Back to the Basics: Budgeting.

Last night after work one of my sweet friend came over for breakfast for dinner, a workout, and a pow wow about budgeting.  One of the hardest lessons I had to learn as a young adult out on my own was managing my money.  My parents were prime examples of budgeting done well but managing my own money on my first 'real' income (I've been working since I was 15, but I hadn't actually supported myself).  One of my girlfriends just got her first full-time job recently and I agreed to have a sit down with her to help her do it better than I did, my first go around.

Don't worry, I also very much encouraged her to take a one day Dave Ramsey class my church is offering in July.  I'm not confident enough in my own abilities to be the only resource anyone uses on money. I'm still learning myself, naturally.

As I prepared for this pow wow, going back over the basics inspired me to tighten up my own budget.  I've been living on a budget for three years now, but budgeting is a little like doing through your closet.  You could go through and throw out everything that doesn't fit or look good, and then go through it again and find 5 more.  It's just how it goes.  So as I went back over the basics I realized my budget had some leaks as well. I wasn't making my money work as hard for me as I could.

And so, I've tightened it up and taken a few deep breaths to keep from panicking.  It seems I've been doing a lot of this as I've been addressing the basics in most categories of my life.  It's all kind of connected, isn't it? It all comes back to discipline.  As I've tightened up my schedule, my workout routine, my diet, my budget, and my reading goals for the year I'm reminded of the value of revisiting the basics in your life.

If it's been a while since you went back over your goals and checked yourself (preferably with a friend) to see if your habits are working towards those goals, do it.  You may find that, like your closet, there's still some extra weight in there.  This is me encouragement to keep challenging yourself and pushing yourself to meet your goals and make sure you take the time to celebrate each of them.  Rest assured, I'll be celebrating when I pay cash for my next car and pay off my house someday.  Maybe sooner rather than later.

Love,

B

One Word.

Well first off, thank you to everyone who's offered up suggestions on goals I should achieve in 2011! I got some great ideas to kick off the new year motivated to make it the best yet. I'm taking them all into consideration, but honestly, it's looking like every single one will make the list! You all are just THAT good.

The first one, however, starts before the new year. Mindy, a friend from college and my first major (photography) suggested I do the reverb '10. The idea of reverb is to finish 2010 by celebrating the victories. This has certainly been a great year for me and it deserves some attention. I'm starting it 13 days late, but I'm going to go back and start at the beginning because I love the idea. Thank Mindy.

Day One - describe your year (2010) in one word (then of course elaborate).

2010 for me has been about discipline. Towards the end of 2009 I sat down and really assessed my life and if I was going ot work towards the life I wanted, where do I start? I realized I needed discipline in a lot of areas of my life where it was currently lacking. I started with my finances because let's me honest, when you graduate college and get your first job you REALLY realize how little you know about money and how far you have to make that first salary stretch. Yikes.

AS 2010 came around, I tackled one area at a time. In January I moved into my first home and suddenly had to balance housework (much more of it) than ever before. More bills. More repairs. More cleaning. Gag. You get the idea.

Next came my health as I started a journey to better health in April by joining a 'biggest loser' competition at work. I sought out a more disciplined lifestyle through diet and excercise. I'm happy to report success in this area in a more noticeable way than any other - as of today I'm down 57lbs in 8 months.

I've learned also to be more disciplined with my time as I created space for the important things and people in my life and worked towards reading 50 books this year. I'm 180 pages from completing this goal as well.

Discipline has been the overwelming theme of 2010 for me and I hope to continue along that path in 2011. Though I hope that when I write to you on this side of 2011, in December of next year, the word to describe my year will be 'love'. I'll leave you to interpret what I mean by that on your own. ;] You'll just have to wait and see what I have up my sleeve.

Love you guys and thankful for your inspiration,

B