Life Laundry - inspired by cantcope

Anastacia

Very long post – bare with me (or is it bear ?)

With way too much time on my hands at the moment I am looking at my life in too fine a detail.

Bad Points
OH has depression & can be difficult to live with and spends thoughtlessly on ‘bad’ days.
I waste too much money frittering it away on nothing, which may be connected to this.
I am overweight, which I think is like the unnecessary shopping & a means of temporary happiness & long term anguish.
I have two teenage boys that can be a handful at the moment.

Good Points
OH is on the improve & his meds have actually been slightly reduced.
I am a happy little soul when don’t have time to dwell on problems!
Teenage boys are lovely on the whole.
Although I consider I waste money I don’t really waste much, I am just aware that I could save a lot more if I planned better & didn’t shop for pleasure from time to time.
I am on a good salary & my debts compose a loan for car repairs (on a car, which should last us the rest of our lives, given the amount we have spent on it. Grr.) and a one-off house extension..
I have found this site & the lovely people on it, who have already saved me a small fortune

The idea
We have hols and all sorts of odd things coming up through August so I am making plans for radical changes from September onwards. I was wondering if anyone else would like to join me in making a few life laundry plans. I would also like suggestions to add to list of potential changes.

Plans
Finance – Maximise income & minimise outgoings. Already done with the help of this site but time to step it up a gear. Spending diary, mortage pig, mystery shopping, AQA etc
Food & nutrition- Move towards organic food without letting the expense run away with us. This will include eating less & growing more of own veg in garden & allotment. Also meal planning and more planned shopping.
Happiness factor-Ensure more fun in our day-to-day lives, again without breaking the bank. Mystery dining etc, Make more effort to get free tickets to events.
Set goal – You can acheive goals if you dont set any so ....Something like, clear debts & mortgage, save for holiday house ( as kids will never be able to afford to leave home, I may have to at some point), lose weight & be generally fitter, and mostly enjoy every day like it was a holiday. This last one is stumping me a bit but my sister & her husband seem to manage it, even though they are very careful with their money. I might just stalk her a bit until I get some ideas !

Any body else ready to try turning some dreams into reality in 2006 ?

Mrs_Arkwright

I have signed to a GCSE Law course to study from home from September. And I am also losing weight - I have lost 7.5lb so far, but have a long way to go! So I'll join you

spud30

I seem to have fallen into a new job that is term time only. :j

From this Thursday, for the first time ever, I will be able to spend six whole weeks with my kids.

They are now 10 and 8, so will not appreciate this for many more years, so I intend to make the most of every minute, DFW style of course. :T

My youngest has some attention problems and probable dyslexia, so any advice on how I can help would be appreciated.

No long term plans at the moment in the Spud household, as we are in the early stages of a DMP, but we will get there.

Anastacia

spud30 wrote:

My youngest has some attention problems and probable dyslexia, so any advice on how I can help would be appreciated.

OH is dyslexic too. Its is one of the things that i think started his depression. It was undiagnosed for so long & he really lost confidence in himself. However we then discovered Davis Dyslexia. When you understand how a dyslexic brain works then everything else just falls into place. They are so much brighter than us but the way the world works just doesnt suit them without adjusting it a little bit. Find a Davis dyslexia co-ordinator & you wont beleive the difference it can make to your life.
Good luck

Anastacia

Essex-girl_2

Sorry to hijack this thread but can someone tell me what AQA is please.

spud30

Thanks Anastacia,

My OH is also dyslexic. He is far more intelligent than I can ever hope to be, and DS is very much like him.

We got an info DVD from Dore. He is the millionare that researched the condition after his daughter became suicidal. That was fascinating to watch, and DS could see from the film that that was what is wrong with him. Treatment at Dore involves exercises to improve balance and the results are amazing. Problem is, it costs almost £2000 for the course of treatment. :mad:

I will have a look at Davis Dyslexia, but obviously, funds are tight at the mo :mad:

Anastacia

Any Questions Answered. You get paid for answering questions as far as I can see. See Emilys thread 'can i clear a debt a month for more details'!
Anastacia

lynsayjane

hmmm this sounds like a super plan. i'm up for a bit of life laundry! lord knows theres not any aspect of it that doesn't need a bit of fixing!

ok for 2006 i aim to,
-finish my flat totally...will have been here five years in oct so hope to have it done by then and i'll have a big party! yes your all invited!

-lose the last of my weight and get to between 9.5 and 10st, less than a stone to go!!! hopefully by september when i stop going to the gym

-get myself a better paying job, even if it's just temporary till i go back to uni, it'll help sort out more debt

-try and clear as much of credit cards as possible!

-work my hardest at higher english when i start that

LJD1_2

I'm up for this too.

Inspired by this thread i've gone ahead and googled about doing a body massage course in September. Existing clients have been asking me to add this to treatments I already do so i'm signing up on Tuesday.

I'm also attacking one room a week from tomorrow. Ok, it'll take me the whole of the school holidays but by September it'll be sorted and that's also when I start my next OU course so i'll be busy.

I'm going to sell one thing a week on ebay to make a bit of cash and declutter.

I'm going to lose half a stone too.

Thanks for a good idea and I look forward to seeing how you get on!

PeachPickle

My aim is in my sig

Good luck everyone!

Anastacia

spud30 wrote:

Thanks Anastacia,

I will have a look at Davis Dyslexia, but obviously, funds are tight at the mo :mad:

Its £25 for an hour but there is a self help book. Also i think you can get referred on the national health. It is so worth it, I cannot recommend it enough. Its made such a change o the old man.