Well done!!!

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A lot of bloggers this time of year are doing their yearly reviews. I think I've already covered most of my good news and my plans for the coming year. So I guess I'll cover current affairs. 

You may or may not have realised that the end of the world didn't happen yesterday as "predicted". I'm glad because I wouldn't have been able to read Monevator's great round up, the highlight for me - "Everyone likes money" - I think we can all at least agree on that. 

The other blog I wanted to point out was mortgagefreeby30, who not only completed his challenge in amazingly quick time, but was also one of the inspirations behind this blog. Well done! Mike has worked really hard on a side hustle, to help him pay off his mortgage. What's next for him? Holidays and a well earned rest I think!

Make it count.

So what's the next step? I've been thinking a lot about whether retiring early is really what I want to do. I think it's a difficult decision to make with the thick end of 70 years in front of me. So I'll just let future Dom worry about it. 

For now I'm still going to concentrate on living well and on a lot lower level of consumerism than the average Joe. 

The new focus will be making each pound count. This thought came to me after talking about Christmas shopping.

Someone told me I was a scrooge for setting spending limits on peoples presents. I tried to educate them in the ways of frugal living. Obviously they didn't get it, FI/RE didn't appeal to them (how would I afford my trip to Disney Land?! WAH WAH). 

So I tried a different tack - not wasting money - squeezing every penny from every pound. Getting exactly your money's worth, if not more! This means not wasting and maybe accepting all the good stuff that comes with this. 

Another benefit of living this way is the change in mindset. You are no longer thinking oh I'll get so and so this jokey gift, they'll think it's hilarious. You start thinking, this joke gift would be hilarious but after 5 mins it would be binned, maybe this useful gift would help them out with that problem they were talking about, or maybe even - hmm, they don't really need anything maybe I'll just focus on cooking a really excellent meal that will be enjoyed by all. Or get a good board game that can get all the family involved in some banter and maybe even let us turn the TV off for half an hour.

Installing this kind of thought pattern has really helped me so far. Or should I say reinstalling? I believe this is what we all grow up having then as consumerism grinds down our conscious thought into the "what to buy nextathon" that is Christmas / sale shopping.

Anyway, hopefully this will be a little food for thought.

Enjoy your holidays.

Stay well.

Dom