I think I did ok on this, although I didn’t stick to my initial plan. I had planned on taking the bus to work, which turned out to not be all that hot of an idea in the middle of summer in Phoenix! August and September here are hot, and often muggy. After a good summer rain, the humidity will go from a typical 30% to 50% ~ 60%, and with high temps north of 100 degrees that makes things miserable. The heat here in the summer is a real drag, because there’s no escaping it—even at night the temps are often over 90 degrees. It’s incredibly tiring. Since I was having problems motivating myself to get out of bed on time to make the bus, I decided to just give in and buy a parking pass. In mid August, it cost me $115—but it’s good through the end of September (a total of about six weeks). That’s not bad, considering a bus pass is $85/month, so it’s about the same amount of money—perhaps a little bit less. The big additional expense, of course, is having to pay for gas. That’s about another $100/month that I wouldn’t have to pay if I’d taken the bus.
If I had one major failing this month, it was that I’d gotten fed up with my cell phone, and decided to buy a new Galaxy Nexus direct from Google, unsubsidized. Total cost was about $380, which is a pretty good sized pinch. That, extra money for gas, and spending a bit over my weekly allowance this week puts me over budget by about $500 this month. That sounds bad, but right now I make mad money—which is good, because I have crippling debt—about $120k at last count. The more money I can throw at that the better. Even with being $500 down for the month, I’ll still wind up throwing an extra $1300 or so at my debt. That’s not too bad. 8 months ago
Slept in this morning, and as a result missed the bus (So no reading on the bus). So that’s $12 for parking and a few more $$ for gas. Didn’t pack lunch either, so that’s another $11. Stopped at a convenience store on the way in to work, bought donuts & a Dr. Pepper… another $4. By the time I’m done today is going to wind up costing me between $25 – $30. Amazing how much being lazy for an hour or so in the morning throws off the whole day, and has an impact on EVERYTHING I’m trying to do. I guess focusing on getting up on time should probably be my #1 priority—everything else seems to fall into place after that. 10 months ago
If I get this one right, there’s so much else on my goals list that just falls into place… Losing weight, paying off debt, even reading a book a week, cleaning 30 minutes for 30 days & keeping up with the news can all get a kickstart if I get this one right. Allow me to explain…
First is losing weight. A big problem that I’ve got with this now is that I don’t stick to my diet. I’ve been pretty lazy lately, and I’ve been eating out for lunch quite a bit and picking stuff up from the supermarket on my way home for dinner. That’s costing big $$$. If I can stick to my diet—Shop for food no more than twice a week and stick to the plan, as well as pack lunches for myself, this will be a big help in sticking to my budget. Helping my lose weight is a nice bonus.
Another way I’m spending money unwisely is driving to work. I decided when I got this job that I was going to ride the bus to work—should be cheaper, and I don’t have to pay for gas or wear & tear on my car. It costs $12/day to park on top of money for gas. In the last month I’ve spent about $250 on parking alone—not to mention now much the extra gas is costing me. Probably another $100 on top of that. That’s a lot of money that could go to paying off debt.
If I take the bus every day, I’ll be able to use the commute time for reading. That’ll help me catch up on reading a book a week. And riding the bus will help me live on a set schedule. That’s going to help with scheduling time for cleaning 30 minutes for 30 days, and after work workouts… Should get a decent boost for losing weight from that, too.
Just sketched out a meal plan through the end of August. I can set up food shopping lists from that, and schedule times to go to the supermarket Wednesdays and Saturdays. 10 months ago
