Birthday Presents and Dreaming Big



Happy Birthday from Google!!!

So besides Google apparently knowing everything, what happens on your birthday?  Do you throw a party, go out to eat, go to Las Vegas, pretend the day doesn't exsist?

Well I like to keep things simple, I might mention it casually here and there, but a birthday extravaganza is not on the horizon.  I live by what a comic once said, I'm only celebrating every 10 years, so 30, 40, etc., the rest is for the kids.  What I have done in the past is go grab my favorite drink or favorite lunch spot, it's relatively inexpensive and puts a smile on my face:)

So this year at the old age of 31, I will be having a relaxing birthday.  The wife made me breakfast, I'm eating leftovers from last night, and to cap it off I will be hanging out with the wife for a beer and probably some pulled pork nachos from http://www.baronbuena.com/ one of my favorite places for a beer in the city.  Yes life of luxury, gotta love it. 

I think this is being frugal, my guess is I don't pay a dime out of pocket on my birthday(thank you Wife!), but even if I didn't it wouldn't be anything Andrew Jackson couldn't take care of.  Any gifts of money I receive usually get a 50/50 split between let's buy something for me and let's pay off that debt.  I'm a big believer in small gifts to reward yourself and still attack the Evil Debt Monster, which I imagine to look like these guys over there.

Dream Big...........................Time to Reflect

It also brings me to a point to really think about goals and dreams I had growing up and recent as things change from a professional basketball player to owning the Milwaukee Bucks.

Watch out Herb Kohl!!!

It's amazing the things that change your life and your expectations.  Coming out of college, I had dreams of probably golfing every day and driving a Mercedes.  Life and poor decisions gave me black eye, pretty much swollen shut.  Then a beautiful woman comes in to your life and the swelling goes down and you can see great things ahead.  For those people who are exactly where they want to be and have reached or on track to reach life's goals, congratulations!!!  My journey is in progress probably took a detour to Mexico, I'm not sure if climbing a mountain or a hill, but I'm climbing upwards and that's the most important thing for me.

What do you do on your birthday that's special to you?  Where do  you think you would be at this point in your life?

Weekly Update

I have been kinda stingy with my blog posts. Overall I have been doing great. I lost 14 pounds in one month, been hitting up the gym 3 times a week, running or riding my bike 2 or 3 times a week, and eating healthy. Sugarbusters works, it is a simple idea that I follow very closely. Basically only eat whole wheat carbs, eat lot of fruits and vegetables besides potatoes and corn, don't eat anything with added sugars, and lose weight. It has worked; the better I eat the more I lose weight.

My new struggle is eating too much of the good stuff. I have to be careful and eat in moderation and measurements like I was when I first started. This week I have challenged myself to a weight loss of 6 pounds by my birthday, which is incredibly possible. I plan to workout a little more and start adding 2 workouts a day this week to really work off the weight. I did a 2 a day on Friday where I ran 5 miles and hours later I did my usual 8 to be Great workout routine, I was spent and feel it today, but I'm sure it will be worth it.

In the 2 a day workouts I plan to do my usual 8 to be Great, but then add some cardio or I would like to add either a group class or interval training where I do explosive jumps for 30 seconds, followed by jump rope for 30 seconds, push-ups for 30 sec, and 30 sec of abs. This would really get me sweating and a great workout.

Personal Finance Update

This month has been good with extra money so far, however I have 2 added bills for this month, one for insurance and one to renew the license on the Benzo de Lorenzo. This will cost an extra $160-$200 and the insurance will be reoccurring for 6 months at $110-150, which is the last thing I need for my budget. Also I have a cut of hours for the next 2 weeks, which will not hurt immediately, but will have effects as time moves forward. I am currently looking for other work or even full-time work. I would love to get a 40 hour a week job and then use my money from my part time job to help pay my credit card bills.

I am still working on downgrading from the Benzo to a more affordable vehicle. I have only listed the car on Craigslist and have not had any success. I have reduced the asking price and just recently added in my title Motivated Seller. Another expense that will be added will be my student loans starting again in June. I need to look into paying a smaller amount at this time so I can reduce my budget. The interest rate is so low on these loans that the less I can pay on these and the more on my higher rated credit cards the better.

These next couple of months as always I need to really keep track of my budget and do what I can to make it as I look for more more dollars in the bank account. I did a great job of paying extra on my credit cards, but this month I have done less due to the concern of upcoming months where I will need the extra money. I have some decisions to make but above all I need to keep the budget tight and look for other ways to bring in the dollars.