A Life Extraordinary

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100 Extraordinary Adventures

(**Adventures 1-11 can be found at the bottom of the post!**)

Hello dear friends! Continuing with the updates, the Rebel Badge Book isn’t the only challenge I’ve taken on recently.

Let me explain.

10, maybe 15 years ago it was super popular for bloggers to challenge themselves every year with a number of challenges aligning with their age. So 20 in 20, 31 in 31. You get the idea. The aim was to finish those challenges by their next birthday. I was totally sold. I faithfully made my lists of challenges for a few years and I promptly forgot all about them a couple months later. Seriously, I doubt I ever finished even half of a list.

This year, in the middle of July I turned 37. A number I still have trouble wrapping my mind around because I definitely don’t feel 37, but that’s not the point of this post. Anyways, a few days after my birthday I started to feel the itch for a challenge. It was before I found my Rebel Badge Book again so that wasn’t even on the radar. That’s when the memory of those birthday challenges of old popped into my mind, but they weren’t quite right. I didn’t want to come up with a diverse list I wouldn’t finish. Instead I tried to think of a challenge I actually had a chance of finishing.

And then it came to me.

I love travel, I love adventure, but I definitely don’t take advantage of all the opportunities I could. I wanted 37 to be my year of adventures. But 37 didn’t feel like enough. I felt like I could finish 37 easily. Instead I wanted more of a challenge. Thus the year of 100 Extraordinary Adventures was born.

I did set some guidelines for myself, so I wouldn’t have to question if something would count (or wouldn’t). Here’s what I decided qualifies:

  • Any event, experience, or activity that I don’t regularly do in my life
  • Experiences can overlap, but they have to be distinct (ex. A trip to NYC as one and going to the top of the Empire State Building as another)
  • It can be something I’ve done before
  • It can be events I experience that are a result of circumstances beyond my control
  • The same experience can’t be counted twice even if done twice (unless they are similar but distinct. Ex. I can count going to two different concerts but I cannot count going to the top of the Space Needle twice)

So there you have it! So far I’ve been 37 for about 50 days and I’ve been on 11 adventures. I still have a long way to go to hit 100 but because of this challenge I have a lot of adventures planned for the fall I probably wouldn’t have otherwise planned.

My plan is to share these adventures with you here. Starting with those first 11 adventures I told you about.

Adventure 1: After my shift in in July I stuck around Alaska for a week. The original plan was to go halibut fishing out of Whittier but the weather didn’t cooperate. That’s OK, I got to visit friends on the Kenai Peninsula, go to the AK Sealife Center, and hike in Whittier (which I’d never been to before!

Adventure 2: I got to go see Train, Jewel and Blues Traveler at Climate Pledge Arena with Mom! It was amazing! Even better, I got the tickets from FirstTix so they were almost free!

Adventure 3: Leah sent me a text one day and asked if I would be willing to do a Polar Bear Plunge with her in Barrow (so the Arctic Ocean). I knew this may be the one time where I’d actually agree to do it so I said yes. The water temp was about 32 degrees and the air temp was barely warmer, but I’m so glad I jumped in!

Adventure 4: This is one of the situations that was out of my control but an adventure none the less. We flew to Point Lay to do a medevac but when we got there the front landing gear wouldn’t deploy. We then had to return to Barrow and go through a big emergency landing procedure. In the end the pilots were able to get the gear to deploy at the last minute and all was well.

Adventure 5: I spent the first 18 years of my life in Washington State and various years since but I’d never been to the WA State Capital. My friend Marybeth and I went on a thrifting adventure that took us to the Olympia area so we thought huh, why not stop by! It was the weekend so it was closed, but still, it’s a cool building to see!

Adventure 6: I’m a big nerd at heart and I’ve always wanted to go to a Comic Con. This year, since I was going to be home for it I decided to go ahead and splurge on a ticket to Emerald City Comic Con! It was so work it. I loved seeing all the different things for sale, the cosplay, and I got to see a panel with Rachel Leigh Cook and Freddie Prinze Junior, from the second row!

Adventure 7: The weather was gorgeous on my August break in WA so one day I decided to take my nephew Zeek to the Cougar Mountain Zoo (which I hadn’t been to since I was his age. Then afterwards we stopped by XXX Rootbeer for ice cream and onion rings. We even made a quick detour at Snoqualmie Falls before heading home!

Adventure 8: Remember how I said the August weather was awesome? Well it was hot too so my Dad asked if I would like to go boogie boarding out at Westport on the WA coast with him one day. Unfortunately it wasn’t nearly as hot on the coast (more like 64 degrees), but we went in the water anyway! We would come to Westport all the time when I was a kid but they last time I was there was 2009!

Adventure 9: So I bought a new car! That’s not technically this adventure but it was part of it. The day after I got the car I drove up to Sunrise on Mount Rainier to meet a friend and hike around. The wildflowers that day were insane!

Adventure 10: I love going to FUNKO HQ in Everett but it’s a decent drive so I only go once every year or so. Ever since I’d learned you can build your own Pop! That looks like you I’d been wanting to get up there so I loaded up my new car with my sister, BIL, and nephew and we made a day of it.

Adventure 11: I don’t spend much time in downtown Seattle, mostly because it takes so much effort to get there. I had a friend come in from out of town for a cruise so we met on the Seattle waterfront, got fish and chips from Ivars and fed the seagulls while watching the sunset. It was pretty great.

And there we have it! Adventures 1-11. I’m currently at work so adventures may pop up, they may not, but these next 2 weeks off I have are shaping up to be pretty exciting indeed!

XOXO,

Amanda


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The Rebel Badge Book and Me

If you know me you know I’m always looking for ways to challenge myself. I can’t sit still. I NEED to have something on my to do list.

Earlier this spring I came across The Rebel Badge Book and was completely sold on the concept. Imagine earning merit badges, like a girl scout, but as an adult. How cool is that?! I immediately ordered the book off of Amazon and when it came……….I was instantly overwhelmed and put it on my shelf where it proceeded to sit for the next couple months lol. Like you do seriously have to work for the badges, it’s not just simple little tasks. Well, some tasks are simple but they’re always paired with more difficult ones. According to the author of the book all of the challenges (together) are meant to keep you occupied for a year or two, so I guess easy was never the goal.

OK so fast forward to a few weeks ago. I had an add pop up, or maybe it was an article, I really can’t remember, anyways it was about the Rebel Badge Book which inspired me to pull it off of my shelf and give it another look. This time that sense of being overwhelmed wasn’t there. Instead, armed with a stack of sticky notes I made a game plan. Badges I wanted to complete, badges that were lower on the lists, tasks that would be easy for me. You get the idea.

The next step was to then join the facebook community, which, to be honest is what really pumped me up and gave me the motivation I needed. There I learned that in addition to the badges in the book they also do monthly and quarterly challenges. For example this coming month is the “Foodbank Challenge.” There are a total of 16 tasks and you have to complete at least 8 to finish the challenge and earn the badge.

Oh and did I mention there are actual badges?! I’ll probably wait to order them until I’ve earned more and I know where I want to put them, mainly because the author is based in the UK and shipping can be pretty nuts, but they look cool! Good news though, she also has sticker versions of the badges, and those, along with a couple special event badges (like the food bank) I totally ordered!

  • Photos of stickers and patches borrowed from the Rebel Book Club website

So I tell you all this today for 2 reasons.

  1. Because I think the Rebel Badge Book is super awesome and it would be great to have people closer to me geographically to do challenges with
  2. Because you’ll be seeing posts on here about my progress with the badges. One of the tasks I chose to do is to literally write consistently on a blog for 6 months. So here we are!

Now in addition to the Rebel Badge Book I have an additional challenge I gave myself (before I even picked up the book again). It’s totally seperate from anything Rebel related (although I suppose there could be a little overlap). So more on that in my next post!

Until then I hope you’re enjoying your last few weeks of summer!

xoxo,

Amanda


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No Spend Challenge 2020: April Recap

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March felt like it lasted for 500 days.

April, in contrast, felt like it lasted for 4 hours.  Man it was a quick month.

This is a weird year to be doing a no spend challenge because it’s almost deceptively easy.  Everything’s closed.  I can’t go shopping, can’t go to the movies….I don’t really have anywhere to drive to besides work either.

Despite that April was probably my worst month so far in terms of my no spend challenge.  I blame food.  I ate out a couple times at work when I didn’t need to.  I know what you’re thinking, Amanda don’t be hard on yourself, but when the year started I put eating out (except for one monthly trip to Panera) on my wants list.  That being said sometimes, when you’ve had a super long day, a strawberry limeaide from Sonic is the best thing ever.

Speaking of work, this last month my employer changed our work shift schedule from 48 hrs on/96 hrs off to 24 on/48 off in anticipation of the Covid 19 spike in TX.  Funny thing is they changed it in order to help us conserve energy but in truth I feel more exhausted than ever.  Thankfully the schedule switches back this week because the change in schedule also meant I was having to drive to Houston twice as much which meant more mileage on my car and more money spent on gas.

Thankfully gas is super cheap right now which is AMAZING.  I spent $1.17/gallon the other day.  I never thought I’d see prices go that low in my lifetime.

Some other notes from April…

  1.  I finally got my stimulus on the 30th!  I had to manually enter my direct deposit info so it took longer.  I’m going to use some of the money to take a small road trip once this mess is over then the rest will most likely either go to the dentist or my car.
  2. Thankfully I’m an essential employee so I’ve been working this whole time which allows me to pay all my bills without issue.  I have student loans from my paramedic degree with Nelnet and from my earlier Bachelors degree through Navient.  The Nelnet loans are deferred with no interest thanks to the CARES act but I wasn’t so lucky when it came to the Navient loans.  Regardless though, I decided to keep paying on both.  I’ve got the budget so why not.
  3. I read 10 books this last month!  That’s the most I’ve read in a month every I’m pretty sure.  One book I owned but the rest where all checked out from the Library on my Kindle using the LIBBY app.  Considering all the libraries are closed it’s been a lifesaver and I love it.
  4. I made $10 via side hustles this month, all from Field Agent.  I couldn’t justify making unnecessary trips to the store to complete jobs with a stay at home order in affect, but since I was already in Walmart I went for it.  I got some free Febreeze too so it really worked out.
  5. We were gifted a lot of food this last month while working from from citizens and local businesses alike.  Jersey Mikes to McDonalds.  I definitely feel very blessed by these gifts.

And finally, money I put towards debt in April…

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The amount may be the lowest yet, but every little bit counts right?  Even better is that I’ll be able to pay off my credit card this month (May)!  That being said hopefully I’ll have really exciting things to report by this time next month!

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No Spend Challenge 2020: MARCH Recap

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Well that didn’t go as planned…

Me on March 1:  Yay!  I have so many awesome things planned in the next couple of months!  2020 is going to be great!

Me on April 1: *glazed over eyes* If I really ration my toilet paper I may be able to make it ’til May…

While we were all hyper-aware of Covid 19 a month ago it was still so foreign to most of us and mostly a joke to the American public.  Now stay at home orders are in place, TP is worth its weight in gold, and the “curve” is definitely not flattening.

Looking back on March it was a fairly successful month, both because I put forth the effort and because I didn’t have the choice.  While it feels weird to talk about going out, having fun, and social wins right now, in order to do March justice and celebrate the good things I’ve done when it comes to my No Spend Challenge I’m still going to write about it here.

Now just note the most of these things I’m writing about took place BEFORE all the social distancing and stay at home orders were put in place.

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So let me start with slip ups…

Honestly, I didn’t slip up to bad.  I got a drink from chickfila once to go along with a free sandwich (I know it’s sooooo bad, but it broke my wants vs needs rule)… but at this point, weeks later I can’t even remember what my other “slip up” was.  I know it didn’t break the bank at least so that’s what matters.

I did, unfortunately, have to get a root canal done, which was unexpected BUT because I had set money aside in January/February I had more than enough to cover it, which was encouraging.

Now some cool things from the month…

-So I’m a paramedic and a lot of events like to offer first responders discounts or free tickets, especially when the events don’t sell out.  It is actually really cool and generous.  Anyway, I never really paid attention to them in the past because they’re usually pretty last minute, but now that I’m trying to enjoy my year while simultaneously spending as little as possible I thought it would be worth a look.  That’s how I managed to score tickets to a Houston Roughnecks XFL game (off-season professional football) and had a ton of fun!  I went with my work partner and only ended up spending $7.50 on ticketmaster fees to get our tickets, tickets that would have been $50 each not including the fee if we’d had to pay for them!  We also parked away from the stadium so parking was free and the subway style train is free in Houston on Sundays so we didn’t have to pay for that!

*Note these kind of deals also apply to active military and veterans so if you fit into that category you should definitely look into it! (It’s called 1sttix.org for first responders and vettix.org for veterans)

-Speaking of free things to do, Movies.  I refuse to pay to go to the movies this year (unless it’s a date) so that led me into the world of advance screenings.  I’ve been using advancescreenings.com which lets you look up your city and then gives you links as to where to get the passes.  It can sometimes be hard to score a ticket, depending on how popular the movie or actor is, but if you can it’s an awesome opportunity.  I got to go to an advance screening for “I Still Believe” earlier in the month when movies were still allowed and I had a great time.  The only thing to note is even if you score a pass a seat isn’t guaranteed.  Get to the theater early (like about 45 minutes for a regular movie; a lot more for a popular one) to get your actual ticket.  Now obviously this isn’t something you can take advantage of at the current moment, but as soon as the theaters reopen, go for it!

-A big win for me…I used my creativity to finally get some things done that had been on my list.  Like finishing a “painting” I started about a year ago but didn’t have the inspiration to finish. I also turned an old, grimy, used up Bath and Body works candle jar into a votive holder for a pillar candle that had been sitting in my closed for years.  Now I can use it during my relaxing at home bath “spa” time.

– I found several apps on my fire TV that offer free shows and movies which is awesome!  I’m currently working my way through “The Middle” on IMDB TV.  There is around 1 (singular) commercial every episode, but for enduring the 1 commercial I get free entertainment.  That’s soooooo much better than HULU which makes you pay AND watch more commercials.

Now for some Stats…

Side hustle income: $48, so not even half my goal of $100.  With social distancing though, once that went into effect I couldn’t justify going out to complete most audits.  Some, like restaurant based audits were canceled too.  (This doesn’t include the 72 hrs I worked at my part time job)

Money to Debt: $2462.97 (This includes minimums)

Now here comes April… In about a week and a half they’re expecting a big surge in Covid-19 cases so my full time job changed up our schedule from 48 on/96 off to 24 on/48 off until the middle of May.  Overall it’s not a massive inconvenience but it does mean two things…

  1.  I’ll be driving to and from work twice as often so I’ll be spending more money on gas.
  2. I won’t be able to pick up as many shifts at my part time job if any.

I guess we’ll see how it all goes.  Until then, keep social distancing everyone!  Let’s prove all the models and projections wrong. And for everyone stuck at home having to get creative, I’d love to see all the ways you’re saving money or upcycling things you have, feel free to share!

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No Spend Challenge 2020 FEBRUARY Recap

Picture_20200308_134942945(*Now, just to make a note, I share the following just to share my experience through this no spend challenge and my debt free journey hopefully inspire others.  These are my own experiences, my own wins and challenges that I mainly share because I know it inspires me to read about what other people are doing or have done as well.)

Hello Everyone!  We made it to March!  Two months down, many more to go.  I’ve admittedly meant to sit down and write this blog for days now but I’ve been enjoying a good mix of living and relaxing that I can’t complain about.

So let’s get to it.  February was actually a pretty good month.  I stuck to my guns and had no big slip-ups outside of my “needs” and allowances!

That being said I did have a couple disappointments financially…

  • I paid more in electricity than I wanted to.  I’ve had a lot of issues with my Thyroid for years.  In December I went through my second round of radioactive iodine to essentially kill it off.  Well, needless to say it worked and I have been FREEZING for the last month which meant turning up the heat in my apartment a bit (because even wearing layers couldn’t compensate).  It only came out to $53 but that was $10 more than January which in the grand scheme is pretty freaking good, just disappointing to me.
  • I went through a couple tolls for convenience’s sake.  For the most part I avoid them, and I actually allow for some toll usage in my budget, but I try to record each time I do it.  In February I didn’t.  I know I’m being nit picky, but every little bit counts.
  • I was going to cancel Disney Plus but was trying to finish the Mandalorian first.  Well I finally finished The Mandalorian but missed canceling Disney Plus by one day (facepalm) so I’ll have it for one more month.

Now for the good things in February!

  • I cash flowed my taxes!  I know this may sound weird, but I saved more than enough in January to pay the $950 plus preparation fees etc. which feels good.
  • I successfully completed my Pantry Challenge!  From the middle of January until the end of February I was cooking solely from my cabinets with the exception of staples like milk, eggs and fruits/veggies.  I won’t lie, there were days where leftovers felt like the worst thing ever, and the firefighters I work with would make fun of me for it (all in jest) but I spent <$50 on groceries in 6 weeks.  That is a win.
  • I was on top of things with my good habits challenge!  I finished 5 books in February which blew my goal of 2 books out of the water.  I also followed my oral care plan to the T.  I had a dentist appt on the 27 for a cleaning and the hygenist commented that I had almost no build up!  Hooray!  I still have a lot of things I need to fix, but for the time being, I’m not doing further damage.
  • I found out about the Texshare card!  I was disappointed to learn that my library didn’t have a few books I wanted and it would cost me $3 per book to do an interlibrary loan.  My library does however participate in the Texshare program which allows members in good standing to go to other participating libraries to check out books, which means, I can go to the Austin libraries and get the books I wanted, for free!

Free and fun stuff…

  • February was Black History month and for a couple select days I found out Regal Theaters was offering free screenings of Harriet so I decided to take advantage of it and I’m so glad I did!  Going to the movies, or moreover paying for movies (outside of dates) isn’t allowed on my wants vs needs list so it was fantastic to get to enjoy the theater.  It also opened up a whole world of free advance screenings to me, so, after some research, it looks like I may be getting to enjoy more free movies in the future.  Don’t worry I’ll share details so you can enjoy it too when I know more!
  • I went to Mardi Gras Galveston with my friend/work partner Shannon.  This is the third year I’ve been and it’s just so much fun (and no, unlike popular belief you don’t have to do crazy things to get beads, at least not in Galveston).  I used my social budget to get some food that day, but made wise choices.  We also found free parking for everything even though it meant walking a little farther.
  • I got lots of free products to try and free food!  The Field Agent app gave me the opportunity to try a lot of toiletry products for free and then through Field Agent and other apps I got free Little Ceasers, Sonic, and Panda Express.  I’m obviously not eating out during my no-spend challenge (outside of my social allowances) so I’ll take everything I can get!

Overall I was able to put $1981.75 toward debt in February!  Heck yes!

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Finally, since I haven’t said anything about it, I went on a trip to Washington State to visit my family and friends at the end of January/Beginning of February.  This trip was planned prior to my deciding to do the spending fast and it was so worth it.  In all, not including the flight, which I bought last year, I spend $310.  This included….

  •  Ski equipment rental for two days of skiing (my dad blessed me by paying for the lift tickets and condo we stayed in)
  • Buying the groceries for the three days of the ski trip with my dad.
  • Taking my mom out to see a movie.  She covered dinner and I covered the movie.  It was a good night out with my mom.
  • Going on a hiking adventure with my oldest friend.  She drove, so I paid for lunch.
  • Lunch at Dicks drive-in on an adventure day with my sister’s family.
  • Supplies to make bath bombs with my niece.
  • The airport parking fees for my car in Austin for a week.

So there you have it!  Onward to making March the most successful month yet!

 


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No Spend Challenge 2020 JANUARY Recap

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Whew.  Anybody else feel like January lasted for like 100 days?  I don’t know why the first month of the year always feels so stinking long!

It was a crazy month indeed.  I moved to a new ambulance/station at work which is in an entirely new section of our county that I haven’t worked much in.  It’s fantastic though because it’s knocked about 30 minutes each way off my commute, 40 miles off round trip, and I’m using a lot less gas which is awesome.  Plus I pass by Costco on my way home from work, which thankfully is closed at 7am when I get off (because no one needs to spend that kind of money during a no spend challenge, lets be honest), but the gas station is open that early and gas there is super cheap!

As for sticking to my wants vs needs list, well, it was a challenge at times, I won’t lie, but I’m going to go ahead and toot my own horn and say I rocked it.

See my tracker below?

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Ya, I only had one big slip up…  A ticket to go see Kesha live with my work partner/friend in April.  Honestly, I could have technically filed it under my social category in the needs section (see my previous post to see my reasoning for needing a social budget) BUT, there are a lot cheaper social activities I could be doing than an $80 concert ticket, so making it a need is not justifiable.  That being said, do I regret buying it?  No way.  I have wanted to see Kesha in concert for years and when the opportunity popped up to see her and to have someone to go with I jumped at it, and I’m pretty excited!

(P.S. That same tracker is available in my free printables section of the blog if you need one!)

If I’m being entirely honest this month wasn’t a huge challenge with wants vs needs.  A fact I attribute to the whole concept still being so new and exciting.  There were definitely a couple things I ran into that I had to tell myself no when it came to it, but overall, differentiating between wants vs needs wasn’t to hard.  I’m sure this will change eventually so I’m not taking this honeymoon stage for granted!

Now let me talk about some successes.  Some small changes I made this month, or ideas I breathed life into that seemed to work….

  •  Actively avoiding tolls for the most part.  I still drove through a few toll plazas, because toll roads are everywhere around here and in these situations they drastically cut down in my commute time HOWEVER, I avoided tolls approx. 95% of the time, which I’m pretty proud of.
  • Starting a pantry challenge.  Halfway through January, I realized that I don’t need to be dedicating as much to groceries as I am because I am wasting so much food and I have a HUGE stockpile.  My cupboards are nowhere close to empty.  So for the second half of January as well as the full month of February, I’m doing a pantry challenge.  I’ll let you know how the rest of it goes, but so far so good!
  • Using my extra time to focus on establishing good habits.  The first I decided to focus on was a good dental care routine.  Dental work is so expensive (not to mention painful) so preventative care is paramount but I’ve always sucked at it.  I made it a goal to brush/floss/use mouth wash every night before bed and so far I’m at 100%!  The second goal/habit I chose to focus on in January was taking time to read a little bit everyday.  I will admit, I missed two days, but every other day I was successful and I finished 4 books by the end of the month!  Two books I already owned on my kindle, a physical book I owned, and a library book!
  • I finally finished up my bottle of dish soap.  Instead of throwing the bottle away I washed off the gook and refilled it using a giant bottle of dish soap I got from Costco for free last year.

Now lets get to the fun part.  The money I saved!

So January is a bit of a unique month.  I did cut categories from my budget, because of the challenge, which helped, but January was also a 3 paycheck month as well as the month where I get my PTO check (I earn 163 of bonus PTO a year since I have to work holidays as a paramedic (we get it instead of holiday pay) which cashes out down to 70 hours every January). So my income this month was abnormally high.  I won’t have this much leftover in the coming months so that’s something I’m coming to terms with.

Also, I will owe money on my taxes (approx $1000) so the first priority will be to apply what I save to that.

So what are my final numbers?

$5831.25!

I’m pretty proud indeed.  Hopefully in the next week or so I’ll know exactly how much I owe on taxes and how much I can pay to debt.

And now, one last thought on January.  I haven’t mentioned it yet, but the last week-ish of the month was actually spent on vacation visiting my family in WA, a trip that was planned before I decided to do the challenge.  I count the spending on that as seperate and a full breakdown and budget travel recap will be coming in it’s own blog soon!

And there you have it, 1 month down and at least 5 more to go!  We’ll see 😉 Anyone else out there doing a no spend challenge along with me I’d love to hear about your successes as well!

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No Spend Challenge 2020: My Wants vs. Needs List

Hello all!  Quick catch up in case you’re new to this space or didn’t read my previous post (which you can find here).  Starting on January 1, 2020 I would be completing a no-spend challenge.  My plan is to do the challenge for 6 months and then reevaluate.  At that point I’ll either continue for the rest of the year, downgrade to more of a “spending diet,” or I’ll stop completely (which honestly I don’t anticipate).

The basic framework of a no spend challenge is spending money only on needs, no wants, for the 6 months (or more).  The definition of a need is honestly different for everyone, barring some obvious line items such as rent or food.  So, these past few weeks I’ve really marinated on the concept of wants vs needs and thoroughly debated what I can truly consider a need and what I can give up (aka wants) for the duration of the challenge.  Y’all I got really specific when it came to some things on my list.  Some were super easy to give up, but others I had to really consider.  Lots of needs, lots of wants, and lots of items falling into the situational gray area in between.

So, without further ado, and for the sake of accountability, I’m going to share that list with you all today!

Here we go!

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(Note: An asterisk * indicates a gray area and it will be further explained at the bottom of the list)

Needs

  • Rent
  • Food
  • Fuel
  • Car maintenance and repairs (plus savings for registration)
  • Cell Phone Service
  • Health: Doctor, Dentist, Optometrist, medications, vitamins
  • Continuing Educations (for Paramedic License)
  • Chiropractor & Massage (because of tension and headache issues)
  • Gym Membership
  • Hair Dye
  • Hulu/Netflix*
  • Amazon Music
  • Tolls*
  • Art supplies for paintings (but only as I need it)
  • Social Budget*

Needs will also include any item I use frequently if I run out of it, but only if I run out.  ie. Shampoo, Toilet Paper, Bubble Bath (aromatherapy to help with headaches and much cheaper than bath bombs), etc.

Wants

  • New clothes
  • Alcohol
  • Candles
  • Bath Bombs
  • Costco (membership ends 8/2020)
  • Disney + & Prime*
  • Redbox*
  • New Makeup
  • things because they’re on clearance
  • Craft Supplies
  • Almost everything on my amazon wishlist
  • Eating Out
  • Travel*

The Gray Areas

  • Tolls:  Austin is littered with toll roads.  I live just east of the city and it’s seriously difficult to get anywhere, especially on the north side, without hitting tolls.  I’m going to be further challenging myself to avoid tolls and find creative backroads to get where I need to go.  That being said I will occasionally allow myself to go through a toll if a time crunch or situation requires it.
  • Hulu:  I have access to the Xfinity app through my parents and can watch most network shows available on Hulu using that.  Currently some of the Hulu original content, as well as Letterkenny, are keeping me from pulling the plug though, we’ll see…I have to weigh this one further.
  • Disney Plus and Prime:  I haven’t been to impressed with Disney Plus so far and haven’t found it to be worth it (yet).  I’m going to let my subscription go through January so I can finish the Mandalorian then I’ll cancel.  Then as far as Prime, my plan lasts through July 2020 and I that time I don’t plan to renew it.
  • Social Budget:  This is something many cut out but I find that my current life situation calls for more of a cutting back than cutting out.  I’m dating currently and want to be able to contribute to the costs of dates occasionally (because honestly, no one wants to be with a mooch).  I’m also living in a new city and therefore give myself a small budget for social activities so I can hopefully make friends and build a support system. Life is far too lonely without close friends nearby.  Also under this heading is a small budget for eating out.  I have a traditional monthly goal setting session at Panera that I’m not willing to give up, and I also want to give myself the freedom to buy into a meal with the firefighters I work with (usually $5) a couple times a month.
  • Redbox:  I have a bunch of redbox codes I’ll allow myself to use because they’re already paid for, I just won’t be buying new ones.
  • Travel:  As I mentioned in my last post, I have one definite trip to Washington planned during the challenge as well as a possible trip to Alaska to visit friends (using airmiles) and a possible roadtrip to Dallas to visit my cousin.  If all these occur I will just be approaching them from a super frugal perspective and incorporating as many parts of the no spend challenge into the trips as I feasibly can.

So there you have it.  I realize I have a lot of gray areas but really, as we all know life isn’t always black and white.  I’m laying these all out here today so, like I said, I can keep myself accountable and y’all can too.  I’m also putting this on here as a reminder that some spaces in my wants vs needs are flexible, but even that flexibility has limits and I need to stick to the bounds I set for myself.

T-minus 10 days and counting.  Then the fun really begins!

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No Spend Challenge 2020: What, Why, and my Ground Rules

Three years ago, while I was living in Alaska I was browsing through Pinterest one day looking at budget and money management inspiration when I stumbled upon a little blog called AndThenWeSaved.  Honestly, it was the kick @ss graphics that drew me in but I quickly found a source of inspiration that would (or should I say will) become life changing for me.  The blog’s author, Anna, had experienced a sick and tired moment when it came to her debt.  She then devised a plan to complete a year long no spend challenge, aka a Spending Fast, to get rid of her burden of debt once and for all, and she did it you guys!  She paid off over $20,000 of debt that year and chronicled it all in her blog.  Even more, just before I discovered her she published a book where she further outlined how she got out of debt and gave tips, tricks, and advice to inspire others to be successful at paying off their debts too.  So, of course, I immediately went onto Amazon and bought it (you can find it here), and I tell you what, I was on fire and ready to slay my debts…for about 3 weeks and then the reality of being a broke Paramedic student with barely any income sank in.  Yes, I could follow some of the tips and live frugally so that I hopefully didn’t incur any more debt, but the real attack was going to have to wait until after graduation.

Well, as you can imagine graduation came and my first paramedic job came around 5 months later.  It was amazing, after making only $12,000 in taxible dollars the previous year as a student I was finally bringing in a sizeable income.  Suddenly I wanted all the shiny, pretty things I had been depriving myself of.  To be fair I didn’t go out and buy an expensive car or a fancy laptop, but I could finally get all those fun little things on my list that were going to make me the coolest girl in town right?  Pricey brand name makeup from Ulta, a pair of Rifle Paper Co. designed Keds, a Clairsonic Mia.  Suddenly all of my WANTS were more important than the mountains of money I owed.

And it stayed that way for a while.

Every now and again I would get a wild amount of inspiration to start paying off my debt.  I’d even go back and read through Anna’s book again, but the motivation would quickly go away and I was right back where I started.

Then this last January something changed.  I can’t say that I had a specific moment where it clicked for me, but I was just really tired of being scared of my bank account.  I hated logging into the app for my credit union because I knew I was going to have a scary low amount of money in there.  Y’all that’s NO WAY TO LIVE!  Jeez.  So I committed to getting rid of my debt once in for all.  It was slow going at first but over time I’ve gained more and more momentum.  I’ve cash flowed car repairs, dental procedures, and medical bills.  Oh ya, and I also paid off my car and my line of credit!

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Now, why a spending fast aka no spend challenge?

So in general I follow the Dave Ramsey baby steps and use the debt snowball method.  Step number 2 is to pay off all your debts but the house (which I don’t have) smallest to largest.  That’s it.  There’s no how to’s or inspiration laying in that step.  Just pay off your debt however you can.

And that’s where the spending fast comes in for me.  Over the last year I’ve done a pretty good job at budgeting and cutting expenses but honestly, I could do better.  I don’t need a  new shirt from Walmart just because it’s cute.  I don’t need to eat dinner with the firefighters every day I’m on shift.  Instead, that money, one dollar at a time, could easily go to pay off my debt just a little faster.

I’m kind of looking at this as a cool challenge.  I’m a fairly competitive person so this is pretty much a competition for myself.  How long can I really go without spending money on my NEEDS (more on wants vs needs later)?

To sum it up I still have a lot of debt.  Close to $80,000 and if I don’t do something radical, at the rate I’m going it’s going to take me years to pay it all off.  If I can really commit to this fast I predict that I can pay off at least $30,000 next year, but possibly more.  It really depends on the amount of overtime and the number of shifts at my part-time job I can get.  We’ll see!

So what are my ground rules/general guidelines I’m setting for the fast?

First of all, the time frame.

I thought a long time about how much I wanted to commit and 6 months just feels right.  So as of now I’m committing to a Spending Fast from January to June.  Then once June comes around I’m going to reevaluate.  I’m keeping the possibility of doing a fast for an entire year high on my list, I’m just not ready to commit quite yet.  By June though, if not before, I should have a good idea if the tactic is working for me.

Now what else?  Let’s see….

  1.  Only buy needs.  To some of you that concept may seem super vague.  Others of you may think it sounds super strict.  I promise it will become clearer soon.  My plan is to make a general wants vs needs list, as well as a more detailed list, within the next week or two and share it here for accountability.  This is to keep me on track and remind me what my needs really are compared to simple wants.
  2. Have grace when it comes to unexpected needs.  I recognize that I could plan everything down to the detail and surprises will still arise.  My plan is to weigh each situation as it comes up and determine how significant of a need each item or experience truly is.
  3. Sinking Funds/Envelopes:  Once the new year starts I will stop contributing to a majority of my sinking funds and envelopes.  Sinking funds for health expenses, Toiletries (because hair dye is a need for me, but only the cheap stuff), social, and Misc. will continue to receive contributions.  All others will stop.
  4. Paying for needs.  Some needs such as rent, electricity, gas etc. are going to remain line items in my budget.  Other needs such as toilet paper or socks, should all of mine suddenly disappear (an extreme example but we all know that sock goblins love stealing socks), I’m going to use my current sinking funds to pay for.  For example, the cost of toilet paper would come out of my cleaning and organizing fund.  Because I will no longer be contributing to these funds, once the money is depleted the needs will be paid for using my Misc. envelope.  If that were to run out at some point I will have to go without or use another fund, such as groceries, to cover the need.
  5. Follow through on current plans.  I have a trip scheduled at the end of January/Early February to go to Seattle to spend time with my family and go skiing with my dad.  Two other tentative trips for the first half of the year are a short trip to Alaska to visit friends (using Airmiles) and a possible weekend trip to Dallas to visit my cousin.  I have decided to not cancel any of these trips but instead approach them very frugally.  Each will/would have their own set of rules that I will establish as they get closer.
  6. Make do and mend.  Try to fix it first, buy used if I can and new if absolutely necessary.
  7.   It’s OK to say no.  No to hanging out.  No to spending money.  No to OT shifts.  I’m doing this to tackle as much debt as I possibly can.

And there you have it!  My last paycheck for 2019 is December 26 which means things are going to start getting tight after that!  And the funny thing is, I can’t wait!

**Note:  The Term Spending Fast is trademarked by Anna and therefore I will refer to my Spending Fast as a No Spend Challenge going forward.  (P.S.  Anna, if I slip and end up calling it a Spending Fast and don’t realize it I apologize in advance!)


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London on a Budget : What to see and do

Hello all!  Pardon my slight absence but I had a bit of an issue with my laptop.  We’ll just say it took a swim in the bathtub…. but now I’m back and ready to give you all the down-low on the fantastic free and cheap things I discovered to do while I was in London.

Now, let me start off by saying I am by no means a London expert, I’m just a super budget conscious girl who found some awesome budget-friendly activities and wanted to pass on this knowledge in case I can help any of you other budget conscious travelers out there.

Now let’s get on with it.  First up…

MUSEUMS

London has so many incredible museums and with the exception of a few small museums, they’re FREE.  Probably one of my favorite words. I by no means visited every museum in London, but here are the ones I did in order from my favorite to least.

  1.  The British Museum:  Where do I even start. This is probably the top museum in London and it’s massive with the crowds to match.  I didn’t even come close to seeing everything.  It serves as home to some pretty incredible artifacts from all over the world and throughout history such as the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian relics, and even pieces of the Parthenon from Athens.  Displays in the museum literally span history from Ancient Mesopotamia to Alaskan Native culture and beyond.  I was in constant awe of the artifacts I was witnessing.
  2. The Victoria and Albert Museum:  This museum was a complete surprise to me.  I honestly just ducked in to use their wifi (all the museums had free wifi) and ended up loving it.  Similar to the British Museum it houses a lot of historical artifacts but it focuses more on the humanities, art, and design.  My favorite spaces were the Cast Courts which houses copies (or casts) of dozens of historical monuments and sculptures (like Michelangelo’s David).  The most impressive to me was a casting of Trajan’s Column from Rome which is actually displayed in two pieces because it’s to tall to fit in the building.  Impressive.
  3. The National Gallery:  This massive art museum houses many iconic works from famous artists throughout history.  If you want to get up close and personal with works by Van Gough, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Rembrandt, Di Vinci… This is where you need to go.  Paintings are sorted by historical period and or country so it can be quite difficult to find the specific paintings you want to see unless you know what you’re looking for, however on the museum’s web page they list their most famous paintings and exactly which rooms you can find them in which is helpful.  Also again, the museum has free wifi so accessing the website shouldn’t be an issue even if you don’t have data.
  4.   The National History Museum:  Honestly it’s very similar to every other natural history museum I’ve been to, that’s the only reason it doesn’t rank higher on the list.  The museum is home to a pretty impressive collection of rocks and gems as well as taxidermy animals.  The centerpiece though is probably the museums Hintze Hall which has a massive blue whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling.  The room itself also has some pretty cool architectural details built into the columns and staircases.
  5. The Tate Modern:  In general I like modern art, I mean arguably the art I create would be classified as modern art.  I did not, however, like about 90% of the Tate Modern.  I just didn’t get it.  The meanings of the strange installations were over my head.  The one redeeming quality of the museum for me was its location.  It sits on the south bank of the Thames in an old Power Station.  On the top floor of the building is actually a viewing deck where you get some pretty awesome views of the river, the Millennium Bridge, St. Pauls Cathedral, and the rest of London.  I highly recommend a visit for that alone

*Also, pro tip.  There are public bathrooms all over London that you have to pay to use (and rightfully so), but all the museums have fantastic bathrooms that you can use for free.  So, if you ever find yourself needing a “Lu” and you’re close to a museum just duck in and save some pence.

West End Shows

Ok, I’ll start this off by saying the obvious, this isn’t a free activity BUT, if you’re a musical lover like me there are some tips to help you save big!  While I was in London I decided to go see the musical “Waitress.” Having done a bit of research beforehand I learned that Waitress is among a handful of West End shows that offer “Day Of Tickets.” Theaters obviously want to sell as many tickets to a show as possible since an empty seat equals no profit. This essentially means that if you have the energy to wait in line for the theater to open on the day of the show you have the possibility to score an awesome seat for cheap.  Now not every show does this and times, lines lengths, and rules vary depending on the show as well (I suggest doing some research online before you head out), but here was my experience with Waitress…

After researching I learned that the ticket office at the Adelphi Theater (where Waitress is preformed) opens at 10:00 in the morning so I aimed to get there by 8:30 to make sure I got a good spot in line.  Well, I got there at 8:30 and no one was there!  I was a little confused and wondered if I got my info wrong, so I wandered down the street to get some free wifi and double-check (everything checked out, just no one else was waiting yet).  So, since I had an hour and a half to kill I wandered around and stumbled upon the que for The Lion King (musical) and the line was INSANE (I also heard the line for Wicked can get that way).  I was pretty happy with my choice of musical at this point and decided to wander back to the theater.  By the time I got back, there was a couple standing in front of the theater (in line) so now I didn’t feel so awkward and decided to join them.  By the time the theater opened there were 8 of us total, not so bad.  I ended up scoring a 5th row center ticket for $30 USD, which is a little bit pricier than day-of tickets in NYC but still a fantastic deal considering the people next to me spent close to $100!

Other tips:  Both “Hamilton” and “Harry Potter” and the Cursed Child” sell their leftover (discount) tickets using an online Lottery.  I entered for both but was unlucky on all counts.  Maybe you’ll have better luck than I did 😉

Explore Parks

London is home to several incredible parks which offer a great way to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city (even though you’re still technically in the middle of it all).  You can stroll among the many paths or rent a Satander Bike for a couple pounds.  Overall parks are just a great place to people watch and see some iconic monuments, like the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens.  It took me awhile to find it but it was totally worth it!

  • Note:  I also highly recommend St. Dunsten of the East church ruins.  While it’s not technically a park the foliage covered ruins are an incredible sight to behold.

Affordable Alternatives

Southwark Cathedral:  Westminster Abbey and St. Pauls Cathedral are both incredible sites to behold but expensive to get into.  If you want to get your cathedral fix but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg consider Southwark Cathedral.  It’s free to get into and £2 for a photo pass

The Sky Garden:  Skip the Shard and it’s high price tag and take in the view from the Sky Garden instead.  Located at the top of the “Walkie Talkie” building the Sky Garden offers panoramic views of London as well as a cafe and lush indoor gardens all for FREE.  That’s right, FREE.  Note:  You do need a ticket to be allowed on the elevator but these can be booked on the Sky Garden Website ahead of time.  Apparently, some time slots do “sell” out during busy tourist months, but in October when I visited I didn’t feel like it was overly crowded.

So there you have it.  A very brief outlined version of some awesome free/cheap things to do in London.  Of course there are some honorable mentions that totally belong on this list but it would go on forever if I included them.  So I’ll just quickly mention… 1. Camden market is quirky and fantastic, a wonderful place to hang out and probably my favorite spot in London; 2. Notting Hill is full of charm, adorable pastel colored houses and Portobello Rd. Market; 3. The canals of Little Venice are fun to explore; 4.  Covent Garden and the neighborhoods of Soho are fun to explore and full of cool little quirks like Neals Yard; 5.  You can still learn a lot about the Tower of London without going inside.  There are tons of plaques around the outer wall giving you a glimpse of its history; 6.  Shoreditch has amazing street art including a couple Bansky’s; and finally 7.  Borough Market has a lot of fantastic food for good prices!