Budget Update May 2020

Where can you cut some fees?

The Budget Mom workbook has changed my life. It's been 5 months since I started the TBM method and I have not created any new debt. My budget hasn't matched up perfectly, but I have had the money to cover all of my purchases. Prior to COVID-19, I was making pretty good money with my babysitting jobs. If I wanted to go out to dinner or buy someone a present, I just picked up an extra job. I haven't babysat since the beginning of March and so I knew I had to further curtail my spending. I cancelled a couple of subscriptions I didn't use and changed my Amazon Prime Student account to a one-time fee annual account. This is saving me some cash each month.

My goal is to cut or lower as many fees as possible. I have a paid off American Express Delta Skymiles card. I've had this platinum card since 2015 and the benefits made a lot of sense when I was in an airport every single week. The free checked bag benefit paid for the annual fee within a month. AMEX raised the annual fee to $250 this year and my card renews in July. I considered cancelling the card but I feared for my credit score. I have a $29,000 line of credit and it drives my credit utilization way down. I've been fretting about this for a couple of months, when I see that The Budget Mom had shared her blog post on cancelling credit cards. I commented and someone suggested switching to the no annual fee AMEX Blue Delta Skymiles card. I didn't even know this thing existed!

A quick call to AMEX customer service today and now my account has been switched to the blue card. I will receive a prorated credit for my last annual fee, keep my current credit limit, and keep my skymiles. I lose the member benefits of the platinum card but I was rarely in the airport to use them.

I'm glad that I am keeping a Delta Skymiles card because Brad and I have been talking about taking an amazing trip to Australia and New Zealand after I graduate. Turns out that this has been a dream trip for both of us. It's kind of nuts that we have so much in common and still surprise each other with these similarities. I am so excited to plan and save for this bucket list of an adventure.

January 2020 Goals Update

I managed to not spend all my money on UberEats last month!

January was a successful month. For the first time in what feels like forever, I budgeted my money for the entire month and didn't overspend. I took steps to minimize the amount of interest I pay on debt. I used this debt reduction calculator to figure out the best way to pay of my loans and cards with the least amount of interest. I also opened a new credit card and initiated a balance transfer on my existing credit card debt so I can now pay it off without paying interest. I got a Citi Simplicity card and have 0% APR for 21 months. If you've got debt and your paying high interest fees, look into this option.

I took all of the food delivery apps off of my phone. I can obviously still order delivery if I want to but deleting the apps and unsubscribing from their emails has changed my behavior. We didn't order food at all in the entire month. We did go out a few times because I'd probably die if I couldn't eat La Parrilla. La Parrilla has THE BEST margaritas and I consider myself an expert on the topic. I started making hard boiled egg avocado toast and chicken caprese salads. Very tasty and not that difficult to eat in the car.

2020 Goals

Can getting your financial shit together help you reach your nutrition and fitness goals? I'm going to find out.

Happy New Year! My priority in 2020 is financial health. One of my favorite Instagram accounts @thechubbycrossfitter introduced me to The Budget Mom in December. Miko, aka The Budget Mom, offers free and for sale resources that I have found really helpful and I was fortunate to receive her Budget by Paycheck planner for Christmas.

Right now I am in school and fortunate to have financial support from my family to make that possible. (Let's take a moment to thank my sister for getting her doctorate straight out of undergrad and my dad for deciding that I should also have the opportunity to spend several extra years on the family payroll.) I haven't always been responsible with money and I do have some debt. Using the knowledge I have learned from The Budget Mom, I can pay off that debt before I graduate and start my new career as a registered dietitian in 2022. Most likely I will be able to pay it off and set aside emergency savings well before.

I am interested in seeing how achieving financial health can help improve my health in other areas of my life. The most obvious is lowering my stress if I'm no longer stressing about money. Less stress should hopefully transfer to better sleep. I also think creating and sticking to a budget will help with my nutrition, physical, and mental health. For example, I am going to need to prepare the majority of my meals at home in order to keep my grocery spending under budget. This should result in less fast food and bar food (I am a sucker for chicken wings!), and I am less likely to open a bottle of wine to have with dinner but I almost always order wine if I eat out. 

I have allocated $0 to clothing purchases this month. I just moved to a new apartment and I am disgusted by the amount of clothing I have because I don't have enough closet racks to hold all of it. Instead of ordering my millionth pair of Fleo shorts, I need to ask myself why I feel compelled to order new clothes even though I don't wear what I already own. Am I unhappy? Am I trying to fill some void with instant gratification? I used to order 3 pairs of Fleos a week when I was miserable at work and traveling all of the time. I made decent money so I didn't really think about it but I've since realized that I've got about 3 months rent worth of shorts.

Sinking funds are a new-to-me concept that I am excited to utilize. Basically you choose something you want or need (semi-annual car insurance payment, a vacation, a massage, really anything) and you figure out how much money you need to fund it. Then you allocate a certain amount of money each month or pay period to fund it. One glass of wine with tip cost me $14.20 at Lingering Shade last night. I enjoyed it, but normally I would have at least two. Realizing that I would be able to take leftover money in my "fun budget" and put it towards my sinking fund for a body work session with Brian Fox was the incentive I needed to limit myself to one glass.

I never considered myself to be bad with money, but I was definitely not good with it either. I look forward to prioritizing my health and happiness goals by getting my finances in order.

What are your 2020 goals? Are they health and fitness related? Financial? As cheesy as it sounds, it's a new decade and I want to make the 20s my best decade yet.

New Year, Same Me, Hopefully Some More Posts

It's 2019! I am excited for a new year and a new semester, but I am even more excited that I woke up this morning well-rested. I have had the worst cold since Friday. I've basically been in bed for days, and it was a legit struggle to stay awake at dinner last night. I spent my New Year's Eve exactly how I wanted to spend it - having dinner with my best friend - and then I was home and in bed with the pups by 10 PM. I just wish this cough and the rain would finally stop!

No hangover for this girl this morning.

2018 Quarterly Goal Update - Q2

April I made it to 8 CrossFit classes.

May I made it to 13 CrossFit classes.

June I made it to 13 CrossFit classes.

Quarter Total: 34

Total/Year Goal: 74/180

April I attended 3 Infinity Yoga classes and 1 Southern OM class.

May I attended 2 Yoga Works classes (Infinity Yoga's new name) and 1 Bottom Line Yoga class.

June I attended 1 Bikram Yoga Roslyn class.

Quarter Total: 8

Total/Year Goal: 16/50

Apirl I tucked 2 times.

June I tucked 1 time.

Quarter Total: 3

Total/Year Goal: 19/50

April I ran 2.4 miles.

May I ran 3.9 miles.

Quarter Total: 16.3

Total for Year: 17.6

2018 Quarterly Goal Update - Q1

January I made it to 15 CrossFit classes.

February I made it to 8 CrossFit classes.

March I made it to 17 CrossFit classes.

Quarter Total: 40

Total/Year Goal: 40/180

January I attended 1 Be Hot Yoga class.

February I attended 1 YogaPod Austin class.

March I attended 6 Infinity Yoga classes.

Quarter Total: 8

Total/Year Goal: 8/50

January I tucked 3 times.

February I tucked 11 times. There was a studio challenge.

March I tucked 2 times.

Quarter Total: 16

Total/Year Goal: 16/50

March I ran 11.3 miles.

Quarter Total: 11.3

Total for Year: 11.3

January I attended 2 SoulCycle classes.

Quarter Total: 2

Total for Year: 2

New Year, New Goals: 2018 Edition

It's a new year and I've got some new goals. One of my goals this year is to actually post my monthly goal update in a timely manner. My primary goal is to lower my stress and anxiety so that I can enjoy my life and stop grinding my teeth.

Fitness and Nutrition

WOD 180 times in 2018: My goal is to go to CrossFit an average of 15 times per month. I went to CrossFit 160 times in 2016 and 148 times in 2017. I want to push myself to reach what I think is an attainable goal.

Get flexible and go to yoga 50 times: A Baptiste yoga studio opened near my apartment and I'm looking forward to checking it out. I enjoy Bikram yoga as well and that's been helping my back feel better.

Go to Pure Barre 50 times: I really liked Pure Barre Inman Park when I checked it out in December. It's right down the hill from my apartment. They have a 7 AM class that I intend to go to a couple of times a week.

Repair my metabolism by spending 7 months in maintenance: I have been on a reverse diet since June and I increased my calories to 2,600 a day. Now I need to spend 7 months in maintenance so that my metabolism adjusts to these calories and my weight evens out. This will allow me to cut at higher calories. Thirty-four weeks at maintenance is going to be difficult mentally, but I am committed to following through on this process.


Wellness

I'm not giving myself specific goals for wellness but there are areas that I would like to improve.

Work between 9 AM and 5 PM unless there is a big project or extenuating circumstance. This is a big source of my stress. I enjoy the flexibility of working from home but I have had so much work these past two years that I feel a lot of stress and guilt if I'm not always working. I blocked out a schedule that structures my time more effectively. With the help of my new hires, I hope to have a 9 - 5 job one day.

Spend time in nature with my dogs. They like to hike. I like to hike. We should spend more time hiking.

Spend less money. I spend a lot of money on things I don't need like new gym clothes and restaurant dinners. I would like to reign in my spending a bit and increase my savings.

August 2017 Goals

Hi friends! I'm back! I've found it pretty difficult to blog all summer. I've been struggling, and sometimes I hesitate to write about it because it feels like I'm airy dirty laundry. Work has been hard. I got an awesome promotion that recognized the hard work that I have been doing, including the additional responsibilities I've taken on since a colleague left in June 2016. But more money and a new title didn't add any hours to my week. I try to keep things in perspective but I broke down and cried on Tuesday. My team is so understaffed and my right-hand woman works remotely from Houston. Her house is destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. I am so thankful that she and her family are safe, but she's offline for the foreseeable future. That's 25 hours of work a week that's back on me. I'm trying to get temps in but that's a whole extra level of stress when I work remotely from Atlanta and the temp agency is in New York.

The travel is killing my personal budget because I'm spending so much money on dog boarding. I don't want to go anywhere for personal travel when I rarely get to enjoy a day off in Atlanta. That being said, I just got back from some trips that were pretty great. I had a really great birthday in Charleston. My Mikes planned me the best weekend where we ate all the food and drank all of the rosé. I got to see the eclipse in totality and a special someone threw me the best space themed birthday party.

Eclipse Margarita

May 2017 Goals

Fitness and Nutrition

CrossFit Goal: 76/200 WODs. I did 14 WODs this month.

Not CrossFit: I went to Bikram Yoga Herald Square once. I ran 6.6 miles.

Macro Tracking: I tracked loosely. I was getting pretty frustrated with my numbers and feeling trapped in a cycle of not feeling lean enough but also not feeling strong enough. My weight leveled off what I stopped freaking out about it. I tried to eat pretty well.

Water: I got new CO2 for my SodaStream. I've been hydrating on the regular.


Happiness

Church: I went twice. I went to church with my parents when I was up in New York and I went to my church once.

Call a Friend: Still not doing so hot with this one, but I do remember to call my mom.

April 2017 Goals

Fitness and Nutrition

CrossFit Goal: 62/200 WODs. I did 13 WODs this month, including the Loganville Lockdown competition with my girl Amy.

This is me during every workout ever - shirtless, tummy out, mouth wide open.

March 2017 Goals

March was a hard month. My grandmother died the last week in February and I really miss her. Honestly, it doesn't seem real yet. The Open started the same week, and it took a lot out of me both physically and mentally. It was the first year where I could do almost all of the movements Rx, but I just didn't do them that well. There was no glorious feeling of getting my first toes to bar or my first chest to bar pull-up. It was just heavy. I felt heavy. I felt like I was competing against other people at my gym instead of against myself. I wasn't particularly proud of any of my scores, except for the last workout. I didn't expect to get a muscle up. I wanted a 95# snatch but I didn't believe I could do it, which probably prevented me from doing it. But 17.5 was my jam. I said it was going to be similar to 11.1/14.1 (snatches and doubleunders) but with thrusters, and I was right. I really should have bet some money on that prediction. I finished 10 rounds for time of 9 thrusters at 65# 35 doubleunders in 12:07. That's a pretty good score for recreational CrossFitter in case you were wondering.

I needed a vacation in March. Not travel for work (I was gone most of February), but an actual left my computer at home and turned off my phone vacation to somewhere warm. The boyfriend and I had vacation plans that didn't come to fruition. I'm not going to air our dirty laundry because he's a very private person (apparently not everyone keeps a blog on the internet?), but I was pissed. I was pissed in a "don't fucking call me from Florida!," stay out all night and not answer my phone, maybe won't call you for your birthday kind of pissed. I just need a few days on a beach, but pool season came a little early so I've managed.

The good news is I didn't kill him! I even announced that he now has a Bonus Birthday and we celebrated at Beetlecat in Inman Park. For two people who grew up on the water, the price of oysters in this city is a little mind-boggling, but the food is good. Like I grew up in Oyster Bay. I'm still not sure how to live landlocked, or what's so great about a lake created by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Bonus Birthday dinner

Daisy Mae celebrated her 4th birthday on March 10. She's back to walking and running and being her absurd little self. She loves to wear party dresses. Before you roll your eyes at me, come over here and watch how excited she gets when I pull one of her dresses out of the drawer. And then see what happens if you try to take it off of her.

Fitness and Nutrition

CrossFit Goal: 49/200 WODs. I did 17 WODs this month.

Not CrossFit: I went to Be Hot Yoga on Friday and purchased a 30 day unlimited class pass. I ran 2.3 miles.

Macro Tracking: I've tracked every day but I'm still pretty lax on the weekend.

Water: I'm averaging around 80 oz of water a day, not including the water in my shakes, coffee, or BCAAs.

Daisy Mae's birthday cake

Happiness

Church: I went to church 3 times and I officially joined as a member on March 19. That was an incredibly great day. I am so thankful that I have found a church community that feels like family.

Call a Friend: I didn't really feel like talking to anyone. I'm not good with sympathy, and I get awkwardly direct when facing difficult times, such as the loss of a loved one. However, I did catch up with an old friend at Moe's and Joe's. It was good to see him.

The return of my Parliament Light dress, just because it makes me happy.

Weight Loss Wednesday 3.22.17

I was pretty fucking pissed after my last body fat test because I had lost even more muscle. I was so mad at myself for chasing a number on a scale and thinking it was a good idea to slash my calories to 1,200 - 1,500 for that Fat Loss Accelerator program. I knew it was a bad idea but I was so psyched to see 140 on the scale that I was hoping I'd get in the 130s and have abs and be strong and I was totally lying to myself. I was hungry all the time, prone to binge eating whenever the opportunity arose, and sucking at CrossFit. I also got really resentful towards stupidity. I know I'm blowing my macros when I sit down to a second dinner of tacos, choripapas, and a pitcher of margaritas. No one has to explain that to me. But I struggle to comprehend people who can't figure out macro tracking after a week. I don't care if Dr. Oz said olive oil is a healthy fat. If your stupid diet plan says you get 40 grams of fat a day, you can't douse everything you eat in olive oil and hit your numbers. And the complaints about not being able to eat enough to hit your numbers - well ma'am, you clearly don't look like you're starving so you've got to be eating something. Clearly I'm still not over this experience.

February 15, 2017 @ 146 lbs

February 22, 2017. In a hotel in Houston and didn't weigh myself.

February 2017 Goals

Fitness and Nutrition

CrossFit Goal: 32/200 WODs. I went to CrossFit 13 times this month, which I find impressive because I was gone so many days. I dropped in at CrossFit Downtown Atlanta, CrossFit Cool Springs in Tennessee, and CrossFit Central in Austin.

The all-ladies morning class at CrossFit Central.

Not CrossFit: I went to Pure Barre once with my mom, which I always enjoy. I went to Bikram in Roslyn with my friend Keith, and I went while I was in Houston. Bikram Yoga Meyerland Plaza was really nice. I really want to add Bikram to my regular schedule, but I want to take advantage of this 30 day unlimited deal and I can't decide on the best date to start.

Macro Tracking: I loosely tracked every weekend but I wouldn't say I fully captured my days or hit my numbers. I'm a little fluffier than I would like to be but at least I've put something into My Fitness Pal.

Water: I've been really shitty at tracking my water intake. I'm going to say I failed this goal this month.

Happiness

Church: I went twice this month and hit my goal. Woot woot!

Call a Friend: Even better than calling a friend, my best pal Kristen was in Atlanta for work and she met me for drinks at Ladybird. It was so wonderful being able to spend time with her in person. She was just happy she got to see where the Real Housewives of Atlanta live.

January 2017 Goals

Fitness and Nutrition

CrossFit Goal: 19/200 WODs. I'm off to a great start to meet this goal because I need about 17 classes per month. Our coach Alex has started to post an Abs by Coach Alex workout each day as accessory work. This has been really great because it's helped me to make friends with some members at the gym that I didn't know very well.

Not CrossFit: I went to Pure Barre Brookhaven four times. I bought an unlimited back for $75 when they first opened and I never used it. A single class is $23 so I got my money's worth. It was a pain in the ass to drive up to Brookhaven on weeknights but the studio is really pretty. You get to look out onto Dresden Drive and see what folks are up to when your thighs are shaking. Unfortunately, I never got to go to class with my friend Mara.

Macro Tracking: 3/Weekend Days. I realized that I was binge eating again when I started tracking my weekends. This realization caused me to adjust my weekday macros and I'm a lot happier.

Water: I'm drinking between 50 and 70 ounces a day, not including the water I put into my shakes, pre-workout etc. Definitely room for improvement.

Happiness

Church: I went to church twice. Last Sunday I went to lunch with three friends afterwards and it was hands down the best part of my week. I was also home to go to community dinner every week this month. I am so thankful I found this church.

Call a Friend: I had two great phone calls this month. My friend Rylan and I caught up after someone pretending to be me said she was pregnant and naming her baby after Rylan. Just as an FYI, I claimed this baby name in 2012 and I will fight you. My high school roommate Heather and I had the most fantastic call on Sunday night. We've been playing phone tag forever and she called me back just as I was getting on the treadmill to get in my 10,000 steps. I walked on an incline and we had so much fun catching each other up on our fantastic, and sometimes dramatic, lives.

I'm Losing My Gains!

So I know that I regularly claim that I'm losing my gains, usually when I'm hangry or unable to do anymore pull-ups. Except it turns out that I actually am losing my gains.

On Saturday, Body Fat Test Atlanta came to CrossFit Identity with the dunk tank. This was my fourth test. The great news - I'm at 18.6% body fat. The bad news - I lost 0.55 lbs of muscle. This is on top of the pound of muscle I lost between 2014 and 2015. I know about half of you are rolling your eyes over 1.55 lbs, and the other half of you are about to send me condolence letters. Do you know how freaking hard it is to gain a pound of muscle? Really. Freaking. Hard.

New Year, New Goals: 2017 Edition

Fitness and Nutrition

WOD 200 times in 2017: I need to WOD approximately 17 times a month to hit this goal. Honestly, I think meeting this goal really depends on how often I travel for work and how much I am willing to spend in drop-in fees. Discovering that CrossFit Downtown Atlanta offers 11 AM classes on Saturdays and Sundays, plus a noon Sunday class is probably going to be the only way I hit this goal. I don't know how my friends show up to the 8:15 AM CFID class after going out with me the night before. Masochists...

Follow my macros at least 6 days a week: I'm pretty dang good about about tracking my food and hitting my numbers Monday through Friday, but I stopped consistently tracking my weekends a while ago. I'm going to report the number of Saturdays and Sundays I tracked each month to hold me accountable.

Drink 96 oz (4 Tervises) of water daily: I was so good at drinking water and now I'm always drinking iced coffee and protein shakes.

Happiness

Go to church: I started going to St. Paul's Presbyterian back in August and I really began to enjoy it. I think showing up twice a month and going to community dinner on Wednesdays whenever I'm in town is a reasonable commitment.

Call a friend who lives outside of Atlanta each month: I guess I stay in reasonable touch with people via Facebook, but I haven't been great at maintaining relationships with my friends from New York, college, or high school. I know this because I text them when I see their Instagram engagement posts and see that I haven't messaged them in over a year.

Say no to shit I don't want to do: Not many people would describe me as a pushover, but man do I agree to do a ton of crap that I just don't want to do. This is exactly how I am still signed up for a GMAT exam for which I haven't studied. I don't even have plans to go to business school! I'm not planning on becoming a Negative Nancy, but it's really okay to take stock of a situation and decide it's not for me. Basically my goal is to become selfish in 2017. Woot woot.

December 2016 Goals and Some Thoughts for 2017

Pure Barre Goal: 1 time for a total of 53 tucks in 2016.

CrossFit Goal: 160/200 WODs. I went to class 14 times, one of which was a drop-in at CrossFit Downtown Atlanta.

I PR'd my Kelly time at 26:44 Rx while injured on 12/28/16. Kelly is 5RFT 400 m run, 30 box jumps (24/20), and 30 wallballs (20/14). My old time from 1/31/15 is 31:29 Rx and I didn't have a shooting pain up my back. My back is getting better and I have been scaling most of the workouts. I did step ups instead of rebounding on the box jumps. I have been going really light on the weights each day.

We got some brand new Lynx barbells and they are gorgeous.

Mileage Goal: I ran 10.8 miles this month for a total of 154 miles for the year. I chuckle because I used to run this in a month. The other day someone decided to lie to me about our evening plans and so I left my car at his place. When we ended up at the bar DIRECTLY DOWN THE STREET from my apartment, I was pissed. One and a half miles of this total mileage is me running back down the Beltline to pick up my car the next morning. I think this was just his way of making sure I came back.

November 2016 Goals

Pure Barre Goal: I went once. Woohoo! That 52 classes for the year. I'm getting close to being part of the 100 Club.

CrossFit Goal: 146/200 WODs. I went to class 15 times and I did a CrossFit competition that had 3 WODs throughout the morning. I'll post about the competition as soon as the event photos are posted online.

October 2016 Goals

Pure Barre Goal: Zero, but I went to something called [solidcore]. It is really hard but a lot of fun.

CrossFit Goal: 128/200 WODs. I went to CrossFit Identity for 13 WODs this month. I didn't drop in during my travels to save some money and to make myself go running instead.

Mileage: I ran 38 miles, including the Marine Corps Marathon. MCM 41 is my fastest marathon to date. I swore I would never run another one as I crossed the finish line, but then I found myself googling best Boston Qualifier courses in Georgia a few hours later.

September 2016 Goals

Pure Barre Goal: Zero, but my colleague from our New Orleans campus is a certified barre3 instruction and she taught a class at our retreat last week. She is a GREAT instructor. I can't say if I like the method because it wasn't a traditional class in a studio. We took over the basketball court and borrowed equipment from the hotel gym. I'm going to make her take me to class with her when I go visit her campus this year.

CrossFit Goal: 115/200 WODs. I dropped in at Reebok CrossFit 5th Ave and PR'd my Fran time! I also did a two-a-day with my best betch Kayte. I am so proud of her and her dedication to CrossFit. She hits the gym twice a day regularly. She let me row with her and then we did clean and jerks and GHD sit-ups and some handstand work. If I could get my life in order and get on top of all of my work, I would definitely train with her more often.

Mileage: I ran 7.6 miles while traveling for work. I did a 5.37 mile run in Alexandria and found a nifty trail. I then did a short 2.26 jog around the golf course with some coworkers while we attended our retreat at the Minerals Springs Spa and Resort in New Jersey.

Life and Wellness Goals: September was freaking stressful. I felt like I was in a bad mood the entire month. But a lot of good things happened in September. We passed our site monitoring visit for our New York State grant, and I was really concerned about that. I got to see some great friends while I was in New York. I had a great conversation with our CEO and finally feel like maybe I'm doing a good job at work. I got to spend two days with my colleagues at the retreat and actually make a few work friends. Working from home is the shit, but you don't get to make friends in the mailroom because you don't have one.

I've been sleeping pretty well, eating pretty okay for the amount of travel I've done recently, and binge drinking a moderate amount. Things could definitely be worse.

Lately, I've been catching myself trying to cut calories or skip meals. While this can deliver results in the short-term, it can really fuck up your metabolism. I've been playing around with my macros to see what I respond to best. I am currently aiming for 135g of protein, 150g of carbohydrates, and 55g of fat a day. This is less fat and more carbs than I'm used to and it's been working pretty well. I feel rich in carbs and that makes me feel good about what I'm eating. If I do a long run on Saturday (which I've done exactly once), I up my carbs to 300g and my fat to 80g. I'm not a doctor and this is not advice. The macros I use won't work for you because they're not based on your size, goals, or activity level. If you want your numbers calculated, I highly recommend Jenna Carelli.