NST June 2023 Flotsam and Jetsam

lianne1984

Happy Friday all! Hope everyone has had a good week.

Thank you for the Friday round up prompts!!

What can I celebrate this week?
I managed to get through Half Term; balancing working from home and parenting my 8 yr old as best as I could.

What did I learn?
That I really do need to be better at organising my months in advance to ensure I get as much work done the week before half term creeps up, so that I'm not as stressed as I was this week at managing it all. Organisation plans and calendar update now in place!

What brought me joy?
A lovely long walk through nature in the beautiful sunshine with my boy today, was so lovely to be out walking through the buttercup fields and chatting away. A really lovely day. 

How am I feeling?
Right now, okay. Almost content but a few niggles in the back of my head. Looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow, alongside some much needed tidying of the house, ahead of a busy Sunday. 

How can I take great care of myself this weekend?
Making sure I do take some rest time!

What are my intentions for next week?
To start my week strong, get organised! Focus on making some extra income. And eating as well as I can. Hoping for a couple of lbs off next week!

Thrifty_Taylor

Happy fri-yay! The sun is shining on our beautiful island, & is forecast to continue all weekend 🎉😃

Did yoga before breakfast, & hung the washing out. Had a great day at work, pupil doesn't participate in sports day, so we went for a walk, taught him how to play Soldiers with Plantain stalks, lots of laughter, followed by a film, some jigsaw & reading. Topped off with an ice cream at home time.

Was planning to go for a walk when I got home, but instead spent time outside with GF & DS1. Balanced last month's budget (actually had 15NSDS not 14) & put money in sinking funds for June. Washed the dishes, put the washing on the airer, then picked DS3 up from the bus stop. Managed to do more hooking on my rug & watched a film. Tomorrow I'm picking up some free veg seedlings & pond plants too.

Grateful for a lovely day, work going better, crafts

ldee2111

Budgets budgeted, savings saved and now I’m good to step into June. 

I’m currently at the family caravan for a couple of nights, an unplanned trip, but I have been saving some weekly underspends into an account named ‘other trips’ which is covering the cost. 

One of the nice things about being at the caravan, without the usual daily duties at home, is I have more time to think. So my thinking for this month is:

To focus on self care by keeping up my morning walks, keeping hydrated with lots of water, making healthier food choices, listening to interesting and motivating (free from the library) audiobooks and podcasts, and to be kind to others. And to hug my family and friends more. 

To make some extra pennies by selling what I can sell, underspending on weekly budgets like food, and saving those pennies to the ‘other trips’ account and overpaying the mortgage. 

To stop procrastinating on decluttering and keeping the house and garden clean and tidy! I’ve made halfhearted attempts over the last few months and these are not making me happy. I need to give it ‘more welly’! I need a plan! I will make a plan! 

Good luck with your month’s plans, turtles xxx

Shineyhappy

I hope everyone has a great weekend with lovely weather.

I am visiting in-laws so very grateful they are in reasonably good health and we are able to spend time with them.

It’s very strange as our weekends have been super productive with DIY and now are plans for the day involve a walk and a bbq. So strange but nice 😊 and will give us a rest, so this is how I am looking after myself. I do need to put together a to do list so will give that more thought.

Yesterday wasn’t a NSD as I had to buy some bread but it was for beans on toast for lunch and sandwiches for the long journey so money well spent.

Pauper1

I couldn't check in yesterday, too busy! So here's yesterday's : 

F - things are super tricky financially and I'm waiting on some bits to get sorted out, but I've set up a SO to transfer £7 a week in to a savings account that I rarely look at. Hopefully I won't miss £1 a day, and if I don't see it, it doesn't exist (thanks ADHD haha)

L - I think I'm doing this by getting our house sorted out, hopefully by de-cluttering and cleaning, it'll create a nicer environment to be broke in. I set up an account with a second hand baby bank yesterday and gave them a bag of bits to sell, and I'll get a little bit of commission (fingers crossed!) 

O - my friend used my bank referral so we should both be getting £125 soon! I've also done a couple of free bets on the derby today, not "proper" matched betting but I have one bet on each team to win and it's cost me nothing

T - I'm trying to make better choices, calorie and nutrition wise, as I've basically been living on carbs and sugar since my youngest was born 10 months ago, and it SHOWS haha. I really enjoy exercise so I need to prioritise this, but it's too easy to put myself last. I will make sure I get a workout in today and maybe a dog walk this evening.

S - let's just skip over sleep haha baby doesn't sleep so mumma doesn't sleep

A - yesterday I was grateful to mum-out-law for having youngest so I could go to work and the baby bank. Grateful for wonderful neighbours and friends who support us and check in, and grateful to have our health, as many close to us do not.

M - my mini missions for the month will be sorting out everyone's clothes (summer swap over and put outgrown big kids' clothes in storage ready for the little kids to wear), preparing and organising for our first proper holiday, and getting the credit cards transferred.

Have a lovely day all  

Shrewbie

Hi turtles 

I’m having a nice weekend to myself, in solitude, to reflect on things which has helped me think about what to focus on this month. 

@Grandmanerd what you said about looking at things differently if you can’t change them really resonated with me. There is a situation in my life where I need to make a choice whether to accept it and go with the flow or actively try to change it, and I would like to do the latter. As you say, this requires having an escape plan, so I will work on this in June. 

Finances - all budgets set this morning. I have a weekend trip to UK this month and a day trip to Cordoba which are budgeted for. I will aim for 15 NSDs and try to keep track this month.

Opportunities to save - I will try to resist shopping. Especially in the huge pr1mark in Madrid. Part of me would love to go in to have a look but I don’t need anything in there and it is so massive and crowded - even if you go early in the day - that it fills me with anxiety even thinking about going in there and I am trying to be more mindful of using what I have or buying slightly better quality. 

I have two birthdays to buy for but I want to spend very little or make something for them.

Enjoy the moment - I constantly need reminding of this!

Meal plan - Have planned for next week. Will try to keep it up

Just do it - Will continue with the frog munching of May! Frog Fridays all the way!!

Mini missions - 1. the escape plan I mentioned earlier, 2. I want to do a “Spanish sprint” which will be 6 weeks of deliberate practice and 3.  to read and meditate before I go to bed every day (requires going to bed an hour earlier) 

Gratitude - will also try to keep this up and the RAKS.

Today I am grateful for feeling energised enough to go out for a run this morning and stopping to have a go on the adult swing which was very fun until I started feeling sick, for having a weekend to myself and for having a plan.

Have a wonderful weekend turtles 

Toni'sfriend

Another early three and a half mile walk. Oh, my legs are feeling it.

It's very hot here. Really too hot for me. But I've made a chilli for later on in the week.

Sent a long, long email to my brother. Himself is watching the dreaded football. I might have a little lie down for an hour. xxxx

apple_muncher

My mission for June is simply to survive it and keep the stress levels as low as I can. This means planning ahead and not wasting the free time I have on mindlessly playing games (or really, just one game) on my phone. Next weekend I have two fairs so after that, I'll not need to be stabbing the stuffing with my needles - bang goes my therapy

I am a massive procrastinator (though not for work where there are constant deadlines - those I have no problem meeting) as regards the garden and the house. I don't need Frog Fridays, I need Frog Fortnights!!! Consecutive ones!!! And a magic morning beverage of motivation...

DawnW

Lovely day here, dog walk first thing, then watered the garden pots and seedlings and planted some of them into gaps in the back garden pots and troughs. I will do the same at the front tomorrow. DD brought GD round so that she could stay with me while her brother had his swimming lesson. She can't go swimming till next week, due to recent surgery on her poor broken arm. We walked to town to look round the rather meagre selection of charity shops on offer. GD found a box of animal postcards so I bought those for her. Came home for lunch. OH made toasted cheese and chutney sandwiches for DD, himself and me, and I did pasta with vegetables for the little ones.

Chilled out a bit after DD and the kids left, then planted up a couple more pots.

Did a BBQ for dinner, made a pasta salad with leftover pasta from lunch (there was some left in the saucepan, not plate scrapings) to go with it. I roasted a lurking aubergine and a few little beetroot in the residual heat once we had finished cooking. These will be added to meals during the coming week.

Grateful for my garden. for family time and for seeing that at least one of the water snails in one of my mini ponds has survived the local blackbird family.

ldee2111

Grateful today for time on a beautiful beach with OH and DS, for time with friends who are also staying at a caravan park near us , and for the sun-a-shining on us all day long.