Before and After Room

Before & After and some progress shots.

Frustration

RESPONSIBILITY SUCKS MY ASS! Installing carpet, something I pictured me being done with at about 930 tonight, also SUCKS MY ASS! Sorry for the graphic descriptions, as I know you're picturing it - if you weren't, you are now suckaaaaaaaa - but it's the only way you can understand my frustration. I don't want to be the one doing this :(((((( hahaha sigh. This was a venting break slash blog post to keep the streak alive! Here are some pictures of the process of CARPET INSTALLATION 2009!!!

It started with the carpet I wanted coming in a 15' width instead of 12'. More money and more length to try to fit in my Vue.
Oh and as soon as i wheeled this to my car, a mustang with two guys sat there and watched me load this in for like 10 minutes...just to get the parking spot. Can't blame them, I probably would have done the same thing.

this is me attempting to start.
This is me ridiculously frustrated!
Then Jim came to save the day. He did this through High School and part of college. Fixed my rookie mistakes in about 10 minutes. Now all we need to do, apparently, is cut it and THE ROOM IS FINALLY DONE! Back to regular, not-as-responsible responsibility like I'm used to! hahaThanks Jim!

I'll take Famous Tities for $500 Trebek

Title courtesy of "Sean Connery" or Will Ferrell! I love that man. Just so you all know why I haven't had a good blog this week, I've been swamped at work and I've been trying to get the house ready for a new roommate. So instead of reading my brilliant literary works, you get to see what I'm doing! I'm making this god-awful room WHITE! then re-carpeting! OH JOY! At least a friend is coming over to help! Who does this in the first place?

After photos

Before & After
What a difference!
There is still work to be done though!

ACCOMPLISHMENTS!

Today feels great! I have now stuck to blogging 7 days in a row! Goal CHECK!

AAAAAAAAND I can't wait to get home and see what the backyard looks like!!!! It feels great to finally have that off my back. I'll post pictures later! Now I just need to do a few more things and simply maintain! This should be good for me as something to do instead of spending money! Nurse my house back to health.

I'm also not going to be sticking to my current budget plan (even though I could get through the rest of the day without spending $1) because I had promised to make my mom(s) dinner tonight for her 55th bday! Filet mignon with a balsamic glaze and grilled veggies! So instead, I'll try and stretch the $10/thing another week to makeup for Father's Day and the birthday.

A lot to feel good about today even if it is simple little things. Baby steps!

I hope you can all feel the excitement reading this. I mean, there's about 24 exclamation points for crying out loud! 25 :)

12 day update

It's been about 12 days since I've started this whole blogging thing. I'm not tired and there's nothing on TV so I thought I'd think about any progress I've made!

In 12 days, I've only missed one day! Holy crap! I just realized that when I blog tomorrow, goal #1/4 will be achieved! 7 days of blogging. Jeez where does the time go!?

I've definitely been more conscious of day-to-day costs and the importance of each.

I've also found it extremely difficult to commit to everything. Just today after volleyball, I got in a "little voice inside my head" argument! I don't know what's worse, the fact that it was so difficult to commit to something or that instead of ONE little voice inside my head, I HAD TWO!! AND THEY WERE ARGUING!! After this inner struggle over the dumbest of things - to enjoy a beer with dinner as always after volleyball and deal with my shortage of $ later or get water and stick to $10/day - my newfound strength to be responsible and commit won! I still don't understand why it was so hard to order the water. Maybe all of the, "WHAAAAT" I would receive from the guys or maybe the fear of being the "one" that "can't afford it." Whatever it was, it was silly and even though I got a little flack, it was worth it! I mean, what does ONE beer do anyways? Sure it tastes good, but so does water and it's just 12 less ounces of carbs ;) I also had a little backup from the pops who encouraged them to read my blog so they would understand. Thanks dad!

What kind of life have I been living that the simple decision to imbibe in a certain type of beverage could create so much inner conflict? Maybe that's it. This SHOULD create this kind of conflict. I SHOULD be worried about spending an extra $4/week, or $200/year on something that has virtually ZERO satasfaction/purpose. I mean, when we all see someone who we KNOW is financially fortuneless there's no mental dam preventing us from chiming in about how they can't afford it, and I'm no better! Sure, I make a decent living, but what's it all worth if it's just collateral?

***Just so you all know, while writing the previous paragraph, I figured that $4/week was about $200/year and IMMEDIATELY reallocated that money to 3-4 more golf courses I could play, as opposed to saving it and applying it to my debt! WOW! This is going to be a tough habit to kick!

Haha, after the last two paragraphs, I can't really say I've made too much progress now can I? If anything, I can say that I'm at least conscious of these things and making the right decisions, whereas before I had a, "deal-with-it-later" type of attitude.

I will accomplish one goal tomorrow, and with only $20 for the next two days, I hope to accomplish another on Friday! Wish me luck and stay tuned!

THAT'S ALL FOLKS! (for today)

Corrections!

I didn't post that I only spent $10 on Saturday (two Newcastles at Mike's Bday). And I spent $20 on Monday, which drove me NUTS today trying to figure out why I was short a $10 until I realized I spent $10 on lunch and then the $10 on the parking and CPK.