Good morning/good afternoon/good evening. I’ve only been back in work a week, but TGIF! Returning to work after two weeks of annual leave was not easy. I’m aware that I’m repeating myself, but I can’t believe that it’s the first day of October today. I also can’t believe that if everything goes to plan, I’ll be walking 26.2 miles on Sunday.
I’m aware that I’ve not posted on here since I shared my August personal challenge update a month ago. Apologies for the continued silence and for the lack of blog posts. Work has been difficult, and I’ve unfortunately been struggling a lot with my mental health, so I decided to take a longer break from blogging.
If you read the three personal challenge posts I published at the beginning of the year, you’ll be aware that I set myself some money-saving challenges for 2021.
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If you haven’t read these posts, please do check them out; Challenge 1 | Challenge 2 | Challenge 3
Challenge 1: Will I be able to get through the year without buying any new clothes and shoes?
Although, I failed this challenge in style back in May, I decided to continue to share monthly updates as I’ve always tried to be open and honest on this blog. I also had a theory that if I continued with the monthly updates, I’d be more likely to avoid treating myself to new clothes and shoes.
I’m a little ashamed to admit that I bought some more jeans! When Dorothy Perkins emailed me to say that my favourite jeans were finally available in my size, I snapped up a couple of pairs before they sold out again.
September wasn’t a month of failures. I’ve ‘outgrown’ most of my winter coats, so when I spotted this gilet on Fairfax and Favor, I very almost bought myself one.
[Source]
After spending an unhealthy amount of time weighing up the pros and cons of treating myself, I decided that I couldn’t really justify spending almost £300 on an item of clothing. C*****mas is rapidly approaching and I’m trying to save rather than spend money. I’ve also reached the stage that if I treat myself to nice things, I instantly feel guilty. Does anyone else experience this? Adulting is hard.
Challenge 2: Can this shopaholic get through the year without entering any races and without buying any more running clothes?
My knee injury means that I’m still unable to run so the race #FOMO stayed away. If everything goes to plan, I’ll be walking the virtual London Marathon on Sunday and the virtual Boston Marathon the following Sunday. My feet are currently not in a happy place, so without sounding negative, I’ll be amazed if I manage to walk the 26.2 mile distance twice. After feeling a little under the weather during September, I’ve lowered my expectations and will be over the moon if I manage to complete the 26.2 miles once.
Like last month, volunteering at parkrun helped reduce the race related #FOMO. I volunteered as a tail walker at my local parkrun in Sutton Park twice and at Beacon parkrun in Lichfield once. I also volunteered as a funnel manager once which was great fun. I love this photo from a couple of weeks ago, I’m proud to be a number and stats geek.
[Photo: Nicola Baker]
My knee injury means that for the foreseeable future, I’ll be volunteering rather than running at parkrun. I enjoy volunteering more than running so that’s absolutely fine; parkrun will hopefully be there when I’m fit enough to run 5k. I’ve set myself the aim of completing my 50th parkrun by the end of the year. I’ve completed 42 events so if everything goes to plan, I should be able to join the 50 club by the end of the year.
I’ve always found the second aspect of this challenge more difficult. I purchased a variety of energy gels from XMiles https://xmiles.co.uk/ , tried them out on my longer training walks, and was reminded that my stomach does not like energy gels. I still have several items of running gear and a few running accessories to test out and review and I had to turn down several what I describe as running related review opportunities as I have no idea when or if I’ll be able to run again.
Challenge 3: Can I make £2021 in 2021 through a selection of side hustles and other sources of income such as cashback websites?
And finally, how much money did I manage to make through my various side hustles and other sources of income during September? Was September more successful than August? As in previous months, I’ve listed each side-hustle and source of income separately.
Selected side hustles
Other sources of income
September total: £263.66
Rolling 2021 total: £2717.01
September was more successful than August and I’m feeling confident I’ll be able to meet the new, more challenging target I set myself a couple of months ago. My original aims for September were reasonably straightforward and given that I had two weeks of annual leave, achievable. I started September with the aim of completing at least 20 studies on Prolific Academic and of selling 15 items on Facebook and eBay. Unfortunately, my motivation completely disappeared, so I decided to give myself a break from both Prolific Academic and from selling online.
As for my other sources of income, as in previous months, without my share dividends my monthly total would have been £23.83. I’m most definitely not looking forward to the day I have to sell my shares. I’ve said it before, but without my share dividends I would have struggled to achieve my original £2021 target. Interest from my bank accounts contributed £0.63 to the September total and I redeemed some of the points I’d collected on my Bistrot Pierre loyalty card.
What about the all important ‘random’ category? I continued with my Ocado food deliveries and returned £2.70 worth of carrier bags.
Now that I’ve reviewed September, it’s time for me to look ahead to October.
Some of my goals for the month ahead will look familiar. I’ve set myself a target of completing at least 20 Prolific Academic studies. Although my motivation is still non-existent, C*****mas is rapidly approaching and I desperately need to boost my income, so I’m aiming to sell 15 items on Facebook and eBay. Like last month, if I don’t meet these targets, I won’t be too disappointed. Now that I’ve accepted that my side hustles and other sources of income are completely out of my control, I’ve stopped getting upset and feeling stressed if they don’t contribute much to my monthly total.
And finally, I hope that you enjoyed reading this quick update as much as I enjoyed writing it 🙂
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