Preparing to move

I will be moving in just under 2 months. The area I am moving to is more expensive for quite a few things but I found out today that schooling will be almost $2,000 a year cheaper for me, which I am ecstatic about.

I have started to pack some items and have been getting ruthless and asking myself "Do I really want to move this?"

I moved here to Sydney from Canberra almost 3 years ago. I have culled a lot of my stuff, but I look at some of it and I know I do not want to move it again.

I have listed a fair bit for sale on eBay, GumTree and Facebook which has been good and the money has helped. However, I am now at the point I just want things gone. If I am not moving it, I want it out of my house.

I have given stuff away and while some of it has been worth a lot, it has been such a relief to just get rid of stuff that it really does not matter to me what I could have sold the items for.

I'll be moving rather cheaply. I have packing boxes and tape already. I am not moving anything unless it is 100% essential and I need to move it and I am not hiring a big removal company when there are cheaper businesses like Man With A Van.

I am very excited about the move. Do you have any tips to make it easier?

Investing in property

Right back at the start of my journey I always talked about investing in property, this was my eventual aim. Recently, with my divorce, I felt unsure about whether I would be able to invest in property or not. On paper my income looks pretty bad and I had always thought that I would be able to get a loan because my then husband had a job and that's how I would do it.

WIth the divorce, obviously his income was no longer available.

This week I saw a broker. I have been playing around online with mortgage calculators and it looked like I would be able to borrow on my own after all. Not as much as I wanted and not for a house where I wanted, but an investment property in an ideal area is doable.

I am pretty excited. I like property because it is a more passive form of income, it is something I plan to hold for the long term and it is solid. I can see it. I can make improvements to it.

The properties I have been looking at already have tenants and the rent will cover the mortgage and all related expenses. Depending on the interest rate I get, the price I actually purchase at and agent fees (property manager), it should be positively geared right away.

I am using some of the money from my property settlement with my ex for it. I have plans for the rest of  money and was hoping I would not need to use a lot of it to get one of the properties I have been looking at, and I don't.

This is a way for me to invest in mine and my daughters future without it really impacting much on our lives, without a whole lot of effort from me, but still proved a return and stability.

Do you invest in property? What are your thoughts?

Doing things to improve myself

I am taking control of my life and have been  on a journey to refocus, determine what direction I want to go and heal myself. I have such an intense year and I just felt completely drained.

This week I went to a naturopath and it was really interesting. I overwhelmed her with my medical history, recent events in my life and why I came to see her. She checked my blood pressure, my eyes and a few things. I am running on empty, am completely stressed and while I am physically strong, I really should not be standing. How my body has not given up before now is amazing.

She gave me some herbs, an eating plan and I see her again in 3 weeks for a more thorough check up.

I saw my psychologist this week too. He gave me a few things to try to help with my sleep. It'll be interesting to see how it all works. He says I have made amazing progress and am handling thing very well.

I have been doing a lot of reading and thinking lately too. Trying to learn more about myself, what I really want and how I want to be living my life. I know that the life I have now, while in many ways it is good, it is not what I want.

I am making small changes and have been learning a lot about which direction I want to take. It is quite different from what I have been doing the past few years, but I am excited about where it will take me.

I am also going to be seeing a kinesiologist, getting regular massage and just trying to slow down and fix myself. I work and think at a million miles a second and that is not healthy. My psychologist said I have come a long way, but it is extremely difficult to slow down when you have an ADHD brain. I like that he doesn't refer to me as being ADHD but rather that I have ADHD traits/thought patterns/and ADHD brain.

What does this mean and why am I telling you?

I am not 100% sure I want to continue on the path I am on moneywise. I know I can be a millionaire by 30. I know I will be financially free. I also know that my health, improving my mental and physical health, my daughters and living my ideal life are all more important to me than money.

I still want to be financially free and will be. It's just that won't be as important in my life any more I don't think.