£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 65: Day 4

Morning! Still away for work so not a lot of exciting things going to be achieved today (apart from work, obv!).

Did a decent yoga practice yesterday, but still spent much of the day feeling bleurgh and bloated - my gut hasn't been happy since I was ill a few weeks ago. I think all my healthy bacteria got killed off! Might make the effort with live yoghurt and gut healing soup for a few days when I get back home.

Made a little money yesterday so the extension savings figure has been updated. It's down to its lowest figure yet, but I'll feel much happier if/when it's dropped significantly. Had to pay £350 to the water board yesterday in advance of them coming to inspect the sewer outside our house to decide whether we can build over it, which is part of the £5k budgeted that I need to save for this year, but still rather concentrates the mind. Such a big chunk of money to spend.

Feel like I'm inching towards lots of debt goals but nothing very exciting is happening - I'm £650 away from my next £1,000 barrier on the CCs (£13k), £120 away from the halfway point of my debt repayment goals for the year, £1,600 away from my extension savings goals (on top of what I'll save each month as part of our SOA). Not moving very quickly, but at least it's all moving in the right direction when it does move.

Three things to do yesterday
1. Make packed lunch to take with me to work today.
2. Pack for 2 days away (not that I'm doing everything last minute or anything...).
3. Make granola for the DCs breakfast either today or tomorrow (depending on whether it's made before they are up!).

Three things to do today
1. Use travelling time to clear emails.
2. Plan tomorrow's work.
3. Do yoga as soon as I post this and try to eat healthily all day!

Mini goals:
- £21.47/30 May rounding down pot.
- £2,388.07/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £27.39 daily earning goal.

Honeysucklelou2

That's impressive to think you are £120 away from the halfway point of your debt repayment goal for this year, especially as you are writing this in early to mid May. Well done!

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 65: Day 5

Home sweet home. Got back home late last night after a loooonnnnnng and somewhat dull day yesterday. Looking forward to a quiet couple of hours with DC3 this morning after dropping the older two at school before I have to start the next round of tidying and cleaning - have the architect coming this evening then clients again tomorrow.

I'm quite relieved that after tomorrow I am completely unbooked for the forseeable (the beginning of the inevitable summer slowdown). I have a couple of client enquiries in the pipeline, but nothing booked in yet, and I really need to focus some time and attention on my own website so I can begin to make some progress on my long term plan of having an income not reliant on someone else. I'm not too worried about work drying up for summer as I have my income buffer in place until September, and I think the invoice for this month's contract work will give me a buffer until October, by which time hopefully things will have picked up again, and I should get the occasional client booking to boost things too. So while it might not be exciting levels of debt repayment over the summer, I should be able to keep things going.

Speaking of debt repayment, I'm now just a couple of quid away from paying back £2,400 of my £5,000 goal for the year. I really want to hit the halfway point by the end of the month, but I'm not completely sure it's going to happen. There's £28.50 to come out for the Virgin CC towards the end of the month, but finding £75 extra before then may be a bit beyond me. We'll see. No major movement on the daily earnings goal either - it's gone up slightly as I didn't earn anything yesterday (I'll be paid for the work done yesterday at the end of the month/beginning of next month, and will count it then).

I was chatting to a woman I was working with yesterday, and was really struck by how some people really seem to be able to achieve an almost limitless amount. She had very similar values to me (low plastic, unprocessed food, being around for her three DCs etc) and had also done recent house renovations but seemed to be achieving so much more in her business than I do, seemingly by really really focusing on it in the time she gets. I still feel like I'm trying to find the balance between the crazy stress levels at the end of last year when I was working every hour there was, and this year when I have really given myself a bit of an easy ride, and maybe arranged a few too many weekday coffees and weekend days off work when I should be working. I'm sure there's a better balance to be found, hopefully I can inch my way there.

I have a long old list of things to do today, and I need to check in with DH who had a long list of things to do this week too. No rest for the wicked!

Three things to do yesterday
1. Use travelling time to clear emails.
2. Plan tomorrow's work.
3. Do yoga as soon as I post this and try to eat healthily all day!

To do today (somewhat more than three things...)
1. Social media post - I have got back on it this week and want to keep momentum up.
2. Order presents for a friend and her DC, who both have birthdays next week.
3. Menu plan and food shopping list.
4. Food shopping.
5. Paint a tile in the bathroom where the paint has peeled off - looks so tatty for clients coming tomorrow.
6. Check for dietary restrictions for tomorrow's clients.
7. Make soup for clients tomorrow.
8. Bake biscuits for clients tomorrow.
9. Order lip balm (want to find a natural one in tins I can then reuse to make my own at a later date).
10. Chase DC2's sticker subscription, which hasn't shown up this month.
11. Tidy and clean for clients tomorrow.
12. Save ebay search for camping trailer.
13. Read an email from preschool that needs some attention and a response.
14. Finish contract work for next week.
15. Plan weekend work.
16. Check in with DH about his list and the family meeting list from last week.

Mini goals:
- £24.35/30 May rounding down pot.
- £2,398.38/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £27.51 daily earning goal.

Kittychick

I think it's dangerous to compare yourself to others. You are seeing what she feels happy showing you. Even if she is some kind of wonder woman that doesn't mean you should make yourself ill to keep up. You are making big steps in a way that suits you, your family, your physical and mental wellbeing. Keep going x

JoJoC

I agree wholeheartedly with Kittychick. As hard as it may be, and i succumb to it sometimes myself, you only learn from people what they want you to see and more often than not, it's just the good, not the bad.

Treadingonplaymobil

JoJoC and Kittychick I'm sure you're both right, but I feel like I've had a run of meeting people recently who are achieving huge amounts without compromising the things they do for their families. I'm just so aware of how far we've got to go with the debt and getting the house done and everything, and I see these women doing it all while managing a house and I feel like a bit of a disaster area!

List update, to keep my head straight with everything that needs doing today...

To do today (somewhat more than three things...)
1. Social media post - I have got back on it this week and want to keep momentum up.
2. Order presents for a friend and her DC, who both have birthdays next week. I have had a genius idea for a joint present for both of them, but have messaged the husband to see whether they already have one.
3. Menu plan and food shopping list.
4. Food shopping. DH is doing this right now as he finishes early on a Friday.
5. Paint a tile in the bathroom where the paint has peeled off - looks so tatty for clients coming tomorrow.
6. Check for dietary restrictions for tomorrow's clients. None.
7. Make soup for clients tomorrow. Don't need to do this as we will be done earlier than I had initially thought.
8. Bake biscuits for clients tomorrow.
9. Order lip balm (want to find a natural one in tins I can then reuse to make my own at a later date).
10. Chase DC2's sticker subscription, which hasn't shown up this month. It's just arrived, saving me a job!
11. Tidy and clean for clients tomorrow.
12. Save ebay search for camping trailer.
13. Read an email from preschool that needs some attention and a response.
14. Finish contract work for next week.
15. Plan weekend work.
16. Check in with DH about his list and the family meeting list from last week.

Mini goals:
- £24.35/30 May rounding down pot.
- £2,398.38/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £27.51 daily earning goal.

Chrystal

I think people who achieve a lot more than we think we could don't work harder, they just work smarter.

You seem to 'make soup, bake biscuits etc whenever you have clients coming, which takes up valuable time. This is the sort of thing that needs sorting. If you HAVE to provide homemade stuff for clients then why aren't you batch cooking it so that all you need to do is take it out of the freezer before they come.
Time management is your biggest problem so looking at the small things that can be compressed will be a great start. X

Sea_Shell

These wonder women of whom you speak could be miserable as sin on the inside, and crying into their cornflakes every morning.

Don't think about how they keep their plates spinning...just concentrate on your own plates.

XSpender

I read what you achieve on your diary and think you’re a Wonder Woman. Apart from work and feeding everybody not much gets done here during the week

Silver_Queen

I definitely agree that you're pretty wondrous yourself, TOPM.