Goals 2018 Update #4

The year is now coming to an end and I wanted to give myself a chance to look at what I've achieved this year before I have a real think about what goals I want to set for next.  

Minimising

This has definitely been my most successful goal this year and as time has gone on I have found it easier and easier to get rid of things I'm not longer using or need.  I've even managed to get rid of a little chest of draws because I no longer needed it and I didn't like it just sitting there empty.  

I don't think this will need to be a goal I set for myself again next year as I think I will just keep going now that I've started, reducing as things no longer have a use.  Ticks all round for this and I'm very happy with it.

Healthy Eating

This has actually gone a lot better this quarter then last.  I've reduced my sugar intake considerably and have noticed that I'm not even really enjoying the sugar I do consume.  I'm going to allow myself a 'treat' now and then (mainly dark, mint chocolate as I've found that that is my new thing), but I think I'm finally getting off the sugar bandwagon.  My diet has definitely become more vegan as well, especially when I cook for myself.  The main stumbling blocks here are when others cook for me or when I eat out.  When it comes to people cooking for me, they are already making me (and eating themselves) a gluten free meal and I feel bad also asking them to be vegan as well - though, to be fair, many of the meals they cook also end up being vegan as they know I'm vegetarian and am not supposed to have dairy either for health reasons.  For the most part I'm happy to except these little non-vegan meals now and then as long as the meals I make myself and the food that I choice to eat most of the time is vegan.  Eating out is always going to be a struggle as I need to go gluten free as well and finding a meal that is gluten free and completely vegan is hard, but I always try and find some way around it so I can do both. 

This goal definitely wasn't the best goal this year and is definitely something that I struggle with on a daily basis.  I will probably carry this on next year as healthy eating is especially important for me and my PCOS.  Definitely a most do better, but I have made some progress so I will concentrate on that and move on from there.

Fiances

This goal as gone much better then I was expecting this year and keeping a budget has definitely helped me keep an eye on where my finances are going.  Minimising my things has also helped as I don't want to buy anything I will probably need to get rid of in the not so distant future.  The only thing I have struggled with is finding additional income to compliment what I'm receiving now (this is especially important as the work I do at the moment is not guaranteed or even regular sometimes).  The main issue is that I just don't know what I'm going to be doing next year and how my weeks are going to pan out, so finding very, very flexible work to coincide with my more permanent job has been difficult.  However, I have been researching activities like house sitting (with the advantage of not necessarily needing to keep my own home) and dog walking / sitting, and these seem like a possible good fit.  I'm going to research them a little bit more over the next couple of weeks, but they seem likely to be the best thing I can go for next year.  If you can think of any other type of flexible work it might be possible to do let me know, I'd be interested in hearing your opinions.

Finances isn't necessarily a goal I'm going to set for myself next year, but I am going to carry on using a budget to help me keep an eye on what I'm spending on and to help build up my savings to help act as a buffer should things even get a little tricky or work suddenly dry up.

It's definitely been a mixed year this year with goal setting, but at least it's given me an opportunity to look at where my strength and weaknesses are.  How are your goals doing this year?  Have you had many successes?  What are the hardest ones you've found to achieve?  Let me know in the comments below.

Goals 2018 Update #3

So, we've now finished the third quarter of the year and I have to admit that this quarter has definitely not been as good as the last.  Let's just jump right into it.

Minimising

This is the one area which has been successful.  I have finished going through and decluttering what I have left at my parents house (though I haven't been able to bring the last of the items back with me) and I have been using up my beauty and toiletries products.  I've also carried on getting rid of items that I've just not been using and I really can't see myself using in the future.  Also, once I've read a book, watched a movie, or am no longer into a CD I'm just donating those as well.  I have brought a few products this month, mainly storage items, but these have been items that I've thought about a lot before purchasing and this had a specific purpose in mind.  

For the last quarter I'll just keep doing the same as before - working on my project use up and getting rid of items I no longer use or want.

Healthy Eating

Well this area has been a complete disaster.  Not only have I not done a very good at going vegan, I've actually gone backwards on the sugar front which has also led me to eating some gluten with bloating, skin itching consequences.  Finding items that are both gluten free and vegan has also been a bit of a struggle.  Basically my excuse is that I've been stressed about some things in my personal life and it has led to me to eating sugary things, which then set off the little sugar addition I have, which led to the fall down the sugar rabbit hole.  It's really not a good reason for allowing myself to get back on the sugar roller coaster and there are much healthier ways to deal with issues which I need to start implementing again.  On the plus side, I have been making much more of my meals from scratch with almost no processed foods during the week (and these meals are meals that have been made for me), it's what I've been taking in between meals that has been the problem.

So the goal for the last quarter is to get myself back off the sugar and the gluten, and back to a healthier less allergy based diet.  This is going to be a little bit of a struggle and I'm expecting to have sugar gremlins dancing in my brain, but this is important to my general well-being and to reduce the allergies I have reducing my need to take antihistamines.  Once I've managed this I'll get back onto moving to a more vegan diet (something that should probably coincide with getting off sugar as most of my meals are vegan and most of my 'treats' not).

Finances

This one has been a mixed goal on the success front.  I've been keeping to budgeting, learning more about my spending habits and where I need to improve, but still keeping within my budget total whilst putting money into my pension and savings.  One thing I haven't been able to do with find a sideline I could do to add to my income stream.   This will need to be something that requires the equivalent of one work day hours, but I'm struggling to find something that would fit with the skills I have and don't have.  I'm going to keep looking but if anyone has any ideas please let me know.  

The goals for this last quarter will be to really get to grips with my budget, carry on reducing my spending (which fits with minimising my things), and keep looking for a sideline to do.  I'll also need to look for a winter job as path work reduces over this time of the year.  It might be that I'll be going for an admin job, but we'll see how that goes.  Obviously I'd prefer an outdoor job, but that might not be a possibility.

There is an additional goal I have managed to complete this year that was a long running goal I had kept ignoring, and that was to get my will written.  It's not that I'm particularly afraid of death or worried that writing a will would somehow jinx myself, it's just that it wasn't high on my priority of things to do.  I also don't have a large amount of stuff so it seemed a bit pointless, but I decided to get stop being silly and just get it done, especially as I do have some family heirlooms that would need to be passed on.  I'll be signing it this month and can now cross this off my running to dos.

To say that some of the goals this quarter were a bit of a flop would be an understatement, but rather then just use this as an excuse to let myself slide back into being unhealthy I'm going to use this as an opportunity to learn a little bit more about myself and improve.  I'm getting back on that wagon and will hopefully build some safety rails to stop myself falling off again.  

I hope that you've had a successful goal achieving time this quarter and, if not, I hope that you've learnt something new about yourself and why you might not have got as far as you had hoped.  Three more months to go now, time to buckle down and get it done. 😀

Goal 2018 Update #2

This quarter has gone a little better then the first quarter when it comes to completing my goals for the year.  There's been a few little hiccups as before but I'm going to keep moving forward as before to try and get everything completed.

Minimising

This is still going well.  I am getting through all my beauty products at quite a good rate and should have everything (bar makeup) down to just what I need by the end of this quarter.  I am also working through my books and have a no buy on those and stationery until I've gone through all of them.  

I was also down at my parents again where I still have a number of my things.  As I was going through them to take more items home with me I was able to get rid of more things that I no longer needed and I no longer had any attachments to.  Having them away from me has definitely helped me realise what I do and don't need.

Healthy Eating

I knew this area was going to be a struggle as I do use food as a comfort some times.  I've also been keeping an eye on what I've been eating and how it's been making me feel and I noticed that I got bloated every time I ate something with gluten in it.  Since that point I have been concentrating on removing gluten from my diet to see how that has made me feel and have noticed that I am not only less bloated, but I feel less tired and have been having less issues with dry and itchy skin.  It has meant that I have been concentrating on this rather the goals I had originally put in place.  That being said I have managed to keep my processed sugar down low, just a couple of treats a week, and have reduced my process food to around one portion a week, but I could and will do better.

The next stage is to go vegan by the end of the year.  This is a little more complicated due to the gluten intolerance but I am going to give it a go.  Even if I am not able to go completely vegan I will take it as far as I can.  Right now the issue is to do the egg they put in the gluten free bread.

Finances

This has actually gone quite well this quarter.  Now that I know what I am earning on a monthly basis it's been easier to work out a budget.  It's still a learning curve and I will keep making changes until I get it to fit my needs, but I'm getting used to it.

The pension side of things has been a little more difficult.  I started researching possible pension schemes when I realised that I didn't know enough about pensions to know what would be the best one to take as someone who is self employed as a subcontractor.  I did look at possible financial advisors to help me make a decision but noticed when I was logging onto my NEST pension account just to see how this was doing that you can keep contributing to this if you're self employed.  So I think this is the route I'm going to take.

The next stage is to look at sideline jobs I can possibly do to earn more cash.  I want to do this so I can build up my savings so cover the 3 to 6 months they recommend you have as well as working on paying off my Student Loan, though that isn't a priority after reading the Money Saving Expert article on it.

And that's it really.  I am getting through my goals and, for the most part, have managed to keep mostly on top of them.  I still have 6 months to go to catch up on those I am falling behind on and to keep pushing forward to being a more healthy, financially stable, and grown up person.

Goals 2018 Update #1

So I'm going to be honest, I didn't do as well this quarter as I had hoped.  If imI honest the start of this year has been a lot more stressful then I was expecting and some other things have had to take priority.  That being said, I still have reaching my goals a good go and I still have the rest of the year to make up for where I feel back.

Minimising

This is one area where I have actually done pretty well on.  If you follow my blog you'll know that I've been working on a version of Pick Up Limes '30 Days to Minimalism'.  Through that I've managed to reduce my items from what would have been three car loads to what would now fit in one.  And I haven't stopped there, if I'm no longer using an item anymore or no longer feel an attachment to it it goes into the donation pile to be given away when there's enough items. 
I have also reduced my purchasing whilst making sure I actively use the items and products that I have.  One of the positives has been realising the number of books I had which I hadn't actually read, making me realise I really needed to put time aside each day to read.  I've really been enjoying this and it has been great to have this little 'me time'.  Whilst I don't think I will ever go back to having the amount I had, having a small studio flat has definitely helped me keep my things at a minimum.

Healthy Eating

Now this is an area in which I've really struggled.  As I said before, this quarter has been quite a stressful three months and I am someone who does still do a little bit of comfort eating (not going to lie about that).  I also find that when I'm stressed I find it a lot more difficult to make the healthy choices that I should.  I'm still drinking fizzy juice pretty regularly, but I have managed to reduce the amount of chocolate, biscuits, and ice cream I eat pretty significantly.  As ice cream tends to be my go to when I'm upset and am a little proud of myself for that.  I have also managed to make most of my meals from scratch, which has been much healthier and cost effective and has meant that I've already started on the next stage.
So what's next for this goal.  I haven't done as well with reducing the processed sugar in my diet as much as I had hoped, but there's still time and I will keep working on that for the next few months.  As I've already started cooking from scratch most of my meals I'm going to take that even further and only allow myself one processed meal a week.  I don't have a fridge or a freezer at the moment and I don't know if that's going to be a hindrance or a help.  I guess we'll just see what happens.

Finances

I done a good job at making a budget and roughly keeping to it.  This is still a learning curve for me and so I've had to tweak it here and there to make it more realistic to what i actually need.  But it has been a good way of learning where I overspend unnecessarily and where I can and need to reduce. 
The main issue I've had has not been starting the job I'm going to be doing for the rest of the year and so not having a realistic idea of how much money I am going to have.  Because of that I've been concentrating on the essentials and reducing costs where I can.  Once I have a better idea of what my income will be and what I can do with the rest of my money.  The next stage for me is to start working on my whole budget with a realistic income in place and start the process of researching the best pension scheme to be on for my age and income.

So, I haven't managed to reach all my goals for this quarter, but I have still managed to give them a good go despite everything else that has been happening and I'm going to give myself points for that.  It is also only just the beginning and I have time to catch up. Things should hopefully settle down a little bit more now, giving me more time and energy to put towards completing these goals this year.

Decluttering My Things

One of my goals for 2018 was to declutter my stuff.  Now, I don't have as large amount of stuff by anyone's standards, but it is still much more than I need and way too much to be carrying around everywhere.  I'm not planning to go completely minimalist in the number of items I have and there are a few things I know I will use in the future.  But I also know there's a lot of things that I don't use and will probably never use, so it's time to get rid of them.

To give myself some structure and make sure I don't miss anything (my items are dotted around my parents home) I've decided to use Pick Up Limes list for 30 Days to Minimalism.  I'm not going to be taking 30 days to actually do the decluttering  (being out of work at the moment and not needing to fit it around that), but I will go through the categories provided and declutter at each section.  There will be some categories where I will have very little or no items at all, but still think this is a good route to take.

Unfortunately I do think that this would be a subject that was more interesting in video format rather than a blog. But seeing as I don't have any way of recording or editing the footage (yet) I'm going to keep the decluttering in blog form.  Apologies for that.

It's always interesting when you put all your stuff in boxes and pile them up into a pile, and see just how much stuff you've been hiding away in your home.  Let me know if you're decluttering this year, or have already been decluttering, and how you plan on doing it.

Goals for 2018

At the beginning of 2017 I set myself some goals to help me move my life along the route I have long been wanting.  There were some that I was successful in (getting a job in the field I was interested in, getting my weight down to a healthy amount, and blogging on a weekly basis), but there were a few I failed on (getting off sugar and eating a healthier diet).

Looking back on the year and the goals that failed I know that I took on too many goals in one go and didn't really break them up into do-able smaller goals to help me move forward.  I also didn't let anyone know about my goals which took away the accountability side of things.  So this year I'm going to shake it up a little and set my goals on this blog (with a break down), with regular updates to keep me accountable.  I'm also going to reduce the number of goals I set to make them easier to achieve. So here we go:

Minimising.
I know minimalism is fashionable at the moment and I'm not wanting to jump on that bandwagon.  But changes in my life recently made me realise just how much stuff I have (and don't use) and how difficult is was having to move it all quickly.  All my furniture (except a kitchen table that has been in the family for generations) is already gone and I will be going through a number of the boxes and bags now at my parents.  I'm not intending on going to the extreme, but I do want to greatly reduce the amount I own, either using the products up through project pans or through decluttering, and stop buying more.  Products I do buy I will buy intentionally, only getting what I actually need.  That number isn't going to be particularly big.

Healthy Eating.
Every year I plan to eat healthier and get off sugar, and it's especially important as I have PCOS, but it always falls to one side.  I had been doing well getting off sugar, but the end of last year was stressful and my self control disappeared a little.  There was a lot of sugar consumption in the last few months.

So, the small goals are - the first three months will be spent getting off artificial sugars, including chocolate, fizzy juice, biscuits, etc.  April to June will be spent getting off processed food and getting back to making all my own meals again.  The rest of the year will be moving my diet towards a vegan diet, which should be easier once I've removed all the other problems.

Finances.
I've never been a big spender and, apart from my student loan, I have no real debt.  In fact my credit card is at zero and last year I managed to put aside some money for emergencies.  But I want to take this further and become a lot more financially stable.  I'm also 35 now and I really need to get my pension in order.  So the palm this year is to form a budget, keep to it, sort out my pension, and start paying off my student loan.

Like my healthy eating I'm going to break this down into quarterly blocks.  The first three months will be spent on budgeting, helping me to reduce my unnecessary spending and working out how much money I will have for my pension and paying off my student debt.  This should also show me where I can make changes to live more frugally and therefore have more to put towards debt reduction.  April to June will be spent researching what I need to do with my pension and who I should be trusting my pension money to.  And then giving them my pension money.  During the July to September period I'm going to be looking at any sidelines I can do along side my job (by then I should know how much spare time I will have) to help  move this goal along further.  The rest of the year will be spent telling my money where to go and working out where I could make more savings.

Basically I want to be at the point where living in the small home pictured at the beginning of this blog would be a real possibility and I will, of course, be keeping up with pushing my career into path construction and my continuing goal of blogging once a week and I will be doing quarterly updates here to keep myself on track.  I've decided to just have these three goals this year.  They are already pretty big goals and adding anymore will definitely reduce the chance of me even completing these.

So here's my first blog of 2018. 😁