It's beginning to Look Like Christmas

When I was younger, I can remember the feeling I would get around Christmas time. The expectation of family meals and seeing relatives, the activities that surrounded it at school and at church, and the presents. As I grew older and began to learn the real meaning behind it and experience the truth of what Christmas is all about, these traditions became much richer in terms of what they would offer a person. The purpose of the Holiday family meals began to give them more value. Seeing relatives that you don't see as often would help you reconnect to people who love you, even those who may only love you because they are obligated by genetic disposition to love you (love you only because you are family). The ways you celebrate and the things you are celebrating are felt more deeply as you mature. Yes, and even the most shallow of traditions gains in meaning as you learn to enjoy giving as much (or more so) as receiving.

In my past, I had experiences that cause Christmas, holidays, and being around family to be more of a hassle than a joy. It came to the point that Christmas was something I dread, I was expected to do more and more each year and having trouble living up to expectations. Christmas became something for me to get through, some kind of large chore to complete. Due to personal loss, Christmas also became a reminder of what and who I had lost in my life. I began to see it as something I did not enjoy. I tried my best to avoid ruining others joy in the holidays but I am aware that I even put a hamper on those around me that I care for most. Even the presents had lost their appeal in that I was not giving to others and those who gave to me were trying to do so with little knowledge of myself. This was not their fault, however, because I did not express myself or put myself out there for others.

So in the spirit of trying to improve myself, my wife and I attempted to adopt the excitement that our little one has had about Christmas since before Halloween. So once Thanksgiving was taken care of this year, we decided to get the Christmas decorations out and started moving furniture in living room to make a place for our Christmas tree. By the end of the weekend after Thanksgiving, We had completed our Christmas shopping for our son, I had completed my shopping for my wife, and we had put up our indoor Christmas decorations, including our Christmas tree in the living room and we decided to decorate our old 3ft tree in our son's room. I say this as not to brag, but rather to show how you can act your way in to new ways of thinking, just as you can think your way into new ways of acting. It started off as a "fake it until you make it" type thing. Before the weekend was over, we were watching Christmas movies and getting excited for Christmas events. We even started singing Christmas carols in spite of being a staunch critic of the radio stations that started their wall to wall Christmas formats two weeks ago (I'm talking about you, Q99). My wife and I have started to get really into the Christmas spirit. Now, we were not so bold as to try to venture out on the stores on Black Friday. However, due to being on a savings kick, I lost my taste for shopping at physical retailers because I get frustrated when I don't see exactly what I am looking for and wasting the time and expense of going to these stores when I could have found it online with little effort and time wasted.

I am excited about Christmas this year. I am looking forward to trying to make Christmas something very special for my young one, which will make it something very special for me again. I am very thankful for everything I've been blessed with and I hope that I can be a blessing to others.

First Month Progress

Here is the progress report for one month into our revitalization. 

There has been progress I am happy to report. Let’s begin with the more mundane but often more compelling statistic; finances.

I recently read a report about how that they have officially declared that 50% of the world’s wealth is in the hands of 1% of the population. A sickening thought even for those who love free market economy. It also went on to say that Millennials (such as me) are in a position where we make up the majority of those who are in the poorest categories, having more disadvantages toward increasing our wealth. I am 32 and I have been living paycheck to paycheck for all the time I have supported myself completely. I have tried to change this fact, but due to circumstances and poor decision (yes, I admit I have made poor decisions due in part to ignorance and lack of experience) I never seem to stop slipping up. During this year, I have worked very hard to begin to change this.  Starting in January of this year, I began the best paying job I have had along with having good benefits.  I have very good health insurance in an age where health care is not only expensive, but health insurance is mandated.  I have been able to consolidate my considerable student loan debt and have begun to pay this back. So last month I geared up to start saving and having more income leftover so that I could pay toward debt. We started by making a budget and trying to cut our spending where we could. Fortunately for my wife and me, we can carpool to work most days, which is a 35-40 minute drive one way for each of us. This basically cuts the amount of gas we use each day in half when we are able to do this. We started clipping coupons and buying groceries based on sales. My wife and I are looking at ways to make extra money on the side. We created a budget using Mint.com and I used it to keep track of our purchases. I am happy to report that our money management efforts for this month were very successful. With the exception of our Netflix bill (due to odd months having different amounts of days, our bill has moved from being at the first day of a month to the last day of a month), we have paid all our bills for the month of November. 

When the month started, we had only a little bit of cash that I had not already put toward debt. I put the remaining amount toward credit card balance. I paid my bills upfront for the first half of the month, and figured a small percentage of my income (starting at 5%) that I would split between savings and paying toward debt. I was able to do that and still had quite a bit left over due to the savings efforts my wife and I have put into effect. I was able to give more toward my church than I have in the past with additional left over. I had always been taught that in my faith that if you put your faith in God and trust Him, he will take care of you. I am seeing it first-hand. My goal is to increase that percentage by one percent each month. Now, we didn’t cut spending in certain categories as much as we could have, but that will be our goal for next month.

I have been trying to increase the amount of time I spend studying the Bible and trying to do be more prayerful. I have found that this has helped my emotional awareness and helping me to be more loving to others. This is probably the most helpful thing I can suggest to those who are looking to improve themselves. There is a Christian song that paraphrases an old Gandhi saying: “If I want to change my world, I gotta change me.”  I am open to God working in and through my life.

I have been reading more often than I had in the past. With the increased focus on saving, I have been reading a lot about personal finance and investing. I have also been trying to read more for leisure as well. When I don’t have time to sit down and read print, either physical or digital, I put on the  audio books (a note to all you haters who turn their nose down at audio books, I can read the same books you can while doing laundry, washing dishes, and even driving to work – beat that!) I have found that I am not watching as much television as I used to due to reading or listening to books. Conventional wisdom tells me that this is a good thing.

At work, we had a health fair where they tested my cholesterol level, my sugar levels, my blood pressure and made recommendations on them. Now, a year ago I had a migraine and went to the doctor. My blood pressure was so high they gave me medicine and kept me there until it had come down. The last time I went to a doctor’s office (January of this year) I had high blood pressure. Now when they checked it this time, they asked if I had taken a decongestant that morning, which I had. They said that the higher than normal reading for BP could be explained by that and that it was not much higher than it should be. Yay me! Going from a less stressful job has already paid off on my health. My glucose level was low and they asked me if I had eaten anything that morning. In fact I ate a fruit rollup about an hour and a half before going on top of the breakfast I had that morning. My cholesterol levels where perfect. I was in good shape. I am down 35 lbs from what I was at the end of summer, so things are good.

So this is the progress made so far. 

Six of one, Half dozen of another

So as I have previously stated, I am trying to improve my self, across the board. So I have created a budget to monitor my household spending and look for ways to improve and save. I am also looking at ways to earn additional income. This means I am stepping up my focus on trying to do computer work on the side as well as anything else that might pay a little extra. I have started grocery shopping around sales, as well as using coupons. I found myself enjoying the Sunday newspaper in addition to the coupons that were in it. I am not as adept at using coupons as some are. I don't like begging, haggling, or hustling to get cheaper things, so I am trying to do it the best I can. 

I used www.mint.com to create a household budget as well as keeping trying of bills and spending. I HIGHLY recommend checking it out. It is from the same people who make Quickbooks and TurboTax. Mint is free and you can do so much with it. You can download the app for your smartphone to help keep up with things when on the go. It truly is helping up keep up with bills and budgets.

Previously I had wrote how I was on a diet (Keto Diet) and how it was working well. It worked so well in fact that between July 24th, 2017-October 18th, 2017, I went from weighing more than 312 LBS to weighing about 280 lbs. I went down almost 3 pant sizes. I was running out of clothes (pants specifically) that fit. I really didn't want to buy new clothes, especially since I was trying to save money and decrease spending, so I decided to stop the Keto Diet. It has been about 2 weeks and I am still limiting the amount of carbohydrates I eat to a lower number and eating healthier foods. I find myself eating less now. Also, by not eating Keto, I have been able to save some on my grocery bill. Keto can be a little more expensive, at least for us, because we were buying so much perishable foods and less canned or processed foods. This makes it harder to buy in bulk and you are subject to prices instead of what is on sale.

I am reading books on investment and personal finance, trying to learn more about money and how it works, as well as ways to make it more manageable. I am reading more, including newspapers, blogs, eBooks, audio books, as well as traditional hard and soft backs. I am watching less TV. I know that sounds crazy. You are thinking, "Well duh. You don't have time with working and reading more." But the funny thing is that I don't desire to watch TV as much. Don't get me wrong, I still like all the same shows, movies, and other things, It is just not as important/necessary as it has been. Many of you who already understand what I am saying probably don't think about it as a big deal but for someone who is an auditory learner, who has prided himself on watching movies multiple times and loving films, I have found that I am becoming more selective with my time when watching television.

So moving forward, I have a few things I am focusing on as goals. I am working to pay down some debt as well as begin to start saving more. I will be looking for opportunities to work and get extra income, 100% of which will go toward this. If you know of anyone who is looking for some work done, feel free to send them my way. Also, if you know of anyone that is looking for some computer repair, maintenance, or needs website work done, send them my way. 

dustinqjones@gmail.com

To lose is my gain

Since about July 24th, I have been on a diet. I have had a few days where I did not keep to it but for the most part I have been very good about sticking to it. The Ketogenic Diet. On the surface it seems easy enough. But there are some things you don't expect when you go on it. Let me attempt to sum up the diet quickly. It is basically a way to get your body to run on fat instead of carbohydrates. You lower the amount of carbohydrates you take in per day to an amount MOST people are not used to (I do 20 net carbs). You avoid sugar as much as possible. You keep the amount of protein that you consume to a minimal level (unless you are doing considerable weight lifting). Here is this part that is different, you make up for all these by increasing the amount of fat you consume in your food. This will help you to feel full. Sounds easy enough.

The problem is that we as a country have been hooked on sugar for a long time. It is so ingrained in the way we eat overall that you probably don't even realize how much sugar is in everything you consume. When you start looking at how many carbs are in the foods we take for granted, you start to see how it would be easy to gain weight or have a problem with sugar. I try to stay under 20 net carbs a day. A 12oz can of soda; 36 carbs. Things like this blew my mind. So if you drink a 24 oz soda, you would have 3 days worth of carbs on this diet. How full are you after drinking a bottle of soda?  It is crazy. What makes it harder, for me at least, is that I enjoy the foods with carbs. I enjoy a soda. Even though it is bad for me. I was fortunate because I gave up soda about a month before I started the Keto diet. I feel that would have been the biggest hurtle for me. Not to mention that I have a sweet tooth (much like others in my family). It makes it hard to go into a store when you are bombarded with choices that are filled to the brim with high fructose corn syrup or some other form of sweetener.

However, let me say that this diet DOES work. In the time that I write this, I have dropped 2 pants sizes and the current one is very loose on me. I am in the market for a new belt (or about to make new holes because I ran our of holes to tighten). I'm about half a size away from the next size down on my pants. I have had to pull clothes that I had planned to donate because they were too small so I would have some clothes that fit better. I do not sit hungry throughout the day (as with a lot of other diets). I do get hungry but I can go longer between meals. One day I had to work a lot of hours and visit sick relatives and I only ate at 7:00am not eating again until 1:00am the next night (about 18 hours) and only had water to drink. From what I have read, this diet will work even faster if I increased the amount of activity that I am able to do. This has been tricky due to taking the time not being very convenient.

So the next step in my improvement will be to increase my activity. I had attempted to run in the mornings at the end of the summer. This was working until I overdid it and hurt my foot. This got me out of the habit and caused me to not get started again. I have put together some things to make my own "backyard weight room"; a sledge hammer, a couple 5 gallon water jugs. I need to get some heavy chains and an old tractor tire which will give me plenty of stuff to work with. If you know where someone might acquire those for little to no money, please let me know. 

Old wisdom, new goals

I have began reading all kinds of books on finance and investing in an effort to educate myself about how money works and how are economy works. I am currently reading a book called The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias. He gives a lot of information on things. Different chapters talking about different ways to save money or invest money. So far the most profound word of wisdom is also one of the oldest. I had always hear people quote "A penny saved is a penny earned." It was not until hearing an explanation of that statement in this book that it really hit home for me.

The example goes something like this. We will use easy figures just to make it easy to follow. Let's say you work and earn $100 before taxes. Then let's imagine that you only have to pay a 10% tax (without any deductions). So for the work you did you actually only earned $90 dollars when all is said and done. However, if you manage to save $100 dollars, then you have earned $100 tax free. That seems simple but I don't think we think about it. The book also talked about how Americans used to save 10% on average in the 70's were as 30 years later the were saving as little as 2%. That increased slightly during the Recession in 2008.

This information and common sense wisdom is something I want to try to adopt and apply more intentionally in my life. The blog that I am reading about this, Millennium Money, recommends trying to get the point where you are saving 20% or your after tax income. My first goal is to try to save up an "emergency" fund. I am trying to get to the 20% mark so that this account will grow faster and I can start investing beyond just a savings account. Trying to cut your spending by 20% is not an easy chore but that is my goal. Both the blog that I am reading about money as well as everything I know about changing and maintaining positive behaviors is that it has to be constant and gradual. I am hoping that my gradual and initially small changes will begin to add up over time.

Wish me luck! 

So we begin...

I am considered a millennial; my wife and me. We are on the very beginning of what is considered millennials. We are trying to do our best in when often it feels that we were not quite prepared for "REAL LIFE" as we thought and hoped to be. This is due in part to the fact that the time in which we are living has so many changes and differences, it is hard to predict what will be effective and since we live in a rural area of the world, many of our elders were not equipped to prepare us for an age were we are more connected and dependent on a global scale due to the new digital age. I have decided that I want to try to strive to do better in my lifestyle. I'm talking about a complete revitalization of mind, body, and interaction. I want to improve every way that I can. I want better relationships, better professional life, better spiritual practices, better physical well-being, as well and an improved financial situation. I am beginning this blog as a sort of journal to record my experience in the hopes that I can share and perhaps inspire others to do so as well. I am a 32 year-old working in an entry level job in the IT industry. I am working entry level because I just recently switched from human services job where I had been working with limited prospects of advancing. I also changed due to the strain on mental health which was also taking a physical toll on me. I am married and have one child currently. My wife teaches agriculture education.

I hope to share all the things we are doing, thinking, and trying to improve ourselves. If you have any ideas you think might help, feel free to send them to me in an email. I would love to hear about others who are looking to improve themselves in some way. The old saying goes, "Nobody is perfect." Accepting that truth does not mean we cannot continue to improve ourselves.