Planning

I have been a bit of a bad blogger lately. I have not blogged as I would like to as life has got a bit stressful and hectic.

One of the reasons for the stress is that I have been really short of money. It has been a really bad month for bills, new glasses for B, modem dying and other myriad life expenses. It has led to some reflection on the need for more planning.

I have been doing really well with my weekly planner for activities and menus which has helped streamline a few things. Less trips to the shops, a varied menu and feeling more in control. For more info see my previous post here.

As the summer veggies are coming to an end I have already started planting the next lot to try and have some ready to plant out as soon as I pull the rest out. I planted the seeds last Thursday and when I went out today the broccoli, broad beans and lettuce were already sprouting! Hopefully this means a good crop ahead. I would really like to try and be as self-sufficient as possible from my (small) garden and planning is needed to try and make sure I have different produce ready throughout the year.

 Broccoli

Broad Beans

But the big area I need to work on is my budgeting. I currently am living from pay to pay and juggling bills and I am really tired of it. I need to really knuckle down and get my finances sorted. It also needs to involve a bit of planning. I had B's optometrist appointment booked and was fairly certain that he would need glasses. However, I also thought that we both needed to go to the dentist. I was way overdue and he had never been. We could both go now and get these appointments done and out of the way? Well, when the check up cost over $100 for the 2 of us and then over $100 for me to get my teeth cleaned and I need a filling as well (that's not for another couple of weeks) it probably would have been better for me to plan the dentist for a different month to the optometrist. So, I have had to pay for the dental appointments and $345 for glasses in the same month. So better planning on my behalf is needed to try and spread these expenses over more than 1 month.

I did really well over January clearing up my clutter and sold some through eBay and also through a Facebook group. However, I still have lots more to sell but seem to have lost the momentum. I really need to get this going again to not only clear the stuff away but also to get a bit of extra cash. I am going to set aside some time each evening to make this happen.

I really need to get on top of planning stuff. I think it's not something that comes naturally to me and I have often resisted being a real planner type person. I have always been a more of a winging it type person but this needs to change.

Would love to hear any tips that you have for planning and getting life organised!! And I will blog more regularly - have lots more things to say.