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Home > Archive: October, 2019

Archive for October, 2019

Shopping in my closet

October 19th, 2019 at 03:08 pm

I took a day off work yesterday and spent some time switching out my summer and fall/winter clothes. I have a pretty nice size walk-in master closet so everything is in there, I just needed to bring the fall/winter clothes to the front.

Several months ago I adopted a healthier lifestyle. I needed to lose some weight and wanted to just improve my overall health. I didn't follow any kind of a strict diet. I concentrated on cutting out processed foods mostly. I also committed to walking 5 days a week. To date, I have lost 17 pounds! There were a few weeks when I didn't lose any weight, but I didn't gain any. I pretty consistently lost 1-2 pounds a week. I didn't restrict myself completely, but instead of eating 3 slices of pizza I would start with a salad and have one slice of pizza every now and then. As I was trying on clothes that I couldn't fit into last fall/winter, I was delighted that they now fit. I was so happy to not have to buy any new clothes.

Today I will be out running the usual errands and I am having dinner out with some friends at a new restaurant that opened a few weeks ago. Should be fun!

I did switch over from the AC to the heat and changed the furnace filter. I made sure the heat cranked on properly and everything is working fine. Cold weather is coming. I usually just set thermostat at 65. I'm comfortable with that and a sweater on. And I sleep better when it's cooler.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow so I'll be staying in and doing some meal prep for the week while football is on.

Have a great weekend!

So Far Behind

October 11th, 2019 at 11:49 pm

Do you ever walk into your house and look around and think, "how in the heck did this mess happen"? I came home from work today and thought, who broke in and messed up my house??? But seriously, I am usually pretty on top of things, I like things to be in order and too much mess makes me anxious! But the last few weeks have been so incredibly busy at work, and I have had people over every Sunday for football, and I have just been too tired this week to keep up. My dining room table is covered with junk mail, and my couponing stuff, and receipts that need to be scanned and other random stuff. There are dishes in the sink and clean dishes to be put away. There are still clean clothes from last weekend that are still in the laundry basket to be put away....and the list goes on. So I was determined to tackle some of this tonight instead of waking up to all this mess tomorrow. After about an hour of full speed ahead I am happy to say that I made great progress and now I feel better about plopping on the couch! I'm sure I'll be asleep early tonight. I still have a list of things to do tomorrow but at least I made a dent tonight. I'll probably work some more on getting my coupons organized and write up my grocery shopping list for tomorrow so I can get up and go and get that done early before the store gets crowded.

September Spending and Saving

October 5th, 2019 at 01:35 pm

Total Spending $1277.18
Total Savings: $2000
Other income: $100 swagbucks

Here is a breakdown of September spending.

Fixed Expenses:
Verizon Bundle: 159.53 (Internet, home phone, cable)
Monthly Condo Fee: 190.00 (includes water)
Cell Phone: 0
HVAC and water heater maintenance contract: 27.95

Variables:
Utilities: 94.73
Gasoline: 32.65
Groceries: 334.57
Health: 39.30
Dining Out: 28.61
Other: 269.84
Cash Withdraw: $100.00

Groceries were high this month due to having people over every Sunday for football watching. I serve food and drinks for 4-5 people every Sunday and while this is entertainment, I also eat leftovers during the week so I don't try and separate it out.

The "other" category includes a yearly McAfee subscription, hair cut, color and tip, and some other shopping.

I was far enough ahead that my cell phone bill wasn't due until October so no payment in September. This happens sometimes.

I gave my nephew who had the stroke $100. He is struggling and has no income right now. He is waiting for a ruling on his SSDI claim.

* Condo is paid in full
* Car is paid in full (2017 Camry)
* No other debt