Time to get organised!

As usual, once Christmas and New Year are over I stop reflecting on the past year and start looking forward to the next. I have high hopes and some pent-up energy just waiting to be unleashed - it's the same every year. This year I'm breaking my 'ambitions' into 4 areas..

Myself...

I'm not going to say how fat I am or how I drink too much (as I'm only 9 stone and almost tea-total!) but I could be fitter, my hair is a bit bedraggled and I haven't had a decent manicure (home or paid) for about 8 months now. So I want to sort myself out before letting it slide a little becomes irreversible!

My Home...

I've deliberately said 'home' and not 'house' as I feel they are very different - a house is a building, whereas a home is that building, the people in it and all the things we would want to rescue if there was a fire. Now my 'New Year sort-out' is mostly about the 'house' side of things. It's a very small house and not really laid out the best for a busy young family, so I need to have a declutter, organise what I'm keeping and finish off some of the many, many projects I've started. The knock-on effect of this will be a nicer home for us to be together and build a few more memories before the kids get to old to spend time with mum.

Where there's muck there's brass

I also have to pen in the chickens, sort them a new coop and claim back my garden. I'd like a vegetable patch - partly because it will save me a few pence but mostly because there's nothing quite like pulling your own carrots from the ground and eating them for tea.

The list in the 'Home' section is ever-growing and ever-changing, so I'll need to keep this updated regularly and try to keep on top of it!

My Finances...

We are far from destitute but if something major breaks (like the fridge did last year) we do have to scratch around for the money to replace it. It makes sense to have a safety net for those 'just in case' moments. It would also be nice to get home to Belfast to visit family... not to mention Project Thruxton! This is the year for economising on the silly things - the extra chocolate bar, the coffee on the way to work and making the most of what we have. I've got to get serious about selling the stuff I buy at auctions - and the bonus is it will help with the afore-mentioned de-clutter.

I think I'm going to need around £500 to pass my test and then around £1200 - £1500 to buy a half decent bike. Then I can save up the £6K to buy the dream :)

So, included in the 'Finances' department are building a nest-egg, paying for a holiday, clearing the credit cards and sorting the bike ambitions too! Wow, this one is going to be a tough on - I'll have to concentrate on saving pennies as well as making them.

My Business...

As I've mentioned my partner has a second hand furniture shop that I sometimes sell pieces through. I also own the domain www.bigredbarn.co.uk that I've used for various things over the past few years but it really lends itself to selling handmade bits and bobs as well as the furniture I've done up. I could link from there to ebay and other selling platforms, and visa versa in the hope that it eventually gets some decent traffic and makes a few pennies.

My 'main', if slow, business is www.twolittlewords.co.uk. I design, make and sell wedding stationery. Without any promotion or pushing it brings me in regular orders so I really should try making a living out of it! I absolutely love designing the perfect invitation for couples and have so many ideas for new designs buzzing around my head that I need to organise the time to really sort it properly!

Our most popular design is the storybook invitation!

I really must work on Blogging too - I'm sure it could be so much more beneficial if they were better organised. This (my favourite mish mash of ideas) in particular could do with some fine-tuning and proper sections made for the categories I cover. I'm hoping that it will develop naturally into something sleek and beautiful but, eventually, I fear I will need to learn how to add pages, reviews and tutorials so watch this space!!!