Now that I've worked one full month at new job, I know how much money I'm going to be making, so I can start to reevaluate my budget. January was a month of a lot of expenses: Yoga class, gym membership, bike repair, snow boots, etc. I have a Visa bill that I don't like the look of, and I barely saved anything this month. January was a mad month of fancy dinners and fitness resolutions, so February is going to be more tame and sensible, which could sound boring, but I think sounds delightful.
Agenda Item One: Car Repair.
My turn signal has worked only intermittently for the past year and a half, but since I needed the car every single day to get to work, I wasn't ever able to get it fixed. Now, I don't have that excuse, and I have a car repair place that is equidistant from work as my house is. So one of these days, I just need to bite the bullet and get the damn thing fixed.
Agenda Item Two: Visa Bill.
I need to pay off that stupid Visa bill ASAP. I rarely use that card except for purchases from Amazon, but lately, in my frenzy to eat out as much as possible, I kept winding up at restaurants that don't take America Express! Since I rarely use the Visa, I don't monitor it as much as the Amex, and it got a bit unwieldy. I also used it to buy my beautiful cowboy boots and my practical snow boots--boots add up quickly, it seems.
Agenda Item Three: Laptop.
I have an old laptop that a friend spruced up, that I need to sell. But I've been dragging my feet, and haven't listed it on Craigslist. Hopefully, I can get a decent amount of money for it, and put that toward the Visa bill.
Agenda Item Four: Gym Schedule.
Now that I've got these gym and yoga memberships, I need to figure out when to use them. Despite what the trainer may have in mind, I'm most likely only going to the gym 2-3 days a week (unless it's too cold to run outside), but those days will probably be days when I need to get there early, so I need to get used to getting up early. I used to be able to do it, or maybe I'll try going in the evening--it's a good way to wake up on a cold night.
Agenda Item Five: Salary Overconfidence
A friend used this term the other day, and I dig it in a big way. Every time I start a new job, I totally get the salary overconfidence, and then when I get my first paycheck, I'm totally disappointed (but grateful that they're paying me!) I'm slightly guilty of this for January, but I think my mania for buying things was more of a just-got-out-of-prison type feeling than the feeling that I'm now raking in the big bucks (cause I'm totally not).
Five goals is a reasonable number, so I'm going to stick with those for now. What are your goals for the lively (short!) month of February?
Good luck with your goals in February! I'm hosting a Decluttering/Low Spend challenge, so I'm hoping to clear out some clutter & fill up my gifts fund this month! We shall see...
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Carla! Decluttering is one of the best feelings, I think :)
ReplyDeleteThree days a week at the gym is a reasonable schedule, and once you get into that routine, you'll find it easier to do.
ReplyDeleteLots of travel and events ahead in the next 3 months for me (including our daughter's wedding in March), so my goals for February are
(1) to build up a buffer of book recommendation posts on BooksYALove so that they will automatically post when I'm traveling and
(2) start walking for exercise again - somehow I just can't get into walking at this RV park like I did at the last one. We'll only be here a few more months, so joining a gym and having to drive several miles to exercise seems impractical. It's Florida's best season for being outside, so I just have to get off the computer and walk!