NST Joyful July

misstara

NSD 16/16 . Today I'm grateful for the weather staying dry, a super productive day at work, earning some extra cash through 2nd job and a long phone call to my parents.

Toni'sfriend

Got caught in the rain again! Never mind it was a nice walk.
The boy has done something to the tablet he gave me and it's running much faster now so it'll do for a while and I'll ask for a more modern one for birthday/Christmas. We're going on a long holiday travelling in Europe in January/February so I'd like to have something reliable.
Started to tidy the chutney/sauce/mustard etc cupboard yesterday but gave up as C decided to "help" me. That man just refuses to throw anything (and I mean anything) away. I think I'm going to have to tackle some of this stuff when he's not about. Going to have a trawl through my jewellery (none of it's expensive) today and throw away all the single earrings, broken bracelets and general rubbish.
Have a relaxing Sunday,

mothernerd

Toni'sfriend can the chutneys be dropped, a tablespoon at a time, into curries and stews - curries are supposed to include a sweet (and a sour) element. Always used this for leftover cranberry sauce at Christmas. Unless there are any obvious signs - mould for example, chutneys will be safe to eat for a considerable time (put them in the fridge once opened).

mothernerd

Please look after this bear.

I am going great guns with the 'tidying'. Think I have tamed the paperwork mountain (mine and mum's) and I can see chunks of clear space here and there. However the stuff has been shuffled around a lot (getting at obscure stuff that had newer stuff piled on top) so a quirky quote for today.

Look out for someone today. It could be yourself, a friend or family member, a neighbour or a stranger - just a smile, an offer of help, a hug, whatever is needed.

Today I am grateful that mum met her great grandchinchillas on Friday. I took one out for us to stroke and she was amazed at how soft they were. Also grateful for lovely weather, okay for drying yesterday as well - I insisted on leaving mum's washing outside on Friday as it was already absolutely dripping wet when we got back from film club. Very very grateful (was still awake at 4 am) for being able to sort the filing ('historic' stuff is in a box, things we might need sometime soon in a metal file box) and believing I will get somewhere if I just keep going at tortoise pace for now.

I should ask how you have all done this month, but more importantly, have you enJOYed yourselves?

Toni'sfriend

T

Toni'sfriend can the chutneys be dropped, a tablespoon at a time, into curries and stews - curries are supposed to include a sweet (and a sour) element. Always used this for leftover cranberry sauce at Christmas. Unless there are any obvious signs - mould for example, chutneys will be safe to eat for a considerable time (put them in the fridge once opened).

Oh yes. I do all of that. It's just that he has bought so many!

FurryBeastOz

I've been looking back at mothernerd's inspiring first post, and as I'm unlikely to manage tomorrow I thought I'd do my review today. (I love todays quote too. Paddington, second only to Winnie the Pooh)

YOU It starts from here, it starts with YOU, it starts with now.
I'm sorry but you are it. We may wish we had more money, a better job, weren't in this mess, more abc, less xyz. This is where you are. If you don't like it, change it. You can keep wishing or you can plan, decide what you want to do, set goals, break them down into small steps and start. Every small step helps even when you can't see the bigger picture.

I've been doing lots of soul searching in July and have been busily planning. Rather than putting all my dreams off until some nebulous day when we are finally 'settled somewhere' and putting my life on hold, I've decided to use this time to do some stuff for me. (Helped by selling our rental property so there should be some money coming in shortly - 1/2 of which is mine. To do what I want with)

Know yourself, your strengths and weaknesses.


All to aware of my weakness! Learning to find my strengths. This will be helped by the Career Coaching I start in August.

If life has steam rollered over your plans, write new ones. Is it just temporary (hold your nerve, do what you can, resign yourself to being in a holding pattern until the crisis is over) or longer term (take a deep breath, eat from the cupboards, check through your annual budget).

Reviewed the budgets carefully in July and decided to let go of the reins a little. I've increased the grocery budget, and am investing in ME TIME by getting a cleaner.

USE what you have. Start by auditing the cupboards, fridge and freezer. Make meal plan based on these. Cook from scratch. After sorting out your big bills, the food budget is often the area where you can make great savings.

A little limited on this because of my training regime, but I have been using up OOD odds and ends.

LOOK after you. If you are it, it all depends on you, so look after yourself (especially if no-one else is likely to). Make time for a little pampering or just sit and reflect. Mental and physical wellbeing is important.


Doing this in spades! DH away for a week and I booked myself a massage to celebrate the first day. Went to bed early without being woken up at some ridiculous hour. Also spent 3 hrs on the sofa with Sean Bean:D

UNLESS you have a specific reason (special celebration, no/ least harmful alternative) you should avoid takeaways, restaurants, vending machines, costalot outlets. Take lunch to work (hospital appointments etc) every day. Some turtles have the occasional spend built into their personal/ social spending budget.

Have been taking lunches into work, and after a very bad start I haven't been spending much outside the necessary.

LITTLE and OFTEN is the key for those who are poorly, new to exercise or who have fallen by the wayside. Start with 10 minutes a day, five times a week, rising to 20 minutes in the second week. More if you are young and healthy. Those of you with a well established training routine carry on - you know your needs/capabilities better than I.

I ROCK:D I can see muscles. Haven't lost any weight, but 6 days a week of gym/cardio is beginning to show.

YOU will aim for 16 NO Spend Days unless you set a much lower total last month, in which case try for 2 above last month's target. Medical necessities, ys bargains (no other purchases) and filling your car with petrol from a designated petrol budget are exempt (you still keep your NSD). Super organised turtles who never exceed their budget or buy anything on impulse do not count NSDs as they have other ways of controlling their spending.


Very bad. Almost £170 of unnecessary spends - £60 in parking tickets, and £7 in bank charges because I got lazy. Really need to get a handle on that this month.

Daily Posting is reccommended – keep reading if you can't post. If it all goes wrong, confess or ask for help/ sympathy. Turtles who are on holiday should adjust targets accordingly (posting/ NSDs/ separate holiday budget etc).


Who is up to the turtle challenge?

Thank you all for being so helpful and supportive this month. I can't promise to check in every day as I am so busy, but I will post when I can.

Gratitudes for today:

1) Having a budget that I can afford to be flexible with

2) Another great week of eating and exercising taking me closer to my goal.

3) A month of soul searching leading to some major decisions and progress towards my happiness.

4) The nudge from here to stop putting things of in case something changes. I am where I am. There will never be a perfect time. So, I am off to look at Yoga in Bali for a month:rotfl:

x_raphael_xx

mothernerd wrote: »

Look out for someone today. It could be yourself, a friend or family member, a neighbour or a stranger - just a smile, an offer of help, a hug, whatever is needed.

Washed bfs car today and rung my mum for a chat. Also cleaned up my huge cooking mess & did my own dishes.

Toni'sfriend wrote: »

Oh yes. I do all of that. It's just that he has bought so many!

Will they last til xmas to re-gift in hampers?


Mixture of a lazy & busy day today.
Got up & dressed early to vaccum and wash the cars as I thought it would rain today. It's kept bright.
Cooked up a batch of mini quiches & had enough leftover pasty & mix for a normal sized quiche for lunch.
Thrown together a stew that is bubbling away for tea, and even did the dishes (usually bf's job as I hate it, but he was watching F1 and I had nothing better to do.)

Rest of the day I'm just relaxing & watching some youtubes.

YOU If you don't like it, change it. Weight & Fitness. Got sweaty washing our two cars this morning.

USE what you have. HM quiches, HM stew, limp veg chopped & thrown in the freezer for another day.

LOOK after you. Going to finish the red wine later (bought for the stew)

UNLESS you have a specific reason you should avoid takeaways etc Avoided.

YOU will aim for 16 NO Spend Days 20/20 Target reached and the most NSDs I've had all year!

JOY Find 3 things to be grateful for at the end of each day.
1) Cars all neat & tidy
2) Bf has change the bedding. Nothing like a fresh bed
3) Yummy stew

Toni'sfriend

Will they last til xmas to re-gift in hampers?

What a good idea. I'll have a look

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for a friend offering us a lift to church (which we accepted, of course!), for a quick bus journey home, for dd loving the lemon drizzle cake, for dd playing out for hours - just as it 'should' be in the school hols, for a chat with big sis, for using up scrappy bits of veg for tea, for dd's plans for her friend's bday tomorrow, for watching a modern Star Trek film, for returning a book to a friend (it was bugging me that I had kept it for so long), for dh looking for ways we can save money.

Toni'sfriend

Well, last day of the month, Didn't quite make NSDs 13/14 but stayed in budget.
Got derailed on pretty much everything else but you have to find the positives in any situation and there are now ongoing positives. Thank you all for your advice and support. It was and is very much appreciated. Moving on to August now with lots of plans to make life better.
Thank you for running the challenge, Mothernerd, and for all the inspirational quotes.