Taking "Me" Back Update

On July 20, 2012 I did a post titled Taking "Me" Back and said I would update you on it. Well, here's a 2 years later update:

1. Time Management - I still struggle with it but as long as the TV is off I'm so much more productive, and I started making lists for myself again so that is a huge help
2. Finances - We're pretty good here. I don't remember my struggles before but I haven't been worried about it for a while, so that's good.
3. Health - We got a gym membership and I never go but after I get off work we always go somewhere so it just feels good walking... plus my job has changed so I'm not sitting around editing 11-13 hours a day, which rocks! I actually get off work at 5pm so I have more time in the day to be active. I love it!!!
4. Home - I don't know what my concern was with this... I guess I didn't read my post well enough, but Jon is amazing at keeping the house clean Monday through Friday so I have the weekends now, which makes life easier.
5. Secure stability for my future - Still working on this. Other than student loans and a credit card or two we're out of debt, we finally got insurance about a year ago... maybe longer, so we can actually go to the Dr., and we have a savings account. I feel pretty good even though I do have new goals for our future which I've recently started working on, but we'll talk about that later.
6. Spirituality - I think I'm doing much better. I mean... we always go to church... we always say our meal prayers... we always say a family prayer at night before we go to bed, and I always read scriptures and pray on my own at night before going to bed. But just going through the actions is not enough... I try to have a constant prayer in my heart and I started reading and praying in the morning before I start my day. It seems to make everything better and gets my mind in the right place for the day. Something I'm still trying to do is make sure that I set time aside for a good long prayer... not any set time... just sitting down, by myself and having a sincere minute or 10 or whatever it needs to be. I use to do it all the time but it seems like every moment is full of something so it's much harder these days. That's okay though... it's a work in progress.

Anyhow, feelin' pretty good about where we are. We're still trying to progress in a number of areas so goals are good. I like having things to shoot for...

WOW! It's been forever!

Oh my goodness! It's been forever since I posted!!!

I'll have to get back into the habit of blogging.

Since my last post was about the benjamin's we have saved quite a bit of money which was AWESOME because we paid off a few random bills we had laying around... Knox's delivery, and early hospital bills, a couple little day surgeries that I had, a few regular bills, and now we have two credit cards that we have to pay off and we'll be totally out of debt. To be honest we probably would have been totally debt free had we been more wise but always being frugal makes you want to break loose sometimes!

Anyhow, who cares about money! So much has and hasn't happened.

I got accepted to school! Ya!
I had to defer! Ohhh...
I got promoted! Ya!
I'm still in Utah! Ohhh...

Hopefully more to come later...

Until then nice chatting with you again and I'll have to get back on this bloggin' bandwagon cuz I'm kind of sucking at it.

Peace!

PS. In case you're like... it hasn't been 2 years... it was, I just started adding photos that I took since my last post.

Time Management & Finances

TIME MANAGEMENT / FINANCES

Lately I've been noticing that my day consists of a lot of... well, "work" if you will. I get up, get ready for work, go to work, come home, take care of Knox, clean, help with dinner, edit, do laundry, run errands, and... I don't know... whatever else needs to be done. Making a "work-day" not really end until around midnight. I don't know the last time I laid down on the couch just to rest my feet, but I do remember that when I did it, it felt foreign. Like I hadn't done it in years. I know it hasn't really been that long, but it sure felt like it, and I don't even know how long ago that experience was...

Along with that... and I think its probably only natural with a new little baby and being away from home for most of his awake hours... I've just been dying for leisure time with my family. I suddenly just want life to slow down and for me to start enjoying things instead of letting all these moments pass while I busily race along.

So that's what set the stage for this huge change in me... but here was my thought process...

Years ago I took an anthropology class. We studied the Kung people, an aborigine tribe in... I don't know... somewhere in the Kalahari, on the Southern end of Africa. I wish I had numbers but all I remember is that the percentage of "work" they did during the day was like nothing compared to ours. We're talking one or two hours compared to our 16... and you know what? That sounds quite nice right now! And they live happily with nothing compared to what we have.

So I decided we need to simplify our lives! And that simplification effects everything (finances, home, future stability, spirituality, health, etc.).

Now, because I want to make movies and I believe in Jon's ability to write, I want him to be a stay at home parent. I want him to spend his free time writing. And he wants that too. So with that I have to work extra hard to make up the income we would be making if he were a part of the workforce. I have a regular 9-5, I've been doing freelance for a company and we've booked a few weddings. I've also been thinking about other ways to bring in some extra cash... but over and above my 9-5 its just taking time away from being with my family... and so it doesn't really seem worth it...

So I'm giving all that extra stuff up! Which in turn means we need to seriously cut costs and here's how we're doing it...

Moving to a new apartment:

Current:
     1300 sqft @ $905
     WSG @ $40

New:
     900 sqft @ $590
     WSG @ $0

Savings: $355

This will also effect what we're paying on Gas and Electric but I'm not sure how much yet.

I started taking the bus instead of driving:

Gas: $175
Bus pass: $40
Savings: $135


We cut our phone bill down:

1400 minutes @ $80
700 minutes @ $60

I'll also be getting rid of my data pack but I have to get a new phone because my current phone requires it...

Current data pack @ $11

Savings: $31

The list goes on to include Netflix, calling student loan places to get the prices lowered, shopping with coupons, etc.

And since we're moving to a smaller place we're getting rid of a lot of extra stuff, stuff we don't need. We've sold old cameras and DVD players... we had a yard sale and made $530... awesome! And we still have loads more stuff that we'll be finding as we prepare to relocate. We're going through everything and deciding if we need/want to keep it or if we can get rid of it. We'll have a trash box, a DI box, and a yard sale box.

This is where our story ends for right now... this is really as far as we've gotten. We have a lot to do tomorrow and I'm excited. I'll be telling more as we progress so I'll keep you posted. Wish us luck!!!

PS. Jon pointed out: that's a savings of $521/month and $6252/year. Sweet!!!

Taking "Me" Back

PURPOSE

First off I need to say that I am so grateful to have little Knox! He brings me probably the greatest joy I've ever felt... I never thought I'd say that about a kid, but its true.

Along with that though, I'm also SO grateful that Jon and I got married so young (I was 22 and he was 23) and that we waited 8 years to have kids. Theres not one part of me that regrets it. Not one! I might be singing a different tune when I'm old but right now, I've never been more grateful!!!

However, a lot of things change when you have a kid. Where it use to be easy to fit loads of work and fun into a single day, I'm struggling to find time for either. I've lost a lot of the baby weight but I'm still many sizes from fitting into my wardrobe. Our house is filling up with baby crap and the end to spending seems nowhere in sight... Life is literally running away from me and if I don't take ME back soon, I hate to see how we'll end up!!!

So, what does taking "Me" back mean?

It means I run the day - my day doesn't run me! I need to take control of my life again. An action I believe will positively effect myself, my family and our future.

So with that, here are the areas of my life I need to change, simplify and improve upon, in no particular order:

1. Time Management
2. Finances
3. Health
4. Home
5. Secure stability for my future
6. Spirituality

Stay tuned for posts on each...