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

greent

(((hugs))), Indigo x


Motivation: have short/ medium/ long term goals. Short: OH's 0% CC will be closed this month as the statement showing it has been repaid has come through :T Pay from invigilating work has come through and all been paid to my CC Medium - additional OP to BTL set up as a STO
Money: All DDs gone so all money left is ours... thankfully CB arrived, as there was diddly squat left!
Move: Been pootling around but nothing 'proper' Managing 8-9k steps and active minutes but nothing more.
Activation: What spurs you on? - Not feeling it so much this month Hoping to re-energise and re-focus over half term break ready for June
Arm yourself : No 'things' bought today, just food
Appreciate what you have. Be grateful.
* a lie in (until 7.20:D)
* OH brought me a cup of tea in bed with my wake up - and DS3 came into bed for a snug
* Mostly dry weather
* Getting some paperwork sorted :T

Foodbank/ charity donation of £5. - monthly DD to WWT. 2 bags of items donated to shoebox appeal - new bag started Huge bag of stuff donated to CS (some new in packaging). Also donated some random foreign coins (ie: not euros or dollars) to school collection - they raise money from them. Also started a new CS bag - will drop it there this week as it is now full (and some) with items culled from garage!

Pay to your debt/savings FIRST and live off the rest. - done Few small extra payments made since. Also took remaining balance from OH's switching c/ac (unused for several months) and paid to CC (just over £65) plus OP to mtge of £220.

Plan the month: every single day: what you are doing, what you are eating, - sort of - have written in work days, day when collecting DD from uni, DS3's, my mum's, my sister's, my aunt's and bestie's husband's bdays... Am not going to plan food, though).

Check in every day. oops -am checking in sporadically....

NSDs - 8/19 Today wasn't one and I also took money out for the barbershop for DS1 & DS3 - to find they announced at gone 10am that they were closed. Will try and take them tomorrow - as it was planned for today and funds taken out to cover it I will claim tomorrow as NSD if we don't spend anything else (unlikely in half term, but you never know! )

Kerry_Woman

indigowarrior- Sending you hugs.
LavenderBee- I have now unsubscribed to most of the emails with codes etc.
NSD: 20/19 Was a spend day.
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: Reading, wordsearch, mindfulness colouring.
Move: Walked to and from cs and also walked to and from dentist.
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.
Donation to charity: Done for the month. Took the bag to the cs. Looking into another possible 5k charity walk. Just waiting if it is going ahead.
Grateful for:
Just had a check up at the dentist.
Was raining when walking back from dentist, but luckily I got home just before the real bad downpour with thunder and lighting.
Unsubscribed from some emails so I will not be tempted into buying things.

apple_muncher

Backfrom 3 days and nights of camping in mostly glorious weather, though rather chilly still at night. Did half the return trip in bright light and the rest in a downpour where the spray was as bad as the rain!

Grateful today for having a car, for packing up in dry weather (only the tent base is wet and it is currently draped over most of the living room), for dd thoroughly enjoying herself, for dh coming back tomorrow, for a splendiferous thunderstorm that lasted a couple of hours along with amazing rain that was so heavy that it just swept down into the guttering and out over the top, for being inside in the warmand dry whilst the storm did its stuff, for big sis coming to visit, for our own beds to sleep in.

Indigo - sending you lots of hugs.

sashanut

Hi all :j

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. Discussed with DH the purchase of a couple of garden tools that if we can use them will prevent having to employ someone to cut hedges etc. Will seek further info before deciding, although after 2 or 3 uses they will have paid for themselves..

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. Shopping day today, but still eating leftovers

Me time: look after yourself. Get enough sleep; eat well; move; do things you enjoy. Good sleep; eating not so good. Moved doing 4 hours in CS, never ending stream of stuff through the doors as is normal after a BH. Very few staff to cope (3 in total). Did enjoy going though. Into garden in evening, did water it but hopefully rain on the way soon.


Move: being active benefits your body and your mind. You know that. Now do it. Moving at work, unloading crate after crate of books & dealing with all the Gift Aid items which take priority.


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. All DVD sales sent off now - by chance I found a few US format ones from the first time we made them....PayPal balance looking very healthy & intend now to try to sell some other stuff over the BH weekend. Took some china off dresser to CS, have had for 11 years but never used. Also some clothes (rags) and a couple of books to CS.

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. Intend to do some more vac packing tomorrow - in the morning - as friend should be visiting in the afternoon.


[/COLOR]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 [/B Able to buy a large red dustbin with secure fastening to keep my compost in for £2; lovely dinner with DH; quiet time outside.


NSDs still 15/19

Check ins: 27/31

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

Puddleglum

18/19 NSDs so just one more day to fit in and a choice of two to select from - oh the luxury of choice! Teaching revision school again today so a bit of extra money in the form of vouchers will be coming my way again. I'm carefully squirrelling my vouchers away for later in the year.

Grateful for having plenty to do and having escaped a potential accident on the motorway in the heavy rain yesterday (that's why I'm awake at silly o'clock in the school holidays, had a flashback in my sleep). Looking forward to a new day.

f0xh0les

Tomorrow is payday! Well, housekeeping day for me.
Will only make 15 NSDs - but still, probably 15 more than if I was not on this challenge. The budget was not blown either, so pretty good, but lots of room for improvement.

I nearly caved tonight as I have £20 left in the budget, and bought us a takeaway, but I made stuffing and roasties and veg instead. It is not what I want, but those kids of mine have stopped eating the enormous amounts they do when they are at school all day, and I can at least turn any leftover veggies into a pie or stew for tomorrow if it does not get eaten tonight.

If I do a light lunch they claim they are starving, if I do a big one, there are loads of leftovers. I got bored of it and just made sandwiches this afternoon, they ate half a sandwich each, decimated the crackers, and I have a plate of sandwiches leftover.
No doubt they will eat like locusts tomorrow.

My house is tidy though!

Kerry_Woman

NSD: 21/19 Was an NSD.
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: Reading, wordsearch, mindfulness colouring. Did attend my gp appointment for my depression. Did turn down the offer of counselling - not for me, also not to be referred to dermatologist for my psoriasis, due to a bad experience with that department.
Move: Walked to gp for my appointment through the park. Then walked into town to chemist to pick up prescription, walked back home.
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.
Donation to charity: Done for the month.
Grateful for:
Weather being reasonable whilst walking.
Having a restful day after having a bad night's sleep.

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for a good night's sleep, for drying the tent and managing to roll it up again myself, for focussing and getting a lot of marking done and sent off, for dh arriving home safely, for bumping into a friend in a ch shop, for chatting to big sis, for no rain today, for how good my morning stretches make me feel.

Puddleglum

3 hours and 19 mins to go but I think it is safe to say 19/19 NSDs! Maybe I might make 20 next month?

mothernerd

Busy day at crafts, one new lady. We all worked on finishing the 'hug boxes'. (ribbons, words onto shaped gift tags, hole punched and threaded then tied/ stuck to the boxes and an embellishment added). Was busy but at least sitting down not running round the table like last week - only 2 of us had fingers usable enough to do the threading and tying (new lady's carer helped with the cutting out) and the others were faster so I was getting calls from all sides.


Afterwards we made a 'dog savings fund box' at my end of the table and at the other end they made a row of beach huts based on a cardboard box, using the templates I had prepared. Turned into a goat shed at the end as we need something to cover up a mistake and the sheet of flowers I made also had two goats on which were quickly adopted.


Walked to crafts and had a taxi home, paid for by the centre as I have brought home the knitted squares to be made into blankets (for tiny street children).


Today I am grateful for painkillers (arm is still causing problems), for rest, for fun, companionship and getting things done at crafts. Also been a good day for letting things go - given away a few things and returned a large item that was taking up a lot of room.