The Travel Jar

 Hello! Looks like I haven't blogged in 4 years, lots has happened since then. The major points: *After 5 years of friendship, my friend Derrick and I started dating, bought a house in KCMO together in February 2021, and he is now my fiancé Derrick! We have 2 dogs together- Petri (sweet Petri, who is now 8!) and Ivy, our shiba-inu of 3.5 years. They LOVE each other and play all the day. Derrick and I plan to get married sometime in 2024 in a tiny ceremony. *My wonderful partner Zay and I have been together 6.5 years, and have started going on yearly dive trips together. Earlier this year we went to the Caymans. We have our collective eye on Belize and Guatemala next, possibly in the spring, to catch the whale shark migration. *I completed my life goal of visiting all 7 continents. In October 2019 I solo-ventured in Australia (and met cool people along the way). Last winter I took a month off to join a National Geographic expedition to Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falklands/Ma...

Hello after so long! I'll jump right into it. I'm going to Croatia and Slovenia with my pal from March 25th - April 3rd. I want to save money for said adventure. Flights and all AirBnBs are booked, so I'm saving for my share of the rental car, meals and miscellaneous fun (like paragliding in Slovenia). So here we go, on another Spending Diet! Unlike a Spending Freeze, a Diet allows me a small budget for wants. Needs this month Rent (utilities included) - $350/month Dog food - $20/month Cell phone bill - $42/month Car & apartment insurance - $109/month Health insurance - $120/month Virtual assistant services to answer business calls and emails, and schedule clients Gym membership - $53/month Gas - approx $70/month Groceries - I have some gift cards for Price Chopper, but I may save them for the spring, so I'll probably spend $30-100 in this category. Personal care - Leg waxing is a need for me. Accountant fee - $275 this month only (I'm self em...

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 ...

I've been eager to do a money exercise ever since I listened to the book "Money, A Love Story" by Kate Northrup some time last summer: You print out your bank/credit card statements from the last two months, then you sit down and ponder every single purchase you made, and how you feel about it. And you mark up the paper in hearts for what you are happy you spent money on (ones that make you feel "expansive"), and some kind of negative mark to indicate purchases you don't feel great about (ones that make you feel "contractive"). I printed out my transactions from Mint.com from January 1st (when I started this current spending freeze) through today. I highlighted the "happy/expansive" purchases in pink (ex: Dentist appointment- I love clean teeth!- All payments on my debts, and going to the movies with my friend Jed to see "Call Me By Your Name"... So good). I used yellow to highlight purchases that felt icky or too spend...

I love the first of the month. Yesterday I paid off my entire medical bill, sent $300 to my car loan (down to $1,400!), and paid half the deposit on a summer family reunion trip to the HF Bar Ranch in Wyoming. Then I put my phone on airplane mode for 20 minutes while I sipped my tea and created my February budget on mint.com... A monthly ritual that I have come to love. If I want to completely pay off this car loan and be debt free THIS month, I have to laser focus. I have a few fun/non-needs planned, including a visit to the Picasso exhibit this evening, the Onesie Pub Crawl tomorrow, a few date nights, but that's it. How nice will it be to set my budget on March 1st and have ZERO medical, car and credit card debt to catch up on? I already know my goal for March is to catch up on my Roth IRA contributions. Last fall I went from paying the max to the min every month, and I have until April 15th to write a check to cover that difference. I also want to catch up for this year, ...

Here's how my New Years resolutions are going, which were outlined here ... My debt is down to $2,700. When I last posted, it was $5,100. My credit card is totally paid off. MAJOR WIN. The only new thing I've bought for myself this year is postage stamps. I needed new work gloves, so I put it out on Facebook, and my friends gave me a pair they weren't using. I needed a onesie for this Onesie Pub Crawl I'm doing next weekend in KCMO, and I borrowed one that fits perfectly from my housemate Shannon. I also needed a dress for an event last week, and borrowed a fun sequined one from Shannon.  MAJOR WIN. I'm doing okay on the gut healing- it's busy season at work, so I've been ordering Evolve Paleo prepared meals. They're DELICIOUS and have all the right ingredients, but I think I need a higher proportion of vegetables to heal my gut. So much meat. No protests yet... There was a women's march, but I had an all day event. I asked my more political fr...

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! Th...