Small Steps To A Bigger, Brighter Future

Evcakes

HI MT, just wanted to say well done on becoming debt free and now on your way to being mortgage free.

Keep up the good work, hope ebay brings a good boost x

MuffinTops

Thanks Evcakes. I'll definitely be pushing the eBay energy this weekend. x

BookWorm

Evening Muffintops

Just wanted to stop by and say hello. Enjoy the long weekend (well hour longer lol)

BW

Erme

MuffinTops wrote: »

My challenges this week are to:
Not consume any caffeine at all - this includes chocolate and caffeinated soft drinks etc.
Start exercising - This week it doesn't matter what it is, it just matters that I put exercise time aside and get into that routine.

I've put a lot of thought into getting a lodger through the week if I can, and I'm pretty sure I'll do it next year.

Caffeine and I may also have to part ways as I've not been sleeping lately . That'll be a sad day

Anyhow how is the exercising? What about couch to 5k (you can even download it for your phone or mp3 player) or like the pure gym? I've just joined the pure gym but have yet to even get the induction as have been sick and not sleeping

E

MuffinTops

Hi Erme,

Can you give yourself a time cut off for the caffeine to help with your sleeping but not meaning a complete withdrawal from it?

My exercising and everything is just not happening. I can't get my head on right! I do belong to a proper gym but again, no progress in that area.

MuffinTops

Well I think I've acheived a decent amount this weekend, although not as much as I'd have liked.

I got up early yesterday (Saturday) and did all of my housework and some clearing out. I also went to see SkyFall at the cinema as I was getting paid to go. I hadn't gotten around to inviting anyone and knowing I was going on my own I'd put it off as long as I could. But I had taken the job so I definitely couldn't let them downand I ended up going for the 9pm performance. The film was ok but not nearly as good, in my opinion, as some other Bond films. Although that could be my state of mind at the moment. I'm so glad I got the job done though.

Today I had to give in to the cold and put my heating on. I went around the house and bled all of the radiators and did think I was going to have to flush some out, but they're all currently working and spreading even heat around so that's a relief. Standing outside in the cold hosing my radiators through is not something that fills me with excitement right now!

Yesterday I also went shopping and bought a LOT of fruit, salad and veg. I'm hoping that some clean and fresh nutrition may give me a boost. So lots of fresh smoothies and side salads next week. I'm still feeling really down at the moment and just can't seem to snap out of it. Pretending I'm ok with everyone is taking up so much energy that I'm avoiding spending time with anyone! I know I need to shake it off so I hope the extra vitamins etc in the fruits and salad will help.

I've also given my bike another winter check over. I've pumped the tyres and added more bright lights. I've also given it a clean and cleared out my pannier bag. I'm not going to put any pressure on cycling tomorrow but I do need to push myself soon.

Shop and scan has been completed today and I'm up to date on surveys. So the extra money is building up slowly.

So stuff achieved but not enough to get on top of where I want to be. I need more ideas to push myself out of this slump!!!! I get paid on Wednesday so maybe that'll help when I see my mortgage reduce by another £1k again and can divide my little envelopes and jars of money around to encourage the NSD's. I really hope so!!!

x

icontinuetodream

Hi muffintops, just realised that you have a similar sized mortgage to me my interest rate is considerably higher though and I am paying around £196pm in interest :eek: although, i have just changed to an offset so hopefully this figure will drop considerably I have also joined the MFiT challenge, so will need to be putting similar amounts to the op's to get to where I want to be...don't know quite how I will get there though...but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained!!

Hopefully, in the three years, we will both succeed in our challenges....look forward to seeing you on the November Grocery Challenge and will also be cheering you on with the no caffine...I am cutting my intake down considerably from next week as I only drink soya lattes and its costing me a fortune!!

MuffinTops

Hello icontinuetodream,

That's really good to know we have similar mortgages and are both doing the MFiT(3) challenge. I'll definitely be in there to cheer you on.

To be honest, I have no idea how I'll achieve paying the full amount in that time but I know that the level I set myself is what I go for, so I didn't want to put a figure I didn't have to work hard for. This way I'll know that if it's not all paid up the maximum I could manage is off.

I do consider myself incredibly lucky with my interest, although yours isn't massively high at the moment. Hopefully you'll see a major improvement through your offset account now though.

Ooh, soya lattes are my favourite! They are expensive though. I'll definitely be cheering you on with cutting down. I've not found it easy!

MuffinTops

Right,

Kick up the rear time for me. I've again woken up feeling like it's all too much for a single girl and enough is enough. I hate feeling like this and I hate people moaning about feeling down and not sounding like they're doing much about changing that (ie. me right now)!!!!

So, I need a plan. A plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a fox!

I will think about what this plan will involve throughout the day and will be on later to write it all down and be accountable. Nothing major but a steady incline to get me moving around and cheering up!

I also need to remind myself of the positives in my life too! So another list! Yay!!! Lists!!!!

Happy Monday all. May this be the beginning of a great fresh week for us all. x

icontinuetodream

MuffinTops wrote: »

Right,

Kick up the rear time for me. I've again woken up feeling like it's all too much for a single girl and enough is enough. I hate feeling like this and I hate people moaning about feeling down and not sounding like they're doing much about changing that (ie. me right now)!!!!

So, I need a plan. A plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a fox!

I will think about what this plan will involve throughout the day and will be on later to write it all down and be accountable. Nothing major but a steady incline to get me moving around and cheering up!

I also need to remind myself of the positives in my life too! So another list! Yay!!! Lists!!!!

Happy Monday all. May this be the beginning of a great fresh week for us all. x

Don't worry muffintops, we all have times where we get resentful, despondent and pretty peed off if we're honest!!! Thing to remember is that you have been making an enormous amount of changes, and sometimes, especially when you are doing it alone, it feels too much of an uphill struggle....the reality is, that it takes an incredibly amount of strength to be able to make changes - we are, after all, creatures of habit and breaking those throws us out in all sorts of ways......the fact remains that you are making those changes, despite the difficulties and that you will continue to make them every day until you reach where you want to be.....we create our own reality, choose how we feel about things and sometimes, although it can be incredibly difficult, we need to remember that the brain is just a very sophisticated computer...it has been programmed for our entire lives to respond in certain ways....but...like all other computers, it is re-programmable and you are in the process of wiping the hard-drive and installing new software!! There are always glitches in new software

I have just read that back to myself....I sound preachy really sorry if it comes across that way....don't want to you to feel offended as I genuinely don't mean it like that.... just some random thoughts from me really...ignore all of it if you want and I will leave you with the .....don't worry, it will get better!!