Well, after keeping a tally for several months - I've decided I'm done with 10 dollar days. I will still manage my food budget at about $300/month but I think the daily recording has resulted in more frenzy that frugality. I glanced over my mint.com budgeting tools and I am sure that I am spending less than $10/day on average and have been trending better than some days.
Well that, and I just plain don't want to record it every day. I know - the truth.
So - onward and upward from there.
UPDATE: I guess I should add here that I montitor all my spending (not just food) very consistently. I keep tabs via mint.com - it works great for me. However, this micromanagement of food spending is beginning to have more downs than ups. I believe it is the "per day" aspect, it's a very short term approach to thinking about food - where as a long term approach is best in terms of frugality. (meal planning, food storage). I'm not truly trying to change how much I spend. $300/month is consistent with $10/day. Also, to be fair, sharing my food consumption with everyone feels a little burdonsome.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Seven for 2011
This is my first year having a blog where I semi-consistently post items and thought I would decide to give in to peer pressure of making public resolutions (albeit over a week late). Well actually there not really resolutions, but goals. However, calling them resolutions makes them sound rather fancy and more befitting of the season.
These are of course goals that I have had in mind for some time now - and for many have made some progress towards already. No surprises here, but they didn't all just dawn on me when the clock struck 12:01. However, the changing of calendars and the start of a new year is a nice to reflect and think about what we hope to accomplish and things we would like to see change.
Fitness Goals
1. Run a 5K in less than 30 mins.
-So far I've enjoyed running a lot, but haven't had a ton of success going fast. My best 5K time is 33 minutes. Running a 5K in less than 30mins means shaving more than a minute per mile off my best time. It's an aggressive goal, but still doable. (I did not accomplish this - I did run two 5Ks, but both were on the slowish end. The one I intended to be a 30 minute 5K was forfeited due to recovery from injury)
2. Run a Half-Marathon
-Not only do I want to run faster, I would like to run longer. A pretty natural next step after running the TC 10 mile. (umm.. no, but I did run a whole marathon and there is a Half on the books for 2012)
Food Goal
3.Eat lunch out less often
-Last semester, with my intense work schedule I ate lunch out - 9 out of 10 times. Seriously.... SO for someone who writes about frugality and food... I really need to see this change. I liked to see this go the opposite way. As in I bring lunch 9 out of 10 times. ( I didn't really track this particularly well, but I certainly improved and perhaps came close to bring lunch 9 out of 10 times)
Financial Goals
4. Pay off half of my Credit Card debt.
-As someone who has always prided themselves on good financial know how - this one is a bit painful to even admit is an issue. ( errr.. umm... no, not really)
5. Save one-month's worth of living expenses saving.
-For this particular goal I am very very close, but it is something I hope to not only achieve but maintain. (Long story, but basically, yes)
Other Goals
6. Read Literature.
- I read lots of memoirs, lots of non-fiction and lots of blogs...but precious little fictional literature. I'm committed to reading at least two novel length pieces. I realize there are big time readers out there who polish off books in the double and triple digits every year, but I'm just looking for an improvement from last year (yerr - and this would be one). (Yes, "The Help" and "Friday Knight Knitting Club"... I also got half-way through Freedom- A novel, before I really started hating all of the characters)
7. Improve my German
-This goal needs an appropriate benchmark, but I guess I'll shove it out there anyway. I took 4 years of German and have visited Germany 3 times, but my German is still pretty weak considering. Love to see where I could go with this. (While the bf and I have been given to discussing German, not so much discussing in German, but that's still better than the year before... so Yes - I think)
The toughest part of coming up with goals/resolutions for 2011 (or any other time) for me was keeping this list to "only seven". I had to subtract a few things. I wanted to keep this list sort of short though, so I wouldn't get too overwhelmed and I would actually have a chance at accomplishing them.
These are of course goals that I have had in mind for some time now - and for many have made some progress towards already. No surprises here, but they didn't all just dawn on me when the clock struck 12:01. However, the changing of calendars and the start of a new year is a nice to reflect and think about what we hope to accomplish and things we would like to see change.
Fitness Goals
1. Run a 5K in less than 30 mins.
-So far I've enjoyed running a lot, but haven't had a ton of success going fast. My best 5K time is 33 minutes. Running a 5K in less than 30mins means shaving more than a minute per mile off my best time. It's an aggressive goal, but still doable. (I did not accomplish this - I did run two 5Ks, but both were on the slowish end. The one I intended to be a 30 minute 5K was forfeited due to recovery from injury)
2. Run a Half-Marathon
-Not only do I want to run faster, I would like to run longer. A pretty natural next step after running the TC 10 mile. (umm.. no, but I did run a whole marathon and there is a Half on the books for 2012)
Food Goal
3.Eat lunch out less often
-Last semester, with my intense work schedule I ate lunch out - 9 out of 10 times. Seriously.... SO for someone who writes about frugality and food... I really need to see this change. I liked to see this go the opposite way. As in I bring lunch 9 out of 10 times. ( I didn't really track this particularly well, but I certainly improved and perhaps came close to bring lunch 9 out of 10 times)
Financial Goals
4. Pay off half of my Credit Card debt.
-As someone who has always prided themselves on good financial know how - this one is a bit painful to even admit is an issue. ( errr.. umm... no, not really)
5. Save one-month's worth of living expenses saving.
-For this particular goal I am very very close, but it is something I hope to not only achieve but maintain. (Long story, but basically, yes)
Other Goals
6. Read Literature.
- I read lots of memoirs, lots of non-fiction and lots of blogs...but precious little fictional literature. I'm committed to reading at least two novel length pieces. I realize there are big time readers out there who polish off books in the double and triple digits every year, but I'm just looking for an improvement from last year (yerr - and this would be one). (Yes, "The Help" and "Friday Knight Knitting Club"... I also got half-way through Freedom- A novel, before I really started hating all of the characters)
7. Improve my German
-This goal needs an appropriate benchmark, but I guess I'll shove it out there anyway. I took 4 years of German and have visited Germany 3 times, but my German is still pretty weak considering. Love to see where I could go with this. (While the bf and I have been given to discussing German, not so much discussing in German, but that's still better than the year before... so Yes - I think)
The toughest part of coming up with goals/resolutions for 2011 (or any other time) for me was keeping this list to "only seven". I had to subtract a few things. I wanted to keep this list sort of short though, so I wouldn't get too overwhelmed and I would actually have a chance at accomplishing them.
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