Excess. If I had to sum up in one word the source of my issues the word would be excess. Let's build on my 3 biggest issues, being too fat, in debt and disorganized.
Too FAT
Well it's pretty obvious. Excess calories creates excess body fat. So I've been thinking about where my excess lies. I love fruits, whole grains, and veggies. I could be a most the time vegetarian if the family hadn't completely revolted. I don't generally even eat that much chocolate, though I do LOVE chocolate. I think I am drinking my calories. Starbuck's and alcohol to be specific. After having a big night out recently that went on into the wee hours of the morning I realized I drank at least a 6 pack. If each beer had 200 calories, I easily drank a days worth of calories in beer. Never mind the dinner prior and the late night snack attach that resulted. So I have decided to not drink on the weekdays. I've also decided to quit getting drunk. I feel so cruddy afterwords. Another excess is fast food. Z and I grab lunch out most days. Can't be great for either one of us. So I am also going to say fast food only on Wednesday to Mommy Group and Saturday (for M). And last but not least R and I have decided not to eat after 7 pm unless we are out for something special. That should curb boredom eating.
And to really put a twist on things I told R this morning that I've budgeted $100 for each of us to buy gifts for each other at Christmas. If I haven't lost 10 lbs by Christmas morning my gift goes back the very next day and $100 goes to the Republican Party. I would rather die!!!
Debt
Obviously debt is spending in excess of what you earn. I vow to faithfully use my Financial Peace wallet to track all spending. I also vow to use my YNAB spreadsheet to budget and keep myself accountable. No new debt!!!
Clutter
Clutter is excess stuff or necessary stuff that doesn't have a system. So I am all set up on Flylady and vow to organize and declutter 15 minutes a day. I also vow to not bring home new crap. There are things I want and need. There are millions of things I don't.
So there you have it. I am editing myself. No more excess. Enough is really enough.
Showing posts with label debt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label debt. Show all posts
11.03.2006
10.24.2006
Debt.
It's a four letter word to be sure.
R and I have been in debt before. I came into the marriage with $10K in credit card debt. I fell into the typical trap in college when everyone was offering me credit cards. Never mind I worked 4 hours a day making $5 an hour. R had no debt. He even owned a house and was making extra mortgage payments because he had several renters. But he had an investment deal he just couldn't pass by. $8K for untold fortunes in the future. So we took out a home equity loan. Then we needed replacement vehicles. Pretty soon we had $30K. We would pay some down and then buy some more. Finally we sold our house and paid off the debt with equity.
After that we were pretty much as anti-debt as you can be. I remember feeling so proud when we refinanced and the loan officer could not believe that we had zero debts. No car payments, no credit cards. It felt so good.
Even when I quit my decent paying job and we survived on R's small earnings the first year he sold real estate, we had no debt. Then he was doing really well and we had money in savings. Quite a bit.
And then another investment opportunity. This time it was a smart investment. This time I was as excited as he was and felt elated that we had the money set aside. Plus I was sure that we would have our savings back up in no time. I'm still glad we invested the money.
But I didn't count on R not earning as much for the next year. We are the typical house poor Americans. Our house payment is way too much of our monthly expenses. But I still think our house is a great investment as well. It just puts us in an area where we see the Jones' way out ahead of us, and sometimes that is hard. Sometimes I get the wants really bad. And somehow we ended up in debt again.
Debt complicates your life. Debt makes you second guess going to the doctor when you think your child might have strep. Debt makes going out to dinner on your 10th anniversary bitter sweet because you know you should be putting that money toward paying down the damn credit cards. Debt makes your husband mentally calculate every dime you spend while your family is in Disneyland. Debt sells your future and taints your present. Debt is hell.
I am proud to say that Ris working hard and doing great for our family. Yesterday we paid off a BIG chunk. Feels sooo good. Good-bye Citibank. Good-bye American Express. Hello light at the end of the tunnel.
We have big dreams for our future. They include a lot of time in Costa Rica. They cars that aren't breaking down every other month. They include investments and passive income. They include a large cushion for security. They include college funds for the monkeys. They don't include being owned by credit card companies. They don't include debt.
It's a four letter word to be sure.
R and I have been in debt before. I came into the marriage with $10K in credit card debt. I fell into the typical trap in college when everyone was offering me credit cards. Never mind I worked 4 hours a day making $5 an hour. R had no debt. He even owned a house and was making extra mortgage payments because he had several renters. But he had an investment deal he just couldn't pass by. $8K for untold fortunes in the future. So we took out a home equity loan. Then we needed replacement vehicles. Pretty soon we had $30K. We would pay some down and then buy some more. Finally we sold our house and paid off the debt with equity.
After that we were pretty much as anti-debt as you can be. I remember feeling so proud when we refinanced and the loan officer could not believe that we had zero debts. No car payments, no credit cards. It felt so good.
Even when I quit my decent paying job and we survived on R's small earnings the first year he sold real estate, we had no debt. Then he was doing really well and we had money in savings. Quite a bit.
And then another investment opportunity. This time it was a smart investment. This time I was as excited as he was and felt elated that we had the money set aside. Plus I was sure that we would have our savings back up in no time. I'm still glad we invested the money.
But I didn't count on R not earning as much for the next year. We are the typical house poor Americans. Our house payment is way too much of our monthly expenses. But I still think our house is a great investment as well. It just puts us in an area where we see the Jones' way out ahead of us, and sometimes that is hard. Sometimes I get the wants really bad. And somehow we ended up in debt again.
Debt complicates your life. Debt makes you second guess going to the doctor when you think your child might have strep. Debt makes going out to dinner on your 10th anniversary bitter sweet because you know you should be putting that money toward paying down the damn credit cards. Debt makes your husband mentally calculate every dime you spend while your family is in Disneyland. Debt sells your future and taints your present. Debt is hell.
I am proud to say that Ris working hard and doing great for our family. Yesterday we paid off a BIG chunk. Feels sooo good. Good-bye Citibank. Good-bye American Express. Hello light at the end of the tunnel.
We have big dreams for our future. They include a lot of time in Costa Rica. They cars that aren't breaking down every other month. They include investments and passive income. They include a large cushion for security. They include college funds for the monkeys. They don't include being owned by credit card companies. They don't include debt.
10.18.2006
So I've been thinking about simplifying for A LONG TIME! But I am finally there and ready to start breaking it down. I like to soak and think in the tub and this morning I had a moment of clarity. I am re-reading Elaine St. James Simplicity Reader for the billionth time and one chapter talks about figuring out what really makes your life complicated. And I finally boiled it down to 3 major things: 1) Disorganized home 2) Unhappy with my body 3) Debt. That pretty much sums it up. Now it's time to figure out how to simplify these things!
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