Things have been a little tight just recently, especially since we had to get a new car earlier this month and in my inexperience, bought a 2 litre car which is costing far too much to run. When our old car was on it's way out, we discussed how much we could stretch to between us to get a new one and we agreed about £100 a month. Therefore I was pleased to get this oe for only £86 a month. However, we've had it a month now and have spent over £300 in petrol, up from about £150 on average before.
We've looked at returning it to where we bought it but the garage don't want to know so we're stuck with it until we can sell it privately or find a dealer who will exchange it for something smaller but still fairly new. This hasn't made money any easier to come by and so with the football season ending soon, which will be about a £250 a month loss - minus the traveling costs, we're having to look at new ways of saving money.
Milly's sister has just started renting a new place in Sutton and has asked if we want to stay with them for a while, to save money and also so that we can try and get our house fully sorted. It's only a couple of miles from the train station, whilst the Worksop station is just a stones throw from work so that should save a fair amount of money rather than driving every day. We'll also be able to switch our gas off, use less electricity, cancel the phone bill, tv license and Internet direct debits and hopefully the council tax too. All will add up to quite a good saving. I'll look at where else we can save too.
This will help us get the rest of the stuff we need for baby and also I know we'll enjoy living with Abi and Paul. We've not really decided how long we'll be there for just yet. Originally it was for about 4 months until we've sorted the house but they have said we can stay longer if we want. We wouldn't want to put them out, especially with a new born baby screaming all the time but they've said they don't mind. I think it would be nice for Milly to be with them when baby does come as it saves her being on her own miles from her family, I don't want her being one of these Facebook mums who do nothing all day but sit on a laptop!
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Saturday, 2 April 2011
10 Home games in a season
Actually, this goal, whilst set many years ago, it has now slipped down the pecking order and become less of a priority than it once was, although I do still hope to complete it one day. I do believe that I will, the question is when? There's something quite big in the way preventing me from completing this goal at present - real life!
As an avid Liverpool fan all my life, it was hard being younger and having to watch from afar as the lack of money and travel meant that I couldn't be one of the masses out there every Saturday (yes, pre-Sky games were played on a Saturday!), singing on the Kop and enjoying the games from pitchside. I always believed that when I hit the ages of about 17-18+ that I would be an Anfield regular. There was a setback for a number of years in that I couldn't actually drive until I was about 23 and then didn't have any great income until about this time too.
When things did improve for me I did start going to games but not as regularly as hoped. However, taking into account girls, income, distance, the recession, and hobbies, the chance of this target now being met any time in the next 5-10 years seems slim at best.
I never want to be one of those supporters of the grander sides that will happily lap up every ounce of success their team brings but isn't even bothered about making any form of effort to actually go and support them. These are the sort of fans that will be happily traveling down to Wembley with the Stags in May with their mates, but have never seen the insides of Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and the likes, yet will call themselves United / Chelsea fans, be in your face when they win and your club lose and at any other opportunity.
I still make the effort, just not now as much and not anywhere near as much as I'd like to be able to. At the end of the day, I'm not going to be playing football forever, nor refereeing, nor skint! I'm looking forward to taking my son / children to the games and hope we can become regulars and of course that he / she / they share my passion. All will become clearer in time!
As an avid Liverpool fan all my life, it was hard being younger and having to watch from afar as the lack of money and travel meant that I couldn't be one of the masses out there every Saturday (yes, pre-Sky games were played on a Saturday!), singing on the Kop and enjoying the games from pitchside. I always believed that when I hit the ages of about 17-18+ that I would be an Anfield regular. There was a setback for a number of years in that I couldn't actually drive until I was about 23 and then didn't have any great income until about this time too.
When things did improve for me I did start going to games but not as regularly as hoped. However, taking into account girls, income, distance, the recession, and hobbies, the chance of this target now being met any time in the next 5-10 years seems slim at best.
I never want to be one of those supporters of the grander sides that will happily lap up every ounce of success their team brings but isn't even bothered about making any form of effort to actually go and support them. These are the sort of fans that will be happily traveling down to Wembley with the Stags in May with their mates, but have never seen the insides of Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and the likes, yet will call themselves United / Chelsea fans, be in your face when they win and your club lose and at any other opportunity.
I still make the effort, just not now as much and not anywhere near as much as I'd like to be able to. At the end of the day, I'm not going to be playing football forever, nor refereeing, nor skint! I'm looking forward to taking my son / children to the games and hope we can become regulars and of course that he / she / they share my passion. All will become clearer in time!
9. Improve fitness / health
In fairness, I'm not the most unfit person in the world. I don't look out of shape despite my weight fluctuating these past 7 or 8 years between about 10-13 stone - I say about as I very, very rarely weigh myself, I judge mainly by clothes sizes and appearance.
I consider myself to be active, as I referee 3 or 4 football matches every week, albeit not all of them are overly strenuous, whilst I also try and play active, semi-competitive football once or twice a week. There's certainly no problem with my active lifestyle, my main problem is my diet.
If I have or keep my ambitions of progressing as a referee, whilst also wanting to look nice and trim, my diet and overall fitness needs to improve. At some stage in the future, I could have a fitness test to prove my ability as a referee and I know for a fact if I was to take this any time soon I would not pass it. Even prior to that my progress could be hindered by the fact that my diet and fitness isn't good enough to get me refereeing games as well as I could be if it was much better.
My main issue is the beauty of sweets, chocolates and biscuits, as well as irregular eating patterns and unhealthy meals. Because of this, and the need and intention of improving it, I have set a goal to improve it. It is not just for my progression as a referee that I want to improve in this area but as I now enter the beauty and challenge of parenthood, I want to bring up my children in the best possible way which includes keeping them healthy.
To start with, breakfast. This is non-existent in my world. Monday to Friday I sacrifice eating breakfast for either longer in bed or a morning shower. When I get to work I very rarely fetch anything to eat before about 1pm, getting through the morning on just a coffee, not that I am dependent on this. Saturdays and sundays again I very rarely eat anything before going out to referee. Not good to run around for hours on end on an empty stomach.
Then when I do eat, at work it will typically consist of either a meal of chips and something as I can barely afford their prices to eat healthier, or due to eating later and missing the serving of food, I'll end up with pasties and crisps. Not good at all. At weekends, again, very rarely do I have anything particularly substantial for lunch.
I should supplement all of this for a nice hearty evening meal but again this isn't always the case. I don't like not having a good dinner so try to make this the case but it's not always home cooked, it depends on the state of the house, what the plans are etc. Luckily and thankfully, just recently, Milly and her mum go swimming on Mondays and Wednesdays and so her mum does us a dinner each, which are typically always very healthy, very big and very nice! The other days we tend to find ourselves going out for a bite which doesn't always suit the waistline nor the wallet!
So there's even more than diet and fitness that would improve by eating better, I'm sure money would be saved too!
I'll use this target to set myself challenges, or routines etc and identify what I am not doing and ways of improving them. Hopefully this will spur me on to ensure I eat better, as well as ensuring Milly and my children do too, and I'm sure from this my fitness levels will sky rocket, my ability as a referee will improve, my energy at work and at home will improve and life in general will be so much better!
I consider myself to be active, as I referee 3 or 4 football matches every week, albeit not all of them are overly strenuous, whilst I also try and play active, semi-competitive football once or twice a week. There's certainly no problem with my active lifestyle, my main problem is my diet.
If I have or keep my ambitions of progressing as a referee, whilst also wanting to look nice and trim, my diet and overall fitness needs to improve. At some stage in the future, I could have a fitness test to prove my ability as a referee and I know for a fact if I was to take this any time soon I would not pass it. Even prior to that my progress could be hindered by the fact that my diet and fitness isn't good enough to get me refereeing games as well as I could be if it was much better.
My main issue is the beauty of sweets, chocolates and biscuits, as well as irregular eating patterns and unhealthy meals. Because of this, and the need and intention of improving it, I have set a goal to improve it. It is not just for my progression as a referee that I want to improve in this area but as I now enter the beauty and challenge of parenthood, I want to bring up my children in the best possible way which includes keeping them healthy.
To start with, breakfast. This is non-existent in my world. Monday to Friday I sacrifice eating breakfast for either longer in bed or a morning shower. When I get to work I very rarely fetch anything to eat before about 1pm, getting through the morning on just a coffee, not that I am dependent on this. Saturdays and sundays again I very rarely eat anything before going out to referee. Not good to run around for hours on end on an empty stomach.
Then when I do eat, at work it will typically consist of either a meal of chips and something as I can barely afford their prices to eat healthier, or due to eating later and missing the serving of food, I'll end up with pasties and crisps. Not good at all. At weekends, again, very rarely do I have anything particularly substantial for lunch.
I should supplement all of this for a nice hearty evening meal but again this isn't always the case. I don't like not having a good dinner so try to make this the case but it's not always home cooked, it depends on the state of the house, what the plans are etc. Luckily and thankfully, just recently, Milly and her mum go swimming on Mondays and Wednesdays and so her mum does us a dinner each, which are typically always very healthy, very big and very nice! The other days we tend to find ourselves going out for a bite which doesn't always suit the waistline nor the wallet!
So there's even more than diet and fitness that would improve by eating better, I'm sure money would be saved too!
I'll use this target to set myself challenges, or routines etc and identify what I am not doing and ways of improving them. Hopefully this will spur me on to ensure I eat better, as well as ensuring Milly and my children do too, and I'm sure from this my fitness levels will sky rocket, my ability as a referee will improve, my energy at work and at home will improve and life in general will be so much better!
8. Enjoy every minute
This goal means a lot to me as if I achieve it, then I will have had a great life, enjoyed being a parent, a husband, a role model and so much more. I set this not as a target to just tick off at the earliest opportunity, but to remind me - should I need it, that life doesn't last forever and that I should enjoy every second.
There'll be times where I'll be feeling quite low, stressed, angry or upset. In fairness, it doesn't happen very often as I'm a very chilled person. Work doesn't stress me even though at times it can be quite taxing. People in general don't frustrate me. I've learned to live with the pressures of having a little money and considerable but manageable debt, which I am slowly getting on top of. I'd like to think there's more light than gloom at the end of this particular tunnel. I have a beautiful family, soon to be even more perfect by the arrival of my first child, hopefully followed by many more! (I know, one step at a time!)
I just want to make the most of life. I often imagine how perfect it will be when we have children and that there are so many great things we could do with them and not all at a great cost. I want to make the most of every spare second. I don't want to fall into a routine where work or anything else gets in the way of being part of a brilliant family. I want to be the best I can be and go as far as I can with work and other interests, such as my refereeing but this must not come at a cost to my family. I don't want to be too tired to enjoy weekends, or to waste evenings slumped in front of a TV. I want to never be frustrated with my children, I want them to be able to come to me for a chat, for help with their homework, or a cuddle. I've been waiting for years to be a dad and now it's finally my turn. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy it but I've set this target just as a reminder in case there are times that get the better of me when they really shouldn't. Life is precious and too short. Enjoy it!
There'll be times where I'll be feeling quite low, stressed, angry or upset. In fairness, it doesn't happen very often as I'm a very chilled person. Work doesn't stress me even though at times it can be quite taxing. People in general don't frustrate me. I've learned to live with the pressures of having a little money and considerable but manageable debt, which I am slowly getting on top of. I'd like to think there's more light than gloom at the end of this particular tunnel. I have a beautiful family, soon to be even more perfect by the arrival of my first child, hopefully followed by many more! (I know, one step at a time!)
I just want to make the most of life. I often imagine how perfect it will be when we have children and that there are so many great things we could do with them and not all at a great cost. I want to make the most of every spare second. I don't want to fall into a routine where work or anything else gets in the way of being part of a brilliant family. I want to be the best I can be and go as far as I can with work and other interests, such as my refereeing but this must not come at a cost to my family. I don't want to be too tired to enjoy weekends, or to waste evenings slumped in front of a TV. I want to never be frustrated with my children, I want them to be able to come to me for a chat, for help with their homework, or a cuddle. I've been waiting for years to be a dad and now it's finally my turn. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy it but I've set this target just as a reminder in case there are times that get the better of me when they really shouldn't. Life is precious and too short. Enjoy it!
Monday, 10 January 2011
7. Clear all debt
Ok, who hasn't got this on their things to do list? If you're like me, it's been one of your main targets for quite some time now and you're probably a lot less closer to achieving it than when you first set it, right?
Well, this has been my longest target, there's no doubt, and things have certainly been worse before they got better but alas I'm sure somehow there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's just a very long tunnel!
First of all, to do this with the aim to pass it. I need to determine what is meant by the term 'debt'? Strictly speaking, a mortgage is a debt but I hope to mark this target off before I'm in my mid 60's, thank you!
So in this instance, the aim is pretty much to eradicate every item of debt that isn't the mortgage. That includes my personal loan, all overdrafts, all credit cards, everything taken out on finance packages, and anything owed to anyone else. I've quite a lot outstanding at the minute, manageable though but life would be a lot healthier if it was severely reduced.
I've already made a plan of what is coming in and going out over the next few years and will use this to inspire me to pay things off and reduce the outgoings. Besides, who knows what's just around the corner? We already know we have a little one on the way and so incomings may drop whilst Milly is out of work, whilst expenditure is sure to shoot up, what with food, furniture and nappies et al!
Milly is also yet to learn to drive and is planning on starting and passing before junior arrives, so that's going to be an unplanned expense, not to mention whatever we decide to do about running an additional car.
So the plan is to start concentrating on getting things paid off. The first thing is to identify current levels of debt, then focus on certain areas that will make the most difference. This includes paying things off with the highest interest rates, things that are needed to be paid sooner than others, and those that will make the biggest difference to us both in the short term and the long.
The next update to this will look at current levels of debt, covering what is owed to who, interest rates, end dates and will include some sort of plan to getting it paid off! Wish me luck!
Well, this has been my longest target, there's no doubt, and things have certainly been worse before they got better but alas I'm sure somehow there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's just a very long tunnel!
First of all, to do this with the aim to pass it. I need to determine what is meant by the term 'debt'? Strictly speaking, a mortgage is a debt but I hope to mark this target off before I'm in my mid 60's, thank you!
So in this instance, the aim is pretty much to eradicate every item of debt that isn't the mortgage. That includes my personal loan, all overdrafts, all credit cards, everything taken out on finance packages, and anything owed to anyone else. I've quite a lot outstanding at the minute, manageable though but life would be a lot healthier if it was severely reduced.
I've already made a plan of what is coming in and going out over the next few years and will use this to inspire me to pay things off and reduce the outgoings. Besides, who knows what's just around the corner? We already know we have a little one on the way and so incomings may drop whilst Milly is out of work, whilst expenditure is sure to shoot up, what with food, furniture and nappies et al!
Milly is also yet to learn to drive and is planning on starting and passing before junior arrives, so that's going to be an unplanned expense, not to mention whatever we decide to do about running an additional car.
So the plan is to start concentrating on getting things paid off. The first thing is to identify current levels of debt, then focus on certain areas that will make the most difference. This includes paying things off with the highest interest rates, things that are needed to be paid sooner than others, and those that will make the biggest difference to us both in the short term and the long.
The next update to this will look at current levels of debt, covering what is owed to who, interest rates, end dates and will include some sort of plan to getting it paid off! Wish me luck!
6. Learn new home skills and put to use
Having purchased my first home in 2005, I soon realised how over-reliant on my dad I was! Decorating was something I wasn't at all used to nor built for in many respects! General household duties such as D.I.Y, gardening, etc were not my forté by any means and it was something of a shock to the system.
It's probably an indication of the times too as these were skills that were honed into the last generation and came naturally to our dads but at school, technology classes such as woodwork and electrical etc I didn't enjoy nor learn much from.
However, having finally managed to persuade people to buy me D.I.Y kits for the past few Christmas', as well as picking required bits up myself, I have found that the odd bits of home improving that I do, I both enjoy and feel I do well. Often it's just a lack of confidence, time and money that prevent me doing a number of tasks around the house but I want this to change and I want to become more of a man about the house and make our home perfect. Especially as now that we are expecting our first child and I am becoming the dad generation now, I want my children to look up to me, respect me for what I can do and learn from me. I certainly don't want them coming home from school at year 7 and laughing as they can rewire a plug socket and I can't!
There are a number of different skills that I wish to learn, whether these are from trial and error, learning from others, or taking short courses. There's no better time too than when there's a child on the way as I have a nursery to sort out. My next few updates on this target will specify what new skills I wish to acquire as well as the progress with them.
It's probably an indication of the times too as these were skills that were honed into the last generation and came naturally to our dads but at school, technology classes such as woodwork and electrical etc I didn't enjoy nor learn much from.
However, having finally managed to persuade people to buy me D.I.Y kits for the past few Christmas', as well as picking required bits up myself, I have found that the odd bits of home improving that I do, I both enjoy and feel I do well. Often it's just a lack of confidence, time and money that prevent me doing a number of tasks around the house but I want this to change and I want to become more of a man about the house and make our home perfect. Especially as now that we are expecting our first child and I am becoming the dad generation now, I want my children to look up to me, respect me for what I can do and learn from me. I certainly don't want them coming home from school at year 7 and laughing as they can rewire a plug socket and I can't!
There are a number of different skills that I wish to learn, whether these are from trial and error, learning from others, or taking short courses. There's no better time too than when there's a child on the way as I have a nursery to sort out. My next few updates on this target will specify what new skills I wish to acquire as well as the progress with them.
5. Attend a major European game at Anfield
Growing up a huge Liverpool fan was great for me but it was always disappointing that tickets and travel for games was always so difficult to acquire, or too expensive. I dreamed of the days where I could drive and take myself and friends / family to the games, and where money wasn't an issue. Sadly, the fact is that unless there's a huge shift in the financial side of football, or my personal situation in terms of money and location changes, I'm stuck with making it as and when I can, which means very rarely these days.
One of my major ambitions, particularly following such amazing nights as at Anfield against Olympiakos, Barcelona, and the Chelsea games, was that I NEED to be at one of these games and experience that amazing atmosphere first hand. Sure I've been to Anfield and experienced a great atmosphere, sat on the Kop, and seen some great games, there's still a desire to make one of those magic nights that get remembered for years.
Technically, I achieved the original version of this target, set in 2005 to simply attend a home European tie. Following our amazing Champions League triumph in 2005, I went to 2 of the 3 qualifying rounds the following year, against T.N.S and FC Kaunas. But whilst these were decent games, and I witnessed an impressive Steven Gerrard hat trick, they weren't magic nights. I needed them to be bigger games, therefore the criteria changed to being full Champions League games, rather than just qualifiers. This was to taste the full atmosphere on a European night, which are aided by the fact that the ground is full of your cream of the crop LFC fans, rather than the ones (like myself?) who pick up tickets to the lesser and cheaper games, such as euro qualifiers...
After Athens in 2007, where I achieved a lifelong dream to attend a Liverpool European cup final, I became much more active in seeking tickets to the bigger games and connections made on my travels meant that it might not be too long before my dream European night was met.
In 2007/08, I thought my time had come when I secured tickets for Liverpool v Marseilles, my first Champions League proper game. The tickets were in the Anfield Road End and so the atmosphere wasn't quite as special and a 1-0 loss didn't make for the best experience, so I persevered. The next one was in the 8-0 annihilation of Besiktas. Whilst the game will be one remembered for many years, sat in the Main Stand, again, the atmosphere, though fantastic, still didn't have that electric feel to it. Yes, Liverpool needed to win the game to stay on course for qualification to the knockout stages but by the 5th or 6th goal, the feeling was more that of a walk in the park than a top European encounter.
The game needed to be bigger and so the criteria changed once again. A group game wasn't just going to be enough it needed to be knockout football. My next set of European tickets were against Benfica in the UEFA Cup Quater Finals against Benfica, which were followed up by Semi Final tickets against Atletico Madrid. These were in the 2009/10 season when we had seriously faltered in league and domestic cups and so this competition was the only potential saving grace to our season, but still, our priority maintained the chase for 4th place in the league to ensure Champions League football. This had an adverse affect on the games yet again as many regulars chose to stay away so the atmosphere were still great yet subdued. It was better for the Atletico game, especially experiencing the pre match atmosphere in the pub and around around the ground, certainly my best atmosphere since Athens but as we lost that game, I still feel that this target is yet to be completed.
So here are the criteria I believe would give me enough tk say, Yes, that was it!
- Home champions league game in the knockout stages, the later round, the better, I.e. Semi final. Preferably second leg too.
- Grand opposition
- Kop end
- Great game, great atmosphere
- Game winners
I think this would just about do it, topped off by possibly meeting someone like Man United in the next round / final!
One of my major ambitions, particularly following such amazing nights as at Anfield against Olympiakos, Barcelona, and the Chelsea games, was that I NEED to be at one of these games and experience that amazing atmosphere first hand. Sure I've been to Anfield and experienced a great atmosphere, sat on the Kop, and seen some great games, there's still a desire to make one of those magic nights that get remembered for years.
Technically, I achieved the original version of this target, set in 2005 to simply attend a home European tie. Following our amazing Champions League triumph in 2005, I went to 2 of the 3 qualifying rounds the following year, against T.N.S and FC Kaunas. But whilst these were decent games, and I witnessed an impressive Steven Gerrard hat trick, they weren't magic nights. I needed them to be bigger games, therefore the criteria changed to being full Champions League games, rather than just qualifiers. This was to taste the full atmosphere on a European night, which are aided by the fact that the ground is full of your cream of the crop LFC fans, rather than the ones (like myself?) who pick up tickets to the lesser and cheaper games, such as euro qualifiers...
After Athens in 2007, where I achieved a lifelong dream to attend a Liverpool European cup final, I became much more active in seeking tickets to the bigger games and connections made on my travels meant that it might not be too long before my dream European night was met.
In 2007/08, I thought my time had come when I secured tickets for Liverpool v Marseilles, my first Champions League proper game. The tickets were in the Anfield Road End and so the atmosphere wasn't quite as special and a 1-0 loss didn't make for the best experience, so I persevered. The next one was in the 8-0 annihilation of Besiktas. Whilst the game will be one remembered for many years, sat in the Main Stand, again, the atmosphere, though fantastic, still didn't have that electric feel to it. Yes, Liverpool needed to win the game to stay on course for qualification to the knockout stages but by the 5th or 6th goal, the feeling was more that of a walk in the park than a top European encounter.
The game needed to be bigger and so the criteria changed once again. A group game wasn't just going to be enough it needed to be knockout football. My next set of European tickets were against Benfica in the UEFA Cup Quater Finals against Benfica, which were followed up by Semi Final tickets against Atletico Madrid. These were in the 2009/10 season when we had seriously faltered in league and domestic cups and so this competition was the only potential saving grace to our season, but still, our priority maintained the chase for 4th place in the league to ensure Champions League football. This had an adverse affect on the games yet again as many regulars chose to stay away so the atmosphere were still great yet subdued. It was better for the Atletico game, especially experiencing the pre match atmosphere in the pub and around around the ground, certainly my best atmosphere since Athens but as we lost that game, I still feel that this target is yet to be completed.
So here are the criteria I believe would give me enough tk say, Yes, that was it!
- Home champions league game in the knockout stages, the later round, the better, I.e. Semi final. Preferably second leg too.
- Grand opposition
- Kop end
- Great game, great atmosphere
- Game winners
I think this would just about do it, topped off by possibly meeting someone like Man United in the next round / final!
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