Saturday, October 6, 2007

Getting started and a bit of seredipity

So today I got about 3 hours sleep. I fell asleep sometime after 4am then awoke around 7:30 to my dear boyfriend (DB from now on until i know he's cool with me using his name lol) dragging me out of bed cuz he went to McDonald's and got me breakfast..I am a Steak,Egg N Cheese bagel addict. Puttered around the house and talked with the roommate J and waking up the teenager. I tried to return to bed for an hour but alas DB would have none of that so we gathered into the Blazer to go check out a Tabacconist's shop. My DB smokes, and is trying to find a cheaper alternative to constantly running to the gas station so he looked at a home kit to make his own cigs. We found a nice setup for him and with all the supplies in tow we headed home. Then I went to work for 8 hours. I do telephone sales for a vitamin company.

Now while Im not an advocate for smoking and I have never been a smoker I did give him some props for buying this machine as it will save him money and we won't have all the waste that comes with buying packs and packs of cigarettes like the wrapping that doesnt biodegrade, and it supports a locally owned mom and pop shop. The tobacco is more pure and doesnt have a 1/8th of the chemicals commercially bought ones have. He didn't see the extra pluses of it beyond money til then. But yes, I still tell him that he really should quit and he's tries, and at the least is trying to cut back.

I came across my first task on my path which was brought to the forefront of my brain by Vonne's comment and me coming across an ad for 10 ac of land with a cabin for $44k . I need to get out of debt. I have $3k on a car loan and about $1k in credit cards. Yes I know its not as bad as some other people but nonetheless needs to be tackled. It mainly boils down to poor management of my money. I could easily put extra on my cards (beyond the extra I already am paying now) but I'll reference my addiction to McDonalds and the such. So I have an opportunity to get some overtime this next week. What I make over my normal check will get put on to my card. The other part is basically cutting out the fat so to speak. I am creating a spreadsheet/ aka budget so I can track where I am wasting money and then try to remedy it.

I spend way too much money on fast food. I work 2nd shift, sleep weird hours and it's just too damn easy to pull into the drive thru. So it must stop. I let DB in on my plan. No more fast food. I had actually done this for a month once before and I can do it again. If we go out to eat it can't be there and it can't be often. The next part is to start taking my lunch more often to work. I get an hour and usually come home (usually picking up fast food cuz no one cooked) then scarfing it down and running back to work. In my defense on this waste of gas my lunch hour is sometimes the only time I get to see our little family. He works 3rd shift and she's in highschool. So I'm hoping to take my lunch 2-3 days a week and stay there.

So I have a plan, I have the means to tackle it. While Im at it I can use my library card and find the oodles of books I know I should be reading but arent. Any tips on any of these subjects are more than welcome. On my final note (yes I talk a hell of a lot) at work today they passed out these totebags that have my company Logo on it. Its neon yellow and when I brought it home DB said "Great!!! Now we have a reusable tote for shopping at the CoOp!" Thats just what I had in mind and it also lets me know that he's into getting into this as well. :D Now, its 1:30am and Im going to bed.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good plan! All that penny pinching will pay off, I promise.
The Library is an excellent idea too. I spent all the years that we were saving, educating myself.
I read poultry books, gardening and canning books like mad. The one book that stands out and that I have my own personl copy of is -- The Encyclopedia Of Country Living, By: Carla Emery. She covers everything! Sadly, she died recently. But her book is like the bible of homesteading. Whatever you need to know - it's in there.