Sixty-Two Sixty-Two

Tomorrow marks the first day of an 8 week weight loss challenge being held at my office. I plan on participating in this, and want to continue using a minimal approach to my eating plan. I'll be honest - I put a lot of thought into what type of foods I'll be eating during this challenge. The big decision was if I wanted to follow a starch/plant based diet, or follow a high fat/low carb diet. I've had great success with the latter option for weight loss, but for long term health and maintenance, and financial reasons, starch/plant based will be the eating plan I follow. I plan on keeping my daily plan boring, on purpose. This will help me know what to eat and pack, and will also help break poor habits I have around food. I plan on consuming around 2200-2400 calories, and I'll try walking 4-6 miles per day, biking when the walking isn't met. 1 cup oatmeal 2 cups strawberry/raspberry 1 oz shredded, unsweetened coconut 1 cup kefir 3 cups sweet potato 2 cups st

It was a better week this week on the financial front. I started traveling again for work and it's made me remember how much of a trigger this was for spending money. Logging hundreds of miles per day and having a love affair with caffeine is not a good combination. I'm also going to have to pack more healthy snacks to have on hand moving forward. I typically don't like to eat big meals during the day, so having small things on hand will help me avoid having munchie thoughts while driving. The purchases outside of budget were made on the road.  Coffee - $2.50 Individual sized box of wine (to enjoy while watching NBA playoffs!) - $3.99 Bag of Cheddar Popcorners - $2.99 (I let myself get too hungry while driving) Overall, not the worst, $ wise. It was the behavior aspect that I more or less didn't like. However, I'll be better prepared going forward.  Minimal fitness - A different week than those in the past. Better weather led to more walking with L and th

With most goals, I always suggest people find a small accountability group for support. It's often said that our behaviors can be strongly influenced by the 6 closest people in our lives.  According to a survey done by the investment app Acorns, talking about money isn't something that people like to do. I dare say many find it taboo. A statistic shared by Acorns is that 68% of people would rather talk about their weight than talk about their financial situation .  One side benefit of sharing this journal, is I have found others that are on a similar journeys. Having people to discuss things with and hold you accountable (whether directly or passively) can help with motivation. Finding someone who has practiced the behaviors you're working on for a good duration of their life can serve as a great mentor, whether you actually designate that person with such a title or not. Whatever life goals you have, find a tribe of like minded individuals. Guard against people who co

I was thinking today about how much this journey has helped my "everyday". Since tackling this goal, I have a more positive mindset. When considering the next few years, I'm excited to think about where I'll be. I've learned that my mental energy is best directed towards something with purpose. That probably sounds obvious, but sometimes life inside the 9-5 working schedule can become a little bit flat inside the walls of it's monotony. If my daily thoughts and direction aren't set to a specific path, I can often end up feeling like a ship in the midst of a storm. With purpose, even if some life turbulence happens, I have a course to get corrected back on when things settle back in. There are a few behaviors and mindsets that have taken hold this year. While they serve a purpose for my financial journey, I think that they will serve me well for life after these goals are met. 1. Forget the Jones's - I've mentioned this here before. The money we s

So I followed up the best week I've had with the worst (but it wasn't bad). Spending went off the rails a bit, particularly with alcohol. 1800 Premixed Margaritas - $21.60 - Terrible purchase. L and I enjoy margaritas, and figured we'd have some over the weekend. Not only was it a waste of money, it made me feel like shit. IPA samplers - $17.20 - This was spread out through the week (but mostly last night), and I blame it on celebrating the fact that our spring work seminars were over. However, alcohol has a special way of making me feel like garbage. Might be time for an alcohol fast from the little I actually drink. Bowling - $30 - Kids were on vacation, so we had a day midweek that I took a off and we went out to eat, hit up the bowling alley and the arcade. It was a bit surprising to me that shoe rentals and 1 game of bowling was $30 for the four of us. Ouch. Coffee - $6.36 - I bought L and I coffee on the mid week vacation day I took. Range bucket - $9 - I

I found this article  this morning (click on "this article" to read). It caught my attention because it included statistics on the net worth of "millennials", or those currently between the ages of 25-34. I find myself on the outer threshold of this group, as I'm still 34 for a couple more months. It was interesting to compare young adult's asset to debt situation now (or 2016 in the article), compared to 27 years ago. The situation is most startling for today's young adults with a college degree, but who also have debt. I will state that while I think the current student loan debt situation is a terrible crisis, I find it hard to remove the layer of personal responsibility that is  partially at play here. Going to college has always been a choice, and while the cost of higher education is absolutely ridiculous, parents and prospective students have to shoulder some of the responsibility because of the amount of poor planning involved on the front end.

It's official, the girls are new members at our local credit union. It will be my mission to continue a message of "pay yourself first" and "save your money" as the years go on. The credit union L and I use offered a $10 match for opening up a new youth account, so the kids were excited to see their initial deposit from two weeks of allowances double. Also, with each $5 deposit made in April they can enter their name for a $100 drawing. If all of this wasn't exciting enough, they had a jar full of change and $2 bills for the kids to estimate the value. Closest guess wins the value of the jar. Send positive vibes for their guesses. Great start to a vacation day.

Yesterday's post was all over the place, it was just me dumping unconnected thoughts to paper. My takeaways from reading that article yesterday was a few worrisome thoughts. Mainly, our economy depends on all of us spending money, often times money that we don't have. It highlighted, to me, that our recent positively trending economy depended on people racking up credit card debt, and burning through savings . Now that people have tapped out their personal resources, it will probably reflect in a dip to our economy (along with other, more significant, forces like interest rates, inflation, and political issues). Minimalism, or making conscious finance decisions, doesn't benefit the economy in a significant way. I'm working on not spending money. How long can I drive my 2010 vehicle? How long will my 4 year old phone continue to service me? How long can I stay energized without giving Starbucks my hard earned $1300 per year? Will I ever buy another shirt again? Busines

As I continue walking the path of this personal journey, it has led me to read more articles on economics, money, and personal finance. It's a wonderful challenge - my brain activity after reading articles on the economy is similar to what I imagine my daughter's brain activity would be trying to teach her about basketball basics in the middle of an NBA playoff game. It's very much a foreign language; terminology I've never heard discussed in day to day conversation. For someone who jumped into the economic lake whilst already drowning, it's not surprising that this information overload can lead to negative thinking. So, I intend to keep educating myself, while making personal progress, and hopefully turn a better understanding into more positive thinking going forward. The article that led to me dumping thought into written form this morning is this one , The Consumer is Maxed Out - A Theme to Watch in 2018 . For the past year, the one financial related thing I&#

Another 30 day cycle is in the books, and I'm pretty happy with the results. The biggest focus at the beginning of this cycle was to keep our food budget in check, and I'm happy to say I was pretty darn close. Let's take a look at the numbers: Food budget - +$13!! ($413 for the month) Household Items - +$13 CC Payments - +89 (a good thing, less entertainment spent) Misc - +$92 (Theatre tickets for S's play, S's birthday, etc) Maine winter doesn't want to quit, so I had another 100 gallons of oil delivered. Excited for the 20-30 degree nights to end. The girls have started their allowance/chore system. We'll be opening up savings accounts for them during their vacation week. Frugal fitness for the past week was a new high - 92 miles on the bike! Fifty of those miles were achieved while watching the Masters golf tourney. I mixed in 3 resistance training circuits. I'm happy with the progress, and motivation is still high. Warmer weather is hope

My company has invested in a wellness program for 11 years now. Every Friday for 11 years, we entice every office worker with donuts on Friday mornings. We have multiple ice cream socials in the summer, and use Bud Light as the official sponsor of all our celebrations. Our recent seminars have had apple turnovers, blueberry crumb cake, chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, and cookies ALL IN THE SAME DAY.  There are many things my company does well, this isn't intended to throw them under the bus. When you look at companies/families/groups in our culture, food and alcohol are often used as rewards and celebrations.  These food rewards and celebrations are temptations for those that are trying to eat healthier. Will power is like a muscle, and it only takes a little while for that muscle to become fatigued and you find yourself diving head first into the cookie tray. I have a sweet tooth that can rival the best of them, and controlling my home environment is important becau

We as humans don't seem to be wired to think beyond immediate survival. I imagine this is written into our DNA; human instincts that are only concerned with meeting basic needs and avoiding anything that would impact our time on this planet. As with everything, we're all different. Genetically we're different. The environments we were raised in were different. How we handle the moment and plan our future moments are different. I realize that my general anxiety is a byproduct of worrying too much about things that have yet to happen. I spend much more time than the average person thinking about future events (which are only fairy tales created by my thoughts). I'm hyper-aware of danger, an overactive survival instinct. Definitely not the best trait, but it is something that leads to a goal setting mentality. When working with individuals on behavior change, I'm constantly affirmed in my belief that many people don't consider their future nearly as much as I do

It was a great week in regards to the budget. No out of budget or unusual spending. Next week will wrap up the second 30 day budget cycle since I started this blournal, and I'm pleased with the progress I have made. The first quarter of the year has wrapped up, and I was able to pay down a good chunk of debt. Minimal fitness: I wrapped up my best week thus far last night, hitting 83 miles on the bike. I was also able to work in 4 strength circuits. That's all for this week. Enjoy your weekend.

The MLB season is under way, and my fantasy baseball team is looking strong this year... Almost as bad as announcing to my inner circle that I'm in serious debt, is admitting to you today that I still play fantasy baseball. It's my last surviving interest when it comes to fantasy sports, an online "hobby" that my generation grew up with and still holds strong affection for. The sport of baseball was my first love in life, providing many of my fondest memories as a young adolescent (which I've admitted, are quite limited). As I'm aging, it's the one sport I still enjoy watching (as well as golf, which together proves that I'm an old soul - by the way, it's MASTERS week!!). I love the numbers and strategy when it comes to fantasy baseball. Trying to construct the perfect team to accrue the right statistics to beat your opponent each week. I find it fun to geek out on the statistics of 500 major league players, and this love of numbers and math cou

In the spirit of frugal dieting (which I need to improve on), and trying to eat as healthy as I can for as cheap as possible, I have another challenge for the next 3 months. I've been utilizing Hannaford's reward program for the past couple months. You get 2% back for all of your Hannaford brand purchases. These rewards are totaled up each quarter, and you can use them at the end of that time period as a credit towards your next purchase. For January through March, I totaled $6.04 without focusing too much on how I shopped. I want to at least double that for April through June. Oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, rice, vegetables and fruits that carry the Hannaford name (mostly frozen), canned beans, and lean meats like chicken, fish, and lean ground beef will be my primary building blocks for my daily menu. If I'm able to stick to my budget of $450/month on groceries, that will be roughly $1350 for 3 months, which can earn up to $27 for the 3 months if everything purchased is f

I want to keep this post short, as I think it will be a catalyst for future posts. I'm very aware that thoughts have a powerful, sometimes long lasting, effect on how I go through each day. It's been a recent goal to guard against letting negative thinking dominate my headspace. I believe a large percentage of our perceived reality is the result of our past experiences, our environment, and the information we are exposed to on a regular basis. Images - television, social media feeds, magazines, etc. These mediums all provide images that your brain will constantly revert back to while processing information. Often times this can happen in your unconscious brain. I want to be a little more aware of the images that I flood my brain with. More specifically, watching less television - or being selective with what I watch. I've always been pretty good at controlling my Facebook newsfeed, and don't use many other forms of social media. Who I surround myself with - this on