January 1, 2013
Just like that, the New Year’s slipped in the door, all kinds of Bowls are on the telly while Doggle sighs and flops dramatically while PiC and I tap away at our keyboards.
I’ve been working since we returned from a pretty stressful Christmas trip back home so any recap or reflection posts will come later. Right now, I’m taking a quick look at things we’ve decided. Backwards? Sure. But it’s what works for me right now! 🙂
Things to Do
1. New-to-us furniture in, some old furniture and possessions out:
Even at the slow-mo rate that I collect books and comics, PiC wanted another bookcase. We’ve talk-imagined how to fit this in because I’m getting Possessions Claustrophia. We agreed that if we’re adding furniture, we have to get rid of some things because it’s getting crowded in here!
To make this work, we both committed to:
A) clearing out enough shoes to eliminate a small shoe rack
B) selling his extra never-used bike and moving the remaining bike
C) reorganizing the current storage system in the existing book shelf, perhaps with nice containers for the non book items.
*PiC has always been in charge of the furniture and decor by default, I don’t tend to care about those details as long as we’re not spending or collecting too much. It’s nice to be able to participate in this discussion without feeling frustrated and come out with an agreed plan.
2. Tackling the second closet. We have very limited storage here and we’re not making the most of the space.
A) We’ve collected too many coolers, big and small, and I’m pretty sure that at least one can be returned. Perhaps one can be regifted or sold. It’s a novelty item.
B) We have an unwielding shelving system that came with the place. Time to rethink!
3. There’s at least one bit of paperwork left to sort from leaving my ex-employer.
DO THAT.
Moving towards more simplicity and focus, J. Money and I are on the same wavelength there!
Actual Goals
Money: We’re almost ready to review the last year’s spending and create this year’s budget. If we’re going to talk about a house property, then we need to get serious about money allocation.
A) Create budget based on more realistic savings and spending needs for 2013. Lots of big travel anticipated this year and if we’re doing it, we need to be careful how the cash flows. Our first year of shared but not combined expenses (lack of action, courtesy of my health difficulties) really could have been better and I hate wasting time and opportunity. Allowances, here we come!
B) Refinance this place.
C) Save at least $35k toward new house stuff.
** I’ve not posted any monthly reports since last year because I didn’t know how to present the numbers coming from just mine to both of ours. Still haven’t figured that out yet.
Fitness: PiC has insane-to-me fitness goals but I’m supporting him. From the sofa.
Haha yes and no .. I have been adding some careful gymming to my life lately in 15-20 minute increments and I am going to try and add a little bit more exercise at a time. Maybe I can even work up to running short distances? I would love a buddy who works at my level because at the moment, PiC and I are at the opposite ends of the fitness spectrum and I enjoy working out w/others. Then again, I can just go to a happy place to work out too – I love solo time.
The active/competitive spirit in me was slowly waking up in the last couple weeks and I just want to be able to do some things I used to: run a mile in good time, go for long walks and feel refreshed – not depleted, regain flexibility and stamina.
Not all of that is under my control: I don’t know how my body will react on any given day, much less to any of the pie in the sky fitness hopes, but I think it’s realistic to have a fitness plan menu from which I can slowly work on weak areas as and when I’m feeling up to it or just thinking I can.
I have to start somewhere!
I’m both a touch envious of but also proud of my IRL and online friends taking on new fitness challenges this year (@patti_v in her August race!) and will join them in my own small way.
Career: This new job requires a lot of stretching, some of which I simply don’t feel ready for, and others of which are brainmeldingly frustrating but sort of fun because I’m learning new things again.
It’s time to get back on the horse with regard to balancing the time I spend on the full time job, which could turn into 20 hrs a day, 7 days a week if I let it, and exploring what other projects are out there just waiting to be kicked around. One idea that’s been floating for a long time has to do with my management experience. I spend a fair amount of time helping out a few fellow bloggers with hiring, career and other related advice. Perhaps it’s worth exploring that as a real side job?
Happy New Year, everyone, what’s on your mind for this coming year?
August 23, 2010
I wrote about my Blahs recently, and I’m glad to say I’m on my way out. I hate being disorganized and muddled, and even more than feeling behind, I hate the feeling that I’m not doing something. Â Stagnation bites.
After some reflection, it occurred to me whence this bout of stagnation hailed.
A big part of my sense of home stems from dedicated personal space. Â Don’t get me wrong, PiC and I have plenty of room, and share well for the most part, but I still need a corner with all the accoutrements of office space: desk space, a printer/scanner, a home for the laptop, somewhere I can put my feet up when I’m writing. Â I’m a nester, I don’t need a lot of stuff, but I do need a comfortable cubbyhole. Like a pup and its kennel, I’m happiest when I have a writing (bill-paying/internetting) cave.
When I first moved in, I spent several hours fussing with the dang Epson trying to get it to work but failed miserably. Â Then I was caught up in the whirlwind of a new job.
Days, weeks and months passed.  New investments, new mail, new accounts spawned paperwork which just piled up.  And piled higher. And higher.
*shudder*
I can’t believe it took me this long but I got back on the horse and did the one thing ostensibly under my control: I wrassled with the printer/scanner for hours until it’s pretty much installed on both laptops wirelessly. “Pretty much” because the scanner’s still not working on my computer but still, it’s two steps ahead of where I was before. With any luck, at least I’ll be able to scan to PiC’s laptop.
Step two will be scanning and shredding or recycling all the documents that are just collecting dust. I have a feeling that I’ll breathe much more easily once that’s been accomplished.
May 12, 2010
“When did you become Martha Stewart?”
One of my friends was suitably impressed by the dinner I prepared over the weekend and that I cook as much as I do each week. The evidence of my evolution into frugal domesticity was rather striking this weekend, come to think.
I came home from work, did more work at home, made a three course dinner with dessert, served brunch, second lunch, picked up supplies for my friends the intrepid painters, washed, dried and folded a combination of laundry for three, and made dinner again.Â
As I suspected, several long years ago, supporting my family financially isn’t all there is to running a household. Housekeeping is hard work. I can’t even begin to imagine how much more challenging this would be combined with having children. And pets? No wonder my parents resisted our pleas for dogs so long. Every little bit eats away at your previous time and energy.
The extra effort in having guests who are old friends would be well worth the company alone. In this case, it’s more than repaid because they’ve cheerfully taken on the task of painting the apartment (not my plan or idea, but I can’t get into that right now). All I’ve got to do is provide support services like cooking and cleaning so they can handle the stuff my shoulder and various other joints won’t allow. Our friendships don’t require currency but it’s nice that we’re good about exchanging favors like random chores or emergency break-up moving services.
As I was folding our laundry, the thought occurred to me that the next time I buy detergent and fabric softener – a long while from now as I only use a wee dash at a time, I need a different scent. Something about this combination reminds me of someone I was once fond of but am no longer. It’s strange how something as simple as a fragrance can influence future shopping habits.
January 3, 2010
(Don’t worry yourself!)
It’s that time again for some year’s end/year’s dawn clearing out.
In an effort to keep my nomadic lifestyle from derailing my money lifestyle, I had to take a day to clean up and keep up after the past two weeks of running about.
Paying BillsÂ
— Yodlee insists on mucking about with improvements that don’t help functionality like adding the option to mark a bill “Skipped.” Real responsible, Yodlee, encouraging skipped payments.
— Remember that it doesn’t really matter when the money goes out. Interest rates are negligible, late fees are not. I used to pay bills for a 7-day period, but I’m changing to a 14-day period since my focus sitting in front of the computer isn’t on mundane stuff like paying bills.Â
Health
— Once a month, I’ll do a meds check to make sure that I’ve always got enough on hand.
Financial Records
— Two more Citi cards were canceled due to inactivity. They weren’t my top tier rewards cards so it doesn’t matter to me. I just removed them from the online interface. The credit cards will be scanned for my credit report records check (I’ve had a lot of cards, and it’s easy to forget which ones I had. Should probably Excel spreadsheet this too.)
— Doublechecked to make sure an erroneous subscription to Credit Protector was for the canceled card. That saves me a follow-up phone call.
— I had three sets of promotional credit card offers: The Chase Sapphire reqs have been fulfilled and I’ve gotten my reward ($100); Citi FWD reqs were just fulfilled recently so I’ll be claiming those Thank You points at the end of the next statement (11k points); and the AMEX reqs were also recently fulfilled. All three cards have been removed from my wallet to prevent further confusion.
Examine new offers
— Citi FWD: Cell Phone Protection; pay your monthly cell phone bill with your Citi Forward card & receive:
• Automatic cell phone protection from damage or theft
• Coverage on phones and PDA
• Up to $250 per eligible claim (with a $50 co-pay)
This might be worth switching over my autobilling. Maybe.
Housekeeping
— 3 loads of laundry, lest the temptation to chuck it all and buy all new overwhelms and send me screaming to the mall. Not very likely, but you can’t take chances.
— Vacuuming
I think that’ll do for starters.
April 12, 2009
Status: Food coma
Having nothing better to do on a lazy Sunday, I trotted ’round to the local Fresh and Easy in pursuit of a 77 cent/lb ham. The only available specimen was a hefty ten pounder, which I hoisted into my cart, and added a jug of apple juice and honey for good measure. The latter two items were for my honey-apple glaze, the idea for which I must thank the iPhone + Google.
For the record, I’ve never ever cooked a ham before. Fair warning.
The already-cooked ham was dutifully wrapped in foil, and placed in a roasting pan which, miracle of miracles, only took me ten minutes to find.
[Might I point out that this is 90% of the reason I don’t cook? It’s simply not my kitchen, and for all that I’m heartily grateful that my dad cooks 99% of the time, his idea of housekeeping and organizing is levels away from mine. And I cannot stand to cook in a messy kitchen, so as soon as the ham was wrapped and popped into the oven for the first-stage, 3-hour roast, I commenced 3 hours of dishwashing, kitchen cleaning, drain deodorizing, and grocery shopping. And cleaning out the fridge, packing food into actual containers instead of left willy-nilly on plates. Ugh! Also, matched up tops and bottoms to plastic containers.]
After the third hour, basting of the uncovered ham began, as did vegetable prep. I found this awesome recipe for new potatoes and green beans from A Veggie Venture. I didn’t want two pounds of baby red or white potatoes, so I opted for the (cheaper) loose, bulk Yukon potatoes. Tasted delicious, but I realized the reason you want the babies during the last step of cooking: the cut-up cooked potatoes got a little smashed in transition. But that didn’t affect the taste one iota.
I added rice and scarfed immediately.
Man. I’m a good kid. I made a great dinner and left the kitchen cleaner than when I started. Oh, and did I forget to mention home-made yellow cupcakes?
[No frosting, too sweet for my aging teeth.] I had to substitute olive oil for veggie oil, but that didn’t affect the taste.
Ham, $8
Juice, $2
Honey, $3
Green beans, $1.50
Potatos, $1.50
Cake, $1.50
Cleaning supplies (dish soap, vinegar, baking soda): $7
Total Cost: $24.50
March 24, 2009
I loved MoneyDummy‘s crochet project where she magicked old sheets into bathroom rugs. Make that projects, plural. It’s not just because it’s so creative, but also because it transforms something formerly grubby or less than desirable in its original form and gives it new life.
I was about to try to be that ambitious, but realized I probably should wait until I have new sheets to replace the old ones before I had three new bathrugs and zero sheets. Pff, practicality!
Instead, as part of the great closet clean-out that’s dragged on for weeks, months (!) I was giving up old tops that just had a bit of sentimental value or I just couldn’t Goodwill or discard entirely. And the great thing about fussing and cleaning on the telephone with your BFF, other than the moral support and feeling like it was good ole high school days again, is that she often comes up with great ideas. Can’t toss old shirts? Take ’em to her ma!
Why?
Because her ma is a flippin’ crafty genius, and turned it into this handsome devil of a quilt:
That corner’s folded down to show you the lovely no-pill fleece backing. The blue-purple squares that are kind of shiny is a suede (washable!) sort of material, and that almost Hawaiian purple print used to be my scrubs from my animal hospital days. Unfortunately, the flash doesn’t do justice to the redder floral bits.
Isn’t that cool? Someday, I will learn to do this for myself. Someday!
January 12, 2009
In the quest to purge, purge and purge, I’ll need a few items to maintain a (relatively) paper- and clutter-free existence.
Thus far, through the generosity of friends with technology, I’ve scanned and shredded over twenty pounds of documents from 2004 to 2008. All credit card, banking – both checking and savings- statements, and most bills were switched to paperless billing. A few things like insurance, municipal utilities and rent aren’t online, so a modest stack of that stuff is piling up again.
So, item number one: a scanner. If the printer my relatives gave me two years ago, and my dad commandeered, has a scanner, I’m going to take it back and check that off the list.
Number two, a shredder. Hadn’t budgeted for this yet but should purchase one sometime before my move, or just after. Whenever/however that turns out, that is.
Number three was a media card reader but this was crossed off after I bought a laptop that came equipped with a card reader. Should test it out, then, pictures will return to the blog!
