Off to a rocky start . . . December 31, 2008

So yesterday I rejoined weight watchers.  My goal this time is to lose 8 pounds. (Last time I lost 25).  However, my real goal in joining is to reign in my eating habits — they have been terrible since I moved back to Virginia.

I remember how, when I joined weight watchers the first time, I was very freaked out and I stuck to the points plan very diligently.  Not the case so far.  I went way over on my daily points yesterday.  I even got 10 activity points for the day, and I used them all up and still went way over.  It was a real wake up call.  Yesterday, I pretty much ate like I’ve been eating on a regular basis, and by tracking it I was able to see why I had been gaining weight.  I wasn’t just exceeding what I should have been eating, I was REALLY exceeding how much I should have been eating.

Today, I resolve to do much better.

Christmas and weight gain December 30, 2008

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  Our started out a bit rough, as our initial flight got canceled due to weather, and then our new flight the next day was overbooked and we almost didn’t get on.  However, we made it in one piece, just in time for the Christmas Eve festivities, and enjoyed a wonderful week meeting up with friends and family.

 

I felt like I ate wayyy too much this week, and resolved to go back on Weight Watchers to reverse the trend.  However, when I got home, I found I had actually LOST 2 pounds!  Maybe I burned extra calories trying to keep warm in the colder climate, who knows?  Either way, I’m hitting the gym tonight!  I think I will still re-join Weight Watchers.  Though I lost 2 pounds last week, I”m still 9 pounds heavier than I was when I finished the program back in July,  and more importantly, my eating habits have gone down the tubes since I moved back to Virginia.  It’s as if mentally I think of living in Hawaii as a time of dieting, and now that I’m back in VA, I can just pig out like I always did.  NOT THE CASE!  I finally got new, smaller pants that fit, and I want to keep them!!

Mocha Ice Cream Pie December 29, 2008

It is C’s birthday today, and since he’s not a big fan of traditional birthday cake, I was considering splurging on an ice cream cake from Coldstone.  However, I found this recipe for layered ice cream mocha pie, and since C is a big fan of coffee, ice cream, and coffee ice cream, I decided to save a few dollars and make my own special birthday dessert.

The recipe is from The Big Book of Easy Suppers by Maryana Vollstedt, and I summarized it below in case you want to try it out as well.

Ingredients:
1 pint chocolate ice cream
1 9-inch graham cracker crust
1 pint coffee ice cream
1/2 cup chocolate fudge sauce (warmed)
chopped nuts for sprinkling on top

Directions:
- Put chocolate ice cream in a bowl and let it soften.
- Spread into crust and freeze for at least 2 hours
- Put coffee ice cream in a bowl and let it soften
- Spread over previously frozen chocolate ice cream, and freeze at least 2 more hours.
- Cut into wedges, drizzle with chocolate sauce and sprinkle with nuts

It looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to try it out tonight!

December Debt Summary December 19, 2008

Debt at start of blog (July 2008):   $51,497.33

Debt at end of December 2008:   $41,320.97

Difference:   $10,176.36

 

Current Breakdown:

Car loan (at 5.75%):   $17,874.87

Grad School Loan (at 6.55%):   $8,321.38

Undergrad Loan (at 3.35%):   $15,124.72

 

This month I put an additional $202.37 toward the grad school loan.  This was composed of profits from selling things on Amazon, and from snowflaking the leftover money in my bi-monthly budget.  Upromise also put an extra 66.85 toward my undergraduate loan this month.  (Upromise credits my undergraduate loan once a quarter as long as I have a balance of $25+).

 

Wednesday Progress December 18, 2008

Wednesday I . . .

- applied for a job

- cleaned out my desk and the closet in the office and reorganized all the drawers

- cleaned out my receipts & bills file

- got my oil changed and my tires rotated (while cleaning out the receipts I realized I was due for this!)

- assembled my new coffee table from Target

- did not go to the gym

Tuesday Progress December 17, 2008

Yesterday I . . .

- mailed some amazon sales and the last of my Christmas cards

- worked out

- bought my sister a birthday gift – by the way, all of bath and body works gift sets are 50% off right now!

- bought my niece the rest of her Christmas gift

- returned some stuff I bought during black friday — I decided I didn’t really need it

- bought 2 new pairs of desperately needed black dress pants — all pants are 40% off at the Limited this week!

- took care of the dishes/tidied up around the house

- talked to my parents on the phone to confirm our family Christmas plans

- searched for jobs online

- started to get organized for my trip home

- ate way too many Christmas cookies

Monday Progress December 16, 2008

I’m going to try to log my daily accomplishments in hopes that it will better motivate me to complete this week’s goals.

Yesterday I . . .

- mailed some Amazon sales

- resolved a technical problem that allowed me to finish the job application I started last week

- worked out

- got a Christmas gift for my cousin and mailed it, also got a birthday gift for my brother-in-law

- bought framed art and a lamp shade for my family room (it was in the budget)

- bought some more envelopes for my amazon sales, as well as a picture frame I needed for my living room

- mailed a bunch of Christmas cards, and got addresses for the few I hadn’t mailed yet

- checked a number of websites to see if there were any new job prospects posted this week.

Goals for this week December 15, 2008

- apply for at least 2 jobs 

- finish and mail all Christmas cards

- Pack for trip home

- finish my Christmas shopping

- go through my stuff and determine what I want to sell on Ebay vs. what I want to donate or garage sale

- Read a bit more about ebay and get all set up to sell

- organize the office (it’s still a mess from the move)

- put together the assemble-it furniture I bought from Target

- buy a birthday gift for my sister

- vacuum or sweep/mop all floors in the house

- find some new furniture stores to check out (I still need a dining room table)

- work out every day Monday-Saturday

- Make a little Christmas dinner for C & me on Saturday

- read at least 1 chapter in the book I got on MS Access

Goal Failure December 14, 2008

Well, I didn’t meet hardly any of the goals from my earlier post:

- I didn’t manage to blog every day this week, though I did blog more than I have been lately.

-I didn’t  apply for at least 2 more positions, I mostly applied for 1, and then hit a technical problem, and haven’t resolved it yet.

- I didn’t figure out how to get an estimate for my moving damages so we can file a claim, however, I did talk my husband into doing this one.

- I worked out Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday, so the only day I didn’t meet was Monday.

- I have not looked into finding any more furniture stores, but I did order a coffee table and bookshelf from Target.com (which was cheaper than buying a new coffee table in a fancy furniture store).

-  I did vacuum the master bedroom, but that was as far as I got.

- I went to lunch with an old co-worker, although not the one I intended to make a lunch date with.

-  I did return all of my shopping that didn’t work out.

- I did get the rest of my cds listed on Amazon — and have sold 8 items this week! Yay!

- I got a library card, and I got some books on ebay for beginners — Since I’m wrapping up my Amazon sales, ebay is the newest snowflake avenue I’d like to pursue.  I also got a book on Microsoft Access, in hopes of improving my skills, and having one more thing to put on the resume.

 I have also been involved in a water bill saga that still hasn’t been resolved. C called them on Friday, and they said they were working on it and would get back to us next week.  On the upside, C figured out that we had been over charged for our cable bill by about $40 last month, so he’s going to call and try to get that resolved. 

As per my philosophy — every little bit helps! 

 

Water Bill Drama December 10, 2008

Before moving into our new condo, I called the city to set up our water billing.  They responded that our condo association went through a private vendor for water, and I would have to set up billing through them.

So, I called my community manager, and asked her how I would set up water, and she assured me that the condo association would just bill me, and it would be no problem.  Especially since I had already filled out paper work with my move-in date for the association fees.

Imagine my surprise when I got a water bill on Monday for $393.39!!!  I panicked, then realized it was for 2 months — October 6 through December 12.  Ok, so it’s still a huge bill, but it’s 2 months worth.  THEN I realized that we had closed on our house on 10/30, so we were being billed for the previous owners’ water usage! I immediately called the condo association.

First, the woman I talked to tried to tell me it was my problem, and that I’d have to work it out with the previous owners. 

 I said, “excuse me?”  YOU do the billing, not me. Also, I notified you of my closing date, and my association fee bill was correct. ”

 She responded with “Oh, well we don’t do the billing for the water, that’s a separate company.”

I responded with, “Your company’s contact info is on my bill, was I supposed to notify the meter-reading company of my move-in date?” 

“Oh, no, we do that for you,” she said.

I replied, “So then it sounds like you were supposed to notify the meter company, not me.”

She said she’d call me back on Tuesday. She didn’t.  I called today, and got the same run-around, although this time I was prepared. I explained that I had talked to the community manager about the water bill, and she had informed me it would start on my closing date.  The guy said he’d talk to the community manager, and get back to me.

What I don’t understand is why this is so complicated.  Can’t they just print up a new bill for the previous owners, and one for me, and we each pay what is needed? I understand that a separate company reads the meter, but can’t they just talk to them about how to best divide up the fees?  The bills are printed by the condo association. ARRRRGGGG!!

I’ll let you know how it all turns out.  Also — this seems ridiculously high even for 2 months of usage.