Today I made a little progress on my To-Do List.
-Went to married's group last night. Check.
-Exercised today, despite a faulty dvd and thus no P90X and thus I had to go running. Check.
-Blogged today. Check (see below).
-Worked on my Bible Study stuff, journaled. Check, Check.
That was actually most of my day today, once I got home from work.
A few items to add to my list:
-Fix both art pieces hanging in our living room.
-Get a few groceries.
-Make banana bread for neighbors.
Wow, this list is getting long. It's a good thing I only work half days.
Just writing my list seems like I'm cheating myself out of a real blog post...
Last night at our married's group we talked about finances. We're talking about getting out of debt, perspectives on money, etc. We had a good discussion on how we have to change our behavior in order to really get out of debt. Not only that, but we have to check that our priorities are in line. Our American "needs" are so often not actually needs but "wants." Living in another country was a good reminder of that, but it's so easy to be back in this culture and to get caught up in the American way of life.
We are on our second month of living our budget, or "spending plan," through the envelope system (pulling out our budgeted cash for the month and keeping it in envelopes). Last night our leader mentioned that there are multiple studies (Citibank just did one recently) that show that even if you are using your credit card and paying it off every single month, never accruing interest, maybe to earn miles or some other reward, you are still spending an average of 25% more than you would if you were simply using cash. The plastic is so easy to justify spending a little bit more, to get that good deal!
Last month when we were visiting Oregon we saw some friends who will be debt-free in just two more months. They inspired me to come home and find areas to shave our spending even more, in order to put that extra money towards our debt. We are looking forward to D-Day: Debt-Free day when we can celebrate!
2 comments:
Melissa!
Your "To-Do" list is a great idea! You inspired me to make my own while Christine is traveling so I don't waste my time either. Thanks!
This is the first time I've visited your blog in a while (outside of my rss reader, that is), and it has a new, uh, more colorful look now. I must say, the irony of "Fade 2 Gray...not everything is Black and White" amidst a pink template amuses me.
Finally, you know I love hearing about budgeting and finance -- we will cheer you along the whole way to D-Day!
Miss you both.
Rick, Glad I could inspire you. It actually helps a ton to have a list. I find myself realizing I won't have enough time to get it all done, instead of feeling bored.
I just changed the colors this week, out of boredom. I like pink, what can I say? Pink isn't black OR white...so it fits, I'd say.
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