Resolutions for 2010

  • #1 Raise $10,000 For My Husbands Garage
  • #2 Spend 1 Year Without Cable Television
  • #3 Spend a 24 Hour Period in Complete Silence
  • #4 Loose 15lbs By Memorial Day Weekend
  • #5 Listen to only Christian radio stations
  • #6 Read the entire Bible
  • #7 Conquer my Diet Coke addiction

Saturday, January 23, 2010

1 Step Forward, Two Steps Back


One step forward: Most of January has been an optimistic month for me. I have been loving my life with no TV or secular music. My sleep has improved, my mood has improved, and my husband and kids have had an amazingly positive reaction to the lack of electronic entertainment in our house. Our original goal to have $500 saved up by the end of January for the garage fund was already surpassed by the middle of the month and besides having a little trouble jump starting my weight loss resolution, all of my other resolutions have been looking promising, until today.

Two steps back: A question for my readers: Is Coke Zero the same as Diet Coke? Because after nearly a month of hardly any Diet Coke, I had a major Coke Zero splurge at the local pizza place soda fountain tonight. I thought the headache I have been experiencing all day was a withdrawal symptom from lack of caffeine. Turns out, it wasn’t, because my headache has actually gotten worse after gorging on Coke Zero. The next not-so-encouraging update is that I was working on our February budget (that is already tighter than I expected due to some unforeseen medical bills), when I received my gas and electric bill in the mail. After and entire month of sub-zero temperatures in my house (okay, so the thermostat is set to 69, but for a desert rat like me, 69 might as well be sub zero), our gas bill went up, from $88 to $118!!!! And after a month of unplugging everything that requires electricity and literally eating dinner by candle light, our electricity bill went up from $44 to $45!!! What the heck?!!! I feel like the last 3 weeks of my families discomfort has been in vain.

Now is when my New Years resolutions would normally fizzle, but since I had the brilliant idea of blogging about my resolutions (thus being accountable to my readers and feeling like a flake if I don‘t complete them), I can’t allow my goals to dissipate. I will keep plugging along even though I am horribly discouraged by our utility bills. One of the only things that is keeping me encouraged as far as the money resolution goes, is that next week we are doing our month ending coin counting and recycling. I have set our goal to $50 for coin income and $20 for recycling income, so anything over that will help compensate for the higher than expected utility bills.

3 comments:

  1. honey you cant trade diet coke for coke zero its like trading crack for marajuana.

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  2. you are doing great!!! There will be set backs! If its helps..IMAGINE how high the bill would have been without all the cost cutting methods! I spoke to the utility company my HUGE bill and they said due to heat(and cold temps for Florida) people were seeing their bills double and EVEN triple!! NOT sure if that helps...:)

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  3. Apparently, Coke Zero has slightly different sweeteners - instead of just aspartame, it's a mixture of aspartame and acesulfame potassium, whatever that is.

    Look at your bills more closely and see what the cycle dates are. It might be that you are being charged, at least in part, for December's gas and electricity. So maybe you won't see a decrease until next month.

    I have heard that most headaches are caused by dehydration. Try to keep a water bottle near you as often as you can, especially at your desk where you can just sip it occasionally. It is so refreshing! This Christmas I got our family a Brita pitcher and the water tastes sooooo good. *runs to kitchen to pour herself a glass*

    Okay I'm back. Sugar addictions are tough stuff. The truth is that real cane sugar is better for you than aspartame and other artificial crap, and also natural sugar is better for you than processed sugar. Seriously, make a fruit smoothie. It is sweet and will actually give you real nutrients. ;)

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