NST OCTOBER 2025 Optimism, Opportunities and Overcoming Obstacles

ldee2111

Thanks for this month’s challenge @grandmanerd! It feels good to be back and I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing and sharing my daily gratitudes.

I’ll be going for gold with 15 NSDs.

By the end of the year I’d love to rebuild my emergency fund to £1000 after a car engine replacement(!!!), and also add £500 to our house maintenance pot. I’m going to review our TV subscriptions and gym membership too, especially as DS hardly goes now (only £9 a month but it adds up!)

Your ‘get prepared for cold weather’ reminder was spot on. I need to swap over my wardrobe, stock up on screen wash, and check my grit salt levels for defrosting our dangerous frosty steps. OH bought me a heated body warmer a couple of years ago and it’s the best thing ever for spectating at the football or just staying warm at home without putting the heating on.

I’m already back to batch cooking soups, and will work on a meal plan that might even get my fussy DS to eat some winter warmers. This is my wee DS who won’t touch beans, spaghetti hoops, or even macaroni cheese! Childhood staples! 

TRICK OR TREAT: I really need to keep moving throughout winter instead of hibernating. I’ll try short Joe Wicks workouts and make an effort to get to aqua aerobics. 

Good luck in your goals this month, turtles! Xx

Thrifty_Taylor

Pinch punch 1st of the month. Happy October! 🎉

f0xh0les

Good Job Thrifty!!  

And we're off!

Happy October to us, Happy October to us, Happy October, dear Turtooooools, Happy Optimistic October to-hoooo Urssssssssssss.

Morning!

grandmanerd

Wednesday 1st October 2025

Welcome one and all to NST's October challenge (this includes followers, lurkers and well wishers). I have been following a couple of blogs recently one of which is ordinary and Happy. They publish a series of printable calendars for each month, too many to use but here are a few ideas from 'Fill in the blanks with Positive Thoughts

A nice thing I want to do for myself this month is.......

Something that made me laugh recently was.......

A family tradition I love is......

Advice I'm grateful to have received includes.....

Something that brought me joy recently was....

(As usual this is not formally part of the challenge, just food for thought to get you in the mood)


OPTIMISM QUOTES (concensus is that it's quite mad to be optimistic but preferable to the alternatives)

OPTIMISM is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable (Voltaire)

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars and see yourself running with them (Marcus Arelius)

I am an optimist. There does not seem much use to being anything else (Winston Churchill)

An optimist is someone who gets treed by a lion but enjoys the scenery (Walter Winchell)

Always look at what you have left. Not at what you have lost (Robert H Schuller)

grandmanerd

I have lots of plans for the month. The main obstacle I have is my health. I am much better this week than for the past 3 (only 1 symptom free week since the start of August) but still very weak. The best chronic illness advice I've seen recently is to work with the energy I've got. This means if I can only carry 2 or 3 things on my shoulder to hang on the washing line, that is what I do. If it is an hour before I can do a second trip, then I accept that. If some washing is only hung out the day after, that is okay and if some is left outside overnight and gets rained on (last night) then I accept that. It isn't worth the mental energy that fretting over it takes. 

On the other hand if I can add in a bit extra, I do that. If I'm going down to the bottom of the yard to hang washing, a few more steps takes me to the bins so if I can I take a bag or sack there. Quite often I need to hold onto the washing line to keep me steady so I only take what I can hold in one hand (I need to hold onto the safety handle to step out into the yard as well). I add in bits of exercise after my shower, extra grooming tasks and always finish with hot water on my neck and shoulders to release tension. I've put on my shoes or antiseptic cream whilst sitting on the toilet and if I'm really wobbly I brush my teeth and/ or have an all over wash whilst seated.

I mentioned that I've recently noticed a mental health dip and identified a number of sources for this.
1)  General ill-health. It bothers me that I'm so ill, so early in the season. I don't know if it's the new COVID, regular winter bugs, exacerbated hayfever during the hot dry spells or proximity to the chinchillas but I'm obviously run down and fear this may go through until March
1 ACTIONS - Mask up when outside, Step up my handwashing, Go round the house wiping door handles/ taps and light switches to cut the risk of re-infecting myself, Clean the laptop screen and keyboard often and EAT MORE VEG, DRINK MORE WATER.

2)   Grandma's House. We had a buyer last October - that fell through in July this year and it was put back on the market. My brother phoned yesterday to say we had a new buyer so there was more paperwork to sign. Meanwhile I've been paying gas and electric, water bill and council tax. I think my brother and his daughter have been hopelessly optimistic about the house's value without realising how much they've cost us in extra bills. 
2  ACTIONS - Not worth arguing with brother and niece, I've already paid most bills to the end of the financial year and will do the last one today (probably take that long to process). Not thrilled with the situation but NOT going to take back control and at least there is the prospect of some money in the next few months (I'm keeping an old account open as that's where I've asked for the money to be deposited). Set up savings account (have a savings account which holds what's left from the sale of mum's bungalow but the full amount wouldn't be protected if the grandma's house money was added. This has also put plans for what's next on hold.

3)   DS3 and Beloved living with me. They are still hard work (them being upstairs is better) and don't seem very motivated (waiting for someone else to sort them out). DS3 has had a drop of 20% in his income (diktat by his main source of income) but he sees every set back as a reason to huddle in place rather than going forward. 
3   ACTIONS  - I think I will end up buying somewhere which they either rent or buy from me. This limits what I can do with my money but would provide a steady income stream and GET THEM OUT. Again, it's not worth the mental energy required to fret over it. However I have decided I NEED To Live Now, not keep putting it on hold.

First Few Steps Forward
FOOD   I have 2 portions of chilli and one stew. I cooked butterbean squash in the microwave yesterday, I will scoop out the flesh and make it into another veg chilli later i the week. I have a jar of korma sauce (not my choice) which will be bucked up and used with lots of veg. I also have a tomato sauce for pasta bake and/or butterbean casserole (made with chickpeas? or mixed beans) and a cheese sauce mix (quick before the milk goes off) for cauli/ broc/ mushrooms. Somewhere in the big freezer I think there are 3 ready meals. I also have wraps and 2 tins of tuna.  I'm going to try getting through until next Tuesday without a big shop. However I want to do a Community shop (no waste) run if at all possible (I have an appointment next Wednesday and the bus stops outside the shop on the way back. I will also try to book my blood tests for the same day rather than go out twice).

BUDGET  I'm going to use the cash I have on hand. This is currently £155 but there is more in my purse and a fair bit of change dotted around. Mrs Builder will need £120. I have acquired 2 bad habits, one dietary, one spending. (Probably lots beside but I am starting with these 2). I will run out of 'bad for me and I should be boycotting them' drinks some time today. This is usually a trigger point for a big shop so that's an additional bonus. I will be helped in defeating these demons because until I locate and activate my new card I can't do any shopping online. It would be great if I could get through the month using cash/ limiting spending. I also plan to start building up a stock of cans based on my choices (not everyone else's use ups.

ORGANISATION  I spent yesterday afternoon working through piles of paperwork. Several categories are now put away. Legal, Divorce and Historic are in with my house deeds, DS3's bank statements are all together. Bills for mum's accounts are in a bag with the laver arch file (need writing up but all safely together). The others are embroidery WIP, my medical (big file somewhere) and photos. I also corralled all the addresses and passwords that need to go in the new book (only 2 years old). The bureau surface is clear. 

Appointments need putting in order (some are only on my phone as text messages - I received a new one which needs looking up, only a link sent). I have just sorted another failure on my prescription meds so that should be sorted by weekend (even if I have to get yet another taxi to go and collect them). I also booked my flu injection - they had a cancellation this Saturday.

BE KIND. BE GRATEFUL. BE HAPPY. SEEK JOY

in_need_of_direction

Delurking to ask if i can join this month please?  i probably won't be a consistent poster but could do with seeing reasons to be optimistic.

beanielou

in_need_of_direction said:

Delurking to ask if i can join this month please?  i probably won't be a consistent poster but could do with seeing reasons to be optimistic.

Of course you can join our lovely wee thread. 

Welcome 🤗 

f0xh0les

Afternoon all!

Money has been juggled. Pots filled. 

Going to try and get the free £180 off the TeeEssBee for switching accounts. My main bank's rates are carp. I have no loyalty to anyone. 

Got notification I am on the rest period of the postal survey, so gave some pensioners at volunteering some of my free stamps, stuck another load on some postcards for competition entries - win a Squillion ££s for free-  in the future.

Optimistic news 

DS1 is on another unpaid work placement, but is in for 4 hours a day for 4 days a week, they hinted today they might have Xmas temp positions coming up.

DS3 came bouncing home like Tigger because he has a work placement (unpaid) for his college course. Yay! It is within easy bikeable distance. 

DS4 was 1 mark off a grade 8 in his computer science mock (that he didn't revise for), he might start focusing....He is getting the idea he is actually quite a clever-chops.

My fortune cookie told me I am unbeatable. 

In mildly irritating news, my £5 off a £50 spend voucher did not work, but I was pretty happy I had actually done the flipping shopping because I was honestly losing the will to live.  Will contact customer services and see what they do for me.

Gratitudes: Starting the month with a decent budget / Having a plan / that there is food in the house, and fog in my horn.  Paaarrpp!

ldee2111

in_need_of_direction said:

Delurking to ask if i can join this month please?  i probably won't be a consistent poster but could do with seeing reasons to be optimistic.

Welcome @in_need_of_direction

grandmanerd

Welcome INOD