Goals for 2017, better late than never

I have been away from blogging of late as life just got in the way, sometimes positively and sometimes less so. Before I knew it, 2016 has been consigned to the pages of history and 2017 has arrived and is speeding away. Brexit, terrorism and the possibility of a second Scottish referendum are dominating the headlines. I am trying to ignore the newspapers and focus on my goals for this year. I am now in my 40s and frankly my thoughts have strayed to the fact I am not going to get younger and so need to actually take health more seriously, this in practical terms means I have to do some exercise and eat better. With frugality at the forefront of my mind, I am not wasting money on gyms or dance classes so I have taken up jogging, twice a week in the local park! I am not very good and my stamina is rubbish, the same guy laps me every week! However, after a month it is definitely improving, my aim is to be able to run for half an hour without stopping. I have to say that doing exercise does actually make you feel good, even if you aren't brilliant at it yet. I have felt pretty positive about life this last month and more resilient. On the diet front, my mantra is simply no cake or milk chocolate. That's it, I can eat everything else. So far its working albeit at a very slow pace. The strange thing is having given up chocolate bars for the last 3 months, I am also eating far less crisps. I am not complaining and neither is my purse.

My final goal is far more ambitious. I am hoping, along, with my other half to save enough money over the next decade to allow us to be financially independent or at the very least only require part-time work. The focus will be mainly on cutting back on our mindless spending and sticking this money into low cost investments. I have always considered myself quite frugal but having just started tracking our spending I can see I have been fooling myself quite a bit. Our grocery bill is pretty high, we have an eye watering Sky bill and spend a lot of money on gadgets such as blenders and fitbits. It is time to get serious. I am greatly inspired by people like Mr Money Moustache, Mad Fientist and JD Roth who have achieved financial independence. I feel quite optimistic about this goal and hope the Universe will have my back.

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