My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

Forgot to write in the last post but I've been looking at ways to encourage happiness in my life and a few weeks ago someone recommended The Podcast app,so I downloaded it to my phone and can now listen to podcasts on my way to and from work or if I'm walking to town for any reason or out wth the dog
I have found one by an author called Gretchen Rubin and yesterday listened to two epsisodes on my my way to and from work,they were really interesting
The topic of the first one was to find a theme or word for your year,you pick a word and try live by the idea generated by the chosen word,so courage would be to be more brave and try things outside your comfort zone or try something new that is a bit scary
I'm am going to do this for 2019 as I like the idea of it, the word I am choosing for 2019 is........Enough...... so I am going to spend the year focusing on this word and what it means to me in my life, some examples are
I have enough food
I have enough money
I have enough home comforts
Also that I am enough myself as in I contribute enough to my family's wellbeing and to my workplace
I'm going to start journalling about this and other things this year,not on here it's going to be a written journal,it's something I've been meaning to do for a long time ever since I found out about the alternative ways to deal with chronic pain,one of the ways is to journal about situations in you life that have impacted on your mental health
I'm going to start two journals one is going to be for my happiness project and the other is to work through the things that I think are contributing to my chronic pain
I'm hoping the happiness journal will show me how much I have to be grateful for and that the life I have is enough

The other journal will be called my healing journal and I'm hoping that by writing about my life and some of the things that have happened to me I will unburden myself which in turn should help remove some of the symptoms of pain that I have

I want to do written journals as opposed to online because I need to move away from spending too much time online,it's making me unhappy and getting it the way of other more important things such as crafting,I'm not abandoning my online presence because it definitely has it's place, I'm just scaling it back a bit

The other idea I got from the podcast is instead of making a new year resolution last year they did 18 things for 2018,so they made a list of 18 things they wanted to achieve over the year,this can be anything you like,you can use it as a way to challenge yourself to do things you wouldn't normally do or you can use it as a way to prompt yourself to do some of those things you know you should but just don't get round to doing
So it will be 19 things for 2019 and I am going to be compiling a list of things I would like to achieve in 2019, then at the end of the year you review your list and see how many you managed to achieve
The lady on the podcast had things like go on an adventure once a month with my daughter,so once a month they would go and do something together such as visit a museum or go on a picnic,it can be a one of item such as declutter a room or something that runs all year like take swimming lessons
I already know that one of mine is going to be to get out riding again even if it's just once a month for a hack,I think scheduling these things in and making them an achievement is going to really encourage me to actually carry them out
The purpose of all this is to help me be more positive in my outlook and with the plans I have already thought of I'm feeling quite enthusiastic already

System

Not been around for ages, but been catching up on your posts. I know how you feel with this horrible throat lurgy...I started it last weekend and by Thursday it turned into a full blown cold. It seems to be getting worse instead of better. Feeling really bad today, so having a rest and catching up online stuff and going to watch a film later.
Good luck with your journals. I think writing things down in a great idea. I have a journal I was given once and it is a journal of gratitude. You write on one page, all the things you have to be grateful for and on the next page you write things you want/wish for etc but you write it as if you already have it and are grateful for it. Its to do with the art of positive thinking and the Law of Attraction. There are a lot of books/CD etc by Esther and Jerry Hicks, you should look them up. They are very good and really help with the sort of thing you are looking to do. I love them.

foxgloves

I started writing a journal in 1994 when I bought my first little house. I have kept it up on & off pretty much since then. I have a big box full of my journals under the bed & occasionally dip into them. They are scary evidence of how spendy I used to be, but I've also found them therapeutic over the years as I've mused about various problems, ups & downs, elations & sadnesses in my life. They are also sometimes quite funny & I find myself thinking 'Did I really do that?' & 'Why did I devote 3 pages to that?!'
I also love your idea of having a special word for this year & that you have chosen 'Enough'. I was thinking I'd like to base the coming months around 'Resourcefulness' but I haven't thought it through as well as you. I'm sure it will involve heaps of 'shopping from home' though!
F x

Willowtree222

I love the idea of your journals. On my really bad days, I had a journal that I wrote everything in. I could open it for hours and mull over it and write whatever I wanted to in it, but once it was closed, I had to leave the emotion that I was feeling closed with it. On the really tough days, I would write everything and then close it and try to stop the emotion feeding my mood for the rest of the day. At the beginning, it was hard, but it slowly got easier for me to learn to not allow that thought direct me for the day. I hope your journals help you in the same way.

I would never have thought about a word like 'enough' but it really sums up the debt busting we are trying to achieve.

Sorry about just having two days off though. X

HairyHandofDartmoor

I've read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and it was very interesting. I did think she had a lot more time and money than I have though :rotfl:.

I've been keeping a grief journal since my mum died. I think it has helped me to write down how I feel and I've also written down memories of my mum so that I don't forget anything about her. I think it may be helpful to chart what helps me and at which points things make me feel worse.

I hope you feel better soon from your lurgy.

Onebrokelady

ploppy57 wrote: »

Not been around for ages, but been catching up on your posts. I know how you feel with this horrible throat lurgy...I started it last weekend and by Thursday it turned into a full blown cold. It seems to be getting worse instead of better. Feeling really bad today, so having a rest and catching up online stuff and going to watch a film later.
Good luck with your journals. I think writing things down in a great idea. I have a journal I was given once and it is a journal of gratitude. You write on one page, all the things you have to be grateful for and on the next page you write things you want/wish for etc but you write it as if you already have it and are grateful for it. Its to do with the art of positive thinking and the Law of Attraction. There are a lot of books/CD etc by Esther and Jerry Hicks, you should look them up. They are very good and really help with the sort of thing you are looking to do. I love them.

Hi Ploppy,it's good to see you here,I hope you had a good Christmas despite the cold,mine seems to be not really doing anytning at the moment,I've just got a sore throat and felt a but achey today,I've been taking enchinacea so hopefully it that that is keeping it at bay
I will look up the books you suggested, thanks for the recommendation

Onebrokelady

foxgloves wrote: »

I started writing a journal in 1994 when I bought my first little house. I have kept it up on & off pretty much since then. I have a big box full of my journals under the bed & occasionally dip into them. They are scary evidence of how spendy I used to be, but I've also found them therapeutic over the years as I've mused about various problems, ups & downs, elations & sadnesses in my life. They are also sometimes quite funny & I find myself thinking 'Did I really do that?' & 'Why did I devote 3 pages to that?!'
I also love your idea of having a special word for this year & that you have chosen 'Enough'. I was thinking I'd like to base the coming months around 'Resourcefulness' but I haven't thought it through as well as you. I'm sure it will involve heaps of 'shopping from home' though!
F x

I'm looking forward to getting started,I did have a couple of empty journals here but can't find them now,so I might have to got it and buy a couple,I'm thinking of something cheap and cheerful
I like your choice of word,I do try to be resourceful myself and enjoy finding solutions to problems with things i already own,at the moment I am using an adjustable spanner as a handle on my front door,I can't afford to get it replaced yet so this was the ideal solution for a hopefully temporary fix:rotfl:

Onebrokelady

Nicnak wrote: »

I love the idea of your journals. On my really bad days, I had a journal that I wrote everything in. I could open it for hours and mull over it and write whatever I wanted to in it, but once it was closed, I had to leave the emotion that I was feeling closed with it. On the really tough days, I would write everything and then close it and try to stop the emotion feeding my mood for the rest of the day. At the beginning, it was hard, but it slowly got easier for me to learn to not allow that thought direct me for the day. I hope your journals help you in the same way.

I would never have thought about a word like 'enough' but it really sums up the debt busting we are trying to achieve.

Sorry about just having two days off though. X

That's what I'm hoping will happen,its somewhere private I can offload without fear of judgement and hopefully to make sense of a few things

I'm not bothered about just having two days off,Its part of the job and Im used to it now,I consider myself lucky to be able to work long days so I don't have to work 5 days a week like a lot of people,I have 4 days off a week so it's all swings and roundabouts

Onebrokelady

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

I've read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and it was very interesting. I did think she had a lot more time and money than I have though :rotfl:.

I've been keeping a grief journal since my mum died. I think it has helped me to write down how I feel and I've also written down memories of my mum so that I don't forget anything about her. I think it may be helpful to chart what helps me and at which points things make me feel worse.

I hope you feel better soon from your lurgy.

That is probably true of most of us to be honest,the onlything I will say is she will definitely have more money than me but my time is possibly more freely used than hers,I'm lucky with my job being able to be worked over two long days and one 8 hour shift so I get 4 and a bit days off to do as I please,sometimes I spend it cleaning and doing household things then other times I spend it on doing things I enjoy,I know I need money for riding but when I'm not riding I like to do lots of free stuff,such as pottering in the garden ,reading,crafting etc

I hope your grief journal does help you,I have a lot of unresolved feeling about losing my sister to cancer and I'm hoping to work through this myself

Onebrokelady

Work was ok today if a little slow,I didn't feel great but paracetamol took care of that I feel better than I did yesterday so hopefully it isn't going to developed into something horrible

I'm champing at the bit now to get Christmas and new year out the way so I can take the decorations down ( even if it feels like they have only been up for 5 minutes) then 8 can get on with sorting the house out

I got home today to find DD is also feeling in a sorting and decluttering mood,so she has organised the spare room so we can actually see what is in there,it shouldn't take too long to clear it out now hopefully,I'm hoping this cold clears off so we both have the energy to make a start on it as soon as possible
If I'm feeling up to it tomorrow I might do a few bits in the bathroom, it needs
The ceiling painted
The walls painted
Then skirting boards sanded and painted
The bath panel painted
New flooring laid (this has been bought and is cluttering up the spare room)
So we need to sort the bathroom first then there will be more room in the spare room because the flooring will be gone
We are going to steadily work our way through the house cleaning and decorating as we go,I have some paint for the upstairs and downstairs hall so don't need to buy any for there,it's all in ok condition but needs freshening up so not heavy duty work or anything
Last year I seriously lot interest in doing anything decorating wise to the house so I need to get on it this year,I'm sure once it's all done I will feel more relaxed at home