A review of my goals: part 1

Ok, so when I started writing this blog at the beginning of the year I had four goals in mind: spend less money, work out more, learn to sew, and cook more. I'm going to make a post reviewing my progress in each of these goals. First up is 'spend less money.'

Back in July I got a promotion. I went from delivering pizzas to being a manager. This promotion, however, pays less money. So why did I take it? It's less stressful. If you read back to prior post, you'd see that my car was totaled while delivering pizzas. Every night I worked I had a constant fear of someone hitting me, or of me hitting a deer. Just last week one of our drivers got in a fairly serious accident and totaled his car.

Delivering destroys vehicles, not just through accidents, but also through regular wear and tear. I had three different vehicles in my three and a half years of delivering pizzas. In total, I estimate that I drove 50,000-60,000 miles at that job. It takes so much in gas, oil changes, tires, etc. Knowing that my new $10,000 car was getting destroyed every night I worked was enough to make me want the promotion.

I love my current job. I love overseeing what goes on around me, and I love making sure the customers are happy. I think it's really a control issue. I control my environment. I'm not just subject to what's going on around me. Of coure I'm only in control to an extent. I have other bosses to answer to, and I can't just make a bad night or bad situation disappear. But I have more say in what I do now. And I love it.

To cope with the lower income, I've learned to only buy what's necessary. This means less nail polish and fast food. I buy what's on sale at the grocery store. I love sales. I stock up when something is exceptionally cheap. And I'm proud to say that ALL of my Christmas presents were purchased on sale this year! I'm quite proud of my savings there.

I made a few big purchases over the summer, namely this MacBook and a vacation that never was (long story. Essentially, I booked a rather expensive hotel. But within hours of checking in my boyfriend got sick and I of course couldn't get a refund). Those are still biting me in the ass. But I'm making progress in catching up and rebuilding my savings.

Overall grade: C+