Reality

The reality of my situation is I am in my mid 50's have credit card debt, have a home in two different states, have a husband who likes loves to spend money and buy stuff.  Obviously I do too otherwise I would not  have credit card debt.  Dumb choices.

We are currently living in an older home.  We are not older home people, we are not fixer-uppers.  Never have been.  We don't have the knowledge and I don't like the mess.  We have been looking at newer homes in the city we currently full-time reside in.  The home we have in another state is a newer home, although now over 13 years old, it hasn't been lived in very much since we haven't lived there for at least 10 years.

As we are looking at these homes, there is excitement.  I love a newer cleaner home.  Reality hit me this week that if we move we will do it ourselves rather than have a moving company and I am not moving all our crap, treasures, possessions, overwhelming amount of things, stuff.  Just the thought is overwhelming.  To that end today I have decided to take on the major task of getting rid of stuff I would not move into another home.  I have tackled the bathroom closet (should have taken a before picture, but here is an after picture).  It looks nice, it looks organized and these are things we will move, if we move.  I have a bigger box and 3 trash bags full of towels, blankets, sheet sets, etc.  All perfectly good and usable for someone else.

Top shelf, two pillows, two electric blankets, next shelf 5 bath sheets, next shelf bath towels, hand towels and wash cloths, next shelf 6 couch blankets, next shelf 2 queen sets, 2 twin sets, floor cat and cleaning supplies.  This is much more than we even need but is a reasonable amount to have.  The before picture would include every shelf looking like it is going to vomit all over the floor because there was so much crap stuffed in there.  I like this much better.  Yea, nothing like getting one out of control area back into a semblance of organized bliss.

A friend and I are having a yard sale the end of August.  If I can keep the motivation up I should have a good amount to get rid of.  The big question is where to store it until the sale.  Any money that is made will go directly to credit card debt.

This past week I joined Weight Watchers.  Our first meeting is Tuesday.  This has to be a total lifestyle change to work and I am ready.  Hoping for a feeling of increased wellbeing, more energy, better health.  Couple steps at a time.

Focus' are:
1. Credit Card payoff.
2. Weight loss.
3. Organization/purge.

Back again

Well the new year is almost on us.  Time to write down all our plans, fail miserably, beat ourselves up over the failure and swear next year will be different.  I am determined that this year will be different, financially, familial, health and general wellness.  This year I want to slow down the amount I work but also to wrap up some pending items, that have been pending for a long time, to enable myself to take off a few weeks this winter to go south with my mother.  She is a wonderful lady, 75, healthy, tired of the cold and snow in the Midwest and I want to spend some time with her, good quality time.  Others thoughts on the fantasy of this plan do not really matter to me any more.  What matters is that I attempt to make it happen.

In that vein I want to get financially on better footing.  This will involve increasing sales on Amazon, selling locally on facebook, increasing garden produce to sell at the farmer's market, creating and selling items on Etsy and anything else I can figure out.  Finances will be my major stumbling block for being able to take off time in the winter so this is a huge area to concentrate on.

For my health, as I have written down for I don't know how many years, I want to be healthier, be at a better weight, be stronger, leaner.  Realistically I have 45 pounds to lose and a lot of shaping up to do.  My diet is not good, my level of activity is not good and it needs to improve.  I am 55 and things will start, and have already started, to become affected.

Family ties need to be made stronger.  I need to call my sister weekly as well as my children and txt them throughout the week.  It doesn't take that much time to just slow down and jot a note.  Cards at birthdays, graduations, etc I also want to get better with getting out on time.  I am truly my mother's child in this regard, she is always  late and so am I.  It is not a good habit to get into.  

This week my goals are:
1. Set up financial goal grafts.
2. Set up weight loss goal graft.
3. Do debt and asset summaries.
4. Set up bullet journal for the year.
5. Finish reading current book.
6. Set up books read side wall.
7. Finish knitting scrubby.

One thing per day, that is enough.