Happy New Year!

Okay. So it's really only October 25th, a nondescript day in the midst of Halloween frenzy. But now it is my new year, at least financially. Dawn was getting rid of an appointment book from 2008 she never used, so I took it over to turn into my financial accountability ledger. After purging knick knack earlier, I spent the rest of the night changing the dates in the book. Instead of keeping receipts in my book like the last one, I am going to keep them separate in a box (I have plenty of cigar boxes to find uses for).

I found a sheet with my debts on it from January of 2008. I have eradicated one debt (to my mother) and decreased my other debts much more significantly than I thought. Every little bit counts! I have two set goal: to pay my truck off my December 31, 2009 and to pay my smaller credit card off by December 31, 2010. These seem minor (and no, I'm not giving exact amounts), but I have heavy student loans that make it harder for me, not to mention my propensity to be distracted by must-have shiny objects.

Happy New Personal Fiscal Year also means buying less. Doing with what I have, trying to maintain or find new uses for them, and cutting out many spur of the moment purchases. I am not going to bother with making a savings goal. What I am going to do is pay myself first. I've done a lot of frugal blog reading lately and that was the one thing that resonated with me. Each paycheck, I am going to put a set amount into my savings account. Then I will pay my bills. I will suffer through what little is left.

I'm not saying that by paying myself I am going to go splurge later on. I have no idea what I want to do with it and frankly, I do not care at this point. It is one thing I will figure out as I muddle through. It has the option of turning into a vacation savings, a goal savings (such as a new camera or Geo Tracker), or plain ol' savings. I am doing some physical savings as well, to help me along. I have taken all cash out of my wallet. ALL. OF. IT. I also read that some people have been successful at setting aside every $5 bill they receive and not spend that. I just want a fresh start all around, though I did leave enough change in my wallet for three sodas at my work (only because it was heavy, and I could be tempted to a Dr. Pepper binge).

There are many things that bring me satisfaction, such as making little surprises for those who are dear to me. I have a list of different projects for people, and with Christmas coming up fast, I want to make them what I've always wanted to do. I am hoping it will save me money, because I will use what I have around the house, and I can cross the projects of my mental list, many which have been there since last Christmas. And once Christmas passes, I hope to get back into Etsy.

And I know I am writing this at 5 am, but I would like to get myelf into a regiment that I can fall asleep within ten or twenty minutes instead of an hour, and has me getting some sun. I need to stop focusing so much on sleep and focus on things that will get me happier. I lost 30 pounds in the last year. In the last month, I have probably put 5 of that back on. I want to get back into the swing of things to lose 30 more pounds this year. I want to feel good and I don't at this weight. I hope to start working out three times a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for one hour. It made a difference before and it will again.

The purging we did today was a great start at making ourselves feel good. We got rid of boxes of stuff and pieces of furniture that do nothing but clutter the space around us. We have a lot more to do, but what we have done so far makes us feel good. And once the second hand shop picks it up tomorrow, we will be able to see what we have done as well.

I am not good at not spending. I can go for a couple months before I break. I actually did quite well the last time I used a ledger, so I have high hopes for me this time. It is going to be difficult for two reasons: I am going to have to learn to gauge what I want and don't need before I buy it (hopefully stopping myself); the worst will be gauging what to buy other people. My impulse control sucks for myself and when it comes to buying thing for people I love. We don't need the extra clutter around.

Already, I am mentally seeing how much we paid for this thing or that thing before we put it in a box for the second hand shop. It really adds up. I can say from the last ledger, I learned that I cannot use the particular method of talking myself out of buying it, then turning around and putting the money I would have spent towards one of my debts. I do better when I write it down like a bill and pay it first thing.

I know I've written a lot, but I have a lot to process. And my brain just conked out, so I must be getting to sleep now.