What Do You Want To Learn in 2012?

RedLass

In 2011 I learned:

- Where all our money was going
- How to budget
- That a little overpayment each month can get rid of those debts in half the time
- How to bulk out food and rubberise the chicken
- That cheaper baked beans are a winner, but I can't compromise on tinned tomatoes
- To check Mr T website before I go shopping to see if there are any special offers worth looking out for
- That all this MSE, thrifty stuff floats my boat! :j

For 2012 I would like to learn:

- That becoming debt free and saving a cushion of money takes TIME. It will not happen overnight, no matter how impatient I get!
- How to make the most of my slow cooker, including how to minimise the time it takes me to setup in the morning (I'm rubbish with mornings)
- To pick up small gifts for people throughout the year when I see them/think of them, rather than getting to Christmas, not knowing what to buy, and splurging on meaningless stuff
- That there is no guilt in not "doing" anything. Taking time to relax properly is invaluable, especially if you have a lot to do ahead of you (so I'm told)
- What the random things in my store cupboard can be knocked into when the fridge is a bit bare (and how not to let this become an excuse for takeaway)
- How to use things like Quidco?! What they are, how they can work for me etc.
- What veg I can grow easily in pots (rented - not my garden to dig up!)

Other general aims for 2012:

- Do everything I can to hit that DFD in the summer
- Start saving for that once in a lifetime holiday
- Have a proper declutter in January (I should set aside things for boot sale in the spring, but I've never done this before, and the idea makes me nervous, so it might all end up at the charity shop!)

rosieben

Nest year I'd like to:

1. learn to crochet. I can manage a chain and rounds but would like to learn more

2. learn how to follow a sewing pattern properly so I can make some clothes

3. learn how to sew up a knitted sweater tidily!

4. do more scrapbooking and card making; I have a room full of supplies for different techniques but never make the time to try them out

5. learn to NOT dip into my savings! I might try the sealed pot or £1 a day some have mentioned, thanks

McpPsl

I want to learn how to dance (Ballroom) properly so that I can compete in the British National Ballroom Dance Championships at Blackpool in November 2012.

nannygladys

Like a lot of people I would like to learn to say no if its not right for me.
I would like to get more sleep at night instead of catching up in the day.
I would like to be more organised.
I would like to pay more money off my debts to get them paid off quicker.
I would like to sort my mortgage out with the BS.
and I would like to take up knitting and sewing again, I used to do both when my kids were young but gave up donkeys years ago!
I WILL DO THESE THINGS

v8monkeyboy

In 2012 I want to:

Carry on learning sign language - I learned it when I was working on a deaf ward earlier this year and can still maintain a conversation (I even dream in sign!), but I want to learn more and get better.

Learn that cleaning the house once a week, even if it's the flylady way, is the way forward, and that leaving it for weeks does NOT make it go away...

Understand that doing the interval training I've started will become a way of life and is not an em!!!!!!ance, and that it will help me to stay fitter and lose more weight

Learn not to be so negative and look for all the good things in life which are so often missed



T x

tink1981_2

In 2012 I'd like to

• Learn to use the sawing machine I got for my birthday this year and use it to make some home made christmas presents
• Make the most of the veg patch we have just dug in the back garden
• Complete the sofa to 5k programme
• Loose at least a stone
• Walk the Dales Way
• Finish un-packing the boxes from our move back in June
• Cycle to work at least [STRIKE]once[/STRIKE] twice a week rather than use the car/motorbike
• Read more
• Not be so rubbish at keeping in touch with friends
• Keep on top of the house work rather than letting it turn in to a total bomb site
• Make a budget and stick to it

Eek!... Looks like it'll be a busy year, although really should be able to acheive it all... fingers crossed :j

VJsmum

mrswive wrote: »

I really want to learn how to make lined curtains next year. I sort of know how to do it in my head, but the journey from inside my head to the finished article is a series of disasters waiting to happen!
I don't know whether it will be best to follow instructions from the web, get a book out of the library with step by step instructions, or to sign up for a class and actually make them under instruction. I figure the course will probably cost about the same as having a pair of curtains made, but from there on I'll know how to do it myself.
Opinions gratefully received!

I have done this - it's ok, the biggest problem is the linings can "bag" outwards rather than "sticking" to the line of the curtain. My efforts have been ok tho - give it a go!

AwkwardAnnie wrote: »

*be brave enough to take the children away for a small holiday (it will be our first as just the three of us and I'm a litle nervous)

Welcome AwkwardAnnie (great name, my mum used to call me that!). My SIL was widowed suddenly last year and she has taken the 2 small children on PGL type holidays (one last year and one this) so that she has been with lots of other families and there were lots of activities for them to do. NOt sure of the cost tho.

tenuissent

To Awkward Annie: when my children were 5, 6 and 7 I started to take them youth hostelling by bicycle (5yr old on my bicycle). We had terrible cheap old bikes from the market, battered panniers full of things in plastic bags. It seemed like a TREMENDOUS adventure to cycle to the nearest Youth Hostel and stay a night and cycle back again.

It does not sound like much, but they loved it and even helped to choose and cook their evening meal at the hostel. Lots of people to talk to, things to do.

We spread our wings and a few years later were regularly cycling through France and Spain. The holidays had to be cheap and they were.

One reason I started doing this was an increasing nervousness I felt steadily enveloping me as I brought up these babies born only a year apart, never went anywhere or did anything, husband busy and impatient with the needs of babies and toddlers. It did wonders for me, and my grownup children have never forgotten it.

And it showed them you have to learn other languages to make your way in the world. And it made them stronger and more independent.

salome

Hi

On top of my list is to be better organised :-)
I homeschool, and I'd like to do more sewing etc with my daughter, not at the expense of academic stuff, but sometimes I think I concentrate too much on that, and not enough on 'getting through in life' So I'm going to reinstate the sewing machine, spruce her up a little, and have a sewing, craft day :-)
I'd like to learn to spin.
My husband has a wood turning lathe, I'd love to learn to use it.
Finish off all my unfinished knitting, and craft things
Learn to use 'craft toys' I've bought, i.e knitting looms, and weaving looms etc.
Get my garden sorted out, and things planted and grown in pots (not enough room for a veggie patch)

My list could go on for ever, lol, so I'll make these my aims for 2012

x
Sort out our store room, so I can get in it :-)

doodoot

This thread has really started me thinking...which is sometimes a bad thing. :rotfl:

• Concentrate more on my Uni studies to ensure I get at a 2:1 - a 1st is out of the question now due to a lot of stress last semester.
• Use the car less to save on petrol - I've already started this by taking the kids halfway to school.
• Only dip into my savings account when it's an emergency.
• Bake more HM bread for the kids' lunchboxes.
• Check the freezers BEFORE going shopping so that I don't double up on food that I already have plenty of.
• Pay off my CC - got £400 to go!
• Enrol at College in September and do a Teaching Assistant course.
• Give myself 24 hours to think about buying something after seeing it - impulse purchase buying is my major downfall.

Hopefully I'll be working from January onwards, as I'll only have 1 evening Uni class...plus DH has been told he's top of the list for a job starting at the end of January so life will be a little easier cashwise. :j