What are your plans for 2017?

maman

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

Not new years resolutions, just the things you would like to achieve, do the same or different as this year, save up for etc. ?

Ive just completed a year of close scrutiny on my financial ins/outs in the bank, to the point where its now part of my day to check my balance and see what bills have gone out and tick them off the list; as a result I have had the exact right money for everything all year.

This last year was also the year I stopped drinking, and I have saved £1900 thanks to that alone [FYI: I read a book called 'The Easy Way to Control Alcohol' by Alan Carr - not the comedian.]

I also decluttered and minimised A LOT OF STUFF in my house and sheds.

So next year, I think some more decluttering and minimising certainly, because I have less housework which frees up more time.

With that time, Im planning to launch myself properly into illustrating -website, networking, and of course the actual drawing part!

Another thing I must try harder at is visiting my far away friends and family, but for that I need a newer and more reliable car, so that is something I must work and save towards.

How about you?

Thanks for starting the thread. This is a great time for reflection.


I think what really matters with any 'resolutions' is that we keep at them long enough to become a habit and when that's done we can move on to more.

beautiful_ravens

maman wrote: »

Thanks for starting the thread. This is a great time for reflection.


I think what really matters with any 'resolutions' is that we keep at them long enough to become a habit and when that's done we can move on to more.

Youre right. I read an article about 'habit stacking' late last year and the idea stuck, here is a similar article on the 'science' behind building new habits -

http://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking

SailorSam

I want to get out more, and i'll join the declutter club.
I want to downside, 2 possibly 3yrs time and i've always been a terrible hoarder so the clearout has already started.

amber03

To keep on top of my finances and not to waste any on silly purchases. Not store food like it's the end of the world ( I work in a SM so can buy things on a daily basis if I need to. Declutter the whole house, which I have started to do, was going to give stuff to CS, but one of my bosses goes to a homeless shelter so will divide stuff between the two.


A big one to me is every other weekend is to have a"me " day where I go off and do something I want to do, usually this walking somewhere, visiting NT property. I want to see more of this country, even if it means doing this by myself.xx

thriftwizard

Ooh, nice shiny new thread! Please may I join in too?

I have a number of things to tackle: first & foremost, the overdraft. It's not a lot to owe, but over the last few years I've gone from having sufficient savings to cover minor disasters, to dipping into the allowed overdraft, to making sure we were in credit for at least some of the month. Not good... Now the number of people living on that income has reduced a bit, it's up to me to pull us back up by the bootstraps and get us back into a "healthy" position. I'm still not in a position to go back to paid employment, as I'm main (unpaid) carer for my 90 y.o. mother (who lives 25 miles away, and generally copes pretty well, but is prone to sudden collapses) and an on-the-Spectrum Offspring, as yet unable to work, so it's money-making/money-saving skills to the fore!

I'm not vastly overweight but could do with shedding, say, a stone, just to be more comfortable. So I'll be making sure that I go for a good walk 3-4 times a week, whatever the weather! This is no hardship... I do dance too, but the kind of dance where a few extra pounds (and years!) are not a problem. It's an odd pastime but like many others, I'm hooked and it's a very inexpensive & beneficial form of exercise (as long as you keep away from the really glittery costumes) and the best fun ever, with the loveliest gang of anarchic lunatics under the sun.

And de-cluttering is not the word for what I need to do; I've been a regular over on the hoarding thread. Blitzing is more like it... I can tie this in with making money, as part of the problem was that an Offspring, with his fiancee and furniture, moved back in with us at short notice, and I didn't have the chance to organise/renovate/sell on the excess stock from my little business that I'd been storing in "their" room. I'm firmly resolved never to be in that position again, and haven't been biting off more than I can chew no matter how tempting, but there is still stuff left over from that time lurking in odd recesses of the house.

Keeping the house fit for visitors, expected or unexpected, is high on my list of priorities. We've been doing really well with keeping the main rooms clean & tidy as the house has emptied out, but the porch & the conservatory are still full of random gunk, which looks pretty awful. I might even tackle one of them today... the trick will be, keeping them that way. And the answer is, MOVE STUFF ON! I am so fed up with chucking stuff out there in a panic whenever guests are expected. Not to mention gritting my teeth when they're unexpected!

So it'll be a year of doing stuff that I already know I need to do, and I'll feel lots better for having actually done it. This I know, as we've made some strides forward in the last month, since DS2 and his young lady left. Onwards & upwards, and we'll see where getting stuff actually sorted leads us to!

ETA: in the spirit of the thread, not resolutions, but aims for 2017: to write more, just for fun, and to travel more. That's not so easy, as my OH and a couple of the Offspring don't enjoy time away from home, adventures & challenges, but I do... I don't mean just clocking up the miles, or going to far-away exotic places, but just to explore more, to get to some of the places I've been wanting to go to forever. Some of which are only 20 miles away!

Soworried

Lovely thread :j

This year I need to keep in touch with family better, I am going to ring my parents weekly & siblings monthly. I am rubbish at doing this yet I have the most lovely supportive family

I want to train for a 1/2 marathon. I keep myself at 10k distance & I want to push on now.

I want to drink less alcohol, I'm not an alcoholic but I do drink more than the average units say you should. I use wine to switch off from work which is a bad habit I have gotten in to. I'm starting this by doing dry January.

I need to save up for a new fence to be built across our three gardens. This will cost a small fortune so might not be done in 2017.

VJsmum

Lovely thread

I am going to turn my office into an office, rather than a junk room, and actually work there. This is happening today.. It will free up the kitchen /dining room table so that we aren't eating surrounded by books and papers.

Meditate (or at least just sit still and do nothing) for 10 minutes every day

Start yoga again.

Cook more for OH and I - DS can lump it or just eat the same things over and over. He is 17 and I have pandered to him long enough.

That's enough for now....:D

pennywitch

My life is in such a mess throughout that I have divided it into eight areas (money, work, appearance, health, physical environment, fun and entertainment, family and friends, love life) and given each a rating of 1 to 10. The current total is 29/80. Ouch.

Beneath each I have written a brief description of where I am, and a brief description of where I want to be, and am now in the process of writing down the goals I'll need to meet to get from one to the other and the first steps I need to take to achieve them. I have prioritised the areas which need immediate attention and the areas which will have to wait. Money is just short of needing the last rites, never mind urgent resuscitation, hence deciding to join the MSE forums and embrace all things thrifty and old-style (hi all! ), and work is not much better. Knowing what's needed in areas that can't be a priority does at least mean that I can snatch the odd opportunities that arise to improve things until I can give them my full attention.

In practical terms I am no further forward than I was when I started this last night, but having a plan which I have already begun to put into practice in minor ways has made me feel a fair bit better about things and shown me that I do have some control over the situation and that it's up to me to take it. Yellow-stickered beef is currently stewing in the crockpot, and investigation of my Boots card has turned up a fiver's worth of points which will be spent (hopefully in the January sale) on a present for someone's birthday in February.

Onwards and upwards, one step at a time Good luck with your plans, everyone!

happyandcontented

Good time for reflection and I am feeling quite reflective due to the illness of close friends. So my resolutions are; to live every moment wisely, don't sweat the small stuff, be kinder to people as you never know what they have going on in their lives. Personal goals are to lose weight and cut down on the wine, and appreciate my family more.

LameWolf

thriftwizard wrote: »

ETA: in the spirit of the thread, not resolutions, but aims for 2017:

*Nods vigorously* The minute someone mentions the "R" word to me, my eyes glaze over and I tune them out. I'll only ever get anywhere if I think of them as "aims" so that I don't beat myself up (or not as much anyway) for failing.