GARETH LEARNED…
There is a lot of stigma attached with being in debt.
ONB would have been impossible if we had tried to keep it from our friends and family.
So we were very vocal about it!
We even started a blog ☺
The more people who knew the better as the fewer awkward situation we found ourselves in - it can get very depressing saying ‘No’ to things all the time.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Lesson Number 10: Know why you’re doing it and remind yourself constantly
GARETH LEARNED…
Regular readers of this blog will know that I decided that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Amy after only knowing her for six weeks.
It was this desire that drove me to push for ONB (Amy wasn’t too keen about living at her mum’s) – I knew how I wanted my future to be like.
I wanted to have Amy as my wife.
I wanted the debt gone.
I wanted to live a life filled with adventures.
I wanted us to start a family.
Know why you are doing it and carry a bright Technicolor picture of it in your mind.
The brighter the picture the easier it is to put your head down and keep crawling forward.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I decided that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Amy after only knowing her for six weeks.
It was this desire that drove me to push for ONB (Amy wasn’t too keen about living at her mum’s) – I knew how I wanted my future to be like.
I wanted to have Amy as my wife.
I wanted the debt gone.
I wanted to live a life filled with adventures.
I wanted us to start a family.
Know why you are doing it and carry a bright Technicolor picture of it in your mind.
The brighter the picture the easier it is to put your head down and keep crawling forward.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Lesson Number 9: Be open to the lessons
GARETH LEARNED…
One of my bosses said to me recently that ‘you keep learning the same lesson until you learn it’.
We learned so much stuff during the past year and not all of it came from the experience we ourselves were going through.
We saw what was happening to people close to us and would often ask ourselves…
“How can we make sure stuff like that happens to us?”
… or …
“How can we make sure stuff like that doesn’t happen to us?”
The chats these two questions inspired are going to prove invaluable going forward.
Life comes without a manual but if you look around you hard enough (and keep your mind open enough) you’ll quickly learn everything you need to know.
One of my bosses said to me recently that ‘you keep learning the same lesson until you learn it’.
We learned so much stuff during the past year and not all of it came from the experience we ourselves were going through.
We saw what was happening to people close to us and would often ask ourselves…
“How can we make sure stuff like that happens to us?”
… or …
“How can we make sure stuff like that doesn’t happen to us?”
The chats these two questions inspired are going to prove invaluable going forward.
Life comes without a manual but if you look around you hard enough (and keep your mind open enough) you’ll quickly learn everything you need to know.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Lesson Number 8: Take it in turns to be at the front
GARETH LEARNED…
ONB was exhausting and draining.
The way we got through was to carry one another – sometimes Amy was at the front leading the charge and sometimes I was.
We both got down doing it but thankful the ‘down-ness’ never overlapped too much – there was always one of us with enough optimism to dilute the others pessimism.
I think that’s what a true partnership is all about.
Afterall, you’ll never find two people who are always in the same place emotionally and physically – if you do… RUN - they are probably androids.
ONB was exhausting and draining.
The way we got through was to carry one another – sometimes Amy was at the front leading the charge and sometimes I was.
We both got down doing it but thankful the ‘down-ness’ never overlapped too much – there was always one of us with enough optimism to dilute the others pessimism.
I think that’s what a true partnership is all about.
Afterall, you’ll never find two people who are always in the same place emotionally and physically – if you do… RUN - they are probably androids.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Lesson Number 7: Keep it light
GARETH LEARNED...
When you start worrying about things like money life tends to get very serious and the more serious something becomes the more you worry – it becomes a vicious circle.
So keep it fun.
Here are a few things we did to inject some lightness into the whole scheme…
We gave it a name. Referring to ‘the debt’ all the time would have gotten very depressing. We called it Operation Night Brace because of what Amy used to do as a kid. She’d wear her night brace to school so her teeth got straight faster. ONB was all about doing something unpleasant as fast as we could so the name worked ☺
We made our save-o-meter. At the start we had a large thermometer that we would slowly color in the amount we had paid off.
When you start worrying about things like money life tends to get very serious and the more serious something becomes the more you worry – it becomes a vicious circle.
So keep it fun.
Here are a few things we did to inject some lightness into the whole scheme…
We gave it a name. Referring to ‘the debt’ all the time would have gotten very depressing. We called it Operation Night Brace because of what Amy used to do as a kid. She’d wear her night brace to school so her teeth got straight faster. ONB was all about doing something unpleasant as fast as we could so the name worked ☺
We made our save-o-meter. At the start we had a large thermometer that we would slowly color in the amount we had paid off.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Lesson Number 6: Embrace planning
GARETH LEARNED...
Spontaneity is the enemy of saving and I think that is what I missed the most during the whole Operation.
Every penny mattered so you couldn’t just jump in a cab or go to the cinema whenever you fancied.
Plan ahead and you’ll find it easy to save – it is not as sexy as spontaneity but fear not that will always come back once you’ve achieved your goal.
PS Learn to love spreadsheets (they’re awesome at maths so you don’t have to be)
Spontaneity is the enemy of saving and I think that is what I missed the most during the whole Operation.
Every penny mattered so you couldn’t just jump in a cab or go to the cinema whenever you fancied.
Plan ahead and you’ll find it easy to save – it is not as sexy as spontaneity but fear not that will always come back once you’ve achieved your goal.
PS Learn to love spreadsheets (they’re awesome at maths so you don’t have to be)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Lesson Number 5: Pad the ride
GARETH LEARNED...
When you are going to trying an intense period of saving make sure you don’t go straight into it. You need to prepare.
We decided in early April to do ONB starting May 1st.
That meant we could set up a few things to look forward to over the summer and autumn.
We brought tickets to a number of gigs and paid for a holiday.
These things were the spoonful of sugar that made saving easier.
When you are going to trying an intense period of saving make sure you don’t go straight into it. You need to prepare.
We decided in early April to do ONB starting May 1st.
That meant we could set up a few things to look forward to over the summer and autumn.
We brought tickets to a number of gigs and paid for a holiday.
These things were the spoonful of sugar that made saving easier.
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