Thursday, February 10, 2011

Resolution Update

I was thinking about this last night as I sat down in the settee to read. I've been rather preoccupied with something external to the house. But I realized that I needed a public accounting of where I stood in following my resolutions. This is, admittedly, more for my benefit than yours although it allows you to see how much better you are for keeping your resolutions.

#1 Pay off one credit card.
     I am hopeful I can do this when I get my tax refund or make a dent in one that will allow it to be more easily paid off this year.

#2 Pay for everything with cash.
     When you have to do this and then it's the way you live for a month, it becomes a mindset. I'm rather proud of that mindset now. It causes me to analyze my expenditures in a way I wasn't before. I'm still going to get "Nightmare Before Christmas" but I don't look at things and think, "I can pay for that at the end of the month". The truth really is, "I'll be paying on that for 6 months" and that's not good money sense.

#3 Don't get down on myself.
     Almost impossible not to. If I can't find my glasses, I feel I'm stupid because I obviously put them in the wrong place. Silencing the internal critic with ice cream is not a good thing, either. This may be a bigger battle than paying bills.

#4 Read a magazine every two weeks.
     Well, I took a week and read 4 magazines so that counts double. I'm working on an old Discover magazine which is what triggered this post. I have chucked the "please renew" notices from a couple of my Scottish magazines. Oh that was hard, but it has to be done right now. I told myself it's for the greater good. To purloin Dickens, "The needs of the many (referencing my money) outweigh the needs of the few (a magazine renewal)."

#5 Read 6 books this year.
     I read "The Shattering" by Christine Golden. I have another on the nightstand. It should be a quick read as it's #2 in a series and I've read #1 and liked it.

#6 Tidy up and deal with one small pile per day.
     Not as efficient as I could be, but I have reduced some piles substantially. I'm also telling myself that cleaning a small area, dusting, sweeping, wiping down, is also part of this resolution. Every little bit improves the mood and moves me forward.

So, there's the tally. This is baby steps into changing habits. It will come but change will be slow.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

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