NST February 2022: a month of fives

f0xh0les

Me too please apple -  they keep resetting my signature to 3 months back. Very odd seeing the wrong number of turtles,  but it keeps going back, ho hum, first world problems eh?

FIVE minutes  clearing some clutter - I use the 'boiling the kettle' method to tidy the kitchen - How much can I get done whilst boiling the kettle? I can put the laundry on, I can wipe down the surfaces, I can empty the drainer, I can put all the stuff back in the pantry, etc I boil the kettle at least 5 times a day - it helps. 

FIVE fruit and veg a day. OK

FIVE minutes of outside time. Will do

FIVE minutes of moving every day - up and down the stairs again....

FIVE gratitudes each day.

FIVE minutes to plan the day ahead - my 6am  lists!

FIVE things every day that you enjoy - reading, painting toe nails, turning up the car radio to 'THUG' level at traffic lights (even if it is  Cla$$ic FM), candles - can't think of any more yet.

FIVE consistent good habits that you can do all month. Oh Heck, now you are asking....

FIVE books read - easy peasy

FIVE items to leave the house (you can choose 5 each day, 5 each week, 5 bagfuls...) over the month.

FIVE frogs to be swallowed over the month. Tradesmen can fix my frogs all - just need to find one who is not a total twerp.

FIVE things that take you out of your comfort zone. (See Tradesmen.)  Applying for Jobs.

FIVE donations to charity if you can. Orangutans, Water 4id and VivA go out on dd, does charity shopping count? or donating things to  charity shops? might

 And FIVE non-negotiables:

-no debt, I save every month /-NSDs – 15 - will endeavour /-set your budgets - now a habit already

-plan the month: Chinese New Year, DS3s birthday, 3 days in London for half term, free museum trips,

-go out on 2 outings and splash out £5 - will do so whilst in London.

apple_muncher

You can be turtle number 55 for Feb, f0xh0les! I'll go and change it.

Oops, nowt to change cos you wasn't yet on the list. But you are now 😁

f0xh0les

yay! #55 it is for Feb.

Shrewbie

apple_muncher said:

Shrewbie - great to hear from you and glad to have you back in the gang!!! Still in Madrid? How's work?

Good morning Apple and all the turtles!!

I am still here in Madrid. We are working from home at the moment and I am actually missing going into the office and seeing people which must be a good sign! It looks like i’ll be here for the foreseeable future so I need to start building my life here with that in mind. I love what mothernerd said before, we always have the opportunity to build the life we want. After taking the leap to move here over 5 years ago I’ve realised that I’ve been playing it safe ever since, hiding behind my boyfriend, building my life through his. Getting this new job was a massive step forward and really settles me here, so I need to continue in this vein and build an independent life for myself. 

That’s why I’m loving the “getting out of your comfort zone” fives! Here’s the rest of my plan. 

A month of fives.

FIVE minutes a day on clearing some clutter or tidying up. Or 5x 1 minute slots.

I will aim to do this, especially as I’ll be working from home most of the week. 

FIVE fruit and veg a day. Minimum.

I need to do this!! 

FIVE minutes of outside time. Daily.

Yes

FIVE minutes of moving every day.

I will run or skate every day and do my splits exercises 6 days out of 7. 

FIVE gratitudes each day.

I started doing this in January and will keep it up in Feb! 

FIVE minutes in the morning (or last thing at night) to plan the day ahead. Prioritise. Nibble frogs. Make sure you have fun.

I would love to do this. I need to make my to-do lists more of a focus, and like you said, have fun with it rather than it being a burden. I love the feeling of ticking off a frog or two.

FIVE things every day that you enjoy.

Read before bed, watch sth motivational on utube before work, text a friend, catch up on the news. 

FIVE consistent good habits that you can do all month.

Meditate twice a day, morning pages, daily Spanish practice, exercise and healthy eating and posting here. 

FIVE books read throughout the month.

I may find this tricky but will try!  I have just bought 2 books with a voucher I got for xmas. I have about 3 on the go at the moment so perhaps need to focus on one at a time. 

FIVE items to leave the house (you can choose 5 each day, 5 each week, 5 bagfuls...) over the month.

I love it. This month I sold a pair of new trainers that were too big for me. Next things to go in Feb will be 1. fish tank that an old student gave me and which I will never use 2. old working coffee machine 3. bag of old shoes and old cables and electronic devices to the recycling point. 

FIVE frogs to be swallowed over the month.

Wow. I will have to have a think about this. One will definitely be opening a savings account at the bank.

FIVE things that take you out of your comfort zone.

This is something I really need to do. 

1.Have coffee with an ex-student, 2. take an exercise class, 3. take every opportunity to call people at work (I tend to avoid speaking to people on the phone) 4.join a meet up group 5. Speak on phone to ex student twice a week 

FIVE donations to charity if you can.

 Will donate to my university’s Afghanistan appeal and food banks in UK and here. 

And FIVE non-negotiables:

-pay to your debt/savings FIRST and live off the rest.

I will make this the first month that I do so! 

-NSDs – 15 please. You keep it if you ONLY buy yellow sticker items, fuel/travel, medical items, or are paying for randomly-needed-but-planned-for-costs (eg kiddie activities, milkmen, window cleaners…)

I will try my best 

-set your budgets and note all spends. That way you can see what went well and where you can tweak things next month.

Will do this (also for the first time in a long time, perhaps ever) My budget for food for the month will be €120 and my "fun" budget €110. Pretty tight for me but let's see how we go. 

-plan the month: anyone attached to education will know half term falls this month, so think ahead and plan accordingly.

This month should be pretty easy to plan, I will mostly just be hibernating! 

-go out on 2 outings and splash out £5 on yourself at some point.

Will do!

f0xh0les

We got our Madrid  Correspondent back!! Hiya @Shrewbie , missed you.

lcc86

Just setting out my stall for February:

FIVE minutes a day on clearing some clutter or tidying up - will do

FIVE fruit and veg a day - I'm not as good at this but will try.

FIVE minutes of outside time - will aim for more than that, 5 minutes isn't enough!

FIVE minutes of moving every day - I do 30 minutes physio every day, and try to move for 5 minutes every half hour while working. 

FIVE gratitudes each day - will do

FIVE minutes in the morning (or last thing at night) to plan the day ahead - I write my to do list for the following day on my phone every evening. 

FIVE things every day that you enjoy - coffee, cuddles with my rabbits, simple games on my phone, moving, rubbish TV lol.

FIVE consistent good habits that you can do all month - I'm aiming to build up my core strength to help my back, walk more, get into more of a routine with my new job... Will have to think of some more.

FIVE books read throughout the month - I have a few from the library still to read. If I don't quite reach 5 I'll be close to it.

FIVE items to leave the house (you can choose 5 each day, 5 each week, 5 bagfuls...) over the month - I'll pick 5 over the month as I try to do a big de-clutter once a year and right now things are OK!

FIVE frogs to be swallowed over the month - will do. First very important frog, my new employer has recorded my salary as 6k less than it should be. Very important that I sort this out!

FIVE things that take you out of your comfort zone - hmmm not sure how I will do this but chances are most will be work related as I've just started my new job.

FIVE donations to charity if you can - I do 3 regular donations so will find 2 more.

 

And FIVE non-negotiables:

-pay to your debt/savings FIRST and live off the rest - done. I have £376 spare/unallocated after everything is paid for/all savings allocated, so the plan is to have a weekly budget of £75 and hopefully have some left at the end of the month. I'm also going to invest £50 from that budget, have never invested before but have done some research and have decided I'm comfortable starting small.

-NSDs – 15 please - I'm going to be a rebel and not count mine as I don't find it helps me stick to my budget at the moment. I do have my weekly budget though. 

-set your budgets and note all spends - will do.

-plan the month - I have two 40th birthdays to attend, one at the start and one at the end of the month. Am working on the other weekends.

-go out on 2 outings and splash out £5 on yourself at some point - these parties will be my outings. I'll probably buy a diffuser/candle or something too.

ldee2111

I hopefully won’t manage some of this challenge because I’ll be on holiday from next week. But here’s what I will try to do in Feb:

·       FIVE fruit and veg a day. (Hopefully in the sun)

·       FIVE minutes of outside time. Daily. (Hopefully in the sun)

·       FIVE minutes of moving every day. (Hopefully in the sun)

·       FIVE gratitudes each day. (Hopefully one of them will be for the sun)

·       FIVE minutes in the morning (or last thing at night) to plan the day ahead. (Hopefully in the sun)

·       FIVE things every day that you enjoy. (Hopefully on a rollercoaster in the sun)

·       FIVE items to leave the house. (When I come back from the sun)

·       FIVE things that take you out of your comfort zone. (Hopefully on a bigger rollercoaster in the sun)

·       FIVE donations to charity if you can. (when I come back from the sun)

·       FIVE non-negotiables: setting budgets and saving is an absolute yes. 15 NSDs is an absolute no chance. ((Hopefully spending in the sun)

 

apple_muncher

Love it, ldee!!!!

firsview

Here goes then!

A month of fives.

FIVE minutes a day on clearing some clutter or tidying up. Or 5x 1 minute slots.

I plan to tackle my sideboard as things keep falling out every time I open the door

FIVE fruit and veg a day. Minimum.

This is something I normally manage anyway

FIVE minutes of outside time. Daily.

We do try to walk a couple of miles a day weather permitting as OH works from home

FIVE minutes of moving every day.

As above, although I did buy myself a weighted hula hoop last summer thinking that would be good rainy day exercise. I used to be really good at hula hooping but seem to have lost the ability in the intervening 40 years! Not helped by 26 year old DD who just picked it up and did it for about 10 minutes. I have now bought a kettlebell, what could possibly go wrong…..

FIVE gratitudes each day.

Will do

FIVE minutes in the morning (or last thing at night) to plan the day ahead. Prioritise. Nibble frogs. Make sure you have fun.

I am an obsessive list maker which causes much hilarity in my house so already have my whole week planned!

FIVE things every day that you enjoy.

Will have a think

FIVE consistent good habits that you can do all month.

Will have a think

FIVE books read throughout the month.

I read every day so should be a doddle

FIVE items to leave the house (you can choose 5 each day, 5 each week, 5 bagfuls...) over the month.

I know I am a day early, but I took a big bag of clothes that are too big for me to one of my customers earlier

FIVE frogs to be swallowed over the month.

I need to book my breast screening so I will stop being so impatient when I am no 10 in the queue on the phone and get it over and done with

FIVE things that take you out of your comfort zone.

Will have a think, I assume it doesn’t have to involve skydiving or bungee jumping!

FIVE donations to charity if you can.

Quite often drop something in the food bank and local cat shelter in Mr T

I am really looking forward to this after all that lurking!

Kerry_Woman

FIVE minutes a day on clearing some clutter or tidying up. Or 5x 1 minute slots. – Will do.

FIVE fruit and veg a day.  - This I will find hard to do, but will try my best.

FIVE minutes of outside time. Daily.  – Will do.

FIVE minutes of moving every day. – Will do.

FIVE gratitudes each day. – Will try.

FIVE minutes in the morning (or last thing at night) to plan the day ahead. Prioritise. Nibble frogs. Make sure you have fun.  – Do like to use lists.

FIVE things every day that you enjoy. – Reading, worksearch.  Will have to think what else I can include.

FIVE consistent good habits that you can do all month. – This will be hard.

FIVE books read throughout the month.- As I usually only read on the bus to and from work, this will be difficult.

FIVE items to leave the house (you can choose 5 each day, 5 each week, 5 bagfuls...) over the month. – Will find some items or will be using up toiletries.

FIVE frogs to be swallowed over the month. – Will hopefully find some to do.

FIVE things that take you out of your comfort zone. – Will think about this month.

FIVE donations to charity if you can. – Will see what I can do.

 

And FIVE non-negotiables:

-pay to your debt/savings FIRST and live off the rest. – No debt, but have DD to pay into savings.

-NSDs – 15 please. You keep it if you ONLY buy yellow sticker items, fuel/travel, medical items, or are paying for randomly-needed-but-planned-for-costs (eg kiddie activities, milkmen, window cleaners…)  - Will do.

-set your budgets and note all spends. That way you can see what went well and where you can tweak things next month. – Budgets all set.

-plan the month: anyone attached to education will know half term falls this month, so think ahead and plan accordingly. – Things already put into my diary.

-go out on 2 outings and splash out £5 on yourself at some point. – 2 films at cinema to see on same day hopefully(have to check timings) and hopefully see an ex-work colleague.