About sixteen years ago, I met him for the first time. My trainwreck sibling brought home this adorable puppy he had no business adopting because he had not one thing in his life that wasn’t a mess. I was furious at my sibling – he didn’t even take care of himself, how could he drag
What a strangely accurate (Post-it Stop Motion) depiction of people at work!
It’s Friday!
If I were a mouse, I’d be playing as the boss is away, but I’m supposed to be “brilliant” so I’m still working.
Would love to see Iron Man, though! Then again, I don’t want to pay full price either. Hm… priorities. Well, an old friend will be in town again and I don’t see him often so it might be a case of going along with with everyone else wants and paying more than I’d like to hang out and see the same movie at the same time. Like high school, only more expensive.
What’s your stance on movie theaters? Yea or nay?
Also: roasted chicken or pork tenderloin for next week’s dinners? (Hint: The first one is WAY easier to make.)
Frugal Scholar with a goal TBD
Cody and Candace with a goal of $500 for debt reduction
Jersey Mom with a goal TBD MochaTrina with a goal TBD
Serendipity with a goal of $250
Doug with a goal of $500
Divorcing Debt with a goal of saving all Amazon/eBay sales money
Fitness
Single Ma running all five Ks Chele
nofearingthemoney (no blog)
Tazzee
mzinspiredmind
Funny About Money with a goal to lose 10 lbs
BOTH Tired of Being Broke with a goal of $5K and losing 7 lbs
Ciawy taking on both with a goal of $500 bringing lunch everyday to work, and signing up for a 5K race
BK Diva
Here’s the plan: I will be updating weekly so send me your updates by email or post a comment, or send me the link to your blogged update on Friday to be included in the post Saturday.
I have been gainfully employed for one full month since the Long Layoff of Ought-nine through Ten.
“How does it feel, Revanche, to be a fully contributing member of society again?” “What does that even mean? I’m exhausted, I’ve worked my toes off and frankly, I’m surprised that I’m still alive!”
Ah yes, welcome back to the American workplace, indeed.
I’d mentioned before that I work with workaholics. Idealists with a vision. Idealistic businesspeople who aren’t naive so much as complete fire-eaters with very little need to connect to human limitations. What I’m saying is it’s hard to keep up with them, much less excel and shine in the manner in which I’m accustomed. (Grump, much?) Still and all, they’re good eggs and I’m exaggerating at least a little.
It’s been kind of a rollercoaster.
Work like a swan on water: Look smooth up top, but paddle like hell underwater. I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they pass me by.
It’s been long enough since starting my last job that I’d forgotten how much harder it would be to start a new role with the management responsibilities I’d earned over time after starting at the bottom. I assumed that my skills were applicable across the board, which they are, and completely discounted the degree of social buy-in that’s necessary to fully engage, productively, with a new team. Oh and learning an entirely new culture and system, let’s not forget that.
When you’re hired in at entry-level, people are pretty happy if you’re only sort of socialized and relieved if you’re not an utter mess. They are, however, not surprised if you fail at either or both. The attitude is frequently that the “first job out of college” is a significant benchmark: the fresh-minted new grad or the fresh to the workforce babe-in-arms can be readily excused just about anything.
When you’ve hired yourself out to the highest bidder as an experienced and seasoned veteran of the work trenches, however, it’s an entirely different story. You have to, as they like to say, “hit the ground running” and be prepared to contribute as a fully functioning member of the team in many capacities: facilitator, communicator, politician. This is not an unreasonable expectation.
What’s even better is when you’ve taken on direct reports. You really have to maintain composure because frankly, who can really respect someone they’ve yet to take the measure of who appears to be a basket-case? You can excuse the long-time boss’s befrazzlement to some degree, he or she has presumably long since earned both formal and informal authority.
It doesn’t *feel* professionally acceptable to look frazzled and confused after your first two weeks – a seasoned professional should have absorbed all the relevant details and adapted by then, no? I can almost hear Gunny Highway barking at me: “You adapt. You overcome. You improvise. Let’s move.”
The goal: SHE: Single Ma starts training on May 2nd and hits the race starting lines on June 5th. ME: I will be saving every penny not needed for expenses and aiming for the highest possible amount by June 5th.
The details: She doesn’t expect a perfect race, and I don’t expect a perfect savings run. I know that $5000 is a huge sum, and I really want to hit that goal, but to make it realistic, I’m setting some ground rules.
First: I won’t cheat by skimping on every day necessities in order to artificially win this challenge. For example, if I owe gifts to people, they won’t be sent late because I’m trying to avoid spending. On the other hand, whenever I can use gift cards to avoid using cash, you can bet I’ll be doing so.
Second: Since I do not make well over $5000 in any given month from my day job, savings money has to come from my freelance income.
Third: (The equivalent of walking) I will allow any invoices for work already performed paid during this timeframe to be counted toward the total. The converse is also true: I will not book any money that has been invoiced but not received. So if you owe me money, please pay me during this time! 😉
Fourth: Accountability! I will be posting weekly updates to my savings regimen.
FAQs
Q: “WHY WHY WHY? A: Well, it should be obvious why SM is doing the 5K – she’s insane! 😉 Nooooo, it’s a great milestone to achieve. As for me, I have some major savings goals for the year and this is one way to concentrate on reaching at least one more early in the year. The more I bank, the better my position will be in as more family challenges crop up this year.
Q: Why match SM? A: SM’s always been inspirational and I know many of her readers feel the same way. The symmetry was poetic and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to “run” with her!
Q: What if I can’t save $5K? A: Not a problem – set your savings goal wherever makes the most sense for you, but make it more than your usual savings rate. The point is to stretch yourself beyond the normal day to day.
Q: How do I have to save for it to count? A: You can save however you can so long as you’re not lying, cheating or stealing. Small bits, lump sums, getting your cousin Sally to pay back that quarter you lent her when you were both 7 years old, if it’s ethical, it’s fair game! 🙂 Also, no neglecting your responsibilities!
Q: What if I don’t blog, can I still participate? A: ABsolutely! If you blog, and you’re taking on the financial challenge, please do post the challenge and weekly updates. If you don’t blog and want to send your numbers to me, you are most welcome to comment and/or email me and I’ll keep a spreadsheet with our progress. This is a team effort!
In one month, Single Ma of Fabulous Financials fame is going to take the leap into her first 5K race! Having blazed the trail to financial success in her life, she’s refocused her intensity on a new frontier. If you’ve missed her fabulous (of course) tweets in the past few months, she’s been making major changes in her lifestyle, overhauling her eating habits and kicking the crud out of the Couch to 5K program.
She starts official training for the 5K today, Sunday May 2nd. Starting at the same time, I will be “running” alongside her in the saving spirit – I will aim to save $5000 between May 2nd through June 5th.
Will you join us in Financial and Physical Fitness?
What happened? I dreamed that my staff were plotting an insurrection because apparently my boss was an alky, and they were in trouble for bringing dozens of differently sized exercise balls into the office. ???
It’s been hours since I finally succumbed to the dim sum shrimp punching me in the face and knocking my brain fuzzy. You’ve really gotta watch it with that dim sum – half a chance and the carbs and the fats work their diversionary magic and POW! The shrimp get ya.
In lieu of caffeine, this Hand Ninja helped wake me up with her calisthenics (no idea what the last bit is all about).
Though dim sum is really fun, the only dish that really gets me there are the steamed and baked BBQ pork buns because I love love love BBQ pork and can’t make the buns at home. I might be able to figure it out one day but for now, I’m happy with bringing home the occasional delicious bun treat.
Speaking of treats, our meal was a treat as well. The bill for 4 people after tip was $55 which wasn’t bad considering we had SIXTEEN dishes (mostly small and medium) and works out to less than $14 per person. While I try to spend less than that on food for an entire day, it’s doped me up enough that I probably won’t eat again until late tonight. 🙂
I can’t find the picture of my dazzling BBQ pork success so will share a wonderful pork tenderloin made soe time ago. I can also recommend a nice bottle of wine only $5 at Trader Joe’s: Epicuro’s Lazio white wine.
I am up and at ’em! (Always have wondered who ’em was, though.) It’s 8:30 and the chicken stock is bubbling merrily on the stove next to the pot of eggs for the week’s snacks. I’ve just to fetch my mending basket and settle into the perfect curve of my sofa-pillow Fortress of Solitude whilst the breakfast hash browns are baking in the toaster oven.
It’s not a half bad beginning to the day.
I’ve queued up an amazing lot of workly things to do, though. The cookery was the easy part. I have loads of prep work for next week, a good chunk of freelancing to tackle, blogging to catch up on, and perhaps a meal or two to eat. Friends are in town, too, though they’re really just here to see each other and I happen to be the middle at which they meet.
P.S. Last week’s chicken soup picture? Will be duplicated today! I’m so excited. I’m making the stock first, then a super sized batch will follow using both weeks’ stock.
Also, I will be making Frugal Scholar’s Broccoli Soup this week with the head of broc bought expressly for that purpose. It will be gorgeous!
