Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Car and Wed Weigh In...

Today was weigh in day and I weighed in at 171 and reached my 5% goal. Yeah!

I got my car out of the shop yesterday and it is running like a gem!!! =)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

I'm Alive....

Hi Everyone!!!

Well it's quarterly reporting month at the job so I am swamped with reporting and two projects. I am trying to keep my head above water.

Exercise and Weight Loss...

I am down from 180-172 lbs...Go Chitown!!! Weight Watchers has been eye opening and I am putting the online program to very good use. As you know, I signed up for the Chicago Half Marathon on September 11th this year. I am moving up to 3 miles on Saturday and I am doing better than expected. My brother-in-law is running with me and we joined a running group that runs every Saturday. It's actually been pretty fun and I am also finally putting my treadmill that I purchased in December 2007 for over $1,000 to good use. I ran on it this morning before work since it's raining today in Chicago.

So....Finances....All is good!!!

I received a Tax Return of $2,100 two weeks ago but unfortunately, I will be shelling out $1,400 today for four new tires and car repairs. First, I am so THANKFUL that I have the money to pay for the repairs. Even if I didn't have the tax return, I would have been able to pay for the repairs with my Emergency Fund and the leftover savings from my bonus in February. I was only saving or accruing in a separate ING account $20/month for auto maintenance and repair. What have I learned?!?! My car is a 2002 and in May of last year, I also shelled out $1,500 for repairs which included new brakes and getting the air conditioner fixed. I have an aging car with ~ 95k miles and no plans to replace it anytime soon. I will need to figure out a way that I can start saving $100/month for car maintenance because the last two years have shown me that there will be maintenance needed but $1,500 for repairs is better than a car note any day.

I haven't been able to stick to the $200/week challenge. For one, $200 is too much for the budget so I had to scale it back. I am going to have to continue making some adjustments to the budget and financial plan but I am happy to report that I have NOT added any new debt, my debt is going down, my eFund is still in tact with a little room to spare and I am 4 months through 2011.

Not bad!!!

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

March 2011 Recap

Hello All!

Below is the recap for March. I added my comments into the Chart. It was a long month to say the least. I don't have much to add by the way of excuses. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves. Have a great day!!! =)


Monday, April 04, 2011

I'm Alive...

Hi All!!! I am alive and well. I took some time to reevaluate some things and try to get my mind right. I fell off the financial wagon so to speak in March and I wasn't pleased with a lot of things including my health. So, I made a few adjustments but mostly to my mental.

March was a particularly hard month financially because I finally got through all of the birthdays and there was 35 days between pay cycles. It just got harder to budget with birthdays and large expenses to pay. I was transferring money here, there and everywhere and eventually just gave up control. I will post March's recap soon as well as my weekly results for the past couple of weeks.

I've been an athlete my entire life. I played softball since age 8 and earned a full ride scholarship to a Big Ten school. Since graduating in 2000, I joined Corporate America, got used to my sedentary and lazy lifestyle and my muscles slowly but surely got mushy. Now, if I hadn't been an athlete my entire life, I would be at least 250 lbs by now with the way that I eat.

So after feeling a bit down and having zero energy to get through the day, I made a decision to join Weight Watchers, run the Chicago Half Marathon in September and continue playing coed slow pitch softball every Saturday. With running and softball, I am sure to get back in tip top shape.

I joined Weight Watchers Online last week to help me get a grasp of my eating. Jennifer Hudson was a huge inspiration. I have always been a size 12 thinking I could never be an 8 or 6. But Jennifer did it and surely I can do it too. I started at 180lbs and a size 12 and I have a goal of losing 40 lbs. (I know...that's a lot right?!?!?) Even in my most tip top shape as a collegiate athlete, I never weighed less than 160...just solid muscle but my body composition has changed over the years and I believe the goal can be accomplished. Week one is hardly over and I have already lost 6 lbs and my energy level is much higher.

The transition from need vs want and getting more bang for my points has translated a little into my finances. All week long I have been asking myself, is this a need or a want? If I don't spend money on this trip through some fast food line, then I can more bang for my buck buying workout clothes that I need. It seems to be working. We'll see.

More to come...