New Year, New Me

wannabedebtfreemum95

I love the idea of one big fun thing each month - gives you something to look forward to. Life without a wee bit of fun would be boring! We are thinking of doing a similar thing as we end up doing the same thing every weekend or just going for food which is boring and difficult with two kids! 

Enjoy your walk on Sunday - sounds positive that you’re taking steps to do something new for yourself. 

RedLipstick

Ah, just love these updates, you can clearly see how the gardening and fresh air helps, I can sense all the new motivations! All these trips sounds fantastic, and meeting up people from the new town - you'll be one of them locals in no time!  

Enjoy your day off tomorrow, looking forward to hear how the gardening went! I'm not back until Monday, already dreading as I know the next three-six months are looking very busy. So just enjoying my last few days off for now and doing some light touch studies. Well, maybe not really light touch, got two assignments to hand over next week so little on a panic mode now but don't mind this time of the year, just have to pass.

LzzyIsGod

Ah a lot of your posts really resonate with me (especially the gig ones, I blooming love a live gig and have severe FOMO if I don't go)

In terms of the big 40 -  I was terrified if I'm honest, but other than the money worries it's been ok. I'm just hoping the same applies to the next big birthday milestone!

I like your challenges list but (whilst I'm a huge advocate of being active especially for mental health) would it be more achievable to combine nos 6 and 7? So a combination of the exercise bike and 30 mins activity? Anything over that then is a big fat win

Flick85

Thanks all for commenting 😊

In terms of the exercise challenge - I thought about combining them, but on days that I’m on campus (usually 4/5 days a week) I do nearly 20 mins of walking just going from the car park to my office. And when I’m teaching my exercise ring always explodes because I walk about a lot and gesticulate 🤣 so, hitting the 30 mins of activity a day (as measured by my watch) is pretty easy for me on campus days. And what I really want to do is add the exercise bike to that as I’m very inconsistent (tho, tbf, I have had a bad knee injury/back recently). 

Anyways, it’s been damn chilly up here today. Frosty and cold. But, even so I still managed a few bursts in the garden and am making some progress.

When I moved in 2 years ago, I refused to pay £1.5k for the developer to put lawn down - good decision seeing as the front lawn has been decimated by leatherjackets! I’ve actually got quite a big garden for new build standards (corner plot) so my plan is to have half as a cottage style garden with planted borders around a central lawn area. And the other half which goes round the side of the house and is much flatter will become a kitchen garden for growing fruit and veg, with a greenhouse (which is currently sitting in the garage waiting to be stained and built) and hopefully a pond to encourage frogs and toads to eat the slugs. When I lived in the flat I had an allotment, which was my happy place during lockdowns, so I’m keen to try and replicate some of that joy now that I have my own proper garden.

For various reasons, the back garden hasn’t been a high priority the last 2 years so it had turned into a bit of a weed paradise. My neighbours all paid for the lawns and from my upstairs windows I can see that their gardens all look lush and lovely (albeit, very simple with just a lawn) while mine has been an overgrown jungle. In the longer term, mine will be beautiful and interesting while attracting lots of bees and butterflies. Just gotta keep the faith and get on with the work! 

Last summer I actually paid someone to build a large decking for me in the sunny spot, and then I covered half the garden in weed membrane to kill off the weeds where the future lawn would be. This process seems to have worked - no weeds left really, woohoo! So now later in the spring, once the ground has warmed up a bit, I’ll be able to put down grass seed (which is already in the garage waiting) and hopefully end up with a decent lawn. I can see me becoming one of those people who is obsessed with their lawn… 

But today I’ve been putting in the largest of the border flower beds by my fence. I already had some edging left over from a failed front garden project last year which I’m repurposing to delineate a shady bed from the future lawn. I’m going to need 1 more roll of edging but so far I’ve lugged about 300l of top soil into that bed from the bulk bag that’s been sitting on my driveway for 10 months shaming me every time I park. And will do the rest tomorrow when I’ve got the final edging roll. I think I’m going to need to buy some staking posts as well, as I can’t figure a good way to keep the edging standing otherwise. But, all in all, this shouldn’t be too expensive and can come from my flexi-spends budget. And then I’ll have a flower bed ready to plant up some bulbs and put in some shrubs in the spring. As a bonus my brother’s family kindly gifted me a £50 garden shop voucher for Christmas, so I think I’ll use that for some nice shade-loving border plants when it gets a bit less chilly!

Am heading out to the pub this evening for 40th bday drinks. This particular friend group doesn’t have a history of buying gifts for each other, but someone has just suggested we all contribute to something for the bday girl… and I can’t really say no to that. Am hoping £10 doesn’t come across as too cheap… but that’s what I’m putting in. My plan is to buy one cheap non-alcoholic drink and then tap water the rest of the evening. At least driving is a good excuse for keeping costs down!

LzzyIsGod

Ah that makes sense re the exercise goal and good going on the gardening. It's been so cold here today I've not wanted to leave the radiator 😅

Enjoy the birthday drinks - driving is always a good get out for not drinking. I love the pub but it soon adds up money wise.

Flick85

Short post today as have been struck down with a monstrous cold and feel like death. But, had a nice time at the pub last night and managed to stick to the plan and only spend £2! Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

No gardening in the cold today. Instead I started organising my home office and kitchen cupboards and realised I could do with a few more containers. So placed a small amazon order for those, meaning it’s not a no spend day today. But, I’ve sold an item on Vinted so it balances out.

Taking myself back to bed. 

RedLipstick

Get well soon! xx

FootyFanDan

hope you feel better soon

LzzyIsGod

Ugh hope it passes quickly. Been a terrible winter for lurgies this season

Flick85

Feeling much better today thankfully. Made a meal plan for the week and did a supermarket shop. Successfully only bought items on the list and only spent £20.17. That’s now 2 supermarket trips where I’ve stuck to my list and I’m really chuffed with that as I ALWAYS sneak extra things in - especially when I go to the big supermarket in the city! 

Tried on my warm waterproof coat before the walk tomorrow and discovered that it’s too snug to fit a mid layer fleece under….. which seemed not ideal given how cold it’s supposed to be. So, I also took a trip to Go Outdoors and managed to pick up a new coat which is a bit more roomy for £24 (including the £5 membership fee). Not a planned spend as such, but I’ll take it out of the entertainment budget. Past me would have opted for the slightly nicer coat for £65, but I decided it wasn’t worth the extra outset.

So, I was all set for the walk tomorrow in the cold. And… the organisers decided to cancel because of the weather. Fair enough of course, but I was looking forward to it. Hopefully it’ll be reorganised for next weekend instead.

1 more day off and then I’m back to work. I guess I should take down the Christmas decs tomo and reset the house properly!