52 Week Money Jar Challenge – week 18 update

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2014, 52 week money challenge, 52 week money jar, 52 week money jar check in, budget, easy, easy solution, money, money saving, organisation, organization, saving

Hello Challengers!

How is the money saving going? We’re (already!) at week 18 (5 months into the year) of the challenge so while still early we should be getting a nice visual of how our savings are accumulating.

I’m putting my weekly amounts directly into a savings account so my visual is the bank statement but it’s still really satisfying, especially when I think that it’s working away in the bank and earning me interest. There have also been a couple of weeks where I was able to knock off some of the larger amounts so I did that which has both made my first 18 weeks of savings look more impressive and given me a bit of breathing room so I won’t fall off the wagon if I have some tight financial weeks later down the line. So far so good! Hope you’re all going well with your challenges as well – however you are completing them.

*If you are new to the 52 week money challenge and want to know more about it please visit my previous posts: 52 week money jar challenge and 52 week money jar 2014. You can start any time – it doesn’t have to be only at the start of the calendar year, start today!

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52 Week Money Jar Challenge – 2014

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2014, 52 week money jar, budget, easy, financial goal, money, money resolution, money saving, New Year's resolution, organization, personalised, project, saving, useful

If you haven’t already heard about or are doing the 52 week money challenge I suggest you consider it. Check out my original post on it, google it or visit the Facebook page for the explanation on how it works and for the weekly template to print out.

I’m doing it a little differently this year.

New Year’s Goals and Resolutions – 2014

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2014, budget, fun, Goals and plans, healthy, money saving, New Year's 2014, organisation, organization, Resolutions

Ahhh New Year’s. The time to get all ambitious and motivated about what you’ll achieve in the year ahead, be it personal, financial, social or something you list every year yet have just never quite managed to tick off – despite your best intentions. This year I’m determined to be realistic and stay motivated and actually reach 2015 having reached my 2014 goals. I have two areas I need/want to focus on and I’m doing my best to be realistic as I set these goals to make sure they are actually doable.

Tuesday Tidbit – Switch It Off

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budget, eco-friendly, energy saving, environmental, money saving, saving, Tuesday tidbit, upcycling, upcycling challenge

This one is pretty straight forward and though it’s not recycling it ties in with the ideas behind my 2 week upcycling challenge – saving resources, environmentally friendly and money saving. In the USA 20% of total energy consumption is residential. In the UK nearly 1/3 of the total energy consumption is from the home. In Australia it accounts for 77% of greenhouse gas emissions – that’s more than 3/4!

Even when your TV screen is off if it’s still on at the power point it is consuming electricity, same for your electric kettle, washing machine and dryer, computers and laptops and phone chargers, stereo and radio and of course lights and heaters. If you’re not using them turn them off at the wall. It only takes a second to turn them back on again and in the meantime your planet and your wallet will breathe a little easier.

Upcycling Challenge Project 2: Scrap Paper Envelopes

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cheap, crafts, DIY, easy, envelopes, gift, homemade, letters, money saving, paper, paper crafts, personal, personalised, project, quick, reusing, reycling, upcycling

I love snail mail. I love receiving it and I love sending it. There’s something about getting a handwritten letter that just makes me all fuzzy inside – the time, effort and thought that goes into them (especially in this age of email, texts and facebook) that is instantly felt. These easy, personalised, handmade envelopes are

Upcycling Project 1: Tin Cans

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cans, cheap, crafts, DIY, easy, economic, environmental, fun, home, money saving, project, quick, recycle, tin cans, upcycle

I’m really, really into upcycling and recycling at the moment. Trying to use up things around the house I would normally throw away instead of buying more things. This is partly an economic thing (according to the budget I’ve been keeping the last few months I spend a lot more on craft and household items than I thought) but mostly just an extra awareness of how easy it is to create unnecessary waste. Maybe because it was Earth Day last week or that we missed a bin collection and I saw how quickly our recycling bin fills up or just realising that I’m constantly upset how much everything at the supermarket is packaged I resolved to have a good couple of weeks creating and reusing – or ‘upcycling’ – projects only. No trips to the craft or hardware stores for anything. If I don’t already have it I won’t use it. Two weeks like this is my goal. Hopefully by the end of this challenge I will have gotten into a more eco-friendly mindset about my crafts, what is rubbish and what isn’t and what is truly necessary.

52 week money jar

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52 week money jar, budget, easy, money, money saving, New Year's resolution, project, saving, to do

Ok, ok I know it’s been AGES since I last blogged and I’m truly, truly sorry. I have no excuse, I could make some but I’ll save you all that drama. Anyway as my first post back and of 2013 I thought I’d start with something a little different to my previous posts: the 52 week money jar.