2022 Personal Review – Mr Way

It’s time for my 2022 Personal Review – what a year it has been! 

First and foremost, Happy New Year to you all! Hopefully 2023 brings you health, happiness and prosperity.

My 2021 review promised that the blog would become a priority for us again. Unfortunately, this hasn’t happened yet, due to the chaos of setting up our new lives in the Caribbean! Fingers crossed 2023 sees us finally find the time. 

Leaving It All Behind 

The start of 2022 saw us unravelling the lives we had built in the UK. I had lived in the same place for nearly 14 years. We owned our home and had lots of commitments, both personal and professional. We also had lots of belongings! 

Selling our house was a huge undertaking, but a very interesting process to go through for the first time. Alongside selling the property itself, we also got rid of most of our belongings. As someone who had been wanting to live a more minimalist life, having to fit everything you own into suitcases is quite a strong motivation to get on with it! 

We didn’t quite manage to achieve the goal, because we’ve left a lot of sentimental belongings at parents’ houses. Nevertheless, the process has been very freeing and is something we’ll try hard not to go back on without good reason.  

As well as the physical ‘stuff’, we also had a lot of loose ends to tie up. I was the Chairman of my local tennis club, which was upsetting to leave behind. However, I hadn’t been able to play for a while due to a long-term injury, which made the decision easier in the end.  

I was at the point where I really hated my old job so going into 2022, I was VERY happy to be leaving that aspect of my old life behind.  

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2021 Personal Review – Mr Way

First and foremost, Happy New Year to you all! Hopefully 2022 brings you health, happiness and prosperity. It’s time for my 2021 Personal Review – so much has happened this year! 

Happy New Year

Unfortunately, the blog has taken a back seat because we’ve had so much going on in our lives. Fingers crossed we’ll have more free time to spend on the blog soon, because of the decisions we’ve taken throughout 2020 – keep reading to see what I’m referring to! 

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What a Difference the Sun Makes

Ode to Sunshine 

S.A.D vanisher 

Negativity banisher 

Energy creator and motivation shaker 

Reinvigorates smiles and unused miles 

Of muscles that wake as you shine 

The slate is wiped clean 

As faces beam at rays that rain down from the 

Blue, cloudless sky, bringing twinkles to eyes  

As collectively spirits are raised! 

Miss Way
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Frugal Fitness

We Love Exercising!  

Staying physically fit is something that is important to both of us. It fits really well with those who are seeking financial independence. If you aren’t at your physical best, you won’t be able to enjoy the retirement you work so hard for! 

As mentioned in A Way to Less……. Spending! we are always looking for more ways to be frugal and found that reducing our fitness costs was an easy way to do this. 

For many, the cost of fitness can be huge! The fitness industry must make so much money out of all those people with unused and unwanted gym memberships! Don’t get me wrong, there are many people that use their gym membership in a cost-efficient way and really benefit from it, but there is a very large proportion of the population that don’t! 

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A Way to Less……. Cars!

My Experiences from a Car Free Lifestyle

Being car free can be a pretty difficult lifestyle choice to make. It goes against the ‘ideals’ of most people in our society. But the potential benefits are huge. And it goes much further than just the financial gain! 

I’m lucky in that I have an office based job. Currently there is no requirement from my employer to own a vehicle. As such, it’s fairly easy for me to walk to work each day. 

Walk and bike commuters in the park

I’ve chosen to walk rather than cycle for a number of reasons but it mainly comes down to the length of journey. I can walk to work in 25 minutes, whereas cycling would take me 15-20. Allowing extra time for unlocking and locking the bike up and getting changed into suitable clothes, they work out the same. As I’ll discuss below, I get many other benefits from walking which, for me, make it the better option in my situation. However, if my commute was further, cycling would start to look like a much more attractive option. You should weigh up your options but first and foremost, do whatever you prefer. That way you’re more likely to stick to it! 

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Sanity, Saving & Singing!

“A smile is a facelift in everyone’s price range” 

Tom Wilson

Music teaching can be such a rewarding job.  

The privilege of introducing music to young children and witnessing the joy it brings them never fails to make me smile. Nothing can compare to the power of an assembly hall full of children singing a song they love, as one. It does wonders for your mood on a rainy Monday morning and makes it all worthwhile!

Singing is good for your mental health!

I qualified as a secondary school music teacher in 2012. I now enjoy a portfolio career as a peripatetic music teacher. My current timetable looks like this: Continue reading “Sanity, Saving & Singing!”