2016 - A year of 16 Challenges

craftingmad

Been a bit quirt on this thread over this week. Come 16'ners keep up the good work


I didn't achieve much yesterday but have managed to move a couple of the totals on so here's a progress report from me :-


1. Stash Busting - 54/365 days of no spending
Items made 121/2016
No craft spending

2. Decluttering 395/2016
Tidied lounge and my craft room today and got rid of a whole black sack full of old magazines, newsletters, paperwork and junk so counting a further 5 items towards my total

3. Make £2016 - £117/£2016
No new progress

4. Starting weight 12st 4lb - Weight Now - 12st 0lb
No progress

5. Sealed pot challenge - money started to be added
Nothing added

6. NSD - 31/120
No spending yesterday

7. Amazon Pot - £109.76/£200 (£29.76 left over from last year)
No progress made:(

8. 16 outlets - 0/16
No progress today

9. Store Cupboard Challenge 11/52
Yes Cornish which have been in freezer for couple of months

10. New meals 3/12 - tuna fishcakes, savoury bread and butter pudding & savoury pancakes
No

11. Flylady Challenge 39/352
Lounge and study tidied, bathrooms cleaned and all bins emptied

12. Handmade Christmas 1/50
No new progress

13. Save/pay off 16k - £3126.02/£16k
No progress

14. Project Life 2/13
No

15. Quality Time 10/52
No, again did't want to know me as busy geeking on electronics

16. Phoning Parents - 8/52
No answer

craftingmad

Hello - is anyone else out there? I'm beginning to feel a bit lonely and I'm missing your fab support


I had a couple of days off as enjoyed spending time with hubby before he had to go back away to work for a few weeks but I did get back into the swing from yesterday so here's my progress for 26th Feb:-


1. Stash Busting - 55/365 days of no spending
Items made 121/2016
No craft spending

2. Decluttering 395/2016
No new progress

3. Make £2016 - £117/£2016
Still waiting for £40 onepoll payment but have completed some more surveys from them

4. Starting weight 12st 4lb - Weight Now - 12st 0lb
No progress

5. Sealed pot challenge - money started to be added
Nothing added

6. NSD - 32/120
No spending 26/2/16

7. Amazon Pot - £109.76/£200 (£29.76 left over from last year)
No new vouchers yet but did some swagbucks, and completed a pinecone survey for £3 and 5 points gained from Isay

8. 16 outlets - 0/16
No progress today

9. Store Cupboard Challenge 11/52
No

10. New meals 3/12 - tuna fishcakes, savoury bread and butter pudding & savoury pancakes
No

11. Flylady Challenge 42/352
Hubby has been cleaning all the time he has been home

12. Handmade Christmas 1/50
No new progress

13. Save/pay off 16k - £3131.52/£16k
£1 saved by not buying envelopes and using an old one, £2 saved by parking in a free shop car park and walking into town and £2.50 saved from looking before buying some hooks as we already had some lying around! £5.50 transferred into savings

14. Project Life 2/13
No

15. Quality Time 10/52
No, again did't want to know me as busy geeking on electronics

16. Phoning Parents - 9/52
Had a lovely conversation with mum

craftingmad

Now for today's progress so far:-


1. Stash Busting - 56/365 days of no spending
Items made 121/2016
No craft spending

2. Decluttering 402/2016
12 more things gone today including big bag of rubbish bits from daughters bedroom,local leaflets, torn PJ bottoms,half a plastic egg (the other half was thrown away at the start of the year!), completedactivity book, broken t-light holder, broken hairband, 2015 calendar, xmas card from 2014! and a large pile of cake boxes which had got damp in the conservatory
Also sold 3 things on facebook but will not count them until they are collected

3. Make £2016 - £117/£2016
OnePoll survey for 20p and sold 3 things on facebook for a total of £7. Will not include until actually paid

4. Starting weight 12st 4lb - Weight Now - 12st 0lb
No progress

5. Sealed pot challenge - money started to be added
£2 coin added today

6. NSD - 33/120
No spending today either

7. Amazon Pot - £109.76/£200 (£29.76 left over from last year)
Reached first swagbucks total today so will get a few extra swagbucks at the end of the month plus also gained some gifthulk coins Still not close to next vouchers yet though

8. 16 outlets - 0/16
Publicised supermums stall on facebook three times today

9. Store Cupboard Challenge 11/52
Yes - corned beef hash tonight - yum yum

10. New meals 3/12 - tuna fishcakes, savoury bread and butter pudding & savoury pancakes
No

11. Flylady Challenge 43/352
Clothes washed and dried, hovered hallway and started tidying/decluttering conservatory

12. Handmade Christmas 1/50
No new progress

13. Save/pay off 16k - £3186.27/£16k
Received a long overdue refund from The Works today and they have also given me a goodwill payment I assume as credit is for more than was owed so £46.75 transferred to savings account today Also saved £8 in sponsorship money for son as he was unable to do the event as he was swimming with the school. So in total 54.75 transferred into savings today

14. Project Life 2/13
No

15. Quality Time 10/52
Going to play some board games with them tonight

16. Phoning Parents - 9/52
Not today

mothernerd

i'm reading. I love your challenge but don't want to join atm because I am coming out of a fairly difficult time in my life and might get overwhelmed.

I love some of the ideas in your challenges (16 random acts of kindness and the contact with elderly relatives).

I had a major operation 15 months ago (one year recovery period and a year of pain before it), finally sold my house in January after 3 years putting most of my time and effort (+ money) into making it fit to sell.

Yesterday I finished the process of downsizing my mother into her new bungalow. It has taken 5 weeks mainly because mum and the furniture moved and then I sorted through and wrote lists of stuff, checked with mum what she wanted to keep and what could go to charity (+ some to church for raffle prizes) and then moved it to where it should be (some is still at my house - precious family photographs etc - as the bungalow is still not 100% sorted and don't want them to get lost).

I am hoping to cut back to a weekly visit now. Probably a working one as there are lots of diy bits that need doing and more sorting - came back in a taxi one night with a further 5 sacks, 2 rucksacks and 2 bags for charity shops/church - took all the following day distributing that lot).

I am hoping to start doing the work that needs doing on my house this month. Selling the house (at a loss) gave me enough to pay off all my debts, put a chunk into the bungalow and I have a little savings pot. So I need to get estimates for the things I can't do myself and start on the things I can do.

Plus I need to lose weight, eat properly and work on my craft stash. So there are probably 16 things I could do but need to start with one or two and then add more. I hope I can join you later in the year.

craftingmad

mothernerd wrote: »

i'm reading. I love your challenge but don't want to join atm because I am coming out of a fairly difficult time in my life and might get overwhelmed.

I love some of the ideas in your challenges (16 random acts of kindness and the contact with elderly relatives).

I had a major operation 15 months ago (one year recovery period and a year of pain before it), finally sold my house in January after 3 years putting most of my time and effort (+ money) into making it fit to sell.

Yesterday I finished the process of downsizing my mother into her new bungalow. It has taken 5 weeks mainly because mum and the furniture moved and then I sorted through and wrote lists of stuff, checked with mum what she wanted to keep and what could go to charity (+ some to church for raffle prizes) and then moved it to where it should be (some is still at my house - precious family photographs etc - as the bungalow is still not 100% sorted and don't want them to get lost).

I am hoping to cut back to a weekly visit now. Probably a working one as there are lots of diy bits that need doing and more sorting - came back in a taxi one night with a further 5 sacks, 2 rucksacks and 2 bags for charity shops/church - took all the following day distributing that lot).

I am hoping to start doing the work that needs doing on my house this month. Selling the house (at a loss) gave me enough to pay off all my debts, put a chunk into the bungalow and I have a little savings pot. So I need to get estimates for the things I can't do myself and start on the things I can do.

Plus I need to lose weight, eat properly and work on my craft stash. So there are probably 16 things I could do but need to start with one or two and then add more. I hope I can join you later in the year.

Thank you mothernerd. It certainly sounds like you have a lot on at the moment so I absolutely understand why you cannot commit at the moment. You are welcome to join me whenever you want.


I have so many ideas for new challenges that I'm sure I will run a 17 challenges for 2017 next year


Good luck with finding some "me time" for yourself x

craftingmad

Me again


Today has mainly be a day of decluttering


Here's my up to date progress:-


1. Stash Busting - 57/365 days of no spending
Items made 121/2016


2. Decluttering 437/2016
Decluttering sales Me 34 - £48 Dan - 1 - £2
Got rid of a large bin bag full of used Christmas wrapping today into the recycling bin and also managed to sell quite a few bits decluttered from our conservatory - 6 books, 2 photoframes, 8 boxes of cupcake cases and toppers and 18 avon bits

3. Make £2016 - £165/£2016
£48 made from decluttering sales mentioned above. The cold hard cash is waiting to be paid into the bank tomorrow

4. Starting weight 12st 4lb - Weight Now - 12st 0lb
Walked to the local park with my son and played basketball with him for 20minutes

5. Sealed pot challenge - money started to be added
£2 added to pig

6. NSD - 34/120
Yes again. That's three in a row

7. Amazon Pot - £109.76/£200 (£29.76 left over from last year)
No movement on total but have gained some swagbucks, gifthulk coins and completed a survey on Isay for 150 points

8. 16 outlets - 0/16
No progress

9. Store Cupboard Challenge 12/52
Yes will be using something out of the freezer tonight as waiting for daughter to return home from day out with her friend

10. New meals 3/12 - tuna fishcakes, savoury bread and butter pudding & savoury pancakes
No its gonna be a quick meal tonight

11. Flylady Challenge 44/352
Kitchen cleaned, dishwasher loaded and ran and decluttering conservatory

12. Handmade Christmas 1/50
No new progress

13. Save/pay off 16k - £3186.27/£16k
No money paid in today as got to take notes to bank tomorrow

14. Project Life 2/13
No too busy decluttering today and making money

15. Quality Time 11/52
Took son to park to play basketball

16. Phoning Parents - 9/52
Might try later if I get the time

emg

Aw CraftingMad, sorry to leave you all lonely in the thread for so long. In truth I was doing much better when I was posting everyday so I am going to try and update each day this week to get back in the habit. Start of a new month too so lots of my tasks reset and I get another chance!

1. Take a packed lunch to work at least 16 days a month - (12/16)
did buy a few lunches at the end of the month although paid for one with Boots points so didnt count it!

2. Do at least 15mins Flylady-ing a day - (9/29)
Really rubbish at this although I did clear out a cupboard today.

3. Reach my step target on Fitbit 25 days a month (7/29)
Like I said, I need to post more often and up my accountability a bit

4. Use the 'seven' fitness app at least 25 days a month
still failing this one

5. Achieve 10 No-Spend-Days a month (10/10)
Phew, just made it!

6. Keep YNAB up to date daily - yes

7. Overpay mortgage by £5000 (£1409.56/£5000) :T
£741.92 in Feb - helped by a tax rebate and switching energy supplier

8. Complete at least 30 surveys per month on survey sites (30/30)
yay! Managed to cash out £10 paypal payments on two sites too.

9. Claim work expenses on time every month (due by 29/2)
Eek! Really need to do this tomorrow, also need to chase up some hours that I havent been paid for yet :mad:

10. Meal plan for all week day meals
Done for Feb but need to start thinking about March now

11. Declutter 2016 items in 2016 - 29/2016
5 ebay items finishing today plus one bag to the clothes bank.

12. Unsubscribe from at least one spam email everyday - yep...
I'm surprised at how many I still get though, not going to run out of companies to unsubscribe to until about 2020 at this rate!

13. No buying books or magazines in 2016 yep!

14. Read 16 books in 2016 2/16
Havent started book 3 yet.

15. Make one new recipe a month - yes
I made Jamie Oliver pasta today from his 30min book, yummy!

16. Batch cook two things for the freezer each month - 4 things (smug!)
Had a total cooking day today and did chilli, chicken and chorizo, corned beef hash, mashed potato, chocolate cake for my lunch boxes and leftover Jamie O pasta. Plenty in there for March so should keep me out of the supermarket!

So my areas for attention are the fitness and housework goals, plus updating the thread more often. Good luck to everyone and nice to know that there are some lurkers cheering us on too, come and say hello

craftingmad

Hi emg welcome back

I find posting in this thread helps keep me focused too

You look like you've made great progress. Well done x

rdone

Sorry craftingmad, I was on holiday last week so didn't have a chance to sign in and post. We went to Sofia and Skopje, Skopje was beautiful and I would definitely recommend a couple day visit there. Back to the posting...

1. Declutter 2016 items
More has gone and I cleaned out H2Bs car which was an absolute state! Wedding invites will be going out tomorrow so I'll be able to sort that area out as well then before moving onto the order of services.
156/2016

2. Read 16 Books
Finished Anne Franks diary on holiday, would definitely recommend it! Have picked up a book that I was half way through so that shouldn't be long
1/16

3. Make 3 homemade meals a week
Obviously didn't happen last week as we were away, the only things we have in the fridge are sweet potatoes and butter. I think there way be coconut milk and curry paste, probably chick peas so it'll be curry for tea!
0/3

4. 16 no spend days a month
I have no idea where I got with this last month. I will try and keep better track of it from tomorrow...
6/16

5. Exercise 4 times a week (I have signed up to a triathlon in July so this is a must!) The triathlon is for my Duke of Edinburgh diamond challenge and a month before the wedding. Have been having back trouble but need to slowly get back into it!
Not much last week but we did do a lot of walking around the cities, more distance was traveled than a normal day. Didn't get up for the gym this morning as it was the first day back to work!
0/4

6. I currently do the VSPC in which I do a daily, weekly and monthly challenge. Daily is on the 1st Jan put £3.66, 2nd £3.65 etc until the 31st Dec is 1p. Have done it opposite to most people as I felt I'd be more enthusiastic in the beginning and also get more interest! Weekly is rounding my bank account to the nearest £10 at the end of every Sunday and monthly is rounding my salary to the nearest £100.
Will transfer this weeks, last weeks and the monthly after this

7. Clean/tidy for 16 minutes per day
House was clean and tidy before we went away, did all of our holiday washing yesterday and even managed to get stuff out on the line which was exciting!

8. Do at least 3 pages of my Travel scrapbook per month.
Did another page last week but still further behind than I would like to be
2/36

9. Bring a packed lunch at least [STRIKE]16[/STRIKE] 12 times a month.
Looking at February I didn't even go to work for 16 days to have been able to complete this challenge! I think it was only one day that I didn't bring lunch though. Seems to be the same for March so I think I'll choose the amount month by month!
11/16

10. No buying any unnecessary toiletries and using the stash first
Nothing bought and used up a foundation on holiday, next one chosen this morning which is a mini

11. When doing craft use up stash in house first, only exception is wedding craft! I have a huge cupboard full of things but always seem to buy new when I want to make something. Allowing the wedding to be an exception as some things I've never had before.
Didn't buy any craft supplies and finished the invites yesterday so lots has been UU

12. One Two meal a week to be shopped for in the kitchen cupboards
Tonight will all depend on if I build up the energy to go to the shops or not
0/2

13. Do 16 random acts of kindness that cost nothing

3/16

14. 16 days out with family/friends that doesn't include holidays
Had a fab day yesterday at my parents, my little brother and his girlfriend were home from uni
5/16

15. 16 days out with H2B that doesn't include holiday
Had a lovely day last Saturday, went shopping and bought my wedding ring, went out for food in the evening
3/16

16. Visit elderly relatives twice a month IN THEIR HOME. I often time a visit to my parents house when I know they'll be there.

4/4 (I have two to visit)

craftingmad

Hi rdone,


You are forgiven I hope your holiday was fab