A Frosty Monday Morning

We've woken up to big frosts and fogs the last few mornings. Really cold in the morning but beautiful sunny winters days by lunchtime with clear blue skies. Nice and warm in the sun, but freezing in the shade. 

I feel so much better this morning. On Friday I left work early and got a haircut which was a nice way to start unwinding for the weekend. I slept heaps and managed to clean the bedroom and bathroom. I made my homemade yoghurt and big batch of cauliflower rice.

I've missed not doing any sewing in the last six months so I spent some time sorting through fabrics and patterns. Its so relaxing! So I'm making a commitment to make sewing a priority from here on.

I also decided to renew my Ancestry membership for six months. I did a lot of family tree work a few years ago and I'm ready to get back into it. I did not know my history on my fathers side at all when I first started and I now have a few generations back, but still lots of gaps. I ended up staying up late last night going through hints and documents which was far better than worrying about work. So I decided it was money well spent to get back to the family tree.

Overall I feel a lot better than I did last week. Just need to keep work & life in better balance now.

Reboot!

Ok, I ended up staying home yesterday, just couldn't cope with the thought of going to work. I ended up having to talk to a workclient in a bit of a crisis then I slept for the afternoon and I do feel a bit better this morning.

I need to take some steps to get in a better headspace so I'm setting myself some tasks to do this weekend:

• make a batch of yoghurt
• make chicken broth - 
• start sewing The Splendid Sampler II - sorted out my fabrics
• clean the bathroom
• clear the kitchen table
• sort through the outstanding paperwork  - started
• clean the bedroom

Time for a reboot...

Hitting the wall...

June will go down as the month I hit the wall again. Six months back at work and I am absolutely exhausted. I have really struggled over the last two weeks. I work, I come home and fall asleep on the lounge. On the weekend I sleep and try and recover in time to go back on Monday morning.

The workload is huge and its high stress, traumatic work. I was almost in tears yesterday and am so grateful for good work colleagues - who are just as stressed but we all try and help whoevers finding it tough each day - yesterday it just happened to be me.

After work I went to my second job which I love and 2 hours later I felt renewed energised and restored. The extra work is just so good for my mental health as well as giving me some extra money.

But I have slipped back into eating poorly and not exercising. I need to try and get myself back on track this weekend somehow.

I did have some good news yesterday that one of the bullies at work is going to be taking a years leave - that will certainly make my working life a little better!

In the meantime I am trying to focus on my goals and just take it one day at a time, but it has been a reality check to see how toxic the workplace really is.

The good news is I got paid for my extra work and paid $1500 extra off the mortgage - another step closer!

Grocery Shopping

Well my DD had offered to take on the grocery shopping each week and I'm so relieved not to have to do it anymore!  The last few weeks I've just been so exhausted. I've spent every weekend catching up on sleep and too fatigued to do much at all. With DD doing the grocery shopping it will really help me manage the work demands, especially given that I also do the extra job two evenings a week.

So we needed to spend $50 again this week at Coles. Our shop this week was: Coles - $62.93  saved $8.82

We've eaten more out the freezer over the last week, crumbed chicken, frozen meals and also some tinned soups from the pantry. I thawed out some stewing steak overnight to make a crockpot meal today. Its really cold here, lots of snow about just outside of town, so a hot meal after work will be lovely to come home to.

a few roos loose in the top paddock....

I ended up leaving work early yesterday as I started getting signs of a migraine coming on after a really heavy meeting in the morning. As I was leaving I saw the family of kangaroos that lives in the paddock next door out enjoying the afternoon sunshine so I stopped and took a few pics as I drove past.

 They checked me out and then went back to eating.

It looks like theres quite a few young ones there as there were more to the right of the picture.

Growing up we had a pet kangaroo at my grandmas place. Grandma raised her after the mother was shot and they found the joey in the pouch. So I have a lot of happy memories of playing with  our pet kangaroo who was just a part of our childhood games along with the dogs and cats.

After this I went home and rested up, just put work out of mind and despite a bad headache and feeling very nauseas, it did not progress to a migraine.
So I'm just about to head off to work this morning - thank God its Friday!

Hit Another Mortgage Milestone & work stress

Our payments have gone through for the week and I've been able to transfer a nice big payment on to the mortgage. 

The new balance is $149,799 which takes us under the end of Year 12 balance on the amoratisation table.

I'm hoping to hit Year 13 balance fast with extra income from last month.

I needed a boost today and seeing that balance going down really helps. Work has been incredibly stressful this week - honestly if I could have quit on the spot yesterday I would have. I am just swamped at the moment and no let up in sight at all. When I got to work yesterday I actually rang and cancelled most of my clients so I could try and catch up. By the end of the day I was even further behind as new clients just keep coming. I'm just done with it. I spent last night thinking about leaving and going back to working for myself, but the reality is that financially I am better where I am if I can just stick it out.

At least I have our holiday to look forward to. The second half of the year should be a bit better I am hoping.

1660 days to go!

Groceries

We've just had a long weekend here. Yesterday was a public holiday for the Queens Birthday - it was so nice to have that extra day off work!  I've been sick with a cold so DD did the shopping for me. We needed to spend $50 at Coles for points. We had plenty of veggies left so this week so our total spend this week was:

Coles
Total spent: $65.81
total saved; $7.64

Its been quite cold here so we're using up our tinned soups and also making casseroles and stews out of meat in the freezer. I feel like I am finally making a dent in our stockpile and in the freezer - but I still have quite a way to go. My plan is to get it down over the winter so I clean out the pantry/storeroom in spring.

It concerns me a bit that I'm starting to get sick often - a sure sign I'm getting run down. I slept for a few hours every afternoon the last few days. Work is catching up with me again I think but I should get a bit of a break in a few weeks when its end of term.

Life after work...

Yesterday  I caught up with a colleague who retired 18 months ago. John and I both started working for the same place about 12 years ago but in different towns. We were the only two left in our section after the last restructure saw our team halved in numbers and the rest bullied out by management. We have both been through two restructures and remember the good old days when times were different and education was about people, not profit.

It was great to catch up and hear about his much more relaxed life now. He keeps busy by volunteering a a few organisations, keeping active in his sporting interests and getting away travelling every 3-4 months. He looked so well and happy - not missing work at all.

We also talked finances which was helpful. The last time we both expected to be made redundant is when I bought our downsizing house and he and his wife did the same thing. They have moved now, got rid of 'stuff' and now live in walking distance of the centre of town which they are enjoying.

I asked if he had any advice for me as I prepare to retire in five years as I value his opinion. John said to get a financial planner involved 12-18 months before retirement date as they will help structure assets to get maximum benefits. Some assets such as superannuation and savings will need to go in the younger partners name so the older person can qualify for a part pension - more for the benefits than for the income. So a few things for me to think about there.

We also talked about some work and professional issues. On really keeping out of the drama and focusing on keeping well. We're all replaceable and the workplace doesn't miss us or care when we are gone so don't burn myself out in the next few years trying to do an un-doable job.

I left feeling really optimistic about our retirement plans and happy to have caught up with an old friend. It helps keep things in perspective when work is so busy.

There is life after work... and it will be good!

Grocery Shopping

I started the grocery shop at IGA-B and bought veggies there:

5 red capsicums $5.99
baby corn  $2.99
4 punnets strawberries $12
1 bunch spinach $1.99
3.2 kgs jap pumpkin $2.43
3 green capsicums $2.03
6 bananas $2.27
3 navel oranges $1.65
1 lge white radish $1.99
400g eggplant .79c

 IGA -B spend: $38.69  Savings $2.41

Coles  spend $114.30 Savings $18.35

Total Grocery spend: $152.99

Extra mortgage payment & decluttering

Our holiday is all now all paid for. I made the last payment yesterday. The only costs now will be anything we spend when we are there and we don't usually spend much at all. So now I can get back to paying every spare cent off the mortgage.

I made an extra mortgage payment of $800 yesterday with a new mortgage balance of $152,264. Feels good to be back on track with extra payments.

Made a big batch of cauliflower rice which tasted fantastic! Just cauliflower chopped finely with onion, bacon, leftover lamb, carrots, peas and egg cooked in a little olive oil. DD took this lovely photo of it for me - she's much better at food photos than me.

Today I'm still working on decluttering in the lounge room. I've sorted a couple of boxes already this morning. I still have several cupboards to go that are filled with old games, CD's and old newspapers/ family papers. My plan is to fill some more bags for Vinnies over the coming week from the lounge and bedroom and do a trip to the op shop next weekend.

May Progress Report

Mortgage

• $152,990 down from $154,464 
• redraw $15,099 up from 9,058
• $4,563 total mortgage decrease 

Our redraw increased & we didn't pay a lot extra on the mortgage this month as we started paying for our holiday. I still have more to pay next month so not expecting big mortgage reductions again until July.

Retirement Savings 

• mine - $98,917
• DH - $264,821
• total - $363,738
• total increase- $8,676

Groceries

• $54.80 savings
• $80 CC points savings
• 0 survey points savings
• $134.80 total groceries savings

The grocery spending is down again this month which is great.

Health

This month we had unexpected expenses for dental and new glasses. I'm happy to say I lost .9 kgs (2lb) even though my walking and exercise fell by the wayside. Now that its cold I've been eating a lot of veggie soups and most days having two meals a day instead of three. I had time off work sick twice this month and felt generally unwell which is probably explained by the leaking amalgam filling. No headaches since it was removed!

Work

I'm doing better at staying out of the workplace politics which is helping me not get as stressed. I'm really enjoying my extra work and billed $1820 this month.

Home

My biggest achievement at home was finishing the paper shredding. I did a little more decluttering in the bedroom. Nothing done in the garden. I'm finding with the extra work and being unwell this last month I didn't have heaps of energy for much. Next month will be better!

Goals for June

• Finish decluttering the bedroom & ensuite
• Declutter lounge room 
• Exercise 5 days a week 
• Pay for the holiday