February was a chaotic month to say the least. I had a number of problems that I was dealing with among my friends, so blogging went by the wayside. I'm also ashamed to say I did very bad as far as budgeting goes. On the plus side, I spent last night helping my newly divorced friend who has never been on her own before create a budget for herself and it sparked a desire to better in me.
So for now we'll ignore those January goals, skip right past February and start looking at March.
Even though I've been off track, I plan to start March off with a challenge. I will be doing a No Eating Out challenge for the month of March. I will be allowing myself 3 cheat meals and 2 cheat treats. The meals are eating lunch, breakfast or dinner out and my "treats" are when I need a coffee, cocoa, or ice cream pick me up. Even my cheats may sound like a lot of eating out to most of you, but for me its still less than half of what I spent eating out last month!
So, here goes my March Goals:
1. Complete my No Eating Out Challenge
2. Read 10 books!- this is especially ambitious for me, but I'd really like to make more time for reading than I currently do
3. Sell 2 craft items
4. Finish Cleaning out old room- with the weather warming up I may be more ambitious about making the drive to my parents house to do this. We'll see.
5. Make 2 new recipes
I think I'll leave it at that for today since even that looks a little optimistic to me :)
28 February 2011
22 January 2011
Saturday Goal Checkup
So its a sick house here. I am just finally feeling almost normal after having my wisdom teeth pulled. It only took 2 weeks :| I can mostly eat normal now. I still have to be careful about food getting stuck in the holes, but I feel so much better. Just as I'm getting better, however, Wesley came down with strep throat! So he's miserable and I've been taking care of him (and consequently spending more money than usual buying him meals and paying for some medication for him since his money is far tighter than mine). But anyway, on to my goal update!
1. Finish Cleaning out the old room. I haven't been back since last I checked in about this.
2. Try 3 new recipes. No new recipes from last time either.
3. Read 12 Books. I've finished 3 books so far this month. 61 hours, Worth Dying For, and Carry On Jeeves. I'm also making progress in a fourth book.
4. Exercise 465 minutes. I should be at 330 minutes and I'm only at 165 :( Too many days of just 5 minutes of exercise during the wisdom teeth extraction healing. Hopefully I'll be able to make it up.
5. Finish my 21 days in a row streak of exercise. I met this goal and surpassed it! Made it to 26 days in a row before I slipped up and missed a day. But I've only missed one day of exercise all month!
6. Finalize my budget for 2011. So, my raise is not retroactive til December 18th :( My degree conferred date is January 8th, so I don't get any back pay. I still won't know what a usual check looks like til February so I can't finalize the budget til then, but I have a budget based on what I think I'll be making and its flexible in that I'm scheduled to be putting a bunch of extra money towards debt so thats the only number that will change if I am making less or more than expected.
See you guys on Monday hopefully!!
1. Finish Cleaning out the old room. I haven't been back since last I checked in about this.
2. Try 3 new recipes. No new recipes from last time either.
3. Read 12 Books. I've finished 3 books so far this month. 61 hours, Worth Dying For, and Carry On Jeeves. I'm also making progress in a fourth book.
4. Exercise 465 minutes. I should be at 330 minutes and I'm only at 165 :( Too many days of just 5 minutes of exercise during the wisdom teeth extraction healing. Hopefully I'll be able to make it up.
5. Finish my 21 days in a row streak of exercise. I met this goal and surpassed it! Made it to 26 days in a row before I slipped up and missed a day. But I've only missed one day of exercise all month!
6. Finalize my budget for 2011. So, my raise is not retroactive til December 18th :( My degree conferred date is January 8th, so I don't get any back pay. I still won't know what a usual check looks like til February so I can't finalize the budget til then, but I have a budget based on what I think I'll be making and its flexible in that I'm scheduled to be putting a bunch of extra money towards debt so thats the only number that will change if I am making less or more than expected.
See you guys on Monday hopefully!!
19 January 2011
Weekly Money Check-up
This post is part of My Pretty Pennies Weekly Money Check Up.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on groceries. I made a trip out to Whole Foods and one to target and spent 100 between the two.
2. Today I feel optimistic towards money. My raise goes into effect as of this pay period! YAY!
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was scrapbook. Maybe not too inexpensive, since I spent a chunk of money on new supplies, but not too expensive either.
4. I will consider this week a success if I do the 30 day shred 2 more times.
5. My signature outfit is jeans and a tee-shirt I guess. I've never really considered myself to have a signature outfit. I suppose it could also be a black A-line skirt, tights, and knee high boots with some sort of sweater on top. Thats probably my favorite outfit.
--
If you'd like to participate, fill this out and link it back to My Pretty Pennies.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on groceries. I made a trip out to Whole Foods and one to target and spent 100 between the two.
2. Today I feel optimistic towards money. My raise goes into effect as of this pay period! YAY!
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was scrapbook. Maybe not too inexpensive, since I spent a chunk of money on new supplies, but not too expensive either.
4. I will consider this week a success if I do the 30 day shred 2 more times.
5. My signature outfit is jeans and a tee-shirt I guess. I've never really considered myself to have a signature outfit. I suppose it could also be a black A-line skirt, tights, and knee high boots with some sort of sweater on top. Thats probably my favorite outfit.
--
If you'd like to participate, fill this out and link it back to My Pretty Pennies.
11 January 2011
Ugh...
My wisdom teeth extraction is still making me feel pretty miserable. My boss told me to stay home one more day and I should be back in tomorrow. On the one hand its awesome to be spending all my time on the couch watching all the Biggest Loser seasons on Hulu Plus and reading, on the other I hurt so bad that I would rather be at work and not in pain and able to eat real food!
On the plus side I've eaten some AWESOME eggs today and I've managed to keep up working out every day even through this mess. Granted from Friday on I haven't done more than pushups and stretching, but I can do more pushups now and I haven't given up. I made it 22 days in a row as of today!! I'm also down a pound and a half (mostly because I can't really eat). Feeling good about that and excited to get back into a more intense exercise regime hopefully tomorrow or the day after. I think I'll try for the 30 day shred tomorrow, but not push myself too hard in it. I'm hoping to go the whole month of January working out.
I've also decided to reward myself with a new wardrobe when I hit 140. Its on the high end of what I'd like to be, but I'll be healthy and thats what matters. It puts my BMI in the right range, all my bloodwork is good as of now, and if I'm exercising regularly, I'll be happy. I've got a pretty positive attitude right now about the whole losing weight thing. Only 29 pounds to go!
On the plus side I've eaten some AWESOME eggs today and I've managed to keep up working out every day even through this mess. Granted from Friday on I haven't done more than pushups and stretching, but I can do more pushups now and I haven't given up. I made it 22 days in a row as of today!! I'm also down a pound and a half (mostly because I can't really eat). Feeling good about that and excited to get back into a more intense exercise regime hopefully tomorrow or the day after. I think I'll try for the 30 day shred tomorrow, but not push myself too hard in it. I'm hoping to go the whole month of January working out.
I've also decided to reward myself with a new wardrobe when I hit 140. Its on the high end of what I'd like to be, but I'll be healthy and thats what matters. It puts my BMI in the right range, all my bloodwork is good as of now, and if I'm exercising regularly, I'll be happy. I've got a pretty positive attitude right now about the whole losing weight thing. Only 29 pounds to go!
10 January 2011
Weekly Money Check-Up
This post is part of My Pretty Pennies Weekly Money Check Up.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on my teeth. 910 to get all 4 pulled out and the anesthesia.
2. Today I feel excited towards money. My degree finally came through so I should start my raise effective this past Saturday!!! YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was do the 30 Day Shred 3 days in a row!! Jillian is one tough $%#^$@^# and to do that workout 3 days in a row is a huge accomplishment for me. I think I could have done more if not for my stupid teeth!
4. I will consider this week a success if I get back to working out. These damn teeth!
5. I love snow. I hate driving in ice, but I love sitting inside looking at the snow outside, or sledding down a giant hill of the stuff!
--
If you'd like to participate, fill this out and link it back to My Pretty Pennies.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _____.
2. Today I feel _______towards money.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was_____________.
4. I will consider this week a success if I _____________.
5. I _______ snow.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on my teeth. 910 to get all 4 pulled out and the anesthesia.
2. Today I feel excited towards money. My degree finally came through so I should start my raise effective this past Saturday!!! YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was do the 30 Day Shred 3 days in a row!! Jillian is one tough $%#^$@^# and to do that workout 3 days in a row is a huge accomplishment for me. I think I could have done more if not for my stupid teeth!
4. I will consider this week a success if I get back to working out. These damn teeth!
5. I love snow. I hate driving in ice, but I love sitting inside looking at the snow outside, or sledding down a giant hill of the stuff!
--
If you'd like to participate, fill this out and link it back to My Pretty Pennies.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _____.
2. Today I feel _______towards money.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was_____________.
4. I will consider this week a success if I _____________.
5. I _______ snow.
07 January 2011
Friday Goal Check-Up
I got my wisdom teeth pulled this morning. All four were long overdue for being pulled. I'm not feeling fabulous but the painkillers definitely help. This post may be a little odd, since I still feel a tiny bit foggy, but I'm trying anyway. :)
1. Finish Cleaning out the old room. I've made progress so far. I took a few boxes of stuff to goodwill, I have a few bags in my car right now to sort through, and I plan to do some more work on it next weekend hopefully. I've also taken some stuff from the apartment to goodwill, which I was very excited about. An old TV we don't use left us as well as a nightstand and small shelving unit I didn't like.
2. Try 3 new recipes. We made a delicious chicken and potato dish that was so incredibly easy we will probably try it again. It was a little heavy on the Rosemary for my tastes, so we'll probably switch up the spices a bit when we try again.
3. Read 12 Books. I finished one book, and I'm hoping to finish another book or two this weekend since I'm basically couch-bound for a while.
4. Exercise 465 minutes. I should be at 105 minutes at this point, but I'm only at 85. Not too far behind but I don't think I'll do much more than 5 minutes a day this weekend. I should be able to get back on track by keeping up doing the 30 day shred when I feel better.
5. Finish my 21 days in a row streak of exercise. 18 days in a row! I'll meet this goal on Monday!!
6. Finalize my budget for 2011. I found out what my raise is and made a loose budget based on what I think my check will be, but I still have to wait to actually see a check to finalize this. This might be pushed off to February because my first check with my raise will be larger than normal because it will be retroactive to December 18th when I completed the degree. We shall see. I've made progress and that's what counts.
See you guys on Monday hopefully!!
1. Finish Cleaning out the old room. I've made progress so far. I took a few boxes of stuff to goodwill, I have a few bags in my car right now to sort through, and I plan to do some more work on it next weekend hopefully. I've also taken some stuff from the apartment to goodwill, which I was very excited about. An old TV we don't use left us as well as a nightstand and small shelving unit I didn't like.
2. Try 3 new recipes. We made a delicious chicken and potato dish that was so incredibly easy we will probably try it again. It was a little heavy on the Rosemary for my tastes, so we'll probably switch up the spices a bit when we try again.
3. Read 12 Books. I finished one book, and I'm hoping to finish another book or two this weekend since I'm basically couch-bound for a while.
4. Exercise 465 minutes. I should be at 105 minutes at this point, but I'm only at 85. Not too far behind but I don't think I'll do much more than 5 minutes a day this weekend. I should be able to get back on track by keeping up doing the 30 day shred when I feel better.
5. Finish my 21 days in a row streak of exercise. 18 days in a row! I'll meet this goal on Monday!!
6. Finalize my budget for 2011. I found out what my raise is and made a loose budget based on what I think my check will be, but I still have to wait to actually see a check to finalize this. This might be pushed off to February because my first check with my raise will be larger than normal because it will be retroactive to December 18th when I completed the degree. We shall see. I've made progress and that's what counts.
See you guys on Monday hopefully!!
03 January 2011
Oh Mondays...
Good afternoon all! Hope everyone had great holidays and are starting the new year off with a bang! It was especially hard for me to get up and get my butt into work this morning. I had a late night last night at a surprise party for a friend. It was a lot of fun at least.
I've been considering getting a gym membership this past week or so, in the spirit of my healthy lifestyle decision and finally come to the conclusion to skip it. I know I have no energy to get up and out of the house when the temps dip into the single digits, so I'll just wind up wasting the membership most of the time. Instead I think I've settled on buying a gazelle. With any luck, my friend's mom still owns one and will be willing to sell it to me for $30 or so. Either way though, I'm settled on getting one. It will help to have something to do while watching TV and its nice that it can be folded up and put in a closet, since space is such a huge concern in our apartment.
Hooray for getting healthy!!
I've been considering getting a gym membership this past week or so, in the spirit of my healthy lifestyle decision and finally come to the conclusion to skip it. I know I have no energy to get up and out of the house when the temps dip into the single digits, so I'll just wind up wasting the membership most of the time. Instead I think I've settled on buying a gazelle. With any luck, my friend's mom still owns one and will be willing to sell it to me for $30 or so. Either way though, I'm settled on getting one. It will help to have something to do while watching TV and its nice that it can be folded up and put in a closet, since space is such a huge concern in our apartment.
Hooray for getting healthy!!
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