Year-End Reset For A Calmer 2026

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The last weeks of the year can feel like a blur of loose ends and good intentions, so we’re stripping the noise back to three moves that actually change daily life: get honest with your budget, declutter your home like you mean it, and design your next year with intention and faith. If your months keep landing in the red or your rooms feel smaller than they are, these simple steps restore breathing room without adding pressure.

We start with money clarity. A weekly budgeting rhythm shows you where cash truly goes, what to cut, and what income you need to bridge the gap. Then we head into a real whole-home reset. Not a quick tidy, but a purge that frees space, calms the family, and makes a three-bedroom home work without the weight of a bigger mortgage. We touch on practical rules for keeping what serves you, rehoming what doesn’t, and creating easy systems for shared kids’ rooms so evenings run smoother.

From there, we shift to vision. We map an ideal day, turn it into monthly targets, and share how we set specific, aligned goals that respect our values and, for us, our faith. You’ll hear a short story about provision that reshaped how we plan, and why our word for 2026 is "Breakthrough". This spans across finances, family rhythms, and the kind of experiences we want to create while the kids are still little. The bottom line is intentional living: small, consistent actions that compound into a calmer home and a steadier year.

If you’re ready to trade overwhelm for direction, press play, take what helps, and start with one room, one bill, or one habit. Subscribe for more practical organisation, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Your next step toward a lighter 2026 starts today.

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Episode Transcript

(00:18):
Welcome to Beyond Organised, the podcast that helps you simplify your life and amplify your purpose. I'm Mel Schenker, life coach, speaker, founder of She's Organised, but, more importantly, a wife and mum of four little kids. If you've ever felt overwhelmed, like you're constantly juggling everything but never quite catching up, this is the place for you. Here we go beyond just the tidying up and creating systems. We're talking about real life strategies that bring order to your life, but also we talk about the things beyond the organising, the things that really matter, like your parenting relationships and so much more. So grab your coffee and let's dive in.

(00:59):
Hello, my lovely listeners.
I cannot believe this is thelast episode for the year.
Where has 2025 gone?
It's unbelievable, but I'm soglad you're here.
And I don't know if you've beenlistening since the very
beginning, back in April, orwhether you're new here.
I just want to say welcome andthank you for making this year

(01:22):
so good for me and for everyonearound.
I'm really looking forward tonext year and what next year has
to bring.
So we're all busy, we've allgot things to do, particularly
at this time of year.
I'm just going to run throughthe three things that I'm doing
this week to set me up for 2026.
So the first thing that I'mdoing is I'm going through my

(01:44):
budget.
So I have a spreadsheet that Iget from Smart Women's Society.
I'm not an affiliate as ofrecording this.
It's just something that Ilike, this spreadsheet is
amazing in my mind.
It's so comprehensive.
So if you're a spreadsheetperson, I encourage you to check
out Smart Women's Society,their ultimate wealth dashboard.
They've got this incrediblespreadsheet that really is quite

(02:08):
detailed.
And at the end of the day, youdon't have to do too much work.
I input what has been spentthroughout the week.
I do that throughout the year.
But most of the setup in termsof the budget and everything, I
do now, like I do now.
And I only tweak it a littlebit throughout the year if
things change.
So it's really good.

(02:29):
Um, and I go through that toget an overview.
And look, you know, most monthsfor me right now are in the
red.
It doesn't look great, but atleast I know where I'm sitting
and, you know, try and work outwhere we can cut costs, but also
work out how much more money Ineed to make to not be in the

(02:51):
red at the end of the month whenit actually comes to pass.
So it's it doesn't matter whereyou're at, where you're
starting from, how much debt youmight have, anything like that.
It's good to know your numbers.
It's good to know where you'reat.
And I know if this is somethingthat's quite new for you, it
can be really overwhelming,especially when you've been

(03:13):
burying your head in the sandand you actually sit down and do
the numbers, and it can bescary.
But trust me, if you'reactually going through and being
diligent, and especially if youare a Christian, if you're
someone that does listen to God,then He can do more with you as
well if your head is not buriedin the sand.

(03:35):
So I do encourage you to sitdown and do your numbers.
So I did most of mine lastnight, actually, but um, I will
be just touching up and goingthrough that again, just ready
for the new year.
Now, the second thing that I'llbe doing, so in the last
episode, and what you would haveheard was I was decluttering a
little bit when it came tomaking space for the kids' toys

(03:57):
and all the new things that werecoming in.
I do try to do a more detaileddeclutter in the lead up to it.
Uh, but this year, just did nothave time with running the
business and everything else.
It was just wasn't gonna happenthis year with a baby and all
that.
So I did what I could beforeChristmas, which has helped

(04:17):
because with the few things thathave come in, we've it's all
sorted.
But now I need to go throughand do the rest of the house.
Now it can seem like a prettybig task and a bit overwhelming
for a lot of people.
For me, I'm excited.
I'm like ready to go.
I'm gonna get stuck into mydaughter's room today because my
baby has been sleeping in ourwalk-in robe.

(04:37):
And so I'm gonna end up movinghim into her room tonight,
hopefully.
And um, yeah, we're gonna getthat sorted.
So I haven't done a properdeclutter, like full massive
purge, you know, a lot of hardrubbish, a lot of donations, all
that kind of stuff since welland truly before my youngest son

(05:00):
was born.
It's been a couple of years.
Life really has gotten awayfrom me.
And even someone as organizedas me, you know, it does tend to
escape from time to time.
And yes, I've been able to,I've done it so many times over
the last 12 plus years.
I've done it a lot of times.
So it has been a matter ofmaintaining as best as I can

(05:21):
over the last couple of years,but even then, things have crept
up, and I'm excited to just gothrough it all and just go back
to reset mode because you know,we are in a three-bedroom home,
and this is our home.
And we were talking over thelast few weeks whether we move
something bigger or not, andthat generally requires more

(05:43):
debt in terms of a home loan andall this kind of stuff.
And we just don't want to be inthat position.
We want to keep paying downthis house as much as we can and
just not be stretched anymorethan, well, what we kind of are.
So I want to go through and doa big clean out.
And ultimately, if we can getrid of a lot of the stuff that

(06:06):
we've got, the stuff that wejust don't need, um, we could
pretty comfortably live in thishouse for a number of years, um,
having the, you know, two kidsin each room.
They seem to be, especially theolder two, love sharing.
So um, I mean, they talk a lot.
They talk a lot when it's timeto sleep, but that's also
forming their childhood memoriestoo.

(06:27):
So I don't mind so much in theholiday time, but I will be
going through and doing a bigpurge.
You might see on social mediain coming weeks some completed
spaces from around my home.
So you can get an idea and someinspiration, and I'll talk
through sort of what I did andall that kind of stuff.
So you'll probably see stufflike that pop up over the next

(06:49):
few weeks while I have time offfrom my part-time job, and I've
also taken a step back from thebusiness to have a break.
Really, I I need a break.
So, um, but I will keep thispodcast going because this is
this is enjoyable for me.
Yeah, the net the second bigthing is a massive declutter and
purge, and it's a great way tostart the year, starting it

(07:12):
fresh, motivated, excited, sortof ready to go.
Most people are motivated totry new things like new fitness
and health routines and all thatkind of stuff.
For me, I do enjoy starting theyear fresh with my home just
fully reset in order.
It's yeah, you can breathe andyou're setting yourself up well

(07:33):
for the year ahead.
And now the third thing, nowthis is something that I'm gonna
do that's a little bitdifferent, I guess.
It's a journey that I've beenon when it comes to God's
provision and prosperity and andwhat that all looks like.
Because, you know, I've beendoing this business, she's
organized, running this podcast,doing all these things out of

(07:56):
pure obedience to what the Lordhas asked me to do.
Uh, I'm enjoying it, I am, butit's not financially fruitful
yet.
Um, and I know that for a lotof businesses in the first few
years, they don't run a profit,all this kind of stuff.
But I do believe that this issomething that the Lord has

(08:19):
asked me to do and does want tobless me with, so then I can be
a bigger blessing to you, toeveryone out there that is gonna
get something from this.
So I'm going through with myhusband and actually mapping out
how this year is gonna look interms of our ideals.
Now, for some people, that islike manifesting and all this

(08:42):
kind of stuff.
Now, I'm not a fan of the wholemanifesting thing, I will
admit, because I don't want tomake something that's in my will
a reality.
I want something in God's willto become reality, and he can
see infinitely more thananything that I can imagine in
my mind.
I'd rather be honing in on whathe's trying to do.

(09:05):
But I want to get down to thespecifics because quite a number
of years ago, when we hadcredit cards and everything, and
we had one credit card left,and there was about $9,682 or
something like that on there atthe time.
And we really wanted to clearit.
And it had taken us, I don'tknow, a couple of years to clear

(09:26):
the tens of thousands of debtthat we had before that.
But we're down to the lastcard, last lot, under 10k.
We were like, okay, we can dothis.
This is how much we need.
And we actually said to God,uh, because we had a fair bit in
crypto and things like that atthe time.
My husband does a lot of cryptomining and all that kind of
stuff.

(09:46):
But we said, okay, God, this isthe number we need.
We need the crypto to get tothis amount.
And if it gets to that, thenwe're gonna cash it out and
clear the credit card.
And within about a week, itjust all of a sudden shot up.
We kept denying it.
It shot up, it got to thatamount, and we were tempted to

(10:07):
keep it in there a bit longer tosee if we could get more, but
we both said to each other, no,no, no, let's not get greedy.
This is the amount that weasked the Lord, and it's
happened, which we weresurprised that that kind of
happened.
So we took it out, andliterally the next day it
crashed.
It went to like half the valuethe next day.
And we cleared the card and itwas done.

(10:29):
And so I know you might not bein a position where you've got
shares or crypto or anythinglike that, that you can just,
you know, cash out and cleardebt and all of that kind of
stuff.
But I do believe that God wantsus to be smart in how we manage
our money and all of that too.
But he also wants us to bespecific and to partner with

(10:50):
him.
So we're gonna sit down, berather specific on the things
that we actually need to coverthe bills and all of that.
So we can be specific in what Ineed for the business to bring
in and all this kind of stuff.
Um, but also to cover thethings that we want.
Like in a few years' time, wewould like to have a bigger
house and to be able to fit intoit.

(11:11):
Now it's not so bad now, thekids are little, but it is hard
in a three-bedroom home with oneliving space and it's a lovely
home.
Like we built it to the the waywe want it, but we pretty much
had already outgrown it by thetime we moved in here.
So we just want to go throughand get intentional with where
we want to see our future, andwe're partnering with God in

(11:33):
that.
So we're not manifestinganything, we're just being
strategic and planning with Godand what it is he's trying to do
for us, but also with us anddirect us.
Whether you're a Christian ornot, I do encourage you to at
least sit down and map out whereyou're at in life.
So not just financially, but inyour work, in your family life.

(11:58):
Maybe you want to have moretime to do more things with your
family instead of working sohard that you never get to see
your family.
You know, all this kind ofstuff.
Actually sit down and go, whatwould my ideal day look like?
Break it down to the day andgo, okay, I would love it if I

(12:18):
could wake up before the kids,have my coffee in peace, and not
be rushing out the door toschool, drop-offs and then work
and all this kind of stuff.
You know, I'd love to be ableto afford to work part-time,
maybe.
Whatever it is, just map outwhat your ideal day is.
Maybe you want to work more andyou want to have better care

(12:42):
for your kids with your mom orlook, honestly, it could be
anything.
Allow yourself to dream again.
I think as adults, we we almostforget to dream because we're
we're afraid of disappointingourselves more than anything.
But allow yourself to dreamagain.
Dream, brainstorm, have ideasof where you'd like to see

(13:06):
because we're in a positionwhere we've been a bit feeling
stuck, but ultimately we couldpull the kids out of school, we
could sell the house, we coulddo other things if we really
wanted to, but we don't.
We want to stay here.
We want the kids to stay in thegood Christian school they're
in.
We want all of that.
So we just need to find a wayto make it work.

(13:29):
It is a juggle, it's a balance.
We've sacrificed on a lot ofthings over the last couple of
years, and we haven't gotanything left to sacrifice
unless if it's some big moves.
Um, so now we are just trustingGod to help with the rest.
And but we want to partner withhim and be obedient to what
he's asking us to do.
And that's pretty much it.

(13:51):
So the three main things thatI'm doing this week is going
through the budget, doing thedeclutter.
Mind you, the declutter willprobably take a few weeks, um,
doing it every day, and alsositting down and actually
dreaming with the Lord, actuallygoing, what do we want our year
to look like?
And one extra bonus thing thatI'll mention what I do at the

(14:18):
start of every year, or reallythe end of the previous year, is
I listen to the Lord andactually go, well, what word do
you have for 2026?
So in previous years, I've hadwords like provision, strength,
a few things.
And those words have actuallycarried me through.

(14:39):
Um, and it's not always been agood year, but those words I've
I've held on to as hope andencouragement.
And the word that I have for2026 that I will also be
encouraging with my community isbreakthrough.
I really do feel like the Lordis going to give a breakthrough,

(15:03):
not just with my finances, notjust with my business, but with
my kids, with discipline andthings with my kids, with having
more time to make memories anddo more experiences with my
kids.
Because even though we can goto the park and things that are
free, we haven't been able toafford any experiences.

(15:25):
We don't go to the zoo, wedon't go to the swimming pool,
we don't go anywhere because wewe haven't had the financial
means to do so.
Look, I'm not saying it's gonnabe a big dramatic change, but I
would like to have some moreexperiences with the kids whilst
they're young.
So breakthrough can mean a lotof different things.
It could be to do with yourrelationships with your, with

(15:46):
your partner, with yourchildren, your parents.
Breakthrough is a big word, butI do believe this is a word
that is gonna help a lot ofpeople in 2026.
When it comes to my business,particularly with the She's
Organized Hub, the coachingcommunity that I've got, I
really do believe that in 2026there's gonna be a breakthrough
for so many women in there whenthey've been stuck in this cycle

(16:10):
of disorganization andfrustration and exhaustion and
all of that, there's gonna be abreakthrough with that because I
know I've set everything up,particularly going into the next
year.
When we relaunch mid-January,I've set everything up to
facilitate that.
So I'm I'm really excited.

(16:31):
I'm really excited for whatnext year has to bring.
And if there isn't a word thatyou can necessarily think of to
encourage you for 2026, thenperhaps breakthrough is that
word for you.
So I encourage you to getplanning, get organizing, doing
these little things to reallyset yourself up strong for 2026.

(16:54):
So you can actually live everyday in the purpose that you want
to have, that you feel calledto have, so you can actually
enjoy your daily life and notjust wait for the next holiday
or the next exciting thing thatyou can actually enjoy every
single day.
So thank you for listening tome this year.

(17:16):
I really appreciate you.
If you do love hearing thethings that I share and the
guests that I have on here,please tell your friends.
Please share it with the peoplearound you and also leave a
review because the more reviewsI get on this, the more
visibility it's seen to you, andthe more people I can help.
And that's ultimately my goal.

(17:38):
I want to help you.
I want to serve you, I want toget you moving forward in life,
not stuck in this negative cycleof bad thinking and behaviors
and all of that.
I want you moving forward andjust making the most of life
because we only have one life tolive.
So let's make it a really goodone.
So thank you for this year, andI'll talk to you next week.

(18:01):
If you like this episode, don't forget to hit subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you want to continue the conversation, you can connect with me on Instagram @shes.organised or for some free resources, head over to beyondorganised.com/ toolkit. Remember, organising is a tool to live the purposeful life of beyond it. See you next time.