magicK potions in the hall

Posted on by Laurika Bretherton
magicK potions in the hall

there’s a cabinet against my wall
it really is kinda small
inside i place my potions
and when someone needs assistance
i go through the motions
my ingredients always go the distance
if you do believe this tale i weave
know – for sure – that your ailment will leave

how to spend less

Posted on by Laurika Bretherton

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When you decide to live this location independent life, it often means that your income changes. Your monthly income will fluctuate. Some months you earn money, others you don’t. It’s similar to starting your own business I guess. Not every month, especially in the beginning, is going to be financially rewarding.

Keeping your expenses low makes it easier to manage these ups and downs.

subscriptions

First thing I did was cancel any unnecessary monthly costs. Do I really need Spotify and Netflix? Do I really need a mobile phone contract with high data? I’m hardly ever in the country where I signed my mobile phone contract. This means I have to pay crazy money to use it. And yes I know there are providers that allow me to use my mobile phone abroad without for a small amount every day (in my case £3). But, add all those daily fees up and pretty soon it can reach £80 per month.

rent

I talked about rent in a previous post over here. Keep it low.

credit cards and other debt

Ditch your credit card. Or if you have to have one, transfer the amount of money into your card before you use it. How are you going to pay off a credit card with erratic to zero income?

impulse buying is evil

Don’t impulse buy. I really had to train myself with this one. I think out of everything this was the most difficult thing for me. Because I am a sucker for advertising. It works on me big time. I really believe that I have to have that thing I see in the magazine, on the screen. I really need it.

i changed my approach 

I don’t ask myself: Do I really need this item? The answer, in that moment in time is always a resounding yes. If I am in a store and see something I want, I don’t buy it. I leave, walk right out the door. If I see something online, I mark the item, even put it in my online shopping cart, but I don’t order it. I close the window and do something else. I wait a couple of days. Then I go back and if I still want it, I ask myself why do I want it. What will I do with it? What do I need to get rid of so that I can make space for this item.

Using this method I sometimes find the item is no longer available or the sale is over when I get back to it. And you know what, that’s not a bad thing, because the universe made the decision for me. And really is my life poorer for not having a specific item in my possession? Not really.

 Let me know in the comment box below if this was helpful and also what do you do to keep your expenses low.

i wrote a novel once

Posted on by Laurika Bretherton

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I wrote a novel. A proper novel with 90,000 words and plot and characters and everything. I worked on it for 15 years. I had an agent who had me change and rewrite if four times. I wrote every ounce of quirkiness and originality out of my book with all that editing. There was nothing punchy left, just a bland oh yea here’s another book. It destroyed my soul. I felt like I was not a writer that I could not call myself a writer.

So I made the painful decision to let the book go. Just push it underneath my bed and start new. I fired my agent and I began writing. My second book is nothing like the first. It came pouring out of me like it had been waiting for years in my subconscious mind. Like the words were lying there underneath the surface. I wrote and wrote and suddenly I was done. Less than a year it took me. I made some edits, but in reality I didn’t do much to it.

I called it A Dreamer’s Life, published it on Amazon as a Kindle book. I did the whole thing myself. I know there are mistakes and I know it doesn’t look like a proper old school book. It has less than 30,000 words has no plot no real storyline. But it is quirky it feels right it comes from my soul. And it is MY book.

And that’s all there is. Nothing else really matters in the end. All that matters is that you as an writer be satisfied with your work. Knowing in your soul that what you’ve put out there is the best you can do at that moment in time. And the next one, the next book, might be the same or it might be completely different. But it will be better than the first because it too will come from your soul and your soul keeps growing keeps changing keeps learning.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

a hug from the universe

Posted on by Laurika Bretherton

flowers-smaller

I drew the cards this morning. All the cards. Angels, Faeries, Goddesses and Tarot. And what an abundance of gifts came my way. I was amazed. Blown away. Guardian Angel, Laughter, You’re on the right path, Abundance is coming your way. The list just goes on and on. And the one thing underlying all these? Faith. Have faith in what you’re doing. Believe that things work out for you, always. Believe in yourself and what you do.

It felt like the Universe was giving me one big hug this morning. I felt loved. I felt cared for.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★