Showing posts with label #organised. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #organised. Show all posts

Friday, 12 January 2018

10 Areas I plan to cut my spending in 2018! || Financial Series




Hey Friends, 

As most you will know by now finances and minimalist ideas are featuring heavily in my goals for 2018.  There are many reasons for this and if you missed that post you can check it out here - Goals & Resolutions 2018. This year I plan on being more intentional with everything I bring into my life but also I want to stop spending stupid money to the point where it just slips through my fingers and I have no idea where it went. I think these goals work hand in hand and hopefully will come full circle to enrich my life as time goes on. 

I've had a look through my budgets I've created over the past few months & looked at the areas I spending the most money where its not necessary. I have also been decluttering for the past year as well (albeit alot more slowly than I would like #lifegettingintheway) so by taking both of these into account I have decided 10 areas that I am going cut my spending in the next year. If you are planning something similar please leave me a comment on what you're planning on cutting down or out completely. I would love to hear them & I'm always open to ideas.

Here we go - 

1. Magazines & Hardcopy Books 

This was a weakness for such a long time. Just to give you an idea I was the girl that had all the magazines every month, like I would legit walk into a shop scan the magazine shelves and I would already have all the ones I wanted. This would happened regularly, to the point where I would double buy them as I would forget that I had already purchased it earlier that month. I'm also the type of person that can't walk into a book store without buy atleast 3 books.... whether I read them or not after was debatable most of the time I wouldn't have even finished one not to mind all 3 then off I would go again and buy 3 more. So I have decided there is really no need for this. I have so many books (I haven't decluttered them yet) so I will go through them all I will keep any I really want to read or have read and loved and get rid of the rest. I now have audible on my phone & although it's not the same thing in my opinion, its great for travelling whether I'm driving in my car or taking public transport. Will I cut out buying books forever? No but now I will only buy a book when I have put alot of thought into it & I have read all the other books in my collection. As for magazines this has already been a tough one to say no to but realistically I can get all this info online. I may get one or two throughout the year as a treat but other than that I am staying well away from the magazine isle from now on.




2. Takeaway Coffee

Ah my weak spot. Ok so didn't do too great with the whole not buying coffee thing for the holiday season. I mean daammn they are just too tempting. However fresh year, fresh start. I have bought yet another takeaway cup (€1.50 in Dealz) and I will be taking my coffee and tea to work and college with me. €2 - €5 a day is a lot of money when you add it up. Again I'm not cutting it out forever but I don't want to be buying it everyday for the sake of it. I have caramel syrup, coffee, milk, cream. What more could I want & when I get my new place I will use that extra money I have saved from not buying coffees to pick myself up a coffee machine! Win, win.

3. Jewellery

This is another one which to be honest I think I am almost going to cut out completely. I like my jewelry to have sentiment behind them. I have beautiful jewelry that has been gifted to me over the years and these I will keep and continue to wear. However I don't really see the point in costume jewelry anymore. They are fun at the time but they don't last long and don't have any sentimental value for me. They are usually quite cheap, break easily & half the time I don't even wear them I just end up buying them to store them and then declutter them a year later. I think this is a category that is going to get cut out completely.




4. Nail Varnish

Now this is an area that is going to be completely cut out in 2018 if not for a couple of years after. I have so much nail varnish & my collection is currently half of what it was last year. I do love them all but I have so many I have no need whatsoever to purchase anymore! On top of that I was gifted a collection of 20 mini varnishes by my mother as a stocking filler this Christmas time! So no there will be no nail varnish haul in 2018.

5. Clothes

Ok so I don't think I'm not going to buy any clothes in the next year but It's going to be cut down hugely. I know I'm going to be purchasing underwear and possible new work attire should I change jobs again but other than that I currently have no items I need to buy. Last year I went through my wardrobe and got rid of so many items. However I do believe I could even get rid of more and I will be going through everything again during my next move. I feel very blessed with the clothes I currently have & at this moment can't see a need for anymore items.




6. Home Decor

Again another weakness of mine, everytime I walk into a home store I re-design my home in my head. I want everything but I have so much stuff. I want to declutter the home decor items I currently have and refrain from buying knick-knacks for no reason that honestly just take up space. When we move into our new place there may be items that need to be purchased and I'm not saying I'm never going to purchase any home decor but I'm going to be completely intentional with my purchases. I'm going to ask myself questions like where, when & why before I pick anything up for my home.

7. Stationary

Ah Stationary....is there anything more enticing? I have so much stationary so I'm making a commitment to not bring anymore into my life just because its cute. I will now use up all the station I currently own or just simply get rid of it. Realistically as cute as it is, it's just taking up space in my life.

8. Single Item Treats

What I mean here is when you go to the shop and pick up one bar of chocolate for €1.20. I really don't see the point when you can buy 4 for €1.50. This also goes for spending €2 on a pastry when you can buy a pack of 6 individually packaged ones for about €1.80. Another example is bottles for €.80 - €1 a bottle when you can buy a 24 pack for about €2.80. Yesterday I found a four pack of sparkling flavoured water (my new addiction) for €1.89 and they are usually €1.70 in the shop, sold singly. Now they are off brand but does that really matter when you are basically getting 4 for the price of one! It just doesn't make sense for me anymore to buy things individually at a shop anymore.With a little more time and planning so much money can be saved!!

9. Back-ups

Now this is something I'm definitely guilty of. I'm the type of person that likes to know I won't "run out". I now know this is silly. Theres not much we can't live a day or two with out or that we can't just run to the store and pick up should we run out. Also if we know we are going to run out then we can just pop it on the next shopping list. So the plan this year - No More Back-ups!

10. Duplicates

Another thing I'm guilty of. To be honest if you really think about it the reason we have duplicates is due to laziness more than anything else. We either forget we have it, can't find and can't be bothered to look for it. We'd rather pay more money than find, look for or even clean the item we need. While on my decluttering splurge I'm going to look for all duplicates and get rid of them. If we don't need more than one, we don't need to store it.

 So these are all the areas I'm planning on cutting my spending on 2018. I'm sure I'll be adding to the list as time goes on. If this happens I will be sharing it all with you too! Please leave me a comment below if you have areas in your life where you are going to cut spending in the next year as I'm always looking for ways to improve and also minimalism & the path to financial freedom looks different for everyone so id be interested to see what it looks like for you.

Chat soon x

Thank You for Reading

 xox

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Friday, 2 December 2016

BLL Lifestyle || Blogmas #2 Christmas Organisation Tips!!



Hello my friends, 

Welcome back to day 2 of my Lifestyle Blogmas! #stillcantbelieveit Today I thought we would open up the conversation about how to organise Christmas.

Right so we have T minus 22 days to the big event!! Which if we haven't done so already we need to get out asses into action right now. Oh Boy! Where to begin?

*DON'T FORGET about the HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY - All links below!!

First things first - Finances

We need to sit down and take a look at what Christmas is likely to cost this year. Have a rough number in your head of how much you are willing or able to spend on all the festivities! Think realistically about this. We all tend to go a little overboard at Christmas. Its so hard not to!! but think about you bank account before you make any extravagant purchases or you will pay for it in 2017. Don't forget the true meaning of Christmas after-all!!!


List Making

Next get out your pen and notebook or laptop (Im just more of a pen and paper kind of girl #lovestationary) and start making lists and budgets. Divide all the items on your list into categories e.g - Home decor, Pressies, food, Celebrations, new Christmassy makeup of outfit..... and so on.... Then you will have to break these down even further to how much you want to spend at each event or on each persons gift or any one item like a tree for example.


Pressies

This really can be the hardest part sometimes but I really don't believe that just walking around and hoping that you will find something just right is always the best way to go about this. Make a list of each person in your life that you plan to buy a present for. Then start brainstorm gift ideas for them. Some people will obviously be easier than others but even if you write down some of their hobbies of interests then you will start form ideas in your head, plus if you are out window shopping at any point you might have a better chance of spotting something perfect for them if you already have some ideas floating around in your head already. 


Get Personal

Another thing to think about (of course time depending) is getting more personalised with you gifts. this can include making some of your own gifts if your feeling crafty, baking nice treats to accompany your gifts or personalising the cards and packaging. Not only will it be very well recieved by your loved ones but its also good for the bank balance too! Win, Win!


Food glorious food

Im in a very fortunate situation as to where not only will I be having Christmas dinner in my family home with my crazy but amazing family but my boyfriend is also a chef. #luckygirl Although it is something I plan on working on in 2017 Im not the most talented with food. However if it is your responsibility to organise the turkey and ham this year there are always food bloggers on hand to help you!! I would also (because I am list making fiend) write out everything I needed, the timeline for all the food, any people that will be around to help, how many will be dining with you... Basically everything and anything so that there would be less to worry about on the day.


Rocking around the Christmas

One of my favourite parts of Christmas, decking the halls!! However this too needs organising. What type of tree are we going to have? Where and when are we going to get it? How much are we willing to spend? When and how are we going to decorate the house? Who will help us? Do we need any more decorations and ornamants? (haha silly question!!)


I wish it could be Christmas everyday!!

Time to think about all those festive things you want to do around Christmas from ice-skating to work parties. I think the earlier you plan these the better, from how much you want to spend to what you want to wear. If you plan these early there will be less fear and panic closer to the time when you have 100 and 1 other things on your mind!



I think one the keys to a successful Christmas is planning! Time is a luxury we don't always have and Christmas always seems to just pass by in a whirlwind.. So as long as we plan we can make the most out of the most wonderful time of the year!!


There you have my little tips for day 2!! If you did not catch yesterdays post then you may not know that this year, not only am I doing Blogmas here on my Lifestyle blog but I am also doing Blogmas on my Beauty Blog. Thats a post everyday on both blogs until Christmas!! You can hop on over now to check whats happening over there by clicking on the link below! I will also have a link to yesterdays Lifestyle post to catch up there too!!

Have you any tips you would like to share with us on organising the holiday season!? Please let us know in the comments so we can all have a successfully organised Christmas!! 


Chat soon my friends!!

See you tomorrow!!


Thank You For Reading
XOX


HAPPY HOLIDAYS
XOX
HO! HO! HO!
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Monday, 11 January 2016

Organisation month - Failure to plan is planning to fail


Hello There!,

I hope 2016 has been good to you so far!!! However there is a long year left to think about!! So this month I plan on sorting things out for the coming year and fast track me onto a fantastic year as a "strong independent woman"

I dont know about you but I always start to feel very motivated after the holiday season. Well like everyone else I have a couple of days where Im just trying to wake up from my food coma, make myself leave my bed or couch and learn how to be a proper human again but once I do I always feel a renewed sense of "Get up & go" and tend to get a bit of a "Bring it on attitude". "Come at me! Show me what you got!" 

So for the First Installment of this monthly series I want talk about thinking about all the fun things or trips you want to take this year. Most of us have other jobs in our daily lives, even if we are bloggers as well. Many of us have families, partners or children to look after. Whatever our circumstances it generally means that it is not often that you can leave all the fun things you want to do to the last minute.. a little planning is required, be it time off work, babysitters or what have you. 

What Im going to do this month is make a list of all the big things I know I want to do in 2016, google people I might want to see performing, holidays I might want to take, road trips, shows or events. I going find out the dates and details and see which ones are plausible and make plans to get there. This will work out in your favour for many reasons 

  • Tickets for planes, travel & accommodation are usually cheaper the earlier you buy them
  • Events and shows usually have early bird tickets available meaning again, they are cheaper
  • You will usually get your time off from work the earlier you book it so win,win
  • You will able to arrange people (ie children or family memebers) the more notice you give them
  • You will be able to save and sort out your finances as will know what and when you are saving for.
  • You will have something to look forward to!!!!!








I hope this idea gave you guys some inspiration for fantastic trips in the coming year!! This is what I will be doing tonight!! 


Let me know in the comments if you have made any plans for fun trips yet!?
Or if you have any Ideas for anywhere I might like to go or see!!

Chat soon x


Previous Post - The Curse of Overthinking...

Have You Checked out my Beauty Blog - Beauty La Linda - MUA
Previous Post - Shop my Stash! Part #2 || What I am throwing away || Mini Reviews



    Thank You For Reading
xox





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