The start of the list...

Canadian River

Welcome back to Join the Crowd!

I promised a list of things that I personally need to work on to enrich my life, or to make some sort of progress for the future.  Like I mentioned in previous blogs, some of these goals will seem rather small, but could be building blocks to much bigger and better things.  Also, it's the little progressions that keep you motivated with going a little bit further.  Today, I will mainly cover goals pertaining to "Dreams" and "Weight/Health."

First on the list falls under DREAMS.  Finances, specifically.

A.  Start SAVING!  I see that little piece of horse property where my horses have maybe 5 acres of turnout, a little barn, a modest sized house for raising a family, and a place to call my own.  No more renting= no more landlords!!  Yes...... that sounds perfect. 

      So, allow me to up my savings from $25/mo into my personal savings account to be changed to $50.  I think doubling is still a reasonable amount to draft from my personal checking account every month.  That's $600 a year, and it can always be changed to go higher if I feel that I can spare even more.  This doesn't include any exchanges that I manually do myself to transfer to savings; this is an automatic transfer made by my bank on the first of the month. 

B.  Find a way to get TRAVIS to save money, too.  Hey, if we are going to do this together (save for OUR future), then we both need to try to do this as equally as possible.  Now, what works with spenders like Travis, is he still wants to feel manly and take us out to a nice dinner maybe every other month, and he likes to buy himself something maybe once a month that isn't a necessary purchase.  FINE! I let him (meaning, I don't gibe him sh*t about it) because it makes him happy.  It's the impulse buys right before payday when he sees that he didn't spend that extra $115 that's sitting in his account.  Well, SAVE IT!! It needs to be moved to HIS personal savings account.  We do have a joined savings account that drafts $10 every Friday from our personal checking accounts.  I believe that with time, we should up this, but since we stated with our new company in November of last year, we are still trying to get a feel for our finances.

C.   I have incurred just under $4500 in credit card debt because I've been trying to establish my credit history.  BOO HOO.  It's my fault, well, and my darn bank's because they keep upping my limit, lol.  So, I'm putting it away where I cannot use it anymore, and therefore not be tempted to use it.  For this solution, if I feel like I do need money for something, or if there is an emergency situation, I move money over (via phone app) from our joined account.  I move over what is necessary, and I know I will pay it back on the next pay day because it's the account I share with Travis.  He'll know when the money is taken out and will make sure I pay it back, and vice versa if he has to do the same.

     It's a safer thing to do than drafting money over from my personal savings account because no one will hold a gun to my head and force to to pay it back to myself.  It will probably be gone forever.  I recommend doing the same if you have this problem as well.

     Back to the credit card, if I'm not spending anymore on it, then there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to lower my debt on it.  I never pay just the minimum; I've always been good about that.  Even with just paying a little more a month, that's going to make a big deal, especially for interest rates.  I'm setting a goal of having it paid off within 36 months.  That's paying just a little over $100/month.  I think this is very reasonable, unless I become jobless/homeless/sick/tornado sucked up my life/become a cheap prostitute on no birth control with 6 babies.  On that note, I think that covers finances for now.


Now moving onto...WEIGHT/HEALTH.  Dieting....yay, not.

      I'd like to lose at least 25 pounds, and be able to fit into my normal clothes because I REFUSE to buy myself some more clothes that are a size larger when I have so many clothes in my old size that I was for most of my adult life. 

      Dieting sucks when your restricting certain items.  So that's dumb, and it doesn't work for most people.  ie. Cut out carbs, lose lots of weight, eat your first carb after 5 years, then benge eat 5 years worth of carbs that you didn't eat during those 5 years= your ass is fatter than it was 5 years ago. 

      What works for me is counting calories, or making subtle lifestyle changes that are gradual.  Counting calories is so easy now with all of the websites and applications that you can download to your mobile device.  It really has gotten so much easier over the years.  And it does work because you become more aware of what you're eating everyday.  Even just keeping a food journal and seeing what you each and looking at it on paper makes you change you eating habits. 

       And I found a new trick that works for me. I rediscovered tea. I found that a large, hot cup of tea at about 3pm with a little bit of honey has made me not want to snack before dinner. I try to drink either regular green tea or a very flavored herbal tea. My favorite is HEBs Raspberry and Hibiscus, yum!  The more flavor (and I do not mean sugar) I swear tricks my brain into thinking I'm indulging on something rather than drinking a hot cup of flavored water. I don't know--- it works!!
       As for the subtle changes, I can do things like: cutting mayo out of my diet and just sticking with mustard wherever appropriate.  Or look at what you eat everyday and just knock 25 calories or whatever from each meal.  Saving 25 calories that you know that you will not eat per day, will give you a total weight loss of 2.6 pounds lost per year.  So, think about what you can cut out or decrease and how many pounds you can lose a year can really add up! 

    
      Another subtle change, watch this:  

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      It's 30 minutes a day.  I'm sure you've got it somewhere.  Put it on your to do list; make that 30 minutes a day about YOU!!  Whatever you like to do, but make it physical-- so much as a walk.  Take your dog!  Act like a little kid that runs everywhere screaming!  Have 30 minutes of sex with your honey!!  Just get physical ((enter Olivia John circa 1980)). 


This pretty much brings me to the last part of my blog for today.  It's going to focus more on REFLECTIONS and OBSERVATIONS.

   I've realized that I do not do enough of the things that I have always loved to do.  I do not make the time for it nowadays.  I don't know why, either.  But I promise to make more time for myself.  I miss drawing, painting, craft projects, organizing, learning new recipes and working my horses on the flat.  I think just being aware of this says a lot.  Just acknowledging it makes me want to actually get down to doing something about it.  So, I think I will break out the paper and paint brushes and maybe paint something.  There's no fun in always doing what's required and expected of you.  Make more time for YOU. 

   In closing, I really do hope that someone finds any of this helpful and is further inspired to do something about it.  We are capable of changing and renewing ourselves.  It's whether you really feel like it's the time for you or not.  And it's only when it's the right time that your mind will truly be set to do it.



Have a good wonderfull one and I'll be back soon with more!

-Jules

Big Bend Balloon Festival 2008