2026: The year of…
A look ahead.
Hi friends,
I hope you’ve all had a lovely break over the festive period, mine involved lots of eating, lots of napping and lots of Simming, as expected.
In my last post I reflected on 2025 and now, after a good two weeks of wide-open headspace (bliss), I feel I have some good ideas of what I’d like 2026 to look like.
I don’t have a word of the year or ‘resolutions’, necessarily, instead I have a few intentions I’d like to focus on and a digital vision board sitting pretty on my desktop.
The year of… Moving house (and getting pets)
This has been on mine and Dan’s minds for a while but various things have stood in our way. This year though, we have plans to make it happen and prioritise it above other demands on our time/money.
We want pets and can’t have them where we currently live, so moving is a must. Our first step is to head to local estate agents with our criteria and budget and see just how hard they laugh - this will determine if we can stay where we are in Guildford or are forced out (I suspect it will be the latter looking at rental costs…).
As much as we’d love to stay in this town, we’ve been here a long time so a change of scenery wouldn’t be the worst thing and would be 100% worth it if it means we can have pets.
The year of… Being smarter with money
This, of course, ties in with the above. We have financial priorities for the year and want to continue saving for a deposit to buy a house (one day!) so getting a grip on our finances is key.
From my side, this looks like:
Prioritising saving at the start of the month instead of waiting until the end of the month and seeing what I have left over.
Understanding what I’m spending money on and where I can cut costs.
Learning more about money, savings and investments and essentially getting more financially literate.
The year of… New music and films
I realised at the end of this year I have fallen into quite a rut when it comes to movies and music, re-watching films again and again, and only listening to my curated Spotify playlists on repeat.
There is a sense of familiarity and safety with this, and sometimes that’s exactly what you need. But I feel like that’s all I’ve done this year and I want to make a conscious effort to branch out.
I’ve already started this, listening to Hayley Williams’ and Lily Allens’ new albums, and watching a couple of new films (The Holdovers and The Great Flood). If you have any film or music recommendations, leave them in the comments, I’d love to add them to my list.
The year of… Taking more pictures
I very rarely posted on social media in 2025 (apart from LinkedIn, but I see that more as a work task than social media, if that makes sense?), but that also meant I found myself taking less pictures.
This year I want to remind myself that taking pictures isn’t just for sharing on social media, it can just be for me.
The year of… Continuing habits that are serving me well
A few things really improved for me in 2025. My health, for starters, and I want to ensure I keep up the small tweaks that have made a big difference to continue that work in the upcoming year.
I also started getting more confident with my driving after I got a new (automatic) car. My driving anxiety is still high, but I’m feeling more able to push myself, so I want to keep this momentum up - something I’ll also really need to work on if we do move somewhere new.
Trying to keep intentions manageable this year, especially as the big one is moving house and getting pets - which will be a big upheaval when it does happen.
I feel I’ve outgrown the idea of total reinvention on January first anyway, but I do enjoy a moment to reflect on what I want more of/less of, to feel content.
Thanks for reading and please do share any music/film recommendations, and let me know what you hope 2026 will look like for you.
Until next time, take care.
Kat x