NST A May Meditation

grandmanerd

Welcome to the NST Challenge for May. It's a bit different. Each month is a new beginning, a chance to leave behind any failings and shortcomings of the previous month and to  start out bright and new. So this is  my very gentle action plan for getting  back on track.

1   The challenge runs from 00.00 on May 1st and ends at 23.59 on May 31st.

2    You will aim for 16 Spend Free days (medical, travel and ys spends are exempt)

3   TAKE STOCK
a)   The FOOD in your cupboards, fridge, freezer etc. Use these to meal plan
b)   Your BODY - note any current health issues and what you might do to improve them
c)   Your TIME -  many of us are time poor,  look at the month and your commitments
d)   Your FINANCES - do you know your Debt Free Date. What are your future plans
e)   Your MENTAL HEALTH - are you happy, stressed, struggling, feeling flat?

4   DO
a)   Eat wholefoods. Eat simply. Eat slowly, savouring each mouthful. Be creative.
b)   Treat your body kindly. Rest.  Stretch gently. Get out the sun cream 
c)   Make time to do things you enjoy. Get off the treadmill of work, duty and chores
d)   Set all your budgets before the start of the month (end of the week as I'm late)
e)   Do you need to revise your budgets or make economies
f)    Practice gratitude. 
g)   Add MOOD Boosters -  fresh air, movement, music
h)   Pick 3 things to work on and implement some baby steps 
i)    Pay to your DEBT or SAVINGS first, live on what is left
j)    Act like the person you want to be - what they eat, how they dress, their day

5   DON'T
a)   Buy food from takeaways, vending machines, chain coffee stores etc, etc
b)   Talk negatively about your body or any mistakes - you aren't stupid, clumsy or lazy
c)   Take on extra duties if you are stretched to breaking point. Develop exit strategies
d)   Take on more debt
e)   Use a credit card unless  absolutely necessary
f)    Ignore financial or other problems 
g)   Engage with negative people and situations

RANDOM RULE
Feel good about yourself. You are trying your best. You are enough

  

grandmanerd

Reserved for  Contenders
1   grandmanerd
2   shrewbie
3   apple-muncher
4   Starlight-at-Sea
5   DawnW
6   beanielou
7   leftatthetrafficlights
8   Icc86
9   laura-lau
10 Esmerelda2662
11 Flying-by
12 weenancyinamerica
13 Toni'sfriend
14  Kiss-me-now9
15  ditty1234
16  Chrystal
17  Crazycatlady2
18  Thrifty-Taylor



55  f0xh0les

Shrewbie

Thank you @grandmanerd count me in please!!

apple_muncher

Me please, grandmanerd! A fab challenge, as ever.

Starlight_at_Sea

me too please!! I love this challenge @grandmanerd, feels like you made it just for me! x

Shrewbie

I love the idea that every new month is a fresh start... thank you @grandmanerd for the new challenge, it has made me think about things this evening...

You will aim for 16 Spend Free days (medical, travel and ys spends are exempt)

DONE. I will actually count in May. It will keep me on the straight and narrow. 

TAKE STOCK

I have absolutely nothing in the cupboards, (me and my housemates/landlords have an agreement where I pay partly for rent and partly for them to feed me, and they'll be away next week,lol). I've got a pared down grocery budget (EUR 20) and will try to stick to that. There will be a lot of pasta.  

Your BODY - note any current health issues and what you might do to improve them

I need to sort out a recurring issue that has been bothering me for months.  Have promised myself I will go to the doctor in May. 

Your TIME -  many of us are time poor,  look at the month and your commitments

May. Will be a month of socialising. Next week my ex is back in the country and as it's a bank hol and we still share the same friendship group, we will probably be out and about together. We are still on good terms but it will be strange to see him and not "be" with him. I will be limting my drinking so hopefully the weekend won't be too pricey but I have given myself a bit more budget to account for the bank holiday. I also have a work outing in May and I'll be flying to the UK at the end of the month for two hens dos (spenny but all budgeted for) Time on the other hand... I do feel like there should be enough time in the day to do everything I want to do. I have two main priorities this month that I need to carve out time for:

- The Artist's Way (I'll call it TAW from now on) course

- Spanish sprint (focused daily Spanish study to try to improve before this work outing on 23 May.

I've been getting up at 6:30am to do the morning pages from TAW and then trying to read in Spanish and do some grammar points before work. In theory I should have 30 mins before work to do that between taking the dog out and getting ready and I'm trying to find another 30 mins somewhere in the day, possibly at the end of the lunch break and after the gym. I am also listening to podcasts during the commute... I'll try to use any extra time to summarise the podcasts I heard in the morning looking up vocabulary (this strategy seemed to work for me in the past)

Your FINANCES - do you know your Debt Free Date. What are your future plans

Saving for house. Just two years to go, lol.

Your MENTAL HEALTH - are you happy, stressed, struggling, feeling flat?

I feel pretty good since limiting the booze (have only had two glasses of wine in April)

 DO
 Eat wholefoods. Eat simply. Eat slowly, savouring each mouthful. Be creative.

Will do!

Treat your body kindly. Rest.  Stretch gently. Get out the sun cream 

Must remember to warm up properly

Make time to do things you enjoy. Get off the treadmill of work, duty and chores

Have decided I will allow myself to read in a cafe with a cup of coffee and a cake. And do more picnics.

 Set all your budgets before the start of the month (end of the week as I'm late)

My budgets are set and they're harsh (EUR 40 per week for food and fun, except next weekend which is EUR 50 due to the bank hol, and the end of the month hen dos which are coming out of my holiday budget. I need to go to the dentist so that will come out of my contingency budget (which is EUR 50 as hopefully it will be less than that) I desperately want some new headphones but making myself wait for a sale.

Do you need to revise your budgets or make economies?

Yes, have ended up spending more on my holiday than I wanted to due to a mistake with the dates. I am trying to compensate elsewhere, have already bought my flight home for christmas so made a saving there by booking early. I am thinking about cancelling the gym EUR 33 month as i do have a free one at work, but it's very small and gets very busy. But i also have a great running track over the road from where I'm currently working. So I could make it work, but I do love my gym with aaalll the machines.

 Practice gratitude. 

I will aim to write gratitudes here every day.

 Add MOOD Boosters -  fresh air, movement, music

For me it's no alch, and getting outside to run (problem is when it gets too hot...)

 Pick 3 things to work on and implement some baby steps 

meditate before bed
eat a work frog every day 
pomodoro technique for work

Pay to your DEBT or SAVINGS first, live on what is left

Act like the person you want to be - what they eat, how they dress, their day

I am doing this more and more...

DON'T

 Buy food from takeaways, vending machines, chain coffee stores etc, etc

DONE! I am allowed a coffee from a cafe now and again, see above. I can't remember the last time I had a takeaway.... 

Talk negatively about your body or any mistakes - you aren't stupid, clumsy or lazy

Will try... always a battle

Take on extra duties if you are stretched to breaking point. Develop exit strategies

YEs I need to do this

Take on more debt

No way

Use a credit card unless  absolutely necessary

Had to use it for hol accommodation purchase but it gets paid off automatically every month. Actually I use them every day because here if you want to avoid paying bank commission (some not all banks) they make you take a credit card for every day purchases and you use it like a debit card - this is a dangerous  situation that I need to change. I will try to change banks this month. 

f)    Ignore financial or other problems 

I won't....

g)   Engage with negative people and situations

I will try not to!

RANDOM RULE

Feel good about yourself. You are trying your best. You are enough
i do feel like I'm doing my best! thank you

DawnW

yes please @grandmanerd

beanielou

Me please @grandmanerd. Thanks 🙏 

Thrifty_Taylor

Great challenge, count me in please @grandmanerd, #18 if possible 😉

I definitely need to reassess the work/life balance. I've got so much sewing to do, but when I try to switch off from it @9pm, I feel lost & don't know what to do with myself! Yet when I'm sewing, I have a list as long as my arm, of things I'd like to do!!

leftatthetrafficlights

I'm in again 😁 

lcc86

Count me in please  I'm going to approach May slightly differently and not count NSD's as I just beat myself up if I don't hit my target. I am going to be all about balance - my (0%) credit card is set up to pay automatically and only has a small amount on it, and my savings are already topped up, everything accounted for. So in the spirit of better balance, if I want a coffee from my weekly budget, I will buy it and not guilt trip myself. On my salary, there's no reason why spending £3.50 once a week when I'm in the office should make me feel like a terrible person. Plus once it gets hot I can't stand hot drinks and don't really like iced versions so it's a problem that should solve itself in coming weeks!

I do want to make additional small payments each week to my savings, and to a laptop purchase I had to make for uni, as these little wins make me feel like I'm making good progress. My emergency fund is essentially to pay 50% of my uni fees and I do get a little buzz out of sending £10 to it (what an exciting life I lead!). It's currently at £2,046 now that I've been paid so I will set myself a mini-goal to reach £2,100 by the end of the month. Any extra is a bonus.

My other main goal for May is to continue looking for a new job but it has to be the right job. A few things have come up recently so let's see what happens.

I have some health issues and an appointment with the pain clinic to hopefully take that forward.

I have a week off work planned so probably will have a few spends then but will try and keep it relatively cheap - haven't actually made any plans yet so at the moment it's costing nothing!