2016 - A year of 16 Challenges

craftingmad

Yeah cutcostsandsave. We are challenge buddies


I think you may have given me some ideas for next years challenges already


Good Luck

craftingmad

Progress for challenges for today:-


1/ Hoping for a no craft spend and also to make some gift tags from this years Christmas cards No craft spend achieved and 20 gift tags made from the Christmas cards


2/ Decluttering - got rid of 14 items from downstairs bathroom today - all gone in the bin Also counting a further 7 items towards total as returned lots of clothes for a refund today to the shops as still had tags on and never worn


3/ Nothing made yet but have just secured an £8 mystery shopping assignment for tomorrow and plan to list a couple of bits on Facebook today


4/ No exercise or fruit yet just chocolates and more chocolate


5/ Planning on going through loose change today and starting pot


6/ Won't be a NSD today as need a couple of bits for kids lunch boxes for tomorrow plus I have some coupons which will be going out of date


7/ Been swagbucking and Gift hulking to earn amazon vouchers today Just redeemed £10 Amazon voucher via Swagbucks so just waiting for the code


8/ Don't think I'll get the time to work on selling my crafts today


9/ Will have a store cupboard meal today most probably (although still focused on using up left overs) Bought extra mince as going to make a lasagne with the left over spag bol so no store cupboard meal today


10/ No new meal today as using up leftovers


11/Must try to flylady at some point


12/ Will be making the gift tags today so will count these towards this total 20 Gift tags made but as very simple things going to class as 1 towards my target


13/ Did save £3 yesterday by taking drinks to pantomime and will be renewing/returning library books today to avoid fines
Took clothes back to shops for refunds today as unworn and still had tags on so have saved a massive £63 from this and also used coupons totalling £4.75 so even more money saved today


14/ Will be taking front cover photos of family ready for title page of PL today. Photos taken so may get title page completed tomorrow


15/ Hoping to spend an afternoon having quality time with the kids this afternoon before they go back to school tomorrow


16/ Spoke to parents yesterday so no phone call today

takingcontrolatlast

Hope you dont mind me following your progress - ive enjoyed reading it - i'm hoping to find inspiration from yourselves - the only crafty thing i can do (apart from avoiding doing the dishes ) is knit which i love.

Keep up the good work !

Cutcostsandsave

Not back at work until tomorrow so have spent the day making a start on my 2016 challenges.

Update for today is therefore :-
1. Make and take my lunch to work at least 18 days a month. - had a day off but would normally have gone out for lunch when on hols. Instead I convinced myself to stay at home and had beans on toast at a cost of 35p. Im therefore counting it as one of my 18 days (hope that's not cheating?!) and adding £4.65 to my washing machine fund (£5 lunch money minus the 35p). Balance £4.65

2. Declutter 2016 items from my home in 2016 - decluttered fridge, freezer and food cupboards. Didn't actually get rid of anything but I now know how much food I have stockpiled!!

3. Make £2016 in 2016. I am aiming to do this with de-cluttering sales, craft fairs, surveys (in fact anyway I can raise extra cash) - logged on to topcashback and found I'd been credited with £15 for a referral I'd forgotten about. Money now on its way to my account Balance £15/£2016

4. Lose at least 2st in weight and get fitter. This will involve exercising regularly and eating at least 5 portions of fruit and veg everyday - got weighed (horrified when I saw how much weight I'd gained!) Stuck to diet and had 5 portions of veg. Weight loss 0lb/2st 5 a day - 1/362days

5. Sealed Pot Challenge. At the end of each week I shall empty all of my loose change into a sealed pot and not open until the end of the year - will do each Saturday. Currently 0/52 weeks

6. NSD Challenge - I am going to aim for at least 15 no spend days each month. - didn't achieve this today. Spent money on cat food, milk, yoghurts, fruit and bread. NSD 0/15 in Jan

7. £200 Amazon Pot - Get £200 in Amazon vouchers by Christmas this year. I am hoping to gain these using Swagbucks, GiftHulk and Superpoints and any other ways I come across. - checked balance and had £6.52 left from last year. Balance £6.52/£200

8. Make at least 3 evening meals a week that cost less than £1 a portion. - tonight's tea was a homemade veg curry with rice. Used leftovers in fridge. Cost less than 50p a portion to make. 1/156 meals

9. Store Cupboard Challenge - Use only store cupboard items for at least one meal every week for the next year. See number 8. Everything already in cupboard 1/52

10. Keep grocery bill down to an average of less than £50 per week for the whole of the year. As we are real 'foodies' then this is going to be a tough challenge - did supermarket shop today for essentials. Total cost = £26.92 (lots of fruit). £26.92/£2600

11. Fly lady challenge. This year will be the year I get a clean and tidy house - kitchen cupboards, fridge and freezer all sorted

12. Handmade Christmas - if it can be made then I shall make it and not buy it. This includes presents for people, decorations, food (if it works out cheaper) etc. I am determined that at the very least everyone will get at least one handmade gift. - no progress as yet

13. Save / pay off £16k in 2016. - £15 payout from Topcashback going in emergency fund. Balance currently £40/£16000

14. Home improvements - will do some much needed work in the house, including bedroom and kitchen renovations. Will make at least a small amount of progress each week so that by Christmas 2016 they are completely finished - no progress as yet

15. Grow some of my own food - make full use of greenhouse, grow lots of herbs and other veg. Go foraging for free food. Record savings made and save the money it would have cost to buy in supermarket. Aim for a fruit and veg savings pot of £500 by end of 2016 - no progress as yet

16. Phone my parents at least once every week - not spoken to them this week as yet 0/52

Really pleased with what I've achieved today and feeling really motivated.

Hope everyone else has had a good day too?

craftingmad

Well done cutcostsandsave. I'm not doing that well on the 5 portions of fruit and veg a day at the moment


Progress for challenges for today:-


1/ Hoping for a no craft spend
Not sure if I will get around to making anything as busy tidying up.


2/ Decluttering - recycled a further 10 items today including magazines, an old watch box and a large pile of paperwork That makes 50/2016


3/ Nothing made yet but have carried out a MS today for £8 so just awaiting payment


4/ No exercise Have had a banana at breakfast though so 1/5 a day


5/ Planning on going through loose change today and starting pot


6/ Not a NSD today as had to take daughter to orthodontist and had to pay for parking


7/ More swagbucks and gifthulk for me today and just completed a Pinecone survey which will add £3 to the total when I cash it out


8/ Don't think I'll get the time to work on selling my crafts today


9/ Store cupboard meal planned for Thursday night


10/ No new meal today as still using up left overs


11/ First flylady done. Hoovered lounge and de-cluttered stairs. Plus hubby done yesterday's task of cleaning the kitchen cupboards and worktops so that's 2/365


12/ Not in a Christmas mood today so no progress on this one


13/ £5 from reward account credited today so will be transferring this into my savings pot so total now at £


14/ Front cover photos taken. Just need to makeup first page


15/ With kids back at school today doubt there will be time to have any proper quality time tonight although I will try very hard


16/ Its my dads birthday today so will phoning him to wish him a happy day later this afternoon

craftingmad

Hello its only me


Here's my progress for today:-


1. Stash Busting - 6/365 days of no spending
Items made 21/2016
Another day of no craft spending added and also I made my Project Life title page so both totals increased today



2. Decluttering 71/2016
I started tidying the study today so got rid of lots of piles of paperwork and magazines among other things so total increased nicely

3. Make £2016 - £44/£2016
Nothing to actually declare today yet but am awaiting for a £10 Amazon giftcard from Gifthulk which I requested today
Also replied to a couple of enquiries regarding face painting parties so fingers crossed they decide to book me

4. Starting weight - Weight Now -
No progress at all Really must start this tomorrow!

5. Sealed pot challenge
£2 coin put in today

6. NSD - 2/120
NSD today :T

7. Amazon Pot - £39.76/£200 (£29.76 left over from last year)
Requested a £10 giftcard from Gifthulk today but won't count until actually added to Amazon account

8. 16 outlets - 0/16
No progress made on this yet


9. Store Cupboard Challenge 0/52
Had left over spag bol made into lasagne tonight. Very yummy but not a store cupboard meal as bought white sauce specially on Monday


10. New meals 0/12
Definitely had lasagne before no so new meal today

11. Flylady Challenge 2/352
Ran out of time to flylady today. I will attempt to catch tomorrow

12. Handmade Christmas 1/50
Nothing further to report

13. Save/pay off 16k - £104.84/£16k
Contacted broadband provider today to ask if they can reduce their monthly payment. Just waiting to hear. If they say no then I think it's time to start looking for a new, cheaper supplier
Also cancelled insurance for daughters new mobile phone she got for Christmas as can get it £60 a year cheaper from somewhere else. Won't count this until have actually paid for new policy at the start of next month though

14. Project Life 1/13
Title page done and have decided to document monthly rather than weekly and hopefully giving me a bit more of a chance to complete the project this year (and be able to go into greater detail with some things)

15. Quality Time 2/52
Kids had guitar lessons after school so no time for any quality time tonight

16. Phoning Parents - 2/52
Spoke to parents yesterday and they are out all of today as a treat for dad's birthday so no phone call made

craftingmad

Me again


I spent most of yesterday tidying up my study/craft room so I didn't get round to doing loads (apart from decluttering!) but here's my progress for yesterday:-


1. Stash Busting - 7/365 days of no spending
Items made 21/2016
Another day of no craft spending added

2. Decluttering 116/2016
The study tidy made my totals leap up today and I still have one side still to do

3. Make £2016 - £44/£2016
Nothing new to declare yet

4. Starting weight - Weight Now -
No progress at all Really must start this tomorrow! (again)

5. Sealed pot challenge
£2 coin put in today

6. NSD - 3/120
NSD 7/1/15 :T

7. Amazon Pot - £39.76/£200 (£29.76 left over from last year)
Ran Perk TV for a little bit yesterday

8. 16 outlets - 0/16
No progress made on this yet

9. Store Cupboard Challenge 0/52
Quick meal last night using recent purchases


10. New meals 0/12
No not yesterday

11. Flylady Challenge 3/352
Flylady challenge was clean your study floor which I managed to find yesterday after my decluttering session so another 1 for me

12. Handmade Christmas 1/50
Nothing further to report

13. Save/pay off 16k - £104.84/£16k
Nothing new

14. Project Life 1/13
Nothing new

15. Quality Time 2/52
Kids had judo after school so no time again for any quality time

16. Phoning Parents - 2/52
No time

takingcontrolatlast

Keep going guys - love reading your progress:)

No 12: Handmade Xmas - i'm interested to know how you made the gift tags CM please?

I want to work along the theme myself - I have already started saving £1 a day for Xmas 2016 an I like the idea of making my own gift tags so any suggestions/ideas are appreciated.

craftingmad

takingcontrolatlast wrote: »

Keep going guys - love reading your progress:)

No 12: Handmade Xmas - i'm interested to know how you made the gift tags CM please?

I want to work along the theme myself - I have already started saving £1 a day for Xmas 2016 an I like the idea of making my own gift tags so any suggestions/ideas are appreciated.

Hi takingcontrol


Thanks for your encouraging words. I need all the help I can to stay motivated


I made my gift tags simply by cutting up the Christmas cards which were sent to me ad then punching a hole and threading ribbon through.
I have however in the past also bought plain holographic or glittery tags and added digi stamp elements to the front for a handcrafted look or actually used my die cutting machine to cut tag shapes (circles, rectangles, squares etc) and decorated each of these individually. If ever I need inspiration I usually look on Pinterest. I always find something I'd like to create on there


Hope this inspires you. Good luck

craftingmad

Just realised I didn't post an update for yesterday (Friday 8th) so here we go:-


1. Stash Busting - 8/365 days of no spending
Items made 21/2016
Another day of no craft spending added and I have started a Project Life page

2. Decluttering 116/2016
After my massive declutter on Thursday I just didn't get the time to declutter any more today

3. Make £2016 - £44/£2016
Nothing new to declare yet

4. Starting weight - Weight Now -
No progress at all Really must start this tomorrow! (again)

5. Sealed pot challenge
another £2 coin put in today

6. NSD 3/120
Not a NSD as had to go out and buy ingrediants for my daughters cooking lesson at school (very last minute!) but I did also hopefully pick upmost of my food shopping next week so hopefully a few more NSD's will be following soon

7. Amazon Pot - £39.76/£200 (£29.76 left over from last year)
Managed to earn a few swagbucks

8. 16 outlets - 0/16
No progress made on this yet

9. Store Cupboard Challenge 0/52
Daughters pasta bake was on the menu last night and it was very yummy


10. New meals 0/12
No not yesterday

11. Flylady Challenge 3/352
No new progress for me

12. Handmade Christmas 1/50
Nothing further to report

13. Save/pay off 16k - £104.84/£16k
Nothing new

14. Project Life 1/13
Did start on actually printing out some photos and have started filling up some pockets

15. Quality Time 2/52
Kids just wanted to chill out with the tv and electronics last night

16. Phoning Parents - 2/52
No