Monday 27 February 2017

Still Simplifying - February

It's been a pretty similar month this month to last months efforts with regard to simplifying things here.  I've still been focussing on donating anything we don't use or want to keep anymore.  A few things left my wardrobe this month.  They'd been making me feel guilty every time I opened the door, for not wearing them more, but they weren't very flattering on me, so it was time for them to go.

I finally took a box and a bag of items to the charity shop.  The bag was full of Christmas decorations that I sifted out when we put everything back in the loft last month. The box was full of better quality donations that I've been hanging onto for a year now and just never got around to taking.  The sewing room feels a lot more roomy now they have gone.

In total, I managed to donate 74 items this month, which when added to last month's 62 items gives me a running total of 136 items so far this year. I'm aiming for 1000 items again this year, but I'm not too sure if I'll reach this target, as it is the third year running that I've tried to donate this many things. The previous two years I succeeded, but it is getting more and more difficult as I go through the process each year, which is a good thing in many ways.

With regard to my small business, I'm also simplifying there and trying not to buy any new stock.  I've still got so much stock that I need to sell and I'm making a concerted effort to do so.  I made a couple of sales this weekend and listed some more items that I'm hoping will sell pretty quickly, so progress is being made, albeit slowly.

Another aim of mine this year was to simplify an area of my life each month.  This month it has been my finances. I've cashed in the few Premium bonds I had, that I've never won a thing on in 13 years and put the money into a new savings account. The current chances of winning are being reduced anyway soon and as I've never won anything, I think it unlikely I ever will, especially with an investment of only £100. The only people whom I have known to win even small amounts, had thousands invested. I'd probably be better off buying the occasional lottery ticket. Anyway, I'm going to be transferring money into the new account on a monthly basis via Direct Debit at the beginning of each month, so I've made a firm commitment to starting to accrue savings.

I've also purchased some new shares in an attempt at investing for my retirement.  I'll see how they fare over the next few years and if they do well I may purchase more.  If not, I'll probably put it down to experience, although I'm hoping that I won't have to.

In conclusion, there has been progress this month, and I've been reading lots of financial and other self help books to spur me on to making more positive changes in the coming weeks. I'll keep you posted.


6 comments:

  1. Your changes are working very well. I understand where you are coming from on the decluttering front. It is getting much harder to find things to donate or recycle here as well. Still, like you, I am trying to make it to the 1,000 mark.

    God bless.

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    1. Good luck with reaching it. Hopefully we'll keep spurring each other on.

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  2. Great work on the donating front. Soon be nothing left!
    Good luck with the finances.
    xx

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  3. Yes, it must seem like that, but I can assure you there's still too much stuff in this house.

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  4. It seems to be a product of the times for everyone to have an over stuffed home and I am no different. No matter which shop you go into the choice is so enormous from clothes to toys to magazines and books, china, homewares even garden products so the temptation to buy is also very strong. On the other hand I do like having space and a minimilist uncluttered home. I try hard now only to buy what I need to use and this year I am trying to repurpose or revamp or make new items from the stuff I already have.
    Shares are very good for long term investment and I am sure you have done the right thing putting some of your money away - you can often buy more shares instead of taking the dividends and this can be better when the dividends are low until the shares pick up again. Good luck.

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    1. Yes, because its a long term investment, I've opted to do that rather than have any dividends paid out to me.

      I agree with regard to things in the shops. I do my best to stay out of them, but online shopping has been my weakness lately, so I'm trying minimise online purchases now by going cold turkey.

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