Day 10: More Sugar Infographics

I'm really hoping to be done with this "craving sugar all day can't stop thinking about it" phase of my no dessert plan. Yesterday was a little better, my boyfriend picked up a Kellogg brand cereal that had a sweet flavor so I had a small bowl when the cravings got too bad. While I know it had sugar in it it's still better (at least in my mind) than a heavily sugared dessert. 

In my quest to make sugar less appealing I bring to you more infographics about how terrible sugar can be in large quantities. Nursing Your Sweet Tooth by Friends Eat:

It estimates that the average American consumes about 130 lbs of sugar of year. Since my sweet tooth is not so average I'm guessing I eat roughly my body weight in sugar each year. I tell myself that I'm healthy because I don't drink sodas but there are some months that I eat ice cream Every. Single. Day. Le sigh.

Checking in on 2012 Resolutions

Considering it's a few days until I start to compile my new list of resolutions I thought it was be nice to see how I did on this years resolutions. Let's take a look at the list:

2012 Resolutions:
Resolutions
1. Join a library/read more: This was perhaps the easiest "resolution" to accomplish. Honestly it was more like a To-Do list item than a life change resolution but it was was easier to hold myself accountable for that then some vague "live life to the fullest" bullshit. I have definitely discovered some amazing (and not so amazing) books and authors out there. I think I might to a best of 2012 list or something just so I can have a whole post dedicated to nerding out on amazing literature.

2. Lose weight: Sort of? I've definitely hit a plateau weight wise (stuck at 141-143) but my body looks much better. I started mixing in more weight training to my usually cardio and my legs look amazing! Being a pear shaped person I never thought I could have a thigh gap and now at certain stances I do and it's wonderful. I have a lot of fitness goals for next year that I'm really excited about incorporating into my life.

3. Run more/run 10k in less than an hour: Yes and no. In the last month the weather has been absolutely divine and running has been a breeze (winters in Texas=mid 70s to 80s and sunny). I've worked myself up to around 4 or 5 miles which is just shy of a 10k but I have big plans to sign up for the Capital 10k next year and I'm very excited!

4. Pay off debt: So getting there. I got a new job that pays SO much more than my old job (as in, $10,000 more a year more) and I have a totally doable plan to save at least $1000 a month and make large chunk payments each year. No matter what my $89,000 debt is going to take YEARS to pay off but if I can scrimp and save now and pay off some of that God awful interest then each of my monthly payments will go towards more than they currently do. Sometime soon I'll make an update post about my finances.

5. Second job: Yes and no! I spent a good portion of the beginning of the year desperately trying to get a second job but no one wanted to work around my insane work schedule (understandably). But life has a way of helping you out sometime and I was able to start babysitting a friends kid as well as picking up shifts at my old job. Even though sometimes I'm absolutely exhausted (working 6am to 10m is a killer) I am so thankful that I have people in my life who think of me when it comes to doling out work hours and extra cash. 

6. Date up: Destroyed this one. Absolutely crushed it. Last year at Christmas time I had just recently broken up with a dude (who was mostly nice but made extremely questionable life choices) and this year I'm in a beautiful house with a man that I love more than anything. Funny the places where life can take you, huh? My honey and I had been friends for a few months and went on a date in January and I haven't looked back since. We moved in together a few months ago and while there have been some growing pains (I'm a clean freak, he is not) it's lovely to share a home with someone again. He is so patient and loving and understand and I am so thankful for his presence in my life.

7. Take myself on dates: I don't know why I made this a resolution. One of the strangest things about me is that I love being alone. When friends of mine talk about how terrible it is to spend the holidays single or how strong I was for being single for so long I just never get it. Being single and/or alone can be pretty rocking. I would work whenever I wanted to and for as many hours as I wanted to then I would come home and eat exactly what I wanted and watch any TV or movie that I wanted and drink whiskey and any mess that was in my house would be mine and I would know exactly why it was there and when it would be cleaned up. It was lovely. Now, I think I can talk about loving being alone because it was my choice/preferance. I have an amazing family I can see anytime I want, I have wonderful friends to hang out with, and honestly getting a date was never really that hard (finding a great man to date, now that's a challenge!).

8. Craft more: Ugh, nope. I want to be craft so badly but every craft just seems like an unreasonable waste of money. I think I'm spreading myself a little too thin, I follow all of these DIY blogs and I'm trying to do too much too soon. I'll pick a few craft projects for next year and see how those go before I start to invest a lot of money.

Back!

The move is finally done! I can't tell you how awesome it is to be OVER with it :) The new house is amazing and I'm having so much fun with all of this new space. I'm a little broke right now (haha, I'm always broke) so most projects are on hold until pay day.

There are a few exciting things in the work. I'm up for two new jobs!! Both are amazing opportunities and I would be making almost $10,000 more a year (yikes!!). I should find out with in the next month or so but I've already been on one second interview and my background is currently being investigated for the other :)

Since I now have a giant front and back yard I've trying to get into gardening. I'm usually the bringer of death for all plants so I'm hoping my green thumb will grow. Typing this all up reminds me that I need to start taking some "before" pictures (in hopes that I have nice "after" pics, hahah).

Social Media

I started a Tumblr today. There's this whole community called "Fitblr" that post the most amazing, inspiring stuff about fitness and healthy eating. I'm hoping that looking at it daily will keep me dedicated to a healthy lifestyle.

So here's my Tumblr:
http://brokeasswino.tumblr.com/

And just in case you forgot here's the link to my Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/pourgirl/

Follow, comment, love!

Staying Afloat

I have just really sucked at blogging lately. Sorry about that. I guess it's because I just haven't really had much to post. I wanted this blog to be about saving money and DIY-ing shit and I've been TERRIBLE at both of those things. I'm so broke I can't even DIY :(

Things got a little better in the last week or so. I went for my final dentist appointment and got my teeth all squeaky clean. Most of that went on my credit card but there was really nothing I could do about that. I had to make sure I had enough for my loan payment so everything else had to be charged.  My credit card got up to around $600 bucks but I managed to pay it down to $250. So things are going great, I make it to pay day, put money in my savings and blah blah blah everything appears fine. So, of course it's not. Out of the blue after work one day I go out to my car to drive home and it's dead. Ain't that something? There is really no better way to describe my life then thinking that everything is going to be okay and finding my car dead.
And I don't mean that in a bad way (if that makes any sense). At this point it's just sort of darkly funny. I just remember sitting in my car and desperately turning my key over and over and finally just sitting back and looking up and thinking, "okay, what now".

The little bit of cushion money that I had saved to help me make it to my next pay day went directly to my new car battery (which they only had 1 in stock and it was the most expensive one...of course). Now I sit in waiting for this Friday when I get paid from my second job. Until then I'm hanging on with $21 bucks in my account. But life is still good. I went grocery shopping before my battery crapped out so I have food and my amazing boyfriend bought me gas (and some clothes!!! Seriously, this guy is beyond perfect/wonderful/amazing).

But even in all of this mess I'm still so happy. While it may not be permanent I've been getting more regular shifts at my job and my boyfriend and I have decided to move in with each other in a few months. I'm also going to start babysitting for a friend weekly which not only means extra cash but time spent with my friend and her awesome son. Nothing's okay and everything's okay (if that makes any sense). I'm broker than I have ever been in my life and yet I'm happier. Being forced to distance my self from my consumerist ways has made me so much happier than I thought was possible. Before all of this loan non-sense I just bought, bought, bought without any sense of what I truly needed. Now I'm happy when I can afford more than the basics. I'm broke but I'm lucky which is more than I deserve :)

I swear I have plans to get this blog back to what I wanted it to be. When my credit card is paid off and my boyfriend and I shack up together I will buy a sewing machine and start more DIY. Until then I have my fingers crossed that all of my bills get paid :)

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