The '101 days to change our lives' challenge

andan

Hi all,

A big shout out and congratulations to everyone who has continued with this challenge and have achieved anything big or small from what they set out to achieve.

Well done patentgirl on loosing the weight and well done tete en l'air on continuing to go out there in your car and having achieved such a life changing goal.

I currently have just 12 days left of this challenge. Here is my progress so far.



Day 89 for me.

1) Finally pass my driving test (Been learning for almost two years and still rubbish) My driving instructor has finally shown me how to reverse bay park, so have been out this morning with my fella practicing. I feel my driving is going from strength to strength and although i am not yet ready for the test i have increased my confidence incredibly. I feel a lot of this is down to me having my own car, i am doing so much more driving and having to reverse a lot more so my skills are improving. Although i won't achieve it within this challenge, i am happy with the progress i have made.

2) Make some new friends (am new to the area and don't really know anyone) I have made two great friends thanks to gumtree and have been talking to some others, which has actually increased my confidence. Currently talking to a couple of new people now which i hope will develop into some nice friendships. however if not i have made two great friends as a result of this challenge who are so supportive and great.

3) Tone up this wobbly body of mine. I did well with the swimming but that was about it. i am still trying to buy a rowing machine, but never many on ebay within my area. I am hoping to start a pilates class soon though.

4)Learn to swim. Am loving this one. i haven't been for two weeks as my classes finished, but as of Monday i will be having proper lessons again and am going three times next week. i have gone from not being able to swim to learning about the breathing, kicking from the hips and how to use your arm properly. Now need the lessons to put it all together. Am made up though, thanks to this challenge, when i go on holiday in October i'll finally be able to do all the water activities i've only ever dreamed of doing.

5) De-clutter my house. I have been busy listing lots of items to go on ebay and my auctions finish on Sunday so hopefully get rid of a lot of clutter.

6) Get my finances in shape. I'm doing well with the matched betting, something i had never got round to before this challenge, but am so glad i have done now. Am making enough money, if only it wasn't all over the place.

7) Read a book a month ( have been reading the same book for almost two years now!) I managed this really well for the first two months, i have been reading lots this past months but mainly bits of different books. I am reading auto biographies for my o.u course, driving books and then my book for pleasure!

Well that's me, i'm really pleased with the progress i have made and feel it is a lot down to this thread. Once again congrats to all those still continuing with it and let us know how your doing. It's nice to see all that people have achieved.

Well done nickelodeon on all your weight loss, you've done really well.

Tete_en_l'Air

Hi again all,

It's been really quiet on this thread the last few weeks... maybe there'll be a flurry of activity as everyone posts their progress at the end. Andan, sounds like you're doing great, esp with the swimming, well done!

I'm saying this will be my last post as my Day 101 is next Sunday but I'm going on hols on Wednesday and probably won't have time to post a summary after today. Like Andan, I haven't achieved everything I set out to do, but I'm pleased with what I've done...

1) I want to get my overdraft down to £1000.
My overdarft has stayed pretty much at the same level since I started this challenge, due to a number of things: driving lessons, weddings, bills, etc. I've had a lot more outgoings than is usual. It became apparent that it wasn't going to be possible to pay off £700 or so before 19th August and I began to think about aiming to pay off the whole lot by Christmas. Then a couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon Lucy1982's Pay Off By Christmas Challenge so I joined in with that. My little car promptly failed its MOT and needed £250 worth of work done, but I'm sure it'll be possible to be debt-free by Christmas and I'm glad I've got another little challenge thread to keep me motivated.

2) I want to swim at least twice a week, preferably three times.
This has been going better, I feel I'm getting into a bit of a routine again with this so that's good. If only teeneage boys were banned - they're always splashing and diving and I often end up getting out before I've done my 30 lengths

3) I will pass my driving test - DONE!
Despite the expensive MOT, I'm still really pleased to be driving, it makes everything so much easier! Definitely a life-changer this one!

4) I will get a secure job - DONE!
Well I had my interview and got the job - yay! I start on Tuesday so no more agencies! It constitutes about a £4,000 pay rise and as I've been managing on minimum wage for so long now, hopfully I'll be able to do it a little bit longer and pay off the overdraft and start my new life in 2008! This isn't my dream job by any means but it's good experience and I'm enjoying it well enough for the time being. I'll start loooking for somethig else I think in January.

5) I will cleanse my face every night before bed.
I've been lazy with this lately, but it was easy enough to get into a routine at the start of the challenge, so hopefully I'll manage again, especially now that things are a bit more settled job/car wise.

6) I will re-read all the Harry Potters in time for the release of the final book.
Didn't quite manage this, but have finished them all now and managed to avoid any spoilers and find out what happens in the end for myself, so all good.

My two main achievments (job and driving) are things which would probably have happened within that time frame anyway, but it's nice to refect and get a sense of perspective; my life is infinitely better now than it was three months ago.

The only thing left outstanding really is the money, but I'm glad I've got the Christmas challenge to keep me motiviated and now that I've got other things out of way in this challenge, I'll be able to concentrate on the money.

I do hope lots of people post an end-of-challenge update, it would be great to know how everyone got on. I doubt whether anyone has achieved everything they wanted, but I'm also sure that everyone will have achieved something so Well Done!!!

Pollydaydream

Hi everybody. I joined this challenge for 51 days and that finished yesterday. I wanted to:

1. Eat 3 meals a day. Managing to have 2 proper meals a day and some snacks, so not going hours without eating. Still not really got into breakfast, but if (alright, when :eek: ) I stop smoking I think this will sort itself out. Generally feeling healthier for eating better.

2. Clean my flat until it’s sparkling. Not exactly sparkling; the more I cleaned, the more dirt I found! Have managed to clean most of the major health hazards and started to take more of an interest in keeping on top of things.

3. Shine my sink every night. I have been doing this and it’s starting to be a routine I do without thinking, so I’d rate this a success. Flylady’s right – it does make me smile in the morning to see a shiny sink – I never thought I’d say that!

4. Get dressed to the shoes every morning. Same here – it’s becoming something I do automatically and it’s definitely saving me time and making me less rushed and stressed in the morning.

5. Stop drinking. Well, I didn’t manage to stop completely for the 51 days, but I have stopped most days and had a complete alcohol-free 2 weeks in the middle. Admittedly, this was mostly due to lack of money, but it’s given me a chance to see how much better I feel for not drinking and I don’t think I’ll go back to the amount I was drinking before.

Congratulations to those who’ve completed their challenges. Hope everyone else is doing well.

Is anyone carrying on with another 101 days or anyone new joining us?

I’ve got enough things to do to transform my life to keep this thread going for the next 5 years (101 days at a time), but I don’t want to be alone.:)

Have a good day.


Polly

dreams_R_free

Congratulations, Polly, on a great set of challenges. Good Luck, especially with stopping smoking:beer:

The 'improvements' we make now are not just a short term fix but a whole new set of ways to make our life/finances better for years to come, so I loved your 'Keep doing what I'm doing' one. Exactly how it should be in my view. I'm trying to establish good habits too but it looks as if you are further ahead than me:o

Take care
Imp