I don’t know if I’m making an assumption here (and please tell me if I am) but I think a lot of you, lovely readers, prefer the country to the city.  And yet here I am a country born person who has only ever lived in the country or very small towns, craving city life.

Let me just say from the outset though, that my husband doesn’t!  He works in London and for him, that is enough. Perhaps if I had had the opportunity to work there then I would feel the same. Who knows?!

Anyway for now I suppress my craving with the occasional day trip and holiday, all the while focusing on paying off the mortgage so that one day we can move to a city (Lisbon) for a short while.  Hubby will happily live in that city!

Let me know are you a city or a country person?

(photo credit)

The call of the city is a post from: Move to Portugal

As we focus on reducing the mortgage as much as possible before we move to Portugal, I keep myself motivated and moving forward by setting monthly mini goals……some months I’ll set just a few, other months, a lot.

February Mini Goals:

Financial:

1. Make extra payments to reduce our mortgage to five figures
2. Make at least £300 above and beyond our normal income
3. Contribute £500 to our travel fund
4. Contribute at least £250 to our long term savings
5. Keep our grocery spending to £150 by using up the food we have and sticking to our menu plan

Personal:

1. Lose at least 5lbs (0/5)
2. Watch at least 4 films
3. Read at least 2 books (Hunger Games & Sarah’s Key)
4. Drink 1.5L of water everyday (0/29)
5. Paint the small hall

How did I do in January?

Financial:

1. Make a £2k payment to our mortgage – Yes. We were able to make an overpayment of £1,673.87 to our mortgage.
2. Keep our grocery spending below £180 – No. Nearly made it. I spent £184.67 on grocery in January.
3. Make at least £300 in side income – Goal achieved. January was my best month so far and I’m so grateful for how well this is going.
4. Contribute at least £700 to our travel fund – Yes (see above)
5. Stick to Carla’s ‘No Spend January’ – My only miscellaneous spending this month has been £5.15. £3.15 on posting a parcel for my son and £2 on library reservations.

Personal:

1. Lose 5lbs (here we go again!) – Yes!
2. Watch at least four films – Yes. Watched, Larry Crowne, The Switch, Sarah’s Key and Last Night.
3. Read at least one book – Yes. Finished When God was a Rabbit. And started Water for Elephants
4. De-clutter at least twenty items from the house – Yes. We went through my daughters old shoe collection and we (reluctantly) managed to de-clutter ten pairs! I also de-cluttered a few holiday decorations that we no longer use, and recycled my old phone.

How did your January go? Are you setting mini goals for February?

(photo credit)

February 2012 Mini Goals is a post from: Move to Portugal

Focus. That’s my theme for 2012 and staying on top of my monthly mini goals will keep my theme going until the year is out….well that’s what I’m hoping anyway!?!

January Mini Goals {progress}:

Financial:

1. Make a £2k payment to our mortgage – This is scheduled for 1st February and I should be able to increase this by at least another £200. I’ve made some extra income this month (from my sites), and after allowing for taxes I’ll be able to snowflake some of it to the mortgage and some of it to the travel fund. I’ve also received a cashback payment of £2.35 – this will also go to the mortgage (every little helps)
2. Keep our grocery spending below £180 – So far I’ve spent £131.48 on grocery but we have a fully stocked freezer and I anticipate only needing fresh produce and milk for the rest of the month. If I can bring the total spend in under £180 then I’ll have another £30+ to snowflake to the mortgage as I budgeted £216.67 for grocery.
3. Make at least £300 in side income – Goal achieved, although I’m aiming for more
4. Contribute at least £700 to our travel fund – Yes (see above)
5. Stick to Carla’s ‘No Spend January’ – My only miscellaneous spending this month has been £3.15 on posting a parcel for my son.

Personal:

1. Lose 5lbs (here we go again!) – I don’t want to jinx it but down 3lbs so far!
2. Watch at least four films – On target! Watched, Larry Crowne, The Switch & Sarah’s Key – the last one was my favourite.
3. Read at least one book – half way through the two books in my sidebar
4. De-clutter at least twenty items from the house – I’ve de-cluttered ten items so far, including some holiday decorations that we no longer use. I’ve also recycled my old phone.

I’m really pleased with how the month is going so far I just need to keep the momentum going.

Did you set mini goals for January? If so, how are they going?

(photo credit)

January 2012 Mini Goals (Mid month update) is a post from: Move to Portugal

I’ve flirted with my battle to lose weight and getting healthier on this site before, just not in any great detail. But it’s time for me to declare my mission (with a little more follow up in the form of at least a monthly post); to have any chance of achieving my weight loss goal in 2012, I know that I need blog accountability. So here goes!

A little background. In 2010 I lost 31.5lbs and was doing great. In 2011 I stayed within 6lbs of this weight. Above and below.  On the final day of 2011 my total weight lose since January 1st 201o was 32lbs. Great because at least I maintained, but not so great because I didn’t lose any weight….well unless you count half a pound!

So we come to 2012 and my goal to lose 42lbs. A big ask, but something that I really want to attempt.

Starting a weight loss plan on January 1st always seems like a great idea, but if you’re anything like us your cupboards are probably still full of holiday leftovers (read: lots of chocolate!). So first things first I’m having a cupboard/fridge clear out. High fat sauces, snacks etc are all either going to get eaten (not by me hopefully!), or given away. I need the temptation removing from our kitchen!

I’ve taken a few pictures of the cupboards/fridge, which hopefully next month will look a lot healthier!

Hmm, the less said the better! ^

As well as cutting/counting calories and removing the rubbish from our cupboards/fridge I’ve started (gently) walking again – I’m being really careful with this though as I don’t want to flare up my hip bursitis again, it’s so painful, and if I start to feel sore then I will have to stop for a while. Hopefully this won’t happen.

Because I like to set mini goals here are a few of my health goals for January:

• Lose 5lbs
• Eat my 5 a day, every day.
• Walk at least 5 miles
• Track my calorie intake every day (using Livestrong)
• Replace all the unhealthy snacks with healthy ones
• Drink 1L of water a day

 2012 progress: 0/42

I keep a sense of humour about losing weight and so I won’t be posting any serious diet advice – it’s just me and my attempt to get back to a healthier weight and healthier diet. I was doing so well in early 2011, lots and lots of veggies, now it’s lots and lots of everything apart from veggies!

Wish me luck

My friend saving for travel is doing a healthy eating/lose inches  accountability challenge if you want to join in.

2012 Goals: Losing weight is a post from: Move to Portugal

As we focus on reducing the mortgage as much as possible before we move to Portugal, I keep myself motivated and moving forward by setting monthly mini goals……some months I’ll set just a few, other months, a lot.

Wow! It’s a New Year. I can’t believe how quickly the last one seemed to pass. Anyway a Happy New Year to you all, lets make it a good one.

January Mini Goals:

Financial:

1. Make a £2k payment to our mortgage
2. Keep our grocery spending below £180
3. Make at least £300 in side income
4. Contribute at least £700 to our travel fund
5. Stick to Carla’s ‘No Spend January’

Personal:

1. Lose 5lbs (here we go again!)
2. Watch at least four films
3. Read at least one book
4. De-clutter at least twenty items from the house

How did I do in December?

• Wrap all presents before the 12th – Yes
• Finish reading the two books I’m in the middle of (trashy fiction!) – Yes
• Walk x 4 (gently, as I’m still getting physio on my leg) – Yes
• Write my clothing wish list for 2012 – No
• Make a £2k payment to the mortgage – Yes
• Add at least £500 to the travel fund – Yes added £650
• Keep our grocery spending below £216 – No spent £223.59
• Complete my December To Do - 14/19 – Not too bad!
• Write my personal goals for 2012 – Yes

Are you setting goals for January?

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(photo credit)

January 2012 Mini Goals is a post from: Move to Portugal