My little 'Pot of Dreams'

I have never been very good at saving money, especially when I already have a lot of money coming out. I don't have a fantastically paid job, I am pretty much on minimum wage, I have my car finance, phone bill, flat and food to pay for as well as general money to have a nice time on the weekends. I definitely know that I am not the only one in this position which is what lead me to write this blog post. My partner and myself are looking at buying a house within the next year, but we have been advised to save up a fair amount of money before this happens to pay for things like stamp duty, or to decorate. I have found a few ways that really help when saving a bit of money without feeling like I am leaving myself short.

I invested in a little piggy bank called a 'Pot of Dreams' where it states if you fill it up to the top with £2 coins then you'll have £1000! You also have to smash the piggy bank in order to get the money out - so no stealing from your own fund! I have however adapted the £2 scheme slightly in order to save more. I still put £2 coins in whenever I get them but I have also started to put notes in as well. I sometimes babysit so the money I get for that will often end up in there too.

I found that I don't generally realise that I am saving money because its only £2 here and there. But every little helps and every little adds up. I am also really excited when the time comes to smash it so I can see how much I have saved!

How do you handle change?

  

"Change is the essence of life. 

Be willing to surrender what you are for 

what you could become"

What does change mean to you? I for one, can honestly say, i do not deal with change well. Change sends alarm bells ringing in my head, makes my whole body freeze and i get a horrible sick feeling within my stomach. It takes a lot for me to learn to deal with change, i can deal with change within my environment, but when its personally happening to me, i kind of freak out. Is that even normal? Who knows.

So what inspired this blog post? Well, you might have already guessed, yes, change is definitely on its way. But why am i so scared of change? Change is supposed to be for the good, although everyone knows, it can also make you worse off. 

I have spent the last three years working so incredibly hard, dealing with abundance's of stress and lacking in a social life to complete my degree and to get myself in a decent job. Although, now this is no longer the thing thats keeping me motivated, excited and happy, its now the complete opposite. I am dreading the change of a new job. 

Ever since i started properly working on building my career i have started from the bottom and worked my way up. I started as a apprentice, so no one expected anything of me, if it did something wrong or i was unsure how to do something, no one looked at me as if i was stupid, because they knew i was only an apprentice. Although, no i will be leaving a job i know back to front as i have been doing it for 7 years and go into a job i know nothing about. 

That scares the shit out of me. 

You might be thinking "you've done three years at university on the job you want to go into, you must know something". Although that is kind of true, its kind of false too. My degree was an overview of the social sector, so it involved everything but nothing was specific. So i could apply for lots of different job roles and for my course to still be relevant, as i wasn't limited to just one job role. 

Although it may not seem it, i feel more positive about the situation than i did a few weeks ago. I have tried to turn this once positive change back round to become a positive change once again. 

Somethings that helped me put things into perspective and look and things more positively:

1. Talking. Talking about things with another person can change your outlook on something by the end of the conversation. Your mind has an amazing (but scary) way or making things out to be ten times worse than they actually are. Getting someone else's perspective can help with your own.
2. Remind yourself why you want this change, or why this change is happening. Changes only happen if you are willing to let them. 
3. Write all your thoughts and emotions down. It helps a lot, hence this blog post!

A surprise trip to Paris and Disneyland!

My ever so lovely boyfriend surprised me with a trip to Paris for my birthday over the festive season. However, due to the horrendous things that happened in Paris in November, he had to tell me where we was going so we could both make the decision if we still wanted to go or not. Although, thats the only thing i knew, throughout the holiday there was lots and lots of surprises, including Disneyland!! I am the biggest kid ever when it comes to Disney, so this made me so unbelievably happy!

Paris is such a amazing and beautiful city. It is somewhere i have always wanted to go and it has been on my top city to see for some time! There is something about city life that just fascinates me, i love them all, although, i would never want to live in one permanently i do love to visit them!

Here are some snaps from our trip..