WEEK 20!

Anyone else trying REALLY hard not to turn on the A/C? We had to cave this week.

General Health

Down 1.8 this week! WHAAAT? WW is WORKING!

I’m really pumped at how well Weight Watchers is working again. I found a really good group and we’re getting into the summer where fruits and veggies are everywhere!

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 86(as of 5/15) /120 

Be Creative
You may have noticed my cover picture today….I was gifted all of these knitting needles and some stash yarn from a friend who got them from a friend. I LOVE ACCEPTING OTHER PEOPLE’S CRAFT STUFF! I have a pretty good stash started and I haven’t spent any money on it! I finished the scarf and am excited!! After a few attempts at trying to start a hat and the legwarmers….I think I need more help!

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
I threw $50 on that bitch this week.

Frugal AF
I biked to and from work most days last week thus saving myself $14.40 in SEPTA bus fares.

Mortgage: $778.65/$1,000

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
I breezed through some chapters at work this week but still have a ways to go.

Learning About Annuities
We did another training on Friday!  Woo!

Blog Goals

A new perspective on bloggery
I read an interesting thread on Reddit this week asking how much time people devote to side-hustles. A lot of people said “Zero” and spend the time one would use on side hustles to enrich their full-time careers instead. I think there’s something to be said about that.

Weekly Updates
20 down and I kind of can’t believe it! 32 weeks to go. 1 more week until VACATION.

Week 17 and it’s gonna be….

Courtesy of 90’s 411

Sorry…as a product of the 90’s I can’t NOT make this joke.

General Health

Man…when I’m down, I am DOWN. Week 17’s WW mantra was to be kind to yourself and treat yourself as you would a friend on the same journey. I’m hard on myself. I am mad when I don’t accomplish my goals and even more mad when it’s because I am getting in my own way.

I DONATED BLOOD ON WEDNESDAY. So I’ve stayed on track with that side goal holla. I always feel better doing things that are for the greater good even though I hate needles. I was stabbed a total of 6 times last week between birth control, allergy shots, and blood donation.

My diet was a battle as we managed to get 4 boxes of Insomnia Cookies for Administrative Professionals Day (aka my bosses like me more than your bosses like you day) and I have very little control around baked goods. I also ate a LOT of barbecue so I bet weigh in is going to be rough.

Handling this new StepBet well still. 2 weeks down, 4 more to go!

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 82(as of 4/28) /120 

Well…..at this point I would have to go to the gym every day between now and July 1 so I think I may have to shift this from July 2016 – August 2017 :( I’m going to keep going and keep trucking to do the best I can but it’s not looking great.

Be Creative
I’ve been knitting AND journaling again. I always get to work early so I’ve just been jotting a few lines down before work hubbub starts. It feels good to try.

I’m still reading “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” by Mark Manson and loving it.

I’ve also taken to listening to podcasts instead of music at work and I’m finding it helpful. Personal finance, comedy, and personal growth seem to be my podcast genres.

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
I threw $61.40 in there just to get myself up to an even $700 by the end of April.

Frugal AF
Man, I’m just trying. I slip up here and there on food but at least they’re small. I need to find new breakfast options as I am starting to loathe oatmeal (again) and have fallen prey to the breakfast buffet downstairs because bacon. My budget gets blown one bacon at a time.

I’ve been listening to some personal finance podcasts and find them helpful:

Bad with Money with Gaby Dunn

Radical Personal Finance with Joshua Sheats

Mortgage: $700/$1,000

$300 by the end of June? I hope I can make that work in 2 months!!

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
I have one more free training with our insurance company and I have not been doing my license stuff. I told you when I’m down I’m DOWN

Learning About Annuities
We’re not getting far with these and it’s a little annoying.

Blog Goals

What Do You Like About This?
Got any feedback? Is there a particular thing you like about my weekly updates? Are they motivating or whiny? Lemme know

Weekly Updates
Doin’ the damn thing.

WEEK 15 – HAPPY SPRING,YA’LL

6am. Monday morning. Trying desperately to get back on the gym game.

General Health

I was only down .2 this week but that’s still better than a gain and probably most certainly has nothing to do with the amount of pizza I ate. I’m not excited about weigh-in tonight because I was not good…including one day that I ate 100 points! Yikes!

I’m not gonna lie – I’m having a REALLY hard time getting back into the groove of my 6am workouts and normal life.

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 78(as of 4/11) /120 

Be Creative
I did a lot of knitting when I went to my dad’s in Delaware this weekend.

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
I did not work toward this goal this week. I’ve been doing well but this week was a rough one financially so that didn’t happen and here’s why:

Frugal Fail of the Week
I went for my allergy shot on Wednesday and tried to stop by a new local coffee shop to try them on the way…..they were cash only. I don’t carry cash. So I figure I’ll just go to Starbucks instead along the way. I’m out of money on the app so I have to reload….and the reload minimum is $25. I go stand in the first Starbucks and a barista looks in the eye but does not acknowledge me and keeps holding a conversation with another barista. I count to 30 and walk out because I HATE THAT SHIT. I try to go to the other Starbucks closer to my doctor and they are closed because they can’t make coffee.

I get to work and sitting on my desk is a coupon for free coffee and pastry from Au Bon Pain. What a freaking waste of $25. SHAME.

Mortgage: $638.60/$1,000

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
This thing called “tax season” should finally be behind me for the year and I can get a little breathing room to do this.

Learning About Annuities
Still waiting for that next session to come around

Blog Goals

A Comment! 
Shout out to David Carlson from Young Adult Money for taking the time to read last week’s post and comment! I read a lot of YAM and his comment reminded me that I need to be better about commenting [thoughtfully] on the blogs that I read more often.

Weekly Updates
I’ve noticed that I’ve been getting bad again about actually updating each section of this update. Stop it, me! You’re better than that!

And with this I pose a random question to you:
Have you ever had someone help you with your cover letter, resume, or job hunt? Was it free help or paid? Tell me about it please!

Lucky Week 13 – Rough One

This week was a rough one. Wally was having an itching issue and the prescription we got from the vet made him quite sick and has been having accidents all over the house…it kind of wrecked the week.  I didn’t hit the gym for 5 days straight and was not getting a lot of great sleep from getting up in the middle of the night.

It’s kind of amazing how important sleep and routine have become.  When these two parts are off for me, I feel like I can’t get my shit together.  I don’t get my Me Time.

General Health

Here’s how I’m did with March FitCamp!  :

1. Respect nutrition – I LOST 3LBS IN MY FIRST FUCKING WEEK ON WEIGHT WATCHERS.  FUCK YEAH.
2. Do one legitimate straight-leg pushup – So I did not make this March goal :(  I can lower myself all the way down without just falling now but can’t push myself back up.  I can do a about 3-5 on my knees which is an improvement!
3. Beat last month’s 13 days at the gym –I went 17 times in March.

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 70(as of 3/21) /120 

Be Creative
Still getting my knit on.  My friend just introduced me to a new craft group that meets 3 blocks from my house!  So I hope to make it to their next meetup – I’m getting close to finishing this scarf and then I can start LEG WARMERS.

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
This week I put $32.10 in.  I like when my bank accounts have nice even numbers so I just took the weird amount.

Frugal as Fuck – FAF
I sucked at this game this month.  I was way over on pretty much everything.  For the most part it was NOT frivolous.  My gym/walking shoes had holes in them.  I was down to my last 2 pairs of workout pants that don’t show off my hoo-ha with holes.  Weight Watchers.  Vetrinarian.  The little things add up and I’m going to make it a point to be really be FAF in April.

Mortgage: $588.60/$1,000

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
Tax season is really not a joke for my job so I’ve been swamped.

Learning About Annuities
We started this on Friday!  I learned why someone would use annuities and some of the perks of using them!

Blog Goals

Were you taught to double-space after a period?
So it never occurred to me that my double spacing could be a problem with blogging..but someone shared an article that it is now archaic in the blogging world. And everywhere else. So I’m trying to train myself to only single space and it’s difficult.

Weekly Updates
Well I’m posting at least once a week so 13 down…

WEEK 12 IN THE BOOKS

General Health

Here’s how I’m doing with March FitCamp!  :

1. Respect nutrition –I rejoined Weight Watchers this week and have been trying to get used to the new SmartPoints system as it’s different than the PointsPlus I did last time.  The meal on the left is 10 SmartPoints…and I only get 30 per day.  Luckily, the FitPoints are a lot easier to obtain so I’m able to eat almost double my points thanks to WW sycing with my FitBit!
2. Do one legitimate straight-leg pushup – I’m noticing that the first 3 on-knee pushups suck a lot less when I do pushups but I’m still not very good.
3. Beat last month’s 13 days at the gym –BOOM! I was at 15 as of 3/24

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 65(as of 3/21) /120 

 

Be Creative
I learned how to frog and am back on track with my scarf!  I also now have all the yarn I will need for my next project thanks to someone offloading a bunch from KnitPicks for $8

I picked up Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving In The Age of Accelerations at the library and I think it will come in handy for blogging!

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
I was only able to put another $25 in this week but I still put it in!  Telling you all about my weekly progress on this is keeping me motivated to suck it up and throw the money in.

Frugal as Fuck
I feel like every day is a struggle not to spend!  I put $149.95 down on Weight Watchers this week but it will eventually be reimbursed by my health insurance which is a win!

I spent $33 on WW-friendly foods at Aldi and have a good pack of fruits and veggies for work tomorrow!

Mortgage: $556.50/$1,000

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
I’m officially the worst when it comes to working on my CE – work has been busy!  It’s kind of a good thing!

Learning About Annuities
This got pushed to the end of the month…..sigh.

Blog Goals

Why The Fuck Are You Reading This?
I don’t know either!  I hope to wade through my drafts at some point and pull some more sideposts weekly but who knows!

Weekly Updates
Well I’m posting at least once a week

WEEK 11 RECAP – I Did Nothing for St. Patty’s Day. Holllaaaa

General Health

Here’s how I’m doing with March FitCamp!  :

1. Respect nutrition – I’ve been eating a lot of oatmeal and trying to stay right buuuuut there were lots of pizza slices and cookies this week
2. Do one legitimate straight-leg pushup – I’ve been able to up my hand weights from 5lb to 8lb and can now do about 3 knee push ups.  PROGRESS!  I FEEL IT!
3. Beat last month’s 13 days at the gym – I’m at 10 as of Friday!  I’m going to try to break this record this very week!

It was really difficult to stay on track for the StepBet this week with all that snow!  It makes me so lethargic.  On Tuesday I ended up working from home and spent the last hour of my day jogging in place and walking around the block to knock out the last 4,000 steps before bed.  Rest day can’t be Tuesday!

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 61(as of 3/19) /120 HALFWAY MARK! WOOO!!  Think I can do 59 more by the end of June?  

Be Creative
I messed up in my scarf this week and was unable to make knitting circle….so that is on hold until I can get help to “frog” a few lines and get in.  I know where I messed up and tried to just keep knitting….but it’s an eyesore now and I feel like I won’t be happy with the finished product unless I take the time to fix it.  Sooooo I’m going to fix it!

I picked up Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving In The Age of Accelerations at the library and I think it will come in handy for blogging!

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
Another $100 went into Principal!  I’m not fucking around.

Frugal as Fuck
I loaded up one of my desk drawers with oatmeal and oatmeal essentials so I always have a post-gym breakfast.  Or an emergency lunch. And a backup bag of coffee.  

As you can see, I also use painter’s tape and a sharpie to label things – I do this in the kitchen too.  It’s a cheap labeling system that doesn’t leave sticker residue on anything.

The boyfriend and I had a pleasantly cheap weekend – we walked to the grocery store Saturday to get a week’s worth of groceries and Philly AIDS Thrift on Sunday and bought nothing.  We stayed mostly indoors doing home shit and sleeping.

Mortgage: $531.50/$1,000

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
Not much CE work was done this week.  I should really get back on that before I lose momentum!

The DI seminar was cancelled due to weather.  Fuck you, weather!  I wanted to get my free learn on!

Learning About Annuities
This got pushed to the end of the month.  Boo.

Blog Goals

Why The Fuck Are You Reading This?
Still not focusing much on this AND I believe I have killed the weekly #TealTuesday posts….I will continue to post #TealTuesday stuff on my Instagram and Tumblr.

A friend once gave me the advice that i should focus on doing things rather than posting about them.  I like that so I’m going to keep on that.

Weekly Updates
I need to get better about proofreading these on Monday morning on the way to the gym before they post – sometimes when I copy/paste I miss things that make the weekly updates make less sense.  So I’m going to work on that more.

Week 8 Recap – Excited for March!

General Health

I reached out to a nutritionist to see if they can help me set the best macross for me in  myfitnesspal  and basically to have a professional tell me to stop being such a fat fuck.  I know what my problems are but I’m just not sure the best course of action and have some blog fatigue when it comes to trying to do the research myself.

This was the last week of Girl Meets Fitness and I definitely tried my best but was just unable to do all 5 days of workouts in the last 2 weeks – but I did sign up for her March FitCamp!  Donating blood killed my energy for Tuesday’s leg day but I gave it my best!

I am FIVE Weeks Down on the StepBet Challenge – ONE MORE TO GO!!!! AHHHHHH!
I also signed up for the next challenge that starts March 6 and my goals are a few steps lower so that’s exciting.

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 48(as of 2/22)  /120

Sub-Goal: Donate Blood – I donated on 2/20!  It was quick and painless YAY!  I have scheduled my next one on 4/26 at St. Monica’s which is just a few blocks from my house.

Be Creative
I’ve been working hard on my knit-game and am a little consumed by it.  I went and picked up 2 more balls of merino wool yarn from Loop to finish it.  I learned how to change colors at Thursday’s knitting circle and I’m trying to get through the purple ASAP

I have been so preoccupied with my knitting that I haven’t been reading so that may be the goal that gets dropped!  Oh well!

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
I transferred $51 from my new Wells Fargo checking account to my mortgage principal this week.  $250 of my paycheck is going direct deposit bi-weekly into this WF account and I think it’s a good idea to keep that over there in case shit goes down and I need to pay my mortgage.

For this goal I will now not talk about what I’m saving to put into it but what actually gets transferred to the princpal!

Save Like a Motherfucker Frugal as Fuck
I grabbed a few extra snacks in my blood donation so we would have more things in the house to eat.  I found two pennies and a quarter on the ground.  I dug into the back of the work freezer for some chili I had thrown in there last month – it kept me fed through the work week!

My boyfriend’s birthday was Friday so I used a vacation day.  I was able to cash in some Opentable rewards to get a $20 gift card for our fancy dinner.  I got him a groupon for a massage and a few things he needed.

Other than that, we spent the weekend indoors eating crockpot mexican chicken and doing house stuff.  I [obviously] knit while running various videos and apps while he video gamed.  We did take a small trip to Lowes to get some gardening stuff together and started some plants!  Our thrift store Aero Garden needs a new motor so we ghetto-rigged this little setup:

Mortgage: $81.50/$1,000
Savings: Ummmm…..
So $2,000 towards each of these goals by June? Ummmmm….

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
I went ahead and signed up for a CE course that I wanted to do because my free coupon code was about to expire and I didn’t want to wait.

Learning About Annuities
We start March 10th!

Blog Goals

Why The Fuck Are You Reading This?
Apparently to learn about my dayplanner because this week’s #TealTuesday was my record-breaking view of OVER 28 VIEWS!!! WOOOOO!  I think it did so well because I promoted through an Intsgram pic and shared it to my Facebook.  I don’t want to lose my Facebook friends to over-marketing through….so that won’t be a usual thing.

Unless my friends legit start getting in on #tealtuesday which I guess I still need to really define as a hashtag, huh?

Weekly Updates
I’ve gone through almost the entire first quarter doing these so that’s exciting!

6 Weeks Down. 46 To Go!

6 Weeks of this has turned it into a habit – I keep in mind my goals each week as I do things and I think it’s really helping with focus!  I’ve also got a routine down that makes me feel better during the day.

General Health
I’ve been logging religiously on myfitnesspal  despite not staying within calorie budgets.  I joined the GMF February Fitness Challenge with  Girl Meets Fitness that started February 6!  Did I go to the gym on day one and do the youtube?  HOLY FUCK I ACTUALLY DID THE WORKOUTS!  I even did one of the days at home for a snow day – I only got 20 minutes in but it was better than nothing.

I am Three Weeks Down on the StepBet Challenge  I was pretty concerned that my rest day was on Thursday due to a snow day – I REALLY needed the sleep and laziness.  Sunday was rainy and NOT EASY and there was a LOT of house pacing and chores-doing.  Mad shout-outs to my weekly Aldi date who also needed to go to Petsmart and was happy to walk a few laps with me around the store before checkout.

I went to the gym A LOT this week – even Saturday!  It feels good to get up and do it.

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 42 /120
GMF is definitely help me reach this goal – I did try to do one workout at home but it’s just too distracting!  I’m trying to get 5:30am to be my work week habit

Sub-Goal: Donate Blood – February 20th!

Be Creative
I got to make Harry Potter wands with my friend for her Harry Potter birthday party on Saturday.  Chopsticks, hot glue, paint, and pizza?!  Hell to the yes.  I had SO MUCH FUND doing this and booping people on the nose with them.

I’m still knitting!   I LOVE KNITTING!  I just have to get better so I can learn how to fix my mistakes as I get frustrated easily.  I (mostly?) learned how to tink* and am told my rows are pretty good.  I’ve found that this is a great activity to do while running SwagBucks videos are running on my laptop.

This basically sums up my challenges.

*”tink” means to knit backwards when you make a mistake – it’s just knit backwards HAHAHA

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
I’m up to $81.49 this week using Qapital – I added a few more rules ot try to get to that $100 faster and hopefully that works soon!  I guess I could, in theory, save the whole $1,000 through this but with the opening of the Wells Fargo account mentioned last week I think I’m better off pumping cash into that account because it earns interest.  I also took some of my rolled change money that I deposited into Wells Fargo last week and threw it at the principal just like the financial adviser I met with told me to do!

Save Like a Motherfucker
Soooo I forgot about this thing called “car insurance” that is due every 6 months so it was an all-hands-on-deck situation to pull $413 to get that paid before I got stuck with interest on the credit card.  It’s going to be a rough month.

Mortgage: $31.50 + $81.49 = /$1,000
Savings: $0/$1,000
So $2,000 towards each of these goals by June?Yeah I still got this.

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
We started this training this week and I was told to wait another month or two before I start the CE credits.  Boo.

Learning About Annuities
Someone else at work is scheduling this sooooooo hopefully March or April?

Blog Goals

Why The Fuck Are You Reading This?
Yeah I’m not sure why you are either…but it’s good for me right now!  I know that I need to produce more content that is going to be for YOU but it feels like I’m doing a lot of good things right now and I need to roll with that.  Progress.

Weekly Updates
I definitely need these updates more than you need them.

WEEK 5: Knits, Bits, & Shits

FEBRUARY HAS BEGUN!  GET IT, BITCHES.

Personal Goals

General Health
I’ve been logging religiously on myfitnesspal  despite not staying within calorie budgets.  I may have also joined a [free] February Fitness Challenge with Girl Meets Fitness that starts today!  Did I go to the gym on day one and do the youtube?  WAIT A WHOLE DAMN WEEK TO FIND OUT LOL.

I am Two Weeks Down on the StepBet Challenge  I need to hit at least 14,979 steps 4 days a week and 18,592 steps 2 days a week, every week, until March 5.  I rocked week 2 with flying colors!  There is $26,520 in the pot and at least 35 people have dropped out already.

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 37/120
I got it in TWICE this week – definitely an improvement!

Sub-Goal: Donate Blood – February 20th!

Be Creative
I hit the library on break one day and picked up Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness and have kind of been slogging through it.  I’m finding it more and more difficult to read on the bus which leads us to the other creative thing….

I’m learning to knit!!!  I was telling my friend how I was interested in taking a knitting class and she said I could just come to her knitting circle and teach me!  I went to Loop and picked up a skein of yarn and wooden needles and I’m learning!  I do great as long as a knitter is somewhere near me but I am having a hard time learning how to fix my mistakes.  Despite looking at several youtubes I just cannot figure out how to fix a dropped stitch!!  So I must wait until Thursday to get it fixed and keep going….but in time I will learn to fix my mistakes.

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
I’m up to $71.33 this week using Qapital Only one #wallydog pictures last week on his third birthday but other spending pumped this up!

Save Like a Motherfucker
MoneyTalkNews had a post about Wells Fargo running a promotion where you get $250 for opening a checking account so I have a bank account linked to my mortgage now!  It was $25 to open so I took the $25 from paypal and I rolled a bunch of change at the house (more on this on Tuesday!) so there is now $81.50 sitting in that account and it gains a little interest!!

Mortgage: $63.43/$1,000
Savings: $81.50/$1,000
So $2,000 towards each of these goals by June?Yeah I still got this.

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
We started this training this week and I was told to wait another month or two before I start the CE credits.  Boo.

Learning About Annuities
Someone else at work is scheduling this so

Blog Goals

Why The Fuck Are You Reading This?
I need to get better about using Instagram to promote this blog since it’s my second most popular platform (Facebook being #1 but I’m just not comfortable advertising to that platform yet)

Weekly Updates
5 down.  47 to go!  I like doing this on Sunday nights to share with you all the next morning

Any ideas on how to achieve these goals?  I’m all ears!

#TealTuesday #4 My Only Handbag

This is basically the only handbag I own.  I use this or my Under Armor backpack for all my shit-lugging needs.

I bought this Fossil Morgan Zip Cross Body Bag in September of 2014 and it has been my only real handbag since.  I still have the bag that this one replaced, but the strap was broke n so when I switch out I have to use the same strap.

Aside from not considering handbags – PLURAL- a necessity, here are the strict requirements I have for handbag purchase.  If it doesn’t meet these requirements, I will not buy it (no matter how cute it is.  no matter how on sale it is.  no matter how badly I want something new):

 

Criteria for a Handbag:

Cross Body Strap.  I have to be careful about hurting my back but I NEED to be hands-free and cannot stand bags that have to be held up on your shoulder or at your elbow.  Don’t even get me started on clutches.

Zip Top.  Not only does this keep your bag from falling over/being dropped and spewing your bag full of shit all over the street but it keeps people from being able to pick-pocket you.  In a city, I need that extra bit of security.

At Least 2 Pockets.  This one has EIGHT and I love it.  I like my bags like I like my emotions – easy to compartmentalize.

Real Leather.  Cloth bags get dirty and fall apart a lot faster.  I need something durable that will last and so far Fossil’s leather has been doing good.  Yes, the dye is starting to wear off in some spots on this bag but you

How many handbags do you have?  What’s the oldest one you use?