5 Things that made me smile in October

With only two days left in the month, now is the perfect time for me to share things that made me smile in October. I can not believe how fast this month has moved but then again, I always feel like the last 6 months of the year always seem to be on a crush course. I am so grateful for the many things that I get to experience in this thing called life, some good, some bad and others we take with a pinch of salt. It is so important to always sit down, reflect on the month and take stock on what has transpired in the ending month and what you would like to experience more of in the upcoming months.

Last month I shared 5 things that made me smile in September and it ranged from spending time with my loved ones, treating my loved ones and some financial wins. This month isn’t too different but I think it still calls for mentioned some of the small wins I experienced this month and not take anything for granted. One of the biggest struggles for me this month has been ‘writers block’ well, ‘blogger block’ meaning I have not pushed our as much content on the blog as I would like but the plus side, I pushed out enough YouTube content which I think is worth celebrating.

5 Things that made me smile in October

October is my dad’s birthday month and for the first time ever we didn’t get to do something together but thankfully my sister and her partner had that covered. My parents were born about two weeks apart so as soon as we celebrate my mother, it’s time to organise and celebrate my dad. As much as I often prefer to combine there birthday I still feel it’s important to celebrate each individual separately. So, apart from my dad’s birthday, below are some of the things that made me smile in October.

Spent time with Parents

For the month of October, my mother and I as well as a few family members spent 4-days straight at the Stitch Shows in London’s Alexandra Palace, ever since we first went in 2018/9 we been going year on year. It is one of the biggest craft shows in the country and we always meet some incredible crafters who are so talented but we also appreciate the many customers that come to buy from us day in and out and those that reach out post the show. Mum and I drove every morning at 5/6am and drove back in the evening at 7/8pm for 4-days and let me tell you, people thought I took a couple days off (9-5) instead, I went to another work which I needed to recover from but I do not regret the amount of time I got to spend with my mother – so many laughs and joyous occasions were experienced.

Another Small Business Win

Last month I mentioned that I made over 70 sells on my Etsy shop and now I am at almost double that amount, soon I will reach 200 sells which will mean I get the coveted *Star Seller* status on Etsy. The last 2 months has seen my small business pick up the pace and I am glad to see that people are loving the budget trackers that I sell and are finding them useful as they made the decision to chart out their monthly spending. As a budgeter myself I love nothing more that creating budgeting products that will supporter my fellow budgets to reach their financial goal and hitting all their milestones.

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New Milestones Reached on YouTube

Speaking of milestones, in the month of October I managed to score two important milestones which are 300+ subscribed to my channel, I am so happy about this. The second milestone was reach over 10,000 videos on my videos, I am glad people are finding value in my content and I see that my budgeting with me videos and monthly Vanguard Investment portfolio updates are my most popular so I will continue to make more of those types of content but also content that resonates with me and will teach at least one person.

Spent time with my Besties

We all lead such busy lives and if you don’t plan for something it will never happen at least that is how things mostly work in my world. Every single month I schedule in a weekend with my friends, I have 3 circles of friends and whilst I am fortunate to have one circle within my town, the others are or based far from me so it can be difficult navigating my circle of friends. In the month of October, my besties came over to mine and we had a lovely time, last time we saw each other was July this year for my 34th birthday. I am fortunate that even being so far away from each other, we speak almost daily via social media which I am grateful for.

Achieved a Financial Goal 2 months early

If you follow me on YouTube and Instagram, you will know that I achieved my goal of saving £10,000 in my emergency fund 2 months earlier than planned. I am so happy that I finally reached this goal and I am already working on other goals which I know will benefit my future. In the next few weeks I am hoping to share with my audience who I managed to save that in under 8 months plus include the 2 mishaps that I experienced during the journey. The only thing I have always encountered when working on a financial goal is that the closer I get to it the stronger the temptations and reaching this goal was no easy feat.

The month of October was no walk in the park, there were some high-highs and low-lows and I think for the highs I choose spending time with mum and for the lows I assign that to the emergency dental surgery I had this week meaning my mouth and head are out of whack with all the pain meds I have been putting on. But even during my lows I am pushing out this content so maybe its not all bad, so these are the things that made me smile in October – what had made you smile this month?