The Best Kind of People

Work in Progress

Still working on my mid-life crisis from the ground up, and on Saturday afternoon, I got stuck into my laundry.  Egads, I don't really believe I'm posting these pics, but here is my laundry. :-(

Yep, there you go, complete with Son C's shoes, and the door wont' close because I haven't taken the rubbish bag out yet.

Inside the laundry cupboard.

Oohhh, could it stay like this forever?

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is my new, improved (and tidy!!) laundry.

Be Confident

Be confident.  Too many days are wasted comparing ourselves to others and wishing to be something we aren’t.  Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses, and it is only when you accept everything you are – and aren’t – that you will truly succeed.

An afternoon out

After a long weekend of catching up on cleaning, shopping, cooking, emails, clearing out and ironing, I took an afternoon out with my work friend Melissa to go and see The Great Gatsby. Oh my gosh, it was spectacular. Such indulgence, decadence and hedonism. I didn't know the storyline - I couldn't be bothered finishing the book in high school - so it was a pleasure to watch, and nice spending some girly time out with Melissa.

And meeting my future husband.

Signed, Mrs Di Caprio

*drools*

Making a start

I can't believe I'm doing this.  Posting pictures.  Eek!!

We have a double-storey townhouse, allowing for a reasonably large cupboard under the stairs.  Think Harry Potter's broom cupboard bedroom.  'Cept mine is filled to the hilt with eskies, fridge bags, sleeping bags, any old bags.  Really!  How many bags does a girl need?  And a shelf filled with the overflow from the kitchen.  

As an aside, this place needs a linen cupboard.  I mean, really!  Design flaw, people!!

So, close your eyes right about now.  i mean, not really close your eyes, but shield yourself from the eyesore that is my cupboard-under-the-stairs.  Ack!!

 It really was that bad!  Just stuff that we've been collecting for years, and throwing in there and not looking again.  So, on a cold, bleak, overcast day today I got cracking.

I love it!!  I threw away a lot of Miss M's old bags, and put aside items that need to be returned to other people, and just found a whole pile of items that were broken or unused, and were thrown out.  

What a relief to be able to walk into my cupboard-under-the-stairs again.

:-)

A Midlife Crisis, From the Ground Up

Life is full of new beginnings.  New careers.  New relationships.  New journeys.  And as much changes, nothing can stay the same.

I moved into my home when we bought it seven years ago.  We, as in, Miss M, Son C and I.  Our first journey into home ownership.  But it became the home of other journeys too.  The beginning and end of my time with Louis.  And the breaking away of Miss M from our family unit.  A home of much joy, learning, independence and pain.

Now that Son C has entered his teens, I find myself staring into the abyss of my future.  The unknown.  The beginning of my life as a truly independent adult, an empty-nester.

Another beginning. And as much changes, nothing can stay the same.

It's time to empty my home.  Embrace my new adventure.  Clear the clutter.  Embrace the happy memories and dispense with the old.

I'm doing this from the ground up.  Clearing out the overflowing cupboards, letting go of my hoarding nature, and the what-ifs.  Letting go of the young, uncertain family that we were, and embrace the rewards of who we have become.  Realise this home as the mature and beautiful space I would like it to be. An overhaul of my home, my finances, my relationships, and the vision for my future.

Join me as I embark on this mid-life crisis, from the ground up. Roll up your sleeves, and grab a bucket!!

The Debt Diet

My dirty little secret.  A crippling credit card debt (and I know it’s not as bad as some!) and the remnants of a car loan – a hasty decision made when I knew better.

I am generally an anti-debt philosopher, though you wouldn’t know it from the start of this conversation.  I drove a beat up old car that was getting to be embarrassing, and I had made significant extra payments on my mortgage and maintained a credit card limit of $1000, which I didn’t fret about, as I could pay it out at any stage.

Then things changed.  I’ve wondered how to broach this, how to admit guilt without blaming myself, how to acknowledge where I was at fault without admitting all that is wrong with me.  The fact was, that I had previously lived within my means, and for various reasons, I started to try to keep up with the Jones’. 

I started to get embarrassed about my beat up old car, so launched into debt on a whim one day for a new car.  Hey, I didn’t have much debt, I could afford it, right?  Then one day over commiserations with a girlfriend, I booked tickets for TWO trips.  I had never taken a holiday with my children, and it was stupid having the money sit in the bank and not use it, right?  And then, well, Miss M had left home, and life was difficult.  I made a lot of little, bad decisions, and spent some money bailing her out of hers.  But hey, that’s what mothers do, right?

And all of this led me to where I am today.  In credit card debt that I’m really struggling to move, and flailing towards the finish line on the car loan that I knew better on.  Son C and I have been very seriously considering buying a second house in a gorgeous little suburb, but that ambition is very much beyond our reach while I’m still in debt.

I won’t sit here and state goals.  I’ve done that.  For whatever reason, it hasn’t worked this year.  I don’t want to keep reporting in my failures each time.  I’m happy to share this information with you, and I’ll be happy to share my success with you.  I have a plan in mind that this should all be paid out in around two months, which includes using my tax return.  I won’t promise it, I don’t know what life is going to throw at me, but I paid $1,400 off the credit card last month, and hope for a similar amount at the end of June.

For the month of May, I can report the following:

In:                                                             4253.01

Borrowed on credit card:                   449.99

Spent:                                                     1491.74

Saved:                                                     1053.82

(this went on to the credit card at the end of the month.  No point having savings if you’re holding credit card debt)

Bills:                                                            725.32

Repaid Debt:                                        1432.12

And that is how the finances go at Brish’s household.  We are only a two-person family, and we are not enjoying this stage of our debt diet, but we are doing well. :-)

How’s your debt going?