Frugal Frump to Fab-u-lous Dharrrrrrrling Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox

Bitsy_Beans

Ladies, gents and general lurkers

Today marks the next chapter of the frugal to frump thread.
We decided to run it from Solstice to Equinox and Equinox to Solstice allowing short term goals over the 3 month period.

Feel free to chip in with any tips, advice or ideas - everything is welcome here. If you lurk I hope you'll dip a toe in the sea of posting and join in once in a while

Bottom line is changing your habits and replacing them with new ones is a marathon not a sprint. Take as many baby steps as you need, after all you didn't become a frump overnight. However the important thing is to actually TAKE THAT STEP. Do that and you can take another and another and another.......

So first step is to wear perfume. Every day. Doesn't take long to do, seconds to squirt it on. It's not going to slow you down or get in the way of your busy day but its a reminder that you're worth taking care of. If you don't like perfume thats OK, perhaps find a shower gel or scented soap you can use in the shower or bath. Or if you can't use those sorts of items maybe make an effort to wear a favourite piece of jewellery, whatever works for you

Link to last thread is here


Morning peeps to the next installment
Boy these three months do fly by. Today is a new chapter and what I've learned is life can't half take over and leave your good intentions faaaaaaar behind

So redecorating is finished and whilst keeping the house show home clean is a full time job it's no excuse for not taking better care of myself.

I need to make ME a priority, even if its just 5 minutes.
I think the Flylady idea of 15 minutes is a good one. What can you do for YOURSELF for just 15 mins a day? Meditate? Stretch? Quick facial mask? Pluck those eyebrows? Read a chapter of a new book? Possibilities are endless. Imagine what you could do if you applied that 15 minutes more than once a day

ETA Bratz enjoy Yule, hope you have a wonderful celebration xx

indiepanda

Ok, I am joining in this time round, here are my goals:-

- To shed at least 1 stone in weight (I'm 3-4 stone overweight, a pound a week seems achievable)
- To get active - do more than just walk to and from the bus stop each day (I'm exercising twice a week at the moment but want to do more)
- To wear make up to work every day (I practically never wear make up to work, but I know I feel more confident when I do)
- To stretch on my foam roller at least 3 times a week (had an injury to my knee and physio says I need to stretch more)
- To do a manicure and pedicure once a week (my hands and feet are a bit of a disgrace)
- To turn off the computer by 9pm every evening and have at least two nights a week without using the computer at all (am sure I am messing up my sleep by using the computer too late)
- To continue to participate in the "no buying unnecessary toiletries" challenge (my stash is immense!)
- To complete night time beauty routine every day (I often wait till I am so tired to go to bed that I end up going to bed not cleansing / moisturising which is silly because night time is meant to be the best for skin repair)

Good luck to everyone else with their goals x

podperson

Thanks for starting the shiny new thread Bitsy :T
Will defintately be carrying on - long way to go yet! plus it's such a wonderfully supportive group of people and I hope everyone stays with us (and new people are welcome *waves at Indiepanda*) I'll have a think of some goals for the New Year I think, with last min Christmas things to do and going down to visit family next week then not going to have much time and want to have a plan put down.

Feeling a bit less panicked today, braved late night shopping last night and managed to get most of the xmas stuff sorted out - just a few bits to hopefully get sorted tomorrow. Can't believe it's only 4 days off now :eek: Was lovely not to have to dissertation write last night, thinking tonight am going to try and get on with the wrapping - maybe with a wee glass of baileys and a Christmassy movie
Hope everyone's having a good day x

indiepanda

podperson wrote: »

Will defintately be carrying on - long way to go yet! plus it's such a wonderfully supportive group of people and I hope everyone stays with us (and new people are welcome *waves at Indiepanda*)

Thank you :-)

Hewie29

Thanks Bitsy for starting the new thread.

Well I have so much that I want to take control of next year but also have so much going on.

Will have a think about my goals over the next couple of days and post them, must remember the elephant.

WelshWoofer

Bitsy_Beans wrote: »

Boy these three months do fly by. Today is a new chapter and what I've learned is life can't half take over and leave your good intentions faaaaaaar behind

You are sooo right Bitsy - life has left me behind a bit over the last few weeks. I need to do some serious fabbing catch up!
Thanks for starting us off again - I need a kick up the bum!

Hello to all the regulars and welcome to any newbies!:wave:

I have finally finished school - went to church with 500 yr 10 and 11s this morning - bit of a carol service and a youth church group doing the presenting and acting etc. Wasn't too bad and I even caught a lot of the rufty tufty boys singing along :rotfl:
We finished at lunchtime and so I grabbed the chance to pop into the hairdressers to see if he could trim my fringe (I looked a bit like a Dulux dog). He's a superstar and gave me a quick free chop in between clients and so I now look a million times better already. Have made an appointment for next Friday to have an overhaul and a proper cut and colour so will be back on track hair wise.
Then whizzed round Sainsbobs and picked up a few more last minute Christmas pressies - all finished now, just need to wrap them.
The dog seems much better and so took him for a 25 min walk in the drizzle before having a sit down and a rest.

Right, time for my fabbing goals over the next 3 months....

• To lose 5 lbs and keep them off - I weighed this morning and am now 1lb heavier than when I finished my "diet" and I don't want to put any more back on and could do with firming up a few wobbly bits
• To finish my 10km run on March 1st for charity without walking at all - need to get back into some serious training
• To start properly training for the 1 mile open water swim - can do the distance ok but would like a better time
• To make myself take off my makeup every night - I am still rubbish at this
• To keep up the basic fabbing routine - am quite good at scrubs, face masks, moisturising and keeping nails tidy but could be more polished in general
• To get some more money saved in the bank for emergencies

That's about it for now - I may rethink or add to it later.

Looking forward to seeing everyone else's lists - might pinch a few ideas.:)

HeadAboveWater

Hello Newbie here!! Decided this would be a good thread for me to join!! Hope that's ok!!

Haven't read the last thread yet as I need a bit more time, but hopefully I'm on the right track!

Don't have any specific goals at the minute, would maybe need to sit and think about it for a while, but generally more 'me time' will be my main aim!

I've been struggling on and off with 'me' for a while. I'm now on my second 'self-help' stay happy book (!!). Trying this before I head off to pay for a counsellor!! lol. I've mentioned the first book a few times on my diary and def recommend them. Has certainly changed my way of thinking!

More exercise would be a good one for me. I walk to and from work which is great, but the rest of the day I sit on my butt!! Gotta sort it out!!

I shower every day but have got out of the habit of moisturising anything except my face and hands! When I eventually get around to getting an appointment to get my legs waxed, it's a blast panic of 2 days intense guilty moisturising, but the beautician usually still tells me off for not being consistent! :rotfl:

I need more time with my girlie friends (can I count this?!) Even once a month would be great. I live with OH and his 3 teenage daughters, and I honestly need some space sometimes.

Was never a regular perfume wearer. Would only have be at the weekends or if I was going out, but I have recently started to wear something every day. No point having all those fab smelling bottles of perfume sitting collecting dust!

Hopefully manage to get a few more ideas (and encouragement!) from others on here. It'll be interesting to see how I get on!

Back soon for more

Rummer

A tiring and totally rotten day for me so far today so I am delighted to see a new thread :j

Bitsy_Beans

Rummer wrote: »

A tiring and totally rotten day for me so far today so I am delighted to see a new thread :j

New start Rummer, especially if you're Mayan

Headabovewater welcome to the thread

Hewie hugs for you, how is your mum? Has your dad accepted the news a little more? Xx

Indie panda welcome

Podperson you're so right, lovely bunch of gals on here

lessonlearned

Hello Everyone and a Happy Solstice to one and all. The sun is on it's way back to us. :j

Thanks Bitsy for starting a lovely new thread - onwards and upwards, always remembering the elephant - one bite at a time.;)

Hello and welcome to Indie and Head - and yes time with girlfriends definitely counts. Time with friends is good for our fabbing. I love and cherish my girlfriends. A good chat and giggle with a friend lifts the spirits. I'm definitely going to build more time for friends, family and loved ones into my schedule for next year.

Head - I'm a great fan of learning how we can improve our emotional health and well being, there are some great self help books out there.

This last week or so I have been looking at "Inspirational Quotes" and "Inspirational Video Clips" on google. There are some great tips and lots of advice out there and it's all free.

During my de-cluttering I came across some notes from various seminars I have attended. I'm compiling them into my journal to keep and I will be happy to share them with you in the New Year if anyone is interested.

By all means pay for a counsellor if you think you need to - never feel embarrassed about investing in yourself. However, you might find the support and encouragement you get from here means you can save your money and allow you to treat yourself to something you really need/want/or would just like. A little indulgence is good for the soul.

I agree there are a great bunch of gals on here and I really truly appreciate all the support and encouragement that has come my way.

Thanks to everyone for all your kind words, all the postive vibes and all your good wishes. You've all lifted my spirits more than once.

I haven't quite formulated my plan of attack for the New Year just yet but yes there are changes that need to be made;)

It has been a difficult year, however, I do feel that I have climbed a small mountain and have made great progress. It has to be said that at times it has felt like a superhuman effort. It has taken it's toll but I have come through my trials and tribulations.

I am still here, metaphorically bruised and battered but still kicking, ready to bounce back. Next year .........

Today I did a mega shop, made some phone calls, had a bit of mini blitz so like PP - tonight it's a rest on the sofa and a Christmassy film - tonight it will be "Love Actually".

Time for a Bailey's or two.......

esmy

Aaarghh just did a long post and lost it - blame the Gin!

Can I join please? Long time lurker here. Be back tomorrow with my goals..