NST May 2018: May the odds be ever in your favour!

swimminginaseaofdebt

Evening everyone,

• 12 NSDs - 7/12
• Budgets - £250 food and £100 social - £135.07 food and £40.58 social
• Continue batch cooking for the little one (remembering to include a larger variety of meals) - 3 portions of veggie omelettes, 3 portions of veggie lasagna, 4 portions of butternut squash soup and 5 portions of vegetable curry made. Plan to add risotto, cottage pie and fish cakes to the menu sometime this month too
• Make an extra £93 through surveys - £62.08 made to date
• Continue building the full and final fund - £201.27 added to date
• I'm making up Christmas gift boxes for local disadvantaged children. So far I've done two teenage boys and started on a boy 9-12 months but still more to get for him so I'll continue with that - purchased a lift the flap book for £2.79
• Plans - safari park and dinner/new avengers movie. Will also allow for a visit to soft play and I need to take the little one swimming as we're holidaying in June and he's never been in a pool - safari park cancelled, soft play on the 12th with friend and her daughter turned into a free teddy bear picnic at the park, food and avengers on the 19th and lunch with work colleagues on 23rd (just remembered!)
• Read as much as possible - 1 book in progress, 3 books finished
• Finish my final OU essay for this module - 6 weeks of reading to catch up with first, week 1 still in progress!

Dolly hope things get sorted with your mum.

sashanut

Hi all :j


Missed yesterday as still a bit under the weather, did read along though. So sorry to hear about your mum Dolly84


Motivation: what is your personal motivation for joining in with the turtles? My motivation is to cut down on the unnecessary spending and pay for some renovations to this property. In order to do this I think we need to be saving money by doing any jobs we can realistically (!) do ourselves. Some gardening today involving getting up a ladder & pruning. Have mislaid key to side gate so restricted as can't get round to front atm, hope I haven't lost it as will have to cut off padlock. Did some cleaning as relatives expected tomorrow but then they rang to cancel, sad not to see them but happy not to have to do any more inside...

Money: know your income and outgoings. All DD bills should have gone out by now and I am going to add up our income, that won't take very long.. so far have done now two grocery shops. Grocery bill so far £57.07. More grocery shopping yesterday, Lidl, CS, & then M&S so spendy day. Need to add up receipts.

Me time: look after yourself. Get enough sleep; eat well; move; do things you enjoy. Sleep not great, eating also not great, slipping back into bad habits... could be better. Emjoy being outside so that's a bonus.

Move: being active benefits your body and your mind. You know that. Now do it. Got out into garden & moved a bit up & down ladders etc. Also then came in & sorted more clothes, this will be a daily task.

Activation: what spurs you on to keep on the path? Have not done much decluttering but have identified some items to sell to a fellow collector. Just need to find out how to price, which will be tricky as rare items & not available so need to research somehow. Got reply from friend re collectables; need to send her some photos & she has a source that she can consult. Sadly also told me she is very unwell with heart trouble. Photographed stuff to send to friend & actually sent them to her, so process started although I don't expect to hear for a little while. Took more photos, will post to try & get more sales. Lady received DVDs & says that she showed one film at the weekend, which she says will increase my DVD sales. Hope not, as I have barely any left. Although DH can make some more, they won't have pretty labels on like the last lot we had done.


Arm yourself : you have chosen to follow a path that many mock and despise - that of ridding yourself of debt and financial constrictions in order to be free; free to choose what to do with your money and time, not enslaved to repaying or to other people. Glad we are not bothered about 'keeping up with the Joneses' - have done that a long time ago but really do not care any more. It's how some people validate themselves & that's fine, but not for me. We are now free from paid work commitments but spent many years getting there, wish it had been sooner. Desperate need of decluttering & getting rid of old lifestyle. Am going to do this so will post progress on here to keep me accountable. Cleared out a couple of shelves in massive fitted wardrobes in bedroom, filled them up with summerish stuff. Need to make sure I try to sell season appropriate clothing, so summer stuff needs to be culled.

You. Are you happy in yourself? Know what brings you joy, what cheers your heart, what makes you pause and wonder. Don't just stop and smell the coffee in the morning; practise stopping and looking around throughout the day. Appreciate what you have. Be grateful. Gratitudes For the gorgeous smell of the white lilac, for clearing a surface in the wardrobe, for writing my successes in an old diary, for the prospect of a nice day out tomorrow.


NSD still 8/19

Check ins: 15/31

Finally done charity donation through euro account. Ten euro to the doggies...

misstara

Didn't get round to posting yesterday - it was a spend day (£12.45 on food, toiletries and cleaning stuff) so still on 7/19. I went for a lovely walk in the sunshine after work

Puddleglum

9/19 NSD and nothing much else to report.

Hope today goes well for all especially you Dolly.

indigowarrior

Oh no Dolly. Hope something gets sorted.
I have been awol but determined to turn things around. After today I am aiming for 11 nsds except for planned spending. I am still not very well but need to get sorted.

laurenh1

Hi all,

Dolly- I am very sorry to read about your Mum. My mum broke her foot very badly a year ago and I know how trying these things can be! It took us a while to get the sort of support we thought she needed.

Sorry I have been AWOL< I was in meetings all day yesterday and I have just been crazy busy. To be honest I need to get focused again. Hub an I have felt a bit deflated recently. It is easy to decide you will live off nothing & save what you can for 3 years in order to buy a house but in reality it is hard to keep momentum going sometimes. We literally do not have two quid to rub together until next week except our house savings. However, it is the dream and I do not really want to give up on it!

Grateful our holiday is coming up in two weeks as I feel we need a break, I am doing what I can to not go crazy on our holiday- tonight I am off for porridge pots we can take with us

have a fab day all

dolly84

Thanks for all the kind comments. Mum is staying in hospital until tomorrow but we are all really struggling to visit as the times are 2-5pm and 6-7pm. How on earth do they think people can manage that, it took me 40 minutes to drive there last night and I only had 20 minutes visiting time.

thriftylass

thriftylass wrote: »

Good morning,

might not be an SFD. Need milk, and a few other small bits. Will see if I can hold off till tomorrow.

Well it wasn't . Bought milk, kitchen roll,some fruit and fuel. Also bought some tickets for a family festival next month incl camping :j. This is on the CC just now but will be covered by next month's saving.

Today should be a SFD. Definitely need to do some gardening tonight. Seedlings need repotted or planted out etc. Better get my to do list sorted as I'm home with the kids by myself tonight and need to be organised.

Also still need to do a major task/project list for the house/life which I haven't done yet. Fluffy cold head in the way. Hopefully tonight.


Dolly84 I hope your mum is better soon and you can get the help you need.

Kerry_Woman

NSD: 12/19 Was an spend day. Top up food shop, weekly bus pass, tv mag, collection for someone leaving in work and entry fee for charity walk.
Motivation: To be more mindful regarding spending. This is going to be ongoing. So far doing ok.
Money: The budget for each category is done.
Me time: Read some of a book. Did wordsearch and mindfulness colouring.
Move: Walked from school to bus stop after work and around the school doing errands.
Activation: To get my spending down to a reasonable amount.
Arm yourself: Will have to stand strong in my quest against consumerism and acquiring more. Still doing this.
Donation to charity: Done for the month. Entered a 5k charity walk.
Grateful for:
Feeling calmer in work today.
Getting everything done after work, eg food shop etc.

swimminginaseaofdebt

• 12 NSDs - 8/12
• Budgets - £250 food and £100 social - £135.07 food and £40.58 social
• Continue batch cooking for the little one (remembering to include a larger variety of meals) - 3 portions of veggie omelettes, 3 portions of veggie lasagna, 4 portions of butternut squash soup and 5 portions of vegetable curry made. Plan to add risotto, cottage pie and fish cakes to the menu sometime this month too
• Make an extra £93 through surveys - £62.08 made to date
• Continue building the full and final fund - £201.27 added to date
• I'm making up Christmas gift boxes for local disadvantaged children. So far I've done two teenage boys and started on a boy 9-12 months but still more to get for him so I'll continue with that - purchased a lift the flap book for £2.79
• Plans - safari park and dinner/new avengers movie. Will also allow for a visit to soft play and I need to take the little one swimming as we're holidaying in June and he's never been in a pool - safari park cancelled, soft play on the 12th with friend and her daughter turned into a free teddy bear picnic at the park, food and avengers on the 19th and lunch with work colleagues on 23rd (just remembered!)
• Read as much as possible - 4 books finished
• Finish my final OU essay for this module - 6 weeks of reading to catch up with first, week 1 still in progress!