Intentionally spending my time and money to FIRE and move to Yorkshire

kimwp

Thank you @Skint_yet_Again. I think digging it out is the only way, but it's in the foundations of my shed and in my neighbours' gardens as well as mine and there's always a little bit that hides in the soil no matter how much we try. At least it has beautiful flowers.

Clean bill of health at the dentist, so that was just £26.80 for the checkup I dropped off a non-induction compatible steamer pot at the charity shop and had a browse for steampunk costume makings for my mum and I (£16). Petrol (£44.46). Takeaway on Monday, can't remember why, lunch at work (£4.30) and coffees for teammate and I (£6). Ubereats delivery (all healthy apart from coops flapjack cookies and a Tony's chocolatey bar, which I've only eaten a little bit of (£15.49), food shops (£28 + £12), £10 for a big garden cloche off gumtree and £5 for loose and cool pretty pink top from charity shop.

My plan last week was to try a new recipe to hopefully make a takeaway for variety less compelling, but I ran out of time before the work week started and then work was really busy and stressful. I could do with a lockbox of healthy but tasty snacks which opens when I'm stressed (or better still, coaches me out of being stressed!) - if I buy them in advance, I eat them in advance

Goal Review:
- Be healthy and fit by adding to my healthy habits 
Weeks where I have successfully fought false hunger (target 95%): 9/11. Takeaways and uber delivery not good, but were for real hunger
Fitness target is to do some aerobics, some strength and some stretching every day. -  neutral this week - I actually ended up hurting my neck due to tensing with work stress, but I have done some squatting and stretching
- Spend money (only) where it is necessary or adds value to my life - hmmm - ubereats not great, but otherwise necessary or joy-bringing spends. I'm really excited about making costumes with my mum.
- Spend time (only) where it is necessary or adds value to my life - This week has been working or zoning out from working

I've mostly reverted to old habits, so need a different approach - any ideas?

Time2count

It's so easy to slip into the usual old habits esp when you're stressed.
I've found keeping a diary and a target sheet motivates me. It all depends what you're working on. For savings I've made a sheet and for each step I save I can colour in a square. It can be as much/ little as you like. eg save £100 could be colour in 100 x £1 or 10 x £10 etc. Or if you want to save to buy a new laptop you could print the picture of it and cut into chunks then glue each chunk onto a sheet of paper until you have enough saved to buy it.
With weight loss goals I write down everything I eat and the thought of having to write 6 biscuits when I should've stopped at 2 works for me. Also reminding myself that whilst the chocolate tastes nice the high I get from being 1 pound closer to my goal is worth more to me.

I think right now you might be focusing on too many changes. Pick the 1 that is most important to you and make new habits for that goal. Once you're 6 months in and those habits are set move onto the next goal. Some will overlap, wanting to be fitter I'd say focus on the exercise but actually the spending on takeaways comes under that section too. 

Allow yourself treats occasionally whether that's a takeaway once a fortnight or a day off exercising only when you've completed 4 consecutive days etc, you choose. And you can change when it suits you. 

Spend an afternoon in the kitchen making batches of food for the freezer then you have something to reach for rather than Uber eats. Can also be flapjacks/ fairy cakes etc not just dinners. Accept the missing the target days don't beat yourself up about them but don't allow the habit to creep back in. Also set smaller goals. I am on a weight loss at the moment. I know the total I'd like to lose but am looking at mini goals instead - can I lose 2 lbs before going back to work? Great! How about another 6lbs before the end of Sept? Ooh would a stone and a half by Christmas be realistic or too ambitious? I also celebrate the little achievements ... so I ended up on the bus to work, but I walked an extra bus stop - great, well done! Tomorrow I'll try again to avoid the bus altogether (it's only 3 stops but the buses are so frequent at least 2 will pass me on the way hence getting the bus to save time and they're free because I have an annual travelcard). 

Delete your Uber eats account if you are fed up of falling back on it? Or at least delete the payment method (if you can) that way the extra step of having to type in the card details means it's less easy. I never store any card details on any sites that way paying is a conscious action for me which means it takes longer and actually feels like I'm having to pay rather than just clicking on pay now.

I don't know if any of the above will help, just sharing what has/is working for me.

kimwp

Time2count said:

It's so easy to slip into the usual old habits esp when you're stressed.
I've found keeping a diary and a target sheet motivates me. It all depends what you're working on. For savings I've made a sheet and for each step I save I can colour in a square. It can be as much/ little as you like. eg save £100 could be colour in 100 x £1 or 10 x £10 etc. Or if you want to save to buy a new laptop you could print the picture of it and cut into chunks then glue each chunk onto a sheet of paper until you have enough saved to buy it.
With weight loss goals I write down everything I eat and the thought of having to write 6 biscuits when I should've stopped at 2 works for me. Also reminding myself that whilst the chocolate tastes nice the high I get from being 1 pound closer to my goal is worth more to me.

I think right now you might be focusing on too many changes. Pick the 1 that is most important to you and make new habits for that goal. Once you're 6 months in and those habits are set move onto the next goal. Some will overlap, wanting to be fitter I'd say focus on the exercise but actually the spending on takeaways comes under that section too. 

Allow yourself treats occasionally whether that's a takeaway once a fortnight or a day off exercising only when you've completed 4 consecutive days etc, you choose. And you can change when it suits you. 

Spend an afternoon in the kitchen making batches of food for the freezer then you have something to reach for rather than Uber eats. Can also be flapjacks/ fairy cakes etc not just dinners. Accept the missing the target days don't beat yourself up about them but don't allow the habit to creep back in. Also set smaller goals. I am on a weight loss at the moment. I know the total I'd like to lose but am looking at mini goals instead - can I lose 2 lbs before going back to work? Great! How about another 6lbs before the end of Sept? Ooh would a stone and a half by Christmas be realistic or too ambitious? I also celebrate the little achievements ... so I ended up on the bus to work, but I walked an extra bus stop - great, well done! Tomorrow I'll try again to avoid the bus altogether (it's only 3 stops but the buses are so frequent at least 2 will pass me on the way hence getting the bus to save time and they're free because I have an annual travelcard). 

Delete your Uber eats account if you are fed up of falling back on it? Or at least delete the payment method (if you can) that way the extra step of having to type in the card details means it's less easy. I never store any card details on any sites that way paying is a conscious action for me which means it takes longer and actually feels like I'm having to pay rather than just clicking on pay now.

I don't know if any of the above will help, just sharing what has/is working for me.

Thank you @Time2count, some very wise words there, I love the idea of cutting a picture of what you want to save for and adding a square every time you save a chunk towards it. I think a daily diary is a good idea, I've already got a little book that I've got that will be perfect for the job.

kimwp

Having made the somewhat arbitrary decision to move to West Yorkshire once I've hit a financial target (TBD) in 5-6 years time, I need to do four significant things for my future:
1. Save towards the target
2. Figure out which town I want to live in
3. Get my house and garden ready for sale
4. Lose fat and get fit, to stave off the point where I struggle with mobility

The financial target depends on what house I want to buy, so that won't be finalised for a while and I need to figure out the plans for the other targets, but I've created my budget based on last years spends with significant cutbacks:
Clothes, shoes, haircuts: £150 on the basis that I have loads of clothes and shoes, so any further purchases should be on a needs basis only (ie no more browsing). I'm hoping the reduced budget will push me to think about what I actually need and only buy things that tick all the boxes. I did just spend £63 of that on socks (I know), then find I had some completely new pairs already in the drawer, which was very annoying, but I did get them at 30% off and will definitely wear them in the future.
Tools and Equipment: £200 - half of last year's spend to encourage me to think if there's another way to solve the issue or borrow tools, so I don't end up with any more unused axes, drain rods etc.
Wellbeing: £200 from £410 spend last year because I have loads of craft tools and materials and exercise equipement that I needs to actually use. Netflix may be axed, but I'm enjoying Frankie & Grace and Resident Alien too much at the moment.
Takeaways had no space in the budget, yet I spent just over £1100! I've put in £150 for this year, only to be used when I'm not well.

Fitness target is to stretch every day (even a little), aerobics every day (even a little) and to walk where possible.