Debt Reduction 101

I’d like to think that if I have a goal set out in front of me that I tackle said goal with a defined action plan and a sense of perseverance. But who am I kidding? Goals, like diets and fragile things, seem made to be broken in my experience. But today I am trying …

I’ve been having weird work drama and issues for the past few months that have made my full-time job less than fun to be at. But if I try to practice my 3 to 1 ratio, it keeps things in check. Sure – I’m not overly fond of my job but 1) I have a job. 2) There are days where I think I could get away with murder at said job and 3) It’s only nine hours of my day. (Of course, I get depressed sometimes when I think of how much of my life is spent working … blech.)

But on my commute today as I was roaring up the highway, dreading my eventual arrival at work I decided to set goals for myself this week and that no matter what else happens, as long as I tackle these goals – this week isn’t a total wash. Here are my goals for this week:

• To not buy lunch – brown bag it each day
• To make it to the gym three times this week
• To finish thank you notes and get them all sent out (uh, yeah – I’m still working on my wedding thank yous … sigh.)
• To start going through my recipes to organize them

None of these have a lot to do with frugal living, unless you factor in the first one where I save money by brown bagging it all week. But here is my thought process – the more things in my life that I control and the goals that I accomplish will help me financially as well. Why is that? Because I am something of a free spirit and there are a lot of things that I seem to do without thinking. Spending money is one of them. I’m hoping that if I become more disciplined that my pocketbook will also fall into order, right along with my fluctuating waistline.

I’ll keep you posted on how this goes.

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Other random thoughts …

I finally had a couple of days off this past weekend. I had Friday, Saturday and Sunday off from both jobs and glory, was it a welcome respite from working all of the time. The feeling of sleeping in (until 8:30!) on the weekend, making coffee for my husband and houseguests, lounging in my pajamas until I absolutely had to shower and get dressed … it was indulgence of the most common variety and boy does it make me want to get my credit cards paid off so I can have weekends off all the time.

My garden is looking good – I’ll get some pictures up for you in the near future.

I’ll also get a financial update for you all shortly as well. I hope that you are all enjoying your summer!