Changing my life, goals and finances!

leftatthetrafficlights

It's been an interesting couple of weeks since I last wrote - I have done pretty well on many fronts and less well on others. 

Finances are okay - we had to buy a new TV this week as ours finally died (we'd had it for many years though so it wasn't unexpected) so it has been more expensive than I would have liked! Thankfully the money was available in our household and garden fund so not an issue. 

Now that the 2023 BB fund has been completed, I've started on the 2024 one with £74 savings from the grocery and petrol budgets;  from December's payday I'll start to build the Debt Neutral fund alongside the BB fund so any savings will be split between the two - getting a head start seemed like a good idea and I should have more to put in at the end of this month 😁

I've started doing surveys in the past week (well, dabbled really!) so intend to do more of those when they're available and I'll add any payouts from those to the debt neutral fund.

A few of my insurances are due in the next few months so I need to check dates and cover - I'm thinking that I will see if I can get a good deal through cashback sites but I haven't used them for years so I'm not certain of which ones I should look at 🤔 I'll need to investigate! 

Health wise not a lot has changed- I had my covid and flu jabs last week which left me with a sore arm but nothing else thankfully- the only downside was the fact that I really hate needles so blew out on comfort food/ total c*ap before and after! 🤦‍♀️ I'll do better this week 😉 

Food wise I've got a meal plan which uses storecupboard/garden stuff mainly so although it's not a particularly exciting menu, it's frugal and will hopefully mean a really low spend week. 

I have noticed that I'm nowhere near as 'good' when I'm not regularly on these boards so I need to report more often - it may be boring but if it helps me stay on the straight and narrow it willbe worth it!! 

savingholmes

I'm similar before and after injections. 

Keep posting - as you say it helps a lot with staying accountable and can help avoid costly mistakes.

leftatthetrafficlights

Thanks @savingholmes - accountability is the key really; I've spent far too long making excuses and failing in so many aspects of my planned journey and to be honest,  I've become tired with myself 🤦‍♀️😔 

I have set a target today - I have 133 days/19 weeks before the new financial year and the first day that I may consider paid employment again; it's the amount of time I am giving myself to sort myself out to the point where I would feel confident enough to re-engage with that environment should I choose to. I'm fed up with my excuses and lifestyle so from tomorrow I'm making a real commitment to change - I want to become who I imagine myself to be - it's time to take responsibility for my actions and move to a better existence! 

It's going to be immensely challenging but nothing that is important comes without major effort and commitment so I'm okay with that...

savingholmes

Good luck with your targets - be kind to yourself along the way too. We all miss our targets - they are just a direction of travel.

leftatthetrafficlights

132 days left!

I spent yesterday thinking about what I need to do to acheived my aims and to set myself some realistic targets. It was really productive and has highlighted what needs to change and how I need to change it. 

It's new moon tonight just before 11pm so it's a perfect day set out my intentions ready for the month ahead, both personal and financial. 

I have decided on the 5 daily personal habits that I need to establsh and embed into my life: 

1) Asana practice - this may be as little as a 5 - 10 minute sun salutation or a day of several long sequences; as long as it happens daily in one form or another, that's okay. 

2) Meditation - whether this is a full session in my yoga/meditation room or 10 minutes upon waking or going to bed it's fine; again, it just needs to happen daily.

3) Get out in nature - this could be walking, gardening, sorting the pond, feeding the birds; it doesn't matter about the length of time, I just need to breathe the air and feel the wind, sun or rain and connect with the universe

4) Purity - this means living and eating clean; no alcohol, processed food or destructive behaviours. This is going to be the most difficut one to stick to but once I establish this practice it will make everything else a lot easier to integrate into my daily life. 

5) Self-care - appreciating and treating my health and body with the respect they deserve is massively important. My physical and mental health status is under my control and the only thing that will improve it is making a decision do so and to treat them as the gifts they really are - considering the self-abuse I have inflicted upon both of them, they have treated me very well and I need to start investing in me with real commitment. 


If I establish and stick to these five habits for the next 132 days, I'm pretty sure that I will feel a great deal better both mentally and physically. It will support my long term goals and give me the ability to stay in control of my choices. 


My financial habits to establish are less intense! 

1) Check for surveys daily and complete any available
2) Avoid doing laundry if unable to complete much of the drying outside
3) Throw no food away
4) Look for and try cheaper alternatives when making a purchase
5) Use the instant pot for cooking wherever possible instead of the oven
6) Update my grocery budget and food inventory daily

To be honest, I do most of the stuff on the financial list as a rule but I am also guilty of slipping back into bad habits if I'm having a bit of an off day so I need to make sure that I'm not wasting money at those times.

Living frugally is important - I am happy being basically 'retired' and I want to stay that way until I make a decision on whether I am able to pursue the career I would like to pursue in 12--18 months. I am very lucky to be able to be on the path I am on but I want to maintain that financial stability and the best way to do that is to reduce any frivolous spending and where possible reduce our day to day spending too. 

Anyway, they are the plans - I'm happy with where I am and where I'm heading! I'm also realistic enough to know that this will be challenging at times and I may feel like ignoring the principles when I'm having a tricky day, but I will just focus on the 24 hours in front of me and do what I can to get closer to where I want to be   

savingholmes

Worthy goals there. I always think of a cartoon I once saw where Dilbert went off on a trek to find his true self - only to find him wearing a suit and tie up a mountain... Or another story of someone who managed 'peace and light' for a whole month while off by themselves but lost it on their return to 'normal' life. It's good to aspire to 'greatness' but don't beat yourself up if you don't make perfection.

Blackcats

really interesting goals - sending you positive thoughts towards achieving them.
I like the focus on financial year end.  I might borrow that as that is when I will finish work completely (currently working 2 days a week) and when I'll be using pension etc to live on.  

I definitely need to find some time every day for health and well being.

leftatthetrafficlights

Thanks @savingholmes and @Blackcats! 

So, 127 days left and I'm doing well 😁 its still a work in progress but progress has been made and my mindset is definitely changing! 

So, the good, bad and ugly: 

Asanas- have been completed- mainly just 10 minutes at a time but I'll be doing a longer practice today

Meditation- again, a 10 minute session in the mornings but worthwhile 

Nature - mainly just pottering in the garden as the weather has been poor but its been lovely doing it mindfully

Purity - For the first time in a very long time, I only drank one day of the weekend! 🙌 I was planning on not drinking but dh bought me a bottle of wine so I consumed it - I could have left it in the fridge but I knew I'd be constantly battling my head about drinking it so I just had it and told dh not to get me any more. Normally this would have led me to getting another the following day (or raiding the solstice stash) but I chose not too...

Food wise, I had some leftover lentils and rice so I added some wheat gluten and additional flavourings and made 'meatballs' and pasta - I'm avoiding wheat in general so this wasn't ideal but I'm going to freeze the remaining balls; I'm not prepared to throw food away regardless of what I'm doing in other aspects of my life so I was willing to take the hit with this. 

Self-care - I've drunk lots of water, I've exfoliated, done a hair treatment and moisturised. I've dug out my supplements and will start taking them today. I have weighed and measured myself and set a target for weight loss. I have cleaned out my wardrobe and disposed of all of the clothing that was tatty or no longer fitted me. I have kept a set of 'gardening/diy' clothing and have a few 'aspirational' bits for when I lose the weight! 😉 

Finance wise I've done everything I set out to do (which I expected anyway) so I'm happy with that. 

I put another £200 to the 2024 BB fund - whatever remains from the grocery/petrol budgets that I'm currently using will be added to that and then the next budget period savings (assuming there are some) will be split between the BB fund and the Debt Neutral fund as I am going to start to run my budgets from the 1st of the month in 2023. 

It does mean that my current budget will need to last until the end of the year so it will have been over a six week period 😳 however, my solstice budget will cover around 10 days of that so I only have to cover the next three and a half weeks with what remains- it will mean some very careful budgeting, particularly as I will be eating more fruit but I'll write the menu plan today. I have enough grains and pulses to last a lifetime, I still have leeks, celeriac, swede and cavolo nero in the garden along with some squash, potatoes,  carrots, onions and garlic in stores, calabrese and peas in the freezer and tins of artichokes, jackfruit and banana blossom in the cupboards so I'm pretty sure that I can spend very little over the next 3-4 weeks and still eat well! 

I'm shopping tomorrow for my breakfast fruit - I'm planning on having fruit for brekkie every day - so will hopefully purchase a giant papaya, some pomegranates and some physalis- I'm spending a maximum of £10 on my breakfast fruit and it should do me for a week. If the fruit I want isn't available then I'll get fruit for smoothies instead - watermelon, apples and frozen berries. It may seem like an expensive breakfast choice but I know from experience that lots of breakfast fruit makes me feel better mentally and physically! 

I'm feeling really positive at the moment- even though I haven't achieved all of my intentions every day, I've certainly made huge strides towards them and I am already feeling the benefits of that - I'm excited to know just how good I'll feel once they have become routine! 😉😁

leftatthetrafficlights

124 days to go and all is still going well! 

Asanas - didn't do yesterday and won't do today as I have damaged my ankle somehow 🤦‍♀️ it happened on Tuesday so I'm taking a couple of days off just to rest it

Meditation- going well,  still short periods but I'm doing morning and night now

Nature - feeding my birds, harvesting veg and standing in the garden is pretty much all I've done due to the ankle but it's been lovely 

Purity - I've eaten wholegrains, salads, veg and fruit; avoided alcohol, coffee and sugar and I'm drinking water and herbal teas and having smoothies at breakfast. I obtained all of the fruit I wanted on Tuesday so will be having papaya,  pomegranate and water melon for brekkie over the next few days!
Yesterday I cooked short grain brown rice in stock, chickpeas and leeks in a wholegrain mustard dressing, green beans with garlic, spaghetti squash and buckwheat bread. I ate that for lunch along with a lot of salad leaves and will have it again today. 

Self care - I've had my eyebrows done, booked an appointment for my nails and have invested in some makeup!! I've been dry skin brushing before my showers and will exfoliate today then moisturise. 

I went shopping with dd on Tuesday- I have now purchased all the solstice toys for my grandbaby so I need to see what the wrapping paper situation is later today and hopefully get some of those done. I am dramatically reducing the amount of alcohol I buy this year as I'm not drinking as much so I will get what I need next week. I just need to decide on what we're eating on solstice now and I'll be sorted! 😉

savingholmes

Self care sounds good and being able to harvest veg in winter. 

Lots of gratitudes in your list.