Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

LadyWithAPlan

NSD - 1/13  only as swim cap spend
i have just bought a swimming hat  £14.99  - or it would have been a NSD - as the chlorine is not good for my hair and somehow the promise of a swim is getting me moving  - will also get goggles but will look tomorrow for those - I did have £10 in my clothing budget so moved the remainder across from 'stuff I forgot to budget for' 
I do need googles largely as swim hats are so ugly you need to hide your face Oh yes and the chlorine..
I definitely dont need any food in

MG -13! Yes the tracking on the giant wall chart that is not on the wall  is helping - having a permanent place to mark off my daily goals is motivational. 
Plus my breadmaker winging its way to a new happy home....

Crisps - I ate today - I need to not buy them = one small pack left I will keep for Thursday college- also I snacked on too many raisins - I cant have them in the house I eat them all...

EXERCISE - I went for a swim at 7pm! This is brilliant and unheard of as if I don't go in the morning I dont go to the gym. However I am making Feb  a daily exercise goal (can be a walk, weights, a class) 

Tomorrow got a lot of work to finalise as  have a big meeting re  my work is Wed to close some projects off but I will also have a clear conversation about next steps, monies owed and plans going forward. Wish me luckl! it is my big contract so... It will give me clarity on next steps re mortgage - etc
Plan is early to bed tonight so up early chant, swim then work

A date!!- so I have a date booked for Friday eve - watch this space   First date in 7 + months ... Been a bit wary after text ex  .. but I refuse to allow someones  emotional issues  and bad behaviour impact my daily happiness and possibility of something new. 


Feb GOALS done  - February is going to be my month of LOVE - for my dreams and goals and maybe a start of something new - don't forget I had that ladybird land on me last week which means good luck, a new love and dreams coming true apparently..

So I have (by yelling at Alexa - add to my TO DO list ) got a very specific Feb goal  and task list - I then tidied it up and and emailed it to myself and its now printed out in 3 places. I do also have my 2024 goals so I have seen what I managed in Jan and now  moving other goals to the forefront for Feb

I have some big plans for 2024 and I need to shift some of my behaviours to achieve them - the whole failing to plan means planning to fail... Jan was a bit hit and miss on procrastination in some areas though I did get loads done esp on accts.
So some things I am setting as must do's daily  for Feb are
- Leave my phone outside my bedroom
- bed by 10.30pm unless going out - so I can get to gym first thing or I miss my workouts
-  Exercise daily no matter what - this could be a decent walk, weights or a swim 
- Do my Buddhist  gongyo twice a day - I always do the morning but I need to start doing the evening to get me back  in rhythm after the day/

I have some very specific work and home tasks to get done as well - and I want to lose 4 of the extra 8 lbs I have on me ... 1lb a week - by exercising and getting nutrition right including stopping that crisp eating  

FOOD
- cooked the Hellfresh green thai chicken curry - I added loads of extra spinach ... I am not a fan of white rice though generally  - got 4 HF meals this week to munch thru then will get a chicken Friday to roast make soups etc  ..  I have cancelled HF acct now
I also added some fried kale ..... my liver will love me..
Making some more cashew cream... I do like it as both a sour cream and to add to my coffee.


Age of Money 42 days still

House hunting - I am still thinking of that lovely flat last week but I guess it will come back on the market or not if it is meant to be.
I am getting my current lovely flay decluttered and tidier - lots of MFW blogs all selling via Vinted so I need to get on with that in the daylight

Bills - I see that the Council tax probably going up - with my single person discount that will probably mean another £5.25pm extra 

MSE
I did 3 lots of washing today and ran out of washing powder after 2... So i used a sample of eco laundry liquid I was given at a show.... smelt lovely but I decluttered an item and saved money so a win win
Waiting for my  prize of nail stuff to arrive and the £50 voucher has been added but not used it yet.
I do also have a £10 voucher won from last year I need to use..

KajiKita

Well done on the 7pm swim 😊👏 Was it quiet at that time? 

Quietly excited and 🤞 for Friday …. 😊

Good luck for focused and effective prep today ready for tomorrow 😊

KK

LadyWithAPlan

KajiKita said:

Well done on the 7pm swim 😊👏 Was it quiet at that time? 

Quietly excited and 🤞 for Friday …. 😊

Good luck for focused and effective prep today ready for tomorrow 😊

KK

Nope it was busy though by the time I was out - 40 mins swim it was quieter 
tx for the good wishes re tomorrow and Friday 

treating myself like a teenage girl and leaving my phone in the kitchen .. meant I was indeed in bed just after 10.30pm and slept straight through to err 3.38am! Super strong winds woke me up .. didn’t get up til 5.30 am but have chanted,  done journaling and my led face mask and now about to hit gym !! 

This is why switching my hours around helps . 

I can then get back for 9 am and have a clear day working 

mse - before 7am  £3.98 refund 
got a refund on a Tem* item - was a usb multi  c plug that was not great at charging - they have said to keep it but it’s so slow I will throw away as first declutter I of the morning  
first thing I have had from tem* that not worked well 

happy Tuesday all - hope we all win at our goals and have a fun time achieving them 

Merlin's_Beard

Good luck for Friday - a good decision to not let other people's decision affect your happiness or your ability to reach for it.

Hope the contract goes well as well.

SandyShores

I'm not a huge fan of raisins thankfully, but my nemesis is chocolate.  For various reasons I feel like I've eaten my bodyweight in the last couple of weeks so it is definitely banned from the house.  MrShores likes crisps with his lunch and those are another danger point, but I've found that I don't snaffle the L1dls Multigrain ones, so those are allowed.

I love your saying 'failing to plan means planning to fail' and your goals for Feb - I'm joining in with these ones definitely:

- Leave my phone outside my bedroom
- bed by 10.30pm  - so I can get to gym first thing 
-  Exercise daily no matter what - this could be a decent walk, weights or a swim 
losing weight

Good luck with the house hunting and the date.

LadyWithAPlan

SandyShores said:

I'm not a huge fan of raisins thankfully, but my nemesis is chocolate.  For various reasons I feel like I've eaten my bodyweight in the last couple of weeks so it is definitely banned from the house.  MrShores likes crisps with his lunch and those are another danger point, but I've found that I don't snaffle the L1dls Multigrain ones, so those are allowed.

Yes I think keeping things out the house one can resist is a good way forward
Luckily I know how I feel re after eating chocolate - its when I date people who do eat diary so then I keep cheese etc in it becomes a problem

I have had some peanut butter in for 6 days now - I did indulge on first 2 days but still some left so its a miracle
I eat all crisps no matter where from as long as GF.. They often add milk to some though so..

SandyShores said:

I love your saying 'failing to plan means planning to fail' and your goals for Feb - I'm joining in with these ones definitely:

- Leave my phone outside my bedroom
- bed by 10.30pm  - so I can get to gym first thing 
-  Exercise daily no matter what - this could be a decent walk, weights or a swim 
losing weight

Good luck with the house hunting and the date.

Glad I have inspired you to join me on treating myself/ourselves  like a recalcitrant  teenage girl   I actually slept much better  and woke super early so  it sadly worked

Merlin's_Beard said:

Good luck for Friday - a good decision to not let other people's decision affect your happiness or your ability to reach for it.

Hope the contract goes well as well.

Tx! I am doing what I need for the contract meeting - but whatever  happens I will be ok - need to organise a payment schedule of the invoices

Yesterday .. 
GYM/SWIM - oops Mr Lid shop.. despite not needing any food ...
So  I got out the house for the gym  for 7.15am or so - having got up at 5.30 and chanted, journalled and did some decluttering of an old plant someone gave me dead hoping I could do a 25 Lazari miracle with it - I couldnt  so it has left the building - I did keep some of the soil back as my succulents need some more. 

Gym 25 min easy legs and abs
Swim 865m 
Then I needed sugar if I want to bake some bread ..and also washing powder ... Inevitably £23.70 later 

Groceries £59.62/£155 +  £7.80 bulk
£3.95 washing powder - prefer it to liquid as lasts longer
Bulk herbs etc £2.50 - the lid is closing soon so grabbing some easy carries 
Grocery    £17.25  including a FR chicken I really wanted one+  some veg inc organic beetroot to make borscht with my chicken stock once cooked the chicken. I do have 3 HFresh meals left as well but they all very samy as in white rice, a protein, a sauce and minimum veg

Food 
Brunch was a mix of stirfried veg - red onion, red pepper, celery, broccoli, mushroom, spinach, tamari soy and sesame oil with chermoula spice  and I also heated up the remaining pork chop , some dal  and brown rice with peas from Sunday  - served with aioli and a chopped in balsamic vine tomato

Made some cashew cream that going nicely in my coffee - no additives...

Currently trying to make GF fruit seeded bread for the first time  - mix of brown and white GF flour that may /may not work 1/3. 2/3 plus raisins, mixed peel that was reduced and some seeds/nuts mix from Ald* - I will report back .. as the brown bread recipe is v different from the white - it may need more liquid...
Nothing ventured /nothing gained.
EDIT : very very tasty large fruit loaf - perfect with DF butter and also peanut butter 
froze a fair amount in slices as well 
I used the white gf bread recipe not the brown bread one (which has milk or DF milk in) 

MG 10 yesterday 

Suffolk_lass

I've missed a wodge of your diary but have picked up from this page.

I just wanted to suggest you could consider washing soda as a good alternative to laundry detergent, maybe every other load if you are not confident with the swap. JackieO on Grocery Challenge has done this for years. I also made my own gloop for a while.

I now use about a third of the detergent in the maker's recommended dose (it used to be half a mini block when they came wrapped in pairs) - that is when I do actually use it, and it makes no discernible difference. I also occasionally use laundry bleach the A of spades for colours and their other one for whites. Oh and a spot of washing up liquid on any fat-containing spills, and any marks are gently rubbed with plain soap. A fraction of the cost of the normal stuff and my laundry is clean and no build up of soap scum (in this hard water area). A cup of vinegar on an empty wash keeps any limescale at bay too. In these days of minimising harmful chemicals into our environment I thought it worth mentioning

LadyWithAPlan

@Suffolk_lass this is brilliant thanks so much ! I will see if Poundland does washing soda .. never seen it in the shops but .. 
I do tend to use much less washing powder than the instructions say -normally half -  I don’t get that dirty - no gardening or mud wrestling here often so  I have never liked washing liquid for that reason it goes so quick .. 

I also weirdly don’t sweat - sorry to be a bit too Prince Andrew - but been told to not have dry heat so no saunas  as I boil on the inside as my body does not release the heat in the same way - so I have to drink extra in hot countries and I swim in seas a lot to cool down when on holidays - however I always look cool 

I also am trying to minimise when I do my laundry loads - always need a weekly bed linen one and have loads of tea towels so I can do that every 10 days and bath towels  I let pile up in laundry basket so maybe 2 x a month along with clothes probably every fortnight 

I am now back to swimming regularly so I am showering after my swim each day at gym .. all helps on the consumption and frugality 

not much has happened on my diary so you haven’t missed much - lots of travel last year but reining that back in to find and buy my home 

SandyShores

Suffolk_lass said:

I just wanted to suggest you could consider washing soda as a good alternative to laundry detergent, maybe every other load if you are not confident with the swap. JackieO on Grocery Challenge has done this for years. I also made my own gloop for a while.

Ooh - Soda Crystals?  I used to swoosh these down the drain with some boiling water (tip from Anthea's perfect housewife book which I have somewhere) but haven't done for ages.  Looks like they are £2 a pack from Mr A.  Love the vinegar tip too - I need to find my old book out as I remember using a lot of things like lemon, vinegar etc.  Thanks for the reminder.

debtfreewannabe321

I used to make my own laundry powder when I was on a frugal as frugal can be mission 1/3 household soap grated, 1/3 borax, 1/3 soda crystals all mixed together. No clothes conditioner just white vinegar which also descaled the machine. 
Very inspired by your swimming in the evening especially with these dark evenings still. I just want to be home as soon as it is dark. Last night though I walked the dog as he was pleading with loving eyes, and actually it was really nice wandering around the town in the quiet....as everyone else was hiding like I usually do