Beware the Ides of March (plus one day)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are in mid-March, the third month of my year long debt elimination adventure.  I am a bit behind in my posts for a variety of reasons, but here I am, still plugging away.  I have to be honest, the last few weeks have been tough, and at times I have had my doubts about my commitment to limits on my spending.  However, nothing worthwhile is easy, and I just need to remind myself to find ways to stay motivated and inspired.

My overall rundown of my spending in February is that I spent way more than planned, and going forward, I can certainly make some improvements. As I mentioned last time, I’ve had some unexpected vet bills for my cat who has had some eye issues.  The good news is that he had his last recheck yesterday, the ulcer has healed, and his last antibiotic dose is tonight!  Unfortunately, I also ended up spending waaaay too much on groceries.  I have two reasons for that; first, since I don’t have a personal vehicle to trek into Eureka for the discount grocery stores, I ended up stopping after work a few times a week at my neighborhood store with my work truck on my way home.  While I try to buy generic and sale items, the local store is quite a bit more expensive.  Second, the one trip I did make to the discount stores in Eureka was with a friend, which proved to be a pricey mistake.  While it was great to hitch a ride with her, I didn’t do a very good job of sticking to my list and overspent.  Who knew peer pressure could extend to buying tahini and hazelnut milk?!  This month, I am attempting to limit my trips and stick to my grocery list.

On the flip side, I did pay off another $546.89 of debt.  It was quite a bit less than what I had hoped thanks to the aforementioned expenses, but it’s something.

As for March, I am off to a good start, since I sent off my first payment to the Department of Education’s Direct Loans for my six loans from them-the first payment toward rehabilitating those loans.  It felt great to send that off and get started in the right direction.  If all goes well, I’m hoping to send off a bigger payment toward my credit card debt at the end of the month.  As I mentioned in my first post, my wages are being garnished weekly for that debt, and it has the highest interest rate, at $1.66 a day.  Therefore, I think it makes the most sense to pay that off first (while still making minimum payments on my other debts) and then focus on my other balances in earnest.  I just need to figure out where to send those extra payments, as it’s being handled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office.  Yep, that’s what happens when you default- the law gets involved. Ugh.  Anyway, that is my next goal-talk with the law and give them money.  Double ugh.

In the meantime, I’m keeping up with my other goals of continuing to educate myself on financial matters.  About once a week, I pick up a free copy of Bloomberg News or Kiplinger’s at the library and read whatever looks interesting.  I figure the more exposure I have, the more I’ll absorb and begin to act on in my own life.  I’ve also been checking in with two of my favorite sites/blogs.  First is The Crazy Man In The Pink Wig, a.k.a. Mike Finley.  It’s refreshing to find a financial literacy site that isn’t also trying to sell me stuff.  He is teaching a great course in what he calls financial happiness, which he is filming and posting on YouTube, and he is incredibly accessible and helpful to anyone who wants to learn more.  You’ll have to watch week 1’s video for yourself to find out the story behind the pink wig.   The second is Mr. Money Mustache, a blog written by a man who was able to “retire” at age 31 through careful money management.  His sense of humor, common sense and badassity (Yes, it’s a word, damn it!) make his writing entertaining as well as educational.  I truly appreciate both sites not only for the information presented, but also for their ethic of living a fuller life with less, rather than wealth as an exercise in materialism and greed.  It’s something that really speaks to my own ethics and to my relationship with money, which has been fraught with anxiety, stress, guilt and mixed feelings.  Check ‘em out, give ‘em some love and tell me what you think!

I have to admit, I’m feeling a little uninspired with posting just my updates on spending and what not, so I think I’m going to work on some other related topics for future posts.  I have a few ideas in mind, such as the varieties of ways I save money while also attempting to help the planet and live a simpler, more authentic life through cooking, gardening, saving energy, make/mend/do, etc.  If there is anything you’re curious about or would like to read about, I encourage you to leave a comment below or send me an e-mail, and we’ll see where it goes!

Here’s to a new season, new leaves emerging and flowers blooming all around!  Be well, and don’t forget to give thanks for today!

Doing the cha cha

“An optimist is one who figures that taking

one step back after taking two steps forward

is not a setback, but the cha-cha.”

– Robert Brault.

 

This quote just so happens to be posted on the wall at my favorite local coffee shop temporarily serving as my internet headquarters, and it is a lovely summary for the second month of my year of austerity/debt repayment/unnecessary expenses fast.  (If you recall, I started out calling this something else, which was inspired by Anna Newell Jones’ blog And Then We Saved.  I quickly learned that the name has been copyrighted, so I can no longer refer to it by that name.  It really shouldn’t matter, but I kind of want to find a catchy, descriptive name for my own plan that won’t put me at risk of copyright infringement.  The last thing I need is to be sued for money! So, any ideas, dear readers? Austerity plan sounds a little too much like the financial disasters in Greece and elsewhere, and I’m looking for something more hopeful and motivational.)

OK, back to February, which is quickly passing into March.  What qualifies as my two steps forward took me about two weeks to accomplish, despite repeated and persistent attempts.  I just have to say that bureaucracy is a HUGE pain in the ass, particularly that of the U.S. Department of Education’s Direct Loans.  I started my attempts to contact them on February 5^th, or at least that is when I began in earnest to document my many attempts.  No, seriously- I got so irritated and bored waiting on the phone that I recorded every single automated “we are experiencing a high call volume at the moment, your call is very important to us, blah,blah,blah…”, but I’ll spare you the nasty details.  It took me until February 20^th to finally reach a human being who was able and willing to discuss my 6 student loans which are now in default.  Thankfully, I got lucky that day, and the woman I spoke with was incredibly helpful, patient and willing to answer my bazillion questions, after asking if I would be paying the full amount due, of course.  Hey, she had to try, right?

To make a long story short, I owe a total of $24,796.84 to the D.O.E., of which $1666.62 is interest at this point.  I’ve entered into their monthly payment loan rehabilitation program.  This means I must pay a minimum of 1% of my balance on time monthly for 9 months, at which point my loans will be removed from default and my account will be back in good standing.  I have to admit, it was pretty painless, considering other interactions I have had with creditors.  These loans were the last of the loose ends in my debt repayment plan, and it feels soooooo good to have it back on track.  Obviously, I’m not proud of having let it go that far, but it feels good to be doing something about it now.

So that was my two steps forward.  The one step back has been further vet bills for my cat, Jack.  Unfortunately, his eye infection is taking a really long time to heal.  It’s heading in the right direction, but did require more laser treatment and tests to help the process.  Again, I have to admit, I’m glad to be in a place financially that I am able to pay for these things.  It has just been a good reminder that the best laid plans don’t always work the way you expect, and you need to take the unexpected into account.

Less admirable has been my realization of how addicted/dependent I am on my piece of crap smartphone!  Remember my goal was to cancel my Verizon service in order to save money?  Well, I still haven’t done it.  I have some really great excuses, like my new metroPCS dumb phone is horrible for internet access, and I apparently have little to no reception in my house, even for texts, rendering it pretty much useless.  You get what you pay for, I guess.  However, I am still determined to simplify and find ways to save.  So, I plan to buckle down and just cancel the damn thing, go without daily/hourly facebook and craigslistand Grumpy Cat access –oh my!!- and use the money I save to order a landline/internet bundle for my house.  So, I may have sporadic internet access yet again, but in the end I think I’ll be happier and so will my bank account.  Wish me strength.  I can do this!

Jeeps in flames, ulcerated corneas and a pay raise, oh my! Or, my second month of austerity begins.

I bet you thought I gave up, didn’t you?  It’s mid-February, about the time most New Year’s resolutions fade out and are forgotten, after all.  Nope, not mine.  I have too much riding on this plan, so I’m not giving up just yet.

Thanks for hanging in there with me as I’ve had some internet issues that have made it tough to get my posts uploaded.  Hopefully that will be resolved within the next few weeks.  Until then, my posts may be a little sporadic.

I had planned to write a review of one of the books on finance I’ve been reading, but I’m kinda bored with what I wrote, and decided it would be more beneficial for me to write a bit about how it’s been going the last few weeks.  It has certainly been a mixed bag full of ups and downs.

First, I’ll give you the hard and fast numbers and a recap for January.  Compared to what I spent in December when I began tracking every penny, I spent:

-$41.25 less on gas,

-$130.74 less on groceries,

-$299.20 less on my “wants” list,

-and I paid $607.11 toward my debts!!

Whew-not a bad start, if I do say so myself!  There are some easy explanations for spending less in January, mainly the fact that the holidays were over, and I didn’t spend money on gifts or shipping and postage.  I spent less on gas in January mostly because I had the (mis)fortune of having my Jeep engine go up in flames on Christmas Eve.  Yep, Santa apparently thought he’d help me out by eliminating one of my monthly expenses by becoming a pyromaniac.  The crazy thing is that this is actually my second vehicle to go up in flames- the first was a lovely lime green ’73 Ford pickup that spontaneously combusted summer before last.  I think the automobile gods have been trying to tell me something, don’t you?  While I was ready to scream and pull my hair out at my ridiculous car karma, I have been choosing to look at it as a blessing in disguise.  At least that’s what I’m telling myself.  I no longer have to pay for gas, maintenance and other costs, and I’ll be getting more exercise by running errands on foot or by bicycle.  Grocery trips are a bit tricky, since I live about 10 miles from the discount grocery stores I prefer, but the occasional shopping trip with a friend and quick trips to my local store on the way home from work seems to be doing the job.  I’m definitely no stranger to bicycle commuting and errand running, as I was without a vehicle for the first few years after I returned to school in 2006.  I’ve been spoiled the last few years, though, so I’ll have to pump up those tires, grease the chain and get back in bike-worthy shape.  Thankfully, my employer provides a work truck for me, so I don’t have to worry about getting to and from work.

I have other great news about January.  Despite being told by everyone in my local office that I shouldn’t expect a raise –if any- until May, I asked for a raise with my last performance evaluation, and got it! (I work as a utility forester for a contractor to a major utility company.)  While my job has some great perks, the pay leaves a bit to be desired, particularly for someone with a college degree in the field and loans to re-pay, so I was thrilled to get even a small raise.  I realize the economy is less than great right now, so on some levels I am just thankful to have a stable, full-time job.  And yet, I refuse to give up hope of finding work that I love and that pays me what I’m worth.  Call me a dreamer, but I know it’s out there.  In the meantime, I plan to expand my skills and knowledge and work on getting closer to finding (or creating) my dream job.  This brings me to more good news from January…

One of the perks of my job is that the company encourages their employees to further their skills and training by reimbursing the cost of becoming a certified arborist, and gives a substantial bonus after certification.  So, I’ve scheduled my exam for April 6^th in Medford, Oregon, and I’m hitting the books right after signing off here.

Another good step for January was to get a metro PCS cell phone account with the free phone a co-worker gave me.  It includes all of the same service my Verizon account provides, for 60% less!! Unfortunately, I can’t access the internet very easily, as the phone is pretty old, so I haven’t yet cancelled my Verizon phone.  Now that I have more reliable internet access via the neighborhood coffee shop’s Wi-Fi (available even when they’re closed, so I won’t be spending money on lattes.), I’ll have to cut myself off the Smartphone cold turkey.

In spite of such a great start in January, February has proven to be a bit more of a challenge, mostly for reasons out of my control.  My cat, Jack developed an ulcer on his cornea a few weeks ago, and the process of trying to figure out the cause and treatment has resulted in quite the drain from my bank account.  Part of the issue is that he is nearly 17 years old with some past medical issues and was overdue for his annual exam and blood work, so I decided we may as well do it all at once to save future appointment fees. Well, that and the fact that his ulcer isn’t healing as quickly as expected have translated into over $450 spent on veterinary care, antibiotics ($36 for ONE tiny tube of eye ointment!!!)  and laser treatment.  His blood tests revealed another major flare-up of pancreatitis, so that means more money for pain-killing and supportive meds and supplements.  Now don’t get me wrong, I am actually happy to be in a place in my life that I have the money to cover these expenses.  Jack has been with me for over 15 years, we have been through so much together, and I feel like I owe it to him to give him as comfortable and healthy a life as I can, given all the crap I’ve put him through.  Call me a crazy cat lady if you want, but my animals are family to me, and I want to do the best I can for them.  That said, I have to admit, I hadn’t planned for these expenses, and it reminds me how much I really need an emergency fund.  I’ll have to work on that.

In other crappy news, after much back and forth with the Department of Education’s Direct Loans office, I have learned that my $24,000 in loans is in limbo between default and going to a collections agency.  Maybe I’m nuts to be writing so candidly about this, but I think I need to in order to stay honest with myself and stay on track.  I could write on and on about my reasons (or lack thereof) for letting things go so far, but for now I’ll just say that it’s a key step for me to take control of  the situation and turn things around.  I have 90 days to “salvage” my loans before they are sold to a collections agency and my credit history takes yet another hit.  I’ll be calling every day until I can negotiate a repayment plan that saves my loan and gets me headed in a better direction.  It’ll take some real patience and persistence, as the D.O.E. has proven to be a real pain in the ass to deal with.  Who would’ve figured trying to give money to a creditor would be so difficult?!

All righty, I think I’ll stop here with my two goals for the coming week: 1-save my student loans by creating a repayment agreement/plan and 2-cancel my Verizon account.

Thanks for reading!  Hopefully my next post will come sooner rather than later…

 

Technical difficulties…stay tuned!

Unfortunately, I am having internet issues that I need to resolve before I can put up my latest post. It’s written, but I’m having connection issues with my laptop, and posting via my phone (as I’m doing now) is less than ideal. So please bear with me and I’ll get my latest update up as soon as I get this figured out.

In the meantime, I’ll just say that January turned out to be a great month-my first full month of my self-imposed year of austerity . I made a good start in paying off my debts, reduced my spending, AND got a raise! Not a bad start.

The great, the good and the so-so…

Welcome to the end of week 3 of my spending fast!
Since I talked a little last time about distinguishing my “needs” from my “wants” and only spending on the former, here is a list to give you an idea of what I’m working with:

NEEDS LIST:

-Rent ………………………………………  Thankfully, I found a decent, very affordable house.
-Utilities  …………………………Conserve whenever possible, cook with wood when I can.
-Firewood ………………………..I use wood heat and my landlord sells me crazy cheap wood.
-Phone ……………………………………..Switching to a much cheaper plan.
-Food ………………………………..Discount, generics, in season, unprocessed, no waste
-Cat food/Supplies ……………………..I have 2 cats, nothing super fancy, but still healthy food.
-Vet care & Meds ……………………….Necessary only & prevention whenever possible.
-Doctor co-pays …………………………Self-care/prevention as much as possible (eat healthy!).
-Some gas …………………………………Bike & walk when possible, combine car trips.
-Work Clothes/equipment ………….Thrift & yard sales whenever possible, get tax write-offs.
-Debts ………………………………………All “leftover” $ at end of month to debt payment!

This is still a work in progress that I may need to tweak here and there, but this is the gist of my expenses and what I intend to limit my spending to.

I am happy to report I have paid off the full balance of my smallest debt! Granted, it was only $150, but it’s one less thing to stress over. It feels good to make some progress, even if it is small.

I’ve also been doing very well overall about making sure to make my lunch every day for work, and have found it to be much easier if I take a few hours on Sunday to prep most of what I need for the week. I happen to love to cook, so spending several hours in the kitchen is no big chore for me. With a little Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me and This American Life on the radio and a pot of strong coffee, I am ready to go!! This weekend was particularly productive, as I managed to make a dozen tortillas, a large batch of beef stew, two loaves of whole wheat/oat/flax seed bread, steamed broccoli, creamy mustard beets, and chopped cucumbers, carrots, onions, mushrooms, sweet peppers and a dark chocolate nut mix. This way, making my lunches for work is a snap, since I just have to grab enough vegetables, snacks and fruit for that day. Doing it this way ends up saving me time during the week, and making my own food from scratch saves me lots of money. (I have yet to crunch the numbers, but trust me, before this year is over, I will.)

Prepped vegetables, chocolate and nut mixes for work lunches, ready to go.

While I generally eat healthy foods anyway, I am paying particular attention to how I spend my money at the grocery store. I am usually an all organic, mostly local kinda girl, but for the time being, I am buying all my produce from the local Winco store, which doesn’t have much in the way of organic food. (Winco is a giant discount grocery store that also happens to be employee owned, so I feel good about that.) While I plan to work more organic and local foods back into my diet, I felt I needed to cut all costs as much as possible to get a good start. In the meantime, I focus on making my food dollars stretch , keeping in mind that I want the most nutrition bang for my buck. One way I’m trying to do this is to avoid produce that is out of season or is grown really far away. While I love berries, I cringe at the thought of buying them in January, both because of the energy required to grow and ship them in the off season, and because they just taste better in the summer when they’re grown just down the road or in your own garden. Patience is a virtue, and good things come to those who wait, and all that good stuff, right?

Homemade whole wheat bread with oats and flax seeds

I also steer away from both processed foods and foods I know I can make myself for much cheaper, and often with better results. For example, I haven’t bought a loaf of bread for almost two months now, because I can make my own for probably around 25 cents. (Again, I haven’t crunched the numbers, but flour, yeast, sugar and salt aren’t exactly expensive.) It seems ridiculous to spend $4.00 for a (quality) loaf when I can make my own for a fraction of that, AND know exactly what went into it. No surprise ingredients, preservatives or other crap. Now, I have to admit, I am a bit out of practice in the bread making department, so my loaves leave a little to be desired right now. However, I have learned from experience that it only gets better with practice, so from now on my Sundays will be spent kneading dough and listening to Ira Glass. (I also plan to study Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book, which I checked out from the local library!)

Another great way to save money on food is to grow it yourself, of course. I happen to have a small garden bed right outside my front door that will make a great vegetable and herb garden. In fact, I hit the jackpot this week and inherited some great looking raspberry canes from a friend, so I have a good start. Thankfully, living in Northern California means I can grow some foods year round, so my plans include some lettuce and other greens next. I’ll share photos as soon as I get the thing weeded…

So, with all of this great news and momentum, I have a confession to make. Are ya ready for it? I spent money this month. Yep, I broke my rule to not spend money on “wants”. I have an explanation for each instance, but I’m chalking it up to this being my first three weeks going cold turkey. And, well, it also had to do with the fact that it was NFL playoff time. I happen to be a huge Green Bay Packer fan (Please, I’ve heard it all already-no need to rub it in!), so when it looked like they may have had a shot at the Superbowl, it was hard to not watch the games! For me, that meant going to a bar or other place with cable, since I don’t get regular TV stations, let alone cable (More on this later.). So, you can probably guess I ended up spending money on drinks. Well, and then there was the day I ran out of food handy for a work lunch, and had another day before I could make it to the grocery store for a full shopping trip, so I ended up buying my breakfast and lunch. But, I bought both at the grocery store on my way to work, rather than going to the local Mexican restaurant like I really wanted to. Small victories, ok?

So what’s the damage…? Altogether, I spent $42.50 on “wants” in the first 3 weeks of my spending fast. Not the best start, but still MUCH less than what I would normally spend. And since I’m not particularly stoked on either of the teams headed to the Superbowl, I think I’m good to go. I think it has just been a good lesson to figure out what my money spending triggers are and find creative ways to get around them or avoid them altogether. I also admit that I may have to give myself just a little wiggle room, and possibly allow for a small set amount to spend on fun stuff. I am still pondering how much might be reasonable – $20 a month? $30? Definitely no more than $35.

Which brings me to the issue I think will be one of the toughest I will deal with this year- my social life. I’ll admit I love to go to my favorite bar and people watch, shoot the shit, maybe shoot some pool, and yes, have an adult beverage or two. I also love live music and going dancing. Unfortunately, these things can get very expensive very quickly. And while I have some great and generous friends who don’t hesitate to buy me drinks, that is really not the point of this spending fast. I don’t want to be a moocher, nor do I want my friends to feel sorry for me or resent me. I am making this drastic change in order to take charge of myself and my life so that I can rid myself of debt and live an autonomous life in which my choices are guided more by intention and desire than obligation, anxiety and guilt. That is definitely worth a little sacrifice and cramping my style for a while, don’t you think?! I am pondering ways to explain this to my friends in a way that makes them happy for me and not feel they have to help me out or feel bad that I’m not spending money. I think it will take some adjusting on my part, and getting creative in my social life. One way I plan to do this is to host regular potlucks, cocktail parties, movie nights, book swaps, etc. It is really a matter of staying focused on the bigger picture of what I aim to accomplish and remind myself of all that I have to gain by sticking with my plans.

On another note, I’ve been reading a few financial planning books (checked out from the library, of course, F-R-E-E!!), and finally found one that doesn’t totally rub me the wrong way or depress the hell out of me. Lois Frankel’s Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich:75 Avoidable Mistakes Women Make With Money (www.drloisfrankel.com) has been a great read so far, and I hope to share some of what I’ve learned from her next time I write. Frankel writes with a down to earth voice, and tackles a lot of the hurdles that many women have to overcome with their learned attitudes toward and misunderstandings of successfully managing money, without the condescension I’ve found in other books. I’ll give you my book report next time, and I promise it won’t be boring!!

In the meantime, my goals for the week are to get rid of my Verizon wireless service once and for all, and switch to the MUCH cheaper Metro PCS (60% less than Verizon for the same services and no contract! Yippee!!).
Thanks for reading!

Here I go!

My name is Rachel, and I have debt. A LOT of debt. OK, maybe not as much as some people, but I have enough.  Enough that it has felt like a creeping, sneaking, heavy, disturbing, invisible monkey on my back for WAY. TOO. LONG. And actually, to be more accurate, that monkey has been hiding under the rug where I’ve been sweeping it for a while now, and it finally had enough and jumped out and bit me.  No longer can I ignore it. So, that’s why I am here at my kitchen table on a cold, stormy night in my pajamas writing my very first blog.

To make a long story short, a pretty embarrassing event a few months back was the last straw, and I knew I needed to own up to my debt and figure something out, as my usual “if I don’t look at it, it isn’t real” tactic wasn’t going to work anymore.  Hey, it works in horror movies, so why not with money, right? Oh, wait…

What was that awful, embarrassing moment, you ask? Well, I looked at my paycheck one day and saw the words “wage attachment” next to the list of money withdrawn from my check.  Clueless, I called headquarters of the company I work for to figure it out.  Again, to make a long story short, my credit card company was finally collecting what I owed them (plus insane amounts of interest, of course- we *are* talking about a credit card here!), as they were granted rights to garnish my wages by a judge….several years back. And it was now catching up to me.   Lovely.  The crazy thing is, I had almost entirely forgotten about the judgement and that this was a possibility, or rather, an inevitability.  How the hell could I forget something like that? All I can say is that I had been through such a cycle of ups and downs – financially and emotionally – with my debt that it became easier to shove it all under the rug than it was to just cowgirl up and face it.  I felt so burdened and ashamed and convinced that I could never make a dent that I didn’t know where to start, so I just didn’t.

As anyone who knows me well will tell you, I am an independent person by nature, and asking for help is not usually an easy thing for me.  I’m not bragging, in fact, I think that trait has hurt me more than it has helped when it comes to money.  I think that if I had not been so fiercely independent and not afraid to admit I made a mistake, I would have asked for help sooner.  I don’t mean help as in I should have asked for money to pay my debts, but rather asked for help in planning a way out of my debt hole.  Instead, I was so ashamed and intimidated by it that I just didn’t act, didn’t look at it at all.

But you can only run from the ugly dust bunny, er…monkey so long before it starts flinging shit at you, right? Bad analogy, I know, but that’s kinda how it has felt- a big, nasty, messy wake up call. So what’s with this blog, right? Why declare your indebtedness to the world when it isn’t something to be proud of? Well, because sometimes you have to be uncomfortable for a while if you want to change your life for the better.  And that brings me to what I will be writing about on this here blog.

After finding and following Anna Newell Jones’ blog (http://andthenwesaved.com) a few weeks ago, I have been inspired and motivated to take some concrete action.  I have pledged to undergo a yearlong “spending fast” in 2013.  Essentially, this means that I will only be spending money on the things I really NEED, and whatever “extra” money I have left will go toward paying off my debts.  It will most definitely be a struggle at times, but if I keep in mind what I have to gain at the end -coming closer to a more independent, autonomous life without debt- I know I can do this.

Now, since the point of this blog is to keep me honest and accountable, I have to fess up.  While a big chunk of my income will be going toward my debts this year (and beyond), I am very lucky that my mother is willing and able to match my payments.  Before you yell “cheater!!”, hear me out, ok?  When I started accumulating my debt as a bright eyed and bushy tailed college freshman with my first student loan way back in the 90s (ouch!), my mom was not in a position to help me out financially.  No big deal- it was just a reality that I was going to have to take out loans and work my way through school, which I eagerly did, being the bookworm and nerd that I am.  Now I am happy to say that my mom has done well for herself, and while she is not rich, she does have more financial freedom than she did while raising me.  As I was telling her of my plans for a spending fast last month, she made it clear she wanted to help me reach my goal of a debt-free life, and I am incredibly lucky and grateful to have her financial, and most importantly, her emotional support.  Thank you so much, Mom!  So, if after that disclaimer you still call me “cheater!” – oh well, get over it.

I think that’s enough for my first post.  I plan to go into more detail in future posts about how I plan to undertake this crazy yearlong experiment in creative frugality, but for now I’ll just end with what I aim to do with this blog.  Who knows where it’ll end up, as I can go on some fun tangents and rants at times, but first and foremost, I see this blog as a way to publicly declare my spending fast goal in such a way as to (hopefully) provide a structure for both accountability and support/feedback through this process.  In other words, I’m gonna bare my guts to y’all in order to keep myself honest.  (Man, that is really quite scary!)  In the process, if you find something here that resonates with you, you’re curious about or just gets your goat, feel free to leave a comment.  I’m sure I’ll need a lot of cheerleading along the way, too, so don’t hesitate to get out your pon poms and work on your back flips.

All right, 2013, bring it on!!

Happy New Year everyone, let’s make it a great one.