O/S Goals/Life changes for 2007

Aurora_2

Sone of my resolutions are the same as yours e.g.
Lose weight - I can do it when I stick to it - even though the losses can be maddeningly slow at times! And I'll try to do it by eating normal food, not from those ghastly recipes for devilled tiger prawns and pickled hummingbirds' tongues.
Last year I stuck to my resolve to get rid of at least 10 books a month, either through eBay sales or just giving them to charity shops. I replaced some of them with others but at least I changed the scenery a bit! I aim to do this again this year but hopefully increase the number . . .
Waste less food. I hate it when things expire before we've had a chance to eat them - I must be more realistic when shopping, about what I'm likely to cook in the immediate future.
Write a list of possible meals to choose when we come home from work and are too tired to think properly, which results in one of those dreary "What are we having for tea?" "I don't know, what do YOU want?" conversations. Meal planning will also help in this!
Have a car boot sale for things that won't shift on eBay - sometimes people need to see things in the flesh and then buy on impulse.
(Having mentioned car boot sales - can I urge people not to just blindly dump all their car boot sale left-overs on charity shops??? I work for a small animal charity and we cannot sell the type of things which we often acquire in this way. We get broken toys, soiled baby clothes, defunct furniture, battered old pans, torn lampshades and so on. While I am not suggesting that anyone who posts on this forum would do any such thing, it happens to us A LOT, so please spread the word about making sure that whatever is donated to charity is in good condition and SALEABLE. Charities spend hundreds, often thousands, of pounds annually, disposing of things that should have been recycled at the council tip. Think how much more money they would have to spend on the causes they represent, if they were not being used as an alternative form of tipping things.)
Another resolution I made is not to waste the time I have. In the evenings I will work through a list of tasks which tend to pile up because I don't use the time more constructively. They needn't be big tasks, maybe tidying a drawer or sweeping the kitchen floor. I have resolved that THIS will be the last evening I waste, though I felt more justified in wasting it today as we had my mother over for Christmas which means I get to sleep on the sofa . . . ouch. . . yawn . . .
Keep the house tidy and put clothes away as I wash/iron them.

Have a Happy New Year and I wish you all every success in keeping to your resolutions.

moggins

I am going to

Use my sewing machine.

Learn to follow a knitting pattern

Make more trips down the tip instead of hoarding things

Dig a third veggie patch in the garden (if next door don't get their planning permission, if they do I'll have to give up growing stuff altogether)

Start using things up before I buy more, I don't need to have 6 bottles of shampoo in the house at the same time.

nicola1982_2

Start getting into teaching - volunteer reading to kids in schools, research different teacher training options and clear debts to enable pay cuts associated with the training

Cut down drinking, perhaps save by making own wine (need to research!).

Start eating cheaper meats like rabbit from butchers!

vivw_2

moggins wrote:

Make more trips down the tip instead of hoarding things

QUOTE]


Please don't forget freecycle

moggins

I would love to remember freecycle if people ever bothered to come and pick things up. Unfortunately my experiences of freecycle have been a complete waste of time and I've now given up bothering with it.

Angelselondon

Hello All

Having admired you guys for 9 months I am ready to go through my resolutions OS for this year.

1. Walk to and from the underground station and loose a zone on my travel card.

2. Use up the tins of food in cupboard / frozen food in freezer.

3. Use up all toiletries before buying any more.

4. Whittle down the grocery budget to £180 per month (over half)

5. Learn to use the sewing machine.

6. Switch broadband provider.

7. Read all books in house and not buy any more / join library.

8. Take a packed lunch to work.

9. Put all change in money box to see how much I loose change I can save.

10. Review my resolutions each month to make sure I'm on target.

lil_me

1) Stock cupboard clear out & redo every month or so
2) Continue meal plans but properly and stick to it
3) Buy more fresh meats from local farm shop as it's lovely and I can cook it now
4) Get the children to eat more foods that are better for them (Mission Impossible)
5) Use slow cooker more that I have just got
6) Clear out all the clutter by February! (Open Uni start date) Charity shop/freecycle
7) Find a place for everything and keep everything in it's place
8) Toiletries cupbaord clear out before buying more
9) Invest in some more OS products
10) Shop online more as I spend less
11) Review housework routines and set them out so they are doable
12) Buy no more ready meals and much less take aways
13) Spend nothing on a credit card or catalogue, no more debt, buy what I have cash for
14) Learn how to cook more things from fresh
15) Loose weight with all the healthy cooking and exercise with the dogs etc
16) Stop impulse buying, make myself walk away and think if I need it
17) Set budgets for everything inc groceries etc and stick to it
18) Spending diary kept to
19) Be more organised and manage my time better
20) Enjoy life and spend more time with the children
21) Get DS2 out of nappies at bedtime
22) Sort a priority list for decorating and do it! I hate decorating!
23) Find my OS products I want cheaper and buy them
24) Use up all those unneccessary chemicals I buy and never buy them again
25) Make a household journal and use it
26) Make a recipe collection book
27) Find free meal plan/recipe software and use it
28) Grow some fruit/veg/herbs
29) Get the puppy house trained
30) Go on more walks

Well that should do, going to print it off and put it in my diary (got one already to keep me organised)

lady_noluck

Ok mine goes like this:

1. Buy more veg from the market instead of Tesco AND use it!! I'm forever buying stuff and forgetting to eat it then having to throw it away.

2. Stop buying chocolate and crisps fom the work vending machine just because i'm bored. Either take the stuff into work or not eat it at all!

3. Stop buying cookbooks and use the ones i've already got!! I bought a gorgeous fish one a few months back and i'm too sqeamish to even cook fish!! ( don't mind fillets, it's the scales and heads that bother me_pale_) The ultimate in wasting money *shakes head in disbelief*

4. Walk to my daughters house instead of driving. Its 5 minutes away :rolleyes2

5. Sell the copious amounts of junk i've managed to hoard over the last few years. Whatever doesn't sell goes to charity/freecycle. I mean I really don't need a baby travel cot when my daughter is 6 and i'm not planning on having any more babies for at least 4 years. It's gotta go!!

6. Decorate my bedroom. The whole house needs doing but i'll make a start there seeing as the other rooms are "bearable". It's been stripped of wallpaper for 2 years now!! Not "love inspiring" at allllll! If your bedroom says what kind of person you are then i'm a scruffy cow, dull, damp and have a huge crack!

7. Use up toiletries before buying more. Why is it I always have about 3 shampoos, shower gels and face washes on the go but always run out of toilet paper!! I'm sick of wiping my !!! on bounty yet can make it smell of coconut, mint or jasmine at any time!!

8. Save petrol by driving slower. A lot slower!!

9. Eat properly instead of having fully stocked cupboards/ fridge freezer and a "can't be bothered to cook" attitude. Freeze some meals for when I really, really can't be bothered.

10. Be nicer to the rabid old sheep and mad old cow who live with my wonderful father. (My nan and my mum) When I say be nicer I mean hold my breath and silently implode instead of telling them what I really think. (Think Blanche AND Norris from Corrie mixed with Catherine Tates Nan character plus a side serving of Pauline Fowler and you kinda get the picture.:eek: )

I'm gonna print them off and stick them to my fridge to remind me. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to them too. Well, till february at least. :rotfl:

hypno06

Having had a life changing year in 2006 (finally made the plunge to give up a safe career and start my own business), I want to build on this for 2007 and will include the following:

1. BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET!!!
2. review and use the contents of the cupboards and freezers before going shopping again.
3. get back into the coupon habit - something I have let slip over the years although I used to rely on them when the children were younger.
4. continue to plan my meals on a weekly basis.
5. Have Mondays as admin day - both business wise and family wise. Never let any paperwork go unmanaged beyond the following Monday.
6. Plant more veggies for 2007 - courgettes in 2006 were fantastic!
7. Maintain 2 stone weight loss achieved in 2006.
8. Enjoy life and appreciate what I have in my husband and children.

Happy new year to you all.

Prudent

thriftlady wrote:

5) This is my main goal for 2007 -I will lose weight on my frugal and earth-friendly diet. I will not be tempted by healthy eating plans that involve buying expensive cuts of meat or fish and out of season, much travelled fruit and veg. I can lose weight by eating English apples, carrots and oats (among other things of course) I do not need mango, Kenyan green beans and tiger prawns

May I join you?