68 Days of walking to work and not spending money at work

Stats. 

So far I have walked 35 Miles in December 228 miles in total since starting this blog

I have stopped myself from spending £240 at work (£60 of which in December) on sweets and snacks, I don't really need.

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

Thoughts

I do wonder why I have more thoughts away from this keyboard, than when I am sat here about to write a blog post. 

Well lets get the first thing out of the way, forgive me father for I have sinned. Christmas does put you in situations, a Christmas meal at work which we had down the pub, (well I wasn't going to sit like billy no mates because I am not spending money) Then Christmas Eve we went for a team breakfast, So same scenario sit there watching everyone or join in. 

So although it has been 4 days I have only added 3 days worth of £5s . I am looking back at this time, much like horse racing, it is the fallow time before Christmas then everything springs back to life from Boxing Day onwards.

There is so much I should do, could do, want to do. But so little drive to do it. As I have said at the beginning, sat here in front of the keyboard is like forcing down the last few mouthfuls of Christmas dinner. You know you should stop, but you do like it, so you have a little more, but would anyone really mind if you left a little on your plate.

Bring it on 2019, I will find that mojo.

65 Days of walking to work and not spending money at work

Stats. 

So far I have walked 26 Miles in December 219 miles in total since starting this blog

I have stopped myself from spending £225 at work (£45 of which in December) on sweets and snacks, I don't really need.

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

Thoughts

My first thought is, that I am daft. I had 5 hours to myself yesterday so could have wrote what I like, checked the piece, reformulated anything which didn't quite sound right, and post it. Instead I do it this morning when I have about five minutes spare and I should be putting the bins out.

Monday brought me back on track after the lapse on Saturday, a good walk to work and back to not spending at work. It was as I want a lot of them to be, just another day. If I concentrate on what I am doing it will just get me to thinking too much about it, the aim is to get it to be just second nature. Putting the money to one side and then just walking every day, not giving in to the first excuse of a spot of rain.

It would also mean I can move onto my next and which will be a hell of a lot harder, "No added sugar" M'thinks giving up crack cocaine would be harder. Although as the speaker of the house would say "I make the comment from a sedentary position" Having no experience of drugs who am I to say? But sugar does seem to have it's own chemical hold which I wish to break in 2019.

Yesterday however, wasn't completely lost it was the day I could divvy out the money, so now the total saved is over £1,300 having put away the December money from Super charged 1p challenged and from this the not spending money at work.

My next task is to get back on with the opinion polls survey as between them I have earned £50 I just need to push on and get £50 from each and then I can add that to the pot as well. I just need to get my backside in gear. Things are going well, I just need to stop slacking off.

Supercharged 1p challenge update

It's the time of the month when I start putting the money to one side from what I have saved that month,It is a little early for December due to Christmas, but as you can see from the chart below it is £93, which equates to £3 a day which brings the total to £203 saved and makes the total saved £140.84 ahead of the challenge if I had just done 1p on day 1, 2p on day 2, 3p on day 3 and so on.

Follow the red link at the bottom to see how that has contributed to the grand total.

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end of month	days in total	money saved per day	Total saved	comparative 1p challenge	How much ahead of the standard challenge
up to the end of Oct	50	£1	£50	£12.75	+£37.25
Nov	80	£2	£110	£32.40	+£77.60
Dec	111	£3	£203	£62.16	+£140.84
Jan 2019	142	£4	£327	£101.53	+£225.47
Feb	170	£5	£467	£145.35	+£321.65
Mar	201	£6	£653	£203.01	+£449.99
Apr	231	£7	£863	£267.96	+£595.04
May	262	£8	£1,111	£344.53	+£766.47
June	292	£9	£1,381	£427.78	+£953.22
July	323	£10	£1,691	£523.26	+£1,167.74
August	354	£10	£2,001	£628.35	+£1,372.65

--

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

64 Days of walking to work and not spending money at work

Stats. 

So far I have walked 23 Miles in December 216 miles in total since starting this blog

I have stopped myself from spending £220 at work (£40 of which in December) on sweets and snacks, I don't really need.

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

Thoughts

This post should have actually been 65 days, not 64 as it would have covered Friday and Saturday of last week. But on the Saturday had finally convinced myself to spend some money at work. I normally don't have any real hard cash on me, so it helps me if I get a weakness to spend. I even tried to convince myself, that because I hadn't taken the money direct from the bank account it might not really count. But it does and I have struck the day from the count.

It is disappointing, but I am not going to be a martyr to the cause, and if anything I want to hold onto the thought afterwards. Instead of feeling fulfilled and replenished, I felt bloated and over filled, it was a chip buttie which I should have really sent back as our works canteen would burn a boil egg if tasked to do so. So the advanced task of frying some chips, does seem impossible for them, once I had broken into the tenner I had a packet of fig biscuits, and a chocolate bar, with a packet of crisps on my last break. 

I felt bad, even down to the state of my skin. So those thoughts are what I will hold onto when I feel tempted again. It helps me not to gamble anymore, as I simply hold onto the thoughts of losing any money and how that feels, and it has so far for a few years now out weighed any temptation to gamble.

Tomorrow is wages day, so it means i can divide out the money for this month and put it away. That I hope will give is a better feeling of being in the right direction.

63 Days of walking to work and not spending money at work

Stats. 

So far I have walked 20 Miles in December 213 miles in total since starting this blog

I have stopped myself from spending £215 at work (£35 of which in December) on sweets and snacks, I don't really need.

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

Thoughts

Target or Deadline?

Is it better to have a target or a deadline? I think over the past few months and especially weeks/days we have seen the issue with having a deadline. I have to have this done by a set date, which means if you don't have it done and it has to be done to proceed, it can all get very messy. For some folks it focuses their minds and means where something may seem impossible it finally gets done at the last minute because it had to be done by the deadline, and all minor or even major issues become small in comparison to the deadline. So deadlines can cripple or excel depending on the circumstance.

As for targets, they are usually based chopped into smaller portions, the statement "I am going to climb a mountain" could fill most folks with dread. How can this be achieved? A mountain is so high. But you achieve this by cutting down the target into portions, How do I climb a mountain? One step at a time is the answer. So how do I save £50,000 which is my own target, well that is one penny at a time.

Now I have set myself a target and a deadline. It does help focus the mind, as I may say "I am going to save £50,000, I will do this one penny at a time, but then take 40 or more years to do it. The deadline I have set is for when my wife retires officially and I hit 50. I wish t spend more time with her and to do this and for my wife to feel comfortable I would have to have sufficient funding behind me to cover the bills. Also needing to drawer an income and this is why I am looking at the shares.

When I have the deadline I can then breakdown the target by the time left itself, so this allows me to know if I am on or off target, do I have the reassurance of knowing I am on track or do I need to press harder. Currently I am ahead of target, it doesn't mean I will take my foot off the gas, it just means I hope to exceed my target.

I kind of feel that folks should already know this, I get the impression of having the conversation with my Granny of "Here is an egg, you suckle it from this end" But this blog does a good thing for me, even if no one else reads it, it focuses my mind, it shows me I am on track if I feel down, and lets me know where I can improve. The target page is a click able link in red near the top. 

If you have a comment feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.

62 Days of walking to work and not spending money at work

Stats. 

So far I have walked 17 Miles in December 210 miles in total since starting this blog

I have stopped myself from spending £210 at work (£30 of which in December) on sweets and snacks, I don't really need.

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

Thoughts

It has been an interesting few days in the news, and has gotten me to thinking. Certain things do trigger memories which you had boxed away. The first thought was about the surprise cheque which I received, It seems you do not get anything in life for nothing, the payment for this was not physical or monetary but more mental. I had to contact the bank which was sending me the money to advise them of my name change, because when I married our lass I had taken her name and not the other way around which is the tradition. Was it a noble act from myself, I would say in part yes, because our lass had been married before and had already had to change details from her then married name back to her maiden name. So I thought I was helping by this time, me being the one her had to do all the leg work (waste of time because if you move from Miss to Mrs even though you keep the same name you still have to show proof) I also wished to put a line in the sand with my past life, and getting rid of my then surname was the last piece I thought. However you can never escape your memories, this cheque proved this and although it gave me answers to a nagging question I had stored under "head in bucket situation". I do kind of wonder if it was worth £83.32 but then I thought of adding it to this project and it outweighed any of the dirt it had raked up in my memories.

The second thought was about Brexit and deadlines, Now I have set myself a deadline with this project, of hitting my goal by the time I am 50, in all reasonableness I do know I may have to compromise and go for semi retirement more then the full retirement I would like. But currently I am working full steam ahead to the full version, other wise if you work for the semi, you will be lucky to get that. As for Brexit, it was connected to my memories from the cheque, I walked out on a bad situation. I left with all that I could put in some bin bags and a sports bag, the bit of money I had at the time, and a lot of hope and inspiration our lass said when she had come to collect me that day. Now I might be wrong, but I thought when folks voted leave, they voted to leave. It was like a divorce, you may wish to be amicable, but if you want out of the relationship, you want out at all costs and are willing to leave your memories, artifacts and even the house, just to get your freedom. I think 52% of folks in the UK were in that mindset and it would be interesting to truly get how many of the 48% of those who voted NO truly wanted to stay with Europe or didn't have the guts to leave and as with most of us just wanted to stay with what they know. As that seems to be the crux of most arguments now, look how bad things will be, you will be no good on your own, all commentaries to make us feel bad. Even the olive branch of why not just forget about it and just come back and have it like we used to. Now sometimes you can go back and work on it, but things are never the same, you also should trust instinct, if you wanted out you want out. I don't regret coming here and being with our lass, there is a time I wish I had trusted in our lass but we are now married and although our lass never lets me forget my own need to get away from things, she is special and it is why I am doing this project because I want to spend as much time as I can with her.


I think this cartoon is so right, you can't be all things to all people you can only ever go in one direction.

61 Days of walking to work and not spending money at work

Stats. 

So far I have walked 14 Miles in December 207 miles in total since starting this blog

I have stopped myself from spending £205 at work (£25 of which in December) on sweets and snacks, I don't really need.

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

Thoughts

They do say "one mans meat is another mans poison". So, here I am trying to let everyone know how great it is trying to save up money as thought its just like putting a net into your pond to fish out the leaves that fall in. I must say I am lucky, we have paid off the mortgage so the biggest expense has now gone. Me and my wife both work, and we don't drink or smoke, and wouldn't say we have any sort of hobby or life style that demands huge amounts of money. Did I hear a "pair of boring bastards then" thought bubble from you the reader. We all live lives in our own way, as long as folks leave us alone, we are happy in our lives.

But surely, just cutting something out of your routine, for me it is buying what was unnecessary snacks, for you it might be a packet of cigarettes, a couple of less pints down the pub, the subscription you don't actually use. Instead of wasting that money you put it away as I have done and make better of use of the money elsewhere.

This is what I am trying to share with folks, but where I might find it a fantastic idea, I do feel as though I am shouting in the dark like a loon, I feel I have rinsed my main twitter account to try and advertise this project. So it does get a little defeatist at times, what do folks want? A cat playing a piano, A woman putting on a star wars mask, or as it increasingly seems these days, folks beating up the police. Or just to moan about Brexit. I am trying to do something positive and it would be great to message out there.

I am reminded though, if no one reads this and I succeed then I win anyway, as I have reached the goal I have set for myself. As for folks sharing and reading this, that does come a long second as the first is really the only thing I wish to achieve which is hitting that goal. The second will happen some day, and probably when I least expect it, with more than likely the least amount of effort. As you do find, the more you try the harder it gets to become reality. Much like the moral of the sun and the wind story. I may blow and blow but all I need to do is shine!

60 Days of walking to work and not spending money at work

Stats. 

So far I have walked 11 Miles in December 204 miles in total since starting this blog

I have stopped myself from spending £200 at work (£20 of which in December) on sweets and snacks, I don't really need.

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

Thoughts

Well, I think thought was proven yesterday. Here I am spending time trying to bring to the blog, or pushing hard at any particular thing that I am doing and sometimes it is best to just chill and go with the flow. Not to be confused with sit back and do nothing and hope everything comes to you. But, just chill, get on with your life, do the day to day things.

The reason for the above statement, is because I came home to a bland looking envelope, you know the one. Looks like an advert or bland commentary from the financial services. "Interest is changing" or "Transfer your balance for free". This though was a you have won 2nd prize in a beauty contest moment. I had actually been told that a past credit agreement had been wrongly charged and I should expect a cheque for £82. Did kind of wonder, why the fanfare for the cheque and not just attach the cheque to the bottom of the letter as you normally get in these refund situations. So there could be another £82 to add to the savings.

A few more nice surprises like this would be nice. Makes up for the difference for what I thought I was going to get for the old mobile phone.

In other news, you may have noticed that I have now hit £200 saved from not buying food at work, amazing really that is in 3 months, just proves what we can do if we put our minds to it, and don't just wilt.

Happiness rating is currently soaring high.

59 Days of walking to work and not spending money at work

Stats. 

So far I have walked 8 Miles in December 201 miles in total since starting this blog

I have stopped myself from spending £195 at work (£15 of which in December) on sweets and snacks, I don't really need.

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

Thoughts

There is a certain film that says "Build it and they will come" so I plod on with this blog, putting my thoughts down, and think one day some folks will come across and find it interesting enough to make a comment and then come back to read my thoughts.

But that is a bit egotistical of me to think I am worthy of followership, are my words that well crafted, is what I am writing about give something to others that they then can't be without. Probably not really.

Who truly benefits from these witterings? Well I do, and maybe that is what really, and only matters. I am saving my money, I resist spending money at work. So enjoy those rewards, I am certainly in a position now of having money saved, that I know I wouldn't have had if I hadn't done this project, and on a daily basis I remind myself not to buy stuff I can easily do without from work.

So if over the next 6 years if no one other than me read this blog but I achieved the goal, then who cares because I reached my goal. Would rather have my goal achieved and zero readers than lots of readers and miss the goal.

58 Days of walking to work and not spending money at work

Stats. 

So far I have walked 7 Miles in December 200 miles in total since starting this blog

I have stopped myself from spending £190 at work (£10 of which in December) on sweets and snacks, I don't really need.

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

Thoughts

Lots of thoughts, just how to put them in order. a target of 200 miles has been surpassed that is a good thing to have to write about. I have also surpassed £1,000 pound actually saved, which is a good psychological target to have broken through.

This is the first post about activity in December, the month has the potential of setting me up really well for 2019. Because of how my fixed shift falls, I don't actually get any days off for Christmas, it means I will get 18 days in at work so be saving £90, I have 31 days of the supercharged saving which means £93 saved ( >>> link to super charged saving plan <<< ) and already I have been able to put away £140 from items sold.

Selling my old phone has been a bit of a roller coaster, initially thinking I could get £240 then being shown a fault I hadn't noticed, for that offer to slump to £24 then yesterday getting £100 for it as part of the remaining dvds being sold. So as I hadn't sold anything last month it kept me well on target. with the £100 i put into the share scheme it means I have smashed through the £1,000 saved barrier (currently £1,193.02) with the not spending money and supercharged saving this makes the end of month figure being over £1,370. A very respectable achievement and a good base to go onto in 2019.

The walking is doing well, and I admit could do better but 200 miles is not to be sniffed at. My goal for 2019 is to not just be walking to work, but having some good long walks in between especially as I have two sets of holidays coming up for January and March. This is where keeping up the pace might be an issue, short time at work and a short month in February so the first three months of 2019 maybe steady and not abundant.

That is why all signs are good to look at, and I know people would laugh at the fact of me talking about 21p interest on my money last month, but seeing that figure go up and keeping an eye on it the same as everything else. Is like ensuring the watering of a plant and making sure all the buds are fine. As that figure increases it means only a very small part to the total, but the higher that interest paid is, the larger amount I have saved.

My optimism is high, I think without this I certainly wouldn't have barely anything saved, I would certainly have eaten more at work, wasted that money and be probably down with myself. At the moment I can see a bright prospect, enjoy the thoughts of having covered 200 miles and see an achievable goal into the distance.

YAY!!!

Interesting interest

On the first of each month the bank account I have chosen to put all the money in declares the interest I have. Now YES! I could have got more else where, but I need ready access to it, and can't be waiting for branches to open, or procedures to be followed if you have an emergency bill to pay. Can't tell someone demanding money to fix something, "Oh my bank only gives me money if I give them a weeks notice" or "They are open again Tuesday after the Bank Holiday"

Now I hope nothing like that does happen, but it does mean that I ain't getting the best rate, but it is the best rate for what I want it to do.

Last months interest was only 7p, this months interest is 21p, people may snigger but every little helps, it shows that the money saved has grown. and this figure will increase each month.

It is part of the bigger picture which you can see by clicking the link below

Click this link to see how all the endeavours are helping to build towards the final goal. 

November 2018 in stats

I have walked 52 Miles in November 193 miles in total since starting this blog
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method of saving money	Actually saved	Projected values start	current projection	ahead or behind on projection	Current monthly average starting (August 2018) - 4 months so far	Value times 72 to give projected value	Monthly value needed to hit projection
Not spending money at work	£180	200 days x £3 x 6 years £3,600	£3,240	-£360	£45	£3,240	£50
1p challenge (80 days up to 30th Nov)	£110	£23,446.95	£23,524.55	+ £77.60	-	-	-
shares (as of the 31st Oct)	£400	Based on envisaged value of shares rise £15,000	£9,245.98	- £5,754.02	-	-	-
interest	£2.81	£50 a year x 6 years £300	£50.58	-£249.42	£0.70	£50.58	£4.16
Selling items / other	£260	£500 pound a year raised x 6 years £3,000	£6,240	+£3,240	£86.66	£6,240	£41.66
Google Adsense	0 (£37.28 on account)	£120 a year x 6 years £720	0	-£720	0	0	£10
Completing Opinion poll Questionaires	0 (£29.70)	£150 a year x 6 years £950	0	-£950	started in Oct 18 0	started in Oct 18 (value x 70) 0	started in Oct 18 (Target divided by 70) £13.57
available for a new idea	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
available for a new idea	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
available for a new idea	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Totals	£952.81	£47,016.95	£42,301.11	-£4,715.84	-	-	GOAL £50,000

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28 day summary with change over previous period

Tweets

197 84.1%

Tweet impressions

117K 249.2%

Profile visits

825 105.7%

Mentions

67 2,133.3%

Followers

33 16

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Nov 2018 • 30 days

TWEET HIGHLIGHTS

Top Tweet earned 21K impressions

Don't be a stranger, why not say hello in the comments thread Remember it's #WorldHelloDay pic.twitter.com/u0YhLxGmJb

 18  16  43

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Top Follower followed by 255K people

Trey Peterson

@treyptrsn FOLLOWS YOU

Table Games Dealer at Caesars Entertainment

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Top mention earned 330 engagements

Steve Bullock@GuitarMoog  Nov 15Well, at least Raab has won at something. Very accurate on McVey and Mundell as well. H/T: @retireatfifty smarkets.com/listing/politi… pic.twitter.com/6IZNo7PHu4

 1  5  24

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Top media Tweet earned 3,762 impressions

#MyMarksFave is to make it yourself and invest the rest. How to supercharge the @365Saving going2retireat50.blogspot.com/2018/10/superc… Latest post on how to save £2,000 in a year make it your #ThursdayMotivation would love your #ThursdayThoughts in the comments. pic.twitter.com/uXvyjZCJSX

 1  1  2

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NOV 2018 SUMMARY

Tweets

200

Tweet impressions

118K

Profile visits

842

Mentions

67

New followers

15