Enjoying Lately

On a slightly more positive note than some of my more recent posts, here are a few things that I've been really enjoying lately that I thought I'd share with you. Only one of them actually cost me any money, which is a positive. (You can tell I'm buying less these days as there are less physical favourites to post about)

The first is a new series on Netflix.  Well, it's not exactly new, but is new to us.  It's a Belgian crime drama called The Break. It's a bit strange, reminiscent of The Bridge in some ways, although not scandi noir, more North European noir, but I'm quite getting into it.  We're about 5 episodes in now and enjoying it, so that should keep us going for at least a week or two.  I've also earmarked a few other things to watch once we've finished.

I'm currently reading this book by Timothy Ferriss.  I've heard a few people talk about him on a few of the US blogs I read. I think he's a favourite of James Altucher of Altucher Confidential.  Anyway, the book is about converting or building a business to require only 4 hours work per week. It's essentially about outsourcing your business or working remotely, so you can live the life you want. 

It's very interesting and I can only admire the people that are actually doing this and enjoying the freedom it brings. I can't, however, say that it will likely ever work for me, but I love reading about how the world has changed in our digital age and what is now possible with relatively little effort and a bit of digital know how. And yes, it was the one thing that cost me money, as it was purchased from the CS where I work.  They get some really good books in, which does make it very hard to resist buying them.

On YouTube, I'm currently really enjoying Budget Girl's channel.  She's a young newspaper journalist who lives in the US and has been paying off her student debt of $30,000 for the past few years and is now down to paying off the last $10,000, which she is aiming to pay off by the end of this year.  She calls it her 'scorched earth budget'.  I think she's a follower of Dave Ramsey and I love watching her channel as she's so sweet and has a cute dog. 

She's also losing weight on account of regularly attending Zumba classes. Good for her. I like her posts about her Frugal Wins and Fails and when she reads the mail from her PO Box. People from all over the US (and other parts of the world) send her encouraging cards and sometimes money through the post.  I have the feeling that she'll end up paying off the debt far sooner than she ever imagined as a consequence.  It's only what she deserves, as she's inspiring lots of people in a very positive way, which can only be a good thing.

Finally, the last thing I'm enjoying is playing Candy Crush Saga.  Since I got my new laptop for Christmas and OH installed the app for me, I've been playing quite a bit, shall we say. Yes, I know it's mindless, but it costs nothing and sometimes it's nice to do something completely mindless to take your mind off other things in life.

One good thing is that it keeps locking me out for periods of time in the hope I'll stump up the money to continue playing. I'm not that addicted. Anyway, when it does, I have the opportunity to go and do other things until I can get back into it.  It's just as well really or I wouldn't ever get anything done. In fact, I'm currently locked out for 60 hours until I can get on to the next level, so I'm getting lots of things done at the moment.