A January To-Do List
And just like that we’re in a new decade and at the start of a fresh year. Typically, I’m not all that into new years as the start of September has historically felt more like more of a fresh start than January 1st ever has but this year I’m feeling excited for a new year. Just like last year I’m not making any yearly resolutions apart from the standard ones of drink less coffee and eat more vegetables but I am going to be making monthly ones again as I found that worked so well for me last year and this is my to-do list for January.
GET MY FINANCES IN ORDER
January is tax season so it typically means it’s the time of year that I sit down and get my finances in order. Last year I felt like I lost myself slightly with taking real care of my finances and didn’t properly track my spending like I have done for so many years and tracking things carefully is something that helps me continue to have a healthy relationship with money. If you’ve never read any of my blog posts before then you might not know I used to have a terrible emotional shopping habit which completely ruined my relationship with money. Having a healthy relationship with my finances is something that’s so important to me and it’s certainly not the easiest thing to navigate but it’s a far cry from what I used to be like. In January I have to pay my tax bill, of course, there are a few other things on my to-do list like switch my bank account to get a better interest rate, keep paying into my lifetime ISA, shutting down accounts that are no longer used and tracking my spending as there’s a wedding to be paid for this year so I need to save as much as I can for that.
watch more films
Watching and binging my way through a tv show is one of my favourite things to do, there is no denying that. But something that I’m pretty terrible for is watching films, I struggle to focus on something for two hours it seems which is ridiculous as really it’s just because I’m so addicted to scrolling through my phone. So this year I want to make sure that I watch more films as there are so many classics that I’ve never seen and want to tick off my life list.
get back into my beauty routines
As I’m getting married this year that means I want to make sure my skin is in check and my hair is looking and feeling its best. Over the past couple of months, I’ve become a little too slack with my beauty routine and letting things slide such as micellar water cleanses and pushing the boundaries of hair washing a little too long and that isn’t something I want to continue in the new year. My beauty routine is something that brings me so much joy and the only reason I’ve let it slide is pure laziness and I just need to get back into the routine of it all. The first thing to do is to get back into masking as with all the cheese I’ve consumed over Christmas my complexion certainly isn’t looking its finest and could do with a couple of clarifying masks to rescue it.
no buy january
My days of being a true emotional shopper are thankfully over but something I want to challenge myself this month is to do a no-buy. If you’ve never heard of the no-buy concept essentially it’s a spending ban apart from the bills you have to pay for of course. So for me, it’s no little purchases here and there even if they are only £5 as those five pounds soon add up and I know they are things that I don’t truly need. Over the festive period, I had a really big declutter of all my clothing, beauty products, and general life stuff and I realised there is truly nothing else that I need in my life right now. This year because of the wedding I want to save as much as I can as there is certainly nothing cheap about getting married that’s for sure. Even though we’re only having a tiny ceremony as soon as you add the word wedding to something it seems to triple in price and I truly think challenging the way I spend money will help me do this.
tackling my phone addiction
Spending time on my phone is something that is part of my job so it’s not something that I can completely avoid but I really want to work on how much I pick up my phone as a reflex. It’s not healthy to want to pick up my phone as soon as my attention isn’t on something else and more often than not I’m scrolling through Instagram whilst trying to do something else and even though I know full well that doesn’t help with productivity I’m finding it hard to kick the habit. What I’d really love is to use my phone in a more mindful manner rather than it being a mindless habit that I don’t think twice about and surprisingly over the festive period my phone use went down about 25% so it’s something I want to continue into the new year.
discover new walk spots
Lately, we’ve got into a little bit of a rut with the places that we walk Josie and Edie and we’re on the quest to find some places to explore on our weekend. Living so close to the Peak District means there are a huge amount of walks on our doorstep but it’s just finding the ones that are good for all of us. As it’s winter we can’t do anything too hilly as the wind chill will be too much for Edie as she shivers terribly, last year we tried to walk Mam Tor twice and had to give up on both occasions because she was just so cold and that's not enjoyable for anyone. So if you’re a lover of the Peaks or the general Nottinghamshire area do let me know of any good walk spots as we’re very much in need of stomping some new ground.
invest in some cookbooks
When no buy January is over something that I want to invest in is some good vegetarian and vegan cookbooks as we’re in a huge rut with the meals that we’re eating at the moment. My sister bought my fiancé the Jamie Oliver Veg book for Christmas and we’ve both enjoyed looking through that and gathering inspiration for meals and we’ve got a big list of things to try. In the past I’ve always turned to Pinterest for meal inspiration but lately, I’ve found it to be the same old kind of stuff that we generally eat and there is nothing better than having a physical book to flick through and get slightly dirty when cooking. So, if you have any great cookbook recommendations then I’d really love to know what you like and regularly use.
