My Journey To My Pot Of Gold

MuffinTops

Hello! :hello:

I've had a few diaries on here and am at the stage where I've made plans, things are going well and I feel focused on my goals. Usually when I get here, I leave my diary and, left to my own devices, things slowly fray and unravel, so now I'd like to document my path to where I'd like to be.

A quick bit of information about me. I'm 44 years old, female and single. I live alone, am mortgage free and am "debt free". I've put that in quotes as I have a credit card that's on 0% and has a debt on it, but I have more than the total debt in savings. I will update my signature soon to reflect all of my finances.

My pot of gold is about everything in my life. I want to be the best version of me and create an external environment that fits with what's in my heart.

Firstly, I need to set up a decent amount of savings for a financial buffer. My company sounds like it could be heading towards a few redundancies and if I'm on that list then I need to make sure that whatever the package is, I can afford a breather to regroup and work out what I really want to do - and then head down that route. If I'm not on that list then I still need a finance buffer to give me some breathing space as I'd like to head off in a slightly different direction to what I'm currently doing.

Secondly, I need to totally declutter my house. I'm a (carpet seeing) hoarder. I'm nowhere near as bad as the people you see on TV, but they all had a trigger to send them over the edge, and I'm at a point where the amount I own is scaring me and the amount I have just wouldn't be able to cope with it getting worse (if I had an edge tipping trigger). I've been down the route of selling online and at boot sales, but a lot of my stuff is just "stuff" and selling is taking too long. I need to detach myself from the emotional attachments I feel to inanimate objects and get things cleared out. Charity shops will be doing well out of me. Ideally I'd like to be quite minimalist, and that's my long term aim.

I'm really happy with my personal life. I do enjoy being single, I love the freedom and do genuinely have a bit of a phobia to commitments, however I have such amazing friends that they're making me see that having someone in my life could also be a good thing. I could easily deal with each of my close friends on a permanent basis, so maybe I can extend that to someone on a romantic level? Who knows but I am open minded about it!


I think that's enough for now!!!

Oh, I'm also addicted to emoticons!!!!

MuffinTops

Main Goals

HOME
Minimalist home. No clutter or impulse buys.
UPDATE 20/01/16:
Impulse buys - doing much better. Unexpected spends are for things I use, but still needs a little more work.
House declutter - still going well. Almost at the stage of having just one room with "things to organise". Lots sent to charity/cash for clothes/cash converters. Still lots more to be given away or sold though.
Kitchen sink always shiny and that motivates me to keep the kitchen organised. This is starting to spread out to other areas.

WORK
Find my passion so that it's no longer work.
UPDATE 20/01/2016: Have taken 2 primary courses and requested the last 2 required. This has happened organically with the new IT boss.

HEALTH
Lose <ahem> stone and get fit again! I have a definite amount here, but can't bring myself to write it down!
UPDATE 20/01/2016: Still stuck at 1 stone loss. Focus woman! Need to aim for another stone loss by birthday.

MuffinTops

Current Goals

HOME
Declutter - see above
Found more clothes to work through.
Too many small kitchen items like mixing bowls and stew bowls etc to clear through.
Notebooks and other stationery need a place to live and be easy to access which will stop me keep buying more!
Hallway junk stop needs to be better organised to stop me dropping off bags and leaving them there, making the whole house look untidy with the bad first impression.
UPDATE 20/01/2016: Need to read Maria Kondo again to get back to her techniques as they work well for me. Also need to set up daily FlyLady tasks list.

WORK
Keep using YNAB to keep me on track with every penny I spend. New YNAB online working out better for me.
Use Survey sites, Swagbucks, Shop & Scan, OnePoll and mystery shopping to build up enough vouchers to buy Christmas and Birthday gifts with.

PERSONAL
Never lose sight of the importance of great friends.
Lose 1 stone (for now) - added 20 January 2016

MuffinTops

I've been following the Maria Kondo declutter rules and I can't praise it enough. I had 2 large dressers, 2 wardrobes and a large box of clothes when I started this process. I now have 1 wardrobe and 3/4 of a dresser with clothes in. They're not packed in, they're comfortably sitting in their rightful homes.

Most of the clothes I no longer want are in bags ready to go to Cash For Clothes tomorrow, other bits had to be thrown out and the really good pieces are in a bag waiting to go to the Heart Foundation charity shop.

As I've been off this week I've not done any Swagbucking, but I'll get back onto that next week.

I've also been on a bit of a healthier kick the past couple of weeks and am doing well on that. Lots of fruit and only minimal rubbish! That's a major jump for me!

Right, back to the clutter!

RosaBernicia

Happy new diary MT! :beer::T

That's a lovely goal you've listed about friends.

I loved the KonMari book too - though I think I need to redo it. I cleared my clothes and started on a couple of other things then got distracted, and I am already finding that I haven't worn some of the clothes I kept so I think I shall go through them again!

One other thing that's helped me with decluttering - I am registered for Gift Aid with a couple of my favourite charity shops, and they send me a letter every few months telling me how much my donations raised for them. I love that as it means I know they did some good and I now don't worry about donating money to them any more, I know they do well out of my clutter!


Rosa xx

MuffinTops

Thank you Rosa. I've registered for Gift Aid with BHF and they're the shop I prefer (in this area) as the staff are so lovely and helpful. The other ones, not so much.

Isn't that an amazing book? I'm hoping this diary will keep me plodding through it all. I have SO much stuff that I don't think I've done it properly yet, so I'll be looking at clothes again in 3 months. It's hard working out what gives me joy and what I can't throw away otherwise I'll need to leave the house topless a couple of times a week!!!! I've definitely not found the folding items sweet spot on many, but I'll keep at it until I figure it out.

MTx

MuffinTops

Today should be pretty frugal, other than a potential trip to the supermarket for a small stock up.

My radio show is at 4:30pm today and ......... AND .......... although my training wheels are only fresh off, I've been asked to be the new presenter trainer!!!! So, I have my first pupil today on my show! I'm so excited that they're happy enough with me to trust me with the new people.

So I'm about to prepare my little list of things to chat about and then she and I will meet at the station and go through a few things.

Happy Friday!!!!!!

MuffinTops

Frog eaten! YNAB is now up to date and reconciling perfectly. I love YNAB and I love updating it when I get around to it, but it seems to take me a bit of a push to get there!

Right, I need to get myself ready and go through some exercise clothing I have. I want a drawer of cycling outfits so that it's easier for me to make a last minute decision to get on my bike without scouring the house for something that fits!!!

rockm87

Hi!!!
lovely shiny new diary.

I love Marie Kondo, I halved my clothes and books and really didnt notice any difference, I missed nothing..which is great!!I've lent it to my parents, as my dad is a terrible hoarder, If mum wasnt there keeping things tidy, it would honestly be extreme!

You've done really well to be mortgage free, hope it all works out and you can clear your debt too.

I like the idea of living minimalist, in the mind rather than the empty home scenario.

MuffinTops

Thank you rockm87. Isn't it a fabulous book? My next stage is the books and magazines, so I need to put some time aside for that now.

I doubt I'll ever get to having an empty home, but I need to strive for that so that I'm only left with essentials.

MuffinTops

Saturday's helicopter trip and cake shop afternoon was amazing. Better than amazing. There were 6 of us on our exclusive helicopter ride over London and were up for around 30 minutes or so. I didn't have a window seat but had my GoPro 4 with me so just rested my arm on my friend's leg and sat holding the camera. I couldn't see what footage I was getting though as my phone had to be in flight mode, and looking back it's going to need a lot of editing!!

Afterwards we went to an amazing cake shop for afternoon tea and then off to Crystal Palace for a garden picnic. They are all such beautiful people. The helicopter ride and afternoon tea was a treat for my friend's birthday who had invited me as the plus one. All had been paid for in advance, although I did pay for the picnic food and alcohol which only came to £53, which I thought was an absolute bargain compared to the amount we bought.

On Sunday, I prepared my radio show and then headed off to the studio. Another really odd incident happened. On my way I had to stop for petrol and another total stranger approached me and asked for my number!!! That's the second man this week! I must be wearing the right perfume or something as I have no idea what's going on!

My radio show went really well. It was meant to be country music, but I had a few patients phoning and putting in requests, so it ended up being a very eclectic show. Absolutely fine with me!

Today I've been driving around Norfolk looking for nice houses to suit my future needs. I didn't find anything specific, but have a much better idea of what I want now.

I did overspend today as I was stuck in the car all day and getting hungry, so I ended up paying out for snacks!!! I need to double check but I think I spent around £11.50 all tallied, which is not good at all!

I'm back in work tomorrow, so hopefully can really get into the pot of gold journey with great gusto!!!!