Prosperous & Creative Soul Year 4

Egoberry

SH that's a huge list of achievements and positive experiences for one year! Well done and honestly I think it's near impossible to keep all the plates of modern life spinning at the same time so try not to beat yourself up too much about some overspend. Even just recognising it is a positive in my books!

One thing that I've been trying that is proving quite successful might be something you could consider. When I want something in spur of the moment, I stop and think if it's really worth it to me or would I like that money to grow my savings/ investments. And then if I choose not to get it, I will immediately move that amount of £ to a savings account. I think it almost gives a small hit of dopamine similar to what a purchase would and then I can also see how much I have saved in a month, year etc. The problem with spending is it's easy to see overspend but hard to see positive results of choosing not to spend and this helped me quantify it better.

Anyway hope you have a lovely NYE and all the best for 2025!

astrocytic_kitten

Wow SH! That’s quite a list of accomplishments, I’m in awe at what you’ve achieved.

I felt that my spending went through the roof in the year after moving too, it’s an expensive business. Not to mention extra jumpers for a colder than I was used to home! You’ll get there.

WelshmansDaughter

Apparently we used to sleep in two phases with an awake time in the middle of the night.

KajiKita

@savingholmes, your comments about ADHD / ASD spending got me cogitating and reflecting ….

It’s made me realise that I’m someone who spends to make myself feel better, usually on plants (which I have no room / prepared ground for), cooking gadgets (which I have no space for) or craft things (which are just on top of existing stocks I already have), all of which makes me feel worse. 

If I were to stop and sort whatever is making me feel bad; clearing the garden, find new recipes or food combinations or just do something / anything creative, I think I wouldn’t spend. Or if I did, I would spend to good / positive effect. 

Thank you for making me think about this 😊❤️

KK

skint_spice

Well done SH, you have achieved a lot already and enjoyed some lovely holidays. 

I am determined to spend less in 2025 and it’s interesting everyone talking about their spending, I need to have a think about mine.

debtfreeoneday

Happy New Year 

beanielou

Happy new year to you xx

mark55man

Happy new year SH and to you all.  Love the picture beanielou

Just keep going and keep strong SH there will always be something, but whatever it is you got it covered!!

savingholmes

Happy New Year to you - and thanks again for all you add to my life by reading and commenting. 

Thanks TG, HSL, Mark, Beanie, DF1D, Jwil, KK, CCW007

TG - I love your new signature! I need to go round my house and look at what I can return. The lamps I bought just before I went into hospital so they are out of date to return - but they match the others that were put up - so I'm glad I have them in reserve. The sockets DD could do - just hasn't done yet. I'll get a proper electrician in for the rest. My neighbour gave me some details - I think that's my next priority to follow up. I've now set up a spreadsheet to track income and refunds to help motivate myself to crack on and to look at ways to bring more £ in - to match my spending, saving, investing and pension aspirations - plus MFW status obvs.

DF1D - definitely helps writing it down - less mental load.

HSL - Congrats on your engagement - really hope 2025 brings all you hope for and more

CCW - Arg were the best deal this time last year as well - family deal for 6 devices each. It comes with a free virus checker too. You can buy it early - and just apply the voucher to take effect from when your current sub runs out. I bought a better rates anti-virus one on Am... considerably like £100+ cheaper than renewing.

 

savingholmes

Egoberry said:

SH that's a huge list of achievements and positive experiences for one year! Well done and honestly I think it's near impossible to keep all the plates of modern life spinning at the same time so try not to beat yourself up too much about some overspend. Even just recognising it is a positive in my books!

One thing that I've been trying that is proving quite successful might be something you could consider. When I want something in spur of the moment, I stop and think if it's really worth it to me or would I like that money to grow my savings/ investments. And then if I choose not to get it, I will immediately move that amount of £ to a savings account. I think it almost gives a small hit of dopamine similar to what a purchase would and then I can also see how much I have saved in a month, year etc. The problem with spending is it's easy to see overspend but hard to see positive results of choosing not to spend and this helped me quantify it better.

Anyway hope you have a lovely NYE and all the best for 2025!

Welcome to my diary. Thanks for commenting. I've had 2 weeks off work and it has felt amazing. I've used most of that time to almost do a mini-retreat and process what's been going on in my life over the last few years, plus reconcile with some of the lingering effects of past traumas and try to create a more detailed / realistic vision for my future. 

On the over-spending - I've been using 0% CCs to do it - the secret to stopping the rot is to stop CC use again - and just focus on repayment. Therefore if I slip up and use a CC - I need to immediately send a payment to it - to stop the rot. However - ironically - I don't have the £ to do that without emptying savings - so more importantly I need to curb the overspend. 

Happy New Year to you. I hope you achieve your hopes and dreams - even if they always tend to take longer than we'd like.