Sh*t creek - is now in my rear view mirror...!

Irenadler

savingwannabe said:

Happy New Year!!!! Both of you enjoy yourselves you and dear doggie!

And to you! Have a lovely New Year's eve and better new year.

longway2go

Happy New Year, glad your dog is a little better and hope you don't have to deal with the chicken for much longer. 

Irenadler

Thanks LW2G and HNY!

Thankfully the dog is back on the dried food with no digestive affects.... managed to get her to do a half hour walk today, so that's better. She's still not herself, is on painkiller, tried running up the garden today & forgot her stiffness/pain so suddenly stopped half-way as if she was saying 'What the heck?' Now the problem is getting her to slow down and not try jumping on the furniture again....  

MovingForwards

It's a good sign doggy is feeling a little better, she will slow down naturally 😊

Irenadler

Thanks Babs - it is such a relief, I was dreading facing if it was the end of the road. We've been through a lot together, and I feel that she has rescued me, far more than I have rescued her.    She probably means too much to me....

Irenadler

On a more positive note, I have let the budget slip due to too much stressful stuff going on/stress eating/spending. No more!

The money stuff isn't just a matter of balancing the books, I realise it is as much breaking the pattern of behaviour/trigger reaction that I have, so I am going to tackle these this year. No more distraction/burying head in the sand/trying to eat my way or spend my way out of the void. So I am goal-setting now and will re-visit these throughout the year to motivate myself better. Let the bottom-kicking begin! 

GOALS 2021:
Money
1. Use a cash book I have been gifted to track spending properly. I am hoping the boredom of doing it will help reduce spending!

2. Stick to the damn budget! E.g. no more than £30 per week on food as that's a huge expense. Card had started to replace cash. Back to envelopes!

3. Look on all the forums for even more ways to stretch the pounds, or under rocks, or ask people, or anywhere.

4. Push the saving from £100 per month to the maximum I can manage. Starting on that is only around 13% of income now, so I aim to push it to 20%, then 30%, etc. How far can I get without compromising on an adequate quality of life?

5. Use the pot/zero budget technique - e.g. dog/Vet pot, house maintenance/repair, replacement of stuff (or repair), emergency fund.

6. Look at using creativity for income, even if it only means starting small, preferably on-line so I can help relative/fit in around them. Maybe one day I can tell UC I am ok and I am standing on my own feet, thank you and goodbye.

Health
1. Finally ring the counsellor as everyone has suggested, no longer running away from stuff.....frankly terrifying.
2. Accept this isn't going to be easy, accept the bad days when I don't want to crawl out from under the duvet, or see/speak to anyone.
3. Activity: increase! Although the dog walking is less at the moment, this may improve. Use exercise bike to make up for this. Dig out the old exercise and diet books/DVD's and actually do them. I may even look up a certain Joe person to see if I can do daily stuff without crippling up in pain/falling over.
4. Diet. I have enjoyed my Vegan diet and I am sticking with it for life, not just health reasons now, but researching the ethics & values I really feel align with my own. I am not, however, continuing to buy vegan junk food! My simple change is not having unhealthy stuff in the place as I have zero willpower and hoover things down without even registering! Vegan chocolate I am looking at you.... I realise that total abstinence might result in failure, so, I won't refuse a dessert if I ever get to eat out again, or within my 'bubble' with poorly relatives.
5. Drag the scales back out from their hiding place and try not to shudder at the weight. I am not brave enough to put down what I weigh on here, although I may put down a running total of anything lost, now that's pounds I am happy to lose!
Sticking to the food budget will help reduce temptation to buy junk or ready meals/processed stuff as that's expensive anyway.

LOOK BACK IN VAGUE DISAPPOINTMENT 2020:
i have achieved some things in the last year:

Have some sort of emergency fund (although holiday pay, income increase and relative have really done this).
Got my head around the magic of budgeting which meant I had money for all outgoings.
Accepted the job loss. Looking for something I really want to do/motivated by.
Accept that a lot of change/life different from late last year. And not just for me!
Panicking a lot less because of the kind and patient encouragement/guidance I have had on here (thank you all!) 
Feel that if I had panicked less and thought more, I would be in a better place now, but struggling mentally really did not have the focus, in the words of a certain song 'Let it go.....' ha!

Here's to a better 2021 for us all!

Skint_yet_Again

In the words of a certain song Ren ... Things can only get better !! You should look back in pride of all you have managed to achieve in 2020 against adversity & all the support you have given to others in real life and on here!  Don’t look back in disappointment but look forward to being all you can be in 2021 🥳

Irenadler

Thank you Skinty - I am my worse critic, expert in beating myself up...! Now if I can only put that focus into the budget.....

longway2go

Ren, I think you hsve some fab goals but do think you are being 2 hard on yourself about last year. If you have got a grip on your budget that is a skill that will last you a lifetime and a fantastic foundation to move forward with. 
I will be joining you with the weightloss and have a few... Ideas I use to help increase money in so just shout if I can help in anyway. 

MovingForwards

All look very achievable throughout the year.
In 2020 you were learning to crawl, this is your year of learning to walk!

With savings, don't jump up big percentages, set the mini goals to get you there without breaking into a sweat and adjust to your new budget.

Would it be worth keeping a food diary? I did so much better monitoring what was being shoveled in when using an app, makes you more aware of everything.

You've definitely got a grip on not panicking, that's the biggest change and the one which was noticeable within a few weeks, now you think things through and find solutions 🤗