Revisiting Resolutions (Take 3)

Health:

Maintain my weight loss - I'm down to 115 pounds and still holding steady... that's almost 15 pounds less than I weighed when I got pregnant...

Workout - Can I just say that I HATE working out?? No, I haven't done The Shred - at all. I've walked a bit, gone riding once, and done a lot of yard work. I didn't even do those 50 crunches and 10 push-ups that I promised last month. We're in daylight savings now so I'm hoping that will get us out walking after work. As the weather improves I plan on riding once or twice a week at least. I'd like to do a couple of dressage schooling shows this year (my goal is three) and I am signing up for two 5k fun runs in April and May so I have some things to prepare for.

Eat healthier - Derek is on a diet which has me on a diet by default. I'm eating healthy but drinking a pop (Sprite) almost every day. I'm also drinking sugar free vitamin waters to get my water intake higher.

Personal:

Keep up on housework - Done.

Finances: Maintain a zero balance on all credit cards - Done (after I pay them off tomorrow =] )

Contribute to my IRA each month - Done.

Save a minimum of $200 per month for emergencies - My $200 went to Easter bunny expenses this month. ::hand slap::

Limit my personal spending to $100 a month - Okay, we need to look closely at this one because my money is doing a disappearing act... I'm not Catholic, so this blog post is as close as I'll get to confession... What you see below is for the month of March ONLY.

Regular Monthly Bills (utilities, student loans, etc.)
$610
(22% of my monthly income)

Savings (personal, investments, retirement)
$433
(16% of my monthly income)

Credit Card Payments (includes major and store cards):
$337
(12% of my monthly income)

(This isn't okay. I may pay them off each month but I shouldn't be charging that much in the first place. As soon as I post this blog, I'm locking up the cards.)

Groceries (including take-out)
$486
(17% of my monthly income. HOLY CRAP! This needs to be revisited, pronto. I only budget $200!!)

Vehicle (car payment, gas, insurance, maintence)
$732
(27% of my monthly income)

Addison (daycare, diapers, clothes, etc.)
$519
(18% of my monthly income)

Pets (food, vet bills, groomer, etc.)
$19
(%.01 of my monthly income)

Misc. Bills (medical expenses, prescriptions, etc.)
$103
(%.03 of my monthly income)

Spending (clothes, make-up, books, stuff that is just for me)

$187 (Currently is %.07 of my monthly income. Needs to be less than $100 or %.03 per month)

Shit balls. I spent $1000 more than I make in a month... :/ Fark. It's not my personal spending that is out of control - BIG surprise... I can't believe how much I'm spending on food (I budget $200/month) and vehicle expenses (I budget about $600).

Work:

Start my ProCert and Master's program - I am enrolled at City U and will be starting in two weeks...

Continue developing the curriculum for Language Arts - I have five unit plans done for each grade level and once massive comprehensive Writing Boot Camp unit that will take the first several months of school...

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Okay, I wrote this whole thing out and then went back and did the math part at the end and I AM IN SHOCK. I thought since my cards were paid off at the end of the month things were okay but they are so not okay. So, no more credit cards - period. I'm going to try dividing my grocery shopping into two lists, one for the first of the month and one for the 15th (ish). Since I get paid once a month I always just shop for everything all at once but then end up making special trips for milk or whatever we're out of. I had no idea it was adding up that much! Now I'm not going to be able to sleep!! :/