NST August - AB's Amazingly Aware August Challenge

WelshKitty85

Count me in please!

Calling14

I am here, not sure I am feeling very focused at the moment. Was going to give this month a miss but think I will go completely off the rails if I did. So in for the long haul, count me in Academia.

Bobarella

Calling - You can do it. Babysteps. We are all here for encouragement. You have made me giggle more than once when I've been having a bad day. We'd miss you.

academiablues

Hello all! Calling, glad you're here even though you're feeling a bit wobbly at the moment - like Bob says, we'd all miss you
I'm very excited to see what people come up with for this month's challenges - I'll be posting some more information about mindfulness tomorrow, and there might even be a mid-month mini-challenge to keep us all on the right track! We can do this

dolly84

Hi guys. academia - thanks for the new challenge. Count me in please.

My little problem is my payday is 26th so all of August debt payments and budgets are done and dusted so the £20 spend is a bit hard so what I will do is use some of the great many (and I mean great many) beautiful products I already have and have a lovely weekly pamper session without spending.

abundant1972

Hey All...

Count me in!!! Loving the 'mindfullness' theme too... It's something I've wanted to do for a long time and lept putting off...

:j

Bobarella

academiablues wrote: »

3) You will give £5 or the equivalent in time to charity – it’s good to give something back many people volunteer, or give money to charities that are close to their hearts. I know this time of year is particularly hard for food banks, because the kids are off school so parents have to feed them at home, so maybe consider giving some items to one if you can.

I have just joined a charity called Sustrans, which is all about raising awareness of cyclists/cycling in the UK with the view to getting more kids up on 2 wheels instead of ferried about in cars (where possible) I had an excellent conversation with one of their fund raisers and learned that there are national cycling routes that we could take out of London, down to Brighton, some of the way is on unused railway lines. So appealing. The charity also go into kids schools (junior) and organise cycling proficency which I really want my son to do. So I signed up. I am paying £5 a month for now. As we have truly benefited as a family from giving up our car, I want to give something back now to a charity that means something to me.

4) You have a “self-care” budget of £20. Self-care means something different to everyone but it should delight some or all of your senses – this could be buying a new book to read/audiobook to listen to, some nice smellies to treat yourself to a lovely bubble bath, or some indulgent food. Looking forward to hearing what you all come up with.

I am so happy about this. I plan to buy a new welcome mat for our porch, a couple of new t shirt tops as mine are all falling apart, a picture frame & some stacking bins to store away some of DS grown out of clothing. I am going tommorow! Exciting. :T

5) I’m a big convert to mindfulness (I teach it for my day job, so figured I couldn’t really preach what I didn’t practice!) so wondered if people would like to join me in at least five minutes of mindfulness each day. It’s really good at helping to manage with stress, which all turtles feel from time to time on this debt-busting journey. "Awareness" is going to be a recurring theme on this thread, so apologies to anyone who doesn't fancy it.

Big fan of this concept. I think as someone who has often suffered from 'catastrophising' anything small that brings me back into the moment is good. I try and focus on what I am eating, my breathing, the baby kicking, stroking the cat, the smell of my first coffee of the day, all are very grounding.

6) Turtles are animals that like lots of healthy food – veggies especially! If you’re someone who cooks, share a recipe with the other turtles that is a money-saving staple for you! If you’re not someone who cooks, maybe August could be the month where you try a recipe (or a food) you’ve never tried before – let us know the results!

I tend to make quite a lot of soups. But cake is more fun! A current favourite is lavendar loaf. I will happily share my reciepe as we go along.

7) Last month we nominated turtles that turtally inspire us (I love the pun and I’m not taking it back!) so this month, let us know about someone in your “real life” that is inspiring to you – if you’re feeling really into it, write down why and tell THEM why they inspire you!

The first person that springs to mind is a girl who I became friends with via my husbands best friend. She is (was) his wife. She is amazing. I cant say too much in case it is recognisable to others, but suffice to say, in late 2014 she found out her husband had been unfaithful to her in a really bad way (she saw pictures) her world fell apart. There are various complications to her situation such as the fact she is from one place in the world, he from another, both oceans apart. No family to support or comfort her. Not here anyway. She didnt want to rip her children away from their father but every bone in her body wanted to just go back to her family at that point for comfort.:)
She managed to forgive him. Went to councelling. They moved on it would seem. Into their dream house. 1 month after they moved in. He walked out. 2 little children, under 7 years old.
Having seen how she fell apart the first time I was braced for the worst ready to jump in. But she hasnt fallen this time. I am utterly amazed at her strength of character, ability to parent both children calmly, with no intent to turn them against their father. She is now looking to reenter the work force after 6 years absent, as a working mum of 2, her youngest not yet at school. I am just in awe of this woman. She knows I think that, as I tell her as often as she'll listen. She is my inspiration.


8) You must check in on the thread daily, or as often as is possible if you are at work etc. Turtles are sociable creatures and like to chat as they make their way slowly towards freedom.

Onwards and upwards, turtles!

A bit early but cracking on and ready for tommorow!

On the money side. My target is £478 to the CC this month. I have chosen this figure as it would take care of the amount I cannot squeeze onto a 15 month 0% deal. However as pointed out, I may need to increase that figure to cover fees charged, or being outside the 95% limit some card issuers prefer balance transfers to stick to.

BUT - As I recently had some compensation from my business insurers after a year long battle concluded by an Ombudsman decision in my favour, I also have some other funds. I need to decide what the best use of this is, & so I may be able to stretch to the full £1,000 to get under the £3,000 mark. Which would be epic!

Bob

mothernerd

Count me in please academia.

nannygladys

Interested in mindfulness, but know very little about it really looking forwards to learning about it. I have decided to live on 50% of pension and that is to include all dd payments so not much room for playing about, my treat money will most likely go on paint as I want to upcycle some furniture now I have more time.

Yesterday I walked my dd dog back to her house, it was only about 4 miles and I ache today!!!!unfit or what, so that's something else I can improve on.

Nannyg

misstara

Morning turtles

Just a quick post to note my targets for the month - as well as aiming for 20 NSDs, I will also aim to go to the gym 3 times a week, pay off cc2 (£146.81 left to pay) and get my total debt to under £4750.

The person I admire most in RL is a friend of mine who is a bit older than me who has had to deal with so much (illness, childhood abuse, bad relationships, debt etc) and whatever life throws at her, she just gets on with it. There's no making a drama out of it or 'why me' pity. She is truly amazing

Looking forward to finding out more about mindfulness as don't know much about it either.