New school year, new start

Sunshine yellow start to September

September feels like a whole new start to me.

The children return to school with new teachers, new classrooms and new uniform, in “they’ll grow into it” sizes.

Meanwhile I relish the return to our normal routine, bursting with new resolutions to sort out home, work, finances, fitness and fatness.

So bear with me while I revisit ever familiar New Year’s Resolutions. Why wait till January? I can bounce around, filled with ‘back to school’ enthusiasm right now.

Here’s a run down of my September resolutions, while my optimism lasts:

Home

First up is the garden, which (who knew?) just keeps growing. We’ve been hacking back the wisteria that was making a break for the roof, and the climbing roses that were doing their best to stop us leaving the house. I’m embarrassed to say I dug up a bramble that had been in the front flower bed so long it had grown blackberries. My husband has also made valiant efforts to make the lawn look less like a field.

I was also finally forced to go through my son’s clothes, when we lost a large chest of drawers to make space for an elderly piano. This means I now have half a ton of too-small clothes bagged up to get out of the house. I also really need to get the chimney sweep round and the boiler serviced, as the weather turns colder. Shock horror I may even get round to planting the bulbs I bought last year…

Related post: What to do when your hedge resembles an evil minion

New month, new Woman&Home column

Work

Like all the best New Year’s Resolutions, I will zip through my backlog of work, complete new projects without procrastinating, and magically find time to tackle all the tasks at the bottom of my to-do list. Oh yes. Maybe 2018 will be the year I finally write the “About Me” page on my blog, but don’t hold your breath.

In the mean time, I was absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for three SHOMO awards: Best Personal Finance Blog, Best Frugal Food Blog and Best Money Saving Blog. Check out all the 2018 shortlists here for some inspiring reading.

My latest column for Woman&Home is out now, if you fancy sitting down with a cup of tea and a magazine. It’s the red issue with Emilia Fox on the cover.

I was quoted in Metro, banging the drum about women and investing, with a rather surprising headline. (Really must bung that headline writer a fiver)

Plus I’ll be talking to the lovely Georgina Wroe at BBC Radio Suffolk about 12.30 today , September 9, all about how parents can help student offspring with their finances. Clue: not just by giving them a shedload of money.

Finances

Two holidays in quick succession, after my Mum asked us to move forward our October trip to Madeira, aren’t ideal on the frugal front.

So come September, I want to get back to my spending diary, because that really helps keep our spending in check. I’m determined to tackle the back log of receipts from over the summer, so updates in future only take a few minutes each day.

Related post: 10 tips for keeping a spending diary

Plus, I need to check if we could get better deals by moving our money elsewhere – my stakeholder pension, my stocks and shares Isa and the children’s Child Trust Funds.

Back running on the Railway Walk

Fitness

Fair to say exercise has taken a bit of a back seat over the last few months, zipping back and forth to Madeira to see my mother and juggling everything else in between. Back in January, I even hoped to do the Great East Run again, but the training just hasn’t happened. So I’m back on Couch to 5K, and when I say back I mean right back to the beginning. I’ve done one whole run since school started on Wednesday. I might yet do another one…

Related post: Cheapo fitness: Couch to 5K

Pizza, on a tortilla. I’m trying, OK?

Fatness

So bad, it’s reached the elasticated waist stage. I spotted the OneLife Suffolk stand when we went to the Ipswich Maritime Festival, and did a quick health assessment, scary scales and all. It’s a council funded programme to help with health measures like weight loss, exercise and stopping smoking.

Net result: a voucher for 12 weeks free at Slimming World. I went along to my first meeting on Wednesday, so I’ll be trying to tackle slimming on a budget once more. Wish me luck!

Related post: How not to start a diet

Now – over to you. Do you think of September as a fresh start? Any frugal resolutions? Do say in the comments, I’d love to hear.

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