Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Mr Handsome Cat's kitty-van arrived today! β€οΈππΊ (We explain the frugal backstory to how we got it in an upcoming video! π€©π°) Mister has given it a wide berth so far, but in his defence it's been crazy hot here today. All he wants to do is lie around and move as little as possible. As soon as we can coax him into it we'll snap a pic and share it with you. Fingers crossed this works, but if it doesn't at least we have the option to return it. π
13 - 6
Hey there Mostlies! π
Week 7 of our no-spend year is in the books! π
β¨ WINS:
* Came in under budget on groceries! π (Not by much, but a win is a win!)
* On track with our new-ish "no bought coffees" challenge β
* Stayed on track despite work pressures πͺ
π LEARNINGS:
* Work stress definitely correlates with our snack-buying habits π«
* Being more intentional at checkout makes a real difference
* Exercise-earned free coffee tastes amazing! πββοΈ
π― NEXT STEPS:
* Continue being mindful about stress-related spending
* Keep up with the no bought coffees challenge (except for two friend outings)
* Find other free/budget-friendly rewards for busy work weeks
Stay tuned for tomorrow's photo reveal of our exciting surprise! π (The suspense is killing us too!)
Lots of love,
Ang, Sporty, and Mr Handsome Cat πΊ
33 - 7
β€οΈβ¨ Hey there Mostlies! β¨β€οΈ
Just a short 'n sweet note to wish you all a magical Valentine's Day! πΉ Hope there are lots of delicious chocolates π« and sweet surprises in everyone's day.
Sending lots of love, warm fuzzies, and virtual hugs to our amazing community! π€ You all make every day brighter! β¨
Lots of love,
Sporty, Ang and Mr Handsome π πΊ
39 - 12
Hey there Mostlies! π
Week 6 of our no-spend year and whew... let's just say it's been eventful! π
β¨ WINS:
- Ang made a valiant attempt at solo budget tracking (A for effort! π)
- She also scored a fabulous haircut (paid for with assumed surplus grocery money πββοΈ)
- Thought we'd underspent massively on groceries (spoiler alert: we didn't π)
π LEARNINGS:
- Being down a budget buddy makes things tricky! (Sporty's been holding down the fort at work while her boss is on vacation πΌ)
- Those online grocery orders are sneaky not so little expenses that need tracking too! π
- Sometimes what looks like a surplus... isn't (oops! π
)
- As our mentor Brian Johnson says: you either win or you learn π
π― NEXT STEPS:
- Double-checking ALL grocery expenses (especially those sneaky online ones!)
- Getting back to our dynamic budget-tracking duo once work settles down
- Creating a foolproof system for solo tracking weeks
Join us for a lovely walk this Sunday! βοΈ Remember to pack your sunscreen and water bottle! πΆββοΈπ
Lots of love, Ang, Sporty, and Mr Handsome Cat πΊ
31 - 16
π Greetings Mostlies, hope you all had a suitably fabulous weekend! β¨ Just a quick message to let all you lovellies know that we are finally back on our feet after the flu that knocked us out for the last three or four weeks. π€β‘οΈπͺ Which means, we're back at our laptops and ready to respond to all your amazing comments! π»β€οΈ Lots of love, Sporty, Ang & Mr Handsome π»πΊπ
51 - 18
Hey there Mostlies! π
Week 5 of our no-spend year! Time is doing that weird thing where it's simultaneously flying and crawling β maybe that's just what happens when you're learning to master delayed gratification! π
First, some exciting community updates! π We're absolutely blown away by the turnout at our first Live video this past weekend! We had viewers joining us from the US, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Bali. Special shoutout to our early bird who tuned in at 4:30 AM (now that's dedication! π). European friends, we hear you β we're planning to adjust our next Live time to be more timezone-friendly. Stay tuned for details!
And speaking of amazing community members β a huge thank you to RJMT (@grimmouse) for the coffee fund donation! β We treated ourselves to a lovely caffeine fix and a shared oat bowl. It's incredible what $10 can get you here in SA! (See pics of the happy pair with spoils.)
Now for our Week 5 Update...
π LEARNINGS:
- The flu doesn't care about your budget! π€ Being sick for three weeks taught us we need more flexibility in our medical and transport budgets
- Sometimes self-care means adjusting the plan (like taking Ubers when you're too sick to walk)
- In-person connections have real value, even if they cost a bit more
β¨ WINS:
- Finally getting back to health! πͺ
- Finding a balance between online and in-person activities
- Learning to adapt our budget without beating ourselves up about it
- Sporty scored an amazing thrift shop deal! Two awesome pieces for R250 during a half-price sale ποΈ
- Ang's yoga pants got a new lease on life with a R200 dye job (like getting brand new pants for a fraction of the cost! π§ββοΈ)
π― NEXT STEPS:
- Back to our regular walking routine (hello, fitness goals! π)
- Implementing our new "mindful splurge" plan: allowing two monthly Uber trips for meditation group and Satsang
- Getting back to our usual weekly budget now that we're healthy again
Remember to subscribe (if you haven't already) so you know when we post new content. We're hitting publish on our next video this Sunday (Feb 9) and it should be a goodie. We're diving into the topic of balance and why it's our focus for 2025! π
Lots of love, Ang, Sporty, and Mr Handsome Cat πΊ
23 - 5
Hey Mostly Mindful Family!
We're thrilled to announce we're back with our first live update for the No Spend Challenge this weekend! Join us as we share our experiences, tips, and insights so far.
Hereβs what weβll cover:
What Worked/What Didnβt: We'll dive into the unexpected twists and turns we've encountered so far.
Unexpected Challenges: We'll share some of the surprises that have come up and how we've handled them.
Victories and Learnings: Celebrate our successes and share what we've learned along the way.
Tips for You: Get practical advice on how to make this challenge work for you.
This is your chance to connect with us, ask questions, and share your own experiences. We're in this together!
When: This Sunday 05:00 SAST
Where: Mostly Mindful YouTube Channel
Don't miss out on the fun and community connection. See you there!"
21 - 0
WE HAVE TO CANCEL OUR LIVE UPDATE - SORRY!
Hey there Mostlies,
Sporty has been sick with flu since Monday and now I'm under the weather as well!
There's no way we'll be able to bring our best selves to the catch-up party, so we'll have to move it to next weekend.
We're super bummed to have to do this. Hope you understand!
Sending love,
Ang, Sporty and Mr Handsome Cat (who's happy and well, fortunately)
47 - 17
Hey there Mostlies! π
Week 3 of our no-spend year is in the books, and wowβwhat an eye-opener! π Weβre learning A LOT about our spending habits. Oh, and a quick reminder: we're going live this Sunday, January 26 at 05:00 (SAST), which is Saturday night for those of you Stateside! Aussies and Kiwis, it'll be late morning or later for you guys. We're super excited to see you all there!
Letβs dive inβ¦
β¨ WINS:
- Received an unexpected R2,200 tax rebate (yay for surprise money! π°)
- Spent quality time working through our Financial Advisor's recommendations
- Set clear financial goals (scary but exciting!)
- Created a multiple income stream strategy with some AI assistance π€
π LEARNINGS:
- Turns out we're not exactly champions of delayed gratification (who knew?! π
)
- Our grocery budget needs a serious rethink - fresh produce shopping weekly makes more sense than bulk buying monthly
- Our supplements budget was way too optimistic (those multivitamins aren't going to buy themselves!)
π― NEXT STEPS:
- Restructuring our grocery budget into weekly amounts
- Adjusting our supplements budget to reality
- Ang is updating her LinkedIn and resumΓ© (YouTube stardom will have to wait a bit π¬)
- Working on diversifying our income streams (because putting all our eggs in one basket? Not so smart! π§Ί)
Speaking of YouTube - if you're enjoying our journey, remember to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! The sooner we grow, the sooner we can make it a viable income stream! π
Lots of love,
Ang, Sporty, and Mr Handsome Cat πΊ
34 - 0
Hey there Mostlies! π
This is our first budget update for our no-spend year! π° β¨ It covers our first two weeks, but moving forward, we'll be updating you weekly. Yes, there have been some slip-ups (hello, printing! π¨οΈ), but we've already learned so much and we're super encouraged with our progress.
The biggest highlight? We met our new financial advisor on Tuesday and... WHOA! π€― She is absolutely flippin' incredible! We both sat there mind-blown for the entire session. We'll be diving deep into everything she shared during our monthly live update (who else is excited for this!? πββοΈ).
This weekend we're tackling all her recommendations to work on our financial freedom goal. It's going to be A LOT of work, but we're pumped and ready for the challenge! πͺ
Week 1+2 Breakdown [Wed 1 - Tue 14]:
β¨ WINS:
- Saved R180 on electricity
- Met our amazing financial advisor
- Started our no-spend journey!
π LEARNINGS:
- Those sneaky printing costs and an emergency KFC run for our geyser repair heroes (note to self: keep some budget-friendly meal options on hand for unexpected situations like this - the repair crew definitely deserved dinner, but it ate up our entire weekly tithing budget in one go! π
)
- Weekly budget allocation needs work (thought we saved R1100 on groceries, but week 2 ate it all up!)
π― NEXT STEPS:
- Reworking our weekly allocation based on these insights
- Staying mindful and thinking through the details
By popular demand, Sporty has created templates for our weekly and monthly spending plans! π You'll find the links below:
BUDGET LINKS
π
Mostly Mindful Monthly No Spend Year Budget Sheet: bit.ly/40pOu5s
π Mostly Mindful No Spend Year Weekly Budget Sheet: bit.ly/3WhfFOA
(These are Google Sheets shared as "View Only". To use them, open in Google Sheets, click "File", then "Make a copy" to create your own editable version.)
Lots of love,
Ang, Sporty, and Mr Handsome Cat πΊ
40 - 11
Weβre Ang and Sporty.
We started Mostly Mindful to encourage people to buy less, do more, and live sustainably in the city. And we're still doing that.
But as we barrel towards our sixties (yikes!), weβre starting to realize just how important it is to age with intention.
As Jane Fonda reminds us in her TEDx talk Lifeβs Third Act, we are living, on average today, 34 years longer than our great-grandparents did.
With that in mind, weβre embracing active aging as if our lives depend on it. Amongst other things, this means eschewing traditional creature comforts in favor of a furniture-free lifestyle.
Why not join us? π
PS If you'd like to support our channel, you can buy us a coffee (one is lovely, but more are always appreciated!). If you're on a budget, no worries β simply subscribe, like, comment, and share. All of these actions make a huge difference. Lastly, consider using our affiliate link if you plan to shop on Amazon. It costs you nothing extra but helps us immensely! β€οΈ