NST January: Health, Wealth and a Life Well Lived

misstara

Sorry for your loss Kerry Woman - sending hugs.

apple_muncher wrote: »

Set routines that enable you to head in the right direction when things get fuzzy, or complicated or overwhelming. Something simple like having the same thing for breakfast = fewer decisons/choices to sort through for that day, freeing up space in your head.

Thanks for this apple, it really resonates with me today. Definitely feeling overwhelmed with everything at the moment and struggling to find the motivation to tackle anything as it just seems never ending. So will put some routines in place to make life a little easier.

A spend day again - £22 on a card and present for my friends birthday plus £6.95 on milk, bread and some cleaning products.

I've also made a wee £3.15 payment to the debt and thankfully my tooth is no longer hurting as much

sashanut

Hi all turtles :j


Sorry for your loss Kerry Woman

Janus So this is a time to look forwards - where do you want to be in 12 months from now? I would like to have the house much clearer. Slow progress but small steps.. 5 years? House completely clear & clutter free, DD settled in her own home. 10 years? Spending half the year in Ireland, half here

Activity. This is a BOGOF one. Take up a new hobby or resurrect a new one. Plodding along with sock, now will def be for DH.

ALSO, be active. Keep moving. Moving around doing some sorting today, pleased with that.

Non-negotiables:
-18 NSDs (if not, why not?) still 15/18 as spent today :mad:

-your budgets are set by the start of the month and are fixed. Nearly - think I will say £250 for us & all animals, should not need near this amount so all saved will go to another project. Filling in book with receipts, found most of them. Kept receipts from shopping, will fill in book later. Still to do.....epic fail. Need to get tabs on this & will ask DH to help with spreadsheet - used to have them.


-£5 to foodbank / charity Finally managed to do this!

-pay money to your debts FIRST - do not wait to see how much is left at the end - and live within your budget Do not have debt but have a cc paid off in full each month, which gives vouchers I use at Christmas. Has been a v spendy month, will cut down as much as possible. Will be prepping to start selling some of this stuff ASAP. Sorted out a few things, aim for more for the weekend when they will be listed!!

meal plan changed although prep done. Lunch was calzones made with wraps & HM sweet potato chips & dip. Supper was toad in the hole plus fresh veg.

Unabashed, unambiguous, unconditional, undaunted, undivided, unerring, unshakeable devotion to your goal(s). [more on this later] Do not exercise as was - like many people - put off at school. And I was also rubbish! Put off swimming by being pushed into the deep end (by the swimming teacher!) which instead of having the desired effect of getting me swimming, actually nearly drowned me..


Always plan your meals; always take a shopping list; always take your lunch to work and drink + snacks when out and about; avoid all coffee shops, vending machines, work canteens... Making shopping list for tomorrow now, don't work outside the home but do a bit of voluntary work. Deviated a bit from shopping list, but not much, took fruit to work & get free brews..Don't drink coffee & never go in coffee shops..will try & take snacks, drink when out & about..


Reduce, re-use, repair, re-gift, recycle, recover, refuse! And read.
Reduced food by using up things, however added to them by going shopping..

You are the key to reducing your debt, living modestly, keeping as fit and well as you can. So look after yourself - physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Determined to look after myself & pamper a little each week, have already had a face pack yesterday, need to do things for myself instead of being a in constant rush doing stuff for family No me time today unless you count sorting out in the bedroom - at least it was my stuff!

I want to re-introduce Bob's s t r e t c h challenge for January: how much extra can you earn / save off your food shop / move / remove.NO sign yet of said shoe but will keep identifying items to sell. Have realised that we have a ton of food still to eat, that's before we start on the 2 chest freezers (& little one inside fridge). There's only 2 of us (but often 3)..Eating up stuff from freezers but still a very long way to go. February could be a very low spend month, well that's what I'm aiming for..

Would joining the 1% thread help you? Or the MFW for 2018? Or the pay off all your debts by xmas18? Does reading mrmoneymustache or frugalwoods inspire you? Have joined Frugalwoods challenge already & will be interested to see how it pans out. Have been on MMM & introduced his philosophy to DH, applied the principles so we are now MF - wish we had done it years ago, wasted so much time/money etc. in the past..

mothernerd

Hugs Kerry Woman.

For f0xh0les "Any one who's worth anything reads just what he likes as the mood takes him with extravagant enthusiasm. " (Virginia Woolf born 25/01/1882). That covers your vampire novels, you are doing the right thing.

I've had a strange day. Elected not to go to the doctor's (my arm and some other bits are much improved) as I had 'so much to do' , then promptly fell asleep again in a very awkward position and woke up feeling dreadful. Things happened (you really don't want to know) but I ended up feeling much better. Had another sleep and felt even better (but still tired) but am now not sure if I have just swapped one set of symptoms for another (ie caught a different lurgy bug when I was still reeling from the other).

Taking your advice apple and doing what I can (I have plans for putting systems in place but need to finish the clear out first - The 'overwhelmed plan' I read suggested getting rid first). So another bag of stuff to the Sally Army hopper, more recycling out, more washing done (and hunted through the pile of their clothes to find more of my missing undies) and will put away the clean pots.

Slightly worried as I know there are things that need doing (2 weeks of under par/ very low activity) but will try my best not to stress but take action.

Today I am grateful for my bed, for clean clothes and bedding and a hot bath (and easy food when I needed it as I had not eaten all day.

f0xh0les

Kerry Woman massive hugs to you. It does not really matter if you were close to your Dad or not, you just lost your Mum, and you need to be gentle and patient with yourself. The club sounds like a really good idea.

I love reading and I love trashy fantasy novels, DH is a terrible book snob, I do not care, he paints and plays with tiny tiny tiny little men (???). It takes all sorts.

I think my main problem is that I do not have a goal.

My goals are all quite short term - get the house sorted / save for a new bathroom / get kids through GCSEs / get DH further up the greasy pole. Decorating taking a major step to the forefront as I have the in-laws in 20 days , but it was something that needs doing, so they are providing momentum. I must say it is looking good though.

Strike action at DHs work is looking like it will end up with him losing 14 days pay next ( 28 day) month! So he will be stressy about that.

I don't need to set routines, as I have my magic list! Whenever it gets too long I divide it up into tasks for set days, some get done, some do not, some are recurring tasks. some get shoved back on the end of another day. I feel in control of that.

Need to arrange a boiler service - I had to turn it off and on this morning to get it to work. It was on the October list. It has just kept getting shunted as it was not urgent. It will be done in February.

Right, off to wake the kids.

Have a great Friday Turtles

apple_muncher

Fmess - can you survive until the end of the school year? How much do you owe on the roof/car? You've been a turtle for a while so prob know your outgoings off by heart. Would another 7 months at full pay make a big dent in the debt? Can you apply for jobs elsewhere? Could you do the work you have done in the summer months?

dolly84

Kerry Woman - life is certainly throwing everything at you at the moment. Hope you are OK.

Pay day today and the start of February's budget. Will get on with sorting that out this morning.

Me and DH are having a fakeaway tonight, curry with side bits, I will make the curry this morning and let it sit, I prefer it that way. I don't have any plans to spend unless the upholsterer calls to tell me my seat covers are ready to pick up but I have the money set aside for them.

Coloured my hair last night (hate that job) I use Avon hair colour, I think I paid about £2 for them and stocked up as I thought they were discontinuing them, they are very good and last 3-4 months.

Yesterday I Dropped the big bag of charity donations that were sat in my hallway off, I have a bundle of things on ebay which have bids and finish today so they will be leaving soon. I still need to weed out more from my wardrobe but it is hard as I love so much of it but just have way too much. I don't feel guilty about it as I buy pretty much all of my stuff second hand.

lcc86

Morning turtles, just catching up on posts since I last read. Hope everybody is doing well heading into the weekend.


Haven't had any spend days since Monday which is really good. Tuesday I went to kickboxing which was really fun and exhausting! Wednesday I had chiropractor so no exercise done. Yesterday OH and I went to see a film at an independent cinema nearby - tickets paid for in advance, OH paid for parking so another NSD.


Today I'm working from home, managed to have a much needed lie in, although I was awake for a while during the night. Have just sat and worked out February's budget, it looks good and I should be able to save the best part of £500 :T I keep a record on my spreadsheet of how much I've saved each month, and for what, and I'm surprised at how much I've managed to save since the start of last year, even though of course some of it has been used. It's not loads compared to what some people save, and I could save more if I didn't horse ride or pay to have my back sorted out, but you need some pleasures in life right?!


Today won't be a NSD, I need to renew my breakdown cover (£32 down from £35 last year). I'm also going to book flights to Edinburgh for a friend's birthday later this year. It will go on the cc but be paid off on Tuesday when I get paid. I also need to pop to the shops for a couple of bits. Trying to use up what's in the freezer so a couple of interesting meals planned for the next few days lol. Kickboxing later again so that'll keep me busy.


NSD total is 19/20
Healthy day total is 16/20

Igamogam

Grateful for 2 things today - a small circle of good friends and payday

apple_muncher

lcc86 wrote: »

Have just sat and worked out February's budget, it looks good and I should be able to save the best part of £500 :T I keep a record on my spreadsheet of how much I've saved each month, and for what, and I'm surprised at how much I've managed to save since the start of last year, even though of course some of it has been used. It's not loads compared to what some people save, and I could save more if I didn't horse ride or pay to have my back sorted out, but you need some pleasures in life right?!

Don't compare what you save with what others save - or what you think others save! We all have different incomes and outgoings and commitments. Try to look at it as 'what % of your salary are you saving'? To me, £500 is rather awesome

Kerry_Woman

Thanks for the kind comments. My brother and his wife managed to sort out a few things today and came round to my flat to discuss somethings. My sister came to my flat to also have discussion then driving back to where she lives which will take about 2 and a half hours. My printer also has a photocopier and scan built in, so I was able to photocopy a few things for my brother. I have to go to the hospital where my Dad died on Tuesday to sort something out then onto the funeral director's office.
Was a spend day as brought a few food bits in case they wanted to eat.
Also let my temp agency know that I will need time off for the funeral as I start a temp job on 5th February. They were fine with that.
Grateful for:
being able to do something to help my brother and sister.
Having a bit of chilled out day.
Sorting a few things in the flat which included some decluttering.