Goal Achieved, On to the Next One.

I can't believe it's been 40 days since I posted the financial challenge Don and I decided to take on a little more than a month ago. The specific challenge was to not eat out for breakfast or lunch for 40 days and only very sparingly for dinner. The challenge was quite a success! We weren't 100% perfect but at least 95% which is still a strong A. The most rewarding part of the process I think was just the feeling of taking on a challenge together, both being on the same page about it and working together to accomplish it. I mainly took responsibility for making sure we had lunch options in the house, Don made a commitment to come home for lunch rather than eating out, and if ever he had a busy day we tried to plan ahead so that he could take food with him or occasionally I brought lunch down to the office. It also had a nice side effect of getting to eat lunch together almost every day and forcing both of us to take a real quality break from our hectic work schedules.

I also feel like we have truly formed a new habit where we are mindful about not wasting money and resources at lunch time but eating quality food together and taking a real break. I feel like we'll be able to go out to lunch occasionally now as a conscious choice together without overspending and not because of poor planning or wastefulness. But for the most part, we'll continue this new lifestyle of eating together at home and making use of our leftovers.

We were so pleased with results, that we decided to come up with a new challenge for ourselves. A specific commitment that we could set, stick to, and that would improve the quality of our life for the better. This time, we decided to focus on fitness which is sorely lacking in our lives on any consistent basis. We wanted to take on something in the mornings. This way we would get our day off to a good start, which would hopefully spill over to a successful and focused work day, and would leave us free to relax and enjoy our evenings. To really formalize our commitment we wanted to invite other people to be a part of it also. We figured, if we were leading a group, there's no way we would be able to skip out. So we coordinated with another Meetup Group called Bellingham Fun and Fitness and are hosting a sunrise morning walking group at Lake Padden, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at 6:15 a.m. Yes, I know it's a crazy time of year to start outdoor activities, but that's what weather gear is for and the colder it is the more calories we'll burn. Plus this way we can include the dogs who also need their exercise (yes, they have rain coats too). Finally, in the ever increasing spirit of good financial resourcefulness, the activity doesn't cost us any expensive gym memberships and is something multiple people can do at multiple activity levels. We start Monday, November 1st and have decided to continue this one on up to Christmas week.

I'm looking forward to connecting with my husband through exercise, a hot cup of coffee in front of the fireplace after a cold morning walk, a quality shower before I start my work day instead of rolling out of bed and starting work in my pajamas, beautiful scenes of nature in the morning such as rain drops on the lake, foggy paths, and snow covered trees if we get so lucky, how good it will feel to sleep in on Tuesdays and Thursdays as if we have earned it, meeting more people and inspiring others to exercise, and discovering what new and unexpected delights come out of this just like the serendipitous surprises that came out of our last challenge together.

40 Day Financial Challenge

Don and I had one of those talks about finances tonight. He had been to a great presentation today on life insurance and was concerned that our coverage was insufficient. When you work in the industry and talk to people on a daily basis who have had to collect on a death benefit, the ability to compartmentalize and think 'it will never happen to me,' goes right out the window. We got some quick figures together and then pulled out our budget to see where we could fit it in.

We knew that we had not been sticking much to our budget lately so we actually went through the exercise of pulling up Quicken and looking not just at our projected "goal" budget but what we were actually spending on an average basis. Boy were we shocked! We were way farther out than we possibly could have imagined. There was no room in our budget for additional expenses! We knew we had set an aggressive and unattainable budget to begin with that had required us to have exceptional discipline and did not account for unexpected expenses. And at the end of the day we were mostly being frugal with just a few occasional impulse buys so the idea of what to cut and where was a bit overwhelming.

We wallowed in the stress for a bit. Then we tried a few brainstorming exercises about what it is we want out of life and how finances will help us get there. A few things that came to mind were more traveling, less job stress, the ability to go out and experience life, and of course a nicer wardrobe. But we just couldn't latch on to a singular driving motivation that would keep us focused and disciplined. So you'll never guess what we decided to do. We decided to give more money away. It sounds a bit antithetical to what we were trying to achieve. But it's the only way we could think of to stop obsessing about the limited means we do or don't have and how we are going to make the most out of it. I couldn't think of a better way to reconnect with the value of our hard earned dollars then to increase our tithing. (Mind you this is not bragging as we are still way far off from where we should be but it is a step in the right direction nonetheless.) When faced with the option of eating out at an expensive restaurant, or feeding 10 people who otherwise might not have a meal tonight, well, suddenly those dollars have value in a whole new way. And there is the motivation we needed to inspire us to do better with our budget.

So the sacrifice we are taking on is a rather exciting challenge. We've decided that for 40 days we are absolutely committed to not eating out for breakfast or lunch (we may allow for one or two dinners especially since we have some really good coupons). It will be difficult with Don's work schedule and traveling and will require quite a bit of planning ahead and working together. But with the right motivation, which I think we have found, I think this will be a great exercise in financial growth for the two of us. I am hoping there might be others who want to take the challenge and share in a similar journey. We'd love to all celebrate together when it's over with a potluck or something else low cost of course!

One more appliance we can't live without

Look at our new toy! It's an iced tea maker and it is awesome. The Iced Tea Maker is to Iced Tea what the Aeropress is to coffee... The purest form of flavor packaged in the brilliance of instant gratification. Sure we could make sun tea and let it sit all day (possibly collecting ecolli). Sure we could boil water and brew the tea and then cool it and add ice. But why do all that work when you can have one nice little contraption that premeasures everything, does all the work for you, and is ready to drink in just a few minutes! This model we picked up was less than $20 at Fred Meyer. I decided a while ago that I was giving up soda pop for the month of April. Hot tea has been a great substitute but as the seasons begin to change, I started thinking about what cold drink options there were and my sister introduced me to the contraption. It was love at first sight. I can't imagine even wanting a Coke when fresh brewed iced tea is available. It just tastes so much better and is actually refreshing instead of just pure a sugar/caffiene rush. I can't wait to experiment with all the different flavors of tea, especially fruity ones like blueberry and pomegranate. Even just plain green tea or black tea is delicious. And as far as giving up soda goes, I can't believe how much better I feel overall. Better hydrated + less water retention = a much happier Cindy. I wonder if I gave up soda eternally like I have chips how much this little $20 Iced Tea maker would save me? $20 a month? $30 a month? For the rest of my life... Cha-Ching!

Risks and Rewards

All right. So I've been keeping you entertained with lots of fun new recipes to try but it's been a while since I've done a personal update on our lives kind of post. So what's going on with Don and Cindy?

I think this week a lot especially we've been learning to live with the ebbs and flows of the major life changes we took on when we moved to Bellingham. We made some major decisions that promised some pretty big rewards that required us to take a few risks and a leap of faith. We've had a few reminders this week of what those risks entailed as they pop up and loom out there in the lands of "What If" and "You Never Know." Of course most of it revolves around issues of financial security and stability. And while our faith has been tested here and there, at the end of the day I think we're still doing a good job of keeping things in perspective, living in the moment, and are really really confident that we made the right decisions for us and that we're on a path to something really wonderful. It's a very exciting stage in my life, as someone who craves control, security, and stability like any good Type A Woman, to have reached the point in my personal growth where I can identify when those factors are hindering me/us instead of aiding me/us and it's so cool to know that I'm ready and willing to step out of my comfort zone to get to where we want to go.

On that same path and along those lines of personal growth, another major shift that occurred in our household recently is that I transferred all of the financial duties and responsibilities (a.k.a Control, there's that word again) to Don. Given that his career now is going to be in financial management and that I was feeling over tasked and stressed from work and household duties, it seemed like the obvious thing to do. So now Don gets to balance the checkbook, track and categorize our spending, set budgets, decide what money goes in what account, which debts we pay off first, how much money we set aside for retirement, etc. I thought I would have a hard time letting go of it and not being fully aware of where of everything that's going on in our bank account. Boy was I stupid! It's the most liberating wonderful thing that has happened for me in a long time! I know and trust that he is doing a good job with it and I worry and think less about money than I ever have before. And it's also lightened my load to the point where I have more energy to put into meal planning and grocery shopping which I am much more interested in but had started to feel like a drain just from being stretched too thin. This whole shift has brought a lot more balance I think to our life together and relationship. We even managed to get through our first financial talk together as a couple the other night since our roles have been reversed. It started off a little rocky as we were anticipating what each other was going to be thinking and feeling off the bat but we got through that and ended up having an excellent conversation finding out that we're both actually feeling really similar about where we are and where we want to be.