Another One Bites the Dust!

It's official.

I just paid off Student Loan #2.

It feels great. I can't wait to see it hit the $0 mark on the other end.

Time for some Queen: Another one bites the dust!

October Goals & Budget

Yep. Been MIA for over a month. Not cool I know. I bought glasses and what not and then got depressed about my finances and couldn't be bothered to write up a blog. Not to mention being rather tired as I've been working the morning (5-5:30 start) shift. Let's just get to it shall we?

 

*Notes

1. Rent is off again because I went for a massage in September and the reimbursement from my boyfriend's insurance is coming out of rent.
2. Got a little spendy on Card #1
3. Student Loan #2 is higher because that's the amount (give or take a few dollars because of interest) that is left owing on it.

So let's talk about note #3. Loan #2 will be paid off in October barring unforeseen circumstances. It would have been done in September but I had to pay off my glasses so that delayed things.

Also my raise finally went through last month as did my benefits. This first cheque will reflect both of those items for the first time and I'll have a more accurate picture of what my cheques are going to look like.

Goals

1. Pay off Student Loan #1
2. Get my house organized and clean
3. Reduce my sugar intake
4. Hula Hoop daily
5. Continue doing Duolingo daily
6. Make time to knit at 3x a week

So yeah. Been drinking a Coke a day again. These early mornings have been rough so I've resorted back to the Coke. Starting to get used to them so hoping to reduce my intake again. This is a constant battle. Also decided to refresh my French skills after hearing good things about Duolingo (a free app I've got on my iPad mini. I started back in September and things are coming back. I shall probably do a post about it this month.

An ambitious month but seeing as I've been lacking in ambition lately it's probably the kick I need.

August Budget

There will be no recap of July. I spent way more on my vacation then I planned and it's messed up things.

So I'm not sure how I'm going to break down my August budget yet. I still haven't decided whether to put the money I've been putting towards Credit Card #1 yet.

The smart thing would be to put it towards Credit Card #2 to get rid of the interest I'm paying but part of me wants to get rid of Student Loan #2 because that would be gone in like 3 months.

Decisions.

Actually I'm going to post a partial budget.




Notes

1. Rent is off again because of submitting a claim for a massage ($110). One day it might actually reflect the amount I pay.
2. Upped the amount I'm paying on Credit Card #2. This might increase or I might put it to Student Loan #2. Will decide on my first cheque of the month.

Goals for August

1. Be mindful of what I'm putting into my body. Try to be aware of what I'm eating and drinking. I'm working hard to make sure it's healthy and not loaded with sugar. I'm not going to deny myself but I do want to cut back on crap food. As part of this I want to be consistent with taking lunches to work.
2. To do stretching/yoga on a daily basis.
3. No spend month. Aside from my $50 a paycheque. That I'll use to pay for anything. The goal is not to put anything on the credit cards for the month (aside from my cell phone). I was way to spendy with Credit Card #2 while on vacation.

It's Friday! The I Have to Work Version

Yep. I'm working today, tomorrow and Sunday. I was supposed to have Sunday and Monday off but due to a coworker being sucky I'm now working Sunday. I'm okay with the extra hours which will help offset the time I took off. What I'm not okay with is the fact that she knew she wouldn't be able to work on Sunday back in July BEFORE I went on holidays but left it until now. So yeah not really impressed.

Low of my week see above.

High of my week successfully canning for the first time! We brought back peaches and I now have 12 pints of peaches canned.

Best money spent on two lunches. Got busy with other stuff.

Weekend plans working and hopefully going to Guardians of the Galaxy.

It's Friday! Vacation Time

It's official! I'm on vacation until the 27th!!!
Might not be any posts next week because VACATION!
I'm just a little excited.

Low of the week the haze in the air from forest fires.

High of the week paying off Credit card #1!

Best money I spent $45 on a new pillow. Sleeping well is so worth it.

Weekend plans a family reunion on Saturday and then off on our trip!

How was your week?

Time to Celebrate!

Oh yes. It's time to celebrate! Why?

Credit card #1 is now paid off. I sent the payment just a few minutes ago. In the next day or two it'll be showing on the card itself!

*does the dance of joy* (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfPg5LjGYz8)

While I'm happy for that I'm now more impatient to pay off other items.

My savings has enough in it that I could almost pay off Student loan #2.

While that would be nice then I'd have no savings. So I'm going to sit on my hands and leave the money in its accounts to earn some interest.

I'm also considering paying off Student loan #2 and then working on Credit card #2. While I know this is not good interest wise I'd like to get another debt gone.

I'm thinking I'd take most of what I'm paying and apply it to the loan but take some and up the amount on Credit card #2.

I haven't decided yet and that's okay. I've got some time to figure it out.

Have you hit any milestones lately?

It's Friday! S'up?

It's Friday! Still hotter than heck here. I'd be excited about the weekend but I'm starting work at 6am on Saturday and Sunday. I'm more excited for Monday and Tuesday my days off. Tuesday especially as I have a massage booked!

Let's get to it shall we?

Low of the week didn't really have one! Yay!

High of the week getting my iPad mini in the mail on Monday. I got this for opening an account with my now bank. Dinner with some girlfriends Monday Night.

Best money I spent $23.42 for a cover for my iPad mini from Amazon. That includes the shipping costs.

Plans for the weekend work, scanning the last two cookbooks and possibly hanging with my best friend.

Tell me about your week or weekend plans.

Practice Investment Account Update

So I looked at my account and it's down a bit.

I can live with that. The goal is to get comfortable with fluctuations and as much as I want it to go up I know this is normal.

Added a sidebar with the current value of my account. I'm thinking of updating it either once a week or bi-weekly. Not sure yet.

It's Friday! Overheated

I'm cool right now but I expect to be a puddle of goo later. It's hot here (yay!) but that means my place also gets super hot. Seriously. All of our windows face south. So if it's in the mid 20's to low 30's (Celsius that is) my house is at least that if not hotter. And no air conditioning either. Really makes me glad to be able to go to work where there is air conditioning. Might have to start saving for next year to buy one of those portable air conditioners.

Other than that the week has been good. I've been able to get the credit card spending down. Just one purchase on it this week so that's good. I'm getting excited because next paycheque credit card #1 will be paid off!

Got new running shoes last night. Not for running just for casual wear. And my darling boyfriend insisted on paying for them. So that was a nice savings for me.

Low of the week just being tired from the heat. Not a super bad thing.

High of the week was payday! Getting closer to having one card with a zero balance.

Plans for the weekend work. Real exciting I know LOL. I do get Monday and Tuesday off which is nice. And seeing as the boyfriend has plans this weekend I really don't mind. Sometimes it's nice to have days off that aren't on the weekend.

How was your week?

July Budget & Goals

So here's my budget and goals for July...slightly late. But better late then never right?



Notes:

1. Rent is again not at $400. I had a chiropractor appointment in June and I get the payment reimbursed through my boyfriend's insurance. The money is deposited back into his bank account. So instead of him giving it to me he kept it and we reduced my rent accordingly.
2. Credit Card #1 gets paid off this month! Going forwards it will only have a $30 payment to cover my cell phone.
3. Savings and spending cash are up this month to account for me getting 3 paycheques this month.
4. Because of the extra paycheque I may make an additional payment to Credit Card #2.

Goals

1. Limit credit card spending. I failed last month but this month I will do better.
2. Make sure I exercise regularly.
3. Finish scanning the cookbooks so I can clean up the disaster that is the spare room/office space.

What are your goals for the month?

June Recap

So here it is...Slightly late.



So I managed to stay under on the hair cut and the nail polish. I received one of the two polishes that I wanted for my birthday so I only had to buy one and I took it out of my spending money.

I didn't spend all of my spending money but because I've taken it all out of my bank account I'm reflecting that here.

I was over in long term savings as I put my birthday money into that account.

Goals

1. Limit my credit card spending. Now that I have an income again I really just want to spend spend spend. I'm going to try and live on cash and really limit what I put on my credit card. FAIL Yeah. I sucked this month to be honest. Will have to tighten up next month/
2. Drink 4 cups of water a day. I understand that this is important for my body and that 8 would be best but I know that if I try to do 8 right away I'm going to fail. PASS I was pretty good at this. I only had two days where I didn't.
3. Continue to blog regularly. It might not be everyday but I do have lots to talk about so hopefully this won't be an issue. PASS I had an off week last week but over all I'm happy with how much I've posted.

How did your month go?

It's Friday! Blargh

Honestly the lack of motivation from Monday has carried out all week. Which sucks ass.

Hence no blog posts this week.

I've even ignored Mint which has been out of the norm. I did finally look today and lo and behold it's having connectivity issues. Yay.

Alright time to try and be positive...but first:

The low of my week was feeling so bleh and tired. Not sure what's up with that. Hopefully having 3 days in a row off helps with that.

The high of my week was being done work at 5pm and having a proper sit down meal with the boyfriend. Had the same salmon I ruined last week. Turned out beautifully this time!

The best money I spent this week  was the $6.35 for lunch yesterday. Came out of my spending cash and I enjoyed it immensely (Only Subway but it was a nice break from making my lunch).

Weekend Plans include working tomorrow, hopefully hitting up the farmer's market on Sunday, and catching up on house work.

What was your week like?

Monday...Blargh

It's Monday and I'm not feeling motivated at all.

Bleh. I got things to do before I go to work and all I really want to do is sit in my jammies and be a bum.

Time to dig deep and find some will power to get my ass in gear.

Sorry for the rather lame post.

*forces self to go jump in the shower*

It's Friday! Finally!

Friday is here! TGIF! I work today but then have Saturday and Sunday off! I'm really looking forwards to getting some projects done and for some relaxing!

This week was mostly work seeing as I've worked Sunday to Friday. Payday was Tuesday and saw a nice increase in my net worth. It's slightly misleading though as part of that is part of July's rent. Technically it should be $200 lower but until that money comes out I'll keep my net worth number as is.

I was a bit more spendy this week then planned on. Mostly because I bought new flip flops and printer ink. That stuff is stupidly expensive.

The low of my week was ruining the salmon for dinner last night. I was supposed to add corn starch to the marinade but added baking soda instead. WHOOPS. Baking soda and soy sauce do not play well together.

The high of my week was payday. Paying down that credit card, watching my savings inch up, seeing my net worth make a big jump. It's all good.

The best money I spent was the $55 on new flip flops. Yep pricey but they were exactly what I was looking for: Dark brown, comfortable and plenty of support. My old brown ones were way past their prime. With summer coming I needed to get ones to wear with my shorts and skirts. Was bad and put it on my credit card. Used my extra $70 to cover some of it along with the printer ink. Also the $16 I spent on my new Cuisinart Griddler. It was on sale at the Bay and I had a $100 Visa gift card from Christmas. So instead of $129.99 plus tax it was $116 after tax. After my gift card it was $16! Totally doable.

Weekend plans include laundry (it's never ending ugh), hanging with some friends, and scanning some old recipe books.

Tell me about your week.

Pay Day! Impatience

Hooray! Today is payday (and a day off too)!

Happily there was a bit more money than normal due to the overtime I worked. Almost $70 worth. I was faced with what to due with it. Send it to my credit cards? My student loans? Savings?

In the end I sent it to one of my cards. I needed to replace my ink cartridges in my printer and put it on one of my cards. So off it goes to that.

I've paid my credit card bills for the month and am now impatiently waiting for that and my savings transfers to clear. I'm also impatiently waiting for my student loan payments to come out at the end of the month.

I'm rather in a hurry to get those debt numbers down and my net worth number up.

Obsessing

So I'm pretty obsessed with my financial numbers this month.

I find myself on Mint practically every day. I know some days that the numbers won't have changed but I do it anyways. I'm that impatient for numbers to head in the right direction.

I want to see my net worth go up. I want to see my savings go up. I want to see my credit card balances and student loan balances decrease.

I want to start seeing my RRSP go up.

I have a plan in place but I'm impatient. I want to be ahead already.

How do I stop obsessing about this?

Something That I Didn't Consider

So I was looking at my Mint account the other day when I noticed that my RRSP was now showing in it. My RRSP had reached my new bank. It only took 3 weeks.

What I didn't consider was what that would do to my net worth. My net worth was about -$14,000 and is now -$6000 all because my RRSP is now showing.

It's a nice feeling to watch that number inch ever closer to the positive side.

I might do a monthly update on my net worth to keep me motivated.

It's Friday! What an Awesome Week!

It's been an awesome week and it's Friday and I have today and tomorrow off!

Got my hair cut on Saturday and had 7 inches taken off. I feel so much lighter now LOL! Then had the pictures taken that afternoon...which almost didn't happen as it poured rain right at the time that we were supposed to do them. Luckily an hour later the rain stopped and the sun came out so we were able to do them. I've seen two of the pictures and they look awesome! Can't wait to see the rest.

I'm a lucky person. My boyfriend's family is super nice and at our family dinner on Sunday they surprised me with a birthday cake! I totally wasn't expecting that. I wasn't planning on having a cake but then I did get one! A very yummy chocolate raspberry one.

Then there was my actual birthday yesterday...I got totally spoiled. From the all the birthday wishes from my co-workers, friends and family I felt totally loved. And then there was the dinner at Chop with my darling boyfriend. That prime rib dinner I had was amazing!

The low of my week was the 11 hour shift I worked on Tuesday. The extra money is nice but the reason for the extra long shift is the low. I can't say because of other people's privacy but it was a sad reason.

The high of my week was my birthday! I really really really enjoyed my birthday dinner!

The best money I spent was the $57 for my hair cut and style. $42 for the hair cut and $15 for a tip because I absolutely love how it turned out. And I was still under budget!

Weekend plans include having some friends over tonight and doing laundry.

What's your weekend looking like?

Savings Goals

Currently  I have a total of four savings accounts. One is with my everyday bank and the other 3 are with Tangerine (previously known as ING Direct). Why four savings accounts you might ask?

For me the answer is simple. It's easier for me to track my saving goals if the money is separate from each other.

So what am I saving for?

1. Emergency fund. This is my savings account with my everyday bank. I wanted to be able to have easy access to this account in case of an emergency. Currently my goal is to get this account to $1,000 then to get it to 3-6 months worth of living expenses. Currently this account has $100.02 in it. Putting together a spreadsheet I calculated that at the $25 every pay day (every two weeks) I will get $1000 in my account in October 2015. This does not include any interest. The amount I'm contributing may increase before then thus decreasing the Goal Date.
2. Christmas/Birthday fund. And by birthdays I mean for all the ones that happen in November, December and January. I have lots that occur in that period. So $25 a paycheck also will be going here. This has no amount just to do it every paycheque.
3. Long term savings. This currently gets $25 a paycheque and is meant to cover things like new glasses and getting crowns for my teeth. Insurance will cover part of my crowns but I have to pay the rest. Eventually travel may be in here or I might give it it's own category.
4. My Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) is also getting $25 a paycheque. I know it's not maxing it out but right now $25 is all I can afford. It's better than nothing and once some of my debts are wiped out this amount will increase.

Overall I'm putting $100 a paycheque into savings. This isn't a lot but it's better than nothing. I could put this money towards my debts but I need to have savings in place. I'm trying to be balanced about debt and savings. Eventually the amount I'm putting into my savings accounts and RRSP accounts will increase. But for now slow and steady wins the race.

Investing

Currently I do not have the funds to start investing. Which is okay because I need to learn more about it. I've read The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle and Guide to the Perfect Portfolio (it's meant for Canadian)s by Dan Bortolotti. In fact I've got it on hold from the library again to refresh myself. Both of these deal with investing in stock and bond indexes. Guide also deals with ETFs (exchange-traded funds).

So if I can't invest anytime soon what am I doing posting about investing?

The other day I discovered that through my bank I can have a PRACTICE investment account. They give me $100,000 (not real) to practice with.

Using the Canadian Couch Potato's model portfolio the Complete Couch Potato I invested all of my money. This portfolio has a good mix and I'm curious to see how well it's going to preform.

If you want more information visit the Canadian Couch Potato's website at: http://canadiancouchpotato.com/

There's a FAQ and they can explain things so much better than I can.

It's Friday! Welcome To The Weekend!

I'm so glad it's Friday! Today is the last of 7 straight days of work several of those working extra hours. I'll be glad for the extra pay but boy am I looking forwards to having some time off. I do have both Saturday and Sunday off which is great. I'm getting my haircut on Saturday followed by pictures which will be cool. Sunday evening is reserved for a family dinner as my boyfriend's mom is in town.

So not much new this week aside from work. My darling boyfriend came home Sunday and I was so HAPPY to see him. My sleep improved once he got here which has made me feel way better. Finally got to see my best friend on Wednesday night. With my work schedule and hers not meshing it's been difficult to see each other. We've discussed booking a day off together so we can spend some much needed quality time together.

*Edit*
My sympathies to all of those affected by the terrible events in Moncton,NB

The low of my week was the mini meltdown I had at work on Tuesday. I was doing something I'd only done once before and wasn't confident in what I was doing. Couple that with the fact that the area I was working in was at 32C I sorted just broke down. Thankfully the only person who saw was my boss and she was so reassuring.

The high of my week was having my boyfriend back!

The best money I spent was the $160 to get my passport renewed. Okay that was on last Friday but I'm still going to count it for this week!

Weekend plans haircut, photos, some family time and some relaxation!

How was your week?

June Goals & Budget

So I probably should have posted this at the beginning of the month but here's my budget and goals for the month.



*Student loan #1 is only $140 not sure why I have $170 in there. End of month update will show the correct amount.

This is what a normal budget is going to look like for me aside from a few things.

1. My rent is normally $400 but because my boyfriend owed me $90 we just lowered my rent for the month.
2. My cell phone (which is pay & talk) is set to auto bill from credit card #1. So it shows up twice in the budget
3. Hair cut and nail polish are not going to be regular items. I won a photo session for this month and seeing as my hair hasn't been cut in a really long time I thought it was appropriate to get it looking good. There's 2 nail polishes I really want and if I don't get them for my birthday I'll use some birthday money to purchase them.
4. I don't have a food category because my rent money goes towards bills and groceries. My boyfriend pays for all the groceries and utilities and my rent goes towards that.
5. Spending cash is what I'm giving myself to spend on whatever I want. If I want to eat out it has to come from that money.

Goals

1. Limit my credit card spending. Now that I have an income again I really just want to spend spend spend. I'm going to try and live on cash and really limit what I put on my credit card.
2. Drink 4 cups of water a day. I understand that this is important for my body and that 8 would be best but I know that if I try to do 8 right away I'm going to fail.
3. Continue to blog regularly. It might not be everyday but I do have lots to talk about so hopefully this won't be an issue.

If you like my budget layout and inspiration I got it here: http://blondeonabudget.ca/budget-template/

I created my own categories and added my own colors. I then imported it into Google Docs to be able to post to the blog.

What's your goals for June?

How I'm Paying Down My Debt

When I sat down to figure out how I was going to pay of my debts I had several options but the one I chose to do was the Snowball Method. I chose this because I wanted to see results fast.

I have two credit cards (both 19.99% interest). I'm paying off the smaller one first. It will be paid off by the end of July. Then that money (all $400 of it) will be added to the next card so that I'm paying it $500 a month which should have it paid off by the end of the year. Sooner if I can swing it!

Then all of that money will go to my student loans. I owe more there but my interest rate is lower on those.

I have a plan that I'm happy with and am looking forwards to saying good bye to my debt!

Payday!

Oh Tuesday how I love you! Not just because it's no longer Monday but this Tuesday you're payday!

I get paid every other Tuesday and today it's Payday! A little redundant I know. I'm excited; I can't help it!

I can put more money towards my credit cards and watch those balances drop. Money is heading into my savings account and increasing the balances. My net worth will head in the right direction; slowly but surely!

A rent cheque will be heading to the boyfriend. The first in a long time. Feels good to be contributing to the household again!

Apparently I really like my exclamation marks today!

How excited are you for pay day?

Annoyance

So I'm slightly annoyed.

My student loan payments were supposed to come out of my bank account on May 31 (a Saturday). They didn't.

I figured that was because it was Saturday isn't a normal business day and that it would be out of my account today Monday, June 2.

So far nothing.

I'm not a happy camper at this point. I'm going to give it until tonight and if it hasn't happened I'll be calling he student loan people to find out what's going on. I'm a bit nervous because this is supposed to be coming out of my new bank account (the old one is closed) and the student loan people said it was all set up and good.

Here's hoping!

June 2 Update

Got up this morning and low and behold the money has come out! *does the happy dance*

Why I Love Mint

I love Mint. I'm not taking about the plant (although I do like that kind of mint). I'm talking about the website.

Mint is a FREE financial website by Intuit (the folks who brought you QuickBooks). It allow users to connect all of their financial accounts and look at them in one place. You can't move your money through their site just view it. Bank accounts, credit cards, investments, student loans you name it you can link it.

Which makes it fantastic! Tracking your spending is easy as it's all there.

Want to make a budget? Make it right in Mint! It's reasonably easy to do and easy to change if you need to. Budgets also carry over monthly as well. You can even make a category for once or every few months. 

I love that it shows you your cash vs. your credit card debt; the total amounts you owe in loans and credit cards (probably your mortgage as well I just don't have one of those); your total networth. It's nice not having to manually figure that all out.

There are a some things that I do have issues with though. The first is that when creating your budget it's all monthly including your income. Now some people out there do get paid once a month but what about the rest of us who get paid bi-weekly or even weekly? Being able to chose my own time frame would be nice. Also it would be nice if all of the budget categories had this option

The second thing that could use some improving is the alerts. It shows you when bills are due and how much is owed. I'd love it if I could do it for paydays. I was able to create my own alert but it wants you to put in an amount you owe. I just left it at zero.

Overall Mint is a great site for staying on track of your finances. It's easy to use, free, and will help you on your way to better finances.

I'd have included screen shots but I'm still figuring out GIMP (like Photoshop but free). I may come back and those at a later date.

Have you ever used Mint? Tell me what you think of Mint.

*I was not asked to review Mint. This is my own personal review of Mint. All praise and criticisms are my own*

An Unexpected Bonus

So one of the credit cards I have is a no fee rewards card. In the many years I've had said card I've accumulated just over 23,000 points.

It has been a long time since I actually looked at the rewards so on Thursday I went and look at the rewards on offer. To my pleasant surprise there was a cash option. Clicking on it I found that I could redeem my points towards a credit on my credit card.

20,00 points redeemed got me a $200 credit. $200 less for me to pay!

Seriously a sweet bonus for me!

Tell me have you ever gotten an unexpected but pleasant bonus like that?

Design Changes

I've been playing around with the layout of my blog if you haven't noticed. I'll probably be playing around with it more too.

So thanks for being patient with the changes.

Feedback is appreciated.

It's Friday!

This post (and future Friday posts) is inspired by Cait's TGIF posts. I really like the format and idea and she has graciously allowed me to use said format! So a big thanks to Cait!

I have a feeling that this blog is going to become (for a while anyways) a personal finance blog. I'm sort of obsessed with my finances at the moment. Everything from debt repayment to savings and investing I'm into it at the moment. I'll try to post other stuff but for now a big chunk of posts are going to be finance related.

The low of my week is missing my boyfriend who's been in BC for almost a week now. This is the first time since 2009 that we've been apart for more than 2 days and it's been WEIRD! Good at the same time though as I've been able to do and watch things that he's not into. I'll be glad when he's back on Sunday.

The high of my week was steam cleaning my carpets and my couches. They've never been steam cleaned. My boyfriend bought the place in 2006 and I moved in in 2008. It was overdue. A lot of work but they look and feel way better!

The best money I spent this week was the $114 to rent the steam cleaner (for two days), the furniture attachment, and buying the cleaning solution. Out of that $114 was $25 for a deposit which I did get back when I returned the steam cleaner. So I actually spent $89 total. Still worth it.

My weekend plans are working both Saturday and Sunday. Getting to see my wonderful boyfriend on Sunday!

So what are you up to this weekend?

It's Been Awhile

It's been a while since my last post.

Honestly there was lots I could have posted about but didn't. I was in somewhat of a depressed state and just could be bothered quite frankly.

Things are looking up!

At the end of April I was finally employed. Not in a library but in a bakery as a sales assistant. I've been asked if I want to become baker but the hours are too early (2 am start no thanks!) for me to do that. The job is close to home (5 minute bike ride) and for retail pays decently. I'm on my feet all day but after being rather sedentary for the past 2 years I rather enjoy it.

It feels great to have a job again. I get out of the house, I get to interact with lots of cool people, and the paycheck is nice.

Now that I'm feeling better I should hopefully be posting on a slightly more regular basis.

Yay!

2014 Plans

Welcome to 2014! I hope that it's happy, healthy and FANTASTIC!

You might have noticed that I dropped off for the last 2 weeks of December and I didn't complete the Picture a Day.

And I'm okay with that. Life (in a good way) got in the way and something had to give. So it was picture a day. I did enjoy the ones I did get posted and it's something I might try again down the road.

On to my plans for 2014.

My Happiness Project!

I shall post each month my goals for that month and try to update throughout the month.

January is all about taking care of myself. When I take the time and effort to feel my best I'm happier and I'm also able to better take care of those around me.

To take care of myself there are little and big things that are going to happen.

In no particular order things I want to accomplish are:

Brushing my teeth twice a day for the recommended two minutes. I admit I always brush my teeth in the morning but not at night and I'm lazy and don't brush long enough. I should though because I have a fancy shmancy toothbrush that has a timer.

Drink more water and cut out pop. This I started back in December and was all over the place on this one. By the end of January I hope to be consistently drinking approximately 8 glasses a day. This will be one of my harder challenges I expect.

Workout 3 times a week. I have a plan in place. I'm using Body By You by Mark Lauren. This is a work out at home plan. This means I don't have to leave the house and I really shouldn't have an excuse to not work out.

Meal Planning. I eat better when I plan out my dinners and it's less stressful too.

Get my nails into better shape. They're prone to ripping and I want to stop that. I have strengthening products; I just need to use them regularly.

Boy that seems ambitious....but I'm serious about this because I know in the long run this is the best thing for me.