The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Throw Down the Gauntlet => Topic started by: Mongoose on November 27, 2017, 09:16:12 AM
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In the spirit on the monthly challenges, I'm proposing a deliberate December...because it's not a great month to be uber frugal but a good time to keep things under control. My goals for this month are to set up for finishing 2017/starting 2018 strong.
Deliberate December Goals
1. Limit eating out. We have 1 dinner and 3 lunches planned as get togethers. Plus a key person at work is leaving and we're likely to go out for drinks after work one day. Goal: keep the costs reasonable (separate budget for each) plus limit eating out to these times.
2. Clothes buying: limit to 2 pairs of jeans for DH that we can get using rebates. Spending: $0.
3. Gifts: I have 1 gift to buy and have a goal of making the second gift I still need. Spending: <$20.
4. Keep up exercise. I have signed up for two 7K road races over the winter and need to keep training for them. Goal is to keep to my scheduled exercise times/durations.
5. Healthy eating...Thanksgiving overindulgence has left my jeans a little snug. December goal is to cut sugar and focus on lower carb eating.
6. Budget...finish up the yearly paperwork and get everything organized to better track spending in 2018.
7. Finish my decluttering challenge. It got derailed earlier this year due to a family emergency but I'd like to get it all checked off this month.
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November worked out quite well for me, so I need to come up with a new goal or two for December.
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November worked out quite well for me, so I need to come up with a new goal or two for December.
Me too! Thinking about it - my "December" started on Friday, since I only get paid once a month.
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I like this!
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I'm in. No-Excuses November really helped me feel like I had someone besides myself to be accountable to. I just got signed up for another month of PT and I've scheduled appointments through the end of December, so once again: I will do my PT exercises every single damn day, come hell or high water.
I'd like to add another goal of doing something generous once a week in December. I don't like the way my savings goals make me feel about charity/gifts sometimes, so I will deliberately make a gift or donation once a week that is outside my usual wheelhouse. Holiday gifts for family don't count, annual charitable gifts to my usual favorite charities don't count. This week I bought a Christmas gift for my friend's teenage daughter to encourage her in her musical pursuits. I think I'm going to put in a gift card for my friend and his wife, too - they are frugal but struggling financially after he was laid off. Trying to decide if I should make it for something practical like groceries, or something like Amazon or Walmart so they can use it for gifts if they want.
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November worked out quite well for me, so I need to come up with a new goal or two for December.
Me too! Thinking about it - my "December" started on Friday, since I only get paid once a month.
I usually consider Friday as the end of the week. I know other people struggle with weekends, but my husband generally keeps me on the straight and narrow. Unless he agrees to get me a new phone instead of helping me figure out how to purchase a new microphone for the old one. But that was a Wednesday.
I am basically aiming for a no spend December, excluding gifts. And I fully expect gifts to be on par with grocery savings as every volunteer organization and family member attempts to stuff us full of goodies. I just need a really cool, yet cheap, gift idea for young adults, as I have five of them to buy for this year.
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November worked out quite well for me, so I need to come up with a new goal or two for December.
Me too! Thinking about it - my "December" started on Friday, since I only get paid once a month.
I usually consider Friday as the end of the week. I know other people struggle with weekends, but my husband generally keeps me on the straight and narrow. Unless he agrees to get me a new phone instead of helping me figure out how to purchase a new microphone for the old one. But that was a Wednesday.
I am basically aiming for a no spend December, excluding gifts. And I fully expect gifts to be on par with grocery savings as every volunteer organization and family member attempts to stuff us full of goodies. I just need a really cool, yet cheap, gift idea for young adults, as I have five of them to buy for this year.
Are you crafty?
My downstairs neighbour (a young adult - about 25?) just showed me a couple of small cross stitch projects she did for a couple of friends. One was a snarky saying, the other a cactus - many similar examples to be found here:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cactus+cross+stitch&qpvt=cactus+cross+stitch&FORM=IGRE (https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cactus+cross+stitch&qpvt=cactus+cross+stitch&FORM=IGRE)
Both were simply framed in an embroidery hoop. To be honest, my first reaction was "how hipster!" and my second thought was "...but cute." But if you stitch, they'd probably only take a couple hours each, and you could choose a theme that works for each young person - a bicycle for the cyclist, a boom box or retro cassette tape for the music lover, a dog or cat for the animal lover - even a moustache for the aspiring mustachian!
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These are my December goals:
1) Don't buy meat and fish. Empty the stuffed freezer first. -> still busy doing this. Haven't bought meat and fish in december for use at home.
2) Do daily exercises for my back as I want it to give me less trouble. -> forgetting this almost every day.
3) Now that there is snow close to home: go cross country skiing and improve my condition. -> Done every weekend.
4) Get enough exercise when we visit the family around Christmas (8 days with a lot of food all day long). Say no to food we don't want to eat. -> To be implemented from the 22nd of December
5) Up to the 22nd of December, drink alcohol less often, maximum 3 days a week. -> So far in December no drinking on Mon-Thur.
6) Get my weight down to 67kg. -> Today 67.8 kg.
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December goals:
1) Stay on track on work trip. Not financial related, but health & fitness related. It's tough for me, given jet lag, crazy schedules, airport/hotel food
2) Work out a minimum of 15x.
3) One meal out (date night with my husband). Not counting work meals out, as I'm not paying & will be out of the country.
4) No more holiday shopping. My list is complete & checked off.
5) Limit food spending (including meal out) to $800. This is a lot, but we host 8 people for a few days, and 6 people for another chunk.
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This is a great idea! I was just thinking about how I've really let my eating out spending go way up. I love eating out, but I want to spend my money about restaurants I'm excited about, not a restaurant I go to because it sounds better than cooking or whatnot. I'm also about to start a job at a speciality food shop, which means I could spend a lot at work, too. I want to make sure I don't fall into that trap. So, my foodcentric December:
1.) Eat out only deliberately.
2.) Eat down the freezer and pantry, especially since I just asked for more food things for Christmas.
3.) Don't let my grocery spending go above $150/month. (I live with my BF, and we don't combine money, so this is not the entire cost of our household groceries, but a good goal for me given my new proximity to delicious food.)
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I'm in for December. I started slacking in November after the first half of the month (at least for posting)
1. Have 12 no spend days. I had only 6 in November so I want to see if I can double that.
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month. This should be plenty but my monthly average tends to be around $200. No reason for that. $150 should cover a couple dinners and a couple lunches for the month. My ultimate goal for 2018 is only $75 a month! bringing it down to $150 is the first step to reach that goal.
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month
4. Fix my flat on my bike! This flat was my biggest excuse for November. Once fixed I will ride my bike to work on the nicest/warmest day of the week.
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This fits perfectly with my biggest struggle right now, which is to limit my internet usage to be deliberate rather than aimless. (That includes you guys. Sorry.) So here's a list:
1) See how close I can get to 0 social media use on weekdays. ...starting tomorrow.
2) Maintain biking and swimming improvements.
2.5) Change my bike chain.
3) Work ~2 hours a day while on break. (Not very mustachian, but I'm a grad student.)
3.5) Start online science writing course.
4) Cook a lot.
5) Read a lot.
I'll try to check in on Sundays as my internet-allowed day.
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I'm in too. Been eyeing this thread and thinking "What a good idea", so here I am.
1. Go to the gym 3 mornings per week rather than 2.
2. Go to an evening yoga class on a Monday or Tuesday, if I am not going out any other week night that week. (I find it hard to get out of the house in the winter evenings after work.)
3. Do a written Step 10 in the evening.
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I'm in! Here are my goals for December.
1.) Maintain No Gain - Do not gain any holiday weight
2.) Move More - Workout at least 5 days / week to further along goal 1 above
3.) Clean the house more regularly; using the Roomba consistently counts :)
4.) Minimize grocery shopping to clean out pantry and freezer.
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Yay! Welcome everybody. I find the group accountability so encouraging. And I love seeing the diversity of everyone's goals.
We added a meal out today because I had to take kid to doctor. No problem. Co-pay in cash and the meal expense came out of my grocery budget. We normally would've packed a picnic lunch but we could only get an appointment that meant leaving right now.
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I've been loving the name of this thread too. Rather than a lot of sub goals, my main theme for December is "deliberate".
This will mean planning activities, spending, etc to avoid both spur of the moment splurges and/or missing out on seasonal fun due to lack of planning.
The one specific change I'm going to make is to get up between 6-6:30 most mornings. Mornings are my best time but since retiring in July, I've been drifting towards later and later hours to match the husband and cat. And those late evening hours are when most aimless TV watching/web surfing takes place for me.
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I've been loving the name of this thread too. Rather than a lot of sub goals, my main theme for December is "deliberate".
This will mean planning activities, spending, etc to avoid both spur of the moment splurges and/or missing out on seasonal fun due to lack of planning.
Totally agree with this, Moustachienne. I did the November challenge and had some life stuff happen that meant I technically "failed" on 3/4 of my goals, but I think it was still an overall success in that I buckled down on a few areas that I'd been struggling with recently. With the stuff I've got going on in December, it's not realistic for me to try to be super-rigid about any one specific spending category. But I do want to be very deliberate about how I'm allocating my financial resources, and not let poor planning result in spending money on unnecessary silliness.
I do have two concrete goals that don't involve restricted spending: work steadily on a contract/side-gig/project/thing that's due at the end of the month, and take advantage of my free time over the holiday break to get some substantial writing done.
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Dec 1: a literal no spend day. However, I found out today that the traditional "pay for the volunteers" dinner has been set at $20/ volunteer. Not sure why we weren't informed before the RSVP deadline.
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Yesterday I did not follow my own goal and did not do exercises for my back. Today I made up for it with an hour cross country skiing, which is good training for practically all musles and good stamina training. Pretty good circumstances for skiing close to our home. I hope we can do it again tomorrow. It as good to have started this hobby again this winter, as I very much enjoy it.
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Dec 2: Early morning meeting. A month ago, I would have stopped at McD's on the way, but not today. However, I am assuming that I will have to pay for my lunch on base. This challenge is really making me realize how the often it is assumed we will pony up, without making any statement in the event invitation.
Update: the meeting let out 3 hours early, allowing me to go home for lunch!
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I'd like to add another goal of doing something generous once a week in December. I don't like the way my savings goals make me feel about charity/gifts sometimes, so I will deliberately make a gift or donation once a week that is outside my usual wheelhouse.
Dollar Slice, I love this goal. I became very conscious in 2017 how much of my life felt just wastefully luxurious—and how I could cut spending a little bit and make more donations. I'm donating 3% of my take-home right now, and I think I'd like to up that to 5% in 2018. Becoming more frugal in general will help!
1. Have 12 no spend days. I had only 6 in November so I want to see if I can double that.
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month. This should be plenty but my monthly average tends to be around $200. No reason for that. $150 should cover a couple dinners and a couple lunches for the month. My ultimate goal for 2018 is only $75 a month! bringing it down to $150 is the first step to reach that goal.
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month
haypug16, I'll probably steal these goals too! Adjusted a bit…I spent $200 on eating out in November, but my normal is more like $400+, so I might just try for $200 again.
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Here are my goals:
- Save 50%+ this month. My stretch goal is 55%, if I'm extremely frugal and cautious!
- Spend about $200 on eating out. I managed this in November, but my norm is $400+.
- Work out 2x/week. I was at 3x/week over the summer, and then slipped…
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I'd like to add another goal of doing something generous once a week in December. I don't like the way my savings goals make me feel about charity/gifts sometimes, so I will deliberately make a gift or donation once a week that is outside my usual wheelhouse.
Dollar Slice, I love this goal. I became very conscious in 2017 how much of my life felt just wastefully luxurious—and how I could cut spending a little bit and make more donations. I'm donating 3% of my take-home right now, and I think I'd like to up that to 5% in 2018. Becoming more frugal in general will help!
Glad you like it :-) I think I've become a little tight-fisted because I keep having job scares and I don't feel good about my job prospects in general (working in print publishing). I also have some health concerns and I worry about becoming disabled. I really like seeing my savings accounts increase because it makes me feel safer. But in reality, part of this is just me having anxiety issues... I have more than most people in the US (and the world) and philanthropy/charity is really important to me. So I'm trying to kick my own ass a little bit.
This ended up being kind of a weird week and I didn't really sit down to deliberate until today. I decided the gift I mentioned in my earlier post should not count toward this goal because it's too similar to things I've done before. I did a couple of other things that were also too similar to things I've done before (like sneaking $80 into a tip jar for someone I know is low-income and has been dealing with some kind of IRS nightmare and having to pay accountants etc). In the end I sat down today and decided to make a charitable donation to an organization I haven't donated to before and is quite different to donations I've made in the past. The money will go to pay off unpaid school lunch bills for kids whose parents can't keep up with expenses. There's a lot of reasons why parents might not be able to pay those bills, good and bad and indifferent, but the kids shouldn't be the ones to suffer or feel ashamed.
Now I have a whole week to come up with something else. I want it to be harder for me. Not financially, but psychologically, to challenge myself and my point of view.
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Very nice! Dollar Slice, I love your giving goal. We quit donating when income crashed and I'd love to get to a place financially where it's feasible to regularly donate again.
We ruthlessly decluttered three rooms plus the kids clothes. Have two big bags of outgrown stuff to donate (we didn't buy most of it, we get a lot of hand me downs). One other room got partially done before we ran out of steam. Our house seems so much cleaner and more open already. The kids rooms and the kitchen are next.
Forgot to add: finished one of my 7k races and was very pleased with it. We didn't eat healthy last night though (disgustingly greasy pizza) and I feel awful today. Just reaffirms that we need to eat better!
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I've "deliberately" planned out a number of get togethers with friends this month. Family is still a bit of a wild card but that's OK.
My goal of getting up just after 6am has not been met; I've been getting up around 7am. It is occurring to me that it might be good to accept 7 as my baseline rather than fight myself for 6.
I got up at 6am for 30 years for work/commute but now I'm retired! I'm still a morning person but there's no particular virtue in getting up at any particular time. Going to deliberately play with my morning routine this month to find out what feels right. :)
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This is a great idea! I was just thinking about how I've really let my eating out spending go way up. I love eating out, but I want to spend my money about restaurants I'm excited about, not a restaurant I go to because it sounds better than cooking or whatnot. I'm also about to start a job at a speciality food shop, which means I could spend a lot at work, too. I want to make sure I don't fall into that trap. So, my foodcentric December:
1.) Eat out only deliberately.
2.) Eat down the freezer and pantry, especially since I just asked for more food things for Christmas.
3.) Don't let my grocery spending go above $150/month. (I live with my BF, and we don't combine money, so this is not the entire cost of our household groceries, but a good goal for me given my new proximity to delicious food.)
Well, on Dec. 1, I kind of failed my first goal. Oops. I went out to dinner to a place I have wanted to go to since the summer, but the timing was more due to laziness than deliberate choice. So, I failed there, but I am going to keep working on this this month.
I have been doing a good job with eating down the freezer and pantry so far. No grocery spending this month yet. I am starting the new job tomorrow, and it will be quite busy in the beginning, so today I will probably make some coconut lentil recipe I saw so that my fridge is stocked and I don't succumb to eating out.
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1. Have 12 no spend days. 0/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month.bringing it down to $150 is the first step to reach that goal. $0/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 3/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Day 1 and 2 - Spend some money on Groceries so haven't had a no spend day yet. No meals out though. Donated 3 clothing items to Savers. Have not fixed the flat yet.
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Dec 3: Giving my husband his free hair cut, then off to our half priced (instead of free) volunteer dinner. No spend 2/3
Dec 2: Early morning meeting. A month ago, I would have stopped at McD's on the way, but not today. Made it home for lunch, free dinner party. No spend 2/2
Dec 1: No spend 1/1
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Today we did another 1,25 hour of cross country skiing.
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I downloaded a "goals" app last night and put all my PT exercises into it so that it will remind me and I'll have the satisfaction of checking off the little boxes every day. I keep getting more exercises so it was getting harder to keep track of everything.
Now I have a whole week to come up with something else. I want it to be harder for me. Not financially, but psychologically, to challenge myself and my point of view.
I've decided this week that, to challenge myself, I am going to give a small(ish) amount to a different charity every single day. I'm thinking about doing only non-financial donations (e.g. donating toys to needy children, warm clothes to the homeless, food to the hungry, books to underfunded schools, etc.) but I'm not sure I can pull that off since it's a lot of extra work. But I want to see if choosing specific items to donate might get me thinking about it in a deeper way. Thinking about what people need and why, and what they would need the most, and what hardships they face without it.
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December goals:
1) Stay on track on work trip. Not financial related, but health & fitness related. It's tough for me, given jet lag, crazy schedules, airport/hotel food
2) Work out a minimum of 15x.
3) One meal out (date night with my husband). Not counting work meals out, as I'm not paying & will be out of the country.
4) No more holiday shopping. My list is complete & checked off.
5) Limit food spending (including meal out) to $800. This is a lot, but we host 8 people for a few days, and 6 people for another chunk.
1st full day on my work trip. Jet lagged & not feeling amazing, but for #1 & #2, had a healthy breakfast this am (minus sugar I put in my latte, because. . . it's a special thing I only allow myself when traveling) & made it to the gym! The sweating/work out actually helped quite a bit with the jet lag!
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1) See how close I can get to 0 social media use on weekdays.
12/1: 39 minutes on facebook
12/2: 0 time
2) Maintain biking and swimming improvements.
12/2: Last formal swim class (one hour practice)
12/3: Biked 8.8 miles
2.5) Change my bike chain.
3) Work ~2 hours a day while on break. N/A - I'm still working for real!
3.5) Start online science writing course.
4) Cook a lot.
5) Read a lot. Starting my third book of the month on 12/3.
I've decided this week that, to challenge myself, I am going to give a small(ish) amount to a different charity every single day. I'm thinking about doing only non-financial donations (e.g. donating toys to needy children, warm clothes to the homeless, food to the hungry, books to underfunded schools, etc.) but I'm not sure I can pull that off since it's a lot of extra work. But I want to see if choosing specific items to donate might get me thinking about it in a deeper way. Thinking about what people need and why, and what they would need the most, and what hardships they face without it.
If it makes a difference in your decision, financial donations go a lot further at most charities. Like, at food banks, donating money allows them to get more food by buying in serious bulk, and to pick exactly what they know they're short on.
It's always good to donate if the alternative is throwing away (clothes you don't wear anymore, etc), but buying an item to donate is usually not cost-effective.
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If it makes a difference in your decision, financial donations go a lot further at most charities. Like, at food banks, donating money allows them to get more food by buying in serious bulk, and to pick exactly what they know they're short on.
It's always good to donate if the alternative is throwing away (clothes you don't wear anymore, etc), but buying an item to donate is usually not cost-effective.
I am fully aware of this, and I normally donate cash. But this is meant as more of a growing/thought exercise for myself, and being a little less efficient with a few small donations is not the end of the world if it can change the way I think about charity for the next forty years.
I am a very efficient-minded person, like most MMMers, so what I'm hoping for here is that I would do a good deal of research, thinking, and asking questions in order to more fully understand what is truly needed/wanted by whichever charity I pick each day. Instead of taking the easy way out (put it on the credit card) or the feel-good way out (buying the cutest teddy bear in the store for Toys for Tots)... this week I want to do the work and learn about what is truly needed, and better understand what the underlying problems are. I think it will be good for me.
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If it makes a difference in your decision, financial donations go a lot further at most charities. Like, at food banks, donating money allows them to get more food by buying in serious bulk, and to pick exactly what they know they're short on.
It's always good to donate if the alternative is throwing away (clothes you don't wear anymore, etc), but buying an item to donate is usually not cost-effective.
I am fully aware of this, and I normally donate cash. But this is meant as more of a growing/thought exercise for myself, and being a little less efficient with a few small donations is not the end of the world if it can change the way I think about charity for the next forty years.
I am a very efficient-minded person, like most MMMers, so what I'm hoping for here is that I would do a good deal of research, thinking, and asking questions in order to more fully understand what is truly needed/wanted by whichever charity I pick each day. Instead of taking the easy way out (put it on the credit card) or the feel-good way out (buying the cutest teddy bear in the store for Toys for Tots)... this week I want to do the work and learn about what is truly needed, and better understand what the underlying problems are. I think it will be good for me.
I hope you find it useful! I didn't mean to belittle your intentions at all, that efficiency gap is just something everyone should know about. Clearly you already do.
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I hope you find it useful! I didn't mean to belittle your intentions at all, that efficiency gap is just something everyone should know about. Clearly you already do.
I appreciate the comment anyway :-) The more I try to explain my idea(s) to other people, the better I understand what changes I want to happen in my head, I think. I want to spend time and brainpower on it, and discussing it helps!
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In the spirit on the monthly challenges, I'm proposing a deliberate December...because it's not a great month to be uber frugal but a good time to keep things under control. My goals for this month are to set up for finishing 2017/starting 2018 strong.
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Starting a little late but new to the forums and want to try something small this month while I gear up to smash student loan debt!
December Goal is to cut our dining out expense by 50% (monthly average has been $225). So far:
12/2: ($10.50)
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Oooh just found this thread! I really need this. After a lot of uber frugal months I fell apart in November due to some health related and other large purchases. However, I'm done with holiday gift shopping so I may be able to really make some progress this month.
My goals:
1) No eating out
2) Uber only to doctor or tutoring appointments that I truly cannot take a bus for (like today)
3) Restart exercise routine now, so that I break even with holiday indulgences
4) No clothing spending
5) Check library before buying Kindle books
6) Generally thinking carefully about all spending
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A few days late but I'm in! Feeling a bit directionless and like a few bad habits are sneaking in, so a bit of group accountability will be helpful! Several things I'd like to work on:
1. Take breakfast (I don't like eating too early and I leave home at 7am!), lunch and a flask of coffee to work when I am in the office (most days) - no buying sneaky sandwiches or pain au chocolat from the bakery
2. I've got some physio exercises to do to help with a sore hip so do those 3x day as required
3. Persuade OH to try Lidl for food shopping, and compare prices to our usual shop - hope to make the change permanent if we see a big difference
4. We always go food shopping on a Sunday morning and get McDs breakfast before, so try and not get McDs for 1 week (ambitious haha)
Wish me luck!
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Very inspiring! I'm especially loving hearing everyone's thoughts on what is and is not working. I tend towards all-or-nothing goals and it's helpful to see others with more balance perhaps adjust goals as you go to reach a desired end point.
1. Limit eating out. We ended up later than expected at kids choir concert so we grabbed dinner. Need to rethink how we schedule so that nights in town that end after 5:30 have picnic or snacks.
2. Clothes buying: limit to 2 pairs of jeans for DH that we can get using rebates. Spending: $0. Done. Now we need to just not buy other clothes.
3. Gifts: I have 1 gift to buy and have a goal of making the second gift I still need. Spending: <$20. Exactly on budget. Now I just need to make the second gift.
4. Keep up exercise. I have signed up for two 7K road races over the winter and need to keep training for them. Goal is to keep to my scheduled exercise times/durations. Mostly keeping up with this.
5. Healthy eating...Thanksgiving overindulgence has left my jeans a little snug. December goal is to cut sugar and focus on lower carb eating. DH has decided to join me for a 3 week challenge starting today. I'm already craving sugar.
6. Budget...finish up the yearly paperwork and get everything organized to better track spending in 2018.
7. Finish my decluttering challenge. It got derailed earlier this year due to a family emergency but I'd like to get it all checked off this month. Great progress this weekend.
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1. Have 12 no spend days. 0/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month, bringing it down to $150 is the first step to reach that goal. $7.90/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 3/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 3 - Bought a coffee for DH and I while we were out in Boston last night, so a spend day and a meals out amount! Put 6 CDs and a pair of shoes in the Savers bag to donate this weekend. I won't count it until I actually drop it off though. Tire still not fixed :/
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this is a great title.
One of my early successes was around the neighbours gathering. I like to host an event for all the neighbours before Christmas. Last year the event was planned for an early evening. The invitation said 7 to 9. One of the neighbours didn't even arrive until almost 10 and that kind of gave permission for the remaining guests to have another. One of them had already had enough and I was tired. He proceeded to drink a whole lot more and really piss me off with insults. My husband fell asleep on the sofa and I went into the kitchen and started cleaning up. One of the others came into the kitchen and said they would get him to leave but that took almost an hour.
So this year I decided to make the gathering for 3-6. I then made a crock pot dinner that would be ready at 7 and invited friends to come at 6 for dinner. They are good enough friends that I could explain the strategy of having the neighbour party ending before some one got belligerent drunk. I also had enough food that any hangers on could be offered some food with us- and a couple of the kids did. Everyone else declined and went home. It went beautifully according to plan. And I didn't have beer slipped on the sofa to clean up the next morning - in fact clean up was done by 10pm - and everyone had an excellent time.
Now I have to make plans to avoid family conflict, accidentally eating gluten and over scheduling myself. All of that contributes to spending and eating and weight gain.
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Dec 4: DH did some plumbing troubleshooting yesterday, so I have to spend money today to fix that particular problem. At least it isn't an impulse buy. No spend 2/4.
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The weekend went well in the ways that I laid out for myself (no silly spending due to lack of planning + got started on the side gig stuff + was ahead on writing from the week), but MMM would be ashamed of the amount of money I splashed out. Met a friend for lunch! Met another friend for coffee! Impulse-bought a delicious beer that they were doing tastings for at the grocery store! Bought two pieces of artwork! Got a new-to-me dress!
Happy with all of the money I spent, though. I'm really frugal in some ways and extremely not-frugal in others.
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Funny, since Friday was my last day at work, I am torn between going in and having lunch with friends at work a few times in the next few weeks and embracing the austerity of FIRE. Begin as you mean to go on, etc.
Good post.
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December goals:
1) Stay on track on work trip. Not financial related, but health & fitness related. It's tough for me, given jet lag, crazy schedules, airport/hotel food
2) Work out a minimum of 15x.
3) One meal out (date night with my husband). Not counting work meals out, as I'm not paying & will be out of the country.
4) No more holiday shopping. My list is complete & checked off.
5) Limit food spending (including meal out) to $800. This is a lot, but we host 8 people for a few days, and 6 people for another chunk.
1st full day on my work trip. Jet lagged & not feeling amazing, but for #1 & #2, had a healthy breakfast this am (minus sugar I put in my latte, because. . . it's a special thing I only allow myself when traveling) & made it to the gym! The sweating/work out actually helped quite a bit with the jet lag!
2nd day of work trip, and got in another workout. Was in the gym at 5:15 am, so I thank jet lag. Feeling way better & more in control, having my workout complete.
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My therapist is trying to kill me one heel raise at a time, but I am still on my every-damn-day PT exercises streak since sometime in October. I did 130 heel raises today... I may need to ice that sucker a second time. It is still swollen.
My one-week daily-charity mini-challenge is going well. It's really motivating me to think about things a lot more. On day one I donated a big package of socks to a local place supporting homeless LGBTQ+ teens. It will get cold very soon, so it seemed like good timing. I often see homeless people with no socks and shoes that are barely holding together. (I have great sympathy for people with uncomfortable feet right now...) On day two (today) I donated a bunch of single-day transit passes to a program supporting newly-arrived refugees. They listed it as one of their highest-urgency needs, which makes a lot of sense. These folks arrive here with next to nothing, certainly they don't have cars to get around. The passes will help them get to appointments, job interviews, English classes, the grocery store, etc.
So far so good.
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1. Have 12 no spend days 1/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month $7.90/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 3/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 4 - Spent no money yesterday :) 1 down 11 to go. Ate leftovers at work and home so no meals out. Put 3 books in the donate bag for this weekend, but not counting until I actually drop them off. I have 10 items in the bag I believe. Flat not fixed, who knows maybe tonight is the night I get to it.
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My therapist is trying to kill me one heel raise at a time, but I am still on my every-damn-day PT exercises streak since sometime in October. I did 130 heel raises today... I may need to ice that sucker a second time. It is still swollen.
My one-week daily-charity mini-challenge is going well. It's really motivating me to think about things a lot more. On day one I donated a big package of socks to a local place supporting homeless LGBTQ+ teens. It will get cold very soon, so it seemed like good timing. I often see homeless people with no socks and shoes that are barely holding together. (I have great sympathy for people with uncomfortable feet right now...) On day two (today) I donated a bunch of single-day transit passes to a program supporting newly-arrived refugees. They listed it as one of their highest-urgency needs, which makes a lot of sense. These folks arrive here with next to nothing, certainly they don't have cars to get around. The passes will help them get to appointments, job interviews, English classes, the grocery store, etc.
So far so good.
This is a really awesome challenge to set for yourself, Dollar Slice.
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Dec 6: Groceries and Christmas gifts fall within my no spend parameters. It took so long, that not grabbing fast food or at least something ready made from the grocery store was a monumental task, but I passed it by and put back the shoes I almost got for myself. No spend 4/6
In other news, I confirmed that Aldi's and Smart & Final are not generally cheaper than my usual store. Whicj sucks because they are closer. However, S&F does have bulk whole wheat flour that comes out less per pound than anywhere and today they had the Italian sausage pasta sauce that Hubby likes. And large eggs for $2.49 a dozen?! Had to go walk back across the parking lot to Aldi's.
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Still on my PT-exercises-every-day streak. I did extra today because the patient after me canceled, so my therapist had a lot of time to spend with me. That meant I got an extra-long pain-massage, where she finds all the weird little muscles that are all tensed up from walking funny on my post-op foot, and hurts them until they cry uncle. :-P (Me crying uncle doesn't count. The first session, she told me to let her know if the pain was too much to bear, and when I finally said it was, she said "OK! I'm going to do that three more times.")
My one-week daily-charity mini-challenge continues successfully. On day three I donated some Spanish-language and Spanish/English bilingual children's books to a local organization that helps mothers in poverty from pregnancy until the kid is old enough for kindergarten. 25% of people in this city speak Spanish as their first language, and I am guessing Spanish-language books are harder to find/less-often donated. They had a wishlist of books they would love to get, so I picked some of those. (Still trying hard to get what is needed most according to experts and not what I think people ought to need in some kind of fantasy-land where giving a kid a cute teddy bear makes everything OK.) On day four (today) I donated some tuna-fish-and-crackers meal kits, a huge box of granola bars, and a big box of band-aids to a local organization that drives a bus around to hand out food, toiletries, etc. to homeless people. All of those things were on their list of recommended items to donate, and I tried to choose the most practical-yet-nutritious-yet-enjoyable food items for a homeless person to take with them.
I did really disappoint myself this week, though. An acquaintance of mine has been going through some terrible times - her husband was in a very serious car accident while they were out of town about 800 miles from home. He has been in ICU/hospital for weeks and may not ever be able to work again. In the meantime she had to take unpaid leave from work to stay with him and neither of them is getting a paycheck. She had to finally go home and leave him there because they were running out of money and she needed to go back to her job and he is not well enough to travel :-( Heartbreaking. So she posted a gofundme this week, and I thought: I'll donate next week. This week is my "stuff, not money" donations mini-challenge. This can be my generosity-thing next week!
Maybe 12 hours later I saw it come up on Facebook again and I said to myself, yup, next week for sure, I'll donate. And I was trying to decide how much to send and all that. And then it hit me. I am using a fucking generosity/charity challenge to justify DELAYING A CHARITABLE DONATION when someone I care about is in dire need. I'm just going to let this money sit in my checking account, to fit in with my stupid arbitrary rules. What the actual fuck is wrong with me? Seriously!? Ugh. This isn't a game! Anyway, I donated to that, and it doesn't count toward any kind of challenge, because this sort of thing is why I need to do this challenge in the first place. And I still feel like an asshole.
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For the first time in the many years that I have meant to do this - I attended a vigil to recognize gender based violence. Every year at the beginning of December, I mean to do something. Then some excuse or forgetfulness happens and I say "next year". Not this year.
Last evening, right after dinner, I bundled up and walked to a small park to join many others to acknowledge the women that were killed at the Ecole Polytechnique and the many murdered and missing Indigenous women and the unbelievable number of women just in Ontario that have died at the hands of men. The meeting location was indoors at a local business but from there we walked to a memorial to a woman killed by her husband. There were red dresses hanging from the trees. Black frames held red cards with the victim's name along with the date and location of their murder where distributed along the sidewalk and pathways, propped up against sign posts and railings. There were so many names. We lit candles and the wind died down enough for a brief time while there was a moment of silence so the candles stayed lit. Then one by one each attendee blew out their candle with a promise to take another step. My step is to continue to talk about gender based violence with my son, my nephews and well anyone who will listen....
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Bravo DollarSlice and Frugal Lizard!
So much good stuff in your December 6 entries. FL: I am in Canada too and knew what December 6 was.
This week I am only going to the gym once and make up for the other two visits by walking to work from the mechanic's. My car had a maintenance appointment Tuesday and they forgot to do something little so need to drop it off again on Friday. The walk is 20 blocks long and takes me 20 minutes moving briskly. I am going to the gym right after I hit 'post' here.
The evening writing has been going well and is helpful.
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1. Have 12 no spend days 1/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month $7.90/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 3/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 5 and 6 - Bought groceries and X-Mas cards so not a no spend day. Didn't buy any meals out just groceries and ate some leftovers. Added 3 ornaments (sports related from an EX) and a couple stockings to the Savers donation bag to be donated Saturday. Tire still flat.
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Dec 7: Left the wallet at home, so no spend it is :) No spend 5/7
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Update 12/9:
1) No eating out Success, with the exception of visiting a friend in another state (we had lunch out, it was $12)
2) Uber only to doctor or tutoring appointments that I truly cannot take a bus for (like today). Mixed. I did end up taking Uber back from work holiday party because it was in a very inaccessible location-- I could have taking trains and bus but it would have taken multiple hours. Hmm.
3) Restart exercise routine now, so that I break even with holiday indulgences Nope. Not yet.
4) No clothing spending. Success!
5) Check library before buying Kindle books. Success! But I still had to buy next book club book because of the long hold.
6) Generally thinking carefully about all spending. Mostly success.
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1. Have 12 no spend days 2/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month $7.90/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 3/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 7 - No spend day! Didn't go out to eat either! Put 3 more books in the donate bag(s) I'm up to 17 items I think. Will be dropping them off this weekend while I'm out running all my errands. Flat is still flat. :( though the weather is getting very cold, it looks like it's going to be in the 30s next week (with rain/snow) next week so not really weather I'm up for riding in anyway.
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Late on board, but December is a deliberate month in my household this year.
I'm deliberately easing up on saving money because I don't want to skimp on gifts for those few people to whom I give gifts, and DH and I are taking a week-long vacation during which we'll go to concerts and do other activities that aren't free and eat out if we want to. We've lived relatively frugally all year; we can get back on it after Christmas.
My other objective is to do some form of exercise every day, even when work is at its most brutal. So far I've managed this.
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I am deliberately skipping a day of PT exercises today. I have been sleeping very poorly, working too much, and today I was migrainey all day and aching all over. I decided my body needs a day of rest more than exercises. I haven't skipped a day since I started this in October, but I don't want to let trying to keep a streak going interfere with best practices for my health.
My charity mini-challenge is continuing. On day five I donated some requested kitchen supplies and toiletries to the Manhattan Ronald McDonald House. They provide a free or very low-cost place to stay (and food, laundry facilities, etc.) for families who are taking their children for treatment at one of the hospitals in NYC. There are some world-renowned hospitals here and people come from out of town in hopes of saving their children's lives. It's normally very very expensive to stay near these hospitals, so they are saving these families a lot of money as well as providing them a more supportive and homey atmosphere when they're being stressed.
On day six (today) I bent the rules a little bit, because rules are made to be broken. I ran into an elderly woman I'm acquainted with who has been having some health problems for 6+ months. She was in the hospital in the spring and has been having trouble ever since - she is having heart surgery in a few days. We were both attending a concert that had been moved from a very central, accessible location (she could take a direct subway and there would be an elevator bypassing all the stairs) to a place in Brooklyn half a mile from a subway station with four flights of stairs and no elevator. Very difficult commute for someone who is having mobility issues - even if she made it that far, there would be further stairs and walking, changing trains, etc. I asked her how she was getting home and she said she was going to try to take the subway because she didn't have the money for a taxi. It's cold out and I just couldn't stand seeing her try to shuffle along with her cane for half a mile in the dark and cold, so I asked for her address, called a Lyft and took her home. A taxi ride isn't exactly donating "stuff, not money" as per my mini-challenge rules, but I think it's close enough! Bonus: the taxi driver took a route along the river where you could see the whole Manhattan skyline, and she really enjoyed the view :-)
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Day 8: I needed household items and we told the mentored kids we would take them out to eat after their event. No spend 5/8
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Progress update. Back from trip, and super jet lagged, but trying to stay on track.
December goals:
1) Stay on track on work trip. Not financial related, but health & fitness related. It's tough for me, given jet lag, crazy schedules, airport/hotel food - eh, did pretty well. 3 workouts, and mostly made good choices. There was a lot of carb eating, and I had to eat a granola bar in my purse at one of the dinners where the entree was chicken sashimi. I don't eat raw chicken. Also, airport food is the worst, in terms of healthy options.
2) Work out a minimum of 15x. - So far, I'm at just the three workouts. Hoping for something today.
3) One meal out (date night with my husband). Not counting work meals out, as I'm not paying & will be out of the country. - The boys ate out while I was gone, but it was reasonably priced. I was so grateful for freezer dinners last night. When I got home from my flight, I hadn't slept in about 30 hours, and didn't feel good. Was able to defrost a leftover freezer meal, & we ate that, instead of takeout.
4) No more holiday shopping. My list is complete & checked off. - Looking good so far. No holiday shopping last week, but I was out of the country & without a laptop, so let's be honest, it wasn't much of a temptation. ;-)
5) Limit food spending (including meal out) to $800. This is a lot, but we host 8 people for a few days, and 6 people for another chunk. - Need to go through & sort our December food spending. It's going to be tight!
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I'm keeping up with the exercise (mainly running) but skipped a group run today because one hip feels a little sore and tight. Don't need any injuries.
We ate home cooked food all week, including for our scheduled dinner out yesterday. One of the kids activities was canceled and we decided that driving back home and preparing dinner prior to another commitment was less expensive, more fun, and tastier. Zero problem getting buy in from my family. I'm reconsidering lunch out with husband...we may drop that to one and just eat yummy leftovers for the other. Or skip both.
We have continued our house cleaning. Yesterday we moved a cabinet from another location to the living room and located art supplies there. The kids seem to use art to help if they need to calm down so we set up supplies where they don't have to ask me to open the giant cabinet in the basement. We're also going to donate two area rugs and an end table.
I bought three items that weren't on my list: an ice scraper to replace the broken one in the car, a seal for the bottom of the garage door, plastic for the windows in our bedrooms. All are either necessary for winter or to reduce heating costs. Zero temptation to get anything else.
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The exercising is going well. It has helped that the rain has stopped and the husband and I went for a walk to the grocery store yesterday and have a walk to the dollar store planned for today.
So far I don't have any outings planned for next week in the evenings after work. A friend might call for a visit but if not, I will go to yoga on Tuesday p.m. Evening writing of a s. 10 has gone well. Did it every evening and it is so helpful.
I had been thinking about an internet challenge and was inspired by a previous poster. I spend too much time randomly surfing in the evenings and am not happy about it. So, I decided to put my ipad on the dining room table rather than on the coffee table. This has worked because I can't just reach for it.
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Day 9: It was necessary to spend money to save money. DIY filtration system to save the water heater from scale. No spend 5/9
Day 10: No time to spend money. Two appointments for work, then a couple of hours to help a friend before heading off to the light parade. No spend 6/10
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1. Have 12 no spend days 2/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month $7.90/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 24/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 8 and 9
Bought some stuff but no meals out, starting to run out of days to have no spend days. I'll need to really buckle down to hit 12 for the month. Dropped off 21 items to Savers yesterday and I don't miss a thing. Flat still Flat.
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Yesterday I went cross country skiing for three hours. On Sunday it was -22 degrees C and that is very cold. I wasn't prepared for this cold, so I stayed inside a d red my book instead.
The back exercises have been forgotten after the initial days. Of course the skiing is a very good exercise, but I should have trained on the other days. I will do some in a moment.
I am sticking to my alcohol habit, maximum 3 days a week, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, if I want to. Not on amy other day. So far so goid this month. This is easy to stick to if I have a clear rule. I just finished my Sunday beer.
We are doing well on the grocery. We haven't bought meat or fish, unless for last Saturday when we were away from home and I forgot to bring something from the fridge. We will also buy some meat for Christmas diner at FIL, who asked us to provide the main course.
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I totally fell off track this weekend. I've been having terrible insomnia and I just couldn't cope with anything, had no energy and was forgetting things left and right (and dropping things, and feeling stupid and clumsy and etc. because it turns out your brain and body need sleep sometimes). And now I did something to hurt my back so I'm even more useless. Oof. Going to try to turn things around - will take sleeping pills for a few nights, and hopefully will get back on the wagon of PT exercises after skipping two days (on purpose, because I was too much of a wreck). I totally spaced on my one-week charity mini-challenge yesterday, which was the final day. I am going to go sort out the 7th and final donation right now - a little late, but I think overall the challenge was a big success. Then I will take a long, hot shower to loosen up my back and do as many PT exercises as I feel good about (will skip anything that makes my back feel more spazzy).
Onward and upward...
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1) See how close I can get to 0 social media use on weekdays. 2:09 on facebook total last Mon-Sat. I'd like to see that improve.
2) Maintain biking and swimming improvements. Biked 17.6 miles yesterday. No swimming this week. Maybe not the best December goal.
2.5) Change my bike chain. Nope.
3) Work ~2 hours a day while on break. N/A - I'm still working for real!
3.5) Start online science writing course. Completed 2.6 out of 8 units.
4) Cook a lot. Baked bread and made chana masala for lunches all last week. Failed to plan ahead for this week very effectively.
5) Read a lot. Read 3 books last week, including the one I gave up on 2/3rds of the way through.
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In the spirit on the monthly challenges, I'm proposing a deliberate December...because it's not a great month to be uber frugal but a good time to keep things under control. My goals for this month are to set up for finishing 2017/starting 2018 strong.
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Starting a little late but new to the forums and want to try something small this month while I gear up to smash student loan debt!
December Goal is to cut our dining out expense by 50% (monthly average has been $225). So far:
12/2: ($10.50)
Update on progress after the weekend:
12/8: $3 - DH got coffee out
12/9: $2 - I got coffee out
12/9: $22 - Didn't plan ahead, let the siren call of convenience rear it's ugly head and brought home takeout :/
Total spent out so far: $37.50/~$113
On the plus side - had dinner with couple sets of friends over the last two weekends and have had positive feedback when I recommend bringing groceries over to cook instead of us all going out to dinner! So technically that might shoot the grocery amount up by a bit but not nearly as much as 2+ dinners out would cost...
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I had set a weight goal, because my weight tipped over 69 kg recently. I want it back to 67 kg. It is currently 68,0 kg, so we might be getting there if I stay focussed.
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Not let poor planning result in spending money on unnecessary silliness: Fine. No impulse-bought snacks or coffees.
Work steadily on a contract/side-gig/project/thing that's due at the end of the month: Could be better. I didn't do anything for it over the weekend, but worked on it a lot last week so I'm not behind, exactly, but I'm not where I want to be either. I should have plenty of time this week to get caught back up.
Take advantage of my free time over the holiday break to get some substantial writing done: Going really well so far, and I haven't even started my break yet. I finished editing a short story and have added a few thousand words to the novel that I'm apparently writing (??). Although this is less about Writing a Novel and more about the process of getting back into a regular writing practice--IDGAF if it's actually good. I've done a handful of short stories in the interim, but I haven't written seriously and consistently since 2012.
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Still on track to have mindful moments in my December.
Yesterday helped an injured bird get into medical care and rehab by keeping it in eye sight while waiting for the animal rescue person to arrive. It actually made my day.
Made it to an advent service.
Went to a tree farm and found and cut a tree.
Didn't eat out on the weekend - even though I didn't feel like making dinner.
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December goals:
1) Stay on track on work trip. Not financial related, but health & fitness related. It's tough for me, given jet lag, crazy schedules, airport/hotel food - I did "okay" on this one. Worked out 3x, which is my best ever for a work trip. However, eating was a little all over the shop. Generally avoided sweets, although did eat both desserts on flight home. I blame epic jet lag.
2) Work out a minimum of 15x. - I'm at 4 for the month. Need to continue the effort, as the month is almost 1/2 over.
3) One meal out (date night with my husband). Not counting work meals out, as I'm not paying & will be out of the country. - The kids ate something at Costco yesterday, but kept it under $5.
4) No more holiday shopping. My list is complete & checked off. - Done, no further shopping.
5) Limit food spending (including meal out) to $800. This is a lot, but we host 8 people for a few days, and 6 people for another chunk. - Fingers crossed. We have $500 left. I've earmarked $100 for our last remaining week of groceries, $100 for our date night (hoping to come in under), & $200 for our grocery shopping for the last week or so at our vacation house. We'll be doing a bunch of entertainment. I've left $100 as slush money, so I'm really hoping we can make this happen.
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1. Have 12 no spend days 2/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month $34.14/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 24/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 10 - 11
Spent money both days, hopefully today will be a no spend day. Meals out spending is up to $34 mostly due to coffee. Otherwise this goal is going pretty well. I have some people coming over Saturday for a movie marathon and may end up ordering out, then I'm going out for brunch with some friends on Sunday. That should be it for the month aside from the random coffee or lunch out. Put a couple old blazers in the donate box, I hope to add a few more items this week for a drop off on Sunday. Flat still flat.
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Dec 11: Once again, too busy to spend money. A work errand took me passed fast food at lunch time and all I thought was how two months ago it would have been a fight to drive passed. I also went home and confirmed that even with no fast food, we have kept the grocery bill down. No spend 7/11
Dec 12: A more simple day, but still no reason to spill out the cash. No spend 8/12
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Got in a shorter run than I wanted yesterday but threw in a super steep hill and went faster. Confession: I didn't actually run the whole hill which was described as "good for hill repeats" by a guy I know. Might be true, if I was a mountain goat...
We ended up eating out last night but since we skipped the previous dinner out, that was just the replacement. Plus we only had appetizers during half price happy hour. They were huge and the whole bill (with drinks and a very much not needed dessert) was $27 for 4 people.
We need to gear up for a big weekend of decluttering to reach our admittedly ambitious goal. House is much better already.
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Dec 13: Staying home to work on a sewing project for a neighbor. No spend 9/13
We have entered that awkward pre vacation period where you need to eat for a few more days, but you don't want anything to go to waste.
Once we leave for.vacation, it should be easy rolling. Between them, our parents won't let us spend money on anything but gas for the car they loan us...I guess this means I will have to skip the amazing drink selections at Quick Trip? Hmm , something to deliberate on before we leave...I just might need to take a travel cup with me for driving caffeine.
Now that is something I would not have thought of without this thread!
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Christmas tree is cut and now is standing vertical (sort of ) in the living room. It cost 25 dollars. We picked a time that didn't cause too much stress and went as a family to a tree farm and got ourselves chilled to the bone. We planned dinner on the way to the farm and stopped at the grocery store on the way home and bought just enough stuff for dinner and some pantry items. It turned out to be a fun time.
Other Christmas spending is still on plan. Shopping for the kids has been intentional so far and within the budget. I don't want to mention the budget amount because our Christmas spending is pretty insane. My side has it reined it over past years but compared to a MMM budget - we are still out there in crazy stupid spending zone. To preserve family harmony we are staying here but are recognizing that this is what it is.
Baking - have most of the ingredients bought and have set aside a time (Saturday) to do it. Next Saturday is going to be for gift wrapping and cooking.
Christmas letter is almost ready - a couple more hours of editing, page layout and printing the envelopes. I think it is reasonable that it hits the post on Friday.
I have not freaked out on the family yet -
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Just had to spend some stupid money due to my own stupidity and procrastination. I've known what I was getting my SO for weeks but kept procrastinating about placing the order. Got to the checkout and the free shipping delivery date is after Christmas, so I had to pay $15 for two-day shipping.
My SO is a self-identified Holiday Cheermeister, and there is just no universe where I could have told him that his gift was going to be late without it becoming a Whole Big Thing. I'd rather pay the $15 than disappoint him, especially because his secret superpower is thoughtful gifts and mine is...most definitely not.
Still mad at myself, though, because it's my own danged fault for putting it off.
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Just had to spend some stupid money due to my own stupidity and procrastination. I've known what I was getting my SO for weeks but kept procrastinating about placing the order. Got to the checkout and the free shipping delivery date is after Christmas, so I had to pay $15 for two-day shipping.
My SO is a self-identified Holiday Cheermeister, and there is just no universe where I could have told him that his gift was going to be late without it becoming a Whole Big Thing. I'd rather pay the $15 than disappoint him, especially because his secret superpower is thoughtful gifts and mine is...most definitely not.
Still mad at myself, though, because it's my own danged fault for putting it off.
I know it's not very mustachian, but I think you made the right call. If it's that meaningful to him, then the $15 is well worth it. And, make a note for next year on earlier shipping! ;-)
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I know it's not very mustachian, but I think you made the right call. If it's that meaningful to him, then the $15 is well worth it. And, make a note for next year on earlier shipping! ;-)
Oh I know I made the right call, haha. My relationship is worth a lot more to me than $15, and the nice thing about being an overall frugal person is that I have $15 to blow on this without worrying about it. I will definitely do better next year!
Or just restrict his Christmas list to Prime-eligible items ;)
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I've gotten back on track since my two lost days over the weekend. Finished up last week's charity mini-challenge with a donation to a family of Syrian refugees - I got them a tablet with wifi. (I spent a little more money than my other mini-challenge donations since I was annoyed at myself for forgetting on Saturday.) I thought a portable way to access the internet would be extremely useful to a family trying to settle into a new place. They also had a very basic laptop and smartphone on their 'wishlist' which makes me think they have no way to get online at all right now.
I decided not to do a one-week mini-challenge this week and just did the original challenge which was to do one thing a week. I made a donation to Black Girls Code, both because I think young black women will benefit from exposure to STEM fields, and encouragement to join them, and also because I think that the tech world will greatly benefit from having more women and minorities represented in their ranks.
I've done PT exercises every day since Sunday. Been having some pains that I think are related to something I did (not PT-related) on Saturday. I'm unfortunately prone to that sort of thing after years of not being able to walk right... I've got a ton of back and leg pain. My post-op foot was very sore at my appointment on Monday so I'm hoping that will be better when I go to PT today. It's getting cold out (after a warm autumn) which means my apartment is going to be cold, which means my "ice and elevate every day" instruction is going to be very very difficult... nothing like putting an ice pack on your bare foot when you're already freezing. I didn't manage it last night...
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In the spirit on the monthly challenges, I'm proposing a deliberate December...because it's not a great month to be uber frugal but a good time to keep things under control. My goals for this month are to set up for finishing 2017/starting 2018 strong.
Deliberate December Goals
1. Limit eating out. We have 1 dinner and 3 lunches planned as get togethers. Plus a key person at work is leaving and we're likely to go out for drinks after work one day. Goal: keep the costs reasonable (separate budget for each) plus limit eating out to these times.
2. Clothes buying: limit to 2 pairs of jeans for DH that we can get using rebates. Spending: $0.
3. Gifts: I have 1 gift to buy and have a goal of making the second gift I still need. Spending: <$20.
4. Keep up exercise. I have signed up for two 7K road races over the winter and need to keep training for them. Goal is to keep to my scheduled exercise times/durations.
5. Healthy eating...Thanksgiving overindulgence has left my jeans a little snug. December goal is to cut sugar and focus on lower carb eating.
6. Budget...finish up the yearly paperwork and get everything organized to better track spending in 2018.
7. Finish my decluttering challenge. It got derailed earlier this year due to a family emergency but I'd like to get it all checked off this month.
Wow, moongoose you are an inspiration.
1. We're keeping it real with the healthy food - a bit of indulgence, because of company and festivities, but we manage to keep things under control by taking to go boxes and adding in a day or two a week where we eat lighter.
2. Budget - I got off track in August with over $25K in expenses and it took until now to get it all sorted out. RELIEF:) I boosted one of my goals and held steady on another and paid off all extra expenses - so Jan 2018 will be off to a good start.
3. Decluttering challenge - I kept at it, even past my set deadline. It turned out to be a strange turn of events, I got tons of things done, which were not on my list that I'd given up all hope of completing this year, because I had unexpected help. Yay:)
However - a couple of my small goals did not get done - although there is hope they might still get done in December.
The one big problem I find myself with is paper clutter (I kept finding boxes and baskets with paper clutter - instead of six boxes I now have 13 boxes - I could cry) and I've finally capitulated on that front and will make it my one and only goal for January.
Sigh - I do feel a little bit defeated on that front, even if all in all, I'm way ahead with some really ugly clutter and hell holes - all of which have been tackled. A continuous stream of donation boxes have left the premises for weeks on end.
Heck, I may end up with a minimalist shed - if that isn't a contradiction in terms I don't know what is - minimalists don't need a shed cum studio. The nice thing about that is - now I can finally fix it up the way I intended five years ago and turn it into my dream studio.
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Thought yall would appreciate this: my boyfriend, Mr. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year himself, texted me last night asking if it was okay if we exchanged gifts after Christmas, because his Plan A gift hadn't worked out and the Plan B gift wasn't going to get here in time. Roughly five hours after I spend 15 bucks to rush his gift so it would be here before the 25th.
We had a pretty good laugh about it, since this will 1) be the only time in our relationship that I win at caring more about Christmas than he does, and 2) he knows how much I hate to pay for shipping.
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Thought yall would appreciate this: my boyfriend, Mr. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year himself, texted me last night asking if it was okay if we exchanged gifts after Christmas, because his Plan A gift hadn't worked out and the Plan B gift wasn't going to get here in time. Roughly five hours after I spend 15 bucks to rush his gift so it would be here before the 25th.
We had a pretty good laugh about it, since this will 1) be the only time in our relationship that I win at caring more about Christmas than he does, and 2) he knows how much I hate to pay for shipping.
Classic! And hilarious. $15 is worth paying for a good laugh and the relationship strengthening. And if there's a next time something won't arrive on time, he set the precedent. :-)
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Thought yall would appreciate this: my boyfriend, Mr. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year himself, texted me last night asking if it was okay if we exchanged gifts after Christmas, because his Plan A gift hadn't worked out and the Plan B gift wasn't going to get here in time. Roughly five hours after I spend 15 bucks to rush his gift so it would be here before the 25th.
We had a pretty good laugh about it, since this will 1) be the only time in our relationship that I win at caring more about Christmas than he does, and 2) he knows how much I hate to pay for shipping.
Classic! And hilarious. $15 is worth paying for a good laugh and the relationship strengthening. And if there's a next time something won't arrive on time, he set the precedent. :-)
This! You are the winner here, because next time something comes up, you can always refer back to this holiday. . . . because, Christmas is obviously about winning. ;-)
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Fluffmuffin, that's so funny. Worth the $15 for sure ;)
1. Have 12 no spend days 3/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month $49.12/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 24/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 12 - 13
Got in one more no spend day on the 12th. Now that we're nearly half way through the month I need to really make sure I keep the spending to a minimum. Pretty much every other day needs to be a no spend day if I'm going to hit this goal. I bought my DD lunch on the 13th so the meals out is creeping up a little. Not too bad though. I still have $100 left for the month. I have a few more clothing items to donate and will add to that total once I drop them off. Flat is still flat but it's sooooo very cold out, no way I'm riding my bike until I get my bar mitts ;)
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Dec 14: I had fast food. I was starving, trying to fit in an hour round trip to pick up my glasses and still get some other work done, and I caved. The worst is, I am starving again. No spend 9/14
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I'm wasting money tonight driving to work so I can sign a piece of paper that is due tomorrow first thing. Kid is sick and husband can't get off. So frustrating. The issue is that everyone communicates by email only and I'm too
cheap frugal Mustachian to pay for a smart phone and internet on it. My flip phone does everything I need but not what others want to demand. I make more by keeping my part time gig than I will lose in gas but it's annoying.
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Progress Update
12/2: $10.50 - Convenience. Laziness.
12/8: $3 - DH got coffee out
12/9: $2 - I got coffee out
12/9: $22 - Didn't plan ahead, let the siren call of convenience rear it's ugly head and brought home takeout :/
12/13: $5.99 - argh
12/14: $3.75 - "enter useless excuse here"
Total spent out so far: $47.24/~$113
Need to reign it in.
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First I wrongly edited my original post in this thread. But it is clearer if I post it here:
1) Don't buy meat and fish. Empty the stuffed freezer first. -> still busy doing this. Haven't bought meat and fish in december for use at home.
2) Do daily exercises for my back as I want it to give me less trouble. -> forgetting this almost every day.
3) Now that there is snow close to home: go cross country skiing and improve my condition. -> Done every weekend.
4) Get enough exercise when we visit the family around Christmas (8 days with a lot of food all day long). Say no to food we don't want to eat. -> To be implemented from the 22nd of December
5) Up to the 22nd of December, drink alcohol less often, maximum 3 days a week. -> So far in December no drinking on Mon-Thur.
6) Get my weight down to 67kg. -> Today 67.8 kg.
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1. Have 12 no spend days 3/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month $49.12/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 24/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 14-15
Spent money on groceries and not eating out. I'll be going to BJs tonight after work to pick up food for Holiday party tomorrow. I decided to go against my original idea of ordering out. Went through gym clothes and have 4-5 items to donate this weekend. Bike still flat. Maybe I'll have time this weekend to tackle it. :/
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I made 3 morning gym visits this week. The one today was kind of short but I did it anyway.
There's been a complete fail on getting out one week night for a yoga class.
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My job has tried very hard to sabotage my daily exercise plan this week.
I didn't get home till 9.30pm tonight, 14 hours after setting out for work. At 10pm I was out in the garage lifting weights.
Take that, job! I WIN!
My other acts of deliberateness will take place next week. I'm looking forward to doing some different things. None of our plans are extravagant, but we will spend more than we usually do on vacation.
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Dec 15: DH came home early and took me out to a Christmas light trail. Now he is making pasta for dinner. Free date night! No spend 10/15.
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December goals:
1) Stay on track on work trip. Not financial related, but health & fitness related. It's tough for me, given jet lag, crazy schedules, airport/hotel food - did pretty well.
2) Work out a minimum of 15x. - Have completed 7 of 15, with the month half over. I have a vacation towards the end of the month, which will help.
3) One meal out (date night with my husband). Not counting work meals out, as I'm not paying & will be out of the country. - Had to reschedule our meal out to January (kids are not feeling great), so instead taking everyone out for froyo as a treat when they are better. Will be much cheaper. ;-)
4) No more holiday shopping. My list is complete & checked off. - I finished my shopping, but my 11 year old ended up doing a few Secret Santas at school (his money), so I took him shopping. All is now complete.
5) Limit food spending (including meal out) to $800. This is a lot, but we host 8 people for a few days, and 6 people for another chunk. - I'll believe we'll hit this. Particularly as we rescheduled our evening out.
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Dec 16: Lazy Saturday. Delivered some gifts to in town folks before leaving town and talked to family to finalize travel plans. No spend 11/16.
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-Got in another workout, so I'm at 8 for the month.
-Ran the numbers, and we have $365 left in the food budget for the rest of the month, so I think we can do it!
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Dec 17: Car maintenance day, so money well spent. No spend 11/17
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Last week I traveled to my parents' house across the country - with real winter and a house full of children and familial commitments. It's delightful, but it's definitely making my goals more of a challenge.
1) See how close I can get to 0 social media use on weekdays. 3:25 on facebook last week, so I actually went downhill. Specific goal for next week is one hour - 10 mins per day. (Counting 6 day weeks; Sunday is a day off.
2) Maintain biking and swimming improvements. Cycling plans were subverted by my rush to finish work before I left. May have done all I can on this for the month.
3) Work ~2 hours a day while on break. So far nothing - will have to start tomorrow.
3.5) Start online science writing course. Advanced to unit 4 out of 8. Plan to complete the midpoint writing assignment this week.
4) Cook a lot. Not this last week, but planned out meals for the coming week for the whole family.
5) Read a lot. Started one book last week.
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1. Have 12 no spend days 3/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month $78.33/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 38/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 14-17
Spent a little money each day. Went out for Brunch Sunday and got Coffee out with DH while running errands but meals out is still pretty good. I'm going out tomorrow night for Dinner/Trivia so that'll be about $20 I think. That should be about it for the month. Dropped off more clothes/books/cds at Savers on Sunday so I've crossed off that goal.
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I decided not to do a one-week mini-challenge this week and just did the original challenge which was to do one thing a week. I made a donation to Black Girls Code, both because I think young black women will benefit from exposure to STEM fields, and encouragement to join them, and also because I think that the tech world will greatly benefit from having more women and minorities represented in their ranks.
Very cool to see BGC mentioned here! I volunteer for their events at my local chapter and it's one of the most meaningful commitments I've made in 2017. They do really good work. I've been inspired by your challenge, and—especially with the end of the year almost here—it's encouraged me to reflect on the kind of donations/volunteering/advocacy I hope to do next year.
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To review my own goals:
Here are my goals:
- Save 50%+ this month. My stretch goal is 55%, if I'm extremely frugal and cautious!
- Spend about $200 on eating out. I managed this in November, but my norm is $400+.
- Work out 2x/week. I was at 3x/week over the summer, and then slipped…
The fitness goal is going well! I worked out 3x the first week of December, 2x the second week. I'll get in one more workout (tonight!) before I go out of town for a week to spend time with family.
Saving 50%+ will be hard—I'm on track but it will be tight. I was very frugal with gifts this year, hopefully frugal but not ungenerous. I've started to realize my parents aren't materialistic, and buying them "nice things" isn't a kindness but a burden. So I got them very ordinary, useful things (thermal underwear) and nice consumables (a box of fancy chocolates meant to be a "red wine pairing"). My SO is similar: things, for him, are not a kindness or a burden, so I reused the same idea and got him a nice box of chocolates as well.
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Dec 18: 8am meeting moved to 11am to 9:30am. Then there was a rescue at sea while moving the boat (we were the rescuers, not the rescuees). I think I could sleep for a week. No spend 12/18
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Dec 18: 8am meeting moved to 11am to 9:30am. Then there was a rescue at sea while moving the boat (we were the rescuers, not the rescuees). I think I could sleep for a week. No spend 12/18
Wow! That sounds exhausting and perhaps a bit too exciting!
We're doing good with our spending and not eating out. Also got another chunk of decluttering/house projects done last weekend. Exercise isn't going as planned. I have this horrible cough that I haven't been able to shake for a few weeks. I'm doing the bare minimum but just don't feel up to much.
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Made it to 9 of 15 workouts for the month so far. Feeling good about the potential of finishing with a minimum of 15. Have a bad burn/blister on the top of my foot, so I've been creative with shoeless workouts. :-)
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Not let poor planning result in spending money on unnecessary silliness: Nothing to report here, aside from the $15 shipping charge. The saga of the $15 shipping does continue, though, since the package appears to have been stolen off our porch. I've contacted the company for assistance, since UPS said they should initiate the investigation for me, but they haven't gotten back to me yet. Ugh...
Work steadily on a contract/side-gig/project/thing that's due at the end of the month: Almost done!
Take advantage of my free time over the holiday break to get some substantial writing done: So far so good. I've got a consistent rhythm during the work week--break starts in two days, so we'll see how I'm doing once I have free time to blow!
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Dec 19: Last day before vacation starts, with stress level through the roof. If I could, I would totally pay someone to pack for us. No spend 13/18.
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Progress Update (Spend $113 or less on dining out/convenience food)
12/2: $10.50 - Convenience. Laziness.
12/8: $3 - DH got coffee out
12/9: $2 - I got coffee out
12/9: $22 - Didn't plan ahead, let the siren call of convenience rear it's ugly head and brought home takeout :/
12/13: $5.99 - argh
12/14: $3.75 - "enter useless excuse here"
12/15: $8.05 - Lunch out with cw's. Poor excuse, especially since I brought lunch with me...
12:16: $3.25 - tea
Total spent out so far: $58.54/~$113
On the plus side, when compared to this time last month, we've spent 1/3 the amount we did in November on dining out. That's pretty awesome to see.
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I am officially DONE with the contract gig, a full week before it was due! I don't have to think about it over break at all! I'm so thrilled.
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Dec 20: Lyft to the airport was wonderfully simple, given that DH can't carry anything right now. However, we expected the cost to be closer to public transportation. When we checked in the past, it was actually cheaper than public. Now we are safely esconced in the airport with plenty of snacks soon to be spoiled by family. No spend 13/20
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1. Have 12 no spend days 4/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month $78.33/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 38/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 18-19
Managed another no spend day, getting there. Even though I had planned on spending some money going out for my birthday last night my friends wouldn't let me pay so the Meals out Budget remains the same. No plans for any other meals out so good chance I'll make this goal. Still putting stuff together to donate but with the holiday's it may wait until January to donate, since I hit my goal it's not top priority. Let's not even talk about the flat. Maybe I can ask DH to fix it for a Christmas gift? ;)
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Let's not even talk about the flat. Maybe I can ask DH to fix it for a Christmas gift? ;)
Honestly, it's starting to make ME anxious that you haven't fixed it yet... ha ha. ;-)
I threw my back out on Friday but still managed to do most or all of my PT exercises every day. I did have to cancel my appointment on Monday, I was just in too much pain to attempt taking the subway at rush hour (couldn't sit or stand for more than a few minutes without a lot of pain). I am doing quite a bit better today and I'm hoping I can make it through my appointment without hurting myself. I'm not sure if I should tell my therapist about my back as she seems to think the solution for every muscle ache is to give it an incredibly painful massage. I don't know if I could stand it. But it might fix it? I dunno.
Haven't done my charitable act of the week yet. I decided (again) not to do another one-week mini-challenge this week because I was basically flat on my back for five days, and not feeling up to much of anything. I had wanted to do something ambitious but I just didn't have it in me :-/ Story of my life: mind is willing, flesh is weak. But I will figure out something good for the weekly challenge. (And @akzidenz - thanks for your comments on BGC - that's really cool that you work with them!)
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Just planning to diet to lose weight around 10 pounds as a new year resolution.
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Let's not even talk about the flat. Maybe I can ask DH to fix it for a Christmas gift? ;)
Honestly, it's starting to make ME anxious that you haven't fixed it yet... ha ha. ;-)
Haha! I asked DH if he was still thinking of gift idea he could fix my flat but he said no we need to do it together so you will know how. I guess he has a point.
I hope your back feels better soon, but great job sticking with the PT every day!
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All but two Christmas cards are posted - the two left are hand delivery.
Haven't yet freaked out on family and am still feeling pretty good.
Have gotten around most of the obstacles that often cause the freak out - Plans to see family are made and everyone seems to be happy with them. The usual hurdles are addressed. Celebrating with my mom on the 28th - with a snow day back set for either the 27th or 29th. My dad's birthday (on the 28th) is being celebrated at younger brother's on the 30th. He works weird hours so won't be around on the 28th - and has never had a family meal at his house so my dad is accepting that his birthday will be celebrated two days later. This frees us up for celebrating with my mom. And spreads out the large meals over more days.
Still sticking to the gift plan - and have made a menu plan and so far feeling pretty good about that as well.
Have been been managing my work schedule ok - so I think that I am on track for two full weeks off!
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Our "deliberate" loosening of the purse strings in December was sabotaged today. DH and I invited some members of his family that we don't see often enough out for a restaurant meal, intending to pay for everyone, but while we were having coffee my FiL quietly slipped away from the table on the pretext of going to the bathroom and settled up.
We've no way of paying FiL back - he lives a simple, contented life in a tiny house, can afford all he needs, and wouldn't welcome a surprise gift - but we can pay it forward by sending some cash to each of the young people who was there instead.
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Dec 21: Family chats and stuck in traffic, I did not even go anywhere that other people were spending money, unless the rest stop had a gift shop. No spend 14/21
Dec 22: Running errands with Mom, who likes to convince me that I deserve things she wished she could get me. Luckily, she has also taught me you don't always get what you deserve. No spend 15/22.
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In the spirit on the monthly challenges, I'm proposing a deliberate December...because it's not a great month to be uber frugal but a good time to keep things under control. My goals for this month are to set up for finishing 2017/starting 2018 strong.
Deliberate December Goals
1. Limit eating out. We have 1 dinner and 3 lunches planned as get togethers. Plus a key person at work is leaving and we're likely to go out for drinks after work one day. Goal: keep the costs reasonable (separate budget for each) plus limit eating out to these times.
2. Clothes buying: limit to 2 pairs of jeans for DH that we can get using rebates. Spending: $0.
3. Gifts: I have 1 gift to buy and have a goal of making the second gift I still need. Spending: <$20.
4. Keep up exercise. I have signed up for two 7K road races over the winter and need to keep training for them. Goal is to keep to my scheduled exercise times/durations.
5. Healthy eating...Thanksgiving overindulgence has left my jeans a little snug. December goal is to cut sugar and focus on lower carb eating.
6. Budget...finish up the yearly paperwork and get everything organized to better track spending in 2018.
7. Finish my decluttering challenge. It got derailed earlier this year due to a family emergency but I'd like to get it all checked off this month.
Wow, moongoose you are an inspiration.
1. We're keeping it real with the healthy food - a bit of indulgence, because of company and festivities, but we manage to keep things under control by taking to go boxes and adding in a day or two a week where we eat lighter.
2. Budget - I got off track in August with over $25K in expenses and it took until now to get it all sorted out. RELIEF:) I boosted one of my goals and held steady on another and paid off all extra expenses - so Jan 2018 will be off to a good start.
3. Decluttering challenge - I kept at it, even past my set deadline. It turned out to be a strange turn of events, I got tons of things done, which were not on my list that I'd given up all hope of completing this year, because I had unexpected help. Yay:)
However - a couple of my small goals did not get done - although there is hope they might still get done in December.
The one big problem I find myself with is paper clutter (I kept finding boxes and baskets with paper clutter - instead of six boxes I now have 13 boxes - I could cry) and I've finally capitulated on that front and will make it my one and only goal for January.
Sigh - I do feel a little bit defeated on that front, even if all in all, I'm way ahead with some really ugly clutter and hell holes - all of which have been tackled. A continuous stream of donation boxes have left the premises for weeks on end.
Heck, I may end up with a minimalist shed - if that isn't a contradiction in terms I don't know what is - minimalists don't need a shed cum studio. The nice thing about that is - now I can finally fix it up the way I intended five years ago and turn it into my dream studio.
BUDGET
I'm ecstatic that I stayed under budget for December and managed to save $1525 which I very much doubted I could pull off - but I did it.
The best part - I'll be going into 2018 with no debt (except an unplanned car loan since August - grrr) and a new rather exciting plan/goal for both retirement savings and a travel fund for a big trip in Aug 2018.
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Up to 10 of 15 workouts for December. I don't know why I don't always make time for it - I always feel so great afterward!
I am going to take my 10 year old to lunch today. I'm pretty sure we can still make our December food budget, but he & I are alone today & it will be a nice treat.
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Late to this thread "Party" But since November and December are always our most expensive and busiest times I had two goals which I did acheive in November and am so far on pace for December but big costs at the End as I am flying to Orlando.
Goal 1- Was to workout at least still 5 days a week and not put on any holiday weight , so far so good.
Goal 2- Stay in Budget- November I actually came in about 20% under budgets. December so far I am way ahead but I have been cautious with My trip between Xmas and New Years trying to bank some by cutting other budget areas even more. So far so good but Orlando is going to be the bottom line.
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We're doing good staying on budget. DH and I agreed that we'd take the kids to lunch today after we were in town for a doctor appointment in exchange for brown bagging it the two days next week we were going to have lunch dates. We can still eat together but don't have to go to a restaurant and we'll probably be happier with things that way.
I still have one present to make but it's just tamales and I have until the middle of next week. Hopefully we'll get that done over the weekend.
Exercise has slowed because I can't really do much right now...walking pneumonia. Hopefully the meds will get it cleared up soon. I figure that's a good reason to deliberately drop off for awhile.
We still need to finish our decluttering and paperwork but those are slated for this weekend as well.
Still on track....
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We're doing good staying on budget. DH and I agreed that we'd take the kids to lunch today after we were in town for a doctor appointment in exchange for brown bagging it the two days next week we were going to have lunch dates. We can still eat together but don't have to go to a restaurant and we'll probably be happier with things that way.
I still have one present to make but it's just tamales and I have until the middle of next week. Hopefully we'll get that done over the weekend.
Exercise has slowed because I can't really do much right now...walking pneumonia. Hopefully the meds will get it cleared up soon. I figure that's a good reason to deliberately drop off for awhile.
Take care of that walking pneumonia! dont want it to turn into something worse.
We still need to finish our decluttering and paperwork but those are slated for this weekend as well.
Still on track....
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In the spirit on the monthly challenges, I'm proposing a deliberate December...because it's not a great month to be uber frugal but a good time to keep things under control. My goals for this month are to set up for finishing 2017/starting 2018 strong.
Deliberate December Goals
1. Limit eating out. We have 1 dinner and 3 lunches planned as get togethers. Plus a key person at work is leaving and we're likely to go out for drinks after work one day. Goal: keep the costs reasonable (separate budget for each) plus limit eating out to these times.
2. Clothes buying: limit to 2 pairs of jeans for DH that we can get using rebates. Spending: $0.
3. Gifts: I have 1 gift to buy and have a goal of making the second gift I still need. Spending: <$20.
4. Keep up exercise. I have signed up for two 7K road races over the winter and need to keep training for them. Goal is to keep to my scheduled exercise times/durations.
5. Healthy eating...Thanksgiving overindulgence has left my jeans a little snug. December goal is to cut sugar and focus on lower carb eating.
6. Budget...finish up the yearly paperwork and get everything organized to better track spending in 2018.
7. Finish my decluttering challenge. It got derailed earlier this year due to a family emergency but I'd like to get it all checked off this month.
One of the most common reasons for weight gain is an evening out. The weight-watcher seldom realises what havoc a small slice of pastry can create with a carefully planned diet. Yes, eating out is a part of our lives. It's easy, quick and one of life's simple pleasures.
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Dec 23: Lots of walking and visiting, but that is all free :) No spend 16/23.
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I did it!!!!! Two years on my list....on two decluttering challenges. I just hadn't managed the time. Today, I stained and sealed our bathroom cabinet doors! And I painted the inside of the cabinets to cover the pepto pink. Hubby is making great progress on the ceiling! This is so awesome to have done!
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I did it!!!!! Two years on my list....on two decluttering challenges. I just hadn't managed the time. Today, I stained and sealed our bathroom cabinet doors! And I painted the inside of the cabinets to cover the pepto pink. Hubby is making great progress on the ceiling! This is so awesome to have done!
Ahhh, the feeling of accomplishment!
Dec 24: We took an opportunity to purchase groceries for one family meal. $5/person isn't too bad for a special meal and my nieces and nephews are doing all the work. Yesterday, I saved the potato skins from the to be mashed potatoes and made a shredded potato skins snack. Though the only actual complaint was that it doesn't make much, I am pretty sure that Mom.will be telling all of her friends that I made her eat her trash. Hopefully, everyone who hears that gets her sense of humor, or we might be dealing with elder protection services. No spend: 16/24
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1) See how close I can get to 0 social media use on weekdays. Modified slightly to allow 10 minutes facebook for day, so this week: 58 minutes total fb, with no other usage. Pleased.
2) Maintain biking and swimming improvements. No progress this week.
3) Work ~2 hours a day while on break. Whoops. Needed that reminder. I've only worked about half of days I've been on vacation.
3.5) Start online science writing course. Paused to allow reading of the paper I need to review in the writing assignment.
4) Cook a lot. Participated in planning/preparing dinner for 8-12 since 12/15.
5) Read a lot. Still in the same book, made slight progress.
And came in under $100 for all my Christmas presents!
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Dec 25: Breakfast, lunch and dinner each at a different house, a different state even. Doesn't leave much time for spending, as long as you start with a full tank of gas. No spend 17/25
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Still keeping up with PT exercises. My last (probably) visit is this week and then back to the surgeon in early January to see what he thinks. I only did half the exercises on a few days because I was trying not to do anything that would tense up my back muscles, and my therapist thought the balancing exercises might be too much.
I ended up donating to International Relief Teams last week for my generosity challenge, specifically earmarked towards helping Puerto Ricans who are trying to recover from Hurricane Maria. They have been supplying temporary shelter, baby formula, canned foods, and bottled water, as well as some basic medical supply kits.
I was really hoping to give some more time/thought to this challenge towards the end of the month, but throwing my back out really spoiled everything :-/ I spent the last week and a half struggling through heavily sedating medication and constant pain. Blargh. Not a terribly charitable state of mind... if I'm being honest, I've been in a very UNcharitable state of mind towards a lot of people. I'd been thinking of a one-week mini-challenge of being emotionally/psychologically generous with the people in my life. Being patient with people, assuming the best, forgiveness, kindness, etc. This week would be an incredible challenge in that category for a few reasons. And I think I might really need to do some standing up for myself this week and putting my foot down, so I'm not sure it would be good timing... hmm.
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Progress Update (Spend $113 or less on dining out/convenience food)
12/2: $10.50 - Convenience. Laziness.
12/8: $3 - DH got coffee out
12/9: $2 - I got coffee out
12/9: $22 - Didn't plan ahead, let the siren call of convenience rear it's ugly head and brought home takeout :/
12/13: $5.99 - argh
12/14: $3.75 - "enter useless excuse here"
12/15: $8.05 - Lunch out with cw's. Poor excuse, especially since I brought lunch with me...
12/16: $3.25 - tea
12/21: $20.25 - dinner out
12/22: $46.65 - lunch and dinner out amidst final holiday shopping. no-planning, consumer-ist mindset totally pushed us way overboard
Total spent out so far: $125.44/~$113
So bummer that we blew the budget but a couple positives/awareness factors I learned from this:
1) Compared to the same time span last year, we've spent less (last year was $217.35 for same time frame. December 2016 total was $332.63. Vast overall improvement this year assuming we stick to eating the groceries we just bought for the rest of the week).
2) We blew more than half of what we spent in less than 24 hours and that was when we consciously decided to turn our thinking off. No deliberation, just reacting to circumstances and not even trying to plan. We both agreed that we felt horrible afterward and aren't looking forward to anything like that again. Hopefully it helps us keep that type of behavior to a minimum.
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In the spirit on the monthly challenges, I'm proposing a deliberate December...because it's not a great month to be uber frugal but a good time to keep things under control. My goals for this month are to set up for finishing 2017/starting 2018 strong.
Deliberate December Goals
1. Limit eating out. We have 1 dinner and 3 lunches planned as get togethers. Plus a key person at work is leaving and we're likely to go out for drinks after work one day. Goal: keep the costs reasonable (separate budget for each) plus limit eating out to these times.
2. Clothes buying: limit to 2 pairs of jeans for DH that we can get using rebates. Spending: $0.
3. Gifts: I have 1 gift to buy and have a goal of making the second gift I still need. Spending: <$20.
4. Keep up exercise. I have signed up for two 7K road races over the winter and need to keep training for them. Goal is to keep to my scheduled exercise times/durations.
5. Healthy eating...Thanksgiving overindulgence has left my jeans a little snug. December goal is to cut sugar and focus on lower carb eating.
6. Budget...finish up the yearly paperwork and get everything organized to better track spending in 2018.
7. Finish my decluttering challenge. It got derailed earlier this year due to a family emergency but I'd like to get it all checked off this month.
December is too costly for me too.
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1. Have 12 no spend days 5/12
2. Stick to Meals Out budget of $150 a month $114.87/$150
3. Donate/Sell 31 items. 1 for each day of the month 38/31
4. Fix my flat on my bike! 0/1
Dec 20-27
With only 4 days left in the year safe to say I won't hit the no spend days goal. My meals out budget is looking good though. January I have my goal at $75 so I'm not sure how that's going to go. I am currently sick but I really hope to get to my flat this week. I know have bar mitts (Birthday Gift from DH) so I can ride my bike in the colder weather as long as the roads are not icy.
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Dec 26: Gas for all the driving. No spend 17/26
Dec 27: Didn't leave DHs childhood home. Even his parents think it is cold and they live hear. Proved to MIL that leftovers are fine by us, thus preventing her from going out for groceries just to impress/spoil is. No spend: 18/27
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In the spirit on the monthly challenges, I'm proposing a deliberate December...because it's not a great month to be uber frugal but a good time to keep things under control. My goals for this month are to set up for finishing 2017/starting 2018 strong.
Deliberate December Goals
1. Limit eating out. We have 1 dinner and 3 lunches planned as get togethers. Plus a key person at work is leaving and we're likely to go out for drinks after work one day. Goal: keep the costs reasonable (separate budget for each) plus limit eating out to these times.
2. Clothes buying: limit to 2 pairs of jeans for DH that we can get using rebates. Spending: $0.
3. Gifts: I have 1 gift to buy and have a goal of making the second gift I still need. Spending: <$20.
4. Keep up exercise. I have signed up for two 7K road races over the winter and need to keep training for them. Goal is to keep to my scheduled exercise times/durations.
5. Healthy eating...Thanksgiving overindulgence has left my jeans a little snug. December goal is to cut sugar and focus on lower carb eating.
6. Budget...finish up the yearly paperwork and get everything organized to better track spending in 2018.
7. Finish my decluttering challenge. It got derailed earlier this year due to a family emergency but I'd like to get it all checked off this month.
In this December, Mt goal is to stay away from unwanted fatty foods like cakes.
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Dec 28: Took public transit home from the airport.
DH is still gimp, so I carried everything not only through the airports, but for the mile and a half walk home from the train. That plus groceries has left me wiped out. No spend 17/28
I am a little surprised at how often I do spend money. I thought 20 no spend days would be a breeze, but it turns out that I won't make it, as I need to replace the shocks on the Jeep and fill the propane tank tomorrow. Of course, I started out saying groceries and gifts didn't count, but did sometimes count them, so my methodology was flawed.
I am being more specific for January: groceries for under $300.
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Dec 29: Car repairs are not free. No spend 17/29
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1) See how close I can get to 0 social media use on weekdays. Modified slightly to allow 10 minutes facebook for day. 2:47 total fb last week. More than desirable, but not so bad considering the vacation.
2) Maintain biking and swimming improvements. Fell off while I was out of town.
3) Work ~2 hours a day while on break. Limited success here.
3.5) Start online science writing course. Paused.
4) Cook a lot. Success. My mother has not cooked dinner once.
5) Read a lot. Also success.
Thinking about this all month has put me in a great mindset for new years' goals. Here's to continuing progress!
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Got back from Orlando last night and looked over my December budget and killed it! Came in for December almost 25% under budget. Having realistic goals is such a difference maker!
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It's encouraging to read about everyone's successes. Hope you all had a deliberate and joyful time for NYE.
Save 50%+ this month. My stretch goal is 55%, if I'm extremely frugal and cautious! I saved 54.35% this month…so let's round up and say I managed to do 55% after all! What made a difference: I bought a sweater I was convinced I "needed", and after two weeks went by, I realized how slippery and feeble that "need" really was.Spend about $200 on eating out. I managed this in November, but my norm is $400+. Nope, didn't manage this one. I was in the $400+ range again. Because of the holiday season/traveling, this might not have been a practical goal for December. I'll try again for January.Work out 2x/week. I was at 3x/week over the summer, and then slipped…
Succeeded! I joined a gym two blocks from my home…it's a little expensive, even for my HCOL area, but having a nearby gym makes a huge difference in actually visiting it. I think I'll be able to keep up a routine of 3 visits/week in January!
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Mongoose - congrats on finally completing a two-year-old project:) Celebration time!
I did actually manage one more de-cluttering project the week before Christmas which I'm very happy about. Cleared out the linen closet - result 4 boxes of donations.
Now I can actually find what I'm looking for. I'll never be minimalist in the linen department, but miraculously I have paired down to four sets of sheets.