2010 New Years' Resolutions Evaluation

So, let's see how I fared with my Resolutions for 2010 (something tells me they didn't go so well).

1.  Complete the 365 Day Photo Project.  Hmm.  I started out well with this...got to March...and then lost my camera.  I tried to pick it up again in August...and then wedding planning got in the way.  FAIL!

2.  Read Through the Bible in a Year.  Again.  I made it to April, and then missed enough Daily Readings that it would be difficult to catch up.  FAIL!

3.  For every novel that I read, read a Nonfiction book.  Well, I didn't read one for one....but I did read a lot more nonfiction this year, which was the point of the resolution. Partial FAIL

4. Stick to my Savings Budget.  So, I didn't stick completely..but I did fairly well considering I chipped in for our wedding and we bought a house.  Finishing the year with some $ still in savings was an accomplishment.  And, I managed to curb my spending. EVEN

5. Attempt a No-Spending Month.  Absolutely didn't happen.  Pretty difficult when planning a wedding. FAIL!

6. Cook a Julia Child recipe every Sunday.  Uh... started out well with this (Boeuf Bourginon, Fish in white sauce, Boullabaisse...) and then...my excuse for the year...wedding planning and house buying!  FAIL!

7.  LOSE 10 lbs.  Oops.  I gained 7.  Of course, at this time last year I was running 30+ miles a week.  Now I am lucky to get in 5...Extreme FAIL!


Obviously, I should have made my resolutions for this year to be Get Engaged, Buy a House, Plan a Fabulous Wedding, and Get Married.  Hindsight, you know?

Stay Tuned for my 2011 Resolutions...

New Years' Resolutions

I don't typically put my New Years' Resolutions out on the internet...well really, I don't often even make resolutions!  But this year, I've felt a bit of a need for some changes in my life...nothing major, but little ways that I would like to improve myself.  I also like the idea of using the "New Year fresh start"  to inject a bit more discipline into my life.  I look around at my friends with kids and realize how little time they actually have to themselves.  If I have kids one day, I hope that I will have used the time I have now to accomplish some small things that are easier without little mouths to feed and lives to mold. So...here are my resolutions for 2010!  Let's hope I can stick to them for a little while at least...

1.  Complete the 365 day Photo Project-  Something about this is incredibly appealing to me.  Maybe it is the idea of having a photo record of what I've done for a year...or maybe it is the thought of being disciplined enough to take at least one photo every day and post it.  If I'm successful, this blog might have many more posts than in the past!

2.  Read through the Bible in a year-  I've had this goal for awhile.  But every time I start, I lose steam after a few days/weeks and never finish.  I think it's important to have read the entire thing if I am going to base my life on the Word of God, so I'd better get cracking!  I found a nice plan here...perhaps having a paper copy and one online will make me more motivated!

3.  For every novel that I read, read a nonfiction book-  I waste a lot of time reading fiction.  Some of it is good...some not.  So, I think I need to incorporate some nonfiction into my reading regimen...whether a history book, biography, book on a subject I'm interested in, or a spiritual book.  Since I joined J's book club, this will be a bit easier since the club occasionally reads non-fiction.  Coming up soon is a biography of Huey Long.  876 pages.  Think I can get away with counting that as 2 novels?

4.  Stick to my savings budget-  I go in and out of being good at saving money.  My net worth last year fluctuated by $5000 at any given time.  Sometimes I'm really good at saving...and then I go on spending sprees.  This year, I'd like to even that out a bit, so I've thrown a little "cushion" money into my budget to cover my erratic spending.  Instead of putting $1000 a month into savings, I'm going to attempt to put $700.  Better less saved a month and kept in there than having money subject to my erratic spending habits!

5.  Attempt a "No Spending" month-  This goes along with number 4.  As much as I detest our materialistic culture, I often get caught up in it.  I'd like for March or April to be a "no spending month"...including food, eating out, coffee, clothes, books, etc.  Don't worry...I'll still eat!  I'd just like to see how long I can last eating out of my freezer and pantry!

6.  Cook one or two recipe's from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking for Sunday Dinner each week- So obviously, I stole this from the Julie/Julia Project blog and the book/movie of the same name.  But I love French cooking, and need to have a little discipline in order to make myself cook.  I am a decent cook...I can whip up a mean red sauce, put together casseroles, and cook a decent roast.  But, I'd like to take my cooking skills a little further.  I love cooking on Sundays because there is no pressure to be done at a certain time.  I can start cooking at 3:00, and if I'm done by 5:00, then we eat then.  If it's more like 7:00, that works, too.  Part of what I don't enjoy about cooking is the timing.  I haven't told my roommate that this is my plan (she might see it on the blog, though!)..but I don't think she will complain since she doesn't think that I cook enough.  I'm starting this weekend by watching Julie and Julia and making Boeuf Bourginion.  Good luck to me...

7.  Oh, and what is a list of New Years' Resolutions without one to lose weight?  So, I'd like to Lose 10 lbs.  Ha!

So those are my goals for 2010.  Again, nothing major, and all improvements I can certainly live with!

Where My Money Goes...

If you look at my blogroll you'll see that I read a few personal finance blogs. Personal finance is something I'm interested in, but I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with it. I started out my career working at a bank...and while I'm not a math person, I love making numbers match up. Like balancing a checkbook. And figuring out where money is going. As I've written in previous posts, in the past few years I've gotten ahold of my financial life and spending tendencies. I'd say at the age of 30, I'm pretty financially stable (let's hope it stays that way!). I spend enough money to enjoy myself and my life (some dinners out, nice things, etc), but I manage to save a fair amount as well (for the most part...but depends on the month!).

In any case, one thing that my detail-oriented, slightly obsessed with organization self loves is Mint.com. With a little bit of input from me, it tracks all of my accounts (checking, savings, credit card, 401K, etc.), my net worth, and gives me nice pretty graphs to track my spending. It's great! I've been using Mint for about 6 months now, so today I did a breakdown analysis of where I've been spending my money. There were a few interesting things that I noticed.

• The Entertainment Category was dominated by spending on the Arts. 63%. That makes me happy. Mostly towards opera tickets and other musical performances. This category contains other spending like movies, books, music (iTunes, etc).
• Food was interesting as well. 37% to groceries, 32% to restaurants, 23% to wine (more on that in another post to come...with pictures!), and 4% to fast food. I'd like to cut the restaurants down...but I'm glad the fast food isn't more than it is!
• 44% of personal care is hair. Shows where my priorities are in that department, I guess!
• Travel was only 5% of my entire spending. With 2 big trips this spring mostly paid for, I expected it to be much higher!
• Health and fitness was 3% of the total, and Sports was 95% of that. Mostly race entry fees and running gear. Gotta stay in shape, you know! Better than $100 a month for a gym membership!
• Shopping was dominated (64%) by my 30th birthday diamond earring purchase. I was surprised, however, that I spent as much as I did on clothes (28%). I always think that I don't buy clothes that often...but apparently I do!
• Overall, Food was my biggest expense at 24% of the total. Followed by Home at 17% (which includes rent, home furnishings, but not bills/utilities). Shopping accounted for 16% of the total (again, the earrings contributed to that, I think). Those were the big 3. Kinda what I expected, but still interesting to see on paper.

All in all, I think I do a pretty good job of spending on things that are meaningful and that I need. It's also comforting to always know exactly where it is going by using Mint!

Money Matters

***I think the dry spell of blog topics in my head has ended. Today, I can think of 4 topics that I want to blog about. However, I'll stick to one, make a list of the additional topics, and hopefully write more blogs in the next few days. Don't hold me to it, though...***

Today, I made huge progress in my financial life. I FINALLY paid off my credit card. In this post from January, I talked a bit about how the card got a balance...

Anyway, I won't post the exact balance that I was carrying, but suffice it to say it was fairly significant. It is a great feeling to have that paid off. Last year, I told my roommate Maureen that we would celebrate with champagne when I finally made the last payment, but of course she happens to be in Italy at the moment. So, we'll hopefully celebrate when she arrives home.

While I've been saving a bit in the midst of paying off debt (in both a regular savings and my 401K), now I can really start saving a fairly significant portion of my income. I think I've worked the kinks out of my budget so that I can have a modest quality of life with a few splurges here and there, but still save enough that I will be financially secure. As I wrote in January, this will be particularly significant once the house purchasing gets under way (we are currently a bit stalled waiting for both Sharon and Maureen to get their townhouses ready to put on the market). I'm not complaining about the wait, though...every month we delay helps me to be that much more financially secure. I would, however, like to be in our new house by the end of the year.

But I digress. Even though I've put myself on a somewhat restrictive budget, I still allow myself a few extravagances:

1. High-quality coffee. This should not come as a surprise to anyone who knows me well...my morning cup of coffee is definitely one of my joys in life. I'm a coffee snob and refuse to drink anything that costs less than $10 a pound. Of course, dire emergencies are an exception. My current favorite is City Dock Coffee's Boat Guys blend (sorry non-Annapolitans...City Dock is exclusively in the Annapolis area).

2. A good bottle of wine. I attribute this extravagance to Maureen. She is a wine snob, and has converted me, as well. I'm currently loving reds, but I'm sure I'll turn to whites again once the warm weather hits. Thankfully, our wine rack is pretty full at the moment thanks to some early winter sales, so I probably won't need to spend too much money in this area for awhile.

3. A nice dinner out 2 times a month. Interesting that my first 3 extravagances all fall in the food and beverage category...

4. Pedicures. As a runner, my feet get nasty dead skin. So, when I have to wear open-toe shoes, I get a pedicure. This includes fancy galas, some concerts, and most of the summer.

5. Expensive Shampoo and Conditioner- my shampoo is really expensive. Like $25 a bottle expensive. Very extravagant, I know. But, it keeps my color bright and makes my hair super-soft. Plus, I used to buy new shampoo almost every month trying to find something I liked (since I was 13). Now, a bottle lasts about 6 months, so I'm close to breaking even. And, I'm putting less waste into the environment.

6. iTunes purchases. I love iTunes. The idea that you can buy one song for $.99 still excites me. I've bought so many 80s songs and choral songs. I don't buy too many a month, but I'm definitely spending money. I even have a line-item in my budget for iTunes purchases. As long as I stick to that budget, I should be fine and be able to enjoy my music. Recently, I've gotten into downloading tv shows that I miss...then I'll watch them during lunch or long waits on my iPod. Yes...I'm one of "those" people. Forgive me.

There are also some things that I used to be extravagant about, but now I think- eh, I don't think I need a new (insert item from below) . I'll make do with what I have. Of course, if I were crafty like my friends Kristena and Kristi, perhaps I could make a new (insert item from below) . Unfortunately, the time I spend at home these days consists of sleeping and eating. Maybe this summer I'll have time?

1. Bedding. I used to be obsessed with buying new bedding. I bought new sheets 2 or 3 times a year. Now, when the desire hits me I think- do I really want to spend $70 just for a new color on my bed?

2. A new car. I seem to have inherited my family's penchant for driving a car until it dies. Last year at this time I was contemplating a new car, but now I've decided my 7 year old Saturn needs to last me at least a few more years.

3. Clothes. I used to buy clothes all the time. At least once a month. Now, I look at my closet and am fairly pleased with what's there. I'll buy something on sale occasionally, and about 3 times a year I set aside some money to update a few looks with quality pieces. Do I walk through the mall and want to buy almost everything in sight? Of course. Do I want to spend $100 on a blouse or pair of shoes? Not on your life!

That seems to describe the financial transitions I've made in the past few years. Thankfully, I've become happier with the things I already have, but I can also make room in my life for those little extravagances that help make life a little more comfortable and enjoyable. Ultimately, though, it's people who help make the extravagances more enjoyable. A good bottle of wine is better shared among friends. A pedicure seems more decadent with a friend sitting in the chair beside me. Saturday morning coffee with the girls is my favorite coffee of the week. Thankfully, friendship is free!

$$$

I've been thinking about money a lot these days. I imagine it's because this is the year that I will hopefully be buying a house. For the first year or so, I will probably epitomize the term of "house-poor". No matter. In the past I've found many things to entertain me that don't require money. If only I could convince my friends to change their lifestyels as well...and then I remember that 2 of them will likely be house-poor along with me. :)

Thinking about money can sometimes freak me out. For some reason, at a young age I convinced myself that I would be one of those people that are wealthy by 30. Considering I'm a year away from that momentous event, I think I'm not going to meet that goal! Thankfully, it's definitely not important to me anymore.

I would, however, like to be fairly financially secure by the time I hit 40. Since I started my new, higher-paying job in March of last year, I've been able to almost completely pay off the credit card debt I incurred as a result of my move up to Annapolis from SC and the first 2 years without a decent-paying job. In April, I should be debt-free! Of course, that's about the time I'll be adding the biggest debt of all- a mortgage. Just in time, I suppose.

I go back and forth with my relationship with money. Sometimes, I'm a frugal saver. Other times, I'm a careless spender. I've been working on the balance between saving what I need and spending enough to enjoy a modest quality of life. Since I'm such an all or nothing person, this line is quite difficult to find and walk. Hopefully, I will continue to learn and grow in my financial knowledge since I think the next few years will bring a lot of financial change!