You have survived Christmas and the empties from your New Year’s Eve festivities are in the recycling bin so I guess it is the time to make our resolutions.
Here are a few of the bigger categories for me, not in any specific order.
SHOPPING – My first resolution is to plan ahead and to take advantage of every opportunity. The sales are on at the moment, so I am going to hit the shops to buy chocolates for Valentine’s Day. Chocolates usually don’t come in Christmas boxes and if they do then re-box them. 14th of February is only six weeks away and the prices will be much dearer.
I am also going to be on the look out for any inexpensive little gift items that I can have on hand such as high quality bath products, lip-glosses etc but only purchase items that are REALLY marked down.
The same goes for wrapping paper; lots of holiday paper can be used for other occasions. I try to buy one roll in white (good for wedding gifts) and one roll in an abstract motif. These will keep me going throughout the year. For girlie gifts, I wrap in little items in pages of old fashion magazines.
FOOD – Planning is the key to leading a lush Lean life; I will plan my meals around what is on offer and in season. I will visit the supermarket in the evening when food is marked down and stuff my freezer with said items.
When I roast a chicken, I will make stock to make soup and sauces.
CLOTHING – I will polish my shoes and boots regularly to extend their looks and life span. Repair and dry clean any clothing that needs it as soon as possible. Hand wash all knits on a regular basis as moths love soiled sweaters.
I will always wash my lingerie in a mesh lingerie bag such as this one from Muji. Lingerie bags extends the life of your lingerie which is very Lean.
GRATITUDE – I will appreciate how lucky I really am, regardless of my financial situation. I have a roof over my head, food in my freezer, the most wonderful man, lovely friends and family. Who cares about the new ‘it’ bag.
Knowing all this, I will try to give something back by going through my clothing at least twice a year and donating the items that are not Ebay worthy to my local charity shop.
Charity shops cannot take bras but BreastTalk does. They run a bra appeal that provides them to women, who can’t afford them around the world. For every kilo collected BCR Textiles pays £1, which goes directly to the Breast Cancer Campaign.
Well that is pretty much my big Lean resolutions. What are your big idea resolutions? I do have more specific resolutions such as put more money towards my credit card debt, more money into my savings account and learn a new craft in 2009 but those are for another post.