Happy Wednesday, everyone!
I moved my usual Weekly Update to today because Monday was Christmas Eve. I’m working today — anyone else working today? — so I combined last week’s update with this week’s.
First, thank you to everyone who submitted guest posts while I was on vacation; I really appreciated them. The trip was fantastic, and I’m excited to share that W finally proposed!
I’m a bit of a planner, so I’ve already started making decisions. My wedding Pinterest board is already filling up. I’m leaning toward a semi-formal, outdoorsy ceremony and have most likely narrowed down the location.
Be honest—will you be tired of wedding posts? I don’t plan to flood the blog with them, but this space is about my life, so you’ll probably see a few. To my more practical readers: brace yourselves.
Vacation was wonderful; I’ll post more about it soon. Above is another photo. If you haven’t been to St. Thomas or St. John, I highly recommend going.
My work Christmas party was on Friday and I received a generous bonus, an iPad, and a gift card. With that extra income this month, I’ll likely put about $15,000 toward my student loans and save or spend the remainder.
My updates:
Spending:
We did okay on spending this period. We still have some Christmas shopping left (W’s family celebrates on Sunday). I expect we’ll spend around $200 more on gifts for his immediate family.
We also bought my sister an iPad. That wasn’t planned — we originally intended to get her a Kindle Paperwhite — but we ended up spending about $450 including tax. It was a splurge, but she’s been thrilled, so it felt worth it. Extra income this month helped cover the cost.
W bought a North Face coat for about $200. At first I hesitated, but he received a small bonus that was deposited on a card, and that covered the coat. It’s a nice feeling to spend money you’d almost forgotten you had.
I spent $130 on two New Year’s Eve tickets for an open-bar event with friends. We considered a different place that would have been $200 total but would also require an expensive taxi, so this option made more sense. I’m still searching for a New Year’s Eve dress—any recommendations? From where? Send links!
Extra Income (in addition to my salary):
Over the past two weeks I earned $4,273 in extra income. That exceeded my expectations for December, since I assumed the holidays would slow things down. I’m pleased with the result and hopeful the trend continues upward. Thank you to everyone who has used my Ebates referral link recently—I appreciate it.
Food:
I made a meal plan this week—see my Sunday Meal Plan. We’re making a concerted effort to eat at home more, and now that we’re back from vacation I expect that will be easier. The holiday season also helps because there are plenty of gatherings and opportunities to enjoy prepared food with friends and family.
Being healthy:
Not great at the moment. I haven’t been consistent with workouts and I’ve been indulging more than usual. I didn’t gain weight, but I’ve been eating freely and can’t quite remember the last time I exercised. When it’s freezing outside and swimsuit season is months away, staying motivated to tone up is tough.