Renovations and Repayments II: New Year, New Start, New Diary.

newgirly

Brilliant Alex, its great you invested in stuff that holds its value

themadvix

I rarely comment here Alex, but you sound like you're in such a positive place at the moment - it's lovely to hear!

AlexLK

NG: I suppose that's what made some of my more destructive behaviours not terribly bad; I've been good at buying things which have either not lost money or appreciated in value.

Vix: I am and thank you. Not been in the position to be this positive about my life before; one of the best things is seeing my wife happy to come home of an evening. I had not realised how much my problems had also affected those around me. Not going to take myself on a guilt trip over something I was unable to control, would rather we make the most of how things are now.

On the subject of which ... August targets
Weekly spreadsheet / diary update 1/4
10,000 steps per day 1/26
Lose 2kgs ... again Parents have got into baking in a big way and keep sending cakes our way... well that's my excuse.
Sell: /£1,500
Save: /£500 Going to be an expensive month, so not going to manage to save much.
Overpay: /£500

A_Frayed_Knot

AlexLK wrote: »

Also sold one of our old cars and may sell another before the end of the summer. Will still be enjoying the rest but the fleet has got rather too big over the past few years.

Tootallulah: time does seem to move very quickly. My son is going to be 8 in November, entering year 3 in September. :eek: He is growing up quickly it seems to me but not quickly enough for his liking. :rotfl:

In other news, I!!!8217;m going to try to make some targets for August. Keeping on track is good for me and I!!!8217;ve missed the motivational aspect of being on here.

ETA: MSE still does not like my iPad.

Well AlexLK - I never !!! Your post brings me back to your 1st post I read on here a few years ago, when you just happened to throw in at the last sentence - that you had bought a n other car, well I nearly fell off my seat :rotfl: and you have just managed it again . . .

"Also sold one of our old cars and may sell another before the end of the summer" . . . thud !!!

Is someone going to pick me up - cause I've just fell off me seat . . . again

Joking aside (am I ) we Scots have a very weird sense of humour - just ignore me

In all honesty, it is beyond words how far you have came on this journey and every time I read, I may not comment, but sometimes you put me to shame, you are doing so well, so pat on the back to you, well done :T, and keep going with your motivational targets/challenges.

And can I ask, with all this de-cluttering going on - are you sleeping any better? Feng Shui does say a un-cluttered room, an un-cluttered mind or something like that :cool:

AlexLK

Thank you, AFK. Definitely going to carry on setting myself motivational targets / challenges, they help to keep me on track to do the things I want / need to do to get to the next step. I do not take the position I'm in for granted and know there are going to be times when my predisposition to a negative mindset will make things very difficult to stay on my current trajectory. However, I can help myself and am not too proud to ask for help when needed, so I think the future is much brighter than my past if I can use the tools I've gathered when I need to.

Re. cars: :rotfl: It gets the stage that there's so much maintenance to do and not enough time to enjoy them when they are working. When that happens, I think it's time for a few to find a new home.

I've been sleeping a lot better for a while - finding a career I want to pursue has really helped with that. The house being less of a mess may also have helped, though I'm not really sure about that. Mrs. K. has said she's found it easier to relax with less clutter but she's always disliked it.

Had quite a productive evening: cooked a nice meal, taught one of my remaining music pupils, went for a walk and have prepared a batch of chilli con carne.

August targets
Weekly spreadsheet / diary update 1/4
10,000 steps per day 2/26
Lose 2kgs ... again Have tried to think about what I'm eating a bit more today so have ate a bit less food over the day. Mrs. K. thinks I need to lose more weight than I do - she wants me at the lower end of the BMI chart and I'm quite happy to stay in the middle of it. I like nice food far too much. :rotfl:
Sell: /£1,500
Save: /£500 Going to be an expensive month, so not going to manage to save much.
Overpay: /£500

beanielou

To overpay & to save 500 each is just awesome.

AlexLK

Thank you, Beanie I sometimes get lost in thinking it's not great when we've been doing better. Already worked out this month is expensive which is a step in the right direction - knowing which months are going to be good and which are not so.

Eaten too much food today. Started the day in Starbucks with my colleague. Managed to drink the smallest latte and not feel terrible, not something I will be making into a habit again (coffee) but was a real treat. Also had a peanut and cashew nut bar which after looking at the nutritional info was not good and it didn't taste too great either. :rotfl: Lunch was also at a cafe, very nice little independent place I will be going back to. Realised I give myself too large a helping of food at dinnertime; my wife eats very little and I suppose I eat what she doesn't. I'm not overweight but anyone would think so if they heard my wife speak about it.

Spoke to my friend from school who recently got married this evening; his wife is expecting their first child. The subject of his family came up as he wants to tell them and for them to be a family and be a part of the child's life but they refused to come to his wedding, so don't think that's going to go well.

No targets to update today. :rotfl:

gallygirl

Spoke to my friend from school who recently got married this evening; his wife is expecting their first child. The subject of his family came up as he wants to tell them and for them to be a family and be a part of the child's life but they refused to come to his wedding, so don't think that's going to go well.

Maybe you could offer to drive him round there to talk Alex, am sure that would help :rotfl:.

It's such a shame they are missing out on all this. Is this the chap who was taking drugs at one stage?

Maybe he could keep in contact by writing to them with a picture of the scan and keep them updated in a really positive manner. I do hope they come round.

Great to hear you so positive Alex :T. FYI, Starbucks do a lovely cup of Earl Grey, though obviously not in bone china , lighter on the stomach than milky coffee.

AlexLK

A client treated me to lunch today ... you know where this is going ... ate really badly and father insisted I picked a lemon cake up from theirs as well as my son on my way home. Son has been with my parents today dog walking, playing with model railway and baking. Pleased to say he had a really good day and so did my parents. I was somewhat apprehensive when they offered to have him as my cousin has gone on holiday for a week but seems they really enjoyed having him for the day.

Nothing really interesting to report financially other than we are eating quite cheaply at the moment because Mrs. K. and I are at work all day we are enjoying our slow cooker and not going out for food during the week.

Business wise I've got another project going through at the moment.

Gally: Thank you and yes, same one.

Tried going around there before the wedding; they are not interested in talking to him, completely cut him out of their family including inheritance a few years ago apparently. He's got siblings that didn't come to his wedding because their parents told them not to. Can't see them wanting to be involved in his child's life, to be honest. Did make me think whilst my parents can be an absolute nightmare to deal with sometimes, they were there for me when I was very ill. In their own funny way they were doing what they thought was the right thing as parents. :rotfl:

I would usually have tea but really wanted a cup of coffee that day!

AlexLK

Another day eating things that aren't good for me. :eek: At least I'm now noticing all the things I eat rather than thinking I eat a fairly good diet because I don't tend to snack and have a fair amount of fruit and veg. Colleague bought me a latte from a little independent cafe (he went on his own and I didn't want coffee but he thought he was being nice hence I felt obliged to drink it); the milk was extremely rich and reminded me of the milk I had at my relatives dairy farm during childhood. Lots of nostalgia there but felt ill all day since and I suffered one of the problems I have when drinking anything strongly caffeinated. Think I'm going to tell my colleague I try not to drink coffee.

In other news, we've not spent too much on food this week. Also, not spent outside a few food purchases. The new project is a getting a little closer to being realised also.