So. I feel much better today. I've definitely decided that I want to ask him to consider transfering his job and moving back here once his lease is up. I've got a reputation of so not being much of an emotional person - logic is my watchword - but I'm about to go ALL kinds of girly-girl on him.
I've started reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and it's rather intriguing. Right now, I'm working on the first habit, and - I don't know. It seems to be going well, but I'm not sure. It's funny - I think that on my own I've actually been working TOWARDS some of those very habits, but not realized what I was doing or where I was going - I was just doing something right. So - I'm creeping through that book slowly.
I've also come to a conclusion about the money issues. I realized that really - I DO have a budget. I save some, I pay all my bills on time, and then I live off of what is left. That's fine - that's good. My 'problem' is my spending habits! I need to work on what I CHOOSE to spend the money that is left on, and I have to start making better choices about what I buy and from where and when. So - a few things that I'm going to pare away at -
1) I'm going to have to stop going to the bookstore every couple of days. There is a wonderful library downtown that has all the books I could ever want - and they are FREE - and I can renew online endlessly until there is a hold placed on one of the books - and even then, I only have to take THAT book back. It's a total win-win. I don't have to cut back on my voracious reading, but I CAN cut back on my spending. Also - I figure I can read a book, and if I like it - make plans to buy it at a later date. All the satisfaction for none of the price.
2) We've GOT to cut out eating out every night of the weekends we are together. Usually, we can easily spend 100.00 for dinner for both of us, and though we do usually switch off so that I pay for one night and he pays for the other - that's STILL close to 300.00 bucks a month - at the MINIMUM. Yipes. This is one area that I'm going to have to consult with Corey in, because I know that he LOVES to go out to eat, and I don't want him to feel like I'm asking him to pay for dinner out all the time.
3) I'm going to start bringing in my breakfast and lunch to work. I can easily spend 10.00 a day on food, and not be fully satisfied because the quality of the food at our cafe isn't all that great. I LOVE to cook anyway - and I have an extensive collection of rubbermaid and gladware and hot/cold bags. That nicely segues into the next item..
4) I've got start shopping at Costco. On this eating plan, I eat A LOT of meat and veggies. I mean A LOT. And buying them one at a time, and leaving my freezer empty, makes no sense, when I have a Costco card, and I KNOW that I can get the same amount of stuff for a MUCH lower price. My freezer is currently mostly empty - all that is in it is some lonely freezer-burnt fish, half a bag of chicken wings, and a few bags of veggies. It's CRYING out to be filled with wonderful meals and makings of meals on a regular basis.
5) The last thing is that I need to curb my random shopping sprees. Though, I hve to admit after dropping ALL that money on my computer - I seriously doubt that I'm going to be spending ANY large sum of money any time soon. I also have to start to gauge my 'needs' versus my 'wants'. For instance - I think I need a car charger for the batteries in my digital camera. But - that implies that I'm going to be using the camera enough to actualy run through the batteries just as I have one MORE picture to take - and I don't have any extra batteries. Looking on eBay, I saw that one extra battery for my camera costs about 8 bucks - the car charger costs about 50.00. Now - for the cost of the car charger, I could get 6 batteries - which would be at the minimum 12 HOURS of camera time. Or - I could just buy two extra batteries, and keep them fully charged from the charger I have at home. I'd spend under 20 bucks, I'd have 6 - 8 hours of shooting time (and really - how often am I going to use my camera CONSTANTLY for 6 hours???) and I'd be saving a big ole hunka cash. Plus - if I'm out in the middle of who knows where and have walked 1/2 hour from the car, I'm going to be rather grumpy about walking ALL the way back to the car, waiting the 1/2 hour while the battery recharges, and then walking ALL the way back to where I was.
So.... I want to scale down my thoughts and think about what I REALLY want - and them find the cheapest possible solution rather than just going for the FIRST solution I see.
I've reinstituted my ban on TV. I'm reading, listening to music, chatting with friends online, doing voga, practing belly-dancing, laying out in the sun - almost ANYTHING besides sitting there and wasting brain time watching TV. Though I have to admit - I give myself free rein on Friday nights. How can I miss Forensic Fridays??
Speaking of yoga - I'm so excited that I've gotten stronger! I'm guessing it's from the loss of weight (which means that I REALLY need to start lifting weights to keep my muscle strength up) but there are a couple of yoga poses it was almost impossible for me to hold before, and now I can do them - not super easily, but a hell of a lot easier than before. I figure by the end of this month, I should be ready to get my Pilates tapes back and start doing them as well. I also need to start stretching every morning. The yoga is good - but it doesn't really PULL me out like it should. I have a Stretching Book - and since I don't have belly-dancing tonight, I think I will work on that instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment