Happy Monday! Here are a few photos from my weekend. I’m enjoying my new iPhone 5 — it makes sharing snapshots so much easier, so expect more pictures soon. If you follow me on Twitter you’ll find my Instagram posts there; I’ve shared the handle a few times. I like to keep some things off the blog, but you’re welcome to follow along.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. We spent it at the Boy’s grandmother’s house where dozens of family members gather — easily over 100 people. The dessert table was amazing; I shared photos of it on Saturday. Also, I got my ears pierced on Friday — a small change, but exciting for me.
I updated the blog layout a bit and I think it looks cleaner. I also added an Extra Income tab to the menu so readers can quickly find updates about additional income streams without digging through older posts.
Thank you to everyone who encouraged me about my aggressive $38,000 student loan payoff plan. I’m motivated to put more focus into paying down the balance and I’m excited to see steady progress.
My updates:
Spending:
Our spending is under control. We’ve already bought some Christmas gifts — the Boy is completely done — but I still need to tell him what I want and we need to pick up presents for my sister and the Boy’s family. I’m still deciding what to get everyone.
I did a little shopping over the weekend and bought a dress, a shirt and a cardigan. They weren’t strictly necessary, but I’ll get a lot of use and enjoyment from them. Did you brave Black Friday crowds? I haven’t — the thought of fighting those lines isn’t for me.
Extra Income (on top of my job salary):
Another strong week for extra income. I earned roughly $1,175 from online work last week, including staff writing and website earnings. That figure is before fees and expenses. I’m still drafting a detailed post explaining these income streams, so please ask if you have questions.
Food:
We’ve been doing well managing our food budget. We ate out a couple of times last week but kept it inexpensive. This is an area we continue to work on — and likely will for a long time.
Have you tried batch cooking? I gave it a shot once and it didn’t suit me — I don’t have the patience to spend an entire day cooking. Still, I appreciate approaches that make weekday meals easier.
I forgot to write a meal plan yesterday, so I’ll be creating one today to stay on track.
Being healthy:
I’ve been improving my habits, mainly by eating better. I’ve run with my dog a couple of times, although the cold weather made the runs shorter than I’d like.
I lost three pounds last week, which surprised me and reinforced how much better nutrition alone can help. Here’s to continuing healthier eating and steady progress in the weeks, months and years ahead.