The Travel Jar

I want to explore the globe, meet more people, and be more useful to the planet and its inhabitants. I'm in a great situation for this- I'm self employed, I make decent money at what I do (I'm a professional organizer by trade), and I'm single and childfree by choice. I live in Shawnee, Kansas, where the cost of living is very low. Prioritizing travel and adventures can be easy for me. But I'm not an irresponsible ninny- I've got some debt to pay off first, and I want to feel so at ease when I'm on the road or backpacking in another country, and I don't want this debt looming over my head. My total debt is exactly $12,600. I owe $900 on my credit card, $5,700 on my car loan and $6,000 on a medical bill. I like round numbers. While this isn't the worst amount of debt that anybody has ever had, I'm not comfortable with it. It doesn't serve me well for any of my fun, traveley ambitions. I should mention that I started a Spend...

This post is loooong and contains oodles of medical/gyno stuff with a dash of politics so simply do not read it if it will bother you. I haven't written in two months, but here's where I am. The Bad In December I wasn't sure if my health insurance was about to go up, so I made a bunch of appointments: I got a mammogram, a gyno checkup, and a skin check at the dermatologist. The mammogram was fine, but they said that because I'm only 31, I need to get another one done elsewhere just to make sure- because my breast tissue is too dense/"young" to really tell. Well, why the hell didn't they mention that up front? Why did I waste my time and funds on the first one? That will be $660 out of pocket, so I'll see if I can get it covered before I do it. For those of you who don't know, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 35, which is why I [should] qualify for mammogram coverage when I'm this young. At the gyno I was diagnos...

Last week I made another car payment of $2,500... And my debt is down to $9,520.39 (stupid interest). I have hit the 4 digit mark. Did some unnecessary spending this month, and I feel guilty, especially because in January I will not be able to pay much off my debt, what with a quarterly tax payment due, plus a dive trip, on top of the fact that January is usually my slowest month at work (hence why I schedule vacations to warm sunny places during that month). Recent money savers: Made peanut butter/pumpkin doggie treats from scratch for (some) friends with dogs, as holiday gifts. This brought up some holiday stress though (see below). Lots of cooking at home. This recipe, arroz con pollo is a favorite now, and is great for using up all the hot sauce I have. I bought cuticle pushers and a cuticle cutter and learned how to give myself a real manicure at home. Those items are technically wants, but hey, the money it saves me in the long run, right? The gift tradition...

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...