My Thoughts On: Debt

Lets talk about paying off debt.

FEELING OVERWHELMED? BREAK IT DOWN.

CAN YOU DO IT? YES.

WILL IT WORK? YES.

IS IT WORTH IT? YES.

Period. End of Story.

My Thoughts On: "Why-Power"

Remembering the "why" is often just as important as the "what." One of my favorite YouTube channels, Pick Up Limes calls it your "why-power." Once you connect why you are doing something to the action or object itself, then it reinstills that meaning. For Satya at Pick Up Limes, her "why-power" was in regards to her decision to live a vegan lifestyle. Ryan and Joshua, The Minimalists, talk about it in regards to consumerism. If an object doesn't bring value and meet your other personal criteria then you do not purchase it.

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I want to learn a good and true life before there are children to teach it to. More than just financial stability, I want to raise them in a way that doesn't continue the way we are now. Fitness and mental health were never a big focus in my household, but after going through a tough depression it became a conversation with my mom. 

I want to teach them the tools for being happy. Maybe going through such a tough time mentally is going to be the kick start to learning from scratch. It's a possible teachable moment.

Fitness and physical health never was a part of growing up. I do remember hating when school would make me run the mile (and still dont enjoy it) and loving gymnastics at summer camp. That's only one aspect of life that I'd like to influence for my future kids. If... no when I create the discipline for yoga every day then I believe I am a step closer to being ok with bringing a new human into the world. If I'm going to give birth once then it's going to be intentional.

My Thoughts On: Sleeping Habits

Lets talk about sleeping habits.

Make your bed in the morning.
Put down the electronics.
Don't eat close to bedtime.
Try taking a shower.
Go to bed early.
Make a routine.
Actually stick to it.

Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project"

I just finished reading Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project" and it's definitely a keeper. After being introduced to the minimalist lifestyle aka intentional living, I purged many things from my life including books. While I'm still in the middle of the purging process, I know have a direction to go in. Before I would just add more to an empty space that I had created, but now I have learned that everything should have a home. If I believe that I will read it again and get something out of it, then I should keep it. If it served it's purpose then it's time for it to go to a new home like a library, school, or Half Price Books (where I originally purchased this book).

Included in the newer version of "The Happiness Project" is an excerpt from her next book, "Better Than Before." I have to say that I'm definitely interested in her story when it comes to habits. I enjoy the way she writes; it feels like a combination of having a conversation with a friend and someone's personal journal.

The main reasons that this book originally jumped out at me was that (1) it had my favorite color, yellow, juxtaposed with a light blue sky over the tops of some New York City apartments, and  (2) it sounded vaguely related to my current project. I literally came across this book while in the midst of my own personal happiness project, albeit a less organized version. They werent vaguely similar as I originally thought. They were one in the same, but with a different person with different life.

Starting a couple months ago, I picked a theme of something to focus on. In April it was to be more grateful, in May it was to rediscover hobbies and have more fun, in June I focused on money, June bled into July in a less stressful manner with more money mindfulness and budgeting, and right now in August I wanted to work on focus on what's important.

I love Gretchen's "Secrets of Adulthood," "Four Splendid Truths," "Happiness Project Manifesto," and all the little maxims she discovered and actually wrote down. Reading her story, like with the works of The Minimalists and Elizabeth Gilbert, it made me think about my life, how I feel, what I want out of life, and gave me a direction to start moving. One of her "Secrets of Adulthood" is "When the student is ready, the teacher appears." This book, and her next one for that matter, feels like the embodiment of this. I hope she continues to write and publish works for years to come.

Airplanes & Expectations

Let's talk about airplanes. How amazing is it that we no longer have to drive hours upon hours to get somewhere? For a bit more money we can fly around 500 miles an hour and get where we are going in a fraction of the time.

Think about it. Your expectations will directly influence your perspective. My husband and I could have spent all day in the car driving across Texas to go see family, but instead we arrived at the airport at 6:00am for our 6:30am flight that arrives at 9:30am. Our 11 hour road trip just became maybe 3 hours with 1 hour of that us changing time zones because Texas is actually that wide.

One of these moments that I remember pretty distinctly was when I moved near Tokyo, Japan to study abroad for a semester. As a USian, as one of my professors called Americans, I was so used to driving everywhere I needed to go. Once in Japan that became riding the trains with everyone else.

At first I lamented the loss of having my own personal air conditioning blowing cold air straight in my face. With so many people riding public transportation, the body heat could get pretty warm despite the overhead vents. Having so many people in your personal space bubble was fully expected, but still hard to get used to. I think from riding the trains so much my bubble has significantly shrunken from what it used to be. Now I'm the awkward person that will fit myself into that tiny bit of space on a crowded elevator with my face a couple inches from the wall with the control panel.

As I got used to not having a whole car to myself and had to share space with other commuters, it dawned on me that I could do anything with that time. When you drive you have to give all of your attention to the act of driving. When you ride public transportation, the only thing you have to do is pay attention to the stops so that you get off at the correct one. Otherwise, you can do whatever you want within reason. It wasn't unusual to see people nap, read a book or manga, study flashcards, or talk quietly with friends. As someone who loves to read, a part of me didn't want to return to the states.

When I went to Japan, I knew that trains were the primary means of transportation. I had seen the videos of white gloved police men pushing in hoards of passengers that were not fitting inside. I never experienced that exactly, but people definitely pushed in close. Technically, they backed in close with bags pressed to their chests. Going in I fully expected the close quarters, so it made it easier to appreciate the trains for what they did have to offer: Time.

 The same luxury of time comes back into play when you take a ride on an airplane. I fully expected to drive across Texas, but after realizing that we would then have literally no time to visit with loved ones we decided to go this route. If you only have 2 full days then a day of travel in each direction does not work. It's only worth it if the quality time you get is more than you are spending traveling.

With different expectations you look at the world a bit different. When I pulled the window screen up to block the sun while my husband tried to nap, the bottom half was gone. Across the aisle we could confirm that indeed there was supposed to be more plastic. Instead of getting upset that there should have been a full screen and making a scene, I laughed pretty hard at the absurdity which made the guy across the aisle look up. He cracked up when he figured out why I was laughing without having to hear a thing other than the music playing through his headphones.

Life is good. It's ok to laugh when things "go wrong."

Money On My Mind in June and July

After the last 2 months of focusing on implementing more pleasant things in my life, June became one of self-induced stress. I had a nightmare for the first time in a long time, I hadn't been as enthusiastic about much, and I started biting my nails again. After only a week into June, my motivation for this theme was weaning, but I knew that I needed to set some long-term financial goals, make a plan to reach those goals (including the math), stick to a budget, track where my money was going, and learn what I should be doing.

Before implementing a plan, I felt as though the focus on money was too much for me. Finance is still not my strong suit and I would much rather spend more time doing just about anything else, but I got better. What really helped the most was rediscovering Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, his free app called Every Dollar, The Minimalists’ blog post on financial freedom (there is also a related podcast), and The Financial Diet on YouTube. (See links below) These inspired me to start asking myself some surprisingly tough questions and be honest with myself.

"Where is my money going right now?" 

I used the previous month in the Every Dollar app to see what my budget would have looked like had I planned to spend my money the way it was spent. Ouch. I spent way more on eating out and on miscellaneous items than I would like to admit. I couldn't even be one hundred percent honest with my husband about what I was spending money on. 

"Are there better ways I could have spent it?"

For the actual month of July, I intentionally put each dollar somewhere using Ryan Nicodemus' “Need, Want, Like” system. I need to pay my bills and put money away in an emergency fund. I want to continue taking a weekly belly dance class. I like having extra money for food and random stuff. Figuring out what my priorities actually are was surprisingly challenging, but even more so was sticking to the budget I laid out. 

"Could I do something now that would greatly help my future-self?"

Dave Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps start off with putting away $1,000 into an emergency fund, so that when an emergency happens there isn't a financial crisis at the same time. The next step is to pay off your debts using the debt snowball. By paying off your smallest debts first, you get a feeling of achievement as you work on tackling the larger ones. For me, these included my fancy cell phone and credit card debt (that we used to pay for moving expenses). The 3rd Baby Step is to bump up your emergency fund to include three to six months worth of expenses. This would be great if you lost your job for example. The next is to invest in your retirement. If someone in their early twenties put away even a little bit today, with compound interest over the years it would greatly multiply. Steps 5, 6, and 7 don't quite apply to me since I don't have children to save college funds for, I don't have a mortgage since we rent, and I'm not financially ready to contribute beyond myself yet.

After talking with the financial advisor at my credit union, I decided to open a Roth IRA (aka retirement account paid post-taxes) once I got together my $1000 emergency fund. If all goes as planned, I will have the money by the end of the year and can open the account in January. I haven't talked about this with my husband yet since he thinks my emergency fund is a silly idea. I also did some math to see what it would cost me monthly to save up for a newer car over the next 5 years. Where my current budget stands, saving up for a car wouldn't be easy, but it would be doable. Future me would love to pay cash for a newer Toyota Corolla.

"What do I do when I want something, but it's not within the budget?"

As I learned more about my spending habits, I started wondering why I wanted certain things. New makeup is a good example of this. I have plenty of makeup, but I was watching YouTube makeup tutorials almost daily and wanting more. In an effort to combat this, I stopped wearing makeup most days, stopped watching makeup tutorials, and saved links to thinks I thought I wanted. The latter of these worked surprisingly well. I found that I didn’t have as strong as an impulse to buy things and didn’t feel as though I would miss out on it if I saved it somewhere. This lead to taking photos of things I found in person, which in turn led to an epiphany:

I don’t have to own it just because I like it…

While I know this journey isn’t over just because June is over, I did not expect this theme to overflow and mix well into July where I was trying to focus on Intentionality and Minimalism. Seeing as a theme of intentionality pertains to being intentional with your money, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised.

Hope y'all have an amazing week!

Links:
Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (ex: Videos)
Every Dollar app = EveryDollar.com 
The Minimalist's blog post on "Financial Freedom" and related podcast
The Financial Diet website and YouTube channel

PS. If you are young and just starting a line of credit like me, take Dave Ramsey's advice with a grain of salt. Think twice about cutting up your credit card. Instead use it to only pay bills that you know you have money for and already have to pay. I currently use mine for gasoline only.

One Palette Challenge: Too Faced PB&J

Since I'm not ready to post about my theme of personal finance for the month of June, enjoy an old post draft from early March when I gave myself a eyeshadow palette challenge! This palette is actually still my go-to. Looks #4 and #7 are both heavily based on my favorite color in the palette called Nuts About U (bottom right). I definitely challenge anyone who enjoys makeup to try limiting yourself to see how creative you can get. It's like making a capsule wardrobe for your cosmetics.

LOOK #1

LOOK #2

LOOK #3

LOOK #4

LOOK #5

LOOK #6

LOOK #7

Links:

Palette Photo from Temptalia.com

A May of Rediscovered Hobbies

After an April of gratitude, I decided that I should make time to have more fun. I hadn't belly danced in years, painted in months, done yoga in months, read a book in who knows how long, and so on. I would look back at the prior week and wonder where did the time go and what had I done. Where was all of my time going? Was I scrolling through social media to waste time that much? Now is as good as a time as any.

Finding a weekly belly dance class was the first on my list.

Google is a wonderful tool through which I found several options for classes around town. After messaging some to see if they were still holding classes, I decided to go to one in central El Paso run by a mother and daughter that is every Saturday at 11AM. It was exactly the sort of playtime, female- camaraderie, and community that I had desired, so I have been going ever since. Actually, the other day we even had an Egyptian drummer come into class and play for us. It was awesome.

Next on my list was to start reading.

I ended up reading several books over the month and am still working on Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

I originally planned on adding more back into my life, but making the time to read and dance was more than enough to fill the time. Even so, I felt much more engaged in my regular life and felt as though I had more to talk with my husband about. Without hobbies there isn’t much else to talk about after the “How was your day, honey?”

My advice is to find something (not a bunch of different things) and to do it intentionally. Make time for you.

An April of Gratitude

Originally I was not sure if I should post my idea about a theme for every month when I had the idea back in April. At the time I was stressing more than I should on paying off the credit card within the year timeline before the interest rate skyrocketed. To counteract the self-made stress, I decided that April 2017 should be a month of gratitude. The idea came to me when I took a candle-lit bath and used a pumpkin spice candle I had found around my favorite time of year when absolutely everything has pumpkin in it. On the glass it says, " There is always something to be grateful for."

My little orange candle was right.

At the end of April, I felt at ease and physically lighter (as odd as that sounds). I had put together a plan to have the credit card paid off by the end of May and that took a huge load off my shoulders, but also the mindset of gratitude kept me noticing more and more that I was blessed with.

There would be moments where I would actually get emotional about it, embarrassingly enough. I would be sitting there and then it would hit me.

I have a job... and I like it.

No more working at the Chinese restaurant on my feet for five to ten hours a day, repeating the menu over and over, and having to be nice to people that were not always happy. I have a steady income that I can rely on at a job that I enjoy. I have not truly enjoyed my job since I worked at a hot yoga studio when I was a senior in college.

My family loves me.

Since moving out of my mother's house during and after college, our relationship has gotten so much better. She has become one of the few people I keep in touch with.

I have a loving and supportive spouse.

No relationship is perfect, but we have always done our best for each other. We make the effort to talk out problems and make time to spend together.

My body is healthy and capable.

My feet are the foundation that help me stand and move. My legs are strong enough to not just stand, but also to walk, jog, sprint, and dance. My torso holds most of the important internal organs that allow me to eat, breathe, and live my life without much thought. My back is strong and flexible enough to allow me to do my favorite things. My arms are strong enough to carry things, but also gentle enough to cradle things that I love. My hands are not calloused because I am blessed to work indoors where hard labor is not required. I am able to see the beautiful sunrise every morning. I am able to hear the words of my loved ones and the obnoxious whining of my dogs when they have to pee in the morning. I am able to smell the scent of brewing coffee, of nature, and of dinner as I make it. I am able to taste wonderful food and coffee every day.

These are only a few of my epiphanies. We are so lucky to be alive on this beautiful planet. I want to continue this mindset for the rest of my life. Imagine taking the thought, "My house is so dirty," to "While it is a bit messy in here, I have a roof over my head, a table to eat at, and a bed to sleep in." Can you imagine just how much our worlds would change?

When The Worst Happens

 If you are having a bad day, enjoy some cat pictures then go ahead and read something else.

These are my babies, Merlin (bottom) and Maggie Mae (top). 

They are the cutest cats on the planet. I'm super not biased. 

Obviously.

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This part of the post is for me.

On May 4, 2017, I lost my babies in one of the worst ways imaginable. I miss them every day and it hasn't gotten easier yet. Apparently that comes with time. I'm writing this in mid-July, but decided to back date it, so that it fits in chronologically. It also why I tried to implement more fun in my life in May. I'm not going to lie that it fixed everything, but getting out of the house definitely helped.

Something that helped was how amazing my husband was through everything. He cleaned up the terrible scene and placed them in a box before I got home so I wouldn't have to see. He held me as I cried and held my hand when we took them to be cremated. They now sit on the windowsill above the kitchen sink next to my aloe vera plant.

Merlin and Maggie Mae were one of the best pieces of my life.

Losing them took a piece of me with them. While at the shelter, I saw two kittens named Dawn and Dusk with similar markings which really hit home for me. They will always be a part of my life and in my heart.

When the worst happens, its alright to lean on the people around you. You are not alone. 

Motivation: Paying Off Debt

Hello Hello!

My current focus has mainly been on personal finances and paying off my debt. I graduated university almost a year ago and my debt has never looked as bad as it has since graduating and moving 700 miles away to be with my husband. I chose to attend a private university, got married, got a credit card, and used said credit card to pay for the moving truck and initial housing costs. It was also difficult for me to find work during this time because I did not live in the area yet and because my Spanish was atrocious after studying Japanese for 4 years. 

Rejections after rejections were really disheartening and after about 4 months my self-esteem was at an all-time low. After awhile, I figured that I'm just going to have to make the move without a job lined up if I want my husband to be there for the move. FYI, the military's vacation time AKA block leave is for about 2 weeks in the summer and about 2 weeks in the winter, so my time was limited if I didn't want to make the move alone. Family members did offer to make the drive with me if I needed the help, but it would have made the move even more expensive since they would have to find a way back home afterwards. 

At this time, the Army was also taking its sweet time figuring out that we were now married, despite turning in the paperwork twice. This made money even tighter. To make the move, "we" (mostly I) decided that if I couldn't make the move during the summer then I wasn't going to move at all. If I was going to wait 6 more months before trying to move again, I would likely have found a decent job close to where I was living with my mom. To a certain degree, I regret using the credit card I got for "just in case" to pay for the moving expenses and housing. 

Did I mention that I had packed up my little blue car with as much as I could and was already in the house? Essentially I found a place for us to live that would still rent to us despite my husband's terrible credit and moved in with just clothes, a sleeping bag, alarm clock, and a couple other items. My cats stayed with my mom for a bit longer while I tried again to find work and gather money to move everything else. Eventually I got a call from a Chinese restaurant asking me to come in (and naturally the following day I got a call from a smoothie place I really liked). 

Retrospectively, it was definitely tough starting out at the restaurant because they wouldn't give me many hours, they didn't want to have 2 cashiers at the same time (hard to shadow someone that way), and honestly the menu and prices were overwhelming. The shifts were shorter, but I always left more tired since it was 5 hours of solid customer service, cleaning, being on my feet, and feeling lonely. Once I finally got the hang of things, much later than I would have liked, they gave me the sort of hours I had been looking for from the beginning AKA 20 - 40 hours a week. 

It wasn't until recently that I got a call from the temp agency I had been working with that things got a bit complicated (and I will likely dedicate a whole blog post soon). At this exact moment, I have been working in the Medical Records Department now for 2 weeks and it looks like this job may turn out to be a permanent gig. I cried when I found out that i could work 40 hours and not have to work evenings or weekends. I really like the people at the Chinese restaurant, but the hours were not ideal. I also was going in on days that I wasn't originally scheduled on to cover for people who got sick to make any extra money I could.

Ironically enough, 5 minutes ago they called and asked me to come in tonight from 4PM to close (to which I said yes). 

My Advice: Always say yes when you are trying to save money or put money towards your debt. I fall into the latter category at the moment.

If you have never heard of Dave Ramsey and you are struggling with your finances, it's time for you to do some research. In particular, his "Debt Snowball" concept is one that I like and am working on following. The idea is to write down all of your outstanding debts, put them in order from smallest to largest, and give it your all to pay them off in that order. As you pay off your smaller debts you will feel more accomplished and ready to face the final monster, like your massive student loan debt. 

I have been putting as much as I could towards the credit card as possible the last couple months when I figured out the minimum payment was going to do absolutely nothing. I'm proud to say that at the end of May, it should be completely paid off. The nice credit card representative over the phone was able to give me what the balance would be if I was to pay it off by May 31st, so I was able to split that in half to find out what Mike (my husband) and I would each be paying towards it. 

After getting off the phone with Jonathan from Montana, I opened my computer and watched a video (that I linked below) since it was an open tab. I like his basic 3 questions about motivation.

Can You Do It? AKA Can You Work Hard, Save Hard, And Not Give Up?

Will It Work? AKA Do You Know How You Will Do It And Can You Stick With It?

Is It Worth It? AKA What Will You Gain From Paying It Off?

If you answer yes to all 3 questions, then you are good to go. When (not if) I pay off my credit card I will have freed myself of that burden, learned how I can do something about my situation, feel accomplished, learn how to stick to a plan and budget, and put myself into a better situation financially and with my credit. I believe I can do it. I believe you can do it. Figure out what you have control over and do something about it. 

We are not victims of our circumstances. We are capable, intelligent, and worth it.  

If you're interested, here is the video I'm talking about:

"The Psychology of Self-Motivation"

Scott Geller

Have an awesome day!

Why Do We Work

Yesterday in particular, I was stuck in between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Months earlier, I had serendipitously run into the Director of HR of a company that I had worked for through a temp agency doing data entry. Looking for advice and the smallest inclination towards an HR position, I contacted them later for advice from their perspective as a professional. After they possibly put in a good word for me and I interviewed, I got the job as an instructor.

It's not that I have ever had the desire to teach, but the material and content was exactly what I had been craving. The downside being that I would have to wait a couple months before starting, so that I wouldn't have to quit my other job.

After not hearing from the temp agency as of late, I was a bit surprised to get a phone call about a possible job interview. It sounded interesting and I told them as such. After catching up a bit, I found out that my temp agency and my new teaching job had an agreement that they couldn't hire me without going through them first.

As I expected, I found out this morning that I can't have the job anymore. I felt an odd blend of relief and disappointment. However this loss now opened up my schedule to allow for the position that I was to interview for. After considering the options of doing both jobs versus picking one, I decided to invest my time and energy in the new job.

When I thought about why I had stayed with the Chinese restaurant for so long, I figured out that I mainly stayed because of the people and for some money to put towards food, debts, and wants as my husband (thankfully) makes enough to cover the main bills.

I soon realized that a job or career is supposed to be the means to a goal, not the end goal that we have made it out to be.

Minimalist Haul & Shopping Intentionally

Within the No Waste movement there is an important lesson on shopping intentionally that I think is important to discuss. After depositing my paycheck and making a credit card payment at the bank, I decided to finally go buy jeans. My jeans tend to wear down on the inner thighs since I do lots of walking. My first thoughts we to go to Academy or Old Navy, but then I remembered that I could probably find decent jeans for a heck of a lot cheaper at a thrift store.

Rule #1 : Buy secondhand whenever possible.

According to Google Maps I was 1 mile away from the nearest thrift store called Savers, which looks a lot like Goodwill. On the inside, the housewares and such are to the left and the clothing to the right. I wandered through the aisles and came across a shovel (which is on our To-Buy List for scooping dog poop) and a wok (which would solve the problem of not having a large enough pot to use when cooking on the stove). They were $3 and $6 respectively. Obviously, the shovel is a bit broken, but my husband said he would never need it to actually dig any holes so it's perfect.

As a bit of a packrat, it can be difficult not to just buy something purely because I like it. That's why you should know what you need before you ever go to a store. My memory is not the greatest, so I use shopping lists religiously.

Rule #2 : Know what you need.

The hard part is when you start walking around is see things you hadn't thought about or don't need. If you can stick to your guns and not buy impulsively, then go you. For example, I entered Savers with the intention of buying jeans and still ended up spending almost $30. Had I purchased "wants" as well as "needs" then it could have been worse.

Rule #3 : Take a picture of the "wants."

The 2 main items that I found that I would have loved to purchase (but don't need) included a classy set of dishes and a chips and dip serving dish. This sort of pattern on the dishes is one of my favorites and it even matches the shower curtain from the tiny house I lived in when I was in college. On the other end of the spectrum style-wise, there was an adorable chips and dip serving dish that was shaped like a swimming pool with a diving board and hot tub.

Maybe it's because I'm a millennial, but I love taking photos of everything. It was not until I tried sticking to a shopping list in an effort to save money that I realized photos could serve another purpose. By taking photos of the things I wanted and didn't need, I could live vicariously through the next person who would own it. This method also works if you go out to eat and your food or drink looks cute, fancy, or interesting.

Rule #4 : Give yourself time. 

If you leave the store that day and spend the next couple days or weeks regretting not purchasing the item, then that's when I believe it is worth considering going back to buy it. Keep in mind that these are "wants" not "needs."

The last of my five rules is only in regards to clothing and comes from going through and downsizing my wardrobe many times. In my opinion, the only clothing that you should keep are only those that fit well, fit comfortably, are within your personal sense of style, and are items you will wear more than once. If you have to make alterations or keep fidgeting with it, then you probably won't wear it much.

Rule #5 : Only buy clothes that you love.

I'm so glad that I was able to find a pair of black jeans, a structured black skirt, a shovel, and a wok today. Even though I only went in looking for jeans that I can wear casually and can wear to work, I have also been wanting a black skirt and needed a couple other items that I had not expected to find at Savers today. I'm also pretty happy that as an added bonus there are built-in shorts under the skirt (AKA skort?). Gotta enjoy the little things.

If you are looking for ways to try and save money, I hope my trial and error methods can help you when you next try and resist the temptations of straying from your shopping list.