Author Topic: Deliberate December  (Read 18770 times)

pachnik

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #50 on: December 07, 2017, 06:44:16 AM »
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.   

haypug16

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #51 on: December 07, 2017, 09:04:32 AM »
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.

ixtap

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #52 on: December 07, 2017, 02:06:15 PM »
Dec 7: Left the wallet at home, so no spend it is :) No spend 5/7

westtoeast

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #53 on: December 08, 2017, 05:13:07 AM »
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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haypug16

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #54 on: December 08, 2017, 06:23:44 AM »
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.

TartanTallulah

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #55 on: December 08, 2017, 10:03:17 PM »
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.

Dollar Slice

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #56 on: December 08, 2017, 10:46:09 PM »
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 :-)

ixtap

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #57 on: December 08, 2017, 11:10:51 PM »
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

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #58 on: December 09, 2017, 11:49:29 AM »
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!

Mongoose

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #59 on: December 10, 2017, 07:34:12 AM »
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.

pachnik

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #60 on: December 10, 2017, 08:04:07 AM »
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. 

ixtap

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #61 on: December 10, 2017, 08:43:06 AM »
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

haypug16

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #62 on: December 10, 2017, 08:46:56 AM »
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.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #63 on: December 10, 2017, 01:45:21 PM »
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.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2017, 01:47:06 PM by Linda_Norway »

Dollar Slice

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #64 on: December 10, 2017, 03:06:18 PM »
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...

Tass

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #65 on: December 10, 2017, 07:26:45 PM »
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.

zeli2033

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #66 on: December 10, 2017, 10:13:33 PM »
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.
...
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...
« Last Edit: December 12, 2017, 08:49:38 AM by zeli2033 »

Linea_Norway

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #67 on: December 11, 2017, 01:31:04 AM »
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.

fluffmuffin

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #68 on: December 11, 2017, 06:52:41 AM »
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.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #69 on: December 11, 2017, 06:59:19 AM »
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.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #70 on: December 11, 2017, 10:20:28 AM »
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.

haypug16

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #71 on: December 12, 2017, 07:24:22 AM »
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.

ixtap

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #72 on: December 12, 2017, 09:10:06 AM »
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

Mongoose

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #73 on: December 13, 2017, 08:32:23 AM »
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.

ixtap

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #74 on: December 13, 2017, 08:58:28 AM »
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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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #75 on: December 13, 2017, 09:24:57 AM »
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 -

fluffmuffin

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #76 on: December 13, 2017, 11:32:46 AM »
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.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #77 on: December 13, 2017, 11:48:09 AM »
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! ;-)

fluffmuffin

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #78 on: December 13, 2017, 11:54:01 AM »
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 ;)

Dollar Slice

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #79 on: December 13, 2017, 12:03:32 PM »
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...

Rosy

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #80 on: December 13, 2017, 02:28:51 PM »
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.

fluffmuffin

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #81 on: December 14, 2017, 07:07:47 AM »
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.

Mongoose

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #82 on: December 14, 2017, 07:13:47 AM »
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. :-)

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #83 on: December 14, 2017, 07:32:05 AM »
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. ;-)

haypug16

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #84 on: December 14, 2017, 07:39:38 AM »
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 ;)

ixtap

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #85 on: December 14, 2017, 05:49:54 PM »
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

Mongoose

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #86 on: December 14, 2017, 06:54:23 PM »
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.

zeli2033

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #87 on: December 14, 2017, 07:26:04 PM »
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.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #88 on: December 15, 2017, 04:31:15 AM »
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.

haypug16

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #89 on: December 15, 2017, 08:36:44 AM »
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. :/



pachnik

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #90 on: December 15, 2017, 08:38:35 AM »
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. 

TartanTallulah

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #91 on: December 15, 2017, 05:01:18 PM »
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.

ixtap

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #92 on: December 15, 2017, 09:14:33 PM »
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.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #93 on: December 16, 2017, 03:47:22 PM »
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.

ixtap

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #94 on: December 16, 2017, 06:53:03 PM »
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.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #95 on: December 17, 2017, 12:59:30 PM »
-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!

ixtap

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #96 on: December 17, 2017, 02:40:47 PM »
Dec 17: Car maintenance day, so money well spent. No spend 11/17

Tass

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #97 on: December 17, 2017, 10:14:14 PM »
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.

haypug16

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #98 on: December 18, 2017, 07:59:02 AM »
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.

akzidenz

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Re: Deliberate December
« Reply #99 on: December 18, 2017, 06:12:37 PM »
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.



To review my own goals:

Quote
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.