NST April 2022: April opportunities

Shrewbie

Me please apple!  Late to the party! Mothernerd said it so well.. this thread IS an anchor and you are our surfer captain.

apple_muncher

Shabbychic12, glad you're joining us. My tablet no longer tries to autocorrect your name, so you've got to stay!!!!

Greent, well done on a full week back. But, gosh!, 3 poorly people. Yikes!

Thrifty, wow to that view. I'd never get any work done if that was outside my window.

Esmeralda, the book was borrowed and was Richard Osman's second book called The Man Who Died Twice. Brill! I'm now returning to the series that I interrupted to read his book, by Genevieve Cotman. I also love Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London. And Tarquin Hall's books.

apple_muncher

Shrewbie, have you had snow? Hope your intercambio is fun.

Shrewbie

Nope, no snow here apple. It feels very cold though!! 

Shrewbie

April opportunities: my plan. Spotting and creating opportunities.. I love that. 

Apply yourself to yourself. 

After having to leave the house early for my Spanish lessons in March I realised how much I value my slow mornings, meditating, morning pages, having brekkie slowly and getting myself ready for the day. So I will do that in April. Apart from Monday mornings when I’ve agreed to meet someone from work for a language exchange. I will also *(and I say it every month) make time in the evening to wind down slowly before bed by reading and switching off the TV earlier. 

I will look into studying something that I've had my eye on (although I swore I'd never work and study at the same time again)

Avoid unnecessary spends. 

I did OK with this in March but will try to be more mindful in April. The reason I went overbudget in March was I think eating out too much so will try to reduce this or at least be the voice of reason when bff wants to eat out for breakfast, lunch and dinner in one day. 

Pay to debt/savings first and live off the rest. And keep track of what you are spending. 

I am tracking spends but still find it hard to plan for big purchases. I really need a sinking fund for this but I really would like different “pots” within my current account to manage it, which doesn’t seem to be a thing here, or with my bank at least.  I will make it my mission to work out a system for this in April. I think part of the problem is not being realistic with myself , which is why tracking spends has been so useful this year as I’m starting to understand what I do actually spend. 

Plan ahead: 

I am not expecting to do anything too speedy in April. BF is going home for Easter and I will chill here and have some alone time. I DO need to purchase some new clothes and I have set aside part of my budget here. The question is, do I buy summer clothes or get bargains for next winter… I’ll try to do a mix of both. 

Prepare for next winter. 

I may be moving flat by then so i am going to bear in mind how energy efficient the new place is. 

Remember those who are struggling

I will investigate how to donate to the food banks here. 

Report in every day. The daily support from this thread will keep you on track

I will! 

Identify the things you do well and celebrate them.

Absolutely. I need to big myself up more generally. 

Invest in yourself, your family, your home - the things that really matter to you.

I will make more trips to the UK to see family. There’s no excuse when a flight  from Madrid to London is cheaper than a train ticket from Madrid to Granada! 

Income vs outgoings. 

Will do.

Lose one bad habit.

I have two in mind!!! 

Live the sort of life you want to have. 

I love it. I will try. I feel a lot more balanced than in previous years, although coming to Spain kind of reset me back to being an awkward teenager in some ways. I feel like I lost all my confidence again and started from scratch. But that process has actually been very valuable in the long run. I want to be strong and balanced for myself and for other people. 

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

apple_muncher said:

Keep your eyes open for the little wins, turtles.

Yesterday, I mixed a tin of butter beans with a tin of baked beans and added some sweet chili sauce. Dh loved it and it was so much tastier than plain beans.

that sounds yummy apple thanks for the idea
I have little wins as i have been redeeming my c00p vouchers each week and saving 50p on stuff i buy anyway
I bought some earring for my sis birthday from an artisan market - they were £6 and i thought i'd buy some chocs to go with them, then i decided they were a nice gift on their own.  
I have just submitted my meter readings and increased my payment as my supplier recommends which is a £60 increase a month
love Deni 

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

BadBookkeeper said:

Todays update 

I’ve not bought a ‘something to go with it’ present for my friends birthday to go with a gift card.  Feels mean!!

That's exactly what i usually do BadBookeeper !  But i'm not doing it now, I need to make small savings/wins as apple says xx

BadBookkeeper

Hello everyone 


Cleaned the house today and finally found a method of cleaning my shower screen for a sparkling finish!  I tend to deep clean a different room each time I clean the house, today was the downstairs loo and it looks so much better! 

Also emptied my fridge and cleaned & reorganised it.  Found a garlic clove in one of the drawers.  Can’t even remember the last time I used fresh garlic!!!

Filed and glossed my nails, they look so much tidier.

Last night I went to the cinema and paid for mine & my friends snacks as I felt mean for not buying something to go with her gift card!

DS has been invited to a party end of month.  I hadn’t budgeted for a gift but should be enough in my gift pot to cover it.

NSD 1/16

grateful for:
Team winning footy
a sparkling shower screen
peace & quiet & listening to the birds 

ldee2111

OH’s parents visited today and took us out for lunch to celebrate his birthday. Too full for dinner this evening. One of the gifts they got him was an electric drill which is excellent since we didn’t have one. 

Afterwards we played some of DS’s games at home, ate the rest of OH’s birthday cake, and did some crafts and colouring in.

Today was grocery delivery day and I used nectar points to get £6 off. I also started tracking spending in a wee red notebook. 

I had an idea this morning and made a plan for it. As well as our regular budget, I’ve created a ‘super saver’ one. Basically it’s a month’s budget where all savings go to an OP. It means for that month only, nowt goes into other savings pots like emergency, car, gifts, hair etc. It worked really well for our holiday last month - and all the little savings pots didn’t suffer from missing just one month of pay-ins. Things like food and transport will remain the same, and obviously bills are non-negotiable. I’m aiming to do two of these this year. Thinking May and September. 

So my ninja plan to pay off our mortgage and save for holidays is:

1. Save a set amount every month 
2. Do 2 super saver months in the year
3. Keep up Sunday sweeps 
4. Go for the full number of NSDs every month
5. use the save spare change function on my bank account 

Grateful today for time with family, a lovely lunch, and a laidback day. 

Esmeralda2662

@apple_muncher - thanks for the book details! Read the 1st Richard Osman book, will try his 2nd. Have read couple of Rivers of London books. Have another one somewhere so need to find it out.

Spent a lovely day at a watercolour painting technique class with my friend for her birthday present. Packed a lunch but bought us oatmilk cappuccinos on the way home so that we could sit and chat. £4.70 that I didn't mean to spend but it was a nice way to end the day.

Bought a novel off the charity table for £1 but resisted oil pastel kit and paper.

Showed OH my painting of 3 kingfishers on a branch. He said they were really good and realistic penguins! Clown.

I'm recovering from a bad cold that I caught on Wednesday. Covid test negative this morning thank goodness. Several others in class were sniffing and coughing.

Have arranged to collect bracelet threading kits for shoebox appeal after work on Monday. Can thread these up whilst watching tv. Will also drop off items to go in shoeboxes at same time.

Gratitudes: interesting and relaxing painting class with my friend, oatmilk cappuccino for the 1st time, an easy jacket potato with beans and cheese for tea. X