MONDAY GOALS #2

My Monday Goals post last week proved to be a popular one so I thought I'd post nice and early this morning despite it being Bank Holiday here in the UK. Whilst most people are in bed with a hangover, I'm here with my *smug little self writing four new goals for the next seven days. (*Please read smug as didn't go out last night so watched X Factor, cried at the end of it and went to bed).

But first let's see how I got on with last week's goals. First up, a massive fail in the fact that I didn't get to the gym once *embarrassed monkey emoji* - and the worst thing is, I was off work for the whole week on holiday so I literally had no excuse. I did however start on the decluttering process and filled three bags full of bits for the charity shop and once large bag full of rubbish. And that was just the spare room. I'm going to carry on doing that until I completely rid of all crap I don't need, use or want. I didn't get to design my new prints, but I did end up doing 8 print orders this week which kept me nice and busy and my blog's Future Plan is well underway. I even went to M&S to buy a brand new notebook. Every new plan needs new stationery.

Despite not managing to stick to some of my goals this week, it definitely gave me the kick up the arse I needed to sort bits out I've needed to for months, so I closed the week feeling a little more accomplished than I would have done if I hadn't set them in the first place.

Anyway, let's get on to the brand new week...

Cook From Fresh

I did a big shop this week - you know where you go to pick up some mayo and end up spending £65. I bought fruit, veg and filled my fridge with goodies like avocados, salmon - I even got things in for breakfast which so isn't like me. To any normal person, that would be deemed relatively normal, but for me I can go for weeks without food in the fridge because I buy things daily. But the things I pick up daily are usually crap, are always microwavable, completely unhealthy and cost me a small fortune. So these past couple of days I've been having three good meals a day - not diet food, but just nice hearty meals. And nothing has been microwaved. Yippee. I want to carry this on through the next seven days and I've even made a plan of what I'm eating for each day so nothing goes to waste. I dread to think of how much money I throw away on food that gets forgotten about and thrown in the bin.

Get Socially Organised

OK, so I have a really bad habit of either completely forgetting about social media or absolutely hammering it. I'd ideally like to get my backside into gear and get socially organised. Tweetdeck for me is perfect but I need to look into setting some time aside on a morning to knuckle down with Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. I know they say you should just concentrate on one, but I love them all - it would be like asking me to pick out of my cats Shirley and Audrey. I just couldn't do it. So I'm really going to try and work on scheduling more social media bits and bobs, Pinning more and doing at least one Insta a day. I also need to reply to comments more often because this morning I had nearly 40 comments that had built up and I like to reply to everyone so as you can imagine, it took absolutely ages. 

Facts and Figures

I always live by the quote, "they can only say no" when it comes to things for work. That's what made me push for an interview with Nicole Richie when I worked for a women's magazine and I bloody well got it. Me, Victoria from Leeds interviewed Nicole Richie just because I asked for what I wanted (and she had a product to push at the time). I'm the same with this blog in terms of approaching brands to work with, but I need to get down to some serious blogging business and create a profesh media pack. I can't go to the big boys with just any old rubbish so this week's task is to gather all my blog facts and figures and write a great opening statement before I hunt down a cool layout on Etsy. Etsy if you didn't' know is amazing for things like this for your blog, you can get a new design, media packs, a new header - basically anything design-y. 

Budget, Budget, Budget

I'm really trying to stick to a budget this month, as in I don't spend a penny over what I've allocated for everything from food to petrol. I keep going on about my money saving mission but it's also so I can see if I can actually stick to it. I always end up with very little or no extra money at the end of the month, so having a very strict budget is my way of working out where I waste all that dollar every payday. I like a challenge and walking around the supermarket trying to tot up as I get to £30 - AND NOT A PENNY OVER - for the week's shopping is certainly a challenge. I'm not even through the first week of hardcore budgeting but so far, so good.

I'd love to know what your goals are this week and if any of mine have hit home with you?