NST JUST JUNE

Kerry_Woman

Have set the budget for the month.  Currently on NSD no.4.  Have made a list of things that I want to do in the flat during June.  Catching up with things that I have been putting off or not done for quite a while. A couple of things have already been crossed off.  A charity 5k event that was postponed to September has been cancelled.  The charity cancelled all of the events in the UK due to the virus.  There  is an option to do the event from home which I am going to do which is free but to raise money.  I am planning to do a 5k walk in my local park. I have an app on my phone so that see when I have done the 5k. Also will be good for my daily exercise and can social distance.
Grateful for:
Having a book to read.
Lavender oil in aromatherapy burner.
Chilled out day. 

apple_muncher

Today I am very very grateful that it was only the fridge-freezer light that had stopped working and not the whole appliance, for dh doing some grotty tricky paperwork, for ordering some plants from a local plant shop this morning at 9am and them arriving by 6.30pm, for the local PO being open, for fajitas for tea, for getting some tidying up done - even dh noticed!

mothernerd

Stopped digging at 5 pm. Think I have emptied about 2/3 of the bulk bag. Had a shower and tuna butties (tuna vinegar, w'meal seeded bread) and a shower. Scrubbed my (nearly non-existent) finger nails but there is still some dirt under them. I ache a bit but otherwise okay, warm and comfy but not going to be doing anything else tonight. Will see how I am in the morning.
Today I'm grateful for having done so much, for hot showers and cool drinking water, for lovely food prepared by mum, for this bed, soft but supportive.

PurpleFairy26

You’re all been lovely and productive. Much productivity going on here (apart from eldests schoolwork 🙄) 

gratefuls:
having an accidental skip during lockdown, meaning we’ve been able to get on with some DIY projects 
excellent quality wood under the dodgy carpet we removed 
creating a grazing board out of fridge contents that everyone thought was very exciting for lunch when in fact it wasn’t really any different from what we normally eat - just presented differently but made lunch much less mundane! 

My lovely family 😊

mothernerd

June Challenge Day 5
Use your money wisely
This will mean different things to different people and I am at a slight disadvantage in that atm I am basically living off my mother - I'm not contributing to her household bills and she's paying for all the food. 
MY own money (Carer's Allowance) goes directly into my bank and pays the household bills (gas, electric, Council tax, water and internet). DS3 contributes to bills and mostly buys his own food (he is allowed to eat food that is in the house). I could/ should/ might be entitled to Universal Credit depending on how they interpret my circumstances - the system doesn't cope well with non-standard cases and my current circumstances are as far from standard as it gets. Having said that, here are the basics:-
You Need A Budget A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went (Dave Ramsey). You need to know what is coming in and what is going out and try to ensure that more comes in than goes out. There's lots of information on the main website on how to do this. You also need to track actual spending against your budget.
You should not be too restrictive Like dieting, building in the odd treat like a chocolate bar, will prevent binge spending.
Don't over worry. During my first pregnancy I spent hours rehashing our (fairly meagre) budget, working out if we could make do with 3 toilet rolls a week instead of 4. Fuelled by guilt as my job had ended, some money had been spent on (fairly basic) home improvements and stress had caused an eczema breakout which reduced my hands to claws (I burst into tears after one prenatal class as I couldn't work out how I would be able to bath the baby - I couldn't use soap and at times even water felt like it was burning my skin). None of the worry did any good at all.
Lots of things are out of our control atm.  This makes planning difficult. Current advice to business is not to plan for more than 6 weeks ahead as things will most certainly change in that time.  However I think you need to plan, to have some idea where you want your life to go. You may get knocked off course, have to take a step or two back before you can go forward or even wander down a path that leads to a whole different future that you never imagined. I also think (mentioned briefly in other parts of the challenge) you need to look at the second half of the year and plan what you can - celebrations may have to be different (sorry I think that's the 4th time I've used that word), may have 'homemade' elements but they should be memorable and meaningful (just thinking about all the weddings that have 'been spoilt'). Review your household appliances and see how you could replace them if you needed to (explore options like local bookface pages?).
Pay to your debt or savings first if possible, live off the rest. If there is no rest, adjust accordingly.
Plan, Prepare, Don't Panic (and always carry a towel) 

mothernerd

Cut the last post short as it was getting a little dull and dreary (and possibly going round in circles
Planning and Preparation quotes
It does not do to leave a dragon out of your calculations (JRR Tolkein)
Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.
(Gloria Steinem)
If you don't know where you are going - you'll end up someplace else (Yogi Berra)
Have a bias towards action - let's see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take that first step right away (Indira Gandhi)
A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble at his door (Confucius)
Our goals can only be reached through the vehicle of a plan, in which we fervently believe and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success (Pablo Picasso)

I think in Martin's newsletter, he mentions a think tank to which you can contribute, about what sort of society you want to see, after coronavirus.    Consider contributing, after all if you don't speak up, you can't complain that no-one is listening.

Narola1976

Many thanks for today’s wisdom. I agree a plan is essential but more important than the plan is the tenacity to stick to it, no matter how long, and tedious it may be. I am good at planning but not so good at the persistence to see it through. It is the one thing I intend to work on as regards my debt free journey. The weight loss is another story entirely! So far so good on the budgeting and debt payment front. Very slow but positive progress being made. As the saying goes “Your speed doesn’t matter, forward is forward”

I am grateful we have enough to eat, all the bills are being paid, and I can save a little.

f0xh0les

I am binge watching 'tart up your house' programmes. So that when this is over I can crack on with the renovation projects knowing what I want and what I need. 

I am still managing to save quite a chunk every month, but the food planning and prep and management is time consuming, sometimes annoying, but the end goal is the money to have a house I will want to be in. So I am just keeping on keeping on, and hand sewing velvet cushion covers while watching tv at night. I have the fabric, I have old cushions, I have new cushion inners donated from someone else, so I am using up and clearing stuff out of storage.

abundant1972

Good morning!

Hey all. Having a lazy morning and not even dressed and showered yet! Going to pick up my car and won't be an NSD as got my bill to pay. 

Today I am grateful for

1) A free morning to chill
2) My lil car and the places it enables me to go
3) Rediscovering my love of fantasy novels

I fell out of the  habit of reading a few years ago... when I always used to have a book on the go. I think through lots of major life changes and periods of unsettlement it just fell off the radar. Anyhow - I've routed out all of my old books and am re-visiting my love of dungeons and dragons. Just need to find a local group now!!!

Have a great day!!! 

Calling14

Thanks Mothernerd for the wise words.

I always find after major gardening its always when I stop a few days later, my body starts playing up. Suppose if you keep moving lots after it prevents your body going into shock. ;-)

Well its Friday, stood like a hooker on my own outside the bank for work for 30 minutes waiting for  customers to come out.

Happy its the weekend nearly, brought all my tomato plantsand one sunflower inside this morning as high winds forecast.  Did all my shopping yesterday so a NSD today for me.

Abundant I like your idea of a money pot, think I will do that as just spending on things I don't really need at the moment.

Off to sort money pots out and get a brew. Feeling cold after standing still in the shade and wind.

Have a great weekend folks