Wish me luck (New Year's Resolutions)

Member Name: STACEY0526

Product:	New Year's Resolutions
Date:	28/12/08 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Positive mental attitude to start the year

Disadvantages: not always acheivable

To me New Year resolutions are there as a positive start to the year but never last any longer than the first month. After feeling really down for the last part of this year I decided that it was time to stop feeling sorry for myself and do something about it, and there is nothing better than a new year for a new start.

I have been reading the forums on money saving expert.com (great site) and it gave me the motivation to see 2009 as the year to sort myself out financially. I wasn't thinking about making a new years resolution at the time just something that would improve my life greatly, It wasn't until I started reading everyone else's new years resolution on here that I realised that it was more than just the financial side of my life I needed to improve but also my home life and work life could do with some changing, so thank you to everyone that has written the new years resolutions for helping me see this and hopefully 2009 will be the year to sort my whole life out and make me a more happier person.

So here goes:

1. Clear as much of my dept as possible:
This one sound a bit vague but it is the most important one for me. I have purposely left this one open as this enables me not to fail (perfect for me as I have not managed to keep a single new years resolution in my life), being debt free was very unrealistic so I aim to clear everything apart from 1 loan and my mortgage but I see clearing anything is better than nothing, so clearing as much of my debt as possible makes it an achievable target, and hopefully lessens the chance of demotavating me along the way when I haven't cleared an expected amount.

2. loose weight:
Now this seems to be a very popular new year's resolution having seen it on nearly everyone's list but for me it's a first. I have always been a nice size 8 I'm not very tall at about 5"2 so was an ideal size for me, I have recently put on some weight and would like to tone up and loose a bit of the access weight to become a size 8/10 again. I am hoping to become more confident again as I feel very insecure about how I look. This I believe will be the hardest for me as I drink a lot of milky coffee using full fat milk, so fingers crossed that I don't fall on the first day.

3. Plan meals in advance
This to me sounds like a very strange one but think that it will help me stick to the first two resolutions and give me a lot more time to spend with my little man. I work shifts I have a 2 year old little boy, 2 dogs and a house to look after so meal times are a nightmare for me, If I am off work I will make the effort to cook a nice roast dinner or something a bit different but when I am working usually 5/6 days a week it is either something quick, (meat potatoes & vegetables, pasta bake, curry etc) or a take away (very unhealthy , fattening and expensive) so by planning meals I can have a more healthy diet ( I always ensure my little one eats healthy but let my meals slip) and try new things, this will also save me quite a bit of money.


4. Keep the house tidy:
I am not an untidy person, in fact I am the total opposite, I like things to be perfectly placed and look tidy even the inside of draws and cupboards have to be perfectly arranged, my downfall though is when I get tired I start to let things slip, especially when working nights. Paperwork is placed on shelves to be sorted another day, clothes left by the side of my bed, shoes left at the front door, towels left on the chair in the bathroom etc and it soon adds up, so from now on I will do things at the time they need doing and not leave them until later. This sounds a lot easier than it is, I would know as I have failed so many times before.


5. More me and Hayden time
I thought I spent a lot of time with my son already when I am not working but next year I want to make sure that I spend more quality time with my little boy, At the min we do play together, we read books together, everything a mother a child do together we do together, but working shifts I feel that I do not utilise my time the best that I could, so for this resolution, I intend to have a bath when my little boy is in bed allowing me an extra hour with my little man, Continue to do the ironing and cleaning at 0600 in the morning before the little one gets out of bed, leaving the whole day distraction free for us to have fun.

6. Be a nicer more positive person.
I have recently started to be quite argumentative with people over the smallest little things, sometimes over nothing at all. I have also been letting work get me down and the smallest things wind me up until I snap which is not at all like me. So no more I will accept that work is work it is only for 9 hrs a day that I have no choice about it. I will let others live their life without having an opinion on something that I don't agree with as this usually ends up in being quite bitchy and negative, and I will try to be a happier positive person.

So with 2009 fast approaching I am feeling quite confident that I have set myself achievable resolutions so good luck to me and good luck to everyone else

Summary: my new years resolutions