Life is not a rehearsal- time to take back control........ 30 June 2021 at 7:10AM in Debt free diaries 23 replies 1.8K views

savingholmes

Watch Marie Forleo on Utube and get her book... Mel Robbins also good... 

Lykke

Fab thank you Savingholmes - I’ve managed to order one from each author from the library. I think I may also have an audible credit available from before I paused my account so will check them out on there.

It’s a very wet miserable day here. I’ve got a day off with DS as he’s on half term so looks like it’ll be a lazy, cosy day. 

Not much to report MSE wise - got a eBay parcel to send later and will try and get some listings done. Have a fab day x 

savingholmes

I hope you enjoy listening to them. They are also on utube so can get a lot for free. Although I have bought books from both authors.

Lykke

Wow - I can’t believe another 2 months have passed by. If I’m honest I’ve just been existing and going through the motions for the last few months. I definitely need to get re-focussed and take back control on all fronts.

The house sale finally went through and I’ve paid some of the debt off. However as we’d been managing on -£600 a month whilst paying for an empty house, I’m going to divert this towards paying the remaining debt off. The debt is all interest free and the £600 a month will see it going before the 0% deals end. This will leave us with a good chunk in the bank for when we decide what we want to do with our forever home. 

The work situation is getting worse rather than better, but I’ve taken matters into hand an applied for another job. If nothing else it was quite therapeutic to get down on paper what I can do and have achieved over the last 12 years. Fingers crossed for a positive outcome…….

My physical health also needs some attention. I haven’t done any exercise since October and my waistline and confidence aren’t thanking me for it. I’m in desperate need of time to breathe. I’ve got 10 days off over Christmas and I’m hoping once the big day is out of the way I’ll be able to take some time to pause and reset a little. I need to get back out running so will be restarting with couch 2 5k. I also need to research online exercise videos. Was contemplating venturing back to the gym in the new year but the way the covid situation is playing out again I think I’ll save my money and stay home instead.

Christmas pressies are now all sorted and mostly wrapped. I’ve put together photo books for DSs grandparents of his 2021. It made me realise that it’s so easy to focus on the negatives (and there’s been a fair few 🤣). Sorting through the photos brought back loads of good memories of the year and made be realise it’s not all been doom and gloom! Maybe I should start a daily gratitude practice so this diary isn’t quite so negative- 3 daily reasons to be cheerful? 

Here we go then - 3 reasons to be cheerful:

1. Seeing DS sooooo excited for Christmas 
2. The chance for a nice soak in the bath in a peaceful empty house (this rarely happens!)
3. The realisation that 2021 hasn’t all been bad…..

savingholmes

Well done on the house sale and debt clearance. Having a gratitude mindset can really transform life. Glad you have found some positives to celebrate.

Lykke

First day of my Xmas break yesterday. Can’t say I’ve achieved much other than getting showered and dressed 🤣 - nice quiet day around the house getting ready for Christmas.

Did a couple of doorstep pressie drops to friends - was nice to catch up albeit briefly. 

From MSE point the £190 from switching utilities back in the summer has finally become payable and I’ve just cashed out £25 on OnePoll at long last! So £215 up 😊

Haven’t really got much to add today so here’s yesterday’s reasons to be cheerful……
1. £215 in “free” money 
2. Brief catch up with friends
3. The thought of no work until NYE

savingholmes

Nice one on the free money and catch up with friends... Enjoy your time off

Lykke

Belated Merry Christmas! I have to admit I’ve not really felt it this year. DS was quite poorly the week before and I guess I’d subconsciously come to terms with the fact that Covid would likely throw a spanner in the works one way or another. We went into semi isolation the week before in order to give us the best chance of seeing the in laws who are vulnerable and fortunately managed to have good days over the Christmas period with them and then my side of the family - I’m so grateful for that given my fb feed is so full of people having to isolate over Christmas 😢.  

I’ve been well and truly spoilt with my Xmas pressies this year. I’m sure I have more than enough toiletries to pamper myself throughout 2022 and coupled with my discovery of Aldi’s fab 85p shampoo and conditioner- I should save a lot of pennies in this department along the way. 

Moneywise not much to report, OH was paid early so January as always is going to seem like a long month! 

I’ve been getting really reflective over the Xmas break. Since the start of the pandemic I feel a bit like things are spiralling out of control. I was on a bit of a slippery slope leading up to it but covid seems to have accelerated everything! I really need to start making some changes - life is too short to just carry on existing rather than living. Feel free to skip over the next few paragraphs - they’re more for me to try and get down in writing what I need to focus on to try and get me back on track and may come across as a bit woe is me! So at the risk of trying to boil the ocean here it goes…..

Finances (in a nutshell!) 
Where I am…. Debt to be paid off, always more month than money, struggling to stick to a budget
What I need to do….
Get spending under control and pay off debts (simple ay!)
Reduce food spend- cook more from scratch
Use eBay / Fb to declutter and make a few £s

Mental Health
Where I am…… suffering from low self esteem and anxiety. Mojo is awol, feel like I’m existing rather than living and thriving
What I need to do….
Take time for me each day whether it’s 30 mins reading, exercise, pampering etc
Reread / listen to Dr Chatterjee books - these have really helped me in the past.
Realise I am important too and shouldn’t always compromise my happiness to make those around me happy.
Explore other work opportunities to escape current job
Find out / reconnect with what I enjoy. I’ve been going with the flow so long I don’t really know what I genuinely enjoy doing! 

Reconnect with friends - throughout pandemic have gotten out of the habit of socialising!

Physical Health 
Where I am…. 3-4 stone overweight, love exercise but haven’t done anything in months, diet not great. 

What I need to do…..
Get exercising again!
Spend time each week meal planning / planning exercise for the week (e.g find YouTube videos, plan running routes etc) and stick to it! 
Use my fitness pal for calorie / macro counting (really want to avoid Slimming World again as I really struggle with it now)
Train for the Great North Run - (deferred from 2020 - I’ve wanted to do this since I first started running 10years ago, finally got in and covid hit!)

Home life
Where I am…. Constant state of chaos, panic tidying every time anyone comes to the house, feeling generally disorganised and overwhelmed! 

What I need to do…..
Tidy / put away as I go
Get into routine of the organised mum method
Declutter and donate / sell on eBay or Fb
Delegate some tasks to OH and DS  

I could carry on brain dumping all day, but in short it outlines the situation - I don’t want to be sat here In 12 months time rewriting exactly the same! 

2022 will be a year of changes………

savingholmes

Hi Lykke - I sympathise with your reflections - many of the things I need to tackle too. You will get there. Life is more than a tidy house - but it does help make life more relaxing if we can make spaces more welcoming and clutter-free. This is my challenge too - and my weight... Finances are just a tip of the iceberg.

Lykke

Happy New Year! 

Savingholmes you’re spot on about the house. It’s not about being house proud, it’s more about being able to relax, not being overwhelmed and not wasting time (and adding to the stress) by not being able to find things for example car keys as I’m dashing out the door to work! Little and often and we’ll get there. 

And on that theme the house will be getting some TLC today. I’m not particularly superstitious, but I wasn’t taking any chances yesterday so my poor washing machine will be working overtime today! Tree needs to come down too so that we can have a relatively chilled day getting back to normality ahead of going back to school and work on Tuesday. 

I’ve had a sort through the bathroom cupboard and can conclude I have enough shower gels, bubble baths, lotions and scrubs to see me through the year! Clothes wise I’m also planning to cut back. I’m hoping when the weight starts coming off I’ll have a whole fresh wardrobe waiting for me of stuff I haven’t been able to get into for the last 2 years. Eventually I’d like to invest in a capsule wardrobe, but I need to stabilise my weight first.

My local running club is running a free couch 2 5k course- I’ve signed up to this. It’ll help tick both the exercise and socialising boxes. I’m really looking forward to it.


Right best get cracking…..