The Travel Jar

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 ...

Tonight I paid off my LASIK bill. Just a few clicks, and that $2,560 beast is GONE FOREVER. So now, just my car payments left until I'm debt-free. 14K to go. I'm going to Oakland, CA tomorrow for 5 days for a work/play trip, and am allowing myself some pleasure spending (ie, really good food) as a reward for paying off my LASIK a few days before the end of the month. Then on November 1, it's back to the spending diet. And I'm not sad about going back to it. It's been good for me. I've enjoyed being less social (even though I don't have to be- there's plenty of free stuff to do, but I love coming home from work and decompressing alone with Petri). I feel awesome. And happy-tired  (you know that feeling. The one when you smile and your eyes are kind of droopy and you feel like a big weight has been lifted off your chest).  One debt left . A recent frugal thing that I did: The toe tops of my brown boots (that I bought in a thrift store in NYC about ...

Last month was exciting because it was the first month of the spending diet... And I set the bar high when I saved/paid off over $2500 in September. This month I'm feeling a little burned out... I keep thinking, "How am I going to pull that off again this month?" Blogging helps... Reading other blogs about this helps... Reminding myself that I'll be debt-free sooner than planned if I can just laser-focus helps... But it's hard not to think of the obstacles coming up too. In November I'm road-tripping back east for 2.5 weeks. I will be working for part of that time, but most of it's vacation/seeing family and friends. I'm also starting to think about December, and the holidays. I would LOVE it if my family would agree to a no-gifts-Christmas, but I'm pretty sure that that would bum them all out. Things I'm doing to save money this month: Making all of my own food from scratch (my hands are burning as I type this, from chopping hot peppers)....

It's the last night of month 1 of the spending diet! I am stoked to have saved over $2500, and also a tad mortified that I was spending that much per month on non-needs. The first month wasn't bad, despite a few moments of "ugh I want take out" But all in all... The high of having set out to do something and DOING IT is amazing. I was even under budget in two categories: I spent a total of $147.50 on wants (budget was $150, so I totally could have grabbed a $2.50 coffee or baked good today, but refrained), and I spent $177 on groceries (budget was $200). GO ME! But I'm no robot, yo... I got wants. Here are some things that I missed, and am very excited to purchase immediately after I pay off my car and LASIK: A bottle of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay. A bottle of pumpkin beer. A week-long organic vegetable juice cleanse (no joke, I feel like a fucking super hero when I do these). An adventure abroad. Delivery from Sushi Uni, and takeout from Sweet Siam and...

Month 1 of the spending diet is coming to a close, and this month I was able to put $1000 in my emergency savings fund as a buffer, and throw $1,525.47 at my car loan. The high is unbelievable. Saving truly does feel so much better than spending. $16,568 left in car/medical loans to go. I can do this. I am that much closer to true freedom and more choices. This month wasn't super easy, but it honestly wasn't that hard. November (road trip home to the Northeast) and December (holiday gift pressure) may be far more difficult. I've been reading some good books this month... Right now I'm in the middle of Tim Ferriss's Four Hour Work Week, and last week I finished Freakonomics . I'm thankful that my audible membership doesn't run out until May! And then, if I am still in debt, I will do the library thing instead of renewing. And speaking of renewing entertainment memberships, I did not  renew my beloved Pandora Pro membership- September 22nd wa...

I usually don't care for quotes, but I love  the above saying, and always have. There is something a little bit romantic about it. I usually picture an unknown wide-eyed, squat, gray haired woman saying it, with a wooden spoon in hand, as she pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose with the other hand. I have weird thoughts. Last night I tried de-pilling my very pilled gray drapey cardigan with my fabric shaver. After 20 minutes, I had only de-pilled a quarter of the garment, and I wasn't having much fun. So, I stuck it in my donate bag. I wore it out... And now I'm doing without. My blue zip hoodie can achieve the exact same objective as the cardigan (which was mostly used as a security blanket during horror movies- I would swadle myself into the drapey fabric. And now, I can pull my hoodie strings and escape just as effectively, when the zombies start up again). By the way, fabric shavers are awesome. Check out the coolness that I did accomplish before I got b...

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...