January Recap..

It's already the end of January, in case you hadn't noticed.. lol.. And while I haven't accomplished much this month, I've learned a lot of what not to do in the future..

MONEY

Here is my "savings jar".. It's an Equal jar that I cleaned out.. :)

I put ALL of my change in here, I don't spend any change at all.. So at the end of the day, it all goes in here.. I started saving prolly right before Christmas, and so far I've saved $34.94.. :)  The bad part is that I've saved and used almost all my $1's and $5's.. I've only got $3 saved that way.. I've had to use a lot of my money, including all my eBay sales, for groceries and gas..

I'm learning that I need to bring in more money than my job is currently allowing me to.. While I'm trying to work some overtime, I either get called off or I have so many deductions that it makes the overtime disappear.. SO, I've decided that February 1st to the 22nd is a NO SPEND PERIOD..  If it's not on my budget, it's not happening..

Another goal for February is to bring in at least $200 outside income.. I'm going to try making stethoscope covers and maybe nightlights and sell them on Etsy.. And then I will still sell things on eBay.. Just filed my tax return.. Should be getting a pretty decent return.. Plan on putting at least $500 in my savings account, then using most of it to get caught up on bills.. I also plan to buy a deep freezer for making things in bulk in the future..

GOALS

** I wasn't able to finish Wicked as quickly as I'd planned originally.. I find it is a very long book (a little over 400 pages, with small words).. So I plan to finish it and still read another book in February..

** Got an appointment with the advisor at IUS to get classes scheduled for Summer 2014 in a couple of weeks.. I'm excited to get that ball rolling.. Gonna look into enrolling in an ASL class at UofL too, but I have to figure out if I have to pay another application fee..

** Getting excited about my trip to see my brother, SIL, niece and nephew.. Like, countdown excited.. lol.. I can't wait to take pics again at our grandpa's graves, I can't wait to see them (of course), and I can't wait to see their new house..

** I'm hoping to make a trip to Chicago in April.. To see Jeff Dunham.. But that all depends on if there are tickets when I get my tax return.. There are still good tickets left for Friday night..

Well, I hope you guys had a great January.. And here's to a great February.. :)

Thinking..

It always gets me in trouble.. Well, usually..

I'm thinking about this last month an how little I've accomplished.. While I plan to do a 'Monthly Recap', this is more of a 'get out of my head' entry.. 

I am behind on my reading.. I'm behind on one of my bills, bc I spent too much money on (unnecessary) food and craft stuff..

So, I'm thinking from Feb.1 to Feb. 22, I'm not going to spend any money on anything but what is on my budget.. And I will do my damnedest to track every bit of money I spend and bring in.. On my days off, I'm going to start making things to sell on Etsy.. Hopefully I'll make a little money with that.. :)

Well, I'm off to finish work now.. And get more ideas for things to make/sell. :)

No More..

No more potatoes..

No more bread..

No more pasta meals..

No more crackers/chips..

Basically, no more "bad" carbs.. I am going to try to cut back my portion sizes so that I can start to actively lose weight.. 

I need to stop grazing.. 

I need to stop choosing bad foods over good food..

I WILL buy healthier food from now on..

I WILL start tracking my protein and calories again.. 

I WILL workout at least 10 minutes every day.. At least 30 minutes three times a day..

I WILL do more portion control..

Will be cleaning out my cupboards tonight and hopefully find that all my food isn't gone after I'm done..

Just Dance Away..

I truly love this game.. It lets me dance my booty off, and doesn't make me bored to tears.. Unlike Insanity.. No insults meant to anyone that loves this workout, but if you've read my blog you know I can't do much repetition.. So I'm gonna stick with what I know, running and dancing.. And hopefully learning more about weight lifting..

I've also found a wonderful app that probably has already been loved by many for a while.. Picstitch.. As I've recently gotten into Instagram (check me out @fabchallenge), I've found it's so fun!!  Here's one from today..

On a totally unrelated subject... After noticing that I put the wrong storage amount on the Gazelle sale of my iPod Classic, I wanted to see how much difference there would be.. It went down to $42.. I put it on eBay and it sold for $80 within 5 minutes.. Yep, I love eBay so much.. lol

Weekly Recap..

This week has been interesting.. I've gotten a lot of stuff accomplished..  I've even gotten my savings back up a bit..

Tried to upload some pics on here, but Instagram won't let me.. But you can check them out on my Instagram.. Follow me at fabchallenge.. :)

My favorite part of this week:

I got this baby on Craigslist for $20!!  Seriously, $20!!  It's barely been used.. Has a couple stains on the foot part, but those I'm sure will come out.. My plan is to paint the wood white, and the chair red.. I looked into reupholstering it, but it's just cheaper to paint it.. I can't wait.. But until I can get my hands on some fabric medium, it's gonna stay this color..

Well, with all of the weather craziness going on, my overtime I worked got sucked up by not being able to get out of traffic and being sick.. I've been sick for the past 4 days-ish.. Which has put a damper on working out.. But while I was sick, I realized why I ended Insanity last time around.. I HATE INSANITY!!  I truly hate the repetitiveness of it.. I will be giving away my copies of Insanity on my Facebook page, when I reach 100 likes..

My plan right now??  To get back to the gym and run.. and to do some of the other videos I own.. AND JUST DANCE!!  I love that game.. I miss that game.. And it's a good way to burn calories..

I'm off to go read some more Wicked and get ready for bed..

How was your week??

Cleaning House.. And Getting Cash..

I am not one to sell things easily.. Oh, don't get me wrong, once I see how much money I'm getting, I usually go all out (sometimes regretting selling something).. But at this point, I'm cleaning out stuff that doesn't fit, isn't used, and isn't going to be used anytime soon.. Which leads me to my current dilemma..

I have my iPhone.. It has enough storage on it for what I need, plus some.. And isn't near being full..

I ALSO have an iPod Classic.. Never heard of it?? That's because it's ancient, but still works like new (with a little wear and tear, since I've had it for 7 years).. It's full of every song I own (which is like 15,000+ songs).. BUT I never listen to it.. It sits in my purse, just waiting to be used.. And it never gets used.. Because my iPhone is already by my side..

I was looking up how much I'd get if I sold it on certain sites like Gazelle, versus selling it on eBay.. And I'm seriously thinking of selling it on Gazelle.. I paid like $200 for it back in 2007, and they're offering $61 for it now.. I think that is fair.. Especially as old as it is..

And I could really use the money for bills (or savings)..

On another money note, I was so excited at the beginning of this week.. If I worked like I was supposed to, this paycheck would have like 30+ hours of OVERTIME!!  YAY!!  And then the snow happened.. Somehow in Southern Indiana, people don't know when to take their time versus driving like idiots (which I've heard is an epidemic and not just a Southern Indiana problem.. lol).. So I ended up getting budgeted on Thursday bc I was stuck in dead traffic for 90 minutes.. No book, no food or water, for 90 minutes!!  That took away 11.5 hours of overtime from my coming paycheck..

THEN, I wake up from napping on Thursday to find that my head hurt, I could barely hear, and could barely swallow.. FABULOUS!!  Took three showers to help break up the crud over the next 18 hours.. to no avail.. So, at 10am this morning, I made the unfortunate decision to call into work (the chic could barely hear me, my voice was almost gone).. I work in an Emergency Room.. Who wants to be taken care of by a person who could be getting sick? Not me..

So there goes the rest of my overtime I worked earlier this week.. Hoping I can figure out how to recoup some of that money.. Gonna hopefully start working on stuff to sell on Etsy.. I'm crafty enough to do well.. Just gotta keep the motivation going.. :)

Weekly Update..

Well, I figured to stay accountable I'd need to keep weekly updates.. Or as often as possible.. Lol. So I will try to keep updates on Sundays, and keep them brief..

** I'm about 30% done with Wicked.. It's a really good book, and I'm looking into seeing Wicked the Musical in March..

** I had to take $50 out of my savings (I basically have all my change in the jar now) thanks to rent taking all my money at the beginning of the month.. I'm hoping to put some if it back this coming week (payday).. I've also been spending more, which is a bad habit.. I've sold a lot of stuff on eBay recently and I'm trying to come up with ideas of things to sell in my etsy store (thinking of doing stethoscope covers and cards).. But all the money earned has been going into household stuff, like cat food and food in general..

** I'm set to enroll in classes in a couple months for Summer 2014.. This is to finish my Bachelor's Degree in General Studies.. I also plan to look into taking ASL classes at a different college in the summer too..

** I'm going to start working on all the pins I've got on Pinterest.. Each week, I'm going to have a weekly Pinterest project.. It will be a separate post on Sundays, as I want to show everyone.. Lol

** I'm starting Insanity tomorrow morning.. One of my 'followers' on my FB page is gonna help me with my accountability with that.. :)

** Depression really sucks.. Still noticing some signs that have overcame my life.. But it's getting better.. Slowly it is getting better..

Well, that's about it for this week.. Not much happened except for working and stupid pipe issues.. Hope you all had a good week, and have a great week.. :)

ADD and Me..

As I sit at work, I notice that I don't have my ADD as in control as I think I do.. I was diagnosed with ADD in kindergarten, and am one of the 'lucky ones' that didn't grow out of it.. **I write that with as much sarcasm as physically possible**

I was on meds until 6th grade, when my mom took me off them.. That same year, I was so bored one day I was trying to fix a computer disk and sliced my wrist open.. AT SCHOOL.. It was a rough road from there on..

I barely graduated high school.. One reason is because no one sat me down and helped me like they help kids now.. There were no IEP's or plans put into place for my education.. You either made it or you didn't.. I almost didn't.. Another reason is because no one pushed me to realize, while I was smart enough, I wasn't driven enough to make it through Honor's classes..

Honestly, I should have never gone to college right after high school.. But, I was stubborn and wanted to be a normal college kid.. Yeah, that wasn't in the cards.. I flunked a BUNCH of classes.. I joined a sorority, one of the best things ever, and almost screwed that up bc my enthusiasm for things never last long.. I was elected to office and had to leave halfway through bc I felt like they deserved better (and I wasn't making the grades)..

In 'adulthood', I didn't care how my bills got paid.. Hence my $40,000 in school loans.. I almost ruined a friendship bc of my irresponsibility.. Thankfully, I moved out before I could do more damage and we are great friends now.. But I would call into work bc I wanted to have fun.. Not to mention how many jobs I had between 16 and 25.. Holy cow!!

I have found out over the years what works for me:

** Job wise, I have to do something different all the time.. While I can have the same kind of things to do, I do not do them at the same time, the same way, every day..  So working in home health (my previus job) and an Emergency Room (my current job) are PERFECT!! Workin in a nursing home, not so much..

** School wise, I need help.. Whether it's from school officials, private test taking allowances, or taping classes.. This is where my 'sticking it out' issues come into play the worst.. I get so excited in the beginning, so happy to start school and learn more, and then a couple weeks in, I'm over going to classes and soon homework.. I've learned that online classes, no matter how 'simple' they may be, are not a good idea bc of my time management issues.. News flash: I PROCRASTINATE!! Lol..

Life wise: I'm still learning to cope in life with ADD.. Thankfully, with all the technology, it's becoming easier, but still not easy.. I am horrible about keeping plans.. And yet, I cannot do things on the fly.. I have to know about something at least 24 hours before hand (most of the time) or I will automatically say no.. Unless I'm traveling, then for some odd reason, I'm okay.. Lol.. I also am horrible at interrupting.. I truly hope all my friends realize that its not something i can 100% control.. But if I have something to say, and don't say it within a certain time frame, it's gone.. POOF, buh-bye.. 

My ADD is also why I have had such a hard time sticking to my 'promises' over the years.. My attempts to lose weight, my attempts to go to the gym, my attempts to do things on my blog.. They all get forgotten or pushed aside partly because of my ADD.. I have good intentions, but my follow through is horrible..

This whole blog may sound like a bunch of excuses to you.. It's okay if you think that way, I get that a lot.. But this is something that I will have to deal with forever, at this rate, and I just want people to understand.. If you know someone with ADD or ADHD (I'm DEFINITELY not hyper), please try to think of how their life is effected by this.. Because it always is, in some way..

By the way, this blog took 2 days to write.. Lol

Amazon versus Couponing..

I am facing a money saving dilemma right now..

I don't buy much (name brand items) without coupons.. It's against everything in me to pay "full price" for anything at a grocery store.. If I don't save money somehow, whether it's by buying store brand, on sale, or with a coupon, I will NOT buy it..  This helps me save money or buy something that I want, like movies.. Which I still would try to find ways to save money..

My dilemma right now is to buy cat food on Amazon or to wait and buy it with a coupon at the grocery store.. 

Through Expotv, I get Amazon gift cards for doing video reviews on things I already own or buy, so they are basically free to me.. I can do 3 or 4 videos and get a $10 to $15 Amazon card out of it.. So I have free money basically to use on cat food, and the kind I want is on sale online for the same price that Walmart has.. BUT, if I pay cash for it, I can use a $3 off coupon!  So I'll save $3, if I pay cash, but I'm on a strict budget now that it's just me..

I say this is a dilemma, bc I'm trying to save my Amazon cards for a Kindle, but I gotta do what I gotta do, I guess.. lol

Happy New Year

So, I may be a day late, but I wanted to wish you all a happy new year and a wonderful start to whatever goals you've set for yourself this year.. I can't wait to get to traveling and back to school.. I'm sure that last one won't last too long after I've started but whatever.. Lol

I hate the word resolutions. Bc it always seems to set you up for failure.. I like GOALS.. I'm printing mine off of my blog today and putting them in my bathroom, so I'll see them every day..  I'd say my fridge but I try not to look at my fridge that often.. :)

What is one of your goals for 2014??