I'm doing 8 things
I don’t want to give up sugar entirely. I want to reduce the amount of refined sugar I eat as much as I can. I know the cookies and sweet cereals I eat happen when I am tired, haven’t eaten enough, am stressed, am in social situtations, etc. I don’t feel great when buzzed on sugar but I can’t seem to stop myself. So I will be looking for substitutes. Fruit, non-white sugar natural sweeteners (honey, etc). But not to go crazy on them. The goal is reduce sugar intake overall. I did Joey Schulmann’s natural diet makeoever once. No sugar, wheat, meat for 5 days. Lots of veggies, only a bit of fish, brown rice and non-gluten grains and lots of water for 5 days. No eating after 7 p.m. After 5 days I felt amazing, with no other supplemements or crazy detox things to take. Just based on food. But that was hard to sustain. So wonder if cold turkey for 5 days again, then see what happens.
raven68's Life List
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1. get out of debt
16 entries . 1 cheer11,014 people -
2. finish my PHD
1 entry717 people -
3. Live in the present
2 entries328 people -
4. lose 5 pounds
4 entries . 1 cheer1,151 people -
5. Paint
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6. plant a garden
1 entry1,838 people -
7. complete a creative project
1 person -
8. give up sugar
1 entry152 people
How I did it: Small steps. One drawer of clothes at a time. Then the closets. Never more than 10-15 minutes at a go. It doesn't have to be done at once. Read Oprah.com for suggestions. I really looked at stuff and decided I would never use it again so it had to go. Made money selling things on Craigslist and put it toward debt repayment. Soon it become a habit--when things start to get cluttered now I hop on it right away. And I am selective about what… Read how I did it…
How I did it: Moved to a neighbourhood where I can walk or bike to everything I need after work and weekends. Found a carpool buddy for the workdays. Put the word out there and waited to see what happened. No one will be able to carpool with you unless you make your intention known. Start small. It doesn't have to be every day. Read how I did it…
Debt payments go into suspension in the summer because as a teacher I don’t get paid. So I have just made minimum payments for the summer on the credit cards but the whopping loan payments have continued. Down from $50K to $40K on the consolidation loan. I have secured extra work for the fall that will all go to credit card debt. I was hoping to be done with all cards by Spring 2010. I looks like now it will be December. Still, the balance is coming down.
My frugal achievement of the day. I had this old bike sitting on my balcony for 2 years I never used. Decided to either donate it or get it repaired if it didn’t exceed $50. Took it to a local bike shop and for $30 they will be able to get it in road ready shape. So for $30 I have a “new” bike, sorta. One thing I have found using Craiglist or any other way to raise funds selling your stuff is you never get the value back once you buy something. Things depreciate in value so quickly so better to hang on to some things and use them and make do if you can. But not to hang on to useless stuff. Hence one of my things is ‘Decluttering.”
Crap. Not only did I not get a refund to apply to my debt, but I owe tax money. I am bummed. :D That will slow my progress for sure.
