Decla

Made it on schedule to £5000 put into savings by the end of October. However, I paid out for my season ticket at the end of September which has screwed up my calculations of how much I will end up with in total. Next September I’ll get an interest free loan from my employers so that the money is tidier (and I don’t lose the interest on my savings) but until then I’ll need to put away at least £300 a month more although it is just paying myself back really.

November and December I want to add 1600 more to my savings in total. Ideally another 200 for what I didn’t pay in September. 18 months ago

I’ve just spent several thousand of my savings on a season ticket for a new job. Although I’ll get more money each month so I’ll make it back I still feel poor. I didn’t put any money into savings at the end of September as I was too deflated about the whole thing.

Anyway. I’ve started keeping a diary and spreadsheet of all spending so hopefully this will help me not to waste money. 19 months ago

I hae changed this goal to 40 hours. I may not manage this by the end of the year but I’ll definitely get to 30.

I’m really struggling with this at the moment. I’ve got a new job which makes swimming (or doing much else)after work impossible and I’ve just been tired for the last month as so busy. I’ve also found myself wussing out of going to the roller disco. I haven’t been for ages so worry about it (I always get like this) I’ve increased my gym routine so it’s longer and a little tougher but if that’s the only exercise I do each week it’s just not enough. Next week I’m going to check the local facilities to work and see if there’s anything I can do on my lunch break. I could really do with yoga or something. 19 months ago

I’ve found that my food consumption tends to be more reasonable when I am busy and can spend less time thinking about it. It’s tricky because I want to be mindful but what if this causes bad habits? Anyway, it’s a process that I’m working on. I’m rather pleased this week because of the very low food wastage. I made extra pasta sauce and used the left-overs in soup the next day. I managed to use a whole pack of spinach for the first time in ages, and this morning I used the last slice of bread from the pack for a slice of toast to go with my yogurt.

I do have an abundance of celery in the fridge (I misread the veg box listing so I bought a bunch a day before I got delivered another) and the only recipe that can use all of is is a soup which will also use all my potatoes. I think it’ll probably be best to de-string it and eat as snacks and then use the odd stick in a soup or sauce (though not curry again as it was too strong a flavour) and sandwiches.

Anyway, I visited my family this week and got over-fed as usual and me and my partner felt dreadful the day after our return. But we’re more aware of the problem so less likely to perpetuate it for ourselves as well like we used to.

This week I’ve been feeling very content with what I have and very disinclined to spend money. I spent nearly £50 online yesterday but I was buying essential stationery, birthday cards (for the next year!) and early xmas gifts so I see it as a success as none was whimsical spending but planned and long term. 20 months ago

I’ve decided that this should really be ‘watch all the films I own’. I’ve recently found that I have around 100 films recorded from the TV so I want to watch those too. I think that I may arrange to have a month off LOVEFiLM so I can work on clearing my backlog before I watch new things there too. It’s a little overwhelming, mainly because there’s so much great stuff out there I want to see. But the point is that I have a great deal of entertainment at home that I can indulge in for free and I should be making more use of it. 20 months ago

I’ve got a bit rubbish with the charitable giving (except when I’m decluttering) but I’ve improved greatly this year in investing in relationships.

My main one is my partner obviously and I am glad to be spending more quality time with him. It still requires more effort on my part as it is easy to take someone for granted when you live with them.

I’ve also begun to see my aunt more often and spend time with her just the two of us. It’s been great to get to know her better and through her also seeing a different side to my mum.

I now phone my parents at least every week. Just on the way home from work and I often don’t have exciting things to say but it’s great to feel so in touch with them when they live quite far away.

Where I’ve been less successful this year is with my siblings. I was too sick to visit my brother when I promised and haven’t talked to my sisters enough. This needs more attention. 20 months ago

-Write morning pages
-Watch Heimat
-Complete Dreamfall
-Identify 100 things that make my partner happy
-Get good at the piano/ keyboard again
-Publish a book/ paper/ zine or something
-Get married perhaps
-Write a will
-Buy a home
-Learn to ride a bike (yes I know; it’s pathetic), buy one and use it for transport
-Read First things First
-Read Feel the Fear…
-Learn to Knit
-Make a toy from the book G got me
-Cut down on swearing
-Try 43 new recipes
-Get more involved with women’s group/ feminist groups
-Once I’ve bought a home – get a cat/ some cats – get a composter – use environmentally friendly decorating and cleaning stuff – do a full spring clean each year
-Floss daily for a week/ month
-Chart my cycle again
-Wash my face twice a day
-Get rid of my spots
-Do full boundary walk and each of the four other walks round work
-Be a tourist in my own town
-Get pregnant
-Do the Charade make your life amazing month
-Affirmations – think em up and use em
-Write a will and put together a package of information for my loved ones should I die unexpectedly
-Get a PGDip 4 years ago

as there are new things I record every week it’s a rolling collection. This goal is to remind me to watch something every week and delete things I’m not going to watch. I have 130 hours left which is 65 films but that won’t last a year if I don’t watch and delete stuff regularly.

I want to watch 4 hours or two films a week until the end of the year so I can cut into it a bit more. 20 months ago

with my new job I need to rethink all my online activity. A lot of the blogs I follow are from my new employers/ colleagues so I should file them in a different way and the same for Twitter. I really need to get round to those twitter lists too.

I guess I rely on my colleague a lot at the moment as he shows me cool stuff he’s found but I’ll have to make sure I’m subscribing to all the stuff that I’ll miss out on once I’ve moved. 20 months ago

I think that I can mark this goal as a success this year as I have just got a new job. I was pretty happy with my old one and am sorry to be leaving but the new one is just really exciting; more responsibility, more autonomy and a larger organisation so more impact.

I’m a bit scared (as I should be) but I’m sure that it’ll bre great. I feel that this is the logical next step for me career-wise it’s just happened earlier than I expected.

I’m so happy. 20 months ago

that’s really encouraging, thank you :) 21 months ago

I’ve applied for a really exciting job and have an interview in two weeks. Today I got the instructions for one of the selection tasks. It is pretty intimidating but I should do fine as long as I research, prepare and practice thoroughly. 21 months ago

I watched film number 175 at the weekend. Should make it to 183 by the end of August hopefully. 21 months ago

As I’m not actively job seeking I found it really difficult to work on this. I’ve now got all my work experience up there but will only mark this as complete once I’ve added a profile and maybe skills. I may also get my manager to write a recommendation but that’s a bit embarrassing really. 21 months ago

I am disappointed this month. I don’t feel that I’ve been particularly extravagent yet I only managed to save £400 approx. This is £100 (or 20%) under target. We did go out eating/ drinking twice, and I did buy some DVDs but that should be incorporated into general spending. But I did spend £100 on train tickets for a trip in September and I guess I am owed around the same amount of money from work as I’ve paid for work stuff and need to be reimbursed.

Anyway, I need to focus in August and keep spending down. 21 months ago

I bought this about a year ago not knowing much about it but feeling that it was my kind of thing. I watched it at the weekend and loved it! 22 months ago

I have had back pain and so today I went to a chiropractor. I feel dreadful. I know that it often is this way when starting a treatment but I just feel resentful that I spent the money on this instead of a nice massage. I am supposed to see her again soon but I don’t know if I can deal with the side effects. Plus it isn’t cheap.

I’ll speak with her tonight and decide how to proceed.

(later) the crappy feeling was temporary and over a few more visits to the chiro I feel much better. I’ve started doing more exercises for my back now too and as it’s stronger I’m having fewer problems. 2 years ago

I didn’t enjoy my fourth swim as much as the others but it was still fun. I think I may not go every week and maybe alternate with pilates or yoga. This will stop me getting bored.

But it is really nice. I have to get the bus home which is £2 but I can combine with a trip to the supermarket and it’s actually cheaper than getting a cab which I often have to do. 22 months ago

but lots of the information will still be relevant to my roles. I’ll start with the executive summary. 22 months ago