Personal Development- Part 1: Budgeting

I’ve been doing a lot of research on Personal and Career Development. One of the things that I’ve noticed in my own personal life that I need some work on (HUGE) is the money department. I’ve taken the first step and downloaded a free spreadsheet from Microsoft.com’s templates. Household Monthly Budget. I used Quicken before, and Microsoft Money.. but this is very black and white… which is what I need. No grey areas, no formulas. This one is great because there’s a pie chart that lets you see the whole picture. I didn’t want to get too much into detail about my earnings and expenses so I plugged in a fictional monthly income. This thing really breaks it down!!

For 2010 I really wanted to focus on the following:

• Seeing the whole picture, not just the bills that come in the mail
• Actually use my checkbook balance sheet because overdraft is NOT my friend lately
• Practice what I preach: everyone that knows me know I’m a huge talker. Time to quit talking and start making moves!!
• Start a ROTH IRA. Suze Orman gave major props to my new fave blog Life After College. She gave a few helpful tips in a video to Jenna. Check it out! Suze Orman Knows WE EXIST!

Okay… baby steps. I don’t want to bring too much on at once. I definitely feel comforted knowing that a few fellow bloggers of mine are trying to stay on track with work, school, family, and friends as well. One of the things that I realized at Weight Watchers is that I tend to hang out with people who always want to go out to eat. Lol. When she asked what some bad habits were I said, “I eat like I’m still in college.” Everyone laughed. They looked at me and realized that this was not something that I thought was funny. That doesn’t only effect my waistline, it effects my pockets too!!

Some things I did to save on eating out for the past couple of weeks:

• Stocked up on Lean Cuisine
• Grabbed a bunch of grapefruit and mandarin
• Gave Goya coconut water a chance and LOVE IT!
• Bought a lifetime supply of romaine lettuce. Spinach doesn’t always sit well with my tummy so I decided to blend it in slowly
• Went wild for chicken breast
• Replaced starchy juices with seltzer water

Like I said… baby steps…

Stay tuned for Part 2- Getting Organized!

 

Quisha

Reactions:

Getting to Know My Body

I left work early today to make sure that I could get home in a reasonable amount of time and safely! Ever notice how people drive so bad when it snows or rains? You’d think they’d be alittle safer. I stopped at a light behind a few other cars and someone was flying behind me and I watched them in my view mirror thinking “Oh God, if they hit me I’m gonna freak!”, all for them to fly around me missing me by a few inches and not even putting a signal on. Oh, New England how I love thee MassHoles! ;-) Lol.

Some news before we jump into business… I BOUGHT A NEW CAR!!

I’m so freaking happy! This is the second Valentine’s Day in a row that I bought myself a car. Lol. So strange! To me it’s not just a day for love (that should be everyday), but a day to do something and love yourself! I pick her up on Friday and will be sure to post some pics this weekend. Hopefully the weather’s beautiful and I can roll a window or two down. Okay maybe not.. maybe just “crack” the two front windows. It’s still freezing out!!

So yesterday was the third Weight Watchers meeting. I’m enjoying it so far. Learning a lot about myself. I think the hardest thing going from a young woman to a grown woman is realizing that our bodies do change. Some issues I’m having include:

• under-eating
• over doing it in the gym (I should be going more often and more moderately)
• too much sodium- even though I don’t add salt to food too often, I have to remember those Lean Cuisines and other packaged low-cal foods that have sodium in it
• not enough water- I’ve gotten hooked on coconut water and love it, but I’ve gotta start just grabbing my old water bottle more often
• not enough sleep- okay now I go to bed around 10-11pm every night but I don’t sleep through the night

Like I said, I’ve learned about my body and myself. Making changes is a hard thing for me because I work a full day then have to do the other stuff like grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, cooking. These things comfort me and I love them, but now I have to fit in studying and spending time with M and keeping in touch with family and friends. Also at work I’m still working on Social Media. BEAT!

One thing that’s helped me track my food and activity via the web or the mobile app has been the Weight Watchers eTools.

Another cool little gadget that I got was the Points Pedometer.

I could have gotten any ol’ pedometer but I’m really liking this one. I’ve programmed it and updated my profile. It keeps me remembering that I need to get up and move around during the day. Most times I’m up and down from my desk running around and getting things done and tracking down IT managers and execs. Other days when I’m not so busy I’m looking for people to join my company online via tools such as Monster, Dice and other techniques and as you guys know… you can get lost in the World Wide Web. That said, we’re getting along just fine :)

I’ve got to go and finish this chapter and apply myself! I’ve been following my calendar lately and I’m proud of that. Keep it up Q!!! :-P

Quisha

Reactions:

Weight Watchers "At Work"

I feel like a blog virgin. Haha. Yes, I'm blogging during my lunch break. I gotta fit it in somewhere!!

Life has been crazy. More about that later!! For the sake of my lunch and time, I'll give you a quick rundown...

I've been taking IT Project Management classes towards my certificate, going to the gym, and I've joined a Weight Watchers At Work group where we meet during lunch. I've been hanging out with friends and family more as well, so as you can imagine, I've been quite the busy bee.

Weight Watchers is something I never thought I'd do. I went in with an open mind, just hoping to get back into what I originally started this blog for… a healthier lifestyle and exploration of the green living scene.

 So there are about 24 of us ladies and we lost a total of 52.5lbs in the first week. One woman took of 9lbs! We get a certain amount of food points per week depending on height, nature of work and age. So I get 22 points a day  I’m doing good. I’ve been bloated, so as you can imagine, my first weigh-in didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, but I have to stay positive :)

 I’ll write a bit more later about my “plan” to get back on the wagon.

 Has anyone tried Weight Watchers or any other program out there that aims towards healthier eating habits and not just a “diet”? I’d like to hear some feedback on this.

Reactions: