsiness factor.

So sometimes loss is inversely proportional to time meaning if it you give a project more time, toy lose less to clumsiness.
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amother
Black


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 1:50 pm
Whenever I would budget too closely or carefully, allow a very limited amount of leeway for time/money,

my father uses his line.

"but what if I want an apple?"
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amother
Pewter


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 2:09 pm
amother wrote:
Whenever I would budget too closely or carefully, allow a very limited amount of leeway for time/money,

my father uses his line.

"but what if I want an apple?"


Do I know him? Mine is “ what if you lose a button?” Iow, if you lose a button on your way out, you’ll need to either sew it back on or change your shirt, which could mean changing your whole outfit. Think not? Here's what happened to me one evening as I was about to go on a date:

A crucial button came off my black dress. Rather than take time I didn’t have to sew it, I changed the dress for a pink one...which meant changing my black bra, slip, panties, pantyhose and panty girdle for skin tone. By the time I did all that I was running seriously late.
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