Small Accomplishments, Mini Quiche & Roller Derby

What do they all have in common? Not really sure but it's what has been going on in my world lately.

Last weekend the hubs got the rest of our baseboard molding installed in our living room. We still have to patch the holes and paint but all base and crown molding is now installed in the main part of the house (kitchen, living, hallway & dining). We technically still have to install moldings around the bedroom and bathroom doors (three of them) but narrower molding so I am calling this step in the project done!

Last night I made mini quiches with red bell pepper, mushroom, bacon and cheese. I did them in muffin tins. I was NOT pleased with how they turned out. Too small and even though it was cooked through it was too watery. I even cooked the veggies BEFORE I put them in the egg mixture.

The egg mixture probably needs to be increased in order to make enough fuller mini quiches for breakfast for the hubs and I each morning. That is a lot of eggs! I have not figured out the calories yet. Anyone have helpful tips on mini quiches?

Last Saturday the hubs and I went to Roller Derby for the first time. It was a friends birthday and she saved three of the front rows for us all to hang together. That night we even set an attendance record! It took me a while to get the general idea of the rules and I still don't understand everything but it was fun. The medics only had to be called out once and a girl ended up on crutches.

The local league is the Rat City Roller Girls. There are four teams; Derby Liberation Front, Grave Danger, Sockit Wenches & Throttle Rockets. They have the GREATEST names like Yoko Onoudi'nt, Georgia O'Grief, X-Khan & Betty Ford Galaxy.

Oh yeah, and their "cheerleaders" and fans take things seriously! Below Skeletora or Countes De Bodies - not really certain.

A huge Grave Danger fan. He was VERY in to it.

My SD and her friend with a member of the Throttle Rockets.

Her friend (in the hat) is in Jr. Roller Derby. I think my favorite was the Sockit Wenches. Probably because I liked their uniforms the best and they kicked some serious but in their match.

Living an Authentic Life

Authenticity refers to the truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions. 2010 is all about living my authentic life.

In December I worked too much and hemorrhaged money in order to fulfill the commercialism of the holiday and am really ready to move on to a New Year. I am giving serious thought to taking a vacation over the holidays next year to somewhere nice and warm.

I have not been the best about keeping my goals in front of me and I resolve to do much better in the coming year. The course of my life is screaming for a change and the only way that will happen is by changing the way I do things.

So without further ado here are the year end numbers...

Savings - $568.48
Cash on Hand - $762.27
Retirement - $18,841.51 (combined yikes)
Home Value - $175,000.00
Mortgage Debt - $149,103.27
Loan Debt - $34,121.25
Credit Card Debt - $4,633.40

Total Net Worth $7,314.34

Goals for the coming year.....

Financial

• Savings - $3000.00
• Retirement - $22,500.00 (combined yikes)
• Home Value - $185,000.00 (unless we buy a new house)
• Mortgage Debt - $148,000.00
• Loan Debt - $24,600.00
• Credit Card Debt - $0

Total Net Worth - $37,900.00 (not including cash on hand)

Personal

• Take a real vacation (fly to somewhere warm)
• Revamp blog
• Learn Italian (CD's in the car while commuting)
• Get down to goal weight
• Finish all condo projects
• Buy a house (this is tentative)
• Create a Steampunk wardrobe
• Work on career change
• Declutter
  

So far today I have gotten all of the Christmas decorations down and they are all sitting on my dining room table. I want to get that put away by the weekend. I have already made minimum payments on four of my five credit cards and balanced the checkbook. To meet my health goal for the year I want to sit down and make out a grocery list so I can shop for healthy food for the week.

I think I will buy myself a notebook to use as a journal for the year. This will be where I can put my lists of things that need to get done etc. Seeing the numbers above makes me realize even more how important it is to get out of debt and increase our retirement savings.

Here is to 2010!

December Wrap Up

December was not as challenging even with Christmas. Our employer income stayed the same. Additional income of $775.40 in the form of...

• $269.40 - the hubs bonus (after taxes)
  
• $220.00 - health reimbursement from my company
• $286.00 - cash out stock that was no longer publicly traded ($230 went to savings)
  

We have decided to take the $1000 we have in a CD that matures next month and put it in savings. Then combined with our tax return we should have enough to have the work that was done on my Subaru last spring done AGAIN cause they messed it up. We are hoping the new mechanic finds fault with the work so we can get reimbursed. That's a long story for another day. Anything left over will immediately go on debt.

We went over our Christmas budget by $15 but that is not too bad since we bought gifts for many people on $500 by shopping sales and making some hand crafted items. We also cut back a little this year but didn't everyone? More hand crafted items are in store that were not finished but I have learned to start early next year.

As far as monthly expenses we track such as groceries, gas, eating out and coffee.

• Grocery budget $400 - actual $492.20 and we still need stuff for New Years Eve
  
• Gas budget $140 - actual $125.56 (and my tank is FULL)
  
• Eating out $136.12 which is $3.05 more than last month
• Coffee $96.59 which is $15.32 less than last month

Goals for January...

Finances

• Reduce debt by $1800 ($1095 on credit cards and $705 on loans)
  
• Reduce eating out to $50 (date night with the hubs)
  
• Reduce coffee to $50 (twice per week)
  
• Increase grocery budget to $500

Health

• Continue walking on Sunday mornings with my friend
• Add elliptical machine twice per week
  
• Add The Firm video once per week
  
• Increase water intake
  
• Date night with the hubs (see eating out)
  

Hand crafting

• Finish SD tabi socks
  
• Finish SS fingerless gloves
• Sew headband

Decluttering and Condo projects

• Put away pattern pieces found in storage tub
• Find homes or donate stuff behind the couch
• Find homes or donate stuff along wall in master bedroom
  
• Donate items already bagged
  

And there you have it. I think these are all attainable and I like the focus on several areas in my life. Here's to 2009!

Healthy Body = Healthy Finances

Thank you to Notes From the Frugal Trenches for this post today. It really echos one of the areas I need to focus on better. Five things you should do every day to get or stay healthy. Part of my focus is not just fiscal health but my actual health.

1. Fruits/Veggies - I have been much better about getting fruit/veggies in my daily diet. Five servings every day is still a challenge some days but with payday tomorrow I can make a grocery list and make certain I have enough to get me through the day every day.

2. Water - Some days I am good at getting enough water and other days not so much. I am trying to cut back on the caffeine consumption. We have been pretty good about Starbucks only twice a week and bringing our coffee from home.

3. Exercise - The bain of my existence right now which is so sad because I used to really love it. I have an elliptical machine at home and some really great tapes and DVD's. I have resolved to do something twice a week along with my Sunday walks with my friend. I'd really like to start rock climbing but want to lose a bit of weight first.

4. Sleep - Yet another area where I do not excel. I normally go to bed around midnight and even though my alarm is set for six I usually sleep in until six-thirty. Really need to shoot for minimally seven to eight hours of sleep a night.

5. Social interaction - I used to be good at this. Although lately sometimes it's hard for me to go out of my comfort zone and meet new people. I never used to be that way but have become some what of a recluse in the last several years. Need to get out more and need to have date night with the hubs more too.

There you have it. I know if I put these five simple things in to practice my health and spirit will certainly benefit.

November Goals

The leaves are falling off the trees like mad and it's darn cold out there. Welcome to November!


I had posted my October Roundup & November Goals on Friday and decided after I posted it was too long and involved. At the end of this month I will make my wrap up a lot more simplistic. I decided as part of this I would start out November with my goals.

Pay off personal loan and credit card debt with home equity loan.
We went to our credit union yesterday and will find out tomorrow if we are approved and for how much. There are many advantages to this type of loan. We will reduce our minimum payments per month which will allow us to decide what to do with the money we keep every month as well as make it easier to pay extra on debt. We will reduce the amount of interest we are paying and we can write off a portion of our payments on our taxes.

Lose five pounds.
I have been sedentary for a while with the exception of my Sunday morning walks. Five pounds is probably easily achievable and I could go higher but just really don't want to set myself up for failure. If I lose more then cool beans. I plan to achieve this by using my elliptical trainer four times a week and continuing my Sunday morning walks. I will also make an effort to include more fruits and veggies in my daily diet and drink more water.

Drink coffee out only twice per week.
Coffee is one of my weaknesses. I think because coffee is a treat for me and it's relatively inexpensive at the time of purchase. Going and getting coffee every day or at least several times a week really adds up. I usually get coffee with my friend Sunday morning after my walks so that will be one of the days which leaves another day during the week for coffee out. The rest of the time the hubs and I will be utilizing our french press and espresso machine.

Complete seven hand crafted or purchased gifts for Christmas.
Thank you for your comments on my post about Holiday Gift Stress. This has definitely given me some food for thought as far as what I plan to buy or make for Christmas gifts this year. I know part of my problem is the guilt I feel over disappointing family members with something not from their list. I made some headway last night creating scrap book calendar pages for my niece and nephews scrap books.

Have twelve no spend days this month.
I'm taking an idea from Holly Is Stopping Shopping and FruGal and tracking my no spend days. I am guaranteed at least four this week since I have bought groceries and paid all my bills and have nothing due until Friday when the hubs and I get paid.

Manage extras ahead of time.
There are a few extras this month as we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the states. My sister is hosting and I have voluntered to bring green bean casserole and squash to feed approximately 17 people. This should not be too bad on my grocery budget for the month.

It's also my dad's birthday which we always celebrate at Thanksgiving and which means we need to purchase a gift. We know what we are getting but need to wait until payday.

My niece is also being baptized the weekend of Thanksgiving so that means two trips up to my sister's house in one weekend. Hopefully that won't hurt too bad in the gas budget, especially since gas has come down and costs about $15 less to fill up my tank. We don't have the hubs kids this year for Turkey day so we will save some gas we would normally have spent driving to get them.

I need to pay the tabs for my car this month but first I need to take it through emissions. We will do that this weekend to get it over and done with.

Finally, the new James Bond film Quantum of Solace comes out this month. I don't know about you but I am sucker for this particular English gentleman. There will be money in the entertainment budget to go see it. The question will be if we go at midnight on the night it opens?


Have a great day!