Get to Sleep 2022

Debt-free

Every year on New Year we wake up and give ourselves new goals. But realistically how achievable are these goals? This year I woke up and said to myself "I will be debt-free by the end of this year. That's all very well but is it achievable? Possibly if I worked three jobs every day and had no life for a whole year! We're talking $24,500 worth of debt here which in comparison to some people is not a lot. But for a single person with one main income, it's a struggle.

So thinking about it I wrote on a piece of paper ways to achieve this goal to make it seem more possible. The results are surprising.

Step One:

Ask a financial advisor for help. My debt was more I contacted Debtfix New Zealand and managed to negotiate two loans down to affordable amounts and pay them both. Left with one loan I have since contacted Good Shepard Loans New Zealand. This is still a working progress but I can tick this box.

Step Two:

With the help of the financial advisor negotiate a fair figure and/or a lower interest rate. This step is currently in process.

Step Three:

Once sorted pay more than the minimum requirement on the rest of the loan.

Step Four:

Find other sources of income to help pay the debt and other expenses. This box is also ticked.

Healthier Lifestyle:

I have never been a fan of diets. It seems they do work while you're sticking to them. Once you finish though I find most people got back to their original size. I eat what I want to eat when I want to, to an extent. Like most people, there are things that I shouldn't or can't eat. But I try to be consistent in my food consumption. I believe consistency is the key to weight loss.

I'm also not a believer in breakfast being the most important meal of the day. I rarely eat breakfast. If I do I generally tend to skip another meal. I believe one should eat when they are hungry only. I do my best to try and eat two full meals in a day. I'm not a big person but there is room for improvement.

My main goal for a healthier lifestyle this year is to walk more and sleep better. One change I'm determined to make is to go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier. But to do this I'm first concentrating on goal one. Become debt-free. I find one main reason in life for not sleeping well is constant worry about something. The stress of having something lingering over you like debt for example that is out of control. For other people. this could be related to something completely different.

'Find the cause of the problem and figure out the solution.'

'Less stress, fewer worries, better sleep.'

Finish what I start

We all have something we have started but haven't quite finished for whatever reason. In the second year of Covid-19, I wrote my first kids' book on science and nutrition. Then lockdown happened and because I couldn't visit the person helping me edit it, it's currently in progress. My goal is to complete this and hopefully get it published this year. This also has the potential to be another source of income for step 4 and I can again tick that box.

Save Money

For some people this is easy. But I have always struggled. I've always felt it would be far easier to save money on top of a large sum of funds already in your bank account. Unfortunately at this point, I don't have that. I have two goals here:

Goal One:

Save $2,000 in 8 weeks from my main source of income.

Goal Two:

Save $2,000 in 10 weeks from my secondary source of income.

I feel that both of these goals are achievable if I set my mind on them.

Explore Nature

I realized this year that there are so many wonderful nature experiences in my own county I haven't even experienced. Once I can I plan on doing a lot of walking around New Zealand's beautiful scenic parks and native bush walks. Since I'm wanting to save money, exploring nature seems like the perfect choice for this year's adventures. Also will encourage me to walk more. Of course, nothing is entirely free. You still need money to get there and food for the journey. But some experiences are worth paying for.

'Setting your goals a bit smaller will help the impossible seem possible.'

Happy New Year!

Copyright by Elizabeth Janssen ©