photo by yuan2003

I know, I know. I’ve been talking about my post-wedding, office job weight gain for months now. You’d think I’d have done something about it by now. Sigh.

Unfortunately, despite my attempts to eat healthier and get in shape, I’ve failed pretty miserably. I don’t have the guts to weigh myself after a week and a half of holiday overeating, but I’m sure if I did I’d be 10-15 pounds heavier than I was on my wedding day just 7 months ago.

In the spirit of the new year (who doesn’t vow to get healthier every New Year?), I’ve decided to really do it this time. Seriously. Don’t laugh.

I take full responsibility for my own laziness and poor eating habits, but part of my problem in the last six months has been the gym in my apartment complex. I was excited to use the facilities for free (what frugal exerciser wouldn’t love a free gym?). Unfortunately, it’s a tiny room with only a tread mill, stationary bike, and weight machine.

Too often I returned home from work, changed into my workout clothes, and forced myself to go to the gym (getting there is the hardest part for me). When I arrived, I discovered that all of the machines were in use. Some nights I returned 3 or 4 times to find the machines in use by different people before finally giving up.

I’ve made the decision to use some Christmas gift money to join a proper gym.

I’ve found a gym close to my house that allows month-to-month membership fee payment. It costs $15 a month plus a one-time setup fee of $40. If I choose this membership option, I can cancel my membership at any time with no fees.

The other option I’m considering requires a 12-month commitment. I’m hesitant to do this, because even though I have the best of intentions, I don’t want to end up paying a monthly fee for a membership I’m not using. However, the monthly fee is only $5 more per month, and the 12-month commitment carries with it unlimited guest privileges. That means Tony would have access to the gym, too, for just $5 more per month.

I did the math, and if I kept the membership for a full year paying month to month, it would cost $219 for the year. The 12-month membership with guest privileges would end up costing me $268 for the year.

I really don’t like the mindset that many people have when it comes to gym memberships (”If I’m paying for it, then I’ll HAVE to use it”). I find that it almost never works that way. People continue to pay every month even though they never use the gym.

However, I really like the idea of having the option to bring Tony with me to the gym if he wants to work out. If we went together for only 6 months, the rest of the year would pay for itself in the amount we saved. I also think I’d be more likely to stick to it not because I’m paying for it, but because Tony and I would be doing it together.

What do you think? Should I stick with the month-to-month dues or commit for a full year and risk paying for a membership I don’t use?

Well, it’s back to reality, which means menu planning and grocery shopping. We cleaned out our refrigerator and pantry before heading out on vacation, so we had to restock meats and some staples. No worries, though. Our grocery store had chicken breasts on sale for under $2 a pound, so we stocked up with enough chicken to last us more than two months.

After replenishing our freezer and pantry, our grand total was way over budget - about $85. Yikes! But with all the meat and several items like coffee and cheese that we buy in bulk each month, I’m not too worried about it.

For almost two weeks we’ve been eating holiday foods and restaurant meals while traveling (including an entire day of fast food yesterday as we drove 14 hours in one day — yuck!). We’re both really looking forward to getting back into the kitchen to cook some healthy homemade meals.

Here’s our first menu plan of 2009:

Sunday: Roasted chicken and red potatoes (We’ll make chicken stock with the leftovers.)
Monday: Chicken quesadillas
Tuesday: Chicken fajita tortilla soup
Wednesday: Chef’s salad
Thursday: Bean and cheese burritos
Friday: Homemade sushi (more on that later )

Now head over to OrgJunkie for more menu plans!

We had an absolutely wonderful time visiting our family and friends. After a fun, relaxing vacation, we’re back home and ready to start reaching for some new goals.

As much as I loved seeing everyone, the best part of our trip was the time we spent together. We spent a total of 34 hours in the car together driving. It was plenty of time to talk about our priorities, our goals, and what we hope to achieve in the coming year(s).

I hadn’t realized it, but the regular hustle and  bustle of daily life was leaving us very little time to talk to one another, reconnect, and make plans. We’ve only been married 7 months, but we’d already fallen into a routine that didn’t include much time for philosophical heart to hearts.

If you haven’t done it in a while, I really suggest spending some time with your spouse, one on one with no distractions, to talk about your plans, goals, and future together. If you have a date night coming up, spend it in a quiet place talking instead of at a movie or a loud restaurant.

It’s so easy to get caught up in talking about day-to-day life — jobs, kids, bills, etc. Tony and I like to occasionally have conversations like the ones we had in our first months as a couple when we had few responsibilities — long, windy philosophical discussions about our relationship, the future, and other things we don’t get a chance to discuss during the busy work week. These conversations help us look beyond what’s happening in our current daily lives, set new goals, keep us working toward achieving them, and leave us feeling like two teenagers in love with a world of possibilities ahead of us.

We talked about our careers, our finances, and our plans for after he graduates in 18 months. It was a lot of fun, and now we’re starting the new year with a renewed sense of purpose and a clear path to achieve our goals.

With just 18 short months until the next chapter of our lives, we’re deciding now where life will take us next. Hopefully there are big changes ahead. Don’t you just love the new year?

I’m so excited about the year ahead! For the first time, I feel like I’m looking ahead with a clear set of goals and the resolve to actually achieve them.

In the interest of keeping myself honest, here’s what I hope to accomplish in the coming year:

• Finish building our 6-month emergency fund. We’re a third of the way there now, but I hope to finish it by the end of the year.

• Spend less than our budget. We’re doing a lot better than we used to, but we continue to go over budget by $50-$100 every month. Technically we’re not spending more than we make because we save at least $300 a month, but we’re cutting down our actual net savings by going over budget each month.

• Make a dent in our student loan debt. Now that we’re credit card debt free, I want to really crack down on our spending and send every extra penny to our student loans so we can be completely debt free sooner.

• Learn more at my job and grow my skill set. Someday when we have children, I’d like to work from home, so it’s important that I learn as much as I can now to build my credentials and qualifications.

• Enjoy the present, and try to stop looking ahead to the next big thing. This is a constant work in progress for me. Planning ahead is essential to reaching long term goals, but sometimes my constant planning makes me lose sight of the present. I need to find a balance between appreciating what’s now and planning for the future.

What are your resolutions for the new year?

Today is the last day of my first full year of frugality. I’ve only been blogging for about half of it, but we’ve spent all 12 months of 2008 cutting costs, saving, and pay down debt.

I’ve learned much more than I can confine to this post (you’ll have to head into my archives for some of the highlights). But here’s the big stuff I’ve learned in the past 12 months.

Budgets aren’t limiting — they’re freeing.

Before I started budgeting, I felt guilty about every extra penny I spent and stressed that I wouldn’t be able to cover the necessities. Now I know exactly what I can afford to spend, and I know what I need to leave for the necessities and savings. A little money goes a lot further when you budget.

We need much less money to live comfortably than I thought.

Before we moved here, our combined income was almost twice what it is now. But we always felt broke because we were blowing our money on restaurants and unnecessary purchases. I couldn’t imagine living on our current income then.

With a little discipline, though, we’re able to live a richer life on half the money. We still do all of the same things we used to enjoy (like movies, eating out, and books), we just enjoy them less frequently or find frugal ways to enjoy them for little or no money. Now we have money leftover for savings and debt repayment.

We actually “need” very few things.

Our ideas of needs and wants were severely out of whack before we started living frugally. Now we know that we don’t need two cars; we don’t need to own a house; we don’t need new clothes every other month. All we really need is each other, healthy food on the table, and a warm place to sleep. Once we recognized the difference between needs and wants, we were able to set priorities so we could still enjoy some of our wants without interfering with our long term goals.

Realizing how little we actually need also gives me great peace, especially in this economy. By eliminating extra wants, we could cut our monthly spending in half in the event of a financial emergency.

Stress free finances are the greatest luxury of all.

There was a time when I thought skipping weekly meals out and entertainment spending would mean getting less enjoyment out of life. Boy, was I wrong. I enjoy life so much more now that we’ve cut those things out, because I no longer feel stressed and scared about my finances.

It’s been a fantastic year, and I’m anxiously looking ahead to next year’s challenges and successes. I hope to learn even more!