*sigh* this is still taking a while, but moving forward (slowly!)

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas so far  

After 4 years writing (sporadically) on my previous diary, I thought it was time for a sparkly new one.

A lot of things have changed over the 4 years - I just have 1 job these days, my children are all that bit older, our house renovations are complete and our debt is much more manageable.  Other things have not changed much at all - we still spend every penny we earn and are rubbish at saving, I still eat and drink too much, still don't exercise enough and continue to overspend on my children  

I'm aiming to update this diary more religiously than my other one, holding me accountable for my aims moving into 2023:

Money

• pay off lingering debt, circa £23000 including car loan
• save an emergency fund, £1k to start with and then £20k to cover 6 months expenses
• then start overpaying mortgage

Diet

I'm not overweight (BMI 23 - before Christmas anyway!) but my diet is not at all healthy, so my aims are:

• start eating healthier - less processed, more whole foods
• drink less alcohol
• eat more protein

Exercise

• get my 10000 daily steps in
• 2 strength training sessions a week

Other interests:

• read more
• listen to more podcasts
• continue to improve in my new craft hobby

Think that's it for now, will try to figure out how to post a link for this diary on my old one  

FootyFanDan

Good luck moving into 2023 with your new goals

EssexHebridean

Happy new diary - looking forward to seeing the next stage in the adventure! 

WinterWarrior

Good luck! I love Dave Ramsey for the snowball method…if you can get past the American-ness of it 😬
I too need to think about my diet 😕

DancingInTheRain

Happy new diary and good luck 🍀

mark55man

Happy to join in for however long it takes!!  Well done OSHDTH

dawnybabes

Happy new diary ! 

crunchy_time

Subscribed!!!

And will of course will be cheering you on the whole way! Lots of shared goals and circumstances! Xxx

lucielle

New diary, new start. Still following. 

L

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Awww thanks everyone

Must admit, I'm not doing much diet or exercise wise for a few days.... trying not to go too mad with the food and I'm not much of a day drinker, keeping an eye on the units in the evening though.  
We always host here, noone ever wants to host a family of 7 but to be honest, much as it's a bit annoying sometimes, it's nice not to have to travel and the kids can all dob about in their own space.  Our siblings are all a bit rubbish, so if we don't host our mums, they'd be on their own which we wouldn't let happen (which the rubbish siblings take full advantage of). 
A couple of our kids friends don't have great home situations, so there's an open invitation for them too, one came yesterday and another today.

I am managing to stay away from the online sales invitations as we really don't need anything at the moment, so don't want to be tempted!

lucielle

That’s nice having an open house for your children’s friends. We were a family if 6 ( they’ve mostly moved out) so know what you mean. 

L