Tribute to 2017, and 2018 resolutions

Hello from NYC! Inspired by my friend Mindy Hart, I've decided to start blogging again.

 2017 was...
  • The year my closest KC friends and I bought forested land that we have a 5-10 year plan to turn into an Ecovillage (ie, cluster of tiny houses).
  • The year I attended my first ever destination wedding abroad where I made friends, and learned that having a whole week with the bride and groom is the most wonderful.
  • The year I turned 32 and saw my 32nd country, Jamaica.
  • The year I saw my first octopus on a night dive, logged my 50th dive (in Cozumel), and logged my first freshwater dive, at the cenotes/caverns in Playa del Carmen.
  • The year I went to my first Burn! Interfuse 2017 was a huge new experience.
  • The year I moved in with great friends to start living more affordably.
  • The year I went to LA on a room escape crawl with beloved friends from both coasts.
  • The year I took control of an awful medical situation by having surgery. Here's to a much better quality of life!
  • The year I went to Boston for a friend's wedding, saw my awesome family there and reconnected with 5 friends whom I hadn't seen since elementary school, summer camp, weddings of long ago, and corporate training.
  • Another year with my dog Petri, who is my favorite adventure pal.
  • The year I came out! I'm polyamorous!
  • The year I hit my first deer (did you know that deer are poly?).
  • The year that my brothers and I gathered in NJ to go through all our old shit to help our parents downsize.
  • The year I started mindfulness eating training with my friend and coach, Shannon Lasater.
  • The year I first visited South Dakota, explored the Badlands, hiked around Devil's Tower, and fell in love with Glacier Park, Montana.
  • The year I had to replace my laptop, GPS, driver's license, hood/door/bumper of my car within a 2 month window... Financial ouch.
  • The year my brother Sam got engaged to an amazing woman whom I cannot WAIT to call my sister!
  • The year I moved three times.
  • Another New Years Eve with my best friends on earth.
Good year, personally. Politically it was a shit show. We all know this, and don't need to discuss it here.

On to 2018!

They say that the fewer resolutions you make, the less likely you are to do them. But I don't give a shit, so here are my five resolutions for 2018!
  1. I will be debt-free by April 1st. After that, I will never pay for something I cannot pay cash for ever again (barring emergencies, of course).
  2. I will buy secondhand as much as I can, because I love the planet.
  3. I will heal my gut health.
  4. I will participate in my first ever protest.
  5. I will block off three nights a week on my calendar with time to myself.
I'll be blogging to document the first two resolutions- getting financially fit, and buying secondhand- because they are related- I'll need creativity and savvy for both.

As with any good Spending Freeze, let's review the rules.
  • The Freeze ends when I am debt-free. My current debts:
    • Car loan: $2,100 (made a $300 payment this morning!)
    • Medical bill: $1,000 (down from $8K last spring)
    • Credit card: Right at about $2K- usually I have a balance of 0, but then I had some small emergencies in the fall.
  • If it's not on my Needs list, I don't buy it.
  • If I slipped and bought it when I didn't need it, and I can't return it, I spend one hour volunteering for every $20 of "slip money". Volunteering can be picking up trash, helping out at Scraps KC, or I have to donate something from my already-very-paired-down wardrobe.
My Needs for January
  • Home: Rent, renter’s insurance.
  • Car: Insurance, cay loan payments, gas.
  • Health: Insurance, food coaching, medical bill, any doctor visits, dental cleaning, chiropractic care.
  • Business: Legalshield, insurance, $20 budget for office supplies, cell phone bill, virtual assistant, Angie’s List advertising (locked into contract), Pandora Plus (use daily with clients), any mandatory business travel that comes up.
  • Roth IRA minimum payment- $50 (plan to increase it to the max in April when I'm debt-free)
  • Food: Groceries
  • Items: Laundry detergent, shampoo, soap, dental care, sunscreen, deodorant.
  • Petri: Pet food, medicine, vet visits, nail trim.
  • Quarterly tax payment (yay self employment)
  • Trip expenses for my grandmother's funeral in NYC (she passed away last weekend)
  • Unexpected early costs for things that are Needs some time later this year- for example, if I need to book my hotel or buy my bridesmaid dress for my brother’s wedding this month and I can’t wait til the end of the Freeze, it’s a Need.

January Wants
  • Personal travel/vacation
  • Food: Dining out, take out, delivery, alcohol... Restaurant Week is this month, but I shall be strong.
  • Movies: Theater or renting
  • Personal care: Haircuts, leg waxes, mani/pedi’s, etc.
  • Toiletries/cosmetics not listed above. Makeup.
  • Ebooks and Audiobooks :(
  • Clothing
  • Anything not listed in Needs.
It's very important that I take this year seriously when it comes to money. Autonomy and freedom aside, I worry about the economy, and what could happen. I don't want to get caught with a bunch of debt if we have a recession this year. So I'm coming at this from a survival mentally. Some people prep for doomsday by hoarding... I will prep by saving money. I've locked in my travel plans for the year, and I've budgeted my trips. This year, I'm going to Interfuse in May, a high school reunion in June (I'm the class agent, but it's also very meaningful to me to be there), a family reunion in Wyoming in July, a combo bridal shower/bachelorette weekend some time over the summer, my brother's wedding in September, and home in NJ for Thanksgiving. That's it. (Okay, I might add a trip in April to NYC for my grandfather's 90th birthday). No abroad trips this year. (Australia in 2019!)

That's a lot of spending to plan for in the coming year. Here is what it's going to take to get there:
  • Cutting my rent 55% back by moving in with friends... Check!
  • Saying "No thanks" to 90% of things.
  • More time to myself- I tend to be a social spender, to be "the easy going one".
  • When I do feel social, it means asking my people to meet at the dog park or do a puzzle and eat home cooked food instead of meeting for coffee or dining out.
  • Turning down travel for awhile. It's hard to sacrifice the thing that makes me happiest, but I am just tired of not having enough money.
Right now I'm sitting in a Starbucks, enjoying a free green tea, because I had a gift card. This morning I had breakfast with my pal Victoria at a diner, and for lunch I'm meeting my friend Spearow. Yes, I will be volunteering or decluttering clothes as soon as I get back to KC as a happy penance. :) And I'm using cash so that it isn't cutting into my credit card bill.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Freedooooom

Image
Yesterday morning I paid off the rest of my car. I am now debt free . Over the past 20 months I've paid off about $33K of debt in the form of medical bills, a car loan, and a wee bit of credit card debt. Here are some tips and things I did that were the most helpful during this time: I made a Needs and Wants list. I deviated from this now and then, but I always had it to reference. I used Mint.com to set my monthly budgets, and I logged in 6 days a week, first thing in the morning. I posted a bit about it on Facebook, for accountability. This accomplished two things- It gave a way for people to see me and support me, and it also set expectations and sent a message to friends and family that said "Please don't put me in a position right now to spend money- don't charm me into expensive trips/meals/gifts- I'm trying to take care of myself right now." I went from working five days a week to opening up a sixth day on my calendar. I bartered for free/fresh ...
Read more

Generosity at work

Here's what I bought yesterday, on my day-after-the-Freeze: iTunes movie rental in standard definition ( The Edge of Seventeen - I liked it): $2.99. 2 pairs of underwear A pairs of arch support inserts for my sneakity-sneaks. A bag of dog food that will last 4 months, with Petri's small appetite. Yesterday at the end of my organizing session (with a client who knows about my Spending Fast), I stretched and said, "Now I can go buy chapstick !" in a sincerely triumphant voice. "Are you kidding?!" She said. Then we ran around to 3 different spots in her home, and she found SEVEN  unopened tubes of chapstick and gave them to me. Then she sat on the kitchen floor and went through her wine fridge and gave me FIVE  bottles of wine. Then on top of that she handed me two bags of healthy snacks, because she had bought the wrong size.   I was touched by her generosity.
Read more

Sewing old blankets and brewing up soups

Image
Just paid off another $2,056 on my car loan. (The $56 was this month's interest... cringe). So now I have $12,000 of debt left to pay. If I pay $2,400/month for the next 5 months I can be debt-free by my 32nd birthday in early May. A few spending diet wins since my last post: My beloved blanket started coming apart so I hand sewed it up. I don't think I've picked up a needle and thread since college. I loved it... Sewing is so peaceful. A client gave me one of her Southwest drink tickets, and I enjoyed a coffee with Baileys on my flight to Oakland at the end of October. So lovely to enjoy that over the crossword puzzle (Southwest magazine always has good crosswords). The same client gave me an almost full HUGE jar of organic paleo chocolate protein powder, and I use it in my breakfast shakes. She didn't dig it, but I do. Probably saved $30 on groceries right there. Another client gave me an AMC gift card that she found when we cleaned out her desk. How kind was ...
Read more

Fo FREE.

Hello from the homeland of Lawrenceville, NJ! I'm at my parents' house- last night we drove back from Vermont, where my cousin got married. I've decided that Vermont weddings might be the most beautiful things ever. Today I'll be getting some work done (I have a speaking gig next weekend all about closet decluttering/organization tips, so I'm updating and fine-tuning some of my go-to stuff for that), and running some errands for my folks as a thank you for flying me out here for the wedding, which was very nice of them. Then tomorrow my dad and I hit the road on a two day drive to Kansas City- Dad and my stepmom Rachel are attending a Wyoming wedding this weekend, and Rachel will be flying out to meet him- Dad is a sucker for road trips in the western United States, so he prefers to drive. Also he is retired, and Rachel still works, so she needs to fly. I'm delighted to report that I've spent NO money on Wants on this trip so far. I did buy some grocer...
Read more