Time Management Results

Months ago I read an article from Matt at Becoming Last. The article suggested that readers take a time inventory of their lives to determine how much time they spent on work, sleep, preparing and eating book, etc. The purpose of the exercise was to evaluate if the way we spend our time matches what we claim to value.

For an entire week I wrote down everything I spent my time on. I discovered that I spent much of my free time with friends and doing bible studies. This matched two of the four priorities of my life (read about those here). I spent much more time on those two things than I did the top two things on my list (loving and serving my family, and loving and serving others). I realized my free time was being spent on the four areas of my life that were important, just not in the order I desired! I came to two conclusions from this exercise.

Schedule Change
We had a few conversations about our desire to love and serve other people. We were able to do this on the rare occasion a girl from church needed someone to go to an appointment with her because her mother lived out of town, or helping a family move who didn’t own a car. But we realized we needed to be much more intentional in this area.

We also realized we needed to drop a few commitments to spend time working on our marriage. We started limiting our time on church related activities to twice a week instead of three or four. We started picking up and doing housework for 5-10 minutes at breakfast and lunch so we had time in the evening together. I stopped spending as much time online, and as you have probably noticed, on this blog.

Continued Evaluation
In a short time, this exercise opened my eyes. I realized that I don’t always spend my time in a way that matches what I say I value. I get so busy with life and the things that I have scheduled that I neglect the things that are the most important to me! This was very helpful to Mr. DFx40 and I, and we plan on doing this again.

Conclusion
It was a looong 6 months away from this blog, but it was well worth it. Mr. DFx40 is graduated and finally starting to settle in at his new job. My job has had a major schedule change. And we have added another member to our household. But we can catch up about life a little later!

What about you…what are the priorities in your life? Do you consistently spend your time in a way that reflects that?

Money Proverbs - A Prudent Son

Each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book of Proverbs and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.

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Many proverbs have negative and positive statements. Today’s is not different.

4 A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

Proverbs 10:4-5

Negative.  We’ve all heard the story of the grasshopper and the ant. We’ve also all heard stories of grasshoppers that came into money without earning it themselves. Unfortunately, the proverb below holds true even in those situations. Many people who inherit money or win the lottery end up in worse shape that they started out in because they didn’t change their ways.

Positive.  This verse brought to my mind a worker with variable income. These people know that they must save during months of plenty (gather in summer) to survive the months of want. They will be rewarded with peace of mind, a cared for family, and a wise reputation.

What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?

Money Proverbs - Riches and Honor

Each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book of Proverbs and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.

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I don’t have much to say about today’s verses except, boy was it timely. Sometimes its hard to not get caught up in the love of money. This reminds me that His blessings are better than anything I can imagine!

18 Riches and honor are with me,
enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield than choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
in the paths of justice,
21 granting an inheritance to those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.

Proverbs 8:18-21

What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?

Money Proverbs - Practical Warnings

Each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book of Proverbs and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.

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I titled today’s verses after the section title from my bible. If the following passage seems like common sense, that’s because it is! And honestly, the bluntness of it really makes me chuckle.

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief,
officer or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers he food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.

Proverbs 6:9, 10

What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?

March Firm Determinations Update

At the beginning of 2010 I made a few Firm Determinations. I am very excited about my progress in some areas, and just a little disappointed about my lack of progress in others. Here is how I’ve done with my Financial, Health, Faith, and Blog FD’s.

Finances
Save $5000 towards student loan repayment by May – We have saved $4096.00 towards this goal. That’s 82% towards our goal!
Increase Emergency Fund by one month’s living expenses by May – We have saved $2726.70 towards this goal, which is more than one month’s living expenses for us. Consider this officially checked off the list.
Open a Roth IRA with retirement money in Money Market Account – We are still looking into this. I have the option of opening one up with the same people who do our company’s 401K so I’m going to set up a meeting within the next few months.
Reevaluate goals in May 2010 – this is one FD we are looking forward too!

Health
Run/log 600 miles – I logged 2 miles this month. Yikes. I guess it is an improvement over last month, which didn’t see any miles. It looks like I need to reevaluate this FD.
Ride my new bike to work 24 times – I rode my bike one time in March, which is short of the 2 times a month I need for this FD. Maybe April will be the first successful month.
Do back exercises/stretches 3 times a week – I’m still only doing this about once a week. Sigh.
Try one new meatless meal a month –Here is a picture of the surprisingly yummy black bean taco I had for dinner last week. Mr. DFx40 wasn’t excited about meatless tacos so I had to take my portion of the beans out before I added his beef.

Faith
Volunteer to lead college small group once a month – I volunteered to lead 7 of the 8 times we met.
Spend time with children from bus ministry once a month –This has been more difficult to fulfill lately. We had to make the very sad decision to stop volunteering on Wednesday nights. Maybe I’ll talk more about this later, but I’m still pretty upset, so I’m not going to go into it now.
Spend 3 hours a week reading and studying my bible – I count 30 minutes each for our Sunday and Tuesday college bible study and Sunday small group bible study in this. It is actually more like an hour for each, but I can’t make it that easy! I ended up averaging only 2 hours each week this month.

Blog
Post a new article once a week – I barely met this goal this month. I think I need to work on a schedule instead of whenever I get around to it.
Track all of my input/output and share it once a month – I successfully tracked everything in a spreadsheet, but I think there is way too much information to share, and I don’t see the benefit. I’m rethinking the last half of this FD.

Once again I fell short in some areas and excelled in others. It may take me all year to have a completely successful month. Maybe it’s the warm sunny days we’ve been having, but I am very optimistic for April.

What about you…how have you progressed towards fulfilling your Firm Determinations? Have you reevaluated or modified your goals?

Time Management

Last week Matt at Becoming Last posted an interesting article about time management. First he suggested we take a time inventory of our lives. Write down how much time you spend on different areas of your life for a week: work, sleep, preparing and eating food, driving, leisure (tv, games, hobbies), working out, church activities/volunteering, internet, etc. Then he posed this question,

“Does the way we use our time match what we claim to value?”

I thought for a while and came up with a list of things I value in my life; things I want to be a priority. It was hard for me to put into words the things that I value. As I’ve said in previous posts, the main goal for my life is to live missionally. But that is a little broad for this list, so I broke it down a little. I managed to come up with 4 things that I want to be priorities in my life.

Loving and serving my family
This includes any quality time that I spend with my family; going for a walk, watching a movie with them, sitting and talking with them. It also includes any time I spend serving them: making their dinner, folding their clothes, giving them a massage.

Loving and serving others
This includes any time I spend serving other people; giving someone a ride, verbally affirming my friends, or serving at a soup kitchen.

Increasing my knowledge of God
This includes any time spent in prayer, reading my bible, attending church, or leading bible studies.

Taking care of my mind and body
This includes any time I spend doing things like exercising or gardening.

Starting this Sunday I am going to keep a rough estimate each day of how I spend my time. At the end of next week I will share my results, and see if how I spend my time matches what I value. If it doesn’t, I’ll try to determine what I can do to change that.

What about you…how do you think you spend your time? What do you want your life to reflect about your priorities?

Money Proverbs - Weath and Plenty

Each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book of Proverbs and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.

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Today’s verses are a subject that causes a lot of division within and outside of the church. But regardless of the arguments of either side, it is a passage that I have seen prove faithful in my own life. When Mr. DFx40 and I started honoring God with our money (and that means giving faithfully and willingly, not begrudgingly) our finances were blessed. We were able to sell a house we bought with my parents for a 55% profit, pay off my student loans, pay our car off 2 years early, and take our net worth from a negative $56,500 to a positive $18,000. And even though we were using most of our income to pay down debt and increase our savings, our giving has actually increased also.

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Proverbs 3:9, 10

What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?

The Happiness Project for March

Do you ever struggle with being happy with your job? Most people do at one time or another. For the past few months it has been very difficult for me to go to work. I have felt bored and haven’t enjoyed the time I spend there. Considering I spend anywhere from 40 and 50 hours a week at my job, that is a lot of dissatisfaction.

If you haven’t guessed by now, Gretchen Rubin, who wrote a book and manages the Happiness project blog, suggests focusing on work this month. To be able to increase your happiness at work, you first have to figure out what is making you unhappy. There are a two big reasons I have been unhappy at work. First, sometimes I get bored. So I sit and do nothing, and the time d r a g s. Second, I tend to dwell on the unhappy things. For example, when I get bored, I sit and think about how bored I am, or how I would rather be somewhere else, instead of doing something to fix it. That doesn’t make much sense! But what can I do to change it?

Stay busy. This might seem obvious, but it isn’t something I’ve been practicing. There are definitely things I can do during the boring times that would increase my productivity. What I am going to do this month is make a list of things to do during the boring times and label it Stay Busy. Every time I have 30 minutes or an hour of “free” time, I will open up this list and get busy! A few things on that list: purge and organize files, file project information, update project lists, return drawings to file room, make my office more beautiful.

Don’t Dwell. I have to focus on not dwelling on all the things I don’t like about my job. I need to dwell on the things about my job that are a blessing. I’m big on lists, so every time I start thinking about a negative thing in my job I am going to do two things: figure out how to turn the negative into a positive, and make a list of the blessings from my job. A few examples on my list: I have a stable job in an uncertain economy, I have room for improvement in my job, I receive free insurance and substantial profit sharing, I have the ability to telecommute in the future (which was a large factor when I moved), I have a boss with good morals.

What about you…how can you increase your happiness by focusing on Work this month?

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For future topics and past entries on my Happiness Project, see the list below.

January – Energy

February – Love
March – Work
April – Money
May – Mindfulness
June – Order
July – Spirit
August – Fun
September – Family
October – Friends
November – Attitude
December – Boot Camp Perfect

Money Proverbs

I know that the majority of people are not Christian, and do not consider the bible as the authoritative Word of God. However, regardless of whether you believe as I do or not, the bible has some very practical advice for many areas of your life. Money is one of the most discussed topics in the bible. Because of this, I am starting a new series called Money Proverbs. I am going to read through Proverbs and each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.

11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
let us ambush the innocent without reason;
12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we shall find all precious goods,
we shall fill our houses with plunder;
14 thrown in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse” –
15 my son, do not walk in the way with them;
hold back your foot from their paths,
16 for their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is a net spread
in the sight of any bird,
18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
they set an ambush for their own lives.
19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.
Proverbs 1:11-19

What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?

February Firm Determination Update

At the beginning of 2010 I made a few Firm Determinations. I am very excited about my progress in some areas, and just a little disappointed about my lack of progress in others. Here is how I’ve done with my Financial, Health, Faith, and Blog FD’s.

Finances
Save $5000 towards student loan repayment by May – We have saved $3715.98.00 towards this goal. That’s 74% towards our goal and a 29% increase from last month.
Increase Emergency Fund by one month’s living expenses by May – We have saved $2665.22 towards this goal, which is more than one month’s living expenses for us. Consider this officially checked off the list.
Open a Roth IRA with retirement money in Money Market Account – We are still looking into this. I have the option of opening one up with the same people who do our company’s 401K so I’m going to set up a meeting within the next few months.
Reevaluate goals in May 2010 – Mr. DFx40 is on his second round of interviews at the hospital he wants to work for after graduating so I'm getting excited about this!

Health
The weather continues to foil my plans in a few of these areas. But enough excuses, on to the updates!
Run/log 600 miles – I logged 0 miles this month. Zero. That doesn’t even come close to the 50 miles a month it will take to fulfill this FD.
Ride my new bike to work 24 times – I rode my bikeone time in February, which is short of the 2 times a month I need for this FD. I’m expecting this to pick up once it starts staying above freezing at night.
Do back exercises/stretches 3 times a week – I’ve only been doing this about once a week, but it helps so much when I do! Hopefully this will be the month I fulfill this FD.

Try one new meatless meal a month – I’m looking forward to this FD, even though I forgot about it last month. Here is a picture of the delicious smoothie I had for breakfast last Saturday. It was made of strawberries, bananas, a handful of blackberries, and 6 oz of yogurt. Yum!

Faith

Volunteer to lead college small group once a month – I volunteered to lead 7 of the 8 times we met.
Spend time with children from bus ministry once a month – We took 6 of the kids to the local golden arches after church Wednesday night. You have never seen a group of kids so excited to get something off the dollar menu. And when they got three items each, I thought they might explode. If we could all be so thankful for such a small thing!
Spend 3 hours a week reading and studying my bible – I count 30 minutes each for our Sunday and Tuesday college bible study and Sunday small group bible study in this. It is actually more like an hour for each, but I can’t make it that easy! I ended up averaging just under 3 hours each week.

Blog
Post a new article once a week – I met this goal this month, without technicalities. If I continue to meet this FD I will expand this to include an actual schedule instead of whenever I get around to it.
Track all of my input/output and share it once a month – I successfully tracked everything in a spreadsheet, but I think there is way too much information to share, and I don’t see the benefit. I’m rethinking the last half of this FD.

Once again I fell short in some areas and excelled in others. It may take me all year to have a completely successful month, but I am still optimistic.

What about you…how have you progressed towards fulfilling your Firm Determinations? Have you reevaluated or modified your goals?

Financial Fast

I have participated in a few fasts from food. It was not easy. I love to prepare and to eat food. I did learn that if I can go without a necessity like food for a day or two, I can go without a non-necessity for a week, month, or even a year.

When I apply this idea to my personal finances, I call it a financial fast. It can include not purchasing soft drinks, not eating meat, not buying any new clothes, not eating out, etc. Everyone can benefit from a regular financial fast. It helps develop skills, and best of all, it helps you save money.

Self-control. Self control is essential to being successful with your finances (and in life!). But it isn’t something that can be developed overnight. It takes time. The key is to take small steps. Start out with a day or two. Then work up to a week. Eventually you’ll be fasting for a month without much effort.

Confidence. Sometimes we are fearful of doing anything because the risk of failure is overwhelming. So we stay in the same job, never try a new hobby, and don’t ever get out of our comfort zone. When I was successful in a small financial fast, it boosted my confidence and I slowly added the length of my fast. When I was successful in longer fasts, it built up my confidence until I gained control of my finances.

Money. At first I gave up something for short time, like a week. I didn’t see huge results from these short fasts. But as I developed more self-control and confidence, the results grew. Ten dollars I saved turned into twenty, which turned into fifty dollars. I discovered that when I completed a financial fast, sometime I never started purchasing that item again!

Just like with a fast from food, you have to be cautious when your fast is over. If you go out and eat a huge meal after a fast, it will be painful. I do recommend rewarding yourself when you meet a goal, but I don’t recommend splurging all the money you saved on your financial fast. If you give up buying soft drinks for a week, reward yourself with one soft drink at the end of the week. If you give up eating out for a month, reward yourself with one night out at the end of the month. If you decide you still want to!

What about you…what could you give up for a week, a month, or even a year as part of a financial fast?

The Happiness Project for February

The month of February is a time many people focus on love, whether they want to or not. Some people have a positive experience and others don’t. But whatever their experience, they are inundated with commercials, promotions, and discussions about love. I guess that’s why Gretchen Rubin, who thought up the Happiness Project, suggests focusing on love this month. 

I like the focus on love because it is one of the driving forces behind my desire to be debt free by forty. One of the bible verses that sums up what a Christian’s life should look like is John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another”. This doesn’t just apply to the person you are married to, engaged to, or are dating. This applies to every person in your life, whether it is family, friends, or strangers.

Gretchen’s tips for this month are giving proofs of love, fighting right, and not expecting praise or appreciation. Gretchen’s tips to fight right and not to expect praise or appreciation are a form of giving proofs of love. It is ok to disagree with a spouse or friend…it is hard to grow if there isn’t something pushing you to assess your views and beliefs. What is not ok is tearing someone down verbally because they don’t agree with you. What better way to give a proof of love than to do something for another person without expecting anything in return? That is the type of love that echoes the ultimate gift of love we received from Christ when he chose to give His life for ours.

Here are a few of the ways I am going to show proofs of love this month:

Give my husband a back massage. Mr. DFx40 is very physically active. He tries to run 30-40 miles every week. He is in nursing school so he is regularly on his feet for 12 hours or more each day. This is something I can do for him without expecting him to do anything in return.

Send a card to my mother. Mother DFx40 is stressed out this month because Little Brother DFx40 is getting married. His future wife is great, and this is something the entire family has been looking forward to. However, she has taken on a lot of activities by herself and I know she would greatly appreciate a handwritten note over a quick text or phone call.

Make a favorite meal for Cousin DFx40. He has been making great progress, but still feels very guilty about the circumstances that have him living with us. He also worries about the burden he thinks he puts on us. I know that he could use an extra portion of love this month. I plan on making his favorite dinner and telling him I’m proud of him for the growth he’s shown.

What about you…how can you increase your happiness by focusing on Love this month?

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For future topics and past entries on my Happiness Project, see the list below.
January – Energy
February – Love
March – Work
April – Money
May – Mindfulness
June – Order
July – Spirit
August – Fun
September – Family
October – Friends
November – Attitude
December – Boot Camp Perfect

Home Downsizing

I’ve got a little secret to share. I am in love  obsessed intrigued by the small house movement. I visit small house websites, I read about not so big houses, shoot, I even draw my own small house plans. What is it that has me so enamored?

Family - My grandmother grew up in a small house with no indoor plumbing and a shared bedroom for the kids. Mr. DFx40 and Cousin DFx40 both shared bedrooms with their older brothers. In a small home if it is going to work you have to learn to communicate with your family, which is definitely a good thing. You can’t have good relationships without good communication.

Sustainable - It doesn’t take much common sense to realize that a smaller house uses less material and causes less waste when being built. They also use less energy to heat and cool. And if you do happen to live in a small home and you want to update to be more energy efficient, it takes a lot less material to do that also!

Money - Smaller House = Smaller Mortgage. If that isn’t enough to convince you, take a look at this…Smaller House = Smaller Bills. Enough said.

Time - It takes me long enough to clean and maintain a 1300 square foot home. When I think about adding bathrooms and other rooms to clean, I start to hyperventilate. And if you haven’t figured this one out yet, a smaller home (and a smaller mortgage) equals less time at work to pay for it. That aligns perfectly with my motivation to be debt free by forty.

These reasons were enough to motivate a few conversations about downsizing from our huge (ha) 1300 square feet house. We realized there were plenty of advantages to doing so. What made us decide to stay put? Two of the same things that has me so in love  obsessed intruged with small houses!

Money - Our current mortgage is far from unbearable. We bought a house for around 70% of what the bank offered to loan us three years ago, which was based on my income alone. We could still comfortably afford it on half of our current income. That is with me working full time and Mr. DFx40 working about 12 hours a week while he finishes school. We decided the extra $200-$300 a month we could save by downsizing wasn’t worth the three years of equity we would lose or the stress of moving.

Family - As some of you know, Cousin DFx40 moved in with us in September. What none of you know is that another Cousin DFx40 will be staying with us for a few weeks in March. She and her husband will be moving from Mexico (he is a citizen of Mexico) to the town we live in, and she needs a place to stay while she looks for a car and an apartment. If we downsized we would miss out on a lot of opportunities to help out the people we love.

What about you…what size house/apartment do you live in? How many people share that space with you? Would you ever consider going smaller?

January Firm Determinations Update

At the beginning of 2010 I made a few Firm Determinations. I am very excited about my progress in some areas, and just a little disappointed about my lack of progress in others. Here is how I’ve done with my Financial, Health, Faith, and Blog FD’s.

Finances
Save $5000 towards student loan repayment by May – We have saved $2.250.00 towards this goal. That’s 45%, so we are way ahead.
Increase Emergency Fund by one month’s living expenses by May – We have saved $110.00 towards this goal, which is just over 5% (you can do the math). We are a little behind on this, but I’m not worried because we’ll receive $1500 rebate in our taxes for energy efficient upgrades (our air conditioner died).
Open a Roth IRA with retirement money in Money Market Account – We are still looking into this. I have the option of opening one up with the same people who do our company’s 401K so I’m going to set up a meeting within the next few months.
Reevaluate goals in May 2010 – this is one FD we are looking forward too!

Health
Hmm. I really thought that this would be one of the easier categories for me. But it ended up being the worse one.

Run/log 600 miles – I only logged 4 miles this month. That doesn’t even come close to the 50 miles a month it will take to fulfill this FD. I don’t have an excuse except that it has been freakishly cold in Texas.
Ride my new bike to work 24 times – I did not ride my bike one time in January, which is obviously short of the 2 times a week I need for this FD. I’m expecting this to pick up once it starts staying above freezing at night.
Do back exercises/stretches 3 times a week – I’ve done my back exercises and stretches an average of 1 time a week. I saw results from the few times I did this. This will increase when my running increases.
Try one new meatless meal a month – I honestly forgot all about this FD until I sat down to write this update. But here’s a picture of the yummy chicken fajitas the three of us ate last night.

Faith
Volunteer to lead college small group once a month – I completely blew this one away this month. I volunteered to lead 3 of the 4 times we met. And it wasn’t that bad.
Spend time with children from bus ministry once a month – This is one of the FD’s I’m most disappointed with not fulfilling. I will have to schedule in a Saturday to do a home visit for February.
Spend 3 hours a week reading and studying my bible – I struggled with whether or not to include our Sunday and Tuesday college bible study and Sunday small group bible study in this. In the end, I decided to count 30 minutes for each. I ended up averaging a little under 3 hours each week.

Blog
Post a new article once a week – I didn’t technically meet this goal. I posted a total of 4 times in January, but I went an entire week without posting anything.
Track all of my input/output and share it once a month – I successfully tracked everything in a spreadsheet. My next post will give you the tally for each of the following items tracked for January:

Income/Expenses
Food/Exercise
Spiritual Growth/Live Missionally

Like I said, I fell short in some areas and excelled in others. It may take me all year to have a completely successful month, but I am still optimistic.

What about you…how have you progressed towards fulfilling your Firm Determinations? Have you reevaluated or modified your goals?

Free Stuff

Has anyone else come across the Money Crashers Site lately?

Wow.

They are currently hosting one of the largest giveaways I have ever seen on a blog. A few of the prizes listed on their website include $9,200 worth of cash, gift cards, and prizes like an Amazon Kindle, an 8GB Ipod Touch, a consultation with a CFP, and a virtual truckload of personal finance books and magazines.

There are almost as many ways to enter as there are prizes. A few of the easier ways to enter are signing up for their mailing list (1 entry) or their RSS feed (15 entries) and writing a blog post about the contest (30 entries, 2 blog post limit). For the more creative entrant, write a personal finance haiku on Twitter (10 entries, with the top 5 haikus earning 15 additional entries).  

Money Crashers will perform a random drawing on February 3, 2010 so if you want a fighting chance, head on over quickly and enter as many ways as you can. Good luck if you decide to enter, and hopefully I'll have an exciting reason to post on Wednesday.  ;-)

Financial Lesson from Glee...

...or at least from talking about Glee. 

Cousin DFx40 and I watch Glee together every week.  I told him that I would love to have the soundrackthat was out. He informed me that the show had a second volume out too. He went on to tell me that soundtracks of any kind are his weakness. He knows as soon as almost any soundtrack comes out, and he has to give himself a limit of 2 weeks to buy them. By the time the 2 weeks are over, the newness has worn off and he rarely ends up buying it. How awesome that he has discovered something that will help him with his finances for the rest of his life! To be successful financially (and in life) we have to realize two things. 

What works for me doesn't work for everyone. 
Mr. DFx40 prefers get up at 5am every morning and run 8 miles before the day even starts. If he waits until 5pm he is not going to run. F.I.L. DFx40 prefers to eat breakfast and be awake for an hour or two first.  If he gets up at 5am it is only because his dogs woke him up. Some of us can hang out at the mall for 4 hours on a Saturday and end up buying one $10 shirt that we have been looking at for a month. Some of us can't drive past the mall without going in and spending $100 on something we don't even want. 

I have to work on what doesn't come naturally. 
Brother DFx40 was born with a very active metabolism, and has to work very hard to gain weight.  Aunt DFx40 was born with a very inactive metabolism has to work very hard to not gain weight. Brother DFx40 can't lift weights once a week and expect to gain a lot of muscle any more than Aunt DFx40 can eat a salad once a week and expect to lose weight. Some of us find it easy to cook meals at home, but can't bear the thought of giving up cable. Some of us haven't had cable in years, but can't imagine making a grilled cheese sandwich.

These two things are not reasons for us to make excuses. We just need to realize that we all have strengths and weakness, and we have to work with what we've been given. I don't have a problem with tracking my spending (I love Excel), giving freely to others, or saving money. I do have to be careful in stores that sell yarn, in any store if I'm upset, or driving by a restaurant on my way home from work. 

What about you...what have you discovered that works for you? What things do you have to work on?

My Happiness Project

A few things have me thinking about happiness lately.

The first is the weather we’ve been having. We’ve had quite a few days of snow (at least for Texas), and many more days of overcast dreary weather. It always gets me in a little bit of a funk.

The second is a post from J.D. at Get Rich Slowly; It’s More Important to Be Happy than to Be Rich. J.D. makes the case that money doesn’t make our lives better, happiness does. And he makes a very compelling case.

The third is a site I stumbled on; The Happiness Project. Gretchen Rubin spent an entire year applying bits of happiness advice to her life and blogging about it. She also wrote a book about what she learned from that year.

On her blog, Gretchen encourages everyone to start their own Happiness Project. She outlines areas to focus on each month, and even posts weekly goals for each area.

January – Energy
February – Love
March – Work
April – Money
May – Mindfulness
June – Order
July – Spirit
August – Fun
September – Family
October – Friends
November – Attitude
December – Boot Camp Perfect

I know there are plenty of things I can focus on in each of her proposed areas. Since it looks like the sun isn’t going to be breaking through the clouds anytime soon, I should probably be a little proactive in increasing my happiness.

The first month, January, focuses on Energy. That happens to align with a few of my Firm Determinations for 2010, namely the ones related to my health. Running, riding my bike, stretching and exercising my back, and eating better are all likely to boost my energy. If I am going to keep up with all of that exercising, I’m going to need to make sure I get a solid 8 hours of sleep every night. And since I get up at 5am to run with Mr. DFx40, it looks like I need to get off the computer and head to bed!

What about you…how can you increase your happines by focusing on Energy?

Firm Determinations

I use to make New Year’s Resolutions every year. I’ll run every day, read my bible more, get more sleep, lose weight, etc. Let me be honest. I never made it past January. I think the reason why I failed year after year is that resolutions were either impossible, or too vague.

One of the areas that I have experienced crazy results in the last two years is my finances. Looking back, I am confident that the reason for this success was setting goals. Mr. DFx40 and I sat down when he decided to go back to school. We made some very specific goals for the short term and long term (the ultimate goal of course is to be debt free by 40). I don’t like to be like everyone else so instead of making New Year’s Resolutions I’m going to make Firm Determinations. Here are my 2010 Firm Determinations broken into 4 categories:

Finances
Since this blog is largely to hold me accountable, I should probably start with my financial goals. These goals are really just for half the year because Mr. DFx40 will graduate in May. Yay!

Save $5000 towards student loan repayment by May
Increase Emergency Fund by one month’s living expenses by May
Open a Roth IRA with retirement money in Money Market Account
Reevaluate goals in May 2010

Health
When I take care of myself my expenses are actually lower. Some of my friends argue that when they exercise they eat more. This may be true for them, but not for me. When I exercise regularly I pay closer attention to the food I eat, I plan out my meals, and actually spend less money on groceries. I also feel better and have more energy, which means I’m not sitting on the couch watching TV and snacking.

Run/log 600 miles
Ride my new bike to work 24 times
Do back exercises/stretches 3 times a week
Try one new meatless meal a month

Faith
I talked previously about why I want to be debt free by forty. I believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and I desire to live as he taught. However, I still get distracted with work and other things of this world. After being inspired by Matt at Becoming Last, I am determined to live missionally today instead of waiting until my financial goals are met.

Volunteer to lead college small group once a month
Spend time with children from bus ministry once a month 
Spend 3 hours a week reading and studying my bible

Blog
I am still new to the blogging world, and I know there are many ways I need to improve. I have a few things I would like to accomplish with and through this blog.

 

Post a new article once a week

Track all of my input/output and share it once a month

• Income/Expenses
• Food/Exercise
• Spiritual Growth/Live Missionally

I am very optimistic about my Firm Determinations because they are all SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed). I am starting a few days behind on my resolutions, but I still hope to have a favorable report by the end of this month.

What about you…what Firm Determinations have you made for the new year?