Positive Thinking for 2013

taplady

JackieO - lovely that you have got all your family joining in:T

I like listening to radio 4 extra when I'm in the kitchen - some brilliant stories and plays. I love The Clitheroe Kid - way before my time but still really funny:)

I've started saving more and am trying to keepo out of the food shops as longas possible.

Loving all the positivity here:T

fletch3163

emslovesmickey wrote: »

Well i've started well i think. I've had a go on my exercise bike this morning, been for a walk, written 1500 words and have downloaded some educational podcasts to listen to when i'm walking to work and during my breaks.

That's a fantastic idea. Think I shall copy you (if I knew how to download onto this Chaos thing I have). That will use two of my hopes for the year - 10,000 steps and learning. Thanks for that :T

Goldiegirl

[QUOTE=taplady;58278699

I like listening to radio 4 extra when I'm in the kitchen - some brilliant stories and plays. I love The Clitheroe Kid - way before my time but still really funny.

Loving all the positivity here:T[/QUOTE]

OMG, I remember The Clitheroe Kid being on the radio when I was little!

I also used to like Round The Horne. I didn't get all the jokes at the time, but listening to it later in life, I realised it was full of innuendo!

tattooed_lady

kippers wrote: »

We have had the worst year ever, my daughter was off school for 3 months with really bad asthma, then my FIL was in hospital for weeks with menigintus and we thought we were going to lose him, my old friend is really really poorly with a brain tumour and our bed broke so we had to buy another, my oven packed up etc etc....BUT WE ARE STILL HERE TO TELL THE TALE...and that's got to be a good thing.

I can't denigh I feel 'old and tired' now but we have a roof over our heads and my DH is working and my two teenage girls are doing well at school.

I have four allotments which have been really hard to maintain this year with everything going on...but I have managed it.

I am proud of us for getting through this year and 2013 can surely only be better can't it.

By the way, I've just spent an hour looking back at some of my post since I joined this forum and my goodness I've come a long way and this is something I can now add to list of 'things I'm proud of'.

Lovely, positive post Kippers :T

XSpender

What a lovely thread. I am 'a glass half full' person most of the time but can get frustrated and stressed with the pressure of been a full time working mum to a 2 yr old while completing 3 qualifications this year and with a promotion starting next month to add to the pile.

My list includes:

Spend the first 6 months focused on completing my qualifications and putting the effort into my promotion as it is only for 6 months and if I want to continue in the role I need to demonstrate the value I bring to the team.

Spend the 2nd 6 months focused on me and my family. I want to do some craft projects. I got a sewing machine for Christmas in 2011 and it has never been out of its box. Most of the crafts are gift ideas for 2013/2014. I would like to learn how to crochet too.

Learn to cook more meat dishes. Having been a veggie for 25 years I have had to go back to eating meat for health reasons and haven't a wide repertoire of recipes. I will also ensure my diet is as healthy as it can be but with a few treats thrown in.

Pay off our secured loan. This will give us so much more financial freedom and allow us to save for the house we want to move to in 2014. I feel this is really a achievable this year and is motivating us to budget and save like we never have before.

I want to spend more time doing stuff as a family. When you work all week it is easy to spend all weekend doing chores and catching up with the housework but I want us to create family memories and make our DS childhood magical.

Think very carefully about taking on another qualification in September. Yes I have always wanted a degree but is it better to wait 12 months or more or start in 2013?

Finally, all this talk of radio 4 has reminded me how much I enjoy it but find little time to listen to it at home so I am going to see what programmes I can download to listen to.

[Deleted User]

Happy new year everyone

I have made a positive start and began work on my wool stash yesterday, making a lovely jumper from pure wool, so now that is on-going

Several food bits and pieces also prepped from my stores, main meal using duck legs that have been lurking, I accidentally saw a nigella clip and was very happy to see her roasting duck legs surrounded by diced potato. I am very pleased with that because I have been wondering what to do with them, anyway that is one item cleared. Mixed dried fruit is now soaking with cinnemon stick and I have plans to make lovely granola from stores

Christmas tree is going today and seed propagator is coming out. I am just planning to sow a few seeds of chillis and lettuces. I love seeing seeds emerge into life, with a promise of spring

Slowly but surely for me and that does have to start with my stores and stashes

forever_saving

Happy New Year everyone!
Like you kittie, i have plenty of wool. I'm not really blessed with great knitting skills but can knit easy things, handwarmers, hats and scarves. I may as well use it up.
Use my diary/journal daily so that i can keep track of spending.
We want to try and overpay on our mortgage this year. We may not be able to overpay every month but will give it our absolute all.
Try to stick to the grocery budget.
Keep the allotment as productive as we can. We didn't do too bad last year, the weather wasn't kind to us. Must remember to keep sowing seeds. Last year we sowed seeds, say lettuce when we had almost run out. So we didn't have a constant supply. We have plenty of seeds now, so no need to buy any this year.
FS

MummyEm

We had a lovely day yesterday. It was beautifully bright and sunny. Spent a little time in the garden and even hung the washing outside to dry! It was still a little damp when DH brought it in but has dried overnight on airers and smells lovely, such a nice change to damp clothes all over the house.

We also went for a family bike ride. Dropped in on some friends who joined us too. It was lovely to be outside after being cooped up over Christmas and the sun was a welcome change after all the rain of late. DD is now riding really well on her own. We'd put waterproof trousers on so we all had a great time riding through the puddles. DD's (aged 5) had water halfway up her wheels going through the deeper ones, and mud splatter right up to the hood of her coat! Hopefully DS will be riding by this time next year so we can all be on our own bikes which will be great. Spoke to DH about this last night, we're planning to get DS a 'proper' bike for his birthday (he's currently on a balance bike or bike seat on the back of ours) so we'll start looking out for a decent secondhand one for him.

We have big plans for 2013. We are starting a big house extension/renovation in a few week and DH may be starting a new job in April. It will be a busy year, but we don't mind being busy and by the end of the year the house and garden should be lovely (the mortgage won't be but we'll hit that hard in 2014 ).

[Deleted User]

Wow I am so impressed by all of you,I can't believe that one small post has brought out so many positive thoughts and inspirations.
The bike riding sounds an excellent idea (I wish I could as I loved to ride a bike when younger) but sadly my joints won't allow it, but a slightly longer walk will help a bit I think for those of us who perhaps can't manage two wheels anymore.

The Radio Four extra sound brilliant.I can only get that on my cable t.v. although I only live 40 odd miles from London there is a problem locally with receiving digital radio.But I could get it on my computer perhaps .
I loved Round the Horn and though Kenneth Horne was one of the most under-rated comics of his day (it was also fairly cutting edge stuff at the time )Jules and Sandy were hilarious (although at the time I didn't really realise why)and Hancock was just pure comic genius and we all learned his scripts almost by heart when I was young.

Today I have to take a big pile of books already read to the charity shop which I will do with my shopping trolley and also some odds and ends that I really don't need anymore.

I have a day off from the boys as DD is at home waiting for the plumber to come this morning to replace her downstairs loo for her.So I have a child-free day.

I shall potter around and catch up on all sorts of things I have a couple of picture to put up that have been sitting on the side for far too long and a few letters to write to folk.


I had a nice suprise this morning when I looked at my banking Southern Water have refunded me £100.00 that had been overpaid so thats going straight into my holiday fund.
We are all off to the Isle of Wight for a fortnight in August so now is the time to start thinking about the ice cream fund (usually the 'road kill' jar) that's pennies I have found thrown away on the street.Last year I collected £29.78 in 'shrapnel' from the street.I can't believe how many folk throw away odds and ends of cash in coppers.I don't mind though as it helps to pay for my DGS ice creams on holiday :)

Also today I have to start clearing my hall and stairs as I have the stair-lift chap coming on Friday to install my lift I'm really pleased about it as it means I will be able to get up and down my stairs more easily that I do. I live in a small house with almost verticle stairs:)
I am also going to sort out the kitchen cupboards and do a stocktake of the stuff I have .No more 'double buying' of things I seem to have far too much stuff in store so I am going to work out how much I have and work out a menu to start using it up.
More savings towards the holiday then

Well done with all your ideas I think we will all feel better for looking forward to this year instead of being gloomy, look at what we can do and ignore what we can't change.
I can't ride a bike anymore ,but I can swim so I can get my extra exercise from that

I am also going to smile a lot more than I did,have you noticed how few folk seem to smile much these days Ok so maybe we haven't much to grin about, but a good way to smile that costs nothing is to look around a card shop at some of the jokey cards, it always make me smile(even if they are a bit saucy at times) years ago when you went to the seaside there was always comic postcards to read on the front,they seem to have vanished along with most seaside places, but there are an abundance of cards shops near to where I live and it costs nothing to look
So come on chums lets see a few more smiley faces in the street its infectious and costs nothing and folk do respond to a bright smile as a rule
So if you live in north Kent and see a barmy old woman with a trolley load of books today smiling at you then please smile back as it could be me :):)

Justamum

tattooed_lady wrote: »

I have started by deciding that we will not be buying any Xmas presents in 2013 for anyone other than our children, and I have already told some of the extended family, who took it well.

I expect they were quite relieved really - there's nothing worse than the feeling of obligation to buy a present because someone has bought you one. I taught my DD1 this a few years ago when buying Christmas presents for all her friends was getting out of hand (all having to be funded by me :eek:) I suggested a Secret Santa to her, and that's what they do. It's much cheaper for me too (she doesn't yet have a job and doesn't get pocket money)

tattooed_lady wrote: »

I am also in the process of being weaned off anti-depressants after having been on them for 4 years, so I need to be positive as I don't know how I'm going to feel !!:eek:

Good luck. I've been through that myself and I won't kid you, it's not a pleasant experience, but you'll feel much better afterwards. I had to keep halving my dose until I was on literally a crumb. Even coming off that tiny bit wasn't nice. I'm sending positive vibes to you and a :grouphug: