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“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” – Mark Twain

We have done a lot of driving lately. Well actually I have done a lot of sitting in the passenger seat as hubby loves driving. It gives me time to look at the scenery, read and listen to the kids fight.

A couple of articles I came across were of people who had changed their lives drastically. One went from being a very sedentary person who was hugely over weight to a fit healthy person running long distances. Another took a leap of faith and gave up their long standing career to start a business organising women’s travel tours.

It got me thinking. What is the trigger? How does a person who doesn’t exercise and is overweight suddenly find the motivation or will to change? How does a person find the faith or courage to make a big life change? Is the thought like a seed that grows into a blooming flower that can no longer be ignored.

I used to run. I still do occasionally but not like I did. The hardest part of going for a run is getting your shoes on and going. Always the start. Never the end, that’s the euphoric bit.

So is they key just starting with a small simple step like Mark Twain said? I guess if you are consistent then it will grow like a tumble weed.

Where does this idea leave me? What small step would I like to start with or what small steps have I started that I want to be consistent with a have continued growth in.

Last year was a year of reflection and while I learned a lot about myself and know that I want to progress towards an element of financial freedom and early retirement. I have a time line in mind but what simple steps can I take that will help develop the skills I need to get there?

As always lots of questions and never many answers.

Financially I think that if we continue with our relatively frugal lifestyle then we will be on track.

But where we will live and what our life will look like is where I want to begin to see some growth. Time to perhaps delve into what different lifestyles look like. A slightly rural life has always tickled my thoughts. Maybe we will be one of those urban families that sell everything up and move off grid. Who knows?

I was on Facebook and a post popped up asking for ideas to save money. Not everyday ideas but crazy ones. The example given was egg whites as pore strips???

As I read through the comments they were all about how to save on what I would call very recent items.

Many items wouldn’t have existed 100 + years ago.

It really got me thinking. As I wandered around our house later in the day I couldn’t help noticing how many items we have that wouldn’t have existed in many previous years. Pretty much every item in plastic. I had considered us to be fairly minimal people but as I wandered around I felt like we were surrounded by crap.

Crap that has been put in a colourful bottle and sold to me as something that will make my life better or easier.

Do we really need a tons of plastic containers or a spray that makes your hair silky soft or teeth whitening strips, 27 lip balms (found those in my daughter’s room)?

The statement the year we go back in time was just a phrase thrown at the kids to say we were keeping life simple this year.

After some thinking I am going to make it this year’s mission statement. Instead of buying I’m going to ask “What would my Great Grandmother have done?”

Sure there are items we need. But there are plenty that are recent inventions. The teens bathroom has purple toothpaste FFS.

So as we run out of things I will be thinking very hard about whether they are replaced. Is there a simpler solution or do we even need it in the first place?

One of the aims for this year is to slow down! While it sounds so contradictory I am so much more productive when I am not rushing. When rushing I tend to miss things or get overwhelmed and just don’t do the 5 minute things that make a real difference to our lives and budget. When I slow down I feel more in control I logically move through things and so much more gets done.

I am really working hard to keep the feeling of urgency that I have created over years of feeling overwhelmed in check. One thing at a time.

I decided for the month of January that we would shop from home and use what we had at home first before any supermarket shops. We have allowed fresh fruit, vege, eggs and milk as a top up if we need. Luckily we tend to get a fair amount of produce gifted at this time of the year when it is in abundance. Often swapped for fish or game. I love bartering and feel it has a solid place in building a community of support around you.

This has encouraged me to allow more time to cook and I have been trying new recipes and finding that I am enjoying creating simple meals from scratch. Interestingly I am finding it a nice wind down at the end of the day and much more effective that a glass or two of wine- which does not fit in the budget this year. A story for another day.

I labelled the year, “The Year we go back in time” for the kids. We let them know there would be none of todays “conveniences”. The Uber eats, the millions of streaming sites ( we let them keep one), the stops daily at the supermarket because we didn’t get meat out, the bought lunches when we can make it. The millions of apps on our phones designed to make life easier, the packaged snacks and instant meals. The hours lost on social media.

I feel as though all of these things that are available to us to make life easier just create brain clutter. The reality is that by the time we all agree on what to order from Uber eats and it arrives, I could have cooked dinner for a quarter of the price and in less time. Takeaways in New Zealand are super expensive it could easily be over $100 for the 4 of us to have takeaways.

This is not to say we will not be having takeaways they definitely have there place. I have no issues stopping for drive through at 7pm on a Sunday night when we still have two hours of travel ahead of us.

The reality is if you have taken the time to be organised and have kept things simple it seems easier. I was of the belief that my life was so busy and I had very little extra time, however since I dramatically reduced my drinking and my time spent scrolling social media I have plenty of time to be organised. I was just wasting it before.

So lets see how the year we go back in time works out for us. Simple, quiet, slowing down.

We are ow a couple of weeks into 2026 and I decided it was time to have a look at the Year that was.

There was a lot of learning and growth made in the year.

I spent a lot of time getting our finances in order reviewing them and making changes and this means that going into the New Year we are pretty much set up. It certainly takes the pressure off feeling as though the processes that we have in place are finally working for us. As long as we stick to the budget. I love budgeting and being frugal and this is something I would like to share more with others. How this will look I am not sure.

This year the focus is on building our investment accounts with a future view on being able to make changes to our lifestyle over the next 4 to 5 years.

A bathroom renovation is on the list and will be the only major spending this year.

I spent much of my time last year reflecting on things that had happened in the past and processing how this has shaped me and the decisions that I have made. I have decided to leave this in 2025 and move forward. We make decisions with the knowledge that we have at the time. As long as it is the best decision in that moment then that is all you can do. I am refusing to stress this year. It literally changes nothing and it steals the moment. The only thing that changes a situation is action.

I did very little exercise last year and so this year I am focusing on my health and wellbeing. Exercising and getting my body moving and stronger. Our diet last year was meh. Too many takeaways and not enough fruits and vegetables. We are focusing on what we put in our bodies and how they react to that. Trying to educate the children on what they put into their bodies as well.

Last year felt like a rush. I want to slow down and keep things very simple this year. I want to spend more time writing, reading and cooking and making sure that I am enjoying the moment when doing them.

We have just had three weeks off work and I feel as though we did very little with the time off. We achieved a few things that were on our list but I really missed the family holiday that we usually take and creating memories. So thins year we will definitely be planning a holiday somewhere.

In regards to our business the plan is still to walk away in about 4 years time. So every decision that we make will be with that in mind. This year will be about thinking about what we want to do with our time after that and looking at what we need to do to make those things happen.

Goodbye 2025 you were a busy but good year. Here’s to 2026 and all the things to come.

This is a word that for some reason lately keeps popping up in my life. It is so crazy how that happens.

I watched an instagram post where a mother was going through her daily protocol that she used for her child with terminal Cancer. She called it her miracle. I am certainly praying it is for her. However, it got me thinking about the protocol that she follows maybe some of it is working who knows but it is giving her some control in a situation that is out of her control.

So I began thinking about my own daily protocol and I realised I didn’t really have a consistent one. What are the things that I do everyday to help my life function better? It seemed I was all over the place.

So I decided to start. I started simple. I added 2 tablets of MSM to my daily diet and 2 litres of water- everyday!

A week later I added a hormone balancing supplement, a digestive aid and an eating window (I am still playing around with this).

This week I added a collagen supplement and a 9pm bedtime that includes a cup of tea and

I am being totally consistent right down to the times that I take these and I feel great. I am sleeping better, my skin feels better and looks better and weirdly I have lost nearly 2kg (probably fluid retention but I will celebrate it).

I am looking forward to what will happen next week when I add a daily 20 minute walk into my protocol.

It gives me a routine to follow and control that I am doing something to help my body and the way it reacts to life.