A penny saved, is a penny earned.

I have some lofty health and fitness goals for 2014. But of equal importance are my financial goals. 

Those closest to me know that I am bad with money. Very bad! I won't bore you with all of the details but let's just say that money has a tendency to burn a hole in my pocket. 

This year has to be different. It needs to be. I can't keep living paycheck to paycheck, paying bills with nothing leftover. 

Focusing on the good, here are some things I have been doing well:

1. I save $100 per paycheck, pre-tax to s 403b. My work matches me $600. So in addition to my state pension (I can retire at age 59!) I am saving $3200/year in a retirement account. And I have a small IRA hanging on from my former work. 

2. I am paying off my debt. I paid off most early this year when I sold my house. The remainder will be paid off in the next 30 months. My goal is to pay it off early, hopefully in 24 months. 

3. I have a plan...

Here is an abbreviated version of my plan:

1. Continue to pay off debt, on time, and use tax refunds to help speed that up. 

2. SAVE!!!! I am terrible at saving. But if I stick to a budget I should be able to save $2500 in 2014. I can also save $500 fron my tax refund and I have an additional savings "project" that will allow me to save another $1500. So by this time next year I should have $4000 in savings. 

3. No eating out. At all. No take out. No coffee. No spending my money at restaurants of any kind. So if anyone wants to treat me, I accept! But all my food spending will be at whole foods and market basket! This will be challenging!

4. Meal plans, healthy eating and a strict budget for groceries. 

5. Catch up on any bills that are lagging by March and pay everything on time. 

6. Buy only needs, no wants. The kids and I have more than we need. 2014 will be all about only buying clothes, shoes, stuff for school that we absolutely need. Wants can wait. 

7. Find fun, free things to do. Hikes, library and church events, playdates!!!

8. Cutting corners, utilizing freecycle and thrift shops, borrowing library books, selling anything we don't need (yardsale and ebay) and focusing on the future!

This debt diet will require me to cultivate a lot of patience, discipline and new habits in 2014. I might need to whine about how much I miss Starbucks soon, so I apologize in advance. 

I'm baaaack

I am pretty sure I am the worst blogger ever! But now that I have the blogger app AND have deleted the facebook app, I have obtained the ease of access to my blog and the gift of time. 

Let's face it, facebook is a time suck. I have been fb free for about 80 days!!!

While I have not quit social media all together (in addition to this blog I use instagram), I have found that giving up fb in particular has led me on a new path. My world is quiter. Less drama. Less worry about my fb friends. Less obsession with my iphone. Life is good!

Quit FB in 10 easy steps!

1. Admit you have a problem. 

Constantly checking your news feed? Creeping? Stalking? Denial ain't just a river in Egypt!

2. Announce you are quitting. 

Post that last status. Let everyone know this is it...you are breaking up

With your FB friends!

3. Deactivate. 

4 syllables that will change your life. 

4. One day at a time. 

Your fb account will immediately reactivate should you log in again. So NO CREEPING. Not even a little innocent voyeurism. You broke up. It is over. Accept it. 

5. Delete the FB app. 

If this is still milling around on your handhled devices you will be tempted. And we all know what happened when Eve ate that apple. 

6. Remain true to your commitment. 

Honor thyself. Breathe. Read. Enjoy your new found spare time. 

7. Recognize that when you use the term friend, you are talking about a real person in your life. Kudos. If FB helped you to reconnect with an old friend who is far away there is no reason you can not text, email or (gasp!) talk on the phone. 

8. Keep up the good work!

Reward yourself for your good behavior!

9. Use another form of social media to curb those cravings. If you miss posting pics try instagram. Status updates? Try twitter. Just don't become obsessed. If you do, well, maybe social media is not for you. 

10. Meet up with friends in person!!!!

What a concept! Make plans, enjoy some coffee, tea or wine, get all their status updates face to face and share your own. #fun

No News is Good News

What happened to journalistic integrity?  Three major news stories this summer.  All with major flaws.  CNN used to be the serious news service; now I feel like I am watching FOX when I turn on Anderson Cooper and he is talking about dressing like Cher.  WTF?

Poor Paula Deen.  Yes, I said that...POOR PAULA DEEN!  Have you ever used the N word?  Yes, I have.  When singing along with my favorite rappers..."all my niggaz, and my bitches" or when quoting one of the best movies of all time, Boyz N the Hood..."Nigga, please".  So yes, I, a nondescript, middle class, white girl, from  a quiet, upscale Boston suburb, with my Master's degree in education, HAS SAID THE N WORD.

Up here in the north, especially in New England, we like to keep our racism quiet and fill our lexicon with politically correct editions of just about everything.  In the south, however, racism is right out in the open where everyone can see it.  Either you are overtly racist or you are not.  By now, and I mean 2013, I am sure racism is getting just as blurry as it is here in the north, but up until very recently, it was still quite evident. 

When Paula Deen invited Oprah Winfrey and her best friend Gayle King to her home, I actually thought it was weird.  Awkward even.  Each of these super successful, self-made, intelligent, wealthy women knew the dividing lines they grew up with; but they decided to bite the bullet and cross those lines.  I think I know why.

It is lonely at top.  These women know what it is like to be a minority.  Not black or white, Latino or Asian, rich or poor.  What super successful, extremely wealthy, smart women know is this:  as women in America we are still the minority.  Think it is lonely at the top for a man?  Try being a woman there.  An African American woman.  A single mother.  So many strikes against them. 

I honestly don't care if Paula Deen used the N word TWENTY YEARS AGO.  I don't care if Oprah advised us to not eat beef, or if Martha Stewart was privy to insider trading.  I don't care because men have been ruthlessly engaging in WHATEVER IT TAKES to get to the top and then some for CENTURIES.  However, when women of any race, creed, color or character dip their toes into the land of the 1% they are crucified by the men and women who already are there...most of whom were born there or used illicit means to get there themselves.  Capitalist societies are dog eat dog.  Bark, bite and attack your way to the top and then lock the doggy door behind you so the next guy (or gal) can't come too.

American women should be very afraid.  This racist country elected a black man as it's leader, before allowing a woman to take the seat
in the oval office.  Where is feminism now?

Moving on...because I could go on that tangent for days and will at another time, I promise...the next story that adorned the headlines was no less relevant to the state of race in America: Treyvon Martin and the George Zimmerman trial.

After that kangaroo court, the entire country again goes up in arms over race.  White-Hispanic?  What is that?  We don't call our president White-African-American, now do we?  How convenient!
Here is my brief synopsis:  a young, black, man was walking down the street.  He was NOT the sweet, gentle, well-educated, well-behaved young man, that the media presented.  He was a troubled, difficult young man, race irrelevant here, who was not buying a snack but rather ingredients to make some home made drug concoction.  But hey, being young and black and male in America is no cake walk.  He got into an altercation with an over zealous, self proclaimed neighborhood watchman (insert cop wanna be jokes here). Treyvon was probably shot in self defense.  And it was probably an overly aggressive strike, and he certainly did not deserve to die. Unless of course he DID say to George, "you're gonna die tonight" in which case, well, every man for himself.
Regardless, or irregardless (since they mean the same thing) the laws of Florida allow Georgie to walk free.  And really, what is the alternative?  Send him to prison so we the taxpayers can foot the bill to house, feed and clothe him?  Really?  We can't bring Treyvon back, but we also didn't need to take yet another situation and allow the media to turn it into a three ring circus of race and gun laws either.  Thanks, again, CNN.

Lastly, the Rolling Stone cover.  Being a Bostonian, and knowing a lovely lady who was there, and her little boy injured, makes me have stronger feelings about this situation, than say, a Sandford, Florida resident.  Not only was the cover of August Rolling Stone, in poor taste, unnecessary and just plain disgusting...it was the pathetic attempt of a failing rock and roll magazine to get everyone's attention.  Well, it worked.  But now most of us just want to burn it.  Hey Rolling Stone, you are a rock and roll magazine!  Put some musicians on your cover and know your place. Your are not Time, you are not Newsweek.  You do not have the place in American journalism that you apparently think you have.  Now you never will.  You turned yourselves into nothing more than the National Enquirer.  Now you can get off your high horse and go play in the sandbox with CNN and FOX news.  They are bff's now.

Going to watch some Al Jazeera news now.  Which would be great if the US didn't censor it. God bless America.

The Eff Word and Other Nonsense

In an effort to curb my relentless potty mouth, I will often say "eff" instead of the actual F-word.  This recently caused a good deal of confusion in my home.
Son: "Mom, Connor says there is no E word".
Me: "What?"
Son: " Connor says there is no swear that starts with E.  He says there is no E word."
Me: " Tyler, I have no idea what you are talking about."
Tyler: "you know mom, E-F-F-I-N-G"

Please enter this into the mom of the year database as entry #364 for me.