Money

  • Lifestyle, Money

    10 Easy Ways to Make your Life Super Organised!

    I’ve always felt there was something to be said about being organised in life, but for so many years, I was an ‘everything everywhere’ kinda gal! 

    I straight up THRIVE off of routine and organisation but actually implementing it was always a different matter! 

    Organisation is a lazy persons saviour because it allows you to run on auto-pilot more frequently meaning less need to engage the brain! However, this also means you can create space in your brain for other things. 

    What I’ve found, through getting my shiz in order, it’s allowed me to spend more of my focus and energy on tasks that need it. I can let day to day life run itself, and then still have the mental capacity for growing my business and working on myself. It also means I’m more mentally capable of dealing with anything unexpected decides it’s going to make it’s way into my life!

    Over the years, I’ve spent the time implementing processes that have got me to a place where I feel semi in control of my actual life (catch me on a bad day and we’re straight back to that everything everywhere style of existence!). 

    I know where things are, where I’m meant to be at any given point and whats on the menu each night! 

    So let me take you through 10 ways you too can jump on the organisation train…

    1. Keep a to-do list

    Sounds basic right?! But hear me out…! Each day, I’ll write down all of the tasks that need to be completed that day; from the most menial of things right through to the big projects! I’d list things like making a restaurant reservation, changing the water filter, paying my credit card, downloading a new book for the commute, collecting my prescription….you get my drift! No matter if it’s the smallest thing, write it down so that you don’t forget, and then take great pleasure in ticking it off once it’s done! 

    2. Meal Plan

    This has been an absolute game changer for me when it comes to being organised! Deciding what I’m going to eat every night is LONG! No two ways about it! I hate thinking about it and now I’m home more, I feel like I’m thinking about it even more! So meal planning helps me to shop better and takes away the daily decision making fatigue! 

    Once a week, I’ll sit down and plan out my meals for the week ahead (lunch and dinner). I try to cook a couple of meals that I can do in bulk so I don’t have to cook every night and a few quick easy meals for those evenings when I have things to do.

    I then use this to build my shopping list so that when I go to Sainsburys, I literally know exactly what I need to buy and can be in and out quick sharp! It saves me a ton of money as I’m only buying what I need week on week AND it means I’m wasting less food so a double win!

    I have a meal planner pad that I use similar to this one which just lives on my fridge as a handy reminder!

    3. Declutter your desktop and mobile

    How much does it hurt your brain to look at your screens?! Do you have a million apps on your phone and tons of random documents scattered all over your desktop?! Then girl, they gotta go! 

    On your phone, go through the apps you don’t actually need or use and delete them. Then organise your apps in to folders (social media, shopping, food, finances etc.) so similar apps are grouped together. Then do the same for your desktop, delete the unnecessary and create folders for the rest. 

    4. File your paperwork

    Whether we like it or not, no matter how many times we tell companies to email us, they still insist on sending certain things out in the post (yeah, cheers mate – that’s all that I need, more STUFF!). In all honesty, most of it goes straight in to the recycling bin but the things that do need to be kept, I keep in an expanding file with each section holding similar paperwork (work related, flat related, car related etc.). I know it’s not the sexiest thing in the world but if it helps, it’s totally worth it!

    5. Work to a Budget

    Feeling organised about your money is one of the most liberating things you can do – trust me!

    I’ve gone from £25K+ debt to living within my means and I can assure you that knowing what’s going on with my finances makes me feel invincible!

    I’ve talked about my Boujee Budget technique in a previous post which you can check out here but there also also lots of different budgeting techniques that you can try depending on what works best for you.

    6. Utilise Tools

    I recently discovered Notion and I think it’s probably one of the greatest inventions to ever grace my life! No, genuinely! Muchelleb done a YouTube video on it and I’ve been full on obsessed ever since! Her video gives some insight as to how to utilise it to get organised in both life and work, and in the show notes are some of her templates which I used to get mine off the ground! 

    I keep everything in Notion now; my daily tasks, shopping list, a page just for random thoughts on the go, my blog schedule, anything I need to buy…literally, it’s my one stop shop for almost everything these days! If you’re more of an online person than paper, this could work really well for you!

    7. Schedule regular appointments & use a calendar

    OK, so technically this is 2 but I think they align sooooo 🤷🏽‍♀️

    I bloody hate calling places to make an appointment! They usually struggle with my name (yeah, honestly) and then I’ll forget the time and date confirmed anyway – oops! So for anything I do regularly, I try to always have at least the next one booked. With my nails, I’m booked in every three weeks for eternity! I NEVER have to book an appointment with them as it’s just already confirmed! Hair and beauty I tend to book the next one before I leave. But remembering to call is half the battle, the other half is getting someone to answer the phone when you find a spare minute to actually make that call! Book them in advance girls, you’ll thank yourself later! 

    Then make sure everything’s in your calendar. Appointments, birthdays, social plans…use the calendar on your phone! It gets rid of that whole ‘I’m sure I have something on this weekend but I can’t remember what?’ situation because really and truly, there’s no need when your calendars in your pocket desperate to help you live your best organised life!

    8. Organise your inbox

    Hands up, cards on the table – I only really apply this to my work emails more so than my personal but it definitely makes a difference! Create folders to basically hold EVERYTHING – the aim is for your inbox to work as a ‘to-do list’. The only thing you want in your inbox are emails that need to be actioned, everything else needs a home! I can’t advise what these folders should be as everyone will be so different but for example with my work; I have a generic ‘Sales’ folder which has all of my generic comms in with clients or the team. Then I have sub-folders within that for Deals, Leads, Products and one for Management. For anything that doesn’t have a home, I have a Misc. folder!

    9. Morning routine

    I shared my morning routine recently on Instagram but I like to keep it super simple:

    – No snoozing the alarm!

    – Shower & brush my teeth

    – Put YouTube on (personal development or something motivational)

    – Get dressed, do my hair and make up

    – 5 minutes (minimum) visualisation

    – Complete my Vibe and Flow journal

    – Check my emails and social media

    I legit do all of this on auto-pilot which works well for me as I’m not much of a morning person! It sets my day up nicely though as I know everything I need to do and my mornings run like clockwork….most of the time 😉

    10. Make the Time!

    You’re probably looking at all of that and thinking there is NO way you have time to do it all! But as I said at the beginning, these are things I have put in place over time. It’s not all going to run like a well-oiled machine from the get-go, but putting time in place to get all of your systems and processes set up will get you well on your way to being super organised!

    Most things will need tweaking  as you start utilising them more often as you’ll establish what works for you and what doesn’t. Then, you get to enjoy switching the brain off for most of the day like I do! 

    So those are my 10 ways make your life more organised! Let me know in the comments which ones you’ll be trying out or any tips you’d like to share! 

    Embrace the freedom my fellow organised huns!

    CK x

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  • Career, Lifestyle, Money

    5 reasons why you should have a Side Hustle!

    It wasn’t that long ago when we were singing auld lang syne, glass of prosecco in hand, making a cheers to 2020 with all the belief it was about to be our best year yet! 

    We were gonna go to the most instagrammable holiday destinations, buy our dream homes, and thrive in our careers like never before!

    Yeah…about that 🙃🙃🙃

    So here we are, 6 months in to the year, wondering how we can turn this shit around and still absolutely smash our 2020 goals!

    One thing I’d highly recommend to make that happen, is to get involved in a Side Hustle!

    Pretty much since I started working, I’ve had some sort of side gig going. Whether it was selling candles, having my own photography business or being part of an MLM business, I’ve always believed in giving myself opportunities to have something of my own and earning an additional income. 

    And I’m not the only one!

    1 in 4 people in the UK has some sort of Side Hustle on the go. It tackles the on-going problem of feeling underwhelmed and under-financed in your 9-5!

    With the internet at our fingertips, we can launch a business, or learn a new trade at the click of a button! It’s legit never been easier and you don’t necessarily need to make a huge financial investment to get started!

    So here are 5 reasons why I’ll always be a huge fan of the Side Hustle:

    1. You can build your ‘Plan B’!

    There hasn’t been a more relevant time in our history to have a back-up plan than now! This week alone British Gas, Heathrow Airport, Centrica, Johnson Mathey, Lufthansa & Grant Thornton all talked about redundancies totalling over 40,000 people possibly out of work in the not too distant future. 

    Having a Side Hustle allows you to have an additional stream of income to either help out financially, or with the possibility of replacing your full time income. 

    Times are ever changing and it’s so beneficial to have options should you ever need to utilise them.

    2. You can do something you’re truly passionate about!

    Don’t get me wrong, some Side Hustles are purely built out of financial gain – which is totally fine but it may take the route of something you’re not exactly buzzing about however provides good financial returns. 

    On the other hand, your Side Hustle can be the opportunity to turn your passion project into a fully fledged business! The chance to become the CEO of your dreams! 

    Something that was once a hobby or interest, has the potential to become the catapult that drives you to success and fulfilment! Just imagine that for a second…

    (I’ll wait…)

    How EPIC does that feel? To do something you love, on your own terms! 

    It is absolutely possible with a Side Hustle! You just need to take the first step!

    3. You get the chance to learn new skills!

    In every Side Hustle I’ve had, I’ve learnt something new. FACT!

    Since launching this blog for example, I’ve had to get my head around building a website, SEO, marketing, social media, affiliate marketing and so much more! It’s all been so interesting as well as teaching me so many things that I can either use in my full-time job, or in other areas of life! 

    I’ve always had an interest in Marketing so I’ve genuinely enjoyed getting to learn and apply it! 

    Whilst in my MLM business though, I learnt so much more about Personal Development than I had done previously! It was always something I’d had an interest in but it was here that I took it to another level. 

    Expanding your skillset in this day and age is just a no-brainer! Roles are changing and adapting and the more strings you have to your bow, the better prepared you are for the evolution of work. 

    4. You can increase your self-confidence!

    When I started this blog, I had NO idea how to do any of the things! I’d never built a website, never keyword searched, never had to market a product…nothing! 

    I’d also never put myself out there in the way that I am now and hell yeah, I was scared of judgement! Especially from those who knew me! The strangers could do one tbh 😂

    But I took the leap! On something I’d been putting off for about 3 years! And I can honestly say this has been one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done and has taught me I can do anything I put my mind to! 

    What I didn’t know, I’ve learnt. I’ve utilised the abundance of free and paid-for resources out there and day by day, I’m doing everything I can to achieve my goals. 

    I truly believe so many people out there have the potential to become the best version of themselves if they’re willing to be vulnerable for a second and just be brave enough to suck at something new! 

    Girl on navy sofa with laptop wearing leopard print shoes

    5. You get to meet like-minded people!

    Theres no better way to meet people on the same hype as you, than to really build and develop something in an area that gets you buzzing! 

    Most of those closest to me, I met through one of my Side Hustles and I couldn’t be more grateful! They’re people who I have similar interests to, can talk about the struggles as well as the successes with and also learn from and grow with!

    Meeting people you vibe with only gets more difficult as you get older and a Side Hustle is a great way to connect with others who ‘get it’! Plus #NoNewFriends is sooooo last century!! 

    So those are some of the reasons I feel a Side Hustle can be super beneficial. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving! 

    The possibilities are endless and the opportunity to replace your full-time income and become a fully-fledged business owner with total control over your life is completely possible (yep, you can wake up at 10 am, or go to the gym in the middle of the day if you like 😉).

    So what are you waiting for? What will your Side Hustle be…?

    Let me know!

    CK x

    Pin for Side Hustle blog post with pink peonies

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  • Lifestyle, Money

    Boujee Budgeting!

    Right, hands up, who’s out there living to a budget and LOVING IT…? *Cue tumbleweed and awkward cough from the back of the room*!!

    I hear ya! Until last summer, a budget for me was non-existent, not in my reach and something only people with huge salaries and no life participated in! They sounded boring, restrictive and put my anxiety at level 100 thinking I’d need to look at my (usually overdrawn) bank account on a regular basis!

    You see, since the age of 18, I’ve been in debt. As soon as I turned 18, I got a credit card. I legit had NO idea how it really worked but what I did know was I had something like £1750 at my immediate disposal and a desire to go out in Romford most nights of the week! So, I did what any naive 18 year old with severe FOMO would do and would put most of my nights out, shopping sprees and even my fags (when I used to smoke!) on the credit card. Ugh – it hurts me just thinking about how much damage I did to my financial self back then and didn’t even know I was doing it.

    Anyways, I later went on to get loans, store cards and more credit cards; balance transferring but never clearing any of them. These shenanigans went on until I was 25 and bought my flat (I’ll write about my experience with house buying solo in another post!); a condition of my mortgage was to clear all outstanding debt before completion. My Mum stepped in at this point and using some of my late Grandads inheritance, cleared all of my debts for me! Amazing – I think I managed to stay debt-free for about 3 years and then the cycle started again.

    A few years later, I remortgaged my flat and cleared the debt I’d incurred this time round (by this point it had got to around £25K including my car finance) and within 2 months, I was overdrawn again.

    I mean, what the actual hell?!! HOW is that even possible? It was at this point I realised I had a genuine issue and had also been doing a lot of personal development and mindset work. Twice I’d cleared my debt and got back into tens of thousands of pounds of it again with barely anything to show for it. I got really honest with myself and decided to seek help in the form of a Money Coach. I worked with Catherine Morgan at The Money Panel and through her course, she helped me to identify what caused me to spend, where my fear around money came from and improve my money mindset to have a healthier relationship with money, saving and also spending.

    One of the things she had me do, was an exercise which I now do monthly to stay on track, stay accountable and give me better clarity on where my money is going and how I can improve and change my spending and saving.

    These steps have now helped me to create my monthly budget. Yep, your girl here is a now a major budgeter!!! What I love about this budget is that I still allocate myself money for socialising and treats – boujee right. You see, you don’t have to sacrifice a life to budget. For me, it’s simply a way to ensure you’re aligning your money to the relevant parts of your life to suit your lifestyle and your finances. I personally don’t believe in the one size fits all type of budgets. Also, I have an ever-changing income as I work in Sales so my commission changes every month (as does how much I get taxed but that’s a whole different story!!) and so I like to amend my budget to reflect that and what’s happening each month.

    These are the steps I take on a monthly basis on payday weekend to create my Boujee Budget (please note: I’ve amended this exercise ever so slightly to help me achieve my goals and create consistency).

    Step 1: Review the previous month’s outgoings

    This is quicker and easier than it may seem. For me, I print off the statements for both of my bank accounts. I have a Starling account which my salary is paid in to and my bills come out of, and a Monzo account which all of my budgeted money goes in to and I use for spending.

    I have a spreadsheet created with tabs for each month of the year, with various headings (mine are: Bills, Food, Transport, Socialising, Treatments, Shopping, Subscriptions & Other.) You can have whichever headings feel relevant to your outgoings.

    I go through my statement line by line, and put each spend (what it is and the exact amount) under it’s relevant heading (meal out with friends would go under socialising, petrol would go under transport, grabbing lunch from M&S would go under food, payment towards a holiday would go under other etc.). For me to do my entire months spending review from both accounts usually takes about 30-40 mins and that’s usually with a glass of wine and watching TV at the same time!

    Once everything is listed, I add each column up to see what the total spend is in that area, and then the total spends for that month.

    These figures then help me to create the budget.

    Step 2: Allocate your finances

    Once I’ve got all of my figures, I look back at the last 3 months spending in each area, and this helps me to understand

    • Where I may be overspending
    • Where reductions can be made
    • Where I may be underspending!

    Yes, it’s completely possible to underspend! I actually don’t spend enough on socialising, and I spend WAY too much on food. So I’ve started meal planning to stop wasting so much money on top-up shops and takeaways, and be able to spend more money catching up with friends and doing things I enjoy without having to whack it on the credit card!

    I then distribute my money across spending pots. As I mentioned earlier, I do my day to day spending on my Monzo account and ensure there’s enough money in my Starling account to cover my bills. The way I’ve found best to work for me to manage my money/budget is to use the ‘Pots’ function to give each part of my budget its own little home! My Pots are very similar to the headings on my spreadsheet: Food, Transport, Social Life, Everyday spends and Treatments.

    I keep £100 in the main account as a ‘float’ so I can spend first and move the money later. Then, using the average of my 3 months spending, I put the relevant amount into the Pot. Each time I spend, I use my Monzo card, then when I get a moment, will go into my account, move the money from the relevant Pot back into the main account and bring that back up to £100.


    And that’s it! Review and Allocate! It takes me less than an hour a month but has stopped me from living in my overdraft (I was £700-1000 overdrawn every month before I started doing this!)! I spend a lot more mindfully now and have a much better understanding of where my money actually goes! I no longer feel guilty for spending like I used to and am soon to be in a position to start paying down the remaining debt I have and work from a more static budget.

    At the moment, I’m not allocating a specific amount to savings and nor am I allocating money each month to my debts as I want to get a clear understanding of how much I’ll have leftover each month as a minimum and also because I’ve never actually been able to enjoy my money, I’m taking a few months to just find my rhythm and take the pressure off!

    I’ve been using this method since December 2019 and to not even have touched my overdraft in that time is a monumental achievement for me, and is progress in the right direction! As we’re currently in Lockdown, the money I’ve saved from not having my treatments done, not parking at the station and not having a cleaner in weekly, has gone into savings to get some work done around my flat I’ve been putting off for years (dishwasher is that you..?!). I’m still spending and budgeting in the same way though to stay on track and it’s definitely helping!

    So that’s it – how to create a Boujee Budget which includes prosecco, ASOS hauls and spa days with friends!

    If you want any more insight into this, leave a comment below, pop me a message or DM me on the gram!

    Happy Budgeting Guys ✌!

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