Monthly Archives: May 2020

Reclaiming morning simplicity

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For years I used to start my day with a lovely quiet time in the mornings. I’d do some meditation, some journalling, followed by either reading or watching something uplifting and working on my plans and goals. Its a great way to start each day but somehow over recent months/years its slowly disappeared and I started to turn on the TV to catch the morning news both local and international.

Being home all the time for the last few weeks I’ve really seen how far we have fallen down the TV hole and how much time it can take up. I enjoy TV, but I have just let it become a constant. I limit how much news I watch about covid but I’m still spending too much time in front of the box.

So from today I’m reclaiming my quiet mornings and starting the day with some simple comforting routines. I want to get back to meditating, affirmations and focusing on creating a simple peaceful home.  I started this morning and I already feel better for it. Time to just sit and be peaceful before the day gets started.

After my quiet time I listened to a podcast while I sorted out a big pile of paperwork that has been sitting on the end of the kitchen bench for months. My kitchen bench is now cleared off completely and looks much better. Today I need do some washing and start decluttering my sewing room.

The sun is shining this morning even though its still quite cold outside so we might walk after lunch. With the change in temperature I’m getting to use some new colours in my temperature blanket

Do you have a quite time in the morning? How do start your day?

“When you arise in the morning think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” 
Marcus Aurelius 

April Progress Report

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This last month has gone really quickly!

The month started with beautiful sunny Autumn days and in the last 48 hours we’ve had our temperatures drop with light snow expected over the weekend. It’s time to turn the heater on and rug up ready for winter.

Heres the numbers for April:



Mortgage:

  • current balance:  $95,866
  • down from: $98,709
  • total reduction: $2,843 

Retirement Savings:
  • DH: $302,293
  • me:  $148,019
  • total: $450,312
  • total increase:$7,643 

A slight improvement in our retirement savings this month. We just continue to invest the maximum into our pre-tax contributions each month.  Our emergency fund is up to $500 which is a separate account from our offset accounts. I want to get that fully funded quickly.
Work
We’re all still working from home and expect this continue at least till the end of May. I’ve found as the month went on I feel like there is little separation between work & home – its odd. Work is not too busy, but far more stressful incidents to deal with, made more difficult by the social distancing and the closure of so many support services. Domestic violence and alcohol consumption have gone up and a lot of people are struggling to cope with the social isolation. I’ve taken today off as I just need a break from it. 
Home
I’ve done a bit more weeding in the garden. I’ve hung the curtains in the lounge room, it still needs carpeting but that can wait till later. I’ve been nagging DH about doing some more painting so I’m hoping that happens soon. I’ve started sorting my sewing room – thats my goal for May.
Health
We’re all healthy and well. There have been no new covid cases in our region for almost two weeks and there is just one active Covid case in our region. Some restrictions ease a little from today such as 2 adults and children can visit other households, schools will start slowly increasing students attending and some public parks/beaches will re-open for exercise only.
So far we’ve been fortunate in Australia, but there is concern about a second wave so most people are still being sensible and staying home unless absolutely needed. A lot of testing is happening here to try and find any hotspots. Anyone with a cough or cold is tested, they put calls out in different locations for the public to come and be tested, our state (NSW) is aiming for 8,000 tests every day to try and identify any community spread as we head into flu season. 
My goals for May are:
  • cut grocery spending
  • menu plan 
  • declutter & tidy sewing room
  • don’t use the credit card!