Michelle's Big Push to Christmas Challenge

misscousinitt

Its not going too bad at the moment as I have had a head start on the health things.

Only had about 7 glasses of wine in the last month - going to have one tonight as its the weekend, but probably won't have anymore till next Friday.

Pumpkin & Sunflower Seeds have featured in my breakfast for 2 weeks now and thats going ok - taking porriage sachets to work and having them when I get there to stop me from skipping breakfast. My previous breakfasts only kept me going till 11am when at work - don't get the hunger pangs till about 12.30 now (lunch is at 1pm).

Haven't had a cup of tea (or coffee) for 2 weeks now, get an urge to have one occassionally, but have substitued with herbal/fruit teas and water. (Fortunately we have a water cooler at work).

Wealth - OP made today of £150 so £970/£1200 - well on for smashing target if I can keep up payments of £150 till the end of the year.

Rambling again, so will leave it there.

Lois_E

Mixed start to the month so far.

My health target was about being in bed by midnight 6 nights a week, but I got off to a terrible start by staying up really late last night. Will have to make sure I beat the Cinderella deadline for the other nights this week - at least it is only a part of a week to start with.

For Up the Ante I said I was going to walk up the rather large hill behind my house at least once a week. I actually did this on Wednesday 31st, so am going to count that. Well, I didn't go all the way up, because I had kids with me and they wanted to stop and play, but on the other hand I did part of it while giving a piggy-back to a three-year-old, so I think that makes up for it. :rotfl:

No OPs yet but no takeaways either.

pavlovs_dog

cha97michelle wrote: »

This is killing me already.

I was in bed for 10:45 last night. I was so silly though and started reading, and was reading till 1, even though I am completely shattered. I am now sat here like death again, drooling at the thought of a coffee, but I am going to resist. I even feel the start of a headache, but I am going to be strong.

I have so very little will power.

i'm trying to focus on one goal at a time and get that established, rather than try and make too many changes at once. I am thinking more about what I eat and drink, but my main mission this past week has been trying to get a bedtime routine established. I feel less underwhelmed because i'm not trying to make too many radical changes all at once, if that makes sense.

I like reading in bed too (although I find it makes me sleepy, even if it's a good book). If you know you get absorbed, why not set an alarm on your phone, and when it goes off, it's bedtime?

gratefulforhelp_2

cha97michelle wrote: »

Excellent idea 'chelle and will join in 1st of month review pavlovs.

wealth - buy nothing unless we really need it until Jan sales.

health - lose 2 stone, walk 40 min minimum weekdays.

up the ante - alcohol fridays and saturdays only, no excuses.

frugal fun - shave £100 off food budget each month.

Here I go, whhhheeeeeeee!

LilacPixie

mixed for me too. We are basically out of cash. £400 left until 1st october with dd1 turning 5 and a party to book gifts to buy before then.

pavlovs_dog

Health
1. Maintain my new sleep routine (bed by 10, lights out by 10.30) at least 5 nights a week.
done 5 nights straight so far, and am starting to feel the difference.
2. Get weight back down to 9 and a half stone
one lb seems to have disappeared (concentrated effort to not eat crap without making any huge effort to eat super healthy)
3. Eat better (more water, fruit and veg, less junk, take aways, meals out etc).
focus on this will really begin on Sunday, as that's when my sparkly new meal plan runs from.

Wealth
2. Earn £20 in vouchers (I'm very illdisciplined about doing them)
logged in today and did some surveys. (keep getting zoned out for being sprog free :cool:)

Opening balance/balance now/ points needed for redemption

Yougov: 525/575/5000
Ipsos: 3717/3797/1380 for £10
pigsback: 4113/4133/6000 for £20
onepoll: 3.45/3.45/40
mutualpoints: 2787/2787/3000
mysurvey: 1340/1355/1310

Up the ante
2) Organised head, organised home, organised life
Use my beautiful new moleskine diary and 'to do' list book to keep on top of things
working like a charm so far. surprising how motivating the want to cross things off a list can be


Frugal Challenge
2) Grocery budget from now - december 31st £650 or less (get a firm grip on it, with a view to reducing it from January).
big shop today came to just shy of £100. Cupboards are now bursting at the seams and I almost couldn't fit everything into the freezer :eek: Just need to do a small fruit shop on the Sunday so that it is fresh enough to last the week for doing my packed lunch for school.

I've made a loose meal plan for the month to use up most of our existing supplies and new ones over the next month. Going to try a new tactic with OH and see if it will help keep him on board. He finds meal plans very boring and restrictive, so rather than let on I've planned for the week (never mind the whole month), i'll do it on a day-by day basis... "I quite fancy this for tea tonight dear" or can we have X,Y oz Z with chips tonight?" Or I've cooked this, all you need to do is reheat it and cook the sidedish"

meal plan very loosely is

sun: roast or something that takes a bit more time/TLC to cook
Mon: rice based
Tues: cheap and cheerful
Weds: Pasta based
Thurs: vegetarian
Fri: Chip day
Sat: a little bit of what you fancy

each day isn't set in stone, but it really helps make meal planning easier for me to get my head around. Looking forward to very quick and cheap weekly top up shops for fresh bits instead of the hours we normally seem to waste in the supermarkets.

pavlovs_dog

LilacPixie wrote: »

mixed for me too. We are basically out of cash. £400 left until 1st october with dd1 turning 5 and a party to book gifts to buy before then.

could you postpone the party until October when your cashflow is a bit healthier? Or do a small party tea at home for close friends, rather than her whole class?

If you search on the old style forum there are several threads from people who have found themselves in the same predicament, and managed to pull off a smashing buffet for next to nothing.

remote_control

First christmas present bought today. £3 in a charity shop for a very new looking designer top. I will tell the person that I got it in a charity shop but it looks so good I don't think they'll mind at all.

I don't think I've done anything towards any of my other goals. oh dear.

Ruthy1604

Hi,

I'm a long time lurker and would love to join in with this challenge

So, here are my challenges

wealth - Start OP mortgage in September & get the balance in the £88Ks by Jan 2012 (currently £89K+) Previousy, I have been disheartened by the tiny effect that the OP's I can afford will make, but I am determined to start.

health - lose 5lbs before my hols in October. I go to SW & have just got back within my target range after a blip, but I want to lose more so that I can eat what I want on hols. I also want to continue to run 3 times a week and not find excuses. The kids go back to school next week & that will mean I'll have to get up earlier I recently completed the Couch to 5K programme (took me a lot longer than 9 weeks tho), so I really want to keep it up.

up the ante - I am going to try for no takeaways or meals out until our hol, then maybe once per month in Nov & Dec. I am going to get back to doing surveys to get vouchers for Xmas - I have recently got sidetracked by Farmville :eek: I am also going to stop drinking wine except for Thursdays & Saturdays (we take turns with our friends to host an open house on Thursdays so no wine isn't an option unless i'm driving). But I will open no more than 1 bottle of my own wine per week.

I am also going to clear our the kids clothes and sell them at our local NCT sale this month.


frugal fun - I am gonna try to spend more quality time with DH, without going out and spending money.

Work - I have a full time job, but I also do some accounts at home. MY september challenge is to do the 2 sets of accounts sitting on my home office floor, and also do last years tax return. I know I will feel better for doing then, but I am findng any excuse at the moment.:o

Hum - now I've written it down, I am going to have to achieve at least some of these!

Ruth

pavlovs_dog

Ruth if you found following the C25k helpful (even if it did take you more than 9 weeks), have you thought about doing couch to 10k (which usually builds on what you've learnt during C25K) to give you something to work towards?