My new adventure: dietmaven
I’ve started on a new adventure this year. My focus will not only be on reducing my spending and lowering my debt, but also to get into shape, lose weight, and become fit and healthy. I think they will be compatible goals. Weight loss takes a lot of thought, planning and setting long-term goals, something I’m very familiar with (as I have been doing debt reduction for over 2 years now!). It takes both going to the gym regularly and in reducing the amount of food I eat and increasing the quality of food stuffs I buy and prepare. This means making lunch every day, not eating out for lunches OR dinners, and eating more fresh vegetables and whole grains which tend to be cheaper than prepared items, and expensive proteins.
I have always been overweight, and my fitness level has fluctuated greatly over the last 15 years. However, I am very unfit now, 2 years after 2 consecutive car accidents with very little exercise. I have about 75 lbs to lose to get to my goal weight of 150. To help get there, I’ve created another blog to use as a journal. This is to keep track of my goals and my day to day progress. You can join me at my dietmaven blog.
Wishing you all a financially and physically fit 2011!
A year’s worth of spending: would anyone care?
I’ve been toying with the idea of posting my entire spending history for a year. In one place. “A year in the life of debtmaven.”
Would anyone care? Would it be useful? It’s interesting to see where I’ve spent my money, and how often it fluctuates in large chunks and jags. Personally, I love seeing what other people make, and how they allocate their money. One of my biggest pet peeves is hearing about how this pf blogger maxed out their 401K investments early on in the year, then fully funded their IRA for the year, and still managed to save $20K in cash, PLUS continue to pay off debt and do house repairs. Do they make $300K a year? I like to be able to compare my situation to others, but it’s hard to do without full disclosure.
I guess I’m a total voyeur. I used to love looking into people’s houses when I walked my dog at night (back when my dog was still alive). I still suffer from that desire, and in this atmosphere, I want to know all the sordid details. How much do they make, how can they keep their food under $100 for a month, what do they eat, ramen and peanut butter?
So, do you care? I probably won’t get any comments in response to this post, but if anyone’s out there and cares (or doesn’t), let me know! I’d hate to waste my time putting it together if no one wanted to read it, but I think it could be useful. And since I’m being anonymous, I have no qualms in posting details.
1 Year Anniversary!
HEY!?! How did this happen, I didn’t even notice! My blog is officially 1 year old!
I’ve paid off $6,877 since I started. I’ve built up a $1056 emergency fund (and growing). I have $700 in extra saved money for larger budgetted expenses (xmas gifts, vet bills and some car expenses). I’m living within my means and paying close to 30% of my income towards debt.
Happy birthday to me. I think I’m going to make a cake tonight!
DebtMaven 