De-stressing

Alright, tad bit late on my goal post. I worked longer than normal this weekend and ended up completely disorganized, but I'm back, my assignments and plans for the week are written down (and color-coordinated!), and I'm ready to get back on schedule.

Going with the idea of long work hours, looming midterms, and plenty of class projects, I'm taking this week to start scheduling in "de-stressing" times. So, goal 29 is to take a little bit of time out each day to just turn away from all forms of distractions or technology, and take just a few minutes to breathe on my own, stop focusing so hard on whatever I happen to be doing, and just take the time to relax.

Stress is tiring and unhealthy, not to mention frustrating, and it'll be nice to try and get away from that a little bit each day.

Focusing on Money

Here it is, another Monday, and another day of reading textbooks I don't want to read for classes that I have tomorrow. Thankfully the classes themselves are at least somewhat interesting. This week is a crazy one for me--I had work yesterday, tomorrow I have class, Wednesday I work, Thursday I have class again (until 9:00 at night, have I mentioned that?), Friday I work, Saturday I work, and next Sunday I work, too. Basically, this is my only day off. I'm pretty happy that I actually planned ahead last week and didn't procrastinate for once--I have a project and a paper due on Tuesday; I finished both of them by the end of Saturday.

Anyway, none of that has to do with my goal of the week. While I am working more (and earning more money, woo!) I need to evaluate my spending as well. Along with my cleaning efforts, I've somehow stopped enjoying shopping as much as I once did. Last week I had a 40 dollar coupon to spend (no fine print except the expiration date; the benefits of buying things at Kohl's), and I literally had trouble finding things to buy. I got the two things I needed, and still had 20 dollars left to spend. I found myself wishing that 20 dollars was cash, because I'd rather have saved it than needed to spend it. Despite this, I'm still noticing that I'm spending close to what I make each week.

So goal 28 is to pay more attention to where my money goes, and to try to decrease my spending; i.e. refusing to let the caffeine-loving half of myself convince me to buy an iced latte just because I'm at school again and "deserve a treat". I can go home and enjoy a mug of tea or something for literally a fraction of the cost. Buying gas is essential, but I can pay attention to which gas stations have cheaper prices when I know I'm running low.

Overall I need to kick my saving efforts up a notch, and cut down on extraneous spending. That doesn't mean I can't enjoy a latte every once in a while, but I'm definitely not buying one two times a week just because it's available.

-M.

This Goal Post Brought to You By:

(well, still me, but) a 20 year old! Which has thrown me into a whirl of panic, because 20 sounds like the age when you are supposed to be much more responsible than I currently am.

Either way, I present to you goal 27: Try new things. Be daring. Do things that slightly terrify me (no, this does not include sky diving).

As example, I present to you the fact that yesterday I went to work with only eyeliner and mascara on my face (/awkward phrasing). Please note that I'm the girl who refuses to go down the driveway to the mailbox without wearing foundation, blush, eyeliner, mascara, the whole works.

Yesterday I pushed the envelope and did something (non-dangerous) that scared me a bit none-the-less. I looked in the mirror, told myself I was pretty, and decided I didn't have to smear stuff all over my face to prove it. I still wore my signature eyeliner, but that was it. And no one said anything. A risk worth trying.

-M.