Monday 18 January 2016

It can't all be good...


Hello, 

'An enjoyable few hours spent in Sheffield on a beautifully sunny afternoon, 
all in the company of elder son.'







'A late afternoon, wintery walk up to The Outwoods - when we came out of the woods
 it looked like Christmas lights were on in the town spread before us.' 






As some of you may know, I reduced the number of days I work each week a few 
months ago. 
There have been some unforeseen benefits of this.

1. I drink fewer coffees. 
At work, a mid-morning trip to the coffee shop provided me with a bit of exercise and a bit of a treat too to keep me going through the rest of the day. Sadly, a bag of crisps often accompanied my coffee purchase - not a good thing for either my expanding waistline or rising blood cholesterol!

2. I've cut my wine intake
I have never drunk copious amounts of wine but I did find that a glass or two, several times 
a week was a particularly satisfying way to relax. I'm not proud of this; it is just the way it was. 

I think in celebration my liver is having a party, but obviously an alcohol-free one and 
most probably a slumber party!
 It's having a long-awaited and well-deserved rest from alcohol!! 
It is said that when you reduce your alcohol intake your skin improves, so in a couple 
of weeks time I'm hoping to look 20 years younger! ;-)

3. I've bought fewer magazines
As with the wine, I've never bought many magazines, but again a bit of a treat for me was
to browse the shelves of the newsagent, viewing all the craft and home magazines, 
dreaming of all the projects I would start (and finish!) when I had the time. 
And sometimes feeling that I could justify spending £5 for a magazine as 
"I'd worked hard this week"!

Magazines are pretty extortionate in price now aren't they? 
It's not uncommon for magazines to cost £8 - and I can't help thinking I can buy a 
book for £8!

4. So, as a result of 1, 2 and 3 above, I'M SAVING £££s

So all in all, this is looking very positive. 

But it can't all be good can it?

I am finding it hard to stick to my resolve to cut my spending on yarn. Again, I don't think I'm outrageously extravagant but I do have a few balls sitting in bags waiting to be knitted. 
And at the moment I'm so tempted by more sock yarn! 
And I can't help thinking that I can justify buying a couple of balls because of the 
amount of money I'm saving on coffees and wine! 

Oo, I can't decide between iceburg, frost or delphinium......

(this is 'iceburg' below)


Well, writing this post has distracted me from the wool website for a little while 
(thank you!), I'm now off to tidy the kitchen and then to bed, 
so delaying hitting that 'checkout' button for another day.

I hope you have been enjoying the wintery weather and the 
excuse it brings to snuggle up in front of a fire.
Best wishes
xXx

25 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your post and definitely you should splurge yourself with some yummy yarn!
    xx

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  2. I'm glad you've found lots of positives in not working as much. I remember well the need for a treat when I worked in an office in the city. I don't drink and I can confirm I look twenty years younger than my actual age. I'm almost certain I do. CJ xx

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  3. Sounds like lots of benefits from cutting your hours. Since we took early retirement we often wonder how we had time to work. The dusting of snow looks wonderful, like a scene from a Christmas card. Take care.

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    1. Ha, every one I know who has retired says the same thing, a time to catch up on all those things you didn't have time for before.

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  4. Lovely photos and pretty wool and great to have more time for your crafting etc

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    1. more time for crafting has to be a good thing doesn't it?

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  5. It sounds as though working less is standing you in very good stead in lots of ways! xx

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  6. Lovely photos I'm glad by working less it's suiting you - did you manage to stay away from the yarny sites though? x

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    1. stayed away for a while but not sure for how much longer!

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  7. I think a weakness for yarn is all right particularly now when you're spending less on coffee, magazines and wine. And there's always something useful created with said yarn like socks, scarf, etc. I've read somewhere that if you tally the amount of money spent on coffee every working day, you can spend hundreds of pounds a year and just for coffee!! And yes, I agree, some magazines are way too expensive. I don't buy craft magazines as often as I used to and I've started a subscription for a favourite magazine when I realized it's much cheaper than buying one from the newsstand every month. X ps. Gorgeous photos

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    1. You are right Marion, I worked out that I am probably saving about £500 on coffee and wine at present - a scary amount!

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  8. What a lovely snowy landscape that last photo is with the twinkly lights too, so pretty. Your hot drink looks pretty scrummy too.
    Well done on the savings, I like a glass of wine on a Friday to help me relax into the weekend.
    Lisa x

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    1. A glass of wine on a Friday night sounds just perfect!

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  9. Sometimes you just have to buy yarn! I'm trying to resist buying what I need to crochet a waistcoat but I know I'll give in eventually. I stopped my magazine subscription and now very rarely buy a magazine. I have never drunk alcohol so I'm looking for some other way to improve my skin and make me look 20 years younger!

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    1. If I find the elixir to younger looking skin I'll let you know Gillian!

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  10. Lots of positive changes. I've put myself on a magazine ban, not even looking anymore xx

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    1. oo, good for you on the magazine ban, it's better to just not look isn't it?

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  11. This is really interesting. Where I work is in the middle of no-where, so there are no opportunities for lunchtime shopping, but in my pre-kids job I spent a fortune on coffees and magazines every week. I love a new magazine, but you're right, they are getting so expensive. I sometimes borrow crafting magazines from my library. But well done on the changes, they are all positive and can only make you feel better. x

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  12. You gotta spend on something, Caz, so it might as well be yarn :-) Funny, I also drink twice as much coffee in the office as I do at home.
    Amalia
    xo

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  13. I think I need to curb all spending for a while, you get so used to buying presents for the Holidays that you just keep going, I did make some yarn purchases a while ago and now am on a diet, no more yarn for me for a while.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  14. But you know you will press the checkout button eventually.
    And that probably you will only put one of the three colours back.
    And that the justification will probably be that you haven't had a coffee and a magazine for ages... so why not spend it on wool?

    And that's not bad, really, is it?

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  15. All sound like very positive changes, and my goodness what a lot of money you are saving! It's hard to resist online shopping - a temptation that wasn't there until the last decade or so. When you can sit down with a glass of wine and browse through tempting websites, there's no doubt you are more tempted to spend. X

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Hello, thank you for dropping in on my blog. I hope you found something of interest and I would love to read your comments.
Caz xx