This is my first-ish attempt at blogging. I say first-ish because I created a blog site
several years ago but, never posted . . . probably because I forgot my
password. In any event, I am going to
use this blog to document my efforts at self-improvement . . . which are sorely
needed. So, here goes . . .
Quitting Smoking
I have been smoking on and off (mostly on) for 45 years
(yes, I am old). I started when I was a
teenager trying to be cool. Both my
parents smoked although my dad had quit a few months before I picked it up as a
regular habit (I had smoked before but, as an ad hoc thing). I quit several times for a year or more but,
always picked it up again. I have tried
everything—cold turkey, gum, patches, e-cigs, hypnosis, rewards and
Chantix®. All worked for a while . . .
eventually, however, something made me pick it up again . . . just one to go with a drink,
hanging around smokers, loving smoking, the death of my dad (non-smoking
related) and general life stress. Most
of those things are still in my life but I cannot rationalize smoking
anymore.
Exercise
Other than the occasional walk, I haven’t really exercised
in years. I used to swim a lot but got
out of the habit. And, pool access is
pretty limited where I live. It’s either
early morning or lunch time. Neither
work well for me. Recently, I started
taking yoga . . . something I did in high school (so many years ago). The studio I attend has both hot and regular
yoga and I like both! So, I will keep doing that and try to figure out a cardio
routine that’s free because . . . see below.
Clothes Buying
So, with the weight loss came a clothes buying spree! I have completely replaced my wardrobe (including
shoes) . . . at a huge cost. I have
tried to purchase only sale items or items at second-hand shops. Occasionally, there has been an expensive
impulse item or two!!! I now have so
many clothes that I have worn a different outfit every day I worked over the
last two months. This costly spree has
affected my finances. Thus, my second
resolution this year is to not buy any clothes—whether full price, half-price,
70% off or used.
Book Buying
I am a book slut and a voracious reader. Until recently, I probably had 1,000 books in
my personal library and very little room for expansion. This does not include the collection of my
darling daughter who is also a reader extraordinaire. Several years ago, I got an iPad. Though I resisted the e-book at first, I
ended up loving the ability to order a book at the moment I wanted it and to
read in a completely dark bedroom. But
e-book buying got out of hand too! Right
now, I have 176 books on my kindle app.
And like my print books, I haven’t read all of them.
A few months ago, I had a garage sale and put every print
book I had read in the sale. Some guy
bought all the fiction paperbacks and hardbacks for $150. I wonder how much money all those books
represented! A few were from my high school years . . . Cress Delahanty (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/523468.Cress_Delahanty)
anybody? The other great thing from the
garage sale is that I got rid of three bookshelves . . . Only eight more to go
(never going to get rid of the Ikea Expedia)!
Because my daughter no longer lives at home and because she
gave me permission, I am slowly donating her books to an alternative high
school. One of the students started a
library and I am trying to fill it up. I
hope that by the end of the year I will have reduced the book supply in my
house by half.
To that end, my goal is not to buy a single book this
year. Instead, I am going to read the
books in my library and on my iPad. I am
sure I will skim through some of them . . . like those that I bought because
they were on some “must read” list or those I bought because I thought I wanted
to learn something of the subject or those given to me by relatives who though
I needed to learn something (I re-gifted William Bennet’s The Book of Virtues years ago . . . it was given to me by a devout
sibling).
It’s going to be a little tricky as I love cookbooks and
love experimenting with new genres—crock pot vegetarian? But, I guess that’s what the internet is for!
Getting my Finances
in Order
I have been a shit budgeter most of my life. Part of it probably comes from living in a
schizophrenic household growing up. One
parent was always saying how poor we were (we were an upper middle-class family
with two professionals as parents) and a spendthrift parent. It didn’t help, of course, that there were
many, many children and a parent whose professional life was up and down
financially. I think the lesson I
learned was that you should spend money when you have it. So, I did!
Another part was my inclination to take jobs that seemed to
accommodate my life rather than jobs that paid the big bucks. I did that once—the big bucks—and was very
unhappy. I worked too many hours and
spent my time off (very limited) shopping at tony shops buying things I didn’t
need but that felt like a reward!
The final part was that I was essentially a single
parent. My DD’s father sometimes paid
child support and sometimes contributed to medical expenses. But not regularly and not in a high enough
amount.
Now that my daughter is an adult and making a living (better
than I made at her age), I should be saving a lot more money. But I haven’t: cue the smoking and clothes buying! I’m not a stuff buyer . . . there are very
few tchotchkes in my house—those that there are were gifts! But, I spend money on experiences and
travel. I visit my daughter at least
once a year on my dime (if I visit a second time, it’s usually on my company’s
dime). I won’t give that up.
However, I can cut expenses.
So, no more daily coffee at the local java joint. No more cable though I
am keeping Hulu. Better food
management—I seem to throw out a lot of food, especially produce. Does the Food Saver® work?
Okay, I guess that’s enough for my first-ish post (and the
second, third and fourth posts)! I am
hoping to post everyday about my goalls/resolutions and things related to
them. Undoubtedly, I will also post on
completely unrelated things . . . probably some social ill that infuriates
me.
