My staycation with Wesley is scheduled to start a week from tomorrow. Unfortunately, it’s looking like he’ll wind up working for a few hours on Wednesday, but we have some exciting plans nonetheless. We also have some boring plans, as I suspect we both will need to do more packing before the 28th move-in date. I’m still excited about having almost a week off of work and school though!
Plans for my time off (and expenses):
1. Eating breakfast at our favorite local diners ($20 for 2 breakfasts out)
2. A day at the local amusement park ($10- we got free tickets, we can drink free water, we can walk there, but we’ll likely spend a little money on snacks or a meal at the fast food place across the street)
3. A night camping (this may or may not happen, but I’d expect around $25 for food, a camping spot, and gas)
4. Trip to a zoo (we have two zoo options for this, one would run around $5 to get there and get in, the other would run around $10 to get there and get in. Plus another $10 to eat lunch out works out to $15-20)
5. Walks and bike rides (free! There are plenty of places to go on walks around us as well as bike ride and we plan to take advantage of it)
6. Movies and TV (free! we plan to spend plenty of time lounging around and relaxing in front of the TV set)
7. Frisbee golf (free! Plenty of frisbee golf courses in the area and I hope to try out a few I haven’t been to)
Total expected cost: $65-$70 out of the $100 I have budgeted
I expect that the camping will fall through and we’ll go to the more expensive zoo (since there is a restaurant we love near there) so it will probably be closer to $45 spent. And seeing myself so far under budget I’ll probably bump that back up to $65 with a few more meals out :) Having the extra $35 leftover in the budget is good though, it gives me extra cash if the move turns out to be more expensive than expected!
16 August 2010
14 August 2010
August Goals
So last time I told you about some of my big goals. The problem with big goals is that it is easy to lose track of them, so we make shorter term goals to accomplish. Here’s what I’m trying to do for August:
1. Increase my steps regularly so that I am up to 7000 steps. Basically, I’ve decided that each day I want to walk at least 100 more steps than the day before. Just started a few days ago, but so far so good.
2. Get my book count up to 70 books. As I said yesterday, I’m sitting at 62. 68 puts me on track and 70 puts me slightly ahead for the end of August.
3. Keep track of what I eat at least 80% of the time for the rest of the month. I just started using livestrong.com again (I love their new version of the myPlate feature) and I need to keep up with what I’m eating. I’m not prepared to commit to losing x pounds per week, but counting is the first step
4. Freezer Cook 2 meals. This might be cheating, since I just cooked one, but I’m new to freezer cooking so I’m starting small.
5. Keep to my eating out and vacation budgets. This gives me $35 for eating out the rest of the month and $100 for our staycation which can include meals out as part of the staycation. It might be tough but Wesley (which is what I hav decided will be DBF’s code name) owes me a meal cuz I paid for the last one, so that helps :)
6. Have a smooth move with as little costs as possible. I move the last weekend of August, out of my parents house and into an apartment with Wesley. I hope to keep my move expenses to the beverages and pizza that we will pay our friends in, but we’ll see if more is needed.
Lets hope I can finish these goals!
Next Time On Whooshing Sounds: A little bit about my Staycation plans.
1. Increase my steps regularly so that I am up to 7000 steps. Basically, I’ve decided that each day I want to walk at least 100 more steps than the day before. Just started a few days ago, but so far so good.
3. Keep track of what I eat at least 80% of the time for the rest of the month. I just started using livestrong.com again (I love their new version of the myPlate feature) and I need to keep up with what I’m eating. I’m not prepared to commit to losing x pounds per week, but counting is the first step
4. Freezer Cook 2 meals. This might be cheating, since I just cooked one, but I’m new to freezer cooking so I’m starting small.
5. Keep to my eating out and vacation budgets. This gives me $35 for eating out the rest of the month and $100 for our staycation which can include meals out as part of the staycation. It might be tough but Wesley (which is what I hav decided will be DBF’s code name) owes me a meal cuz I paid for the last one, so that helps :)
6. Have a smooth move with as little costs as possible. I move the last weekend of August, out of my parents house and into an apartment with Wesley. I hope to keep my move expenses to the beverages and pizza that we will pay our friends in, but we’ll see if more is needed.
Lets hope I can finish these goals!
Next Time On Whooshing Sounds: A little bit about my Staycation plans.
13 August 2010
Goals
Yesterday I told you where I’m at in terms of finances and health, today I’ll be sharing where I want to be.
My Debt:
Undergrad loan- I’m hoping to have this paid off (with a little help from my parents) by April 2011 at the latest. That will allow me to only be paying off my grad loans and start a few months early.
Grad School Loans- I will start paying these off as soon as my undergrad is done, or June 2011 at the latest. I plan to pay off extra on the smallest loan first, which would be the 7000 I owe to Direct Loans and then transfer my extra payments to the higher loan. My goal is to have these paid off by June 2014.
Car Loan- Because this has the lowest interest of all my loans, I do not plan on putting anything extra towards it until the student loans are paid off. My loan is scheduled to finish being paid in July 2015, but I hope to pay it off at least a few months early and finish in December of 2014. I will likely then upgrade to a newer version of my current car and start the loan over again (although a smaller loan since I will have a higher value trade in)
Credit Card- This is top priority for me, since the interest will go up come April 2011. I will have it paid off before then. I’m hoping to have it finished off in October 2010.
My Health:
I would like to lose 35 pounds by the end of December. This puts the average at a little less than 2 pounds a week. This is my optimistic goal. A more realistic goal would likely be to have that lost by April 2011, but I’m shooting for December and not beating myself up if I fail!
Looks like April 2011 will be a big month for me!! All these goals (hopefully) coming to fruition!
Misc:
I am in the process of working through my 2010 goal of reading 100 books this year. I am currently at 62 books and counting! If it wasn’t for the two lit classes I’ve taken this summer, there would be no way I could be doing so well with how busy I am. My commute filled with audiobooks also really helps.
Next Time at Whooshing Sounds: A more detailed August goals
My Debt:
Undergrad loan- I’m hoping to have this paid off (with a little help from my parents) by April 2011 at the latest. That will allow me to only be paying off my grad loans and start a few months early.
Grad School Loans- I will start paying these off as soon as my undergrad is done, or June 2011 at the latest. I plan to pay off extra on the smallest loan first, which would be the 7000 I owe to Direct Loans and then transfer my extra payments to the higher loan. My goal is to have these paid off by June 2014.
Car Loan- Because this has the lowest interest of all my loans, I do not plan on putting anything extra towards it until the student loans are paid off. My loan is scheduled to finish being paid in July 2015, but I hope to pay it off at least a few months early and finish in December of 2014. I will likely then upgrade to a newer version of my current car and start the loan over again (although a smaller loan since I will have a higher value trade in)
Credit Card- This is top priority for me, since the interest will go up come April 2011. I will have it paid off before then. I’m hoping to have it finished off in October 2010.
My Health:
I would like to lose 35 pounds by the end of December. This puts the average at a little less than 2 pounds a week. This is my optimistic goal. A more realistic goal would likely be to have that lost by April 2011, but I’m shooting for December and not beating myself up if I fail!
Looks like April 2011 will be a big month for me!! All these goals (hopefully) coming to fruition!
Misc:
I am in the process of working through my 2010 goal of reading 100 books this year. I am currently at 62 books and counting! If it wasn’t for the two lit classes I’ve taken this summer, there would be no way I could be doing so well with how busy I am. My commute filled with audiobooks also really helps.
Next Time at Whooshing Sounds: A more detailed August goals
12 August 2010
The Baseline
I feel it is only proper to start off this relationship with where I sit now.
My debt:
Undergrad Student Loans: The agreement was that my parents would pay for school on the back end. So far they give me some money here and there to help, but the majority of the payoff was all me.
Starting: 12,641
Current: 6,050
Grad School Student Loans: 3 loans in total 2 subsidized and 1 unsubsidized (my parents will not be helping me with these)
Starting: 26,000
Current: 26,000
Car Loan: Okay, so I probably didn’t need the new car I bought 2 months ago, but I got a super low APR, and I deserved it! I spend so much time commuting that it was worth it to me to buy a car I loved that gets FABULOUS mpg.
Starting: 22,000
Current: 21,360
Credit Card: This debt is half consumer debt and half a school payment that wasn’t covered by my loan. It is currently sitting on a card with a promotional 0% APR until my statement closes in April.
Starting: 2600
Current: 2600
My Health:
I’m short. I’m only 5’3” and therefore according to all the dr. charts I should only weight 125-135. From past experience I feel healthy and mostly good at 135 which is my goal. I wouldn’t be opposed to being 125, but we’ll see if I want to shoot for 10 pounds lighter when I make it to 135. At my current weight that means I have about 30-45 pounds to lose. I have never been this heavy before in my life and it does not make me happy.
A note to add to this is that recent tests seem to suggest that I have hypothyroidism which can cause weight gain, which would likely explain the fact that I am 20 pounds heavier this year than I was last year. Hopefully this will all get sorted out next week and I can start a medication that will help me take off the weight and resolve some of the other issues I’m having that are likely being caused by my thyroid.
Next Up: My Goals!
My debt:
Undergrad Student Loans: The agreement was that my parents would pay for school on the back end. So far they give me some money here and there to help, but the majority of the payoff was all me.
Starting: 12,641
Current: 6,050
Grad School Student Loans: 3 loans in total 2 subsidized and 1 unsubsidized (my parents will not be helping me with these)
Starting: 26,000
Current: 26,000
Car Loan: Okay, so I probably didn’t need the new car I bought 2 months ago, but I got a super low APR, and I deserved it! I spend so much time commuting that it was worth it to me to buy a car I loved that gets FABULOUS mpg.
Starting: 22,000
Current: 21,360
Credit Card: This debt is half consumer debt and half a school payment that wasn’t covered by my loan. It is currently sitting on a card with a promotional 0% APR until my statement closes in April.
Starting: 2600
Current: 2600
My Health:
I’m short. I’m only 5’3” and therefore according to all the dr. charts I should only weight 125-135. From past experience I feel healthy and mostly good at 135 which is my goal. I wouldn’t be opposed to being 125, but we’ll see if I want to shoot for 10 pounds lighter when I make it to 135. At my current weight that means I have about 30-45 pounds to lose. I have never been this heavy before in my life and it does not make me happy.
A note to add to this is that recent tests seem to suggest that I have hypothyroidism which can cause weight gain, which would likely explain the fact that I am 20 pounds heavier this year than I was last year. Hopefully this will all get sorted out next week and I can start a medication that will help me take off the weight and resolve some of the other issues I’m having that are likely being caused by my thyroid.
Next Up: My Goals!
Hello There Blog World!
So after spending such a large chunk of my free time reading about other people's trials and tribulations with getting themselves out of debt (and frequently also the battle of losing weight) I decided it was time I gave it a try, so here I am!
The purpose of this blog is to keep me accountable for the goals that I set for myself in the areas of my life that need the most work (that would be my waist and my pocketbook) and to share the tips and tricks that I learn along the way.
So here goes!
The purpose of this blog is to keep me accountable for the goals that I set for myself in the areas of my life that need the most work (that would be my waist and my pocketbook) and to share the tips and tricks that I learn along the way.
So here goes!
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