Surviving Boot Camp

This week I discovered my 'inner platoon leader'. It has been like boot camp at our house since I last posted. The last few days we have put in a mammoth effort and we are really pleased with our progress.

Exhausted yes.... but happy.

In keeping with the recent spirit of efficiency that has struck our family....and because I have made and crossed off so many To Do lists (I am having nightmares about them)...a lot of this post will be in point form.

We have:

• cleaned up my bedroom including all the wardrobes, drawers & hidey holes
• sorted all the clothing by putting it in sizes then sorted and packed them into 4 groups:
• 1. fit now and keep
• 2. don't fit but keep
• 3. for charity
• 4. sell on eBay or garage sale
• thrown out ( a few!) old shoes and kept 32 pairs. (That's just one pair for each day of the month with a spare for good measure! I swear I won't buy any for 12 months, I promise...)
• sorted out all the books into piles of keep or sell
• took photos of all the books for sale and started listing then on eBay & oztion
• realised that I have just been too busy to look after the important things in life. There is no avoiding the fact that I am a PFF, a Personal Finance Fattie! To the tune of 26kgs! If I lost 5 kg's I would have a whole new wardrobe to wear without spending a cent.

Now if I had lots of spare time I would consider starting a health & weight loss blog but just at the moment I don't. I have discovered that I am not alone in being a PFF but I won't point any fingers...

Taking responsibility for our financial situation and making changes to improve it does require a fair amount of effort and time. I am hoping that once we are back on track it will take less effort. I suspect it is like gardening, some regular maintenance and pruning would have made the whole job a lot simpler in the long run.

While attending boot camp we have:

• claimed more medical receipts and paid straight into mortgage
• applied for the interest free balance transfer credit card
• earned a few more dollars from eBay sales
• taken out health insurance with rebates directed into mortgage account
• eaten lots of leftovers, (tinned tomato's and garlic can make anything taste good)
• saved $120 we were going to spend on a skip bin by borrowing a friends ute
• joined simple savings club which is going to save me a fortune!( this is available for other countries as well as Australia, just click on the country link on the free newsletter sign up)
• posted all the outstanding business accounts, reports and made all phone calls
• made appointment to get tax done next week
• told colleagues that in a few months I will be looking for 2 days more employment
• treated ourselves to the Harry Potter movie
• took bottled water from the tap at home and junk food from local shop to movies saving $3.50 on water, and $2.00 on each treat for 3 people = $16.50 saving
• heard confession from son that he failed a unit at college (Arrgh!!)
• advised son if has extra time at end of degree to make up he will be funding himself
• once son recovered from shock put him to work in the front yard (= free labour!)
• collected rocks (free!) to build a retaining wall in front yard
• crunched the numbers again (I know.. I know..but it works for me..) and all got very determined to reach this months goals even if we do live on rice and tinned tomato's!
• all feel really bloody proud of ourselves and amazed that we ARE doing it!!

So taking a week off work and getting stuck into things was a good idea... and there are still 3 more days to go!

...can we keep up the pace?

Time to stand down.... at ease family while I get to work on the next To Do list.