Penpal Epidemic

Through bullet journalling I've discovered the joy of having pen pals. I excitedly check the post box every day to see if I have any new letters, and I enjoy writing to people from all over the world. It's so exciting to get letters from strangers, and getting to know them via snail mail. I enjoy writing, and letter writing is helping me to get back into it.

I've written to quite a few people, not all of them have written back, but that's okay. I've received quite a few replies and letters from people, and have gone back and forth a few times with some people too. I'm keeping a log of letters received and posted in my bullet journal, but when I started to get more correspondents I thought I'd better find a way to organise my letters and keep track of hobbies, birthdays, interests etc.

I got a cheap and bright wallet folder organiser, and have turned this into my pen pal storage folder. I've also dedicated a notebook to pen pals, which includes notes on their interests and a post log. This should help me keep track until I get to know my penpals better! As well as put one of my many notebooks to use...I'm a bit of a stationary hoarder, especially since I started to bullet journal.

I currently have 5 letters pending replies, so I'm hoping to spend the weekend catching up on those!

If you come across a penpal group...definitely join it. It's fun to write, and who doesn't love getting post that isn't bills?!

Starting a Bullet Journal

I recently happened across the phenomenon known as a 'Bullet Journal'. I saw this first on Basically Innocent's blog, and instantly wanted to have one of my own. From what I've been looking at online, I would describe a Bullet Journal as...a calendar/diary/journal/to-do list all rolled into one neat notebook that you can get as creative as you want with. This is most definitely my favorite thing ever!

I started with the key - a list of symbols I would be using in my journal, and what they mean. I stuck with the original symbols suggested on the bullet journal website, as I wanted to start simple and modify once I was used to the system. Following this logic, I set up my bullet journal following the BuJo website, and got cracking...

It's been over a month, and I can say I'm a full on bujo-er, and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon!

Here's some pics of my pages, hope they inspire or intrigue you enough to check out the bullet journal system  and give it a try yourselves :)

No-Spend March

I'm challenging myself!

I'm going to cut my spending through March - this mean no more cheeky coffees, or anything else for that matter. I am on a spending ban - other than necessary items like food and petrol. My rules are below, join me if you fancy it!

Rules:
Only buy what you need to live - food and petrol.
No more coffees or lunchtime food trips
Use as much food as you can from what is already in the cupboards/freezer
Use spare time to go through clutter and chuck/keep/sell things

I know full well I am going to find this difficult, especially as I tend to bulk buy food and binge eat. So I have a couple of techniques to help me along the way...
1. Go for walks at lunchtime instead of driving anywhere (saving in petrol and reducing temptation to buy things!)
2. Don't bring my purse out with me
3. When tempted to spend, set a 15 minute timer and do something else that will occupy my attention, when the timer goes off re-evaluate how tempting it is. If youare still likely to spend, set the timer again and distract self - repeat until able to resist! PS - this works for food cravings too...

I'm tracking spending in my Bullet Journal (more on this later) so I'm holding myself accountable! I'll let you know how I get on with this...

Happy March everyone!