Downsized and paid off mortgage 2010 Retired August 2016 Paid off French mortgage September 2018 New kitchen fully installed June 2019 Not counting this! 2020 Garden fencing completed, woohoo 2021.......... October 2021: aiming for £5,000 new money for premium bonds or a car.
OK, as I'm away for one week I will adjust some figures but others I'm keeping the same.
Spends - I will stick with the 14 nsd over the 3weeks, which will be a big challenge for me, but as I am retired I should be able to organize myself - well we will see!!
Eating - menu planning, well I am useless at this, some days I can't be bothered but as I'm trying to lose a bit of weight I will try harder.
Presents - I'm not sure what I'm doing for Christmas, but I reckon my dd and her family will be staying, so I will start to buy some extras and make some small gifts. We don't go overboard with gifts and try to make and personalise small gifts.
Time - 10 mins to myself, that's easy for me as I'm retired and bar my regular child minding for dgd two days a week, I can more or less please myself.
Exercise - this is something I never do but the benefit to my high blood pressure would be great so I will make the effort.
Meet - my oldest friend and I have arranged a meet up this month and I haven't seen her since the beginning of the year!!!! And I will phone my brother and sister who I lost touch with and recently got back in touch, but I still find it difficult but they are both quite a bit older so realistically I don't know how much time we all have left.
Bed - I will definitely do this as I have to put the garden and allotment to bed, in fact I'm changing the allotment around during the winter months so I will down there every week for a few hours.
Empty - I'm gradually going through the house sorting out.
Reading - I go to library already so this one is easy!!
So that's me done, I just have to do it all, but I have made a list to put on top of my calender to be a constant reminder, oh and I will keep a running total on the food front. My holiday is all paid and budgeted for and that's about it!!! Wow what a long post!!!
Good morning all :hello:
So, September has sneaked up on me - life goes back to 'normal' and my spendy summer is over. Ah well.... Thanks for the August challenge applemuncher - and I hope that September is much kinder to you. And thanks EE for this month's brilliant challenge.
Welcome over legomum - I'm sure you'll love it here. And welcome back TOG.
I've been back over to my post and targets from September last year, which was my first month on the challenge. This is what I wrote. I've set myself a target of being debt free for Christmas this year and this would help keep me on the straight and narrow. My financial target is to finish paying off the CC, and start replenishing the EF. Other than that my target really needs to be less food waste. I am terrible for not properly meal planning and throwing perfectly good stuff away because I've just left it for too long.
Well, I achieved a lot of this. I became debt free in November :j, paid off the CC (and racked it up again) and I'm doing ok with food waste, although I will confess to having thrown a bit of stuff away this month (blimming August) I would say overall I'm doing better than September 2015.
OK - I'm up for that Eating – menu plan for September. Can you start using up bits in the freezer ready to make room for Christmas food? Make sure you take lunch to work every day.
Yes, ds is going onto packed lunches and I will be doing my usual of taking leftovers for lunch at school. Presents – make your Christmas lists. Who needs a present and who will just have a card? Can you reduce any of the people you ‘have’ to get presents for? Could you make any presents - we have plenty of time to prepare things? Do you need sellotape/wrapping paper/bows etc? What are you doing/where are you going for Xmas this year? Can you start buying food ready – remember a lot of meat goes up in price from the end of November so get it early while you can. (This might be controversial but anything you buy from your Xmas list this month will not count towards a spend day unless you buy other stuff as well – I want everyone to be well underway for Xmas by the end of September)
I am already underway with Christmas. I'm attempting to do a home made Christmas this year with crochet/knitting etc. But there are a couple of things I still need to think about. Presents for teachers, close family and best friends only. Time – make time for yourself this month. Even if it’s only 10 minutes a day do something for yourself whether that is going for a walk, having a bath with loads of bubbles or sitting outside with a drink – we need to make the most of the evenings.
This is where I end up guilty. I just don't make enough time for myself... I will try and do more of this to keep myself sane when work gets busy. Empty – pick a drawer or cupboard to empty and sort through. If it’s the junk drawer what can you do to stop it becoming a junk drawer? Keep on top of this drawer/cupboard all month so nothing that shouldn’t be there goes in.
Loads of these Just knowing where to start... Meet – meet up with a friend/family member who you have not seen for ages but keep meaning to. Ring/email/text them now and arrange something for this month.
I am long overdue a catch up with my sister. Bed– either start bedding down the garden for winter or you will start making the bedroom suitable for the cooler weather.
In the garden, start sorting out the pots – do they need a wash before being stored for winter? Does the garden furniture need any oil/paint before it gets put away for winter? Do any flowers/bushes need cutting back yet?
In the bedroom, do you need to put the winter duvet on? Do any duvets need washing? Can you have a clear out – clean under the bed, wash down the bedside tables?
I am getting someone in to do my garden for me Not mse but I can't stand it. I will deal with my bedroom though. Exercise – do as much exercise as possible, aim for every 2 days as a minimum. Can you make the most of these evenings before it gets dark at 5pm? For those like me who have dogs, can you walk them a different route or for longer?
Morning exercise best for me - I'm going to try and make the effort to get up a bit earlier and squeeze this in before work. Reading – the first public lending library opened on 6th September 1852. If you have not yet joined your local library could you join it? Everyone will read a book during this month and report back with comments – hopefully it will encourage others to try new books. Books can be either fiction or non-fiction. I have a book upstairs that I have started reading 3x and never finished. It will be my goal to do this in September (I love reading but abandoned it a bit for knitting and crochet).
Happy September 1st. You could just as easily change today as Jan 1st. "We are given a new day following each night so that we can choose to begin anew at ANY point in our lives. Change is a matter of CHOICE, not calendar." - Dan Kennedy
Well I am declaring today a success in terms of this month's challenge. I've made a good and positive start and I hope that it will continue for a long time. :j
I wrote out my Christmas present list and included all birthdays between now and then as there are a few (5) - I'm thrilled to see that more than half of my stuff is already bought and I managed a couple of other purchases today as well that are going towards Christmas (my niece and nightwear for my kids). Not an nsd as I was out for lunch with bestie, and I also bought myself some new socks and a nightie from Primarni while I was there.
Also made contact with my sister through text as pledged.
And I have used up some sorry looking veggies from the fridge for tonight's dinner in an attempt to get back on track with reducing food waste and emptying fridge/freezer...
Good times.
Today I went for coffee with a friend who I hadn't seen for a while and then went round to another friends for tea so good progress on that front.
It's been a spendy day though, I bought coffee and cake for me and my friend (she will buy next time), bought contact lens solution, did a wee top up shop and bought curtains for the new flat.
I've made up my Christmas list and budget. My family tend to email each other a wish list so that we all get presents that we need/want so can't do much buying for them until later on in the year but am planning to browse online this evening to get gift ideas for the few friends that I buy for.
Debt Dec 2022 - £2972.68. Current debt - £1769.68 (40.5% paid). Emergency fund - £830.33/£1000 (83% saved). Car fund - £651.48/£1000 (65.1% saved). Flat deposit - £5395.98/£15000 (36% saved).
another productive evening yesterday. DH got the last of the hedge trimming to the dump and realised too that he felt held back by the kids, making them an excuse for not getting anything done (just meaning they can quite happily entertain themselves for half an hour than needing our constant attention, if that makes sense). Whereas if you break up a big project into half an hour slots a night it can be done quite easily. So hopefully we can keep this momentum going and get 2-3 projects done by christmas.
Last month when we had to cut down on screen time I spent my evenings doing little half hour jobs that ended up making my weekends less busy. It’s amazing what you can get done in 30 mins.
CCL – you are putting us al to shame by doing that Xmas list and being able to cross half of it off!!
Lego mum – if you don’t want to count the swimming lessons it’s fine by me/us. If you budget at the start of the month for it it’s fine.
Reporting in a NSD for today. All meals from the cupboard.
Further discussion on the housework rota as it just hasn't been working for the last few months - new plan going forward!!
Replies
Retired August 2016
Paid off French mortgage September 2018
New kitchen fully installed June 2019
Not counting this! 2020
Garden fencing completed, woohoo 2021..........
October 2021: aiming for £5,000 new money for premium bonds or a car.
OK, as I'm away for one week I will adjust some figures but others I'm keeping the same.
Spends - I will stick with the 14 nsd over the 3weeks, which will be a big challenge for me, but as I am retired I should be able to organize myself - well we will see!!
Eating - menu planning, well I am useless at this, some days I can't be bothered but as I'm trying to lose a bit of weight I will try harder.
Presents - I'm not sure what I'm doing for Christmas, but I reckon my dd and her family will be staying, so I will start to buy some extras and make some small gifts. We don't go overboard with gifts and try to make and personalise small gifts.
Time - 10 mins to myself, that's easy for me as I'm retired and bar my regular child minding for dgd two days a week, I can more or less please myself.
Exercise - this is something I never do but the benefit to my high blood pressure would be great so I will make the effort.
Meet - my oldest friend and I have arranged a meet up this month and I haven't seen her since the beginning of the year!!!! And I will phone my brother and sister who I lost touch with and recently got back in touch, but I still find it difficult but they are both quite a bit older so realistically I don't know how much time we all have left.
Bed - I will definitely do this as I have to put the garden and allotment to bed, in fact I'm changing the allotment around during the winter months so I will down there every week for a few hours.
Empty - I'm gradually going through the house sorting out.
Reading - I go to library already so this one is easy!!
So that's me done, I just have to do it all, but I have made a list to put on top of my calender to be a constant reminder, oh and I will keep a running total on the food front. My holiday is all paid and budgeted for and that's about it!!! Wow what a long post!!!
Nannyg
So, September has sneaked up on me - life goes back to 'normal' and my spendy summer is over. Ah well.... Thanks for the August challenge applemuncher - and I hope that September is much kinder to you. And thanks EE for this month's brilliant challenge.
Welcome over legomum - I'm sure you'll love it here. And welcome back TOG.
I've been back over to my post and targets from September last year, which was my first month on the challenge. This is what I wrote.
I've set myself a target of being debt free for Christmas this year and this would help keep me on the straight and narrow. My financial target is to finish paying off the CC, and start replenishing the EF. Other than that my target really needs to be less food waste. I am terrible for not properly meal planning and throwing perfectly good stuff away because I've just left it for too long.
Well, I achieved a lot of this. I became debt free in November :j, paid off the CC (and racked it up again) and I'm doing ok with food waste, although I will confess to having thrown a bit of stuff away this month (blimming August) I would say overall I'm doing better than September 2015.
Working hard to pay off my debt
Time to take back control
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6290156/crazy-cat-lady-chapter-5-trying-to-recover-from-the-pandemic/p1?new=1
So far the first is going well. NSD officially.
Lots of good shiz going on with the business and I feel optimistic.
Nothing at all to do with a 3ft someone being out from under my feet no sir not at all...
Debt neutral
Roadkill 17 £56.58 2016-£62.28 2015- £84.20)
RYSAW17 £1900 2016 £2,535.16 2015 £1027.20
Back to school blues here. A good mse day. Nsd#1 completed. All meals from stores. Back to healthy-ish eating n lots of water.
Where did August go?
Happy September 1st. You could just as easily change today as Jan 1st. "We are given a new day following each night so that we can choose to begin anew at ANY point in our lives. Change is a matter of CHOICE, not calendar." - Dan Kennedy
I wrote out my Christmas present list and included all birthdays between now and then as there are a few (5) - I'm thrilled to see that more than half of my stuff is already bought and I managed a couple of other purchases today as well that are going towards Christmas (my niece and nightwear for my kids). Not an nsd as I was out for lunch with bestie, and I also bought myself some new socks and a nightie from Primarni while I was there.
Also made contact with my sister through text as pledged.
And I have used up some sorry looking veggies from the fridge for tonight's dinner in an attempt to get back on track with reducing food waste and emptying fridge/freezer...
Good times.
Working hard to pay off my debt
Time to take back control
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6290156/crazy-cat-lady-chapter-5-trying-to-recover-from-the-pandemic/p1?new=1
It's been a spendy day though, I bought coffee and cake for me and my friend (she will buy next time), bought contact lens solution, did a wee top up shop and bought curtains for the new flat.
I've made up my Christmas list and budget. My family tend to email each other a wish list so that we all get presents that we need/want so can't do much buying for them until later on in the year but am planning to browse online this evening to get gift ideas for the few friends that I buy for.
Thriftylass – I’m with you on this
Last month when we had to cut down on screen time I spent my evenings doing little half hour jobs that ended up making my weekends less busy. It’s amazing what you can get done in 30 mins.
CCL – you are putting us al to shame by doing that Xmas list and being able to cross half of it off!!
Lego mum – if you don’t want to count the swimming lessons it’s fine by me/us. If you budget at the start of the month for it it’s fine.
Reporting in a NSD for today. All meals from the cupboard.
Further discussion on the housework rota as it just hasn't been working for the last few months - new plan going forward!!
We are up to 32 this month - seems we are quite a crowd!!