NST January 2026: Shake and Vac

apple_muncher

NST January 2026: Shake and Vac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q8inM0gKVo

 

Anyone else remember this advert? An ad where women live alone, have a dog, smoke and always have a handy container of Shake and Vac product to sprinkle all over their carpet whilst dancing in heels inside the house and hoovering.

AND THIS MAKES THEM SO HAPPY!

January 2026 = find your happy.

 

Start the day with a win. Whether it is going for a 10 mile run, meditating, or remembering to take your pills, congratulate yourself with a win every morning.

Health is non-negotiable. What niggles have you been putting up with? What Dr appointments have you been putting off? Are you eating enough of the ‘right stuff’ (whatever that means for you)? Do you drink enough water? How’s your grip strength? It seems to be a marker of health. And also means you can still open those pesky jars with ease. 

Adventure awaits. Grab it with both hands! Get outdoors as much as you can.

Knowledge. Know your numbers: at a basic level, your income and fixed outgoings. Any money owed? Know the interest rates you are paying and the final payment date – any way you can bring that forward? Same with savings – know the interest rates and end dates. Don’t be afraid to be a ‘tart’, and keep changing your loyalty to better rates. (channel your inner f0xh0les for this). Do you have an emergency fund? A budget? Knowing your numbers brings calm and control. And read some non-fiction too.

Exercise your mind and your body. Eat well. Be extraordinary.

Adopt a new and easy habit. Choose a time and location to do it and get it fixed into your routine this month.

NSDs – 14 please. Any day you spend is a spend day, but NOT if you only spend on reduced items / travel costs / medical costs / direct debits.

Do a meal plan. Use what you already have. Check on fresh stuff so that you don’t need to bin it. Use up leftovers. Pack food for when you are working or out and about so you don’t have to buy.

Vision board. I’m new to this sort of thing but thought I’d put it in here after seeing how effective a vision board has been for Watty1. I’ll do a separate post on this.

Access your inner child and have fun. Giggle. Dance. Play. Climb a tree. Heck, vacuum in heels!

Count your blessings – log in daily and share three gratitudes.

I think that many of these overlap and work together. If it all feels too much, then pick a few to do for the month. Remember: find your happy!

 

Who is with me?

apple_muncher

NST Shake and Vac-ers

1 apple_muncher

2 Rowan9 

3 DawnW

4 f0xh0les 

5 beanielou

6 weenancyinAmerica 

7 PurpleJay 

8 betharooni 

9 Cuddly mark

10 grandmanerd 

11 dizzyblnd

12 Rebus1924

13 cybertortoise

14 thriftylass

18 Thrifty_Taylor

55 f0xh0les 

Rowan9

 Love this. Can I join please @apple_muncher? 

I’ll think of another good habit to ‘stack’ onto my mornings. I find if I do that and keep them do-able then I keep going with it. 

Looking forward to joining you all again in January. 

DawnW

Yes please @apple_muncher. Can't believe it is almost January!

f0xh0les

Me too please! 

beanielou

I’m in. Thanks @apple_muncher. 

weenancyinAmerica

I'm with you @apple_muncher. My vision board is is actually a whole scrapbook. Need to revisit it and see how I am doing. Not making progress on most of my goals - I still have most of the same ones this year as I did last year. I'm 78 - I must get to work on things. It isn't going to get easier. Except for my family history which is moving so fast now. I need to make copies for the rest of the family and bring everyone's Ancestry.com file up-to-date. 
I need this thread to keep me going. Thank you for starting it up this month and keeping us the the road to success.

PurpleJay

May I join in, please? I am looking forward to making 2026 a really good year

Very curious about the vision board idea.

Betharooni

Can I join in for January? Might not post much but will read along.

B x

weenancyinAmerica

I first made a vision board in high school. Our leaders for the church youth group had us cut out pictures of what we thought we really wanted and then we glued them on a piece of cardboard. I did travel to several of the places in the pictures (cut from a travel brochure), my part of the house does have a lot of what I envisioned it would be. One of the other young people put a picture of the car he wanted - and his grandparents gave him one (used, but new to him) a few years later. I don't know how the others fared with theirs. I started cutting out pictures and putting them in a scrapbook of rooms I liked and places I wanted to go. Then I stopped and looked at each picture again to see what it was in the picture that I wanted. Still need to paint the kitchen, but the rest is there in my house or I have been there to see almost everywhere I wanted to go - except for the chair I need that fits me (several inches under 5' now) and I still haven't been to the Netherlands or Belgium (but all of the other travel pictures could be my travel photos, instead of just what I had cut out. I think it helps as you will realize where you want to spend your time and your money. Both of my sisters like to go to Hawaii for the beaches and the fun stuff like paragliding. Both have been on several cruises and visited many islands. Not me - I like to travel in small towns and visit the thrift shops and the book stores. So that is where I spend my money. And it was obvious from what was in my vision board versus theirs (they did it too when they were in high school and college). Try it - it helps set your goals in visual form.

cuddlymarm

Hi 
Can I join please ?  

Less than 3 years till retirement and I really need to build good habits as well as living well 😀