April goals wrap up

April has been quite a wild ride. For the most part, given the month, I'm pleased with my progress overall. Can't win 'em all. :-)

For the financial challenge:

1. Cut $100 off of our fixed expenses. We've done a great job reviewing all of our utility bills (we bucket this for cable, internet, cell phones, etc), but there's always more to do. - We shaved $40 off of our cable package, but that's it.
2. Make $500 towards my girls trip. - Done!
3. Cut eating out back to $150 for the month. - Yeah, no. The month threw us some unexpected curve balls. We spent $250 on dining out.
4. Cut the groceries back to $550, and really focus on meal planning and reducing food waste. We've gotten sloppy.- Yes! We spent $429.83, thanks in part to our Costco rebate & also our increased dining out. ;-)
5. Keep the house spending to $100. We've been buying a lot of miscellaneous things for the house, & I put postage charges (eBay) in this category, so I'd like to include those charges & still keep this to $100. - We spent $231 on the "house" category. Much of it was eBay/postage related, but there was also the charge for refilling our propane (barbecue), buying fish food & supplies, as well as shampoo, mouthwash, etc.

Other April goals:

1. Lose 2 lbs, bringing my weight to 142. - I lost one pound. This month, I'll take it! :-)
2. Complete the following workouts: - I clearly couldn't work out as much as I wanted in April.
1. 1200 minutes of cardio - Closing out the month at 902 minutes. . . my first time under 1,000 in a LONG time.
2. 12 strength workouts - I completed 6 strength workouts.
3. 10 stretching workouts - I completed 5 stretching workouts - still better than January & February!
4. Try one new to me workout - Nope.
3. Run 100 miles in April. - I ran 50 miles in April, & I'm happy that I managed that.
4. Run a 10K - Yes! Had a great time & ran harder than I thought I could !
5. Finalize summer break plans & book all camps/childcare - Yes!
6. Buy one tuition credit for each kid. - Yes!
7. Pay an extra $1000 on the mortgage. - This is the first month we've ever really tracked it, but we paid just a smidge over $1000 extra.
8. File & pay for our taxes. Gulp. - Done! Goodbye, $13K. I barely knew ya.
9. One date night with M. - Yes!
10. Two get togethers with friends. - I managed one, just a few days ago.
11. Clean out my closet & dressers. - Nope.
12. Book last plane ticket for girls trip. - Yes!
13. Tackle one additional drawer or closet in the garage - sort, inventory & donate. - Nada.
14. Read 2 books. - I read one!
15. Plan fun weekend with my nephew (for his spring break) - Yes! He came, we baked, he had a great time. :-)

Phew! Hoping May is a much more fabulous month. How about you? How did you do with your April goals?

Menu plan Monday & health update

My weekend was cruising along until Saturday evening, when I got a call from my doctor. Basically, I tested positive for an autoimmune issue, & need to go see a rheumatologist. I am concerned, but trying my best not to self-diagnose (such a waste of time & cause of unnecessary stress that I really don't need right now) & stay off of the various sites that talk about this positive test result & what it could mean. It's not great news no matter what, but hopefully it's a small(er) problem, rather than something more systemic.

Enough about that. The rest of the weekend was spent with me going to worst case scenario & thinking about how we would need to change our lives if I was sick. (See above - self diagnosis helps no one).

I'm calling for an appointment this morning. Hopefully they can get me in this week so I can stop freaking out & find out what's really happening with my body. M cancelled his business trip this week, which was sweet, but unnecessary, so I'm planning meals for the entire week. I think it's been four months since he's been home for this long. Yeah! :-)

• Monday - tacos (beef for the kiddos, chicken for the adults)
• Tuesday - pasta with tomatoes, parmesan & Italian sausage (freezer)
• Wednesday - hamburgers (the weather is supposed to be great!)
• Thursday -
• Friday - M is out of town at his cousin's 50th birthday party. I'll come up with something for the kiddos.
• Saturday - M out of town. I'm taking the kids to a party at our gym, & then to dinner there.
• Sunday - Homemade pizza. Thinking of trying barbecued chicken this week.

In other news, I found a fabulous knock off recipe for Zbars (the kids version of Clif bars). I made these over the weekend, & they are amazing! The kids love them, & I do too. ;-) They have no sugar (dates instead), no butter, & are relatively sweet, but also filling. Perfect snack!

I need to find a more savory lunch/snack for the kids, & I was thinking of making popcorn for their lunches - and adding seasonings. If you have savory snack ideas, please share! No nuts are allowed, which makes it hard.

And, here's what I managed to get done this weekend (off of my earlier post)

1. Plan a menu for the next week or so. We've been eating out too much & flying by the seat of our pants.- Done! A little late, but complete.
2. Get back to working out, which the doctor swears will help not hurt my energy levels. I'm fine with slow running mixed with jogging. I'm committing to myself not to get bummed by having to go slower than normal. - Well, the new test result throws a wrinkle in this, but I worked out Saturday & Sunday.
3. Run (or, walk) my 10K this weekend. - Done. Surprised myself with a great run!
4. Two stretching workouts (either yoga or pilates) - No, although I am doing pilates this evening.
5. Two blog posts. I've been out of the loop! - One! :-)
6. Determine my next set of items to list on eBay. I've made over $1800 so far!!! - I listed three additional items, but need to continue to see what we have - I like to have about ten things going at any given time.
7. Plan another half marathon for the summer. I'm clearly not going to be well trained for my upcoming run on Mother's Day, and while I'll likely still do it, I have low expectations for my time. - On hold until I see the specialist.
8. Help my sister plan my grandmother's 80th birthday. - In progress.
9. Decide on a gift for my mom for mother's day. - I've decided, but have not picked it up yet.
10. Find a way to squeeze in a date night with M! Or, maybe a lunch if dinner is not possible. - we had lunch together on Friday, & I've found a new potential sitter! So excited! We haven't had a sitter in years, & really need one.

Not too bad. I'll take it! How was your weekend?

Ten things Thursday

Normally I have a to do list the length of my arm, but I'm slowly getting my energy back from being sick (and dealing with a big anemia flare up, which was likely the cause of my fatigue, combined with the flu). Time to focus on just a few things I want to get done the rest of the week.

Here goes:

1. Plan a menu for the next week or so. We've been eating out too much & flying by the seat of our pants.
2. Get back to working out, which the doctor swears will help not hurt my energy levels. I'm fine with slow running mixed with jogging. I'm committing to myself not to get bummed by having to go slower than normal.
3. Run (or, walk) my 10K this weekend.
4. Two stretching workouts (either yoga or pilates)
5. Two blog posts. I've been out of the loop!
6. Determine my next set of items to list on eBay. I've made over $1800 so far!!!
7. Plan another half marathon for the summer. I'm clearly not going to be well trained for my upcoming run on Mother's Day, and while I'll likely still do it, I have low expectations for my time.
8. Help my sister plan my grandmother's 80th birthday.
9. Decide on a gift for my mom for mother's day.
10. Find a way to squeeze in a date night with M! Or, maybe a lunch if dinner is not possible.

On the budgeting front, things are going surprisingly well, given that I've been on autopilot & not focusing at all on the numbers. We definitely ate out more than normal, but our grocery bill was down drastically due to: M traveling more for work, the eating out, and our Costco rebate. We also had to pre-register for a few summer camps, which drove up our childcare spending.

All in all, I'm so happy to know how to fix my fatigue & lack of energy, and I'm very excited to get back to "feeling like myself"! Looking forward to May & additional sunshine. :-)

How is your April looking? Did you accomplish any big goals or stay within your budget? What are you hoping to get done this week?

You don't appreciate it until it's gone

your health, that is. Lately I've been plagued with fatigue. What I thought was a flu has turned into fatigue and exhaustion so encompassing that I can barely work. I've also lost about 1/4 of my hair. My hair no longer fits into any of my clips, because there's not enough there to hold it in place.

I had a doctor's appointment today, & they have a few ideas of what it might be (leaning towards a thyroid issue), and I'm hoping to have the test results back in the next few days. Fingers crossed that it's a relatively easy & treatable issue.

Everything other than just staying upright & remaining employed/taking care of the kids has taken a complete back seat. We've eaten out, I've slept more than I can ever remember, and I've stopped working out altogether. Basically, I've become a slug in an attempt to save my energy for crucial tasks. I'm pretty sure the mental aspect of that is harder for me than the physical aspect. All of my hard won toning & running miles. . . I have a 10K this weekend, and unless the doctor has a miraculous solution, I can't imagine running it. In fact, the thought of putting my running shoes on & getting in the car to go to a race feels like a lot right now. And, I have my half marathon coming up in a few weeks.

In fun news, I ordered a new bikini for the summer! Part of my $300 clothing budget, and used a gift card to offset most of the cost. I needed the pick me up - fantasizing about a vacation in the sunshine. :-) For whatever reason, I can't figure out how to post the actual item, but here's the link: http://www.victoriassecret.com/swimwear/bikinis/twist-bandeau-top-forever-sexy?ProductID=76782&CatalogueType=OLS . The deep purple color looks good on me, since I'm so pale. :-) Shows off my glowing white skin!

Apologies for being absent over the past few weeks!

How do you cheer yourself up when you're in a funk?

Mid-April goal check

Still in shock over the Boston Marathon bombings. How could someone take such a wonderful and positive event and turn it into something so horrific?

I've been home with the stomach flu that last couple of days, so I've done nothing. I think I slept 16 hours yesterday. Today I actually managed to get out of bed, so that's improvement at least. :-) I'm hoping by tomorrow, I'll be able to eat something other than crackers. Small steps.

Here's what I set out to accomplish for April, and my progress so far.

For the financial challenge:

1. Cut $100 off of our fixed expenses. We've done a great job reviewing all of our utility bills (we bucket this for cable, internet, cell phones, etc), but there's always more to do. - We managed to cut our cable bill by $40/month. Still looking for the rest of the $100. 
2. Make $500 towards my girls trip. - I've made $3.81, so . . . not so much. ;-) I hit my eBay limits on most categories, so I have to wait a bit to be able to list more.
3. Cut eating out back to $150 for the month. - Fail. We're at $190 for the month. We had a few fun dates when my parents had the kids, so it was worth it. ;-)
4. Cut the groceries back to $550, and really focus on meal planning and reducing food waste. We've gotten sloppy.- Yes! We're at $172, thanks in large part to our Costco rebate.
5. Keep the house spending to $100. We've been buying a lot of miscellaneous things for the house, & I put postage charges (eBay) in this category, so I'd like to include those charges & still keep this to $100. - My eBay costs are just over $100 so far. I do deduct it from my "travel fund" and only count my net profits towards my earnings, but I still have to categorize my monthly expenses.

Other April goals:

1. Lose 2 lbs, bringing my weight to 142. - I've lost another pound, so I'm at 143!
2. Complete the following workouts:
1. 1200 minutes of cardio - I'm at 625, so on track, although the stomach flu has slowed me down a bit.
2. 12 strength workouts - I'm at 4 strength workouts, so need to ramp this up.
3. 10 stretching workouts - I'm at 3 for the month, so need to focus on my core exercises.
4. Try one new to me workout - I was hoping to meet a friend on Friday for a new to us workout, but she's out of town. We'll see if I can squeeze this in.
3. Run 100 miles in April. - I'm at 33 for the month. Not sure if I can hit 100.
4. Run a 10K - Run is scheduled for a few weeks out!
5. Finalize summer break plans & book all camps/childcare - I'm all ready to fax my last registration forms!
6. Buy one tuition credit for each kid.- Haven't done this yet. And, we have some unexpected car repairs, so this may not happen in April.
7. Pay an extra $1000 on the mortgage. - On track!
8. File & pay for our taxes. Gulp. - Done!
9. One date night with M. - Yes!
10. Two get togethers with friends. - Nothing so far. I had something planned when the boys were with my parents, but my friend had to cancel.
11. Clean out my closet & dressers. - Slowly working on this!
12. Book last plane ticket for girls trip. - Done!
13. Tackle one additional drawer or closet in the garage - sort, inventory & donate. - We made quite a bit of progress in the garage when the boys were out of town. Check!
14. Read 2 books. - I read one while I was sick, small victory! ;-)
15. Plan fun weekend with my nephew (for his spring break) - We had a great time on "cooking" weekend, and he described it as the highlight of his spring break!

How about you? How are you doing on your April goals?

Weekend plans

Love the weekend! This is one of our last "free" weekends in months, so I'm taking advantage of the relaxing schedule. :-)

Here's what I need to accomplish this weekend:

1. Run 5 miles (today)
2. Run 10 miles (tomorrow)
3. Two stretching workouts
4. 1 strength workout
5. Figure out a meal plan
6. Decide what to do on a house remodel project
7. FILE OUR TAXES. Gulp.
8. Decide what's next to sell for eBay
9. Finish summer school/camp registrations for the boys.
10. Get them registered for their next activities.
11. Finalize our family summer calendar.
12. Make granola bars
13. Make muffins
14. Take the kids to Sunday Funday (an activity/party at our gym)
15. Buy a birthday gift for a party
16. Find a new bikini. Yikes.
17. Plan next week's workouts.
18. Clean the floors.
19. Decide what to do about my hair/get a consultation. I'm going gray, & I'm not liking it at all!
20. Take the boys for hair cuts.

If you're wondering why I'm baking again, after last weekend's bake-athon, I sent everything home with my nephew. He was SO excited, & wanted to show off his results. :-)

If I finish all of that, I'll be thrilled! :-) I'm trying to get back into running 20 miles/week, & it's no small feat with our schedule.

I'm supposed to be running right now, while M has the kids at karate lessons, but that plan was foiled when he accidentally took the car that had my running shoes & music in it. Oh well, hopefully it will be warmer than 40 when I finally get out there. But, MUST RUN today!

What's on your schedule? Do you make weekend to do lists? If I don't, I'll wander around the house all weekend, knowing that I should be "doing something", but not knowing what. :-)

April, oh my!

What a crazy month it's been so far. Work, work, work, & more work. I recently took over my peer's role, in addition to my own. Now, when I started back in November, my job was definitely scoped at a full position. So, adding in my peer's work (and, he left things in quite a state) has been. . . interesting! My role is now global (over 200 countries), so I'm learning way more than I ever wanted to know about the rest of the world. :-)

Life updates
Over the weekend, my wonderful nephew came to stay with us for a few nights. He's been asking to have a cooking day with me for about a year, and we finally made it happen. We had an awesome cooking day, and made:

• Three dozen muffins
• Three loaves of bread
• Four pizza crusts
• Six dozen taquitos (half chicken, half beef)
• 6 batches of applesauce
• A batch of granola bars
• A batch of protein bars

He was a rock star helper, and my kitchen has never been so busy. (Or, so messy :-)). My mom chauffeured my nephew, so when she went home, she took my boys with her for a few days for their  spring break.

And, for the first time ever (literally), M & I were at our own home without the kids. It was such a strange feeling! We went out for dinner on Sunday, I did my long run without guilt or time pressure. I got up in the mornings & worked out before work, we met for happy hour on Monday. We got rid of furniture we didn't need, M organized part of the garage (it's a huge project). . . It was nuts! I forgot what that kind of flexibility feels like. M left for a work trip on Tuesday, so I was definitely missing everyone by the time I picked up my cutie pies yesterday. They had a fabulous time with my parents - swimming, bike riding, having "urban adventures" in downtown Portland.

Fitness updates:
My running has seriously fallen to the wayside over the past few weeks with work, and just thinking of my half marathon & how ill prepared I am stresses me out! I need to kick the running into high gear & commit to complete the rest of my training plan. My next half marathon is in four short weeks!

My eating was also all over the map this week, with lots of meals out, & wine. It was fabulous, but time to get the calories back under control, and get some extra strength and stretching workouts in. Both make me feel great, but it's hard to make time for it all. ;-)

Financial updates:
I definitely feel like we've been spending too much - multiple meals out, and because I wasn't cooking, I didn't have leftovers for lunch. Which means I ate at the work cafeteria. We wisely cancelled our cleaning lady this week, since we had no kids to mess up the house :-), so we considered that our "date night" money.

We also didn't go grocery shopping last week. I don't think that's EVER happened before! And, I received our Costco rebate today - it's for $275, and our membership fee is $110. So, that's $165 to apply straight toward the grocery budget this month. Yeah! After the crazy baking fest, I need to stock up on quite a bit.

I also need to register for summer camps, and already spent $750 enrolling the boys in a couple of camps. Getting all of the summer logistics ironed out is always a treat.

Oh, & I had my first eBay drama-fest. I sold a pair of like new shoes. They only went for $.99, but not a big deal. Win some/lose some. I put them in the mail & kept my receipt. The buyer never got them, and when we looked up the shipping info, it looked like it was sent to the wrong address. I apologize, send her a photo of my receipt (which showed the correct mailing info) & she refused to believe I shipped the shoes. Kept emailing me, accusing me of all kinds of interesting scams. I offered the refund, she keeps insisting that I still have the shoes. On & on it goes. Yesterday, I get a claim letter from the post office, with half of the box (empty) clearly showing that I mailed the item & the price I paid for postage. The shoes were lost/stolen in transit, & I can get my money back. I emailed my buyer with photos of all of this, & offered a refund . . . crickets. No reply, no apology. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, vindication you are so sweet! It made me feel so terrible that she thought I was ripping her off. :-(

And, questions for you! How is your April going? My parents are taking the kids to Disneyland in June for five days. If you were us, what would you do with the time?

1) Spend it at the house putting things in order & doing those deep cleaning & organizing & painting projects you never have time for?
2) Going to the beach house for a few days (we could work from home part of the time to minimize the amount of vacation days we'd need)
3) Go somewhere fun. This totally violates our "no travel" policy for the year, but it sure is tempting. ;-)

Menu Plan - Wednesday

I'm late to the party, but really need to get back into regular meal planning to cut food costs and reduce waste.

Here's what we are having for the first couple of weeks in April!

(And, now this is out-of-date, as I never finished on Sunday, so it also includes what we ate earlier in the week :-)

In special events this week, my nephew is a budding chef & asked to come to visit one weekend to help me with my freezer stocking & cooking/baking. He's on spring break this week, so he'll be coming up on Friday/Saturday

• Monday - Leftover barbecued hamburgers & tortellini.
• Tuesday - M's traveling, so leftover burgers & tortellini
• Wednesday - hot pasta salad
• Thursday - Tacos. Yes, we still have taco meat leftover from Nick's birthday party! Ole!
• Friday - Homemade pizzas - Hawaiian for the kids, probably chicken pesto for the adults.
• Saturday - Spaghetti with meatballs
• Sunday - Date night! My parents have the kids for spring break
• Monday - Likely something non-kid friendly, as my kids will be with my parents. Possibly salmon & rice.
• Tuesday - I'm on my own, so I'll probably make a "fancy" salad with whatever veggies & cheese we have laying around.
• Wednesday - On my own, & picking up the kids from my parents, so I'm guessing we'll be stopping at Quiznos to break the drive up a bit.
• Thursday - M's out of town, I'm going to make beef burritos.
• Friday - M's still out of town. Leftovers.
• Saturday - Spaghetti & meatballs
• Sunday - Chicken taquitos

Here's what I'm thinking of making with my nephew. I'm still in need of a great applesauce recipe, and am totally open to other ideas, if you have suggestions! He's a very mature 10 year old. :-) We're going to do as much of this as he's up for. :-)

• Chocolate chip muffins
• Blueberry muffins
• Banana bread
• Pizza dough
• French bread
• Wheat sandwich bread
• Spaghetti sauce with meatballs
• Applesauce
• Granola bars
• Beef burritos
• A chicken pasta casserole dish of some sort
• Chicken taquitos

April Goals!

I'm so excited to see one of my favorite months - April! I love spring - all of the possibilities of the season really come alive.

I'm joining Carla on a savings challenge for the month, so I'll add a few additional financial goals to the mix for the month.

Here's what I'd like to accomplish:

For the financial challenge:

1. Cut $100 off of our fixed expenses. We've done a great job reviewing all of our utility bills (we bucket this for cable, internet, cell phones, etc), but there's always more to do.
2. Make $500 towards my girls trip.
3. Cut eating out back to $150 for the month.
4. Cut the groceries back to $550, and really focus on meal planning and reducing food waste. We've gotten sloppy.
5. Keep the house spending to $100. We've been buying a lot of miscellaneous things for the house, & I put postage charges (eBay) in this category, so I'd like to include those charges & still keep this to $100.

Other April goals:

1. Lose 2 lbs, bringing my weight to 142.
2. Complete the following workouts:
1. 1200 minutes of cardio
2. 12 strength workouts
3. 10 stretching workouts
4. Try one new to me workout
3. Run 100 miles in April.
4. Run a 10K
5. Finalize summer break plans & book all camps/childcare
6. Buy one tuition credit for each kid.
7. Pay an extra $1000 on the mortgage.
8. File & pay for our taxes. Gulp.
9. One date night with M.
10. Two get togethers with friends.
11. Clean out my closet & dressers.
12. Book last plane ticket for girls trip.
13. Tackle one additional drawer or closet in the garage - sort, inventory & donate.
14. Read 2 books.
15. Plan fun weekend with my nephew (for his spring break)

I think that should just about do it! What are you hoping to accomplish in April?

Happy April!

We spent the weekend at the beach & then hit the Easter celebration at my parents house on our way home yesterday. It was a gorgeous, gorgeous weekend, and probably the most fun weekend we've ever had at the vacation house. It was mid-seventies all weekend, and that's *really* not expected March weather in the northwest. We took full advantage of the gorgeous days!

Here are a few fun pictures from our trip:

March was a great month, but it got very spendy. We did stay within our overall budget, thanks to the dependent care reimbursement for childcare, but there were lots of categories that need improvement. Just to name a few:

• Groceries - we were up over $800 this month. Sigh.
• Eating out - up to almost $350.
• The house - over $1500, although most of that was the final payment on our door/roof repairs.

In awesome news, we finally received our 2011 tax refund (we owed a lot in 2011, but then had to repay part of a bonus, so we received some of that repayment back as a tax refund) - close to $5400. *celebration*

Anyway, the list goes on. We owe a lot in taxes in April ($13,600), so I would like to really cut back our monthly budget for the next few months to absorb some of that.

I'll be back soon with a recap of my March goals & plans for April! How about you? How was your March? What are you focusing on for April?

A reformed shopper

First, I just have to say that it's been five months since I've bought myself any clothes or shoes. That's absolutely huge for me. :-) Progress, baby!

I used to be a social shopper - I shopped with friends, I shopped for my own entertainment, I shopped as retail therapy when I'd had a bad day or wanted to celebrate a happy occasion. Basically, I loved to shop & constantly filled my closet.

In 2012, I spent $1655 on clothes. About 1/2 of that was on running stuff - shoes, gear, etc. My budget for 2013 is $300, which will *hopefully* cover my running shoes, but it will be tight for sure.

So, how have I reformed my former shopper ways?

Some of these are pretty basic, but here goes:

1. I stopped shopping for "sport". I enter the mall only when I really need something (usually a gift, or something for the kids).
2. I started selling my extras/unwanted items on eBay. Honestly, this has been the biggest one. Knowing that my dress that I wore once & no longer like is now worth $2 is a pretty good reality check. I'm at just over $1,000 in net eBay profits, & 90% of everything I'm selling is from my closet. And, I'm still well dressed & shod. . . so, that tells me I had an embarrassing amount of stuff before, & quite frankly, I'm ashamed that I was so wasteful with our money. I would much, much, MUCH prefer a family trip to Hawaii over a bunch of inexpensive tops that I'll wear a few times before they get a hole.
3. I forced myself to really inventory what I had. I cleaned my closet (I'm actually on the third round of this), and put everything that I rarely wear into a pile. If it was worth selling, it went into the eBay pile. If not, it either went into the donation pile, or to give to my sister if I thought she might like it. My closet, while not completely done, mostly contains only things that I regularly wear and use, & I love it! I'm thoroughly enjoying the lack of clutter, & the ease of picking out my clothes for the day.
4. I changed my priorities. Really, it's pretty much that. I decided that I'd rather have a few quality pieces that update my look (and, I still spend enough to get quality running gear), but the rest of the money? I'd rather spend it on travel, dates with M, & entering races. And, by regularly tracking and quantifying how much I was spending on shopping, it forced me to realize where my priorities were before, & where I want them to be.

Like, here:

We're saving up for another one of those fabulous family Hawaii vacations. :-)

How about you? Are you a reformed shopper? What changed your ways?

All about me

Many thanks to B-Kat for the Liebster nomination. :-)

1. Do you talk to family and friends freely about money like you may do on your blog? - We talk about expense-type things, but rarely about income or investments.

2. When is the last time you went out for a nice meal? (And enjoyed it) - We went to dinner to celebate my half marathon, & it was our first date night in months. I did enjoy it, but it was a rich dinner, & we don't typically eat like that. Fine for an occasional treat.

3. You are given $500, where does it go? - Right now I would put it towards new running shoes for me & M.

4. A job you hate for 6 figures or a job you love for minimum wage? - I've had a job I hate for 6 figures, & I've worked here for 15 years. I haven't hated it in the entire time (& I certainly didn't start out making 6 figures), & I currently enjoy my job quite a bit. That said, during the times I have hated it, it's super hard to give up the money. I really enjoy other aspects of my life, but like the financial security and make those other enjoyable things hobbies rather than my career.

5. Green thumb or brown thumb? - Brown thumb!

6. What would be a "do over and do different" in your life? - I was really, really tentative and insecure growing up. I wish I could go back in time, build up my confidence and ignore the critics.

7. What would be a "do-again"? - Marrying my fabulous husband, and the timing of our kids. At the time, it was an accident to have them so close together, & those first few years were very painful, but now it's perfect.

8. Most expensive piece of clothing you ever bought? (Includes wedding wear) - Minus jewelry, a pair of very expensive Louboutin heels. I wore them a few times for work meetings in New York at Fashion Week, where they were pretty much right in style. I subsequently broke my foot (not wearing those shoes) & sold them on eBay last year. I made about 85% of my money back, as they are no longer available. They were the classic kind, & looked similar to this:

 

 

9. What do you collect? - I honestly can't think of anything. I like my house & closet neat & organized. I do, however, have way more lipgloss than I can ever possibly go through. I *love* it, and I'm a little obsessed.

10. The last thing that you baked as a treat? - Last time I baked was last week, & I made cranberry muffins, and two kinds of granola bars.

11. Would you be able to handle 6 months without any income for your family? - Both of us losing our jobs over the same period of time would be extremely unusual, but that's not to say it absolutely couldn't happen. Yes, we could, but it would be very unpleasant.  

 

Here are my 11 questions:

 

1. What song are you singing/enjoying
2. Current favorite lunch
3. Biggest financial regret
4. Smartest financial decision
5. When/where was the last time you went out to eat
6. What's your favorite thing about spring
7. Are you a workout person? Favorite type of exercise
8. Name 5 things on your bucket list that you've yet to do
9. Are you comfortable with your retirement planning? Why/why not?
10. When do you expect to purchase a new (to you) car? What kind?
11. Rank these people in order of spending a day with them, from (based on what you know right now, you'd find) most to least enjoyable:
• Tiger Woods
• Lindsay Lohan
• Britney Spears
• Gwyneth Paltrow
• Kate Middleton
• Justin Bieber
• Jennifer Aniston
• Kim Kardashian 
• Prince Harry
• Ryan Gosling

 

I'm going to nominate:

$12 a Day

Absolutely Sweet Chaos

ND Chic Cents

Don't Read This; It's Boring

No More Spending

A Mom, Money, and More

Living Rich on the Cheap

Northern Living Allowance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Cleaning & March goals

I was so inspired to declutter our house this weekend! We made a ton of progress on our decluttering, & it felt SO good. Here's what we accomplished:

1. Cleaned one kitchen cupboard that's above the microwave & hard to access. Donated all contents (minus one lonely tupperware that was in the wrong spot) & turned that into a storage spot for my bread maker.
2. Cleaned two drawers in the cupboard that we rarely use. Donated about 75% of the contents, reorganized remaining items so they are easier to find.
3. Went through the boys toys (this is an ongoing project - always :-)) & donated four grocery bags full of toys + 5 complete Lego sets.
4. Went through my closet, (this is also a work in progress) and donated 5 items and listed 10 more items on eBay.

Yeah for progress!

And, with one week left in March, I wanted to do a quick goal check. I've been ticking off these tasks daily, which has really helped.

1.   Lose  2 lbs, bringing my weight to 143. - I'm at 144! I've finally made progress. Can't wait to see 143. :-)
2. Track my food every day in My Fitness Pal - Yep!
3. Average 1500 calories/day - I'm at 1574. I was down closer to 1525, but I've had some higher calorie days after long workouts this past week.
4. Complete 1200 minutes of cardio workouts - I'm at 930, may not hit my stretch goal, but I'm getting in lots of exercise.
5. Complete 10 strength workouts. - Yes, I've done 11 so far! My arms are definitely looking more toned.
6. Complete 7 stretching workouts - I'm on track, at 6!
7. Run consistently - on track, save for my one week where I was recovering from my half marathon & then got a cold.
8. Run 80 miles this month. - I'm at 50 miles for the month. I don't see myself hitting 30 miles this week, but given my cold & recovering, I'm okay with this.
9. Run 1 race - done!
10. Achieve a personal record in my half marathon - yes!
11. Find an April race - done! I'm running a 10K with M, & we're all registered.
12. Find a race to run with my sister - done! We're doing a mud run in June. Should be fun. :-)
13. Planned Mother's Day - done! We're combining this with my grandmother's 80th birthday, and taking her to the beach.
14. Coordinate Spring Break plans - done! My parents are taking the kids for three days, they are going to camp for a day, & I'm staying home with them one day.
15. Buy one tuition credit for each child - Done! I actually was able to buy two for each kid, with their birthday money and additional money we added. We kept their gifts very small this year (new bike helmets + a game) so we could instead use the money allocated towards their college accounts. They got plenty of other fun stuff. :-)
16. Pay $5,000 additional principal on mortgage - No, this is likely on hold until we finish paying off our taxes, and we paid for some large home repairs. I still need to calculate how much we've paid so far.
17. Have one date night/month with M - Yes! Our first real date night in five months, right after my half marathon. We celebrated & it was fabulous.
18. Get together with two friends/month - Yes! Lots of fun get togethers this month.
19. Track monthly spending, & create spending reports. - Yes, on track.
20. Review our charitable contributions & increase by 10%.  - Yes, & I'm going to remove this goal, as it's now automated & it feels like cheating to give myself credit for this. :-)
21. Clean out my closet. - I'm about 80% of the way through. I still have some dresses to try on & determine what to do with. That said, I've gotten rid of A TON! My closet almost entirely represents things that I wear regularly. :-)
22. Clean out my dresser - yep, done!
23. Make croissants - I switched this to try French bread, & made it this weekend. It was awesome.
24. Set up meeting with attorney for wills. No, but I need to make this a top priority this week.  
25. Generate $400 in side hustle! Yes, I'm over my $1000 goal & now I'm shooting for $1500.
26. Book flights for girls trip - I'm 2/3 of the way there. Still need to coordinate with my sister (hopefully today), on her flights.
27. Buy & mail secret sister gift. - Yes! Done.
28. Read 3 books - Nope, haven't read anything this month. :-(
29. Experiment with stress management techniques - well, the increased workouts & yoga seems to be working!

I originally thought I had 31 goals (one for each day of the month), but noticed I made a mistake in my numbering, & now for the life of me can't figure out what the last goal was. C'est La Vie! :-)

How about you? How are you doing with your March goals? Are you into spring cleaning & decluttering?