Slowly

I have very slowly, been trying to get myself back into a good groove.  Not with just one or two things, but with it all.  I'm starting to actually feel like I am making a bit of progress and cutting through my 'To Do' list.  I know I am going to have ups and downs, but it's awesome to feel like I'm making a bit of a dent. 

First, I'm back to blogging here more regularly.  I've decided to post on MFP that I am looking for bloggers to follow.  I hope to find regular people living their lives AND losing weight.  Most of the previous blogs I have followed are gone.  I miss them, but I can't make them continue.  I realize my blog is sorta boring to most people, so I want bloggers who are doing things like I'm doing.  And by that I mean living life in moderation.  At least when it comes to food and exercise!

Anyways, I rejoined MFP.  Even if I end up with no friends and no blog, it's still a great tool to help me track what I am doing.  And realistically, I need to be tracking.  I've done ok at getting back to 'meals' and 'snacks' without munching all day.  I had the hardest time late at night.  I still want a snack at night, but I'm trying to leave a few extra cals throughout the day to have a good sized dessert.  And by that, I mean a full fat dessert.  Like, a big root beer float or something along that lines.  I've found having that to look forward to, really helps out a lot.  I can pass up a lot of junk during the day if I have a good dessert to look forward to! 

I've also been making pretty good progress on the house along with hubby's help.  He got the cat condo done!  So, now the kitty litter is in the garage instead of the rest of the house... which I HATED.  I like having cats, but not their poo in the house!  So, having it in the garage is wonderful.  It isn't as big as the previous one, so I hope that doesn't become an issue.  I want to get THAT into my daily cleaning routine. 

That's another area I've been working on is daily cleaning.  Now that we are making progress with unpacking, projects, and making the house livable, I'm trying to get into routines.  I'm finally getting trash down and dishes.  I'm doing better about dinner.  We are in a pretty good flow with groceries.  I'm even making decent strides on budget. 

I have to say, I really HAD forgotten how hard it was to set all of this back up.  THIS being our lives.  You never really realize how routine and regimented you are until you throw that all out of whack.  And boy, have we been out of whack for MONTHS.  It is getting better, but I'm betting it will be about a year before we truly feel settled in.  Especially with such a tight budget.  We have very little left over to buy the things we need for projects and very little to none for wants.  So, that makes it slow going.  But it is what it is.  And we'll make the best of what we have and where we are.

Right now, our budget is still tight, but we are making it work.  We've got our spending down a lot.  If we HAVE to make anymore cuts, we know where it will be, but I think we are ok for now.  The only area I'm still very unhappy with is our retirement.  Right now, we have nothing left over from each paycheck to put towards retirement.  I did tell the hubby to at least check and see what it would be to at least match the 401k at the new job.  But I think it wasn't even worth it.  I believe he said we would be better off using that money now to get our debt down, then contributing more later. 

Thankfully, our debt isn't bad.  We have the one (new) revolving card that we did have to use to buy a new computer -- two of ours crapped out within days of each other.  Hubby spent HOURS trying to get either or both up to no avail.  The one was just too old.  We've had it for years and it just couldn't do anymore.  The other... no idea.  I'm thinking it was older than we thought and just crapped out.  We got it free, so no great loss.  The other is what we are now calling our 'Moving and Improving' debt.  It is on a card, but we are looking at it more as an equity line of credit since the debt on it is from moving and doing some improving around the house.  Yes, the APR is a bit higher, but not a ton.  And the interest per month is high due to how it is calculated on cards, but we are going to try to knock out about half over the next few months.  Mostly from old accounts being closed and using our rewards.  Also, if we get any kind of tax return.  Once we pay it off, we are closing it.  Although, I guess it will be technically closed out before then because of the company split. But I am estimating one to two years to pay it off.  Considering it is the only debt we have besides our car and home (and I don't expect to ever not have at least one car payment).  And I expect it to be at least 20yrs. to pay off the home loan. But that is just a hope.  If our income doesn't improve, I suspect the majority of our income will be funneled into retirement.  I'm glad we put as much in as we could in the last job.  We have a decent base now that will continue to grow even if we are unable to contribute much to it for the next year.  I hate to miss a year of contribution, but I'm not sure what else to do...

Anyways, we are moving along.  I took a break and came back after finishing the closet.  I added a shelf.  It is adjustable!  So, I was able to get ALL of our clothes and hubby's shoes in there.  I think the shoe armoire for me worked out great.  Hubby doesn't have as many as I do, so we just left his in the closet.  All of mine are on the back of the door or in the armoire, and we are using the drawers under for work clothes.  Proud of myself for putting that shelf up yesterday and the closet thing today!  I got all of the clothes in and organized, too!  :D  I do think that once we figure out temps better down here, I will end up getting rid of more clothes.  I have a few heavier Winter things that I just don't think will get used very often.  I think even if we go to visit in TN, I will be able to layer what I have to get the same effect.  But the heavier knits and things, I just don't think warrant taking up space if they aren't used regularly.  We will see.  I may try the whole turning your hanger thing around.  If you turn them around and don't wear them by a certain time limit, you get rid of them.  I can think of several things right now I know I haven't worn in a while!  Then maybe I'll take just a few of the heavier things and put in bins and donate the rest.  I guess we will see...

Ok, that is enough rambling from me.  After the closet work, I'm a bit hungry and need to switch out the laundry.  OH!  One more thing.  I can't remember if I mentioned this or not before.  But, talking of getting into routine, my oldest has gone back to riding the bus.  Well, I go in the afternoons to meet the bus.  Even if I'm not getting formal exercise (which I did do once last week), that walk is about half a mile round trip.  So, on most weeks I'm getting between 2 to 2.5miles of walking in.  I think that's pretty good!  If I could get into a routine of walking the dogs, then I would get more.  :)

Ok, NOW that is enough.  Until later!