January Aims

Hello January! A new month, the start of a new year, the unlimited promise of new adventures. I always start the new year feeing positive and refreshed, excited to see what the next 12 months will bring. Sure, there’ll be moments that will test us, moments that will be difficult, but along the way there will many happy moments spent with loved ones. January generally means a “back-to-basics” month for us; eating up food and working our way through the contents of the freezer, evenings in front of the tv with candles lit, reading books given at Christmas and keeping warm when it’s dark outside.

 

Every month I like to set myself aims for the month, to keep myself focused and to make sure I actually use the time during the month wisely! There are two sets of aims: Finance and Personal. December was a fantastic month for us so I’m hoping that January will be just as good.

 

Financial aims for January:

– Have 20 No Spend Days (or NSDs)

– Overpay our mortgage by the interest added on only

– Put £700 into savings

 

As I managed to hit our NSD aim in December, I have raised it slightly for January. Our spending habits are generally better in January – it’s almost like a subconscious reining in – so I’m hoping I’ll achieve 20 this month.  Like last month, our mortgage overpayment will just be in the interest added only as I’m happy with how that is going for now. Lastly, as we absolutely smashed our target for savings in December, I have raised our target for January up another £100. I’m hoping that with a bit of careful spending, we can manage this. The only thing that might scupper our plans is the fact that our car insurance is due this month.

 

Personal Aims for January:

– bake something

– eat healthily 

– go on two walks with my husband

 

Starting off small, my only challenge is to bake something in January. It doesn’t even matter what it is! Just so I can get back into baking at the weekends – I love it but haven’t done any in ages. I shall try and remember to take a picture so I can post it on here as evidence. Rather than say diet, or lose so many lbs, I’m just going to focus on eating healthily, everything in moderation so to speak. Finally, I only get Sundays off with my husband, so I’d like us to do something on them when we can. We used to go walking quite a bit so, if the weather is alright, I’d like us to go on two walks during the month.

 

Do you have any aims for this month? What will challenge you the most? I’d love to hear from you!

 

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