Loving myself where I am at- Day 1

That's right, day 1 again. I succumbed to the powers that be (primarily that I couldn't take another nap and my head was so congested the idea of reading hurt it) and watched 3 hours of TV yesterday. Never mind that I was sick and feeling sorry for myself, I do know better and it's an excuse.

So I am humbly beginning again! The good news is that I got to see the Biggest Loser. Sad though, the finale is in two weeks and I will definitely have to miss that, or start over again.

So here's to starting over, and loving yourself where your at, TV addiction and all!

Sick- Day 9

Not feeling well today....what I've done so far instead of watching TV....Slept, slept more, made crockpot dinner, slept again...

Today would be a great day to curl up on the couch with my precious TV.

Some minor concerns- Day 8

My concerns are not that I won't get any quality time with my husband who is currently in the living room watching previously TIVOed programming and gloating about it while I sit in the office e-mailing.

My concerns are more or less that on Day 4 I spent my entire lunch hour (with a turkey sandwich, I made from ingredients from ALDI) on DSW.com moving boots (I really need a new pair) in and out of my shopping cart. In with pair 1 and in with pair 2, out with pair 2 and in with pair 3, out with pair 1&3 and in with pair 4.....so anyway you get the picture. This "lunch hour" was really more like 90 minutes and I finally and fabulously declined spending any money on boots because they didn't have my fav pair in my size. Thank you lessons learned during spending freeze! Even if it does feel a bit like walking through the grocery store, filling up your cart, emptying it, filling it up, emptying again, and then leaving the store.(WOW that sounds like fun, think I'll try it out tomorrow at ALDI)

However, tonight I recklessly shopped online again and bought 2 Tracy Anderson DVD workout videos in the "name of research" but mostly because they promised me a slimmer tush and I want to know what she is teaching people that I don't already know!! That's research right?

Anyway, all tax deductions aside I don't want the wonderful effects of the spending freeze to dissapate so I am putting a further hold on ALL online shopping until TV watching is a green light and I can start buying off infomercials again.

Seriously, I am finding it interesting and slightly difficult to entertain myself. Here is what I am going to do tomorrow instead of watching TV!

Go to yoga
Take a run or bike
Make a crockpot dinner
work on my website

I feel like the biggest loser- Day 2

I can barely stand it, I am sitting in the living room eating my dinner (salmon, zucchini, and brown rice, all from Aldi) and watching the TIVO screen as it clicks off time. 1:48, 1:49, 1:50....I know what this means. The biggest loser's 2 hour fanfare is almost through and my screen is black. TIVO is diligently recording my season pass. This week is, THE MAKEOVER EPISODE, and I will never see it. The makeover episode has always been my favorite episode in seasons past, and due to my own bright idea I am sitting here in the dark with my dinner.

It's funny how habitual turning on the TV is for me. I find myself walking into the living room after I've made my lunch, I reach for the remote as soon as I turn on my computer, and I miss the background noise while I cook. I feel so bored because I can't watch it, what am I supposed to do?

I did say this would be hard for me but oh my, this 30 day experiment will be a life turner for sure, I am either going to die of boredom or get a real life!

A reformed grocery snob- Day 30

Wow, it could be that I need to do a 30 days of blogging experiment. I have been horribly absent this month and here I am at the end of my spending fast. This experiment was extremely eye opening and very friendly to my checking account. Unbelievably so I found shopping at Aldi exhilarating. I easily shopped for weekly groceries with $40 and got everything I needed. Lunds and Aldi stand side by side only one block from the house and I had never shopped there. I am so hooked. My spending fast saved me $600 from the previous month and that is absolutely worth it. I did miss my hot chocolates and lunches out but I can scale back to once a week and look forward to those treats instead of indulging whenever I want.

We'll get on with it. There is no time to waste I have many more things to try and I'm on a roll so I am taking on my greatest challenge: no TV for 30 days. Because I want to be succesful, I have made a small addendum to this one. Matt and I suscribe to netflix and I decided that I will still watch the netflix movies but no TV shows, no TV movies, no TV shows on my computer.

It doesn't feel like the perfect time but it never does when your an addict. The office hasn't rapped, 30 Rock has more laughs to offer, The biggest losers still have pounds to lose, I Love money hasn't given out the $250,000 grand prize yet, and what about Oprah and Ellen they have all kinds of relevant topics happening....really need I say more? I watch too much TV!

As a matter of fact I am watching TV right now... multi tasking. 30 days starts tomorrow, maybe I will find more time to blog this month!

Trendsetting- Day 6

I guess considering the economic state of our country my spending freeze is hardly a trend setting event. Though since I began my 30 days it seems cheapskate pointers everywhere. On Thursday Oprah featured a show on how to shop/cook meals spending less money, metro magazine had an article featured on saving money, and my sweet hubby sent me a yahoo article about extreme cheapskates. All of this and not a moment too late as I have discovered that I little experience with being thrifty.

Example
My first day at Lunds I spent $25, over half of my weekly budget. On my list? a rotisserie chicken, a dozen eggs, string cheese, and some mini haggendaz bars that were 2-for-1. $25? Really?

And then I did something I've never done before, I inspected the receipt. They missed my ice cream discount! I did another thing I've never done, I waited 15 minutes until the manager came up to the counter to refund me $4.55. Hey, I only have $40/wk on groceries, I need every cent.

Lunds clearly doesn't fall into my cheapskate budget so yesterday I went to Aldi. I am a bit of a grocery snob so I wasn't too excited but was pleasantly surprised to find fresh o.j., skim milk, and a large bottle of creamer all for $5.05

I am off to the market tonight and have $14.50 to spend for the rest of the week.
Organizing starts tomorrow!

Flexi-Lexi- Day 30

This is it, time to hang up my yoga hat. Not really though, my goal now after a 30 day free for all is to get in 5 days of yoga a week. It is good for my body, good for my soul. I am feeling stretchy and light, or maybe that is just the month of March...hmmm....

Spring is on it's way, whether the snow today leads you to believe that or not, it is coming. So I am excited to announce my next experiment(s). Actually I had decided on them two weeks ago but didn't want to spoil the spring surprise.

In honor of spring (cleaning) and April (taxes) I have decided to go the extra mile and take on two experiments at once. I am going on a 30 day spending freeze (Ala tax season) and a 30 day organization/cleaning/De-cluttering heat wave (Ala spring cleaning). I like the idea of blending a freeze with a wave in hopes that I won't be chilled.

In my head I imagine that all the time I will bemoan not being able to spend money I will instead be spending in time, clearing things out and cleaning up.

My husband is enormously excited about the next month for two reasons; he is inherently frugal, and he would like some help around the house keeping it clean (he generally does all our house work, and yes, I know I am a lucky girl!)

I do have a 30 day organizing/cleaning plan but I will save you the gritty details for the days following. Here are my spending freeze guidelines; only monthly bills can be paid, $30/week on gas, and $40/week on groceries (about 2/3 of what I currently spend) I am relinquishing most of what I consider my fun money. No massages, private training, acupuncture, lunches out, and my weekly life coaching calls. The exceptions to this are my cycling class (it is already paid for) and my monthly yoga membership (I want to keep up on my yoga).

I plan on keeping an ongoing list of things I would like to have bought, lunches I would have taken, and hot cocoas I would have purchased from the coffee shop next to my studio so I can have a tally at the end of the month of what I have saved myself.

I'll keep you posted. Another exciting month of changing my life story begins. I've always been a spender. Can I be a saver????