Live Real, Now

The no-pants guide to spending, saving, and thriving in the real world.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-17

Misc

  • RT @mymoneyshrugged: The government breaks your leg, and hands you a crutch saying "see without me, you couldn't walk." #
  • @bargainr What weeks do you need a FoF host for? in reply to bargainr #
  • Awesome tagline: The coolest you'll look pooping your pants. Yay, @Huggies! #
  • A textbook is not the real world. Not all business management professors understand marketing. #
  • RT @thegoodhuman: Walden on work "spending best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy (cont) http://tl.gd/2gugo6 #

New Year Goals

Misc

I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions.  They are generally drunken promises made  on December 31st that are broken by the middle of January, if they are remembered at all.  I don’t make resolutions.

My goal for 2010 is to complete one major self-improvement project each month.  That’s an entire year of 30-day projects.   As each month goes on, I will be updating this blog with the status of each project.  Some of the projects will be physical, some will be mental, some will be improvements on my relationships.  My goal is to do something meaningful, useful and challenging each month.

Here’s my list:

  • January:   Wake up at 5am AND read to my kids every night before bed.
  • February:  Do 100 push-ups at one time by the end of the month.  There is also a secret project this month.  I’ll be keeping notes and posting in March.
  • March:  Do 100 sit-ups at one time by the end of the month.
  • April:  Spring Cleaning.  I will declutter every room in my house this month.
  • May:  Have a sit-down dinner with my family, at the dining room table at least 3 times per week.
  • June:  No computer use, while anyone else in the family is awake, except for household necessities, such as bills.
  • July:  Write fiction every day.
  • August:  Buy nothing new this month.
  • September:  Attempt to learn a new language.  http://ijaar.com/29-free-websites-to-learn-a-new-language/
  • October:   No yelling at the kids.
  • November:  No complaining.  Not at home, not at work.
  • December:  I will have done 14 projects this year.  December is a month off.

Regret

Life

There comes a time when it’s too late to tell people how you feel.

There will come a day when the person you mean to talk to won’t be there.  Don’t wait for that day.

“There’s always tomorrow” isn’t always true.

The Luxury of Vacation

Finance, Parenting

This was a guest post I wrote last year to answer the question posed by the Yakezie blog swap, “Name a time you splurged and were glad you did.”

There are so many things that I’ve wanted to spend my money on, and quite a few that I have.  Just this week, we went a little nuts when we found out that the owner of the game store near us was retiring and had his entire stock 40% off.  Another time, we splurged long-term and bought smartphones, more than doubling our monthly cell phone bill.

This isn’t about those extravagances.  This is about a time I splurged and was glad I did.   Sure, I enjoy using my cell phone and I will definitely get a lot of use out of our new games, but they aren’t enough to make me really happy.

The splurge that makes me happiest is the vacation we took last year.

Vacations are clearly a luxury.  Nonessential.  Unnecessary.  A splurge.

When we were just a year into our debt repayment, we realized that, not only is debt burnout a problem, but our kids’ childhoods weren’t conveniently pausing themselves while we cut every possible extra expense to get out of debt.  No matter how we begged, they insisted on continuing to grow.

Nothing we will do will ever bring back their childhoods once they grow up or—more importantly—their childhood memories.  They’ll only be children for eighteen years.  That sounds like a long time, but that time flies by so quickly.

We decided it was necessary to reduce our debt repayment and start saving for family vacations.

Last summer, we spent a week in a city a few hours away.  This was a week with no internet access, no playdates, no work, and no chores.  We hit a number of museums, which went surprisingly well for our small children.  Our kids got to climb high over a waterfall and hike miles through the forest.  We spent time every day teaching them to swim and play games.   Six months later, my two year old still talks about the scenic train ride and my eleven year old still plays poker with us.

We spent a week together, with no distractions and nothing to do but enjoy each other’s company.  And we did.   The week cost us several extra months of remaining in debt, but it was worth every cent.   Memories like we made can’t be bought or faked and can, in fact, be treasured forever.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-29

Misc