my top ten: january

January was kind of a wash around here. I spent most of the month being sick with this nasty virus. But besides not feeling well these are the top ten things I enjoyed this month in no particular order.

1. Surving the first month of my spending fast! 

2. Celebrating Chris' and my Dad's birthdays!

3. Finding out that my blogger friend Kim is pregnant! Congratulations Kim!

4. This post about clutter and this post about intentional love. 

5. Finding new sites: restored style and small notebook. Make sure to check them out!

6. Maggie's new e-book. I haven't bought it yet because of my spending fast but I'm sure it's just as awesome as she is!

7. Dusty's 28 day challenge.

8. A trip down memory lane with Shannon.

9. Making some progress on the crazy eye bathroom.

10. Starting morning walks with Banner again. 

last years top ten

my arch nemesis

So I believe I have talked about the "crazy eye bathroom" in our basement. It has earned this name because the wallpaper reminds me of those posters that you would look at and a picture would appear. Do you remember those? Anyway.. without further ado I present the "crazy eye bathroom".

Yeah it's bad. I seriously think that this attractive wallpaper has been up since the 80s. So as part of my 30 by 30 list I have decided to take it on.

So far it's VERY slow going. Here is my "progress" if you can even call it that...

Yeah.. I have a feeling this might take the remaining 6 months to complete...

Anyone have any wallpaper horror stories or words of encouragement?

P.S. My real life friend Lori has started a blog. She is a new home owner and talented baker. Make sure to check out her blog Lemons and Lovebirds!

minimalism?

First of all thanks for the support with my 6 month spending fast! I really appreciate it.

After reading Jenny's comment about minimalism I stopped and did a double take. I thought "minimalist? me?"

I don't know if I would consider myself a minimalist. Maybe because when I think of that word I think of someone living in a one bedroom apartment with only a small amount of possessions and no car and clearly that is not me living in our three bedroom townhouse with two cars and a basement full of junk.

But then I thought about how my thinking about buying things and money has changed. I used to think that I should buy things because "I deserved it" or because "I needed it" and that has not helped in our transition from cutting my salary by more than half and going back to graduate school. I have been trying to live all aspects of my life with intention thanks from a little inspiration from Jess.

So am I becoming a minimalist? I don't think so but I do think and hope that I am becoming a more intentional person and creating a life with intention.

Interested in reading more? Check out this post: Minimalism for the masses

30 by 30: starting a 6 month spending fast: day 16

Today marks 16 days into my 6 month spending fast!!! So far, so good. I have not bought any new clothes or any impulse purchases from Target or Etsy.

What have we spent money on this month?
Mortgage, HOA payment, cable bills, cell phone bills, groceries, gas- basically what I had listed in our needs.

We did have a few unforeseen expenses. I spent $5.25 to send Deanna my Pottery barn keys and $7.99 to buy a proper car brush and scraper from Amazon- my old one has been MIA for awhile now. However I did use a reusable shopping bag to clean off my car after our first little snow. But overall, I think I have done pretty well and I am very proud of myself.

The hardest part has been not eating out. Sometimes you just want to get some Chipotle or Five Guys for lunch but we have really been trying to avoid it. We are planning a dinner out to celebrate Chris' birthday and truth be told we have gotten Chipotle for lunch this month.

I have been also reading a lot of minimalist books and other budgeting stories- I try to share some of my favorites on my Facebook page. It seems that I am not the only one that is thinking that their spending has been out of control. Thanks for the support and I look forward to keeping you guys updated as we continue on this journey.

enough

Since starting my 6 month spending fast I have been reading minimalist books. I know what your thinking.. but bear with me for a minute. Although I have no plans to throw everything out and live with only 100 possessions or something crazy like that a lot of their ideas make a lot of sense.

Take the idea of "enough" for instance. How do you know when you have "enough"? When you have no more room to store all your stuff? When you can't afford to buy any more stuff? If you compare what we have to other people in other parts of the world it would seem we have more than enough. Yet we continue to go out the malls, shop online, etc. 

A quote from my most recent read, The Joy of Less by Francine Jay really struck a chord with me. 

"If we recognize the abundance in our lives, and appreciate what we have, we will not want for more. We simply need to focus on what we have, rather than what we don't have"

So how can we achieve the feeling of having enough? By practicing gratefulness and realizing how lucky we truly are? I think this might be part of it. But all I know is that I want that feeling of peace and calm. I don't want to feel like there is always something I am saving for or wanting. I just want to have enough.

Interested in reading more? Check out this post, this post, this post and this post

worth the splurge?

A few days ago I had a quick conversation on twitter with Anna about what I things I think are worth splurging on and what things aren't. 

Anna: Working on a post... What things do YOU think are worth a splurge & which items are not? #worthitornot

Me:  I think anything that promotes your happiness and well-being is worth the splurge. Whether it be nice clothes, a trip, etc.

Anna: Is that a slippery slope though?

Me:  it's true. But you just have to figure out what is most important to you and not go crazy. Which I am working on doing..

Anna: it's hard for me to not go overboard too... it's my natural inclination. Building new habits help slowly but surely!

What do you think?? Do you agree with me that your splurges should be things that are important to you and that you will truly enjoy or do you think there are certain things you should never splurge on?

best buds

Our friends Renee and Josh came to visit us last weekend and they brought Blake with them. I was a little nervous because Banner hasn't had much experiences with small children, but he did great and by the end of the weekend they were best friends!