Well, this week (I know it's only Tuesday) has sucked. Work is so stressful right now because of all of these changes and different things they are trying to put into place. That's a blog for another day. Like I've posted before, I'm going to try to be more positive. I think that is so important. I don't like getting sucked into that rabbit hole of negativity. So! This is me being positive about a sucky week...
A little background:
I love to shop. I love to buy clothes, home decor, bath stuff, art stuff, craft stuff...the list could go on and on. It's always been a thing. And I love to go out to dinner with friends. It's social. It's therapeutic. It's just fun. If there is money in the bank, why not? Right?
Wrong. Boy, is that thinking wrong. Well, I realize that now.
Present Day:
I had a half day today, which gave me ample opportunity to reflect on my situation. If you read my New Year's Day blog, I wrote about my goals. One is to de-clutter my life. I've been going through my room and closet, getting rid of things. I realized that I have this urge to go out and purchase something else to fill that space. Then I look at my bank account and rethink that.
See, I've been living on basically part-time wages. It's been SO difficult. Between getting sick about 5 times with no paid leave to make up that time off, and having a billion half days around Christmas, my pay checks have sucked. It's difficult. But, I have made do. That's not to say that I haven't griped about it. Or struggled through it. Because I have. However, yesterday I had an epiphany.
Like I said before, work has sucked this week. Yesterday was uber stressful. I was running on one hour of sleep. Work was a nightmare of stress. I came home and poured my frustrations out to Amber (my BFF and roomie). Thanks Amber! After I was finished griping, she asked if I wanted to go to dinner. I immediately said that I couldn't because I was too poor. Then I thought about it. I actually do have plenty of money, but I didn't want to spend it on going out to eat when I had perfectly good homemade leftover soup in the fridge. That's a change!!! Turning down going out, AND eating leftovers?!? Last night, I was thinking about this. It was weird that my first reaction was "no, I'm too poor." Weirder still, is that I actually stuck to that.
I realize that I have been blowing so much money on stupid stuff. I'm not saying that going out to eat with your friend is stupid, it's not. But going out to eat 3-4 times a week is ridic. I mean, that's a ton of money! Purchasing stuff for no good reason, is such a waste! Especially when half of the time it ends up in a garage sale two months later. I realized how much I've been able to do without whilst living on these measly paychecks. And it's been great! I don't need that. I honestly didn't realize how much of a thing it had become. I want to continue with this "I'm too poor" mentality. If it's going to help me save money and keep my apartment clutter free, then holler! My goal is that much closer to being met.
I've been reading the Living Well Spending Less blog, and she has some awesome points. I want to do the 31 Days of Living Well and Spending Zero. It seems like an awesome challenge. They ended up saving close to $1000 in one month because they ate what they had in the house and they didn't do any unnecessary spending. And on top of all that, they de-cluttered and organized their home. Win/Win! Anyone want to join me? I'm going to try this in February and the first couple days of March. I just want to see if I can do it. So! If I turn you down for a movie or going out to dinner, don't be offended. I'm just trying a month of not doing any unnecessary spending. I do still love you all!
Well folks, this week has no where to go but up. Tomorrow is a new day. I'm going to continue on in my goal of finding positive things to focus on. I'm also going to continue on in my goal to organize and get rid of things. It feels so good when your house loses some of that weight it's been carrying around. AND, by putting some of my stuff on the Facebook Garage Sale sites, I've made some money. If you haven't already, y'all should try it! It's awesome!
Later, chickens! Y'all have a good night!
Showing posts with label Get Rid of the Clutter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Get Rid of the Clutter. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
New Year, Years, Year's.
You see any variation of the above. Happy New Year. It's New Year's Day. New Years (more than one?). It's funny when it's used incorrectly. Unlike "they, there, and they're" or "to, too, two." The misuse of those words drive me crazy. I'm not a grammar nazi, but I have my limits. hahaha!
Enough of that. It's New Year's Day!!!! This is when we are supposed to make resolutions and raise our expectations, often higher than is reasonable. Not in every case, but in my own experiences, it's what I do. This year shall be different! Like many people, I'm going to make goals instead of "resolutions." Are they the same thing? Basically. But "setting goals" makes it more of an action. Makes it a game to play. My goals are going to be reasonable, doable, much needed goals. And I'm going to try not to work in absolutes. I've decided that very rarely in life are there any absolutes. So, to start the New Year off, I'm going to attempt to put a stop to that (in my life).
1) I'm going to work on getting the clutter out of my life- physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. This is something that can be done fluidly. It's something that I can work on every day. It's going to help me feel more settled in my own environment, which is something I desperately need. It's also a never ending thing, but one that I have sorely neglected the past 12 months. 2013 was not kind to me. Neither was I kind to me. Time to work on that.
2) I'm going to work on being a better friend and family member- I keep in contact with my immediate family and my core group of friends on a very regular basis. But what about the cousins that live far away, or the friends that I don't see regularly? I can be really shy and quiet, but those friends became friends for a reason. I need to remember that so I can re-cultivate those relationships. In my prior post, I mentioned my hilarious extended family. I'm going to work on trying harder to reach out to them. I'm going to try to go visit them. They're awesome! I'm mean, they're related to me, so was there any doubt?
3) I'm going to work on having more positive things in my life- There is so much negativity out there. ALL OVER. I'm not talking about just negative attitudes. I'm talking about negativity in the media, social media, books, music, atmospheres we hang out in, etc. I'm going to try to replace those things with fun, light and more wholesome things. If I see that watching the news and hearing people bash on eachother is taking me down, then I'm going to turn it off, shut off the phone. If the book I'm reading isn't quite what it said it was, then into the trash it goes. If the music that's on makes me feel oogy or angry, then it needs to go the heck away. Y'all get the point. That's what I love about ya!
4) I'm going work on using my right brain more- I'm a nurse. Have been for 13 years. The left side of my brain is tired and worn out, while the right side is jumping around like it's on crack, just waiting to be used. (ha!) It makes for an interesting battle in my head, that's for sure. I love art. I love photography. I love making things. It's time to do more of these, so I can have some sort of creative outlet. I'm positive this will help with the above mentioned goals as well, so score! Also, Santa brought me a sewing machine for Christmas, so I am going to be able to learn something new!
So. Those are my goals, and I'm excited to start! Another thing that I'm going to do to help make all this happen is what I'm going to call "52 Pins of Interest." Recently, I have become obsessed with Pinterest. Mostly because I'm in awe of what some people are capable of making with their own two hands. How much patience and focus they have. And it's all SO SIMPLE! Yeah. Well. I'm going to try to do one Pin a week. Then I'm going to write about it and document with a picture or two or ten. It should be way fun...and funny. I mean, I like to do all these things, but that doesn't mean I'm any good. I will probably have some pretty awesome Pin Fails. All the more fun, I say!
So stay tuned! If you have any input on what I should try, let me know. If you have any comments or questions, hit me up! I hope 2014 treats everyone like the ladies and gentlemen they are (or should be). I hope that we can all get rid of some of the negative and put more light back into our lives. People are awesome (most of the time), we all just need to remember that.
Enough of that. It's New Year's Day!!!! This is when we are supposed to make resolutions and raise our expectations, often higher than is reasonable. Not in every case, but in my own experiences, it's what I do. This year shall be different! Like many people, I'm going to make goals instead of "resolutions." Are they the same thing? Basically. But "setting goals" makes it more of an action. Makes it a game to play. My goals are going to be reasonable, doable, much needed goals. And I'm going to try not to work in absolutes. I've decided that very rarely in life are there any absolutes. So, to start the New Year off, I'm going to attempt to put a stop to that (in my life).
1) I'm going to work on getting the clutter out of my life- physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. This is something that can be done fluidly. It's something that I can work on every day. It's going to help me feel more settled in my own environment, which is something I desperately need. It's also a never ending thing, but one that I have sorely neglected the past 12 months. 2013 was not kind to me. Neither was I kind to me. Time to work on that.
2) I'm going to work on being a better friend and family member- I keep in contact with my immediate family and my core group of friends on a very regular basis. But what about the cousins that live far away, or the friends that I don't see regularly? I can be really shy and quiet, but those friends became friends for a reason. I need to remember that so I can re-cultivate those relationships. In my prior post, I mentioned my hilarious extended family. I'm going to work on trying harder to reach out to them. I'm going to try to go visit them. They're awesome! I'm mean, they're related to me, so was there any doubt?
3) I'm going to work on having more positive things in my life- There is so much negativity out there. ALL OVER. I'm not talking about just negative attitudes. I'm talking about negativity in the media, social media, books, music, atmospheres we hang out in, etc. I'm going to try to replace those things with fun, light and more wholesome things. If I see that watching the news and hearing people bash on eachother is taking me down, then I'm going to turn it off, shut off the phone. If the book I'm reading isn't quite what it said it was, then into the trash it goes. If the music that's on makes me feel oogy or angry, then it needs to go the heck away. Y'all get the point. That's what I love about ya!
4) I'm going work on using my right brain more- I'm a nurse. Have been for 13 years. The left side of my brain is tired and worn out, while the right side is jumping around like it's on crack, just waiting to be used. (ha!) It makes for an interesting battle in my head, that's for sure. I love art. I love photography. I love making things. It's time to do more of these, so I can have some sort of creative outlet. I'm positive this will help with the above mentioned goals as well, so score! Also, Santa brought me a sewing machine for Christmas, so I am going to be able to learn something new!
So. Those are my goals, and I'm excited to start! Another thing that I'm going to do to help make all this happen is what I'm going to call "52 Pins of Interest." Recently, I have become obsessed with Pinterest. Mostly because I'm in awe of what some people are capable of making with their own two hands. How much patience and focus they have. And it's all SO SIMPLE! Yeah. Well. I'm going to try to do one Pin a week. Then I'm going to write about it and document with a picture or two or ten. It should be way fun...and funny. I mean, I like to do all these things, but that doesn't mean I'm any good. I will probably have some pretty awesome Pin Fails. All the more fun, I say!
So stay tuned! If you have any input on what I should try, let me know. If you have any comments or questions, hit me up! I hope 2014 treats everyone like the ladies and gentlemen they are (or should be). I hope that we can all get rid of some of the negative and put more light back into our lives. People are awesome (most of the time), we all just need to remember that.
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