Life Begins at ... 35?

Hello! :hello:

I used to be a very regular poster here - back in 2010 I was happy, had a decent job, was in a great relationship (or so I thought at the time), saving up for a house/wedding, all the things you do in your mid-late 20s.

At 28 my ex cheated on me and left.
At 29 my beloved Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
At 31 I jacked in my job and spent an unbelievably stressful year training to be a teacher.
At 32 I spent my NQT year in a really rough school with no support from management whatsoever.
At 33 I quit teaching and my dad died about four months later.
At 34 I found myself being bullied by management in a horrible job.

Someone once told me that life works in seven year cycles (something to do with Saturn?) so I’m hoping that this will be true in my case - the last seven years have been horrendous for me on all fronts so I’m hoping the next seven will be brilliant to make up for it.

My current situation is this:

- I live alone with my cat in the house I grew up in, which I own outright (so that’s one stress I don’t have - whatever happens I have a roof over my head!).

- Both my parents have died and I'm an only child. My elderly and increasingly infirm granny lives nearby and depends on me a lot, but I try to limit how much I do for her for my own sanity (I feel awful saying that but it's true).

- I have a decent amount of savings but these are rapidly being depleted (so I hope I’m welcome on the DFW board - I’ve always found it the friendliest, and I am aiming to *stay* debt-free).

- The only job I have is one Spanish evening class a week, which far from pays the bills and I don’t really want to keep long term as the preparation time needed is more than the pay is worth. But it’s a little bit of pocket money for now.

- I put on three stone while teaching and am still trying to lose it. Unfortunately I eat when I’m stressed, so…

- I have now been single for six years. I’ve had a few internet dates but nothing that didn’t make me want to enlist in a nunnery.



I’ve just returned from a wonderful, relaxing, rejuvenating holiday and have realised that my 35th birthday is 17 weeks away. I want to start that next phase of my life in a much better state than the one outlined above. I am surrounded by lists and ideas of what to do next. I’ve posted on a couple of threads on here and was thinking about bullet journals, project planners and all sorts, then I thought an online diary might keep me focused, even if no-one else reads it.

So, here I am. And this is my mission:

Get a grip on my finances -
What are my outgoings? What can I cut out? Limit my spending radically and keep a spending diary.

Find a job -
Any job, even a temp job for now.

Lose weight and improve my fitness -
I’ve been following Slimming World with varied success, and I recently paid upfront for a year’s leisure centre membership so I will be re-engaging with both of those.

Deep clean the house -
I recently bought Kim and Aggie’s book in a charity shop and it really inspired me. My house is a hovel.

Declutter and get organised -
I still have loads of teaching paperwork and Dad’s paperwork, plus my laptop files are in disarray and I have 2000+ photos clogging up my phone. I do Kondo in fits and starts so I need to gain some more momentum with this.

Decorate the house -
My bedroom is almost finished and I have everything I need for downstairs, I just need to roll my sleeves up.

Be proactive about my love life -
Yeah. This is the lowest priority at the moment.

Here goes…