NST September 2022 Picture yourself on a boat on a canal

hazeldreams

Morning! So excited for this challenge! Thank you for organising grandmanerd!

I'm so pleased you posted that message this morning grandmanerd, because when I sat down to plan the challenge, I felt a bit overwhelmed by everything that I wanted/needed to "do". So, I took a deep breath and thought about what was priority for me and my wellbeing.

So I'm going to be tracking and posting my progress on the following priorities DAILY;

1. Eat/drink to nourish mind and body
2. Yoga, meditation, exercise
3. Gratitudes
4. NSDs
5. Pause before purchases

I'll also be focussing on paying down the debt, decluttering and winter prep throughout the month.

So far so good this morning...I've already done Yoga with Adriene on you tube (new video called 'celebrate' to mark her 10 year anniversary. It was really, really lovely) and I've meditated and journaled out my gratitudes. I'm keen to get off to a great start with NSDs, so got to nail that today too!

Happy 1st September everyone!

Hazel x

Toni'sfriend

Permission to come aboard, Captain Grandmanerd.

My September is a month of two halves (well, nearly). Nine days till I go on holiday and it is definitely nine days of planning, organisation and preparation. So

• Use up any food that is perishable and don't buy any more unless it is absolutely necessary (ie use rice of pasta instead of potatoes)
• Get gifts/cards sorted until we come back in October
• Complete Tesco delivery for holiday accommodation
• Packing
• Box of essentials to go with us
• Arrange for next door to take out the bins
• Show my assistant 8 year old gardener how to water my plants
• Get my hair done
• There's more I'm sure.

After that I'll be away for four glorious weeks and the focus will be on reflection and relaxation.

• Lots of walking
• Lots of reading
• Listening to the radio
• Meeting up with old friends
• Having long conversations with Himself without being interrupted by all and sundry
• Planning our trip in January
• Generally chilling out and enjoying ourselves

There won't be many NSDs because, although there are very few shops, we do have to eat and there is a very nice butcher in the village so I envisage cooking lots of lovely meals.

I'll have to hop off the boat at lunchtime to meet the lovely cousin so I'm off for a shower. I promise not to use all the water!

Have a lovely, slow trip up the canal.

f0xh0les

Morning Turtle-friends!  and welcome to the ----bers,

 The difference in the passing trees from today until the end of the month will be visibly noticeable.  Seasons come and go, priorities change, your leaves fall off unexpectedly,  we cope with it.  Change is natural and healthy.

I got hit up for some work this morning, this time in Birmingham toward the end of the month - I said yes. The kids are quite excited by having a working mum and DH is on writing leave this semester so he can have Receptionist duties.

I have told the kids they can have new bikes if they are going to ride them to school and back - there is a cycle path for the first 2  miles, the last mile they can ride on the big wide pavement with every other local kid going to their school. 

Feeling really positive about this September, for no reason really, woke up totally rested and chilled out this morning.

Will go below deck and put the kettle on - I am sure @grandmanerd will have a solar array to keep us in  environmentally friendly tea supplies when the log burner is not going.  

ldee2111

Here we go:

SIMPLIFY 

DS is growing out of clothes and toys faster than the speed of light. And his clothes are getting too big for folding into neat bundles for drawers. The declutter fairy will visit his wardrobe and toy box in September. And some other areas of the house too.

ESSENTIALS 

I’m doing another ‘big save’ in September which means savings envelopes are paused or reduced and I make a bigger mortgage OP - this is the second one I’ve done this year. I’ve needed to be more careful with this one though because our costs (like everyone else) have rocketed and I don’t want to leave us short. I’ve left our food and transport budgets alone on this occasion because there’s very little leftover. Anything leftover in them this month I’m going to put into a physical envelope for a bulk-buy trip to Costco-mpany within the next couple of months.

PLANNING and PREPARATION 

Family have kitted me out with some Autumn/Winter essentials through birthday gifts, so I just need to focus on prepping the house for the three of us. We’ve got plenty of cosy blankets sitting around. Socks, slippers, and housecoats at the ready! We have an annoyingly small freezer so sadly batch cooking has to be limited but I’ll still do some and am stretching ingredients out. I’ve also made a list for us on things to do to save energy around the house - I’ll share it below. Would love turtles to add ideas to it. 

THINK ABOUT EVERY PURCHASE 

I’ve been a bit more spendy recently so I need to pause before handing over the pennies. No trips away in September so there should be less spend temptations. Going for 15 NSDs.  

EAT to nourish your MIND and BODY and support your IMMUNE SYSTEM.

Doing well with this for the last month or so. Colder months are a danger zone for comfort eating though. I’ll need to be mindful. Need to come up with alternatives to the usual suspects - chocolates, pastries, hot chocolates, toast in abundance… perhaps duct tape over my mouth? 

MINDFULNESS 

The last couple of months have been full of activity and the next few will be the same. I want to use September to slow down, simplify, and get ready for the bright lights of Oct, Nov, Dec. DS is already getting hyper about Halloween, Fireworks, and sprout day! September slowdown it is! 

BE KIND 

Important 

EXERCISE 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes

Been doing 5 minutes HIT workouts with DS and OH in the morning. Thanks Mr Wicks on the Ytube. That’s 5 minutes covered. Just need to get another 25 in. 😂

REPORT DAILY 

Will do. 

And here’s my list for our house saving energy… will try them out this month. Please add what you’re doing turtles. x

• Turn off switches when not in use and all before bed (excl fridge, freezer, internet)
  
• Turn of the gas hob and let residual heat cook for the last minute
• Boil only the water we need (I fill my mug with water and pour it into the kettle for tea)
• Use hot water bottle, blankets, socks (and hats!) if needed. Mr Lewis advises heat the person.
• Wipe away dust instead of vacuum
• Turn shower on just before use (looking at OH who’s runs it for a few minutes until it heats up! I’ve timed it and it takes 15 seconds)
• Tidy, clean, iron during daylight hours so not to need lights on for those jobs
• Leave oven / grill door open after use to heat house
• Cut back on technological entertainment and do more physical things like reading, puzzles, games, writing, drawing etc.
• Do 5 minutes exercise when starting to feel chilly - a Mr Wicks Hit! 

Good luck in your endeavours turtles x

cybertortoise

Happy 1st if the month everyone.

Simplify - I have recently done this but have a bit more to do. I bought an app years ago to create outfits from the clothes in my closet but never used it. I need to sait down for 20 minutes with it and plan my outfits, removing the need for those choices in the morning. Plus getting in the routine of picking my clothes the night before, and the same for youngest child, so we don't waste that time in the mornings.

Essentials - I will budget my debt payments first, then small amount to savings as I'm trying to build an emergency fund. Then pay everything else with what's left. I'm going to have to use my birthday cash to buy school shoes today and pay myself back when I get my big money.

Plan and prep - looking forward to ideas for insulating my freezing cold end of terrace house for winter. I'm compiling a list of things to buy: candles, hot water bottles, extra duvets, etc. And need to budget for a few of them. We'd have no way to cook if there was a power cut so I need to consider foods which we could still eat and build a little store cupboard of them alongside my weekly food shopping.

Think about every purchase - will aim to be better at this.

Eat to nourish - yes I need to do this! I need to meal plan and include lunch not just dinner.

Mindfulness - I need to take time to do this.

Be kind - always try to, but need to make more effort to stay in touch with people. I've had to cut off someone and feel very guilty about it, but their presence in my life was very negative and one sided.

Exercise - I definitely need to do more. I walk to and from work but I only work one day a week. For 3 weeks of september I'll be in work 6 days a week with placement Mon to Fri and work every Sat. I'll walk as often as I can. My job and placement involve me being on my feet for much of the day so some days I may need to get a taxi to work so I can physically make it on time. I'll budget those transport costs in advance.

Report daily - I'll set a reminder either for the morning - hoping to get into a much better routine for first thing - or in the evening if necessary.

Doris17

Thank you for letting me join, my plans for the challenge are:

Simplify - My homework space is in need of a good declutter, room is used for my fulltime day job when I work from home and my eBay reselling business. I have pile of listed stock, unlisted stock and items I should never have bought. I need to go through everything and create order and have a room that is calming to work in.

Essentials - Septembers budget is in place. We are going away on the 16th for a week to a small cottage, holiday spending money has been allocated, so a few nice treats will be in order. Aiming for 15 spend free days.

Planning and Preparation - Been running down my freezers before we go away, so I can defrost them ready to restock. Will be spending a day batch cooking when I return from holiday to see us through the next couple of months. 

Think about every purchase - No big spends planned for this month apart from going away and we wont go over the budget we have set.

Eat to nourish your mind and body and support your immune system - I am very bad at drinking water, so going to concentrate on more water in September and hopefully feel a little better in myself.

Mindfulness - Sometimes forget to live in the moment especially when I am stressed with work, going to forces on being more present in the moment.

Be kind - Always try as you don't know what is going on for a person.

Exercise - Going to go on more long walks this month and use my exercise bike every morning, going to work up to 10 mile hopefully per day by the end of the month, did 2 mile this morning.

Report daily - Yes.

f0xh0les

SIMPLIFY  - DH is going away for 6 days next week, so I have the house to myself (plus kids) to clean and sort without anybody sighing and rolling their eyes. The boy's clothes are being 'disappeared' when they come through the laundry, if they are too small. I have also 0li0'd all their old school uniform and blazers now they are in the next size up (having multiple kids is moneysaving, honest.....) Love the idea of only secondhand - I have not bought 'new new' clothes for me in about 5 years.  Knickers are usually new, but  as 0xfam are the clearance outlet for S&M, I do sometimes get BNWT S&M drawers for pence.  Otherwise it is Mr T's with a cl0bcard voucher.  

ESSENTIALS I keep my budget in my current account, and move everything else to a savings account - if I need to claw back money I do, but usually I keep within my limits (or within £10 of it ).

PLANNING I melted all the dog ends of the candles in spring and made big bowl candles from them. They have been drying out all summer long.  I have bedding and fluffy sheets for the kids,  There is a velvet curtain at the front door on a telescopic pole that makes a massive difference to the warmth level, and a velvet curtain at the bottom of the stairs that helps too.  Telescopic poles rock.  We have a camping stove with gas just in case the power goes off - the oven is gas but the clicky starter lighter thing  is electric , so we have long matches and lighters just in case of power cut.  Also have a bbq and charcoal, there is no reason it can't be fun, and you can make popcorn in a pot on the bbq too, and pretend to be cowboys. 

Going to go scrumping for apples at the community orchard, and pick the last blackberries for jam. I will have my summer jam on a toasted muffin on the winter solstice and remember the passing of the seasons.

THINK ABOUT EVERY PURCHASE - I have promised the boys a new bike each from s/g's estate.  It is an investment in their independence.

EAT to nourish you - soup will figure heavily in my meal plans - dried marrowfat pea and hotdog, tomato and red pepper, winter veg, and chunky potato, sweetcorn and butterbean chowder are house favourites, and Thai BNS soup, and celeriac soup  are my personal favourites. But it all depends on what is cheap and what is ys......

MINDFULNESS - I will try and keep calm, and not have too many rants about idiots.

BE KIND  - I am volunteering for as long as I can stand it, but I am getting disillusioned  with it tbh.

EXERCISE - skipping rope to be deployed while the kettle boils, walking more, lots of dancing in the kitchen.

REPORT DAILY  - yes captain grandmanerd!!

REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE, REPAIR, REPURPOSE, then RECYCLE - ........ or resell. 

firsview

Afternoon Turtles. Budgets all in place and bills paid. Also donated to the local cat rescue and put some nappies in the food bank trolley in Mr T. Car went for annual service and MOT yesterday, passed with only 1 advisory so that was a win, still cost me £220 though.
Walked home from the garage and then back again so a few miles there. No NSD today as Mr T are delivering later.
Booked next years holiday with a £25 deposit and then put the rest into premium bonds. That means if the cost of living has increased so much we decide we can’t afford to go, we have only wasted £25, and if we are going, the money is sitting there ready and not mixed up with our other house related savings.
Bought new doors with the money Dad gave me and OH has decided he can fit them himself to save us some money. He has fitted hollow doors before, but these are heavy oak ones so let’s hope it doesn’t backfire on us!

wishus

Simplify - my office needs a declutter. That's my weekend project then, and get some bits on ebay. 

Essentials - budget done. Very little planned. So strange!

Plan and prep - will wait to see what the engineer says, but prepping for the worst.

Think about every purchase - will do!

Eat to nourish - case in point, don't buy chocolate! I can't believe Aldi dark chocolate contains soya lecithins. Another one to avoid. Boo!

Mindfulness - does Duolingo count?

Be kind - I think I am. 

Exercise - Bootcamp when I can 

Report daily - I'll do my best!

ldee2111

Woke this morning without headache or lethargy - the bug seems to have taken flight.

Dropped DS at school then went to get blood taken at local surgery. Routine thyroid check. Nurse got the needle in first time (the old star jumps in the toilet trick worked for me today). Walked there and back which was around 20 minutes.

Walked 30 minutes to and from charity shop. Handed in some items from our wardrobes including 2 of my jackets. Had them for over 10 years and was sick of the sight of them. 

Thankfully no temptations in the CS today. The only thing that went in my bag was NSD 1.

Easy dinner tonight thanks to vegan burgers and chips from the freezer. Topped with some rocket, tomatoes, and caramelised red onion. 

Grateful today for feeling much better, for chat with neighbour over the fence, and for a sunny day drying washing.