Hello there lovelies,
This isn't my usual fare, but I've had a lot of things on my mind lately. I'm hoping that if I let all of those things spill out onto a (web)page that it might help me sort things out in my head. The Post Secret image up there pretty much sums up the way that I'm feeling at the moment. I'm struggling again at the moment. Despite my life being pretty damn great in the scheme of things, I'm feeling more and more like I did about two & a half years ago, when I went through a pretty major stage of depression, and panic attacks.
It sounds cliché to say, but all those little things really build up, don't they? The Boyfriend has now been out of work for a few months, and it seems like a situation that is likely to continue. Not through any fault of his mind you, but the job market in Brisbane seems so tight right now. So many people are looking for work, everyone is desperate & almost at breaking point. I am basically on the minimum Australian wage in my retail job, and well over half my wage every week is spent on rent alone - add groceries & fuel on top of that, and there's pretty much nothing left. On top of that, our plans for moving to Wagga Wagga fell through about a month ago - the house we were going to move into is being sold, and we no longer have the funds to finance moving anyway. I have been sick for coming up on two months now. Of all things, pretty much the basic cold virus is wreaking havoc on me. Apparently, my immune system must be fairly weak at the moment, so if anyone so much as sneezes in my direction the virus flares up again.
Anyway, I'm not only here to ramble about how crappy I feel - I'm also here to ramble about what I'm doing to try and make things better. The Boyfriend & I have a master plan, which involves him getting a particular job in the next six months and getting me set up to start studying photography at the beginning of next year. This master plan hinges on two things - firstly, we need to cut back our costs of living (groceries, debts, phone bill etc.) considerably, and The Boyfriend needs to lose about 20kgs to qualify for the job he wants. We've been taking steps to get there. We had a little bit extra cash in the last few weeks, thanks to The Boyfriend being smart enough to get credit card insurance & a particularly lovely Centrelink lady. We've used that little bit extra to set ourselves up with a vegetable garden & a little herb garden. We've been able to eat some of our own vegies & herbs already, and it really helps with the grocery bill. We also got a bit of a worm farm going, for compost & liquid fertilizer. Does it make me weird that it actually makes my day nicer to take care of the worms? It does? Oh ok.
The point of all this rambling is that I want your help! Working in retail for so long now has made it a lot harder for me to "think thrifty". Of course, being depressed hasn't helped - at the moment simply cooking a meal seems like such a insurmountable task, and my creative energy seems to have run away. I'd like your help with getting it back. I'm trying to rearrange my thinking by surrounding myself with people (& blogs, for that matter) that are positive, inspiring, and encourage me to do things myself, instead of bitching out & spending money that I don't have. If you have a favourite DIY blog, or a cooking blog, or a crafty blog, or a second-hand super heroes blog, I'd love the link! If you have awesome recipes, or thrifty tips to share, I'd love to hear them! Basically, if you have any advice for The Boyfriend & I about cutting back expenses & living a simpler life, then I'd really appreciate it.
Until next time, xo.
P.S. Don't be surprised if I produce more rambling on this topic in the near future.
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