all over the financial plannin’

I pulled the band aid off… Actually, it was more like I had run out of band aids and was forced to cover my imaginary wound with a roll of duct tape.  So yeah, I ripped that business off (with loads of trepidation mind you) with my first ever visit to a financial planner.

this sums up what I know about financial planning

Side note – when I say I talked with a financial planner, I feel transported to the 1960’s ultra rich country club scene.  You know, where I have a martini in one hand and there is some guy named Chet who is giving me shady stock tips and there is a game of cricket happening in front of me.  Oh and I’m rocking some retro sunglasses fo’ sho’.

Anyway, it’s been detailed how I love the blissful world of denial.  Well, this certainly extends to my future finances (ha! and some of my current ones!).  First of all, I knew I had some retirement.  When I started working at my current institution, part of the benefit package was they put 11% into my retirement.  My contribution – nada.  Yep, there is this magical 11% out there that was created by very nice wizards.  And I love it.  (Unfortunately for the poor souls who started work a few years ago, they don’t get this same benefit package – lucky me, I was grandfathered in!)  So, I wasn’t on as shaky ground but I also wasn’t sure what else we would be discussing and I was frightened.

this is probably what the magical wizards did to get me my 11%

But it was a good experience.  My friend’s beau is a new employee with Edward Jones so he is roughly my age and can explain the lingo.  I gave him a variety of panic attacks: 1. I have NEVER opened one of my retirement account statements.  My thought was, “I’m not going to understand it anyway, what’s the point?”.  2. When I divulged I keep my tax return in my car (well, I had been so any perspective robbers out there – it’s GONE!).  He asked me, “what if someone broke in and stole your identity?”  One part of me thought this would be a-okay since they could have my student loans.  But I explained no one breaks into orange bugs – they just aren’t burglar magnets

Please don’t say I just jinxed myself…

Anyway, we went through the types of investments and where I could put some of my funds if I so choose.  We also opened up the statement and *SURPRISE!* I have a nice little nest egg for when I retire.  He asked me when I wanted to retire and I decided 63 was a solid age.  Now, I need to figure out if I want to put some money in other types of investments or continue on my merry way.  Such decisions.

First a pot roast and now a financial planner – last week was a big adult week for me.

When I got back, I decided to figure out where my monies have been high-tailing it to.  Once upon a time, I was all, “I’m going to budget, ya, ya, ya” – for some reason I said this in a German accent.  No idea.  But a plan never came to fruition since I figured I could just do the math in my brain.  You know, because this works and all.  So, the next day, I printed out a budget sheet along with last month’s statement to see what I’ve been spending.

time to lock this sh*t UP!

I found some leaky pipes for sure so for this month, I’m tracking every purchase as I make ’em.  It’s kind of daunting so I have fine point colorful sharpies to help me through it.  Being Nov, I got to drop $517.00 on a plane ticket back to the great state of WA for the holidaze, so that will be an impressive blip on the budget radar.  Nevertheless, I’m sticking to it.  Must. Track. All. The. Budget. Things.

I’ll keep you posted.  In my mind, I’ve created this budget utopia (I don’t really know what this is) but I have quite the vivid imagination so we’ll see.  I’m committed though.

Like I said, it was a big adult week.

road trippin’ – guess where I went?

Friday I took a friend to the airport.  It was an early flight so it was only 9:30 am when I dropped him off.  I had a couple of choices:

1. Bum around airport town looking for something to do.

2. Drive home and hang out on the couch – did I mention I took the day off?

3. Drive to IKEA and Trader Joe’s.

my excitement was reaching this level

I chose #3.  I should mention from where I was at, it was a 3 hour drive. I  am still not quite sure why I picked number three but it was definitely a good choice.

I had a nice day!  It was fun to be on my own small adventure.  Since I’m not the most confident driver on the road, driving on the freeway freaks me out a bit.  And for good reason – I got run off of the road once this trip.  I didn’t realize there was only one lane for an exit (you could either go left for the exit I wanted or right for the one I didn’t).  I hate merging on the left!  Well, I saw to close to the actual exit that I needed to get in the other lane and no one would let me in.  So, I had to stop in the (sort of) lane that divides both of exits and then wait for a pause in traffic and gun it.

this was happening on the inside

For the record, VW bugs have a very different definition of “gunning it” than other cars but thankfully I was able to pull in front of a semi with some time to spare. I legitimately thought I would be sitting there for ages rather than minutes and panic was setting in. But all was well and I only had to deal with a few other jackass drivers.

IKEA was a success! I kind of knew what I wanted going into it as I recently checked out the website.  Of course, going through all of the rooms, I found some really cool spacing saving ideas and my list grew somewhat by the time it came to the self pick up area.  At this point, I was *fairly* confident I could fit what I wanted in my car.  I had moderately cleaned it out for my friend’s trip to the airport.  This meant, taking out some crap but leaving most of it so in reality, I was a wee bit concerned.  I headed to pick up this shelf first:

this was only $64.99… definitely a possible future purchase

Haha, I couldn’t lift it off of the shelf.  T-rex arms!  It worked in my favor though because it would NEVER have fit in my car.  Kismet.

Next, I picked up this bad boy:

I plan on using it for a combo nightstand and additional shelving in my bedroom.  I found this wire rack, a total steal at $24.99.  I have kitchen appliances I don’t want to get rid of but they need a new home – my kitchen floor just isn’t conducive!  These are fairly expensive at Target or other ones were too flimsy for what I need it to hold so I was pleased with this find.

I found quite a few other shelving options I really liked. There was one bathroom set up with a great shelf that had hooks.  It would be perfect for my bedroom but they were out of stock.  When I got home, I realized it might not have been the best purchase right now so again, kismet.

On pinterest I saw how someone had hung a shoe rack on the back of their door so I picked up one of those as well.  Again, very handy and it even came with hooks.  A couple of other little odds and ends jumped into my cart but for the most part, I did a fantastic job of asking myself, “do you NEED this?” whenever I was tempted.  Get this: I only spent $111.00.  Win.

mine has three smaller holes for hooks – this is great

Next up was Trader Joe’s.  There is something about this grocery store that calms me.  I have no idea why. I think I feel like I’ve found “my people” when I shop there.  It sounds silly and I can’t explain it any other way.  Thankfully, they weren’t out of stock on these bad boys like last time, and I hooked myself up with three bags.

I am decent at adhering to portion sizes with out and only eating a serving size at a time.  It’s a hefty calorie count and I have to run 2.5 miles to burn it off however, it is so.freakin’.worth.it.

The two hour drive home was exhausting.  The two pieces of furniture are still in my car as they are heavy sonsofbeehives.  Oh and I’m lazy. My quest to organize and decrease my hoard is an ongoing process. One step closer this weekend though!

 

ridiculous running shoe journey

I’ve mentioned it a few times many times that I’m on a search for the PERFECT shoe.  I want the clouds to part and rays of sunshine to fall on my beautiful, perfect new-running-shoe-fitted-feet.  This is the ideal.  But I will settle for something super-duper fabulous.

these are the emotions I want to feel

During Dopey, I saw a number of hokas running past me.  Considering I recently went from a stability shoe to a neutral with loads of cushion, I figured this would the PERFECT shoe.  Not to mention, Sweaty Emily raves about them and she runs a billion miles.  Then Kara from It’s a Dog Lick Baby World got them and I think she is very neato so I wanted to be like her.

did I mention I did this?!

A chunk of change later and I was the proud owner of a pair of Hokas.  Let’s just put it out there that these puppies aren’t the cutest things ever and they make my feet look giant.  Nevertheless, I was willing to overlook these for a sweet ride.

I wasn’t disappointed – at least not for a while.  They initially felt very large and clunky.  I kind of wondered if they were too big?  I ordered a size down so I could see if this was it and these rubbed against the side of my feet – the right side worse than the left.  So, I kept the 8.5’s thinking these would be the right choice.

Sadly they are not my earth-shattering dream shoes I hoped for.  The blisters on both feet are just getting worse and running is uncomfortable/painful.  I think my right foot is wider as this one is more irritated.  I thought I could push through it and I will but I need to mix them up with shoes that fit me better.  My Brooks Glycerin’s are good but my current pair are DONEZO.  I looked on amazon and they didn’t have any in my size so I will look somewhere else.  Amazon did suggest some Asics Nimbus though.  I started out my running career with Asics and maybe it’s time to go back?

p.s. NEVER look up “blister” under images… trust me

Clearly, I am incredibly wishy-washy when it comes to shoes.  My “journey” is silly and *perhaps* my standards are just a bit high.  OR I need to stop falling into the trap of hearing/reading about what others are wearing and thinking these will make me run like them.  While I don’t really believe this will make it true, some part of me wonders if there is magic in shoes…  I also should have gone to Hogwarts for my undergrad but you know… the owl got lost.

There you have it.  My Asics are coming today and I need to find the Glycerin’s right quick-like (just in case the Asics don’t work).  I have a 25k on 5/10 and I need time to break in the new shoes.  Not to mention, running in the Hokas on back to back days is making my feet all hurty.  I will stock up on some moleskin because Hokas last for 700ish miles.  I’m probably the only person who is disappointed by this.  I do want to say, I like a lot about the hokas.  The cushion is great and it definitely helps encourage mid-foot striking.  They also have a mad love affair with my treadmill.  I can’t explain it but running in these on the ‘mill is so much easier than in other shoes for me.

Oh no!  Another angsty post – here, look at this funny t-rex – maybe it will help you forget about my whining!

man, I love a good t-rex meme!

 

it’s much easier to sign up for races than run them

Every once in a while (read MOST of the time) I make things much more difficult than they really are.  I use every dish when I cook or bake.  I figure out how to make instructions vastly complicated.  And I tend to miss details so things seem harder as I only see the big picture.

With this in mind, I’m not surprised that I’ve been massively concerned about signing up for the Detroit Free Press marathon.

found on Confessions of a Non-Runner

When I first checked the marathon registration, I saw you needed either your passport or an enhanced license.  My passport is expired & I don’t have any type of enhancement on the ol’drivers certificate.  Crazy enough, two years ago when I renewed said license, they told me it had been invalid for the 14 months.  Umm…  Excuse me?  Isn’t this information someone should have told me?!  Apparently not…

Anyway, I was stressing due to these lacks of identification.  I looked at the passport renewal process & it seemed like it was going to take too long so I went for the license update.  I finally got my buns to the DMV (or Secretary of State as its known in MI), yesterday.

yep…

Brief commentary: how is the DMV ALWAYS busy?  There are several branches in Kzoo.  Also, why are there ALWAYS strange people there?  Yesterday a man started yelling inside how we all needed to pick if we wanted to go to heaven or hell & that Jesus was the only way.  And no one really did anything – it’s like we expect it there.

Anyway, turns out you need a birth certificate or valid passport to get this type of license.  Not sure why I would want an enhanced license if I already had a passport but whatever.  I think DMV employees have to put up with enough abuse so I left without voicing my disappointment.  I decided to just use my expired passport and sign up.  The price increase is soon & I didn’t want to miss my shot at Detroit.

Wouldn’t you know it?  Your passport or enhanced license number ISN’T REQUIRED!  Haha, I’m such a goober.  I’ve been worried about this for nothing; clearly I didn’t read this part very well.  I signed up straight-away.  I am so excited – another full here I come!  I’ve heard such wonderful reviews of this race & it’s been on my list of “to-do” races.  I’ve lived here in MI for almost 11 years so I basically qualify as a Michigander.  So, I HAVE to do it!

(source) not my pic but I can’t wait to have my own!

I’ve found a few more races that are catching my fancy.  I haven’t signed on the dotted line just yet but they are bookmarked!  I talked to previous runners of said races & naturally they all garnered rave reviews.  I love how much easier it is and what a wonderful idea all of these races sound right now.  Then at 4 am (or earlier) when my alarm sounds come race day, I can’t figure out what I was thinking!  Oh… life as a runner!

so you want to run, eh? ha! nope

My body mocked me last week with regards to my intentions to run.  I’m fairly certain I could hear its “I’ll show you” day after day.  Needless to say, I didn’t prove it wrong.

Do others get all jacked up with the time change?  I think I am finally starting to feel more alert today and that’s probably because I already took a nap.  I will say, my exhaustion last week was a perfect storm of time change, health, a crazy busy week at work (worked through lunches and late almost every night) and a total lack of determination on my part made running a far off concept.

at least I kept trying, yeah?

I think during these times, it’s important to just go easy on myself (or yourself).  Absolutely, there were times when I said some harsh words in my head about my dedication and abilities but then I realized this wasn’t helping either.  I need to chalk it up to a tough week and move into this week with a fresh attitude.  So this is what I am going to do.

I also made a pot of chili today using the same Wendy’s recipe I used before.  It’s really good and an easy meal for weeknights.  Last week, I had a peanut butter sandwich almost every night so it will be a nice change!  I keep reading more and more about meal planning.  I haven’t quite found a system that will work for me but I’m not giving up.  One of my friends has a family of five (one kiddie is 4 months old) and she feeds her family on $350 A MONTH! Whaaa?  And, she just bumped this up from $300.  Wow!  I saw her in the grocery store the other day and I asked her how she does it.  Meal planning.

my attempts at meal planning look a bit like this

Meal planning vexes me!  I also find it so impressive!  The good thing is, I can eat leftovers for days.  I have no problem eating the same thing (sometimes for both lunch and dinner).  It comes down to it being easy.  Hmm… I just realized this – the whole “whatever is easy” part.  This is a good foundation…  I think…

Alright, I’ve wasted your time enough today.  I want to go running today, really, I do.  I’ll see – my couch is like quicksand… a really comfy quicksand…

reshuffling priorities

As I mentioned, my birthday was a couple of weeks ago.  Naturally, this means I get fairly introspective.  I am approaching this introspection differently this year, which is good – I’m not overanalyzing!  Or I’m not focusing on what I’m lacking in life rather what I feel is important and how to better focus on this.

I didn’t want to say but yeah… these are true, too!

I’ve been de-hoarding and reading some minimalist blogs.  MissMinimalist is a good one – I like how she says minimalism looks differently for each person.  This is nice to hear since I am never going to live in a 25 sq foot house.  Nevertheless, I know I want less stuff than I currently have.  Watching HGtv has driven this home even more.  Some participants say things like, “I need a bigger house for all of my stuff!” or “I need giant closets!”.  I’ve said these things too – in fact, in the last year even!  But I don’t want my belongings to dictate my future house/apt.

Then there are the larger life decisions – do I stay in MI?  Do I stay on my current career field?  I know, these are definitely the “biggie size” questions and I don’t focus on these everyday.  Although, I do keep them in the back of my mind.  I won’t make any of these changes for a year or so but since change is tough for me, it’s better that I think about these in advance!

My health is also my priority.  I made a lot of progress this past year and I’m looking forward to what I can accomplish/gain/learn this year.  Yes, running is included in this and getting a running coach was the first step in this area.  Also included is healthy eating and continuing to lower my anxiety.

Budget-smudget.  Why can’t I find budgeting exciting?!  While I do enjoy watching my bank account grow the urge to spend seems to hit once I see the progress.  Curses!  Many of my friends are very savvy with money.  Talking about money seems kind of taboo in our society but I’ve started asking friends how they do it.  I really do find it fascinating.  I also pin/read a lot of budget suggestions and tips.  Some of them definitely do not jive with my personality and others are decent ideas.  For me, setting these priorities is a great way to start.

friends and family! don’t thank me now but look what you’re getting for birthday/holiday gifts!

I feel good about these priorities.  They are spurring me into action!  Last weekend I realized my apt is completely lacking inspiration.  So, I’ve taken some action on this front – my home should be a place I enjoy not one I just exist in.  Not to mention, I have some nifty ideas that I can’t wait to share with you all!  And I dropped donations off, have the “sell” items in the car and have another “need to get rid of” pile started – yay!  Progress!

How do you go about setting priorities?  Do they change?

Are you good with a budget?  What are your secrets?!

oh gluttony

Gluttony.  It’s one of those seven deadly sins for a reason and it sure is sneaky!  While I knew I was indulging, it didn’t dawn on me just how much until today.  Well, maybe a bit yesterday but it was Sunday so I ignored those feelings.  Monday.  Monday is the day I deal with unpleasantness.

every freakin’ week

What has my gluttonous behavior included?

Sitting on my bum a lot, LOTS of ice cream and other treats, two coffees a day, Investigation Discovery (ID), and absolutely no effort with regards to preparing meals.  Oh and my apt is pretty messy.  I’m decent at being able to tune these things out when I want to; so despite this behavior happening for the last two weeks, I didn’t allow it to penetrate my frontal lobe until today.  Another beautiful display of avoidance and denial!

All is not lost!  Since having dips in healthy routines are not a new phenomenon to me, I have come up with a plan to rectify this.

1.  Only one coffee a day.  Bummer.  This is the first day and despite my only adopting this since being back in WA during winter break, I’ve already come to depend on this heavenly caffeinated elixir – in both the morning and afternoon.  But my budget has noticed the increase in consumption as have my hips.  So you know, I’m going to drag my way through the day with water.

2.  Ice cream and treats.  Lots of treats.  My sweet tooth has been on overdrive lately!  Goodness!  My love affair with Baskin Robbins peanut butter and chocolate ice cream runs deep.  Yesterday I went to drop off my donations.  Goodwill happens to be close to BR and I really had to tap into some willpower to keep my car headed in the opposite direction.  I’ve also limited access to other treats by not purchasing them.

Weird sidenote: the grocery store was packed yesterday.  I was in line for a long time and a woman ahead of me was talking to another patron.  She was saying how her hubby is having surgery and she wanted to make sure he had lots of snacks while she was at work.  I took a gander at her goodies and suddenly I felt like, “CRAP!  I forgot to get snacks!  I need to go and get snacks!”.  Since I love me some good snacks, I had to hold firm.  I was surprised by how influenced I was by another person’s groceries.

3.  Meal prep.  Good gravy, I’ve been very lazy.  I haven’t had any motivation to cook so I’ve eaten a lot of peanut butter sandwiches because I’m five years old.  I’m not sure what else I’ve eaten because I know it’s more than that.  It’s been this weird hodge-podge of restaurant leftovers and quick eats.  Finally on Saturday and Sunday I prepped some food for the week.

4.  The ID watching and sitting on my bum go hand in hand.  I was lethargic last week and didn’t do much to combat it.  Oh sure, some running here and there but essentially I surrendered.  This week I intend on spending about one hour per night on my apt.  I’m always amazed with how much I can get accomplished in a short period of time.  Somehow I forget this though and put things off for “when I have more time”.  Hmm.  So, I will balance some HGtv, ID and DIY with some actual productive behavior – a match made in heaven.

While this wasn’t a huge descent into the dark depths of gluttony it was enough for me.  I don’t need to spend months trying to get out though and the above goals for the week will help.  Well, that is if I can stay awake long enough – great scott, I am FADING!  Hopefully a run will perk me up a bit!  I’m going to need to fit lunch work outs in again or risk the afternoon slump everyday – ugh.

afternoon coffee, I miss you already

Are you a coffee drinker?  How many cups per day?

Ever fall into a gluttonous trap?

cut my own hair? sure!

On Sunday, I wanted a haircut RIGHT NOW.  I was done.  It’s been about 4 months since my last cut, which is a lot considering I have shorter hair.  Typically, my style needs to kept up approximately every 6 weeks or so to keep its shape.  But I didn’t get around to it.

Then I wanted to be able to put my hair back for Dopey so I wanted to wait.  Suddenly, I couldn’t handle it any longer and I decided I was going to cut my hair myself.

enter ominous music

So yesterday, after working for a little while I went to Sally’s Beauty supply and bought a pair of hair scissors ($15.00), the clips to hold up my hair ($3.00), a handheld mirror ($5.00), a spray bottle ($2.50) and a comb ($1.00).  I told the women working the register what my plan was and they asked me if I had ever done it before.  I told them, “nope”.  That was the end of the conversation.  Oh, I could have purchased some scissors for $10.00 but I got the jazzy ones for $5.00 more.

haha, I was a bit apprehensive!

I looked up tips and tricks online and found some good advice and not so good advice.  First of all, there were very few posts about how to cut/shape your shorter hair.  It was either long hair or pixie cuts.  This worried me slightly.  I found a youtube video that was okay and it was a woman cutting her long hair short.  But that was it.  Some of the solid tips were to cut it when it was wet (still doesn’t make sense to me), don’t cut a lot off at once, go slowly and practice.  Practice?  Basically, make sure you’ve cut your bangs or something a few times so you are comfortable.

yep, I’m beyond creative using an edward scissorhands gif!

Then I just went for it.  I got scissor happy at one point but after deeply cutting my finger, I slowed down.  One tip was to sketch out what you wanted your cut to look like.  I should have done this since I forgot I wanted to have some layers!  This meant I needed to cut the layers a bit shorter despite the fact I cut the bottom to the length I wanted.  So, my layers are a bit shorter than I first intentioned.

here is the before

I sort of had an idea in my head about the final look but it wasn’t very concrete.  What did I want?  I wanted a cut where I could blow dry it and not have to use a curling iron to enhance the curls.  Or put some hair junk in it and go.  Seriously, this was my main motivation.  Lately, my hair was looking straggly and I wanted that gone too.

Here is what I came out with!  I’m proud of myself!

ta-da! the after

Actually, I am really proud of myself!  I love the Bourne movies and in the first and third one the women have to change their appearance and just start hacking at their hair.  It always turns out really cute.  I felt I could do this too.  Yep, in my brain I know a stylist went back over it and made it look better but not my heart!

If you are thinking about cutting your own hair here are my tips:

1.  If you are nervous about doing stuff to your hair and/or are very particular don’t do it.

2.  I promise, your hair will not look like you just stepped out of a salon.  Thinking I could pull of something exactly or even similar too a salon visit would have set me up for disappointment.

3.  I knew I could get it fixed if need be.

4.  I’m pleased with my scissors – splurge on these if you go the diy route.

5.  Be careful!  The cut on my finger HURT.  I had to put the band-aid on tight to help the bleeding slow.  These little suckers are sharp.

6.  Take it slowly.  It was suggested to have a friend there too but I think this would be boring for a friend and again, I was impatient.

7.  Remember hair will grow back.  I’ve dyed my hair black, orange (strawberry blonde gone wrong) and blue – not all at once!  I’ve had some really bad haircuts and I permed my own hair once.  Since I’ve given my hair a workout I wasn’t too worried about messing up.

I have no idea if I could do it again.  I’ll try and it will probably end up with a bit different of a style!  While I didn’t set out to do this strictly for the money-saving piece, I’m taking the win.  I like the idea of going to my stylist once or twice a year and then keeping up the style on my own.  Yay!  My handiwork is pretty nifty.

Have or do you cut your own hair?

What other kinds of beauty routines to you do on your own?

ground sirloin taste on a ground chuck budget

Friday I went to the grocery store.  It was one of those trips where I needed toiletries along with food so the bill was heftier than I wanted.  That’s when I realized a) food is expensive – why do we have to eat?!  b) last week I bought two pairs of cords and two shirts for LESS than this grocery bill!  c) it’s quite possible I could have gone a bit cheaper on this trip.  Here is the rundown:

Non-food items: body wash, female products, cold cream – I didn’t NEED the cold cream.  I saw this commercial for Abaline and I thought, “hey, that’s cool!  Washing my face with cold cream, just like in the 50’s!”  I’m sure my decade is way off but I like the sound of it.  The cold cream was on clearance but was still $3.95

does the skin right!

Cat food:  Simon is one lucky and picky cat.  I stocked up on treats and cat food.  I also put down puppy training pads right outside of his litter box so he cleans his feet a bit.  It also stops him from tracking litter onto the carpet.

Regular food:  I’m making some white chicken chili this weekend and needed most of the ingredients for this.  Except for the chicken, which I already have, thankfully, as it wasn’t on sale.  Bacon, eggs, bananas, a frozen pizza (I despise cooking on Friday night), a jug of water and tomatoes.

Coffee:  I have a problem but we all knew this already.  I needed creamer (I bought 3 or 4 bottles) and coffee.  I finally found some coffee that I really like and is actually fairly cheap.  A bag is $5.00.  I really like grocery store blends/roasts and strongly recommend them.  All of my favorites are non-big coffee chains.

Kind Bars:  while these are so, so good they are not “kind” to my budget (ha!)!  They were on sale for $1.39 per bar.  Since I used to eat granola bars/breakfast bars for breakfast this is a great alternative.  It keeps me full a lot longer, it’s all natural and with a banana I’m good to go.

Chobani Flips:  yep, still in love with these!  My fridge is stocked and I eat this for breakfast or lunch.  These aren’t cheap either but my obsession controls my pocket-book!

When I write it out, it doesn’t seem like that much.  I do buy chocolate milk for after running and to take my meds with at night.  I didn’t buy a lot of snack foods although I did buy my current favorite chocolate, Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate and Caramel squares – oh so yummy

Still, where does all the money go?  My cart wasn’t even all the way full!  Sometimes when I am going through aisle and see families I don’t understand how they feed everyone!  Not to mention, our sales tax isn’t bad at all.  In WA it’s 8%.  While my budget could withstand some ground sirloin it better supports ground chucking it.  I’ve been thinking a lot about budget lately and how I use/spend my money.  There is something to be said for learning how to better manage my funds when I’m doing okay rather than when I’m financially pinched.  I’m almost completely out of credit card debt.  I’m ecstatic about this considering it will be the first time in 15 years where I won’t be dragging a credit card ball and chain.  Oddly enough, the other day when I went to buy my Hokas, the price tag made me a bit nervous at first (they were mega on sale so I bought two pairs)  so I almost put it on my credit card to make me feel better.  Thankfully, I realized this was silly.  It’s a habit.  I can fool myself into thinking I’m not really spending the money if I put it on the little 3.370 × 2.125 in piece of plastic with the magic black strip.

breaking the habit is hard – rejoice!

Then there is my running budget – absolutely a whole other post!