Hazelnutty's New Start

Hazelnutty

Ooh I have an official MFW number for 2019: #103 :j

Hope everyone's having a great xmas day. It's been just lovely here (OH and I had been a little worried about this first xmas as a new family unit but DD has been almost entirely delightful and positive). I was kind of surprised not to be at all bothered by sales shopping. I ordered a couple of mugs from John Lewis for my mum and then 3 things for me including penguin jammie bottoms from F@t F@ce I'd had my eye on but wouldn't pay full price for! I think I may have put on a bit of weight so they may be going back Only other things I'm looking for are bedside cabinets, shoe rack and a lampshade. Exciting stuff.

No plans for tomorrow but will try to get out for a run, then got friends coming over for a few days the following day. DD will head to her dad's so will have a little adult time too. No idea what to do for NY though

Hazelnutty

Hi all

So here's how I've done:
Food £311/£300 (only taken over budget by last-minute damson gin purchase, which I do not regret for a second!:p)
Fuel £105/£150
Ents £192/200 (pleased with how much we've done for this - includes quite a bit of eating out compared to usual, plus a cinema trip and two concerts)
OPs £96 + £8.64 TTs

Presents virtual pot is in slight deficit (£30 odd quid) but that's not too shabby I think. Bought a fair bit in the sales but should be able to cover it from the pots. I h.ave a small number of things to FB sell, which I'll sort soon

I've transferred just over £600 to my virtual pots and £250 to my Charter Savings a/c. OP will be £100, which is my monthly target for 2019.

I'm still mulling over my goals for 2019 and will post them up here in the next few days My priorities are home stuff and Charter Savings (for new car, which will happen in next few years. I really want to get the storage room done, so am hoping to bring in a different declutter person to help me work out how to organise it. It's a new build so almost no built-in storage and also no garage, so the room does have to have quite a bit of storage. I'd like it to be neat and presentable at the same time though.

Just waiting for friends to arrive for the next couple of days, so won't be checking in until later in the week. Best wishes to you all!

Karmacat

Those are fantastic financial achievements in a December, congratulations! And have a lovely time with your friends

greent

Great budgeting - esp for December! :T

Have a lovely few days with your friends xx

[Deleted User]

Have a lovely time with your friends!!

Crumpets

Excellent budgeting for December Hazelnutty! Great work :T I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have a fabulous few days with your friends :beer:

Hazelnutty

Hi all

Thanks Crumpets, SG, greent and Karma for your positive comments!

So here we are on 1st January 2019. I have to admit I'm feeling quite mixed emotions. Part of me is feeling positive and I have some plans/resolutions under PP's headings of health, wealth and happiness. I've come out of my first year running a household on just my income in reasonable shape. When I write it down it seems like everything's OK. DD is happy at school and seems to be much more settled at home (she was lovely on Christmas day and said how nice it was to finally have Christmas at home). Work is pretty good, demanding, but good. I'm finally starting to get myself back in shape. So not sure why I'm feeling a little down.

But anyway, the plans for 2019 first!

Health
* Set and follow one running goal per month. January: run or walk every day unless ill or injured
* Try yoga
* Drink enough water (I have a condition that makes this particularly important but I tend to neglect myself)

Wealth
* Target OP: £100/month
* Every month have CC under budget
* Get my savings to £15k for future car replacement and emergencies
* Make maximum payments each month into my 2 regular saver accounts

Happiness
* Read for pleasure every day (I read a LOT for my work and so almost never read for fun)
* Make the storage room a liveable family room
* Get away at least once on my own to write

I think it might be friendships. I'm often the one who suggests doing something, which is fine until it becomes a pattern. Everyone's all over FB at the moment, including one friend I had from a previous job - she was one I thought I'm not going to initiate getting together any more and see if she wants to stay in touch. Turns out not so much. It's just kind of sad seeing everyone putting all their good times with friends online and feeling you weren't worth their time... I know that social media isn't 'real' but you have to be pretty tough to resist it completely. Anyway, it was just OH and me for New Year's and I woke up to one message from my dad Meanwhile XH is posting on FB pictures of his happy times with our DD in them and other friends are in sunny places, at parties or having loads of people round.

I don't know I guess it's about keeping a sense of self-worth? Not quite sure what to do to kick-start mine again. I'm a pretty resilient type normally so maybe it's just this time of year?

Anyway, will go for the first run of the year later, which should help, plus collecting DD in time for the Doctor Who NY special

Karmacat

Oh sweetie! This sounds like its the first year of your new life, and the dust is still settling from your old life - so friendships are bound to be still up in the air, and you don't have new traditions and norms yet. That will come.

Check out your signature: choose kind (great sig, by the way!). Be kind to yourself - eg enough water is a good thing for all of us, but if you've got an underlying medical thing going on, then its *crucial* for you.

It will come :kisses3:


And PS - I'll be watching Doctor Who as well :j

Hazelnutty

Thanks, Karma (I was just reading about your plotting!) You're right. Last Christmas I was with XH and DD at my mum's, so very much a transition year. He dropped me off at a train station on the way home even though the trains were all up the spout and it took me hours to get back to OH. This year Christmas was at home with OH and DD and the kittens. So it's a starting-point in many ways.

It's amazing how much difference water makes to me. I'm a bit flaky on this front but am getting better at having a bottle with me all the time.

'Choose kind' is from the book Wonder, which I read to DD. It had a major impact on both of us. I'd recommend it to anyone. Kindness is such an under-rated quality Being a decent and kind human being is something I try to instil in DD.

But thanks again for stopping by and being kind. It made me smile again

Crumpets

Hi Hazelnutty, Happy new year to you,

I think the transition year of new life and circumstances are always going to be hard, as it's out of your comfort zone. Like you say, see this as a starting point, a fresh new year that you can spend concentrating on all the new things that make you happy. Maybe as part of your health goals you could reduce or cut out social media? Or have a 'friend' declutter so that you only have people on your feed that you are generally interested in seeing and that are an active part of your life. I really feel that social media has a lot to answer for, it seems to impact a lot of people in a negative way :grouphug:

Lots of luck in achieving your goals for 2019 and enjoy Dr Who