Mary Hawkins

I’m good with my NetFlix videos, but I subscribe to two DVD magazines, and they just pile up. They’re only about an hour long, but I need to set aside time to watch them. Just having this on my long-term to-do list will help…

My knitting olympics project is to finish what I’ve already started. I have two sweaters that are “finished” and made up, but pretty much unwearable. The first is an “Essential Indulgence” with bad sleeves—I re-jiggered the pattern in a horrible way and came up with what looks like knitted flab. The second is a “ticking” cardigan from denim knits that has strangely short but livable sleeves and a horrendous placket down the front. My goal is to fix the sleeves on the first sweater and the placket on the second. If I have extra time, I have to use up odd ball yarn in useful ways or otherwise clean up my stash.

I would never get any of these done if I didn’t put them on my agenda, so here’s to the olympics!

Any advice guys? I’ve been putting everything into Quicken, so I know what I’ve spent [other than cash] for the last two years. I’m a freelancer, so I never know what I’m making month to month. Right now I budget by just clamping down when I’m not working and putting every other paycheck in “storage” in my savings account so I can pull it out when I need it again. I want to be in better control of my finances than that. What helped you out when you were just starting to budget yourself? Are there any good websites out there to get me started?

I finally just declared leaving neopets my new year’s resolution and got all my time back…

It’s an ongoing struggle, but I’ve managed to keep my studio apartment clean and well organised… My life is so much better now that being in my apartment doesn’t make me crazy.