Would it be a cop out to make one of my 101 goals, "Complete my list of 101 Goals"? Because I'd consider it an achievement. The last time I attempted this I maxed out at 52, and right now I'm only at 45. Oh well, I suppose it gives me room to identify new opportunities instead of just padding out the list with filler.
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024. Spend a pay period taking out my budgeted spending money in cash and leaving my debit/credit cards at home
I'm not a particularly disciplined individual (anyone who knows me and read that sentence probably rolled their eyes at how massive an understatement it is). Although I have a rudimentary budget mapped out in a spreadsheet I'm never watchful enough with my spending to stick to it. And, now that I've taken on the endless and varied costs of home ownership, money management has become a new priority. I don't want to end up "house poor" and unable to save up for an occasional dinner out or a mini vacation (though unfortunately I think it will be a long while - at least until I'm cohabiting - before I take another grand international trip).
I was paid on Friday and, figuring that it's probably best to start this experiment as early in the 1001 as possible, Saturday morning I drove to the ATM and took out $180 - my fortnightly budgeted allowance for all non-bill expenses (food, gas, and any discretionary purchases). I'm hoping that actually seeing my remaining funds every time I open my wallet, rather than having them dwindle somewhere in the background in my checking account, will make me more aware of how much I'm spending and perhaps prevent some unnecessary impulse purchases. I locked away my plastic as well, so it's cash-only until I get paid again on the 15th.
Should I, by some miracle, have any bills left over at the end of the 2 weeks, I'll tuck them away in my "random cash" canister (this is where I squirrel away random green that I end up with, like if I find $5 in a coat pocket, or someone pays me back for something - it's actually a decent way to save a little bit of pin money). Who knows, maybe this will be my M.O. going forward!
023. Finish all the unread books on my shelf before buying new ones - (0/9)
There are quite a few books that I've accumulated over the past few years that I never managed to read. Usually I like to finish a stack of books before buying more, but these ones ended up falling by the wayside for various reasons:
- Breadcrumbs - Anne Ursu
- Maps and Legends - Michael Chabon
- The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet - David Mitchell
- A Dance With Dragons - George R.R. Martin
- Monsters of Men - Patrick Ness
- The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstory
- The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest - Stieg Larsson
Now that I look at the list, a lot of them seem to be the tail end of a series that I started and never quite managed to wrap up (Martin, Ness, Larsson). I'll be starting with Breadcrumbs, since it was a recent recommendation from my librarian pal, LRL.
030. Post 101 photos - (001/101)
One of the neat things about buying a house during the winter is that you have no idea what landscaping surprises are in store for you come spring (for good or bad, I suppose). Last week I saw some chubby pink buds sprouting on one of the bushes in the back yard, and lo and behold they soon blossomed into peonies, one of my very favorite flowers! I snipped a mostly-open flower, plopped it in a vintage milk bottle, and it's been cheering me up every day since.
019. Every month, come up with a "top 10" list of my favorite things - (01/33)
June 2012:
- Peonies!
- Chicken salad
- 4-day weeks (all of June, oh yeah)
- Electric pink nailpolish
- Sparkling water
- Sleeping with the windows open
- Soft-boiled eggs
- Behr S-H-520 "Peacock Tail" (the color I painted my entryway)
- Smoked paprika on.everything.
- Feeling like I'm starting to move away from the massive rut I'd dug for myself in the past few years
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